New World Order: We Are In Uncharted Water
Once in a while an article comes along that is so very thoughtful, so very articulate, and so very meaningful to thinking Christians and yet, was not necessarily written by a Christian and was not written from a Christian perspective. The article “New Weird Order” by Tom Engelhardt (of TomDispatch.com) is just such an article. The article basically argues that the world order is in a place that is wholly unexpected because, as the United States has been slowly declining over the last couple of decades, the rest of the world has been declining more quickly, leaving the US as the sole superpower in an environment where no other power is visibly rising. The argument is made that power loss in one area without power gain in another area is foreign to what we know about power.
Students of prophecy and close observers of current events will know that, indeed, another power is rapidly rising but that this power is not one that is recognized as a global player, at least, not by the standards of this age. In fact, we have to go back several centuries in history to find a time when this power was a major political force. That power is the Catholic Church and, while the power it is gaining is not readily observable, my reading of prophetic history says that now is the time for the Catholic Church to rise.
Read the article with this context in mind and see what you think. Also, as you read the comments in the article about shifts in conflict in the current era, keep in mind Matthew 24:6-8 (wars and rumors of wars, etc.). My reading of the world situation is that when we see a few more stressors piled on weak societies, we will see an outbreak of hostilities between states, and that this will simply exacerbate the conflict between people groups that we already see (“nation against nation” is state vs state warfare and “kingdom against kingdom” is people-group vs people-group).
Read the article and let me know your thoughts in the comment section.
Scott Christiansen
Planet in Distress 
Good evening Scott,
Thank you for posting this piece by Tom Engelhardt. I agree with your take on it-desperation and a power vacuum attracts opportunists. Ever more evidence that we need to be about the Lord’s work with more urgency. This is one I’ll forward to my son, a professor at Tulane, to get his take on it.
Thanks again, and God bless.
Rus
ps–Have been watching your LLBN presentations with great interest.
Rus,
Small world. My masters is from Tulane School of Law. I’m not a lawyer, my degree is in international development. This “orphan” program was attached to the school of law there.
Scott,
Small world to be sure.My son’s area is Latin American History, and I’m sure this piece will interest him, as he regularly travels South America, as well as various areas in Europe, noting modern, as well as historical trends.
It is interesting to know that a non-believer remains awake in Laodicea and sees! I think the world will be deeply surprised (unlike those of us who understand the historicist interpretation of prophecy) at the rise of the little horn of Rome, soon to be joined with the one remaining “power” that seems to be insistently downsizing its military and economy, and disallowing constitutional rights and protections, creating a perfect platform from which to launch the prophesied partnering of these two powers intent on uniting a crippled world into one government under the dragon. The recent “invitation” of the current Roman Pope to the gathering under Kenneth Copeland seems a reasonable portent of things to come. Wake up, ye virgins, and gather your oil, for the Bridegroom cometh!
No question about it. We are seeing the final events in the 6000 year history of our world. What a privilege to live in the final generation.
Good morning Scott.
Here are two pieces that might be of interest to you:
The first by Kate Sheppard, Huf. Post, 3/6/14, about pending govt. report warning of cascading system failures caused by climate change.
The second, Meat Makes the Planet Thirsty, 3/8/14 NYT OpEd by James McWilliams.
Best to you, and God bless.
Rus
Rus,
Thank you – I had not seen these before and I appreciate you pointing them out!
God Bless,
Scott