Economy

[from JD - I'm tagging these from now on so you know whether it's Chrissy or me]

In my humble view, I see a much greater chance than not of a serious recession coming soon. The possibility for another great depression is also very real. If you remember the history from the "Roaring 20's" - times seemed to be never better than in the affluent late 1920's, until one day the floor fell out from under all of that. It must have been hard for anyone to imagine a depression then also - yet that seems to be how it comes - subtle tides of corruption and debt begin the slippery slope, and as long as more credit remains available the dire situation is not even felt - until one day it's "time to pay the piper" and everything hits the fan at once. That seems to be happening again today and it's hard to tell how deeply it will cut, or how long it will take to recover from it.

I seriously recommend that you consider placing a large portion of your assets in investments that are usually very safe and valuable during extreme financial difficulties, such as gold and silver - physical bullion or ETFs - small increments of bullion (coins) are best during the worst times when possibly even ETFs could be corrupted. An ETF (Exchange-Traded Fund) is a fund that is backed by 100% bullion according to its prospectus. GLD and SLV are the most well-known ones.

Gold and silver have historically been safer even than cash or any type of paper asset such as government treasury bonds, since paper currency can quickly devalue due to extreme inflation in a depression.

Of course the absolute best investment is in eternal things - sending money on to support missions work to spread the good news of life in Jesus, and help the poor and needy who are everywhere, especially in third world countries. There's no comparison to the infinite returns on that investment! So you might consider investing there soon while you know the dollar is still valuable...

All that said, I know that Christians are not to have a "spirit of fear" because we already know that we will always have all we need in Christ and He will sustain us as long as we need to be on this earth serving Him. Then our glorious eternal home awaits us who have believed on the name of Jesus for our salvation, trusting in the sufficiency of Jesus' sacrifice at the cross on our behalf. What better a time to pray, get to know God in a deeper way, and share this incredible news with our friends and family who don't know Him and don't have His peace and joy in their hearts yet!

The worse the economy gets, the more generous I plan to be, since many folks will need help I'm sure. Our provision is from God and I have seen Him provide just what was needed for us in hard times, too many times to count. He is good, and He's our Rock and Salvation!

Update on Orissa

The threat of impending violence is still quite great - we are hearing that the authorities haven't thus far provided sufficient defense against the threat of mobs of hundreds or potentially thousands descending on an area all at once. Please pray for more government support and for the protection of all of the Christians and their churches and homes there. We know who the Victor is in the end! Amen.

Orissa Violence Spreading

Today we received word that there is "imminent danger" of a large, coordinated attack on at least two separate GFA Bible colleges in India - one of them is an all-girls school, and the girls aren't even able to sleep through the night because they are so scared of being harmed.

In case you aren't up to date on the situation, here are a few links to catch you up on the unprecedented wave of persecution in Orissa that has killed at least 42 Christians, often by torturous means such as burning, stabbing and hacking to death. Over 800 churches and other facilities like orphanages were torched or bombed.

The violence has been spreading to other states in India such as Karnataka in the past week or two.

Here's what Indians are reading in the media:

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/Maoists_claim_they_killed_fascist_VHP_leader_in_Orissa/articleshow/3423908.cms

Here's the stories of what's happening, not in the media but from independent Christian bloggers:

http://orissaburning.blogspot.com/2008/08/20-year-old-rajni-burnt-to-death.html

http://andi-sheba.blogspot.com/2008/09/new-word-for-shame.html

Video: Religious violence in Orissa explained...

We all know that God has called us to love our enemies and pray for them. Please ask God that they would repent and acknowledge that Jesus is the risen Lord and the only One able to give us hope for eternal life through forgiveness of our sins.

I write blog posts too!

Yes, this is my first post, but hey I think joining the blogosphere will be good for keeping up with all of you.

We really are blessed to have so many wonderful friends and family. So thank you for being a part of our lives!

I should be back again soon, so in the mean time, have a great weekend.
-JD

P.S. It's a good day to thank God for His protection over America since 9/11. We haven't seen further attacks in 7 years now. While the vigilance of Homeland Security is very commendable, it is God who keeps watch over every event and He is the One to thank for keeping our enemies at bay.