Dear…
‘Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away……
…..And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.’
Revelation 21:1-4
‘Then He Who sat on the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new.” And He said to me, “Write, for these words are true and faithful..’
Revelations 21:5
Like most, the only thing I have seen or read about these past few days have been a world that is increasingly overwhelmed by continued natural disasters and man- made follies. And on a personal level, a dear friend in the mid range of her life has just been caught in mid-stride by a stroke.
What is promised in Revelations 21 does look heavenly delicious, but is it true and when will it be?
‘The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me. Because the Lord has anointed Me to preach good tidings to the poor. He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted. To proclaim liberty to the captives. And the opening of the prison to those who are bound. To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord. And the day of vengeance of our God. To comfort all who mourn…..’
Isaiah 61:1-3
Much as I have often parlayed the thoughts that God placed in my heart, prayerfully without adding or subtracting from it, I love and fear God enough to be desirous to not put on any pretensions like the many who have led and continue to lead the searching souls astray. I have no message from our Lord other than the word "patience" and much as my sinful self sometimes hoped for, I have no idea as to the next minute and so foretelling as in declaring beforehand something that will surely take place is beyond me, till God shows me otherwise.
Being too long in the business of financial investments, a trade that many have come to equate with the ability to predict, often to theirs and our own grief, I am very cognizance of the folly of collective wisdom as well as the limitations of the finite man, compounded by their insatiable greed and pride.
So may these thoughts that I am about to pen be truly from the Lord and not from me, and may He speak to you and lead you as you spend time with Him. I can only point you in the direction of our Lord, you must be willing to want to come unto His presence and respond as He leads, as He will surely do.
‘And of whom have you been afraid, or feared. That you have lied and not remembered Me. Nor taken it to your heart? Is it not because I have held My peace from of old That you do not fear Me?
Isaiah 57:11
The volcanic eruption in Iceland might be a one day news event that most might have give a cursory glance to, if at all. But sitting above the still bubbling volcano are two very large glaciers. We had our financial meltdown two years back and interestingly, what Iceland had and still has a starring role in the sub-prime crisis, might now move on to a different but no less, equally compelling and earthshaking stage. Do watch this space.
I first started work back in 1985. For some, you might remember Pan El, not because it is a once famous brand of refrigerator, but rather, it was the source of the meltdown in the Singapore stock-market back then. As a newbie in the business, my mind then was more inquiring and one theory that captured my imagination was that of the Russian economist Kondratieff, who was famous for two things, one was that he fell out of favor with his communist masters and was executed. The other was that his unique linkage of rational public responses to accurately predict future economic cycles which seems very well suited as a predictive tool in this present liquidity driven environment. Much as there are differing views as to the nature of the future economic cycle, should it tilt towards not just inflationary, but high inflationary conditions, similar to that of the 1920s(of the Great Depression)and the 1970s(of the era of stagflation and oil crisis), periods, then like before, Keynesian theory of government stimulation will have to take a back seat to Kondratieff’s wave theory(http://www.kondraty ev.com/reference /theory_explaine d.htm)
A simpler but equally significant popular thought during that period of the mid 1980s, was this knowledge(if the geophysicists) are to be believed is that San Francisco and Tokyo, on both sides of the Pacific Ocean were long overdue for a major earthquake. Guess my mind was more impressionable then and not just Tokyo, but Japan was a land I diligently avoided setting my foot upon till the past 6 years. Earthquakes there have been aplenty since, but nothing of the long expected mega scale. Would the recent quake in Mexico bordering California be a reminder of the possibilities?
‘The sun shall no longer be your light by day. Nor for brightness shall the moon give light to you. But the Lord will be to you an everlasting light. And your God your glory. Your sun shall no longer go down. Nor shall your moon withdraw itself, For the Lord will be your everlasting light. And the days of your mourning shall be ended…’
Isaiah 60:19-20
This year I have traveled a little more frequently, about once a month to date. Compared to the once a week earthquake at any one location in the world and the surfeit of once in a long, long time unprecedented floods/storms in Sydney, Melbourne, Queensland and now Perth or the surfeit of snow in Europe and the USA and now the red dust in Northern Asia, guess I am on a smaller wave. But am I a harbinger of bad weather. Sydney had its flood a week before I visited, and thankfully, Nagoya was juxtaposed between the recent tremors down South in Okinawa and up north above Tokyo that occurred just before I set foot in Nippon land.
And during the recent sandstorm in China, I was pondering if I should proceed to visit Shanghai last week?(thankfully I did visit for God showed me a few personal insights which as He leads, may I be blessed to share in the next Reflection titled "Tower of Babel")
God wants me to be traveling. Seems like a convenient excuse for mine taking an inordinate amount of short trips for pleasure. It is tough, at least my aching bones are telling me. But truly, from a finite understanding, I find this year an important time to go visit the ground, to get a better sense of the reality and emotions of the two key countries in not just our continent, but the world. Booming China is once what limpid Japan was before in its hey days back in the 1980s, when the flood of Japanese yen heralded the era of ever rising optimism and asset prices. Today, the average household income of middle class Japan is just US$4200 per month. Eating out is a luxury and hand me down clothes are the norm.
But is Japan after twenty years of deflation at rock bottom. A friend tells me that the Japanese were very grateful to have foreign businessman visit them to give them some encouragement from their very depressed state. In contrast, it was all confidence and almost arrogance in now much awakened dragon land of China
‘Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.’
Matthew 24:44
As the days approaches, for the promised return of our Lord Jesus Christ, our lives will be shaken in greater intensity, that many may awaken to the delusions of the devil and be instead desirous of allowing the Spirit of God to make them ready, to meet Christ our Savior. The Hydra is a nine-headed monster in Greek mythology. It is reputed to grow two new heads for every one head a valiant soul had chopped off. Stagflation is not a common economic phenomenon, and thankfully for that. But like the two heads that pop up, stagflation brings with it the twin pain of rising costs of living, yet falling income. Inflation with recession. We had that in an extreme form in the 1970s to early 1980s, when US interest rates rose to 20 plus % and deposit rates in Singapore was 12%.
'But he that prophesieth speaketh unto men to edification, and exhortation and comfort...'
1 Corinthians 14:3
Will this dual economic ill ever strike us again? I believe it will, for the ill discipline of the world is creating this huge flood of paper monies. It is no prediction. But rather stating the obvious if the world continue tobe oblivious to the need for repentance from their profligate ways.
What is missing is the trigger to force the world to recognize the reality of their continued follies. Would that trigger be an earthquake in a major economic center or will it be like a major oil crisis of the 1970s that triggered stagflation?
No one knows and it matters not if one is right or not. But what matters is that God will return. And that till that day happens, His Spirit is already with us, to lead, shelter, comfort, and be with us, even as we continue to be buffeted by a world that baffles, belies, betrays and yet lures. But we must want to response to an ever present God.
God Blesses
Eng Hieang
(7Aprl 2010)
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