You might think that title a bit callous if you are a non-believer (or a believer but not really a “Real Christian” Christian), but trust me, that’s not the viewpoint of a few evangelical pastors who are holding a massive conference in Chino, California this weekend in which they will explain why the fact that the world’s economy is swirling down the toilet bowl is a good thing for people of FAITH (and I capitalize that word for a reason, my friends). From their standpoint, Bush and Free trade ideologues and Republicans didn’t create this economic catastrophe with their policies of deregulation, large tax breaks for corporations and the wealthy and the laissez faire monetary policy of ever lower interest rates to keep the bubble going by Alan Greenspan at the Federal Reserve. Oh no. This disaster has God’s fingerprints all over it. And that’s a good thing!
The senior pastor at Calvary Chapel Chino Hills recently received two visitors to his church after their husbands committed suicide because of the financial crisis.
“This is real stuff,” Hibbs said.
The reasons and remedy for the “real stuff” are found in the Bible, he said.
That’s why thousands of evangelical Christians are expected to gather at his church this weekend for the Southern California Prophecy Conference.
Titled “Finding Hope in the Global Crisis,” Hibbs says the conference will reveal what he believes is the biblical backstory of the economy and America’s wars in the Middle East.
“We also believe the message will bring people hope and understanding,” Hibbs says. “That’s going to dispel, I trust, a lot of fear and confusion.” […]
Mark Hitchcock, pastor of Faith Bible Church in Edmond, Okla., is one of the featured speakers.
He will deliver a message based off his latest book, “The Late Great United States: What Bible Prophecy Reveals About America’s Last Days.” […]
Hibbs says hundreds of new visitors come to the church each week, seeking to make sense of the economic conditions. In some ways it reminds him of the seekers who flocked to church in the aftermath of Sept. 11.
“Our homes and our jobs, those are not the things we are living for,” Hibbs says. “There’s a greater purpose for life, there’s a greater reason for living. The Lord has made that clear.”
Yes Virginia, there really is no calamity, natural or man made, that Evangelical preachers won’t exploit for the own benefit. And a global economic meltdown is just the ticket to convert more people scared out of the wits, or deeply distressed to develop a personal relationship with Jesus. And with Jesus’ ministers here on earth. Particularly those trying to sell a book with the cheery title of “The Late Great United States: What Bible Prophecy Reveals About America’s Last Days” or otherwise get more financial contributions to support religious hucksters the good work of God’s servants here in America.
To quote a very well known Christian telvangelist “Isn’t that special.” I’m sure the women whose husbands killed themselves, and all the unemployed people or those who have lost their health care or their homes to foreclosure or filed bankruptcy or otherwise live in fear for their future will feel so much better knowing that Biblical prophecies hold all the answers to our current plight. Maybe they can even give us a date for the Rapture (or at least a range: Next month? Next year? Within the next five years?). Now that would be Hope we can believe in. Not like that sinister Islamofascist President Obama who, if he isn’t the Antichrist himself, is probably the harbinger of the guy who will be coming soon to an End Times near you.
