In watching the movie Titanic, I gained more than just entertainment, and all from a much hyped Hollywood movie.
Only the Best people would be lucky enough to stride most of its glorious expanse.
When the Titanic set out for New York Harbour from Newfoundland , all seemed well. The passengers were excited about gaining the experience of a lifetime.
Those with boarding tickets, carried in their hands the rare opportunity to ride this "Ship of Dreams".
The passengers
Both the wealthy and the poor were overtaken with anticipation when boarding the great ship.
Among the passengers, there was old money (those who came from wealthy and influential families, their wealth was inherited) and new money (those newly wealthy, among these was The "unsinkable Molly Brown", who had "married" money). Most of the passengers had only one thing in common - MONEY.
Anyone who has seen the film would remember the snide, stuck-up mother of Rose. She had a real problem with her daughter. The mother was penniless, left nothing from her deceased husband but a "good name" and some bad debt.
The daughter was not in love with the rich fiance that was chosen for her by the mother, but was being forced to marry him. The snide mother watched over her daughter and hovered so that the daughter would not back out of the arranged marriage. Her daughter's marriage to a man she did not love was the mother's meal ticket.
There was the wealthiest man on the ship, John Jacob Aster. He was having a fling on the Titanic with a girl many years younger than himself. The elite passengers of the Titanic were well taken care of and seemed to have every need met.
The other group of passengers had one thing in common also, poverty. These were the "steerage" who were for the most part restricted to the lowest level of the ship. When the Titanic was sinking, many of these people were kept from boarding the lifeboats, this disgusted me, but such is the way of the world.
One thing was clear, the steerage on the lower deck seemed to be having a much better time than the wealthy on the top deck.
They danced, drank and sang while the wealthy retired to their smoking rooms for a cigar and brandy and talk of their most recent economic conquests.
The young "Rose" of the upper deck, took off with one of the "rats" (Jack) of the lower deck and commenced to run away from her fiance's nosy bodyguard who was chasing them frantically.
The Journey
On April 11, the ship leaves from Newfoundland bound for New York.
The poor were no doubt happily dreaming of the opportunities that awaited them in America. Many of these poor people were going to America to start new lives, hoping for the better life that the New World would offer them once they arrived.
The first few days were wonderful and no problems arose with the ship. None that was accounted of in the movie. Seems to me that after I had seen the movie, I watched a documentary that noted how the Titanic narrowly escaped an impact with another ship while pulling away to leave. If this happened, it was not recounted in the film. All seemed eerily calm and the captain and crew seemed to have everything under control.
How could they have ever known that in a very short time, the great Titanic would be carrying it's passengers to their watery graves.
Trouble Ahead
While making the journey for New York, the ship's designer *Bruce Ismay* had a little chat with Captain Smith. The designer commented to the captain "wouldn't it be wonderful if the Titanic made it to New York BEFORE it's anticipated arrival time"?
He commented how it would make for "great headlines" in the papers.
The captain said he would prefer not to stress the ship's engines before they'd had a chance to be broken in.
It was not enough that the ship was on course, perhaps a bit ahead of schedule, the designer of the great Ship wanted the Titanic to "make headlines". No doubt that in the Titanic making headlines, Mr. Ismay himself would make headlines.
Iceberg Warnings
Now at some point, during the two days of calm, there were iceberg warnings from nearby ships. These iceberg warnings were addressed to the Captain who upon hearing of the possible dangers ahead, seemed unconcerned. Had he and the crew taken the WARNINGS more seriously, the disaster perhaps could have been avoided. But it was not to be.
The captain then gives the order to take Titanic "full steam ahead".
Now here is something interesting:
Had the lookouts been doing their jobs, and had the speed not been set to full, and had the warnings been heeded, in all likelihood the great ship would not have met it's terrible fate.
These three, not heeding to the warnings of others, accelerated speed and lack of alertness caused the sinking of the titanic.
By the time the iceberg was spotted by the watchers, the speed the ship was set at made it impossible to steer the ship away from the iceberg. The impact did not have to happen. It was simply a result of wrong decisions. There was a chain of negligent decisions that caused the sinking of the Titanic.
Just before midnight, April 14th, 1912
When the ship hit the iceberg, there was simply no time for planning. There was not adequate lifeboats available for the passengers. There was a ship that was not far from Titanic when the Titanic went down, but this ship didn't notice the distress signals from the Titanic. This other ship most likely thought that the signals were celebratory and nothing to do with distress. In the havoc that followed, there was no time for the passengers to be astonished. There was simply no time for anything. The speed at which the Titanic went down was remarkable. Passengers scurrying around grabbing for anything to keep their heads above water. Looking for anything to grab onto. In the movie, we see many of the lower class passengers having to stay below, they were locked in down there, while the first class passengers were offered lifeboats. Women pleading to have their husbands go with them in the lifeboats, children screaming for their fathers to come with them.
It took around 2 hours for the Titanic to finally go to it's watery grave.
God himself could not sink this ship!
Before the impact and while all was well, passengers commented on the safeness of the Titanic.
One passenger commented "This ship is not capable of sinking! God himself could not sink this ship!"
But in the end, these brazen and confident proclamations would not prove to be accurate.
Warning, Economic Collision just ahead
The Titanic Has Nothing on America
I can see many similarities in the Nation we live in and that great and grand ship Titanic. But first, some recent changes I've noticed.
America was a great Nation and still has in it the capabilities to surpass even what we used to be. But at present, we have lost sight of those things we most need (A healthy and strong spiritual life) and have focused on those things that are of no use to us and are at best, detrimental to our nation (greed, selfishness and pride). All U.S citizens have been very fortunate to live in such a nation as this. The reasons for being fortunate are many. The freedom that America affords those who have lived in bondage in other countries is something to be extremely thankful for. The economic freedoms we have been allowed to enjoy have seemed to be infinite. However, they are not infinite. Ask the many who are no longer employed. Ask those whose jobs have been given away to cheap foreign labor markets abroad. The career opportunities we have been able to enjoy have been a sight to behold in times past. But it's not quite what it was before, and the career outlooks for many who are graduating college are bleak at best. Many who have a degree are flipping burgers and IF they can find a better offer, they will grab it up for less money than was previously offered them in years past.
The problem is, America is increasingly becoming less of what it was and more of what it was not. As I said above, we have been blessed with much but now we seem to be spinning out of control. Lack of self control and a dry or non-existent spirituality has made us blind and as a result, we have lost our discernment.
Economic Disaster for Our Great and industrious American economy?
The money analysts on CNN will not sound an alarm before economic disaster hits this country, it will not be done.
The money barons of Wall Street forecast nothing but the most excellent financial projections for American companies. Never mind the fact that lately, more and more projections turn out to be below expectations.
They say, "This quarter, profits could be down but it's ok, profits are projected to rise during the next quarter". There are an abundance of economic prophets and prognosticators. They will always have something good to say, never anything dismal or negative. The bulls always will overshadow the bears. These bulls foresee positive growth and excellent economic potential for various companies and corporations. We can forget about getting a warning from these people. No matter how bad our economy gets, they will always mouth the optimistic commentaries of those they serve, regardless of what the truth is.
Of Living in America in 2004
Here is just a small peep into what we experience every day in our current society:
We have American workers going broke and losing jobs, while corporations are making more profit than ever before.
We have tax cuts for the richest in America while the poor in America are paying the price for their corporate Greed.
We have Billions of dollars going to a foreign country to rebuild their schools while our own schools are in shambles. Do we care about our children's education?
We are building fire stations in Iraq while our own firehouses are drastically under funded and do without necessities. Not that we should not build theirs, but should we hold such disregard and disinterest for our own? Should we build their's at the expense of our own?
We have many Christians turning a blind eye to gut wrenching sins, while ranting about the few (sins) they choose to rant on about. They speak out against the sins of their own choosing.
We have millions of citizens cowering in fear after watching a two minute clip on the latest terrorism warnings.
A presidential nominee and Vietnam Veteran who served his country well and should be commended, is instead slandered, yet many see no problem at all with this.
We have Veterans that have to worry about getting their benefits cut, yet they were the ones who served our country and should be held in high regards by our Administration.
The Ten Commandments are hauled out of a courthouse, yet a little later, homosexual marriages are performed on courthouse steps all across the nation.
We have pastors divorcing their wives and marrying another soon after. There is no sorrow over it, he believes he is in God's will and his previous wife was not his "soul mate", but he has been told by God that this new one is.
Money, The Stumbling Block Of our Iniquity
What can be said is the one thing that we hold most dear to our hearts?
The love of Money, The Root of All Evil
It was not by accident that God placed this warning to us in the Bible. We should thank him many times over for giving us this warning.
God knew that the Love of Money is indeed the root of all evil. Money, or the love or lust for it brings greed. When greed takes control of people, there is a disastrous outcome, not only for the greedy, but for the victims of those who would allow greed to gain control of their lives and steer them toward a devastating and destructive path.
It is all too true that at present, there are many who are walking over whomever they have to in order to extract GAIN in financial respects. Some of them are even known as Christians, but Christ said that we would know these people their fruits.
Why would God allow our prosperity to be taken away from us? Why would God allow our country to experience an economic Titanic?
Because money has become the stumbling block of our iniquity .
Ezekiel 7:19
They shall cast their silver in the streets, and their gold shall be removed: their silver and their gold shall not be able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of the LORD: they shall not satisfy their souls, neither fill their bowels: because it is the stumbling block of their iniquity.
Money is the biggest Idol in the world, and can certainly be said to be the biggest idol in America.
We believe that if we can buy it, then it will make us happy. What we fail to realize is that the most precious things in life cannot be bought. Just like salvation , it IS the most precious gift we could ever have in our possession, yet it cannot be purchased with money. It cannot be bought with the finest gold or the most choice silver.
An Economic Titanic
There is coming upon this earth an economic disaster that I do not believe has been seen in history, and America will not be spared. We somehow think that we as Americans will never know the suffering and judgment of God, but this is incorrect. We will not get by escaping God's judgment. The most important thing that we can do right now is to prepare for the dark days ahead, and in order to do this we must repent . We must repent of our sins as well as ask God to forgive everyone in this nation for setting up the idol of money in their hearts and leaving him out of their lives. We must realize also that we have done this to ourselves. God has not done this to us and he is not responsible. When we turn away from God and allow ANYTHING to take the place that he rightly deserves in our hearts, we have chosen a slippery path that will surely plunge us into disaster.
First off, we know that this economic catastrophe will happen according to scripture because the new monetary system must be implemented at some point. Money will surely be worthless and I believe it will be replaced by a universal monetary system. We read about this in the book of Revelation. I plan to write at length on this topic, but that will be in 2005/2006.
A warning to the Rich of this World
We are given a warning from God. This warning is to the rich of this world who engage in fraud and other deceptive practices. God addresses the fraud that they place upon their laborers who are hired to work in the rich man's fields. This scripture tells me that the cry of those who are treated unjustly will be heard by God, and he will make it right and defend those weaker ones who cannot resist the greedy tyrants of this world.
James 5 1-6
1Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you.
2 Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are motheaten.
3 Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days.
4 Behold, the hire of the laborers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth: and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of sabaoth.
5 Ye have lived in pleasure on the earth, and been wanton; ye have nourished your hearts, as in a day of slaughter.
6 Ye have condemned and killed the just; and he doth not resist you.
This Ship is Sailing
Just as the passengers of the Titanic were carefree and without a concern in the world, many in America have lived in the lap of luxury and expect nothing to change. They expect that the type of life they lead will never be taken away from them. Others in America have not had many needs and have not had to do without. But that is going to change. The prosperous economic ship of the 90'S has set sail AWAY from us and is no more. We may not see this completely at present, but the full impact is not here yet either.
Many of us just cannot believe that this great economic ship called "American Productivity" will surely sink. All who refuse to give heed to a valid warning are doomed to suffer. Just as the ship's captain was warned of surrounding icebergs and chose not to take the warning seriously, many in America will be in disbelief when the full measure of economic mayhem strikes this country. We are told of the major deficits that we have incurred since 2001, yet many are unconcerned about this as well. Where is the concern you may ask? Gone, all concern about paying off the debt of this nation is something that we feel can be put off, just like many other vitally important issues, we simply refuse to deal with it. Just like we refuse to deal with the most important issue of the current state of our souls. When we are given warnings from the word of God such as the above scriptures I listed, we must heed them. Disregarding them and counting them as nothing will surely cause us to suffer the consequences of our inaction at a future time known only to God.
The Economic Health and Security of this nation does not depend upon this Election
It does not matter which President is elected in 2004, we are going to see an economic disaster no matter who is appointed to the White House. The reason why is because a MAN or an ADMINISTRATION cannot stop a judgment from the Almighty God. We have foolishly thought that a United States President could protect us from Terrorist attacks. How ridiculous and unbiblical. A human being is not able to watch out for us, even if that person carries the title of President. The only one who can take care of us and give us security is God, in his mercy. Many do not realize that we are to heed what God says in his word if we expect to enjoy a thriving and healthy economy, as well as a secure nation.
The only thing that will remedy our ills and the course we've taken is our repentance coupled with a genuine heart felt seeking of the one true God. But how many of us will choose to alter our course, get on our knees in humbleness and DO what we are told to by the one who made us and fashioned us? We have been given a mandate, this mandate is thousands of years old. It promises us that God will heal our land IF we choose to hear it and live by it.
Here it is, read it, believe it and put it to practice in your life:
IF my people who are called by my name shall HUMBLE themselves and PRAY, seek MY face, and TURN from their wicked ways, THEN will I hear from HEAVEN, forgive their sin, and heal their land.
