Prophecy and Predictions for 2010

This post is a summary of some of the predictions given by two men who have come to be seen as leaders and fathers in their respective fields. The first is a spiritual “Dad” (father in the Faith), David Wilkerson, the author of the the Bestseller The Cross and the Switchblade;the second, “richdad”,(Robert Kiyosaki), has been a de facto “father” to many budding investors and entrepreneurs in the last decade, as they have followed his popular “Rich Dad, Poor Dad” books and online courses, the most recent of which is his new bestseller, Conspiracy of the Rich.

We have included two views here-one from a well-known Christian prophet and one from a well-known writer on business and investing;we’re obviously aware there are many other views out there, but in the babble of views from so-called experts both in the church world and in the business world we have found that not many meet the criteria of a true prophet on the one hand, or of an accurate and honest financial seer on the other.

Very simply, the tests for a true Biblical prophet are that he is one whose predictions or prophecies come to pass (Deut 18:22), but also, is one whose message and ministry glorifies Jesus Christ.  Most so-called “prophets” fail in both categories; if they pass the first, they fail on the second, and seek glory for themselves.  I seem to remember adverts on the net by someone predicting America’s destruction in 2009 (or was it supposed to be in 2008?)?  What amazes me is that people still follow such turkeys even after their so-called prophecies fail.  I have watched Wilkerson’s ministry for years and from what I can see he seems to qualify under the Bible criteria, particularly on the second which is essential for any true minister.

If  one is looking for advice on investments and where to invest one’s money, as Kiyosaki often says, one should not look to get it from people who are not investors themselves.  Many financial advisers work for large fund-management firms and will only offer products or advice they are paid by the company machine to offer.  Kiyosaki is not a financial adviser, nor a Christian minister or prophet -and does not claim to be-but in our view is an original thinker, a genuine investor and his predictions as a savvy business entrepreneur (that I have read anyway) seem to be consistently accurate-hence their inclusion here.

David Wilkerson’s 2003 prophecy

David Wilkerson

We start with a pertinent prophecy from David Wilkerson called ” THE CHASTENING OF AMERICA” from back in July 2003:

“For the last five years, I have been warning of an impending financial disaster in America. Today, few will listen, and even devout Christians do not want to hear what they consider negative prophecies.

I’ve heard ministers preach that America is headed only for blessings, with no judgment. They say “Where is the financial breakdown the doomsayers speak of? It will never happen here.” They point to a believing President, to a clean, moral White House, and to a leadership doing its best to repeal abortion legislation.

Our own Supreme Court has just legitimized homosexuality. And America will soon legalize gay marriages also. We have outdone Sodom There is no record of Sodom aborting babies. And Sodom had no Bible, no churches, no gospel. Yet we have sinned and outlawed the very name of God, in the face of loving warnings and a gospel of mercy and grace.

A few years ago, I was practically screaming out warnings about a collapse of the Internet bubble. Now I am crying out a warning about the real estate bubble.(italics supplied) Soon, America will face a fearful collapse in real estate (highlight added by this article writer), as bad or worse than the real estate collapse in Japan ten years ago.

I take back none of my warnings. The storm is still on the horizon. Right now it is being withheld for a season… in hope that the goodness and patience of God lead us to repentance.”

Whether you agree with Wilkerson’s views or not, the facts of history cannot lie.  His prediction of the collapse of real estate can now be verified absolutely.  You may be interested to know the same minister has predicted a Money Crash in the not-too-distant future.  Further information on Pastor David Wilkerson can be found by contacting Times Square Church, 1657 Broadway, NYC, New York 10019.(www.timessquarechurch.org ) and a link for a recent book of his is at the end of this post.

Robert Kiyosaki’s 2010 predictions

Robert Kiyosaki

Speaking from a business and financial platform, not a spiritual one,  Robert Kiyosaki also has predicted a money collapse in Rich Dad’s Prophecy: Why The Biggest Stock Market Crash in History is Still Coming… which is worth reading, if you haven’t already.  His recent article in Yahoo entitled “2010:The Best of times or the Worst?” makes the following predictions (this is a brief summary for those who lack time to read the full article):

• housing market predictions 2010, 2011 (he gives a handy graph which shows that in September 2008, the mortgage resets hit $35 billion that month, the exact time the financial crisis hit.  2009 was the “eye in the storm” and 2010, the graph shows, will be when the financial hurricane comes back to bite) and , he says, “The storm will not end until 2012… The first half of the storm was primarily due to subprime defaults. The second half of the storm will hit more solid homeowners.” So, according to him, real estate will crash again
• Prediction #2: Gold, silver, and oil will continue to be safe investments in 2010.
• Prediction #3: The next market to crash will be commercial real estate.

Other points of concern and predictions Kiyosaki draws out are:

• the Chinese boom will eventually go bust…but he’s not sure if it will happen this year
• “Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke is replacing toxic debt with new debt.. Taxes will kill anyone working for a paycheck.”
• “The U.S. dollar will grow weaker. If the dollar strengthens, we will have more unemployment because our goods become too expensive and we will export less”.
• The U.S deficit will increase
• Israel “may” attack Iran.   If there is an attack, obviously oil prices will go through the roof.
• The stock market rally enjoyed at the time of Kiyosaki’s article “will probably turn into a dead cat bounce. If the Dow drops below 6500, 5,000 may be the next stop.”

Kiyosaki tells his online subscribers to his new book Conspiracy of the Rich: The 8 New Rules of Money that he thinks “interest rates will remain low for a few more years…take your time.  Do not let the fear of missing out suck you into a bad investment.  Decide which real estate business you want to be in-residential,warehouses,fast foods, or cemeteries?“  And that one should start to build relationships with people in a similar business.  Good advice indeed.

Related Reading:

Rich Dad’s Conspiracy of the Rich: The 8 New Rules of Money

Australian Readers click here

Rich Dad’s Prophecy: Why The Biggest Stock Market Crash in History is Still Coming…and How You Can Prepare Yourself and Profit From It!

Australian Readers: get Rich Dad’s Prophecy here

America’s Last Call by David Wilkerson.

John Reason,
Salesman, teacher, article writer, Internet Marketer.
If you liked this blog, subscribe to it using the RSS feed button above!
© 2010/2011

The above article and the Kiyosaki article in Yahoo! Finance are provided for information only and are not to be construed as investment advice. Under no circumstances does the information in this content represent a recommendation to buy, sell or hold any security.

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Christmas Greetings to our readers

This is a summary of parts 2 and 3 of the article entitled “What is the “Why” of your business?”, as discussed more fully in johnreason.com

Preparation and Positioning in your internet work from home business or other business

Whether you are involved in an internet work from home business like I have been, a Christian home based business, a franchise business, a direct sales business (again, like I have done for the last few years)-or any business-preparation and positioning of the single greatest asset-that is, you (+ your skills)-is vitally important for your future business success. So said  Pastor Neil Smith from Planetshakers Church in Australia at the business breakfast hosted in 2009 by Arise Church, and recorded here from notes taken.

• If you are in a job practise (your skills) so that when the appointed time comes, you are ready with everything you need. Calling is insufficient. You need to commit to it. Are you committed to developing the skills you have been uniquely given? (not “are you committed to the job?”).
• If you’re PREPARED and POSITIONED then you can expect opportunities to come to you.

• Familiarity breeds contempt, so don’t despise having to go over and over again your current knowledge base and practising your skills. Prepare for your Calling even if it does not look like it’s happening.

Building a business that works.

Work ON your business not IN your business

Knowing how to build a business is different to building a business that works.

• A business creator or founding entrepreneur must be working “ON” the business not engrossed IN the business. Those “presiding over” should have eyes to see where the business is going.  Example: Two people may buy a franchise business. A technician will build the business around his personality i.e in a technical way. He may struggle to win customers.  Five miles down the road another man in the same franchise may be pulling in the crowds. Why? Because he has a personality that attracts customers. Franchise owners are often just “buying a job”. It’s important to have the skill-set that is required.”

• This, I found, had application to my internet work form home business and the internet marketing affiliate program that I have followed from its beta-tester stage. It is possible to be so engrossed  IN learning about affiliate marketing, and the technical side, that you fail to build your business by e.g developing customer-friendly sites or write enough articles.  Sean Rasmussen says “Don’t focus so much on the technical side (such as HTML) but rather on writing content that is interesting to read”. Rider: but in businesses that require technical input such as an  internet work from home business, obviously some technical knowledge or assistance will be required before you can think of growing your business. The forum I have been a member of this last year is to be recommended , both for the level of information provided, but also the speed at which questions are resolved by the team of internet marketing tech helpers.

An entrepreneur vs a job-owner

• An entrepreneur, Pastor Smith continued, builds an enterprise that releases them. He puts his business in the hands of managers. Build great resource if you want to have a “ministry of business”

• believe that you will create more influence

• believe that you will create more jobs.

• You should not be doing long-term what someone else can do

• Let go of things so that you can focus on what God’s called you to do. “If I and someone else can do this job, one of us is redundant“

• Focus on what you should be doing, not on what you can do.

Faithfulness in your business leads to increase

c.f Matthew 25:14-21, the Bible

If the above scripture, one learns that the five-talent and two-talent person traded and doubled their money, whilst the one-talent person went and buried theirs. The first two were commended by their Lord and were promoted and the last not only is rebuked but actually has his talent removed from him. FAITHFULNESS leads to INCREASE. The attitude of faithfulness could be displayed to your employees, your business colleagues or your business itself.

• The attitude of maintaining only what you’ve got, or of just turning up to work does not.

e.g Article in the NZ Herald (2009) states that the “self-reliant” Kiwi attitude, apparently, is holding Kiwi businesses from doing well on the world stage.  The report, “Playing to our Strengths: Creating value for Kiwi firms” by economic researcher Tony Smale states:

• Some of the national characteristics that make Kiwis great, also stop them from achieving significant international economic success.

• While English is an international language, New Zealanders are just not fluent in the dialect of business.

• They’re friendly enough but are not perceived as having the smarts or the sophistication to do business internationally.

• Kiwis can be very passionate about their “baby”,but sometimes seem “abrupt”.

• They can be unsophisticated in their business attitudes: they are awkward with concepts such as mixing business and pleasure. Kiwis (probably much like Aussies) don’t like to “beat around the bush” – even though in many cultures relationship-building is key to a successful business partnership. In fact, the report says, Kiwis ” usually don’t even want business partners – but we want everyone to love our products and want to buy them.”

• New Zealanders have reasonably simple aspirations, known colloquially as the ” three B’s”: the bach (a type of holiday flat), the boat and the BMW. When a Kiwi business owner has achieved these, or whatever luxuries are considered prestigious within their peer group, they will often fall back into the state of “enoughism”. i.e they will not think of expanding any further.

The report also said that Kiwi businesses are not great at investing in the skills of their work force; that’s probably understandable if the above mindset prevails.

Increasing what you have is faithfulness

• So Neil Smith would say that Increasing what you have is faithfulness;burying one’s talents after one has achieved one’s own narrow goals, is not a recipe for future business success and does not help the wider economy

Conclusion:

• We should go to work ON our business, and not get lost in the mechanics of being IN the business.

• Practice makes perfect. The opportunities WILL come to you if you are PREPARED and POSITIONED.

• Have the ability to change tack and switch if necessary;

• Invest in your business and in others. Increase is good!

Have a most relaxing Christmas and holiday season!

John Reason,
Salesman, Article Writer, Internet Marketer.
© 2009-2010

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An illuminating Business Breakfast

The following is a summary of the post with the same title found in my site johnreason.com. It is based on notes that I took at a Business breakfast hosted by Arise Church in Christchurch, New Zealand this year (2009). The speaker was pastor Neil Smith from Planetshakers Church in Melbourne, Australia. His teaching was very illuminating and I thought could bear a wider audience so am sharing the high points here with this blog’s readers.

The message was directed to Christians, but I believe that you will find something useful here even if you are a person of another faith or no faith. Whether you work for somebody or work from home, ideas are important in advancing your business, whether your business is to sell you skills to a boss (i.e you are an employee (see how Robert Kiyosaki differentiates employees from three other main work quadrants), or you have an online home business or internet marketing affiliate program such as I follow, or a Christian home based business or have bought some sort of franchise in your quest to break out of the rat race.

Here follows a summary of the first part of the message:

Why are you in Business?

• When you go to work you don’t just “go to work” (as though it was something separate from your Calling).

• You go to do what God has called you to do. Christian business people are not just here to “resource the Kingdom”{i.e pay tithes and offerings to their churches}.
• Ask the question: WHY are you in business? A good book to read on this is “The E-Myth Revisited: why most Small Businesses don’t work and What to do about it” by Michael Gerber . It is a technical business book which asks the question just posed.

Business is about creating

Creativity in business

Business is in essence about creating. A by-product is that you prosper.

• Seriously wealthy people look for creative ideas, and don’t {in their private social time}talk about money.

• One creative idea can make all the difference to your business.

Pastor Smith gave the example of a businessman he knows in a certain Asian city who had one creative idea about the marshy real estate in a certain Asian city’s harbour entrance. He noticed none of the big ships entered a particular harbor entrance and on enquiring into it a bit  further was told that the waterway was too shallow and needed to be dredged.  The businessman also noticed the many acres of swampy land sitting idle in the area contiguous to the waterway.  He offered to dredge the waterway for nothing if he could have the swamp land, which the city authorities gladly agreed to.  Later on this “useless” land acquired for the price of dredging the canal became very valuable and he made many millions from it.

Creativity comes from God

What was this man’s “wealth creation strategy”?

• Every Monday he fasts and prays-he does not “go to work”

• on Tuesday he and his team of business associates pray through what he felt God says to him on the previous day.
• Then they have a meeting.
• They have recognized that creativity comes from God.  And they have recognized that creativity comes from WHO you are (your “Being”) rather than how BUSY you are (your “doing”).
• In the business community today many people suffer from some kind of mental problem because of stress.
  
• Stopping doing what you are doing and taking time out to re-evaluate (in this case pray through) your goals is healthy
  

We need to recognize as business people that we are conduits delivering a concept to someone else. The truth of “Calling” is knowing what is in you -and letting it flow out of you.

These notes will be continued in a future post. You are always welcome to leave comments or suggestions, and consider bookmarking it.

Have a great day!

John Reason,
Salesman, teacher, Article Writer, Internet Marketer.
© 2009-2010

Get E-myth here
or for U.K or European readers click here.
Australasian readers click here

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This is a newsflash for my blog’s readers-particularly those who are interested in joining an affiliate online program or internet marketing forum.

Sean Rasmussen is an established Aussie internet marketing expert whom I, and hundreds of other internet newbies, have been learning affiliate marketing from via the Year of the Affiliate Web2020 internet marketing forum. Having known nothing about affiliate marketing, and very little about web positioning or the internet generally, I now have seven sites up, some of which are starting to generate sales.

On Monday 30 November 2009, Sean will share his story online via a webinar. I invite you to come along and join in. If you are not sure what a webinar is, it is simply like watching TV – but doing so on a computer screen instead. He will show you slides as he speaks. Simply go to the registration link and follow the instructions.

What Will You Learn?

  From 7.00 to 8.45pm he will share his story of going from a construction electrician with little or no internet knowledge (or marketing knowledge) to a full time online marketer in 23 months. He did all this while holding a 12 hour a day, 13 days a fortnight job – and he did it all after hours.
Share his learnings as his journey progressed from 2005 until now and see how he grew his business to a peak of turning over an average of $60,000 per week for 15 months in 2007 & 2008.

Share with him why he turned the corner on this income stream and took a different direction. Some entrepreneurs might be upset by his revelations, but, as he says, “I firmly believe there is no Universal Law against telling the truth – and we all deserve the truth!”

What Will You Not Learn? 

Sean will share his story and lessons. You will not be subject to any sales or offers. That goes without saying, but as he says there are many schemers and Snake-Oil Salesmen out there…

This webinar is not to teach you internet marketing strategies. It is to show you the tools and experiences he used to get where he is right now in life.

Hopefully his lessons will help you learn and progress faster towards your own personal success with family, finances, business, and health.

Register for the webinar here

John Reason,
Brit currently living in New Zealand.
Salesman, teacher, article writer, Internet Marketer.
© 2009/2010

If you can’t wait to get involved, you can have a preview of Sean’s e-book, “The Year of The Affiliate” by
Clicking on the image

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Just finished reading the online chapters of Robert Kiyosaki (of “richdad” fame)’s latest book, “Conspiracy of the Rich“ which was published online as well as in the bookstores.  I found myself agreeing with him on many things apart from his dissection of the well known (and oft-misquoted) Bible phrase “For the love of money is the root of all evil”.(1 Tim 6:10)

Is it the love of money, or ignorance of money, that is the root of all evil?

Robert Kiyosaki

Kiyosaki asks the question whether it was love of money or the ignorance of it that was the root of all evil. It’s clear he thinks the latter is the cause, and bewails the dire lack of teaching on financial literacy in our schools. Ergo, it’s as though we are to infer scripture is incorrect at that point. I have to disagree with Mr Kiyosaki. We have plenty of current circumstantial evidence to support the original biblical text i.e it is the LOVE of money that is at the root of all evil. Ask Bernie Madoff, and his victims. Greed is everywhere from the small-town chancer to those movers and shakers who control the economies of nations.

Money is important;it is not evil-it is a neutral substance

I think he asks many valid questions but this is the wrong question. It is not whether it is the love of money or the ignorance thereof that is the root of evil. The question(s) for Christians, and those who still have a moral framework, is whether money is important in life, whether Money is intrinsically evil, and if not, how best to put it to use in this life? Believe it or not, many Christians still have this view that money is evil because of a simple misquote of the scripture mentioned-you hear “money is the root of all evil“which is not what the text says- as well as a failure to understand the prosperity that is inherently promised to those in a covenant with God. I have studied Bible and money as a theme, both privately and in Bible College, so I simply share my opinion. I do not have space in this post to give a detailed exegesis on the subject, but suffice it to say that I can categorically affirm that God is more than ok with Christians having money-even prospering.

Jesus spoke more on money than on heaven and hell combined. Why? Because it is clear from Biblical texts (e.g the Parable of the Talents) that your money represents your Life and what you do with it represents who you are. So money is not evil. Money is immensely important. Christians and religious people lose out when they separate spiritual from physical and say “money isn’t important”. God is interested in both. Money itself is neutral-it can be used for great and glorious purposes or for evil purposes. It takes on the character of its owners.

Poor financial education is a modern evil: it is bad for for all but the rich

What Robert Kiyosaki is right in saying in his book Rich Dad’s Conspiracy of the Rich: The 8 New Rules of Money is that lack of financial education is a bad, even evil, thing. As he says in his introduction to the book “One of the causes of this financial crisis is that most people do not know the difference between good financial advice from bad financial advice. Most people cannot tell the difference between a good financial advisor from a con man. Most people cannot tell the difference between a good investment from a bad one. Most people go to school so that they can get a good job, work hard, pay taxes…and hand over any extra money to a financial planner-or an expert like Bernie Madoff.” He then also points out something very relevant to today with people losing their houses, and a point he made in his seminal book Rich Dad, Poor Dad.  “Most people are in trouble today because they believed their home was an asset, when it was really a liability.”

So one of the conclusions one draws from this book is that those with financial literacy will not so easily fall prey to dishonest or deceived financial advisers. I don’t know if I would go so far as Kiyosaki and suggest the above are tools of the uber-rich in that they sell products like mutual funds which make the rich richer but do not make you much richer;but I do know enough about the Financial Services industries in countries like the U.K, where I briefly practised as a financial adviser, that the salesmen of financial products often know nothing about investment or business themselves, and live off pay check to pay check whilst advising people of wealth and means. Whether one can believe that there is a “conspiracy” from reading this book is hard to say. Kiyosaki admits that conspiracy theories are a dime a dozen, but then seems to freely opine that there is a conspiracy of the rich today. Ironically Kiyosaki himself is a rich man but he has become so by shrewd investments, helping people through educating them on financial matters, and because he had a “rich Dad”, someone who mentored him on financial matters. He made mistakes, but he used those mistakes to learn from and teach others;also he was able to discern the wood from the trees in the world of financial instruments and jargon, which most of us are not.

The Federal Reserve

For example (and this is something I did know already) most people do not know that the Federal Reserve in America, is neither federal, nor American, and it doesn’t have much reserves, and is not a bank. As he says “Once the Fed was in place, there were two sets of rules when it came to money: One set of rules for people who work for money and another set of rules for the rich who print money“.

I do not have Kiyosaki’s financial knowledge but I do share with him the belief (which I have held for the last fifteen years) that we are headed for a Depression (hence the title of my blog); that the causes of the great depression are similar to those of the recent economic downturn, and reading books like this will help you prepare for it.  Whether there is a “conspiracy” of the rich I doubt personally-I think the rich (like the poor) generally gravitate to their own kind, without consciously “conspiring” to do so, but you can click here for “Conspiracy of the Rich” to draw your own conclusions.

For a look at other useful Wealth creation books (including “Conspiracy of the Rich“,go to johnreason.com

John Reason,
Salesman, teacher, article writer, Internet Marketer.
© 2010
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