Category Archives: Steven Menking

The Night When No Man Can Work – Steven Menking

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I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work.
John 9:4

These are the words of Jesus Christ. Here Jesus first declares His imperative to perform the will of God the Father. The second statement, a future tense proclamation with prophetic undertones, is more challenging to understand. Interpretations of this night when no man can work are numerous and varied. I believe that this verse is multifaceted. The night could refer to the death of Jesus specifically, death in general, the new heavens and new earth where our work will cease, a time during the Great Tribulation where because of either Satan’s wrath or God’s wrath our work will not be possible, or even several among these and others not listed here. I don’t claim to offer a definitive interpretation of this verse, but I’d like to pose a question that the Holy Spirit has laid on my heart.

What if there is soon coming a time when the disruption of the global financial system leads to a general inability to work?

When I began to ponder the potential practical and economic implications of the verse several other questions arose…

What happens if the credit cycle freezes for a month?
What happens if the unemployment rate goes to 100%?
What happens if our ability to work out God’s calling in our lives is interrupted?
How should we act in light of these possibilities?

I won’t be able to address all the aspects of these complex questions here, so instead I’ll offer some thoughts and considerations from scripture and then provide some encouragement to my brothers and sisters in Christ on that last and most important topic: what we should do.

If you have responded to the call of God then you have taken on an incredible role as a child of the King and a bondservant of Christ. In order for the love of God to be made manifest, we have been created with free will. Love inevitably involves choice simply by definition. Suppose we program a computer to say ‘I love you’ whenever a particular command is entered. Even if we hear those words millions of times in such a manner true love will have never entered into the equation. God loves us so far beyond our capacity to imagine that even the degree to which our understanding is eclipsed is beyond our comprehension. You could even call it a known unknown unknown. We know that we don’t know how much we don’t know. Eat your heart out Donald Rumsfeld!

As part of the parable of the wedding feast, Jesus makes a remarkable statement:

For many are called, but few are chosen.
Matthew 22:14

Responding to the call of God is on the short list of the most important and valuable things that you can do in this life. Few are chosen because we have the free will to ignore the calling that God has given us. Sadly many of us ignore God totally, most of us ignore God for extended periods of time, and all of us – if we’re honest with ourselves – ignore God in intervals and moments.

But what is the calling of God? Let’s again go to the Word of God made flesh, Jesus Himself:

And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.
Mark 8:34

Notice how Jesus literally called the people as well as the disciples. The call to take up our crosses is universal. There is but one way to God. Believe on Jesus Christ, the Son of God, His death, burial, and resurrection, and follow Him.

But weren’t we talking about economics? What’s the relevance of all this calling stuff?

Don’t miss this: believe it or not we never stopped talking about economics. Economics at its most basic concerns how we deal with scarce resources. Our primary scarce resource in this life is this life itself. Time is the scarcest resource because we’ll never know how much of it we have. Today is the day of salvation. Tomorrow is not promised. As such, economics is concerned with virtually all of the decisions we make during our lives, including the eternally critical decision whether or not to follow the calling of God.

Through following God’s calling we know that we are called to follow God. However, each of our callings is definitively unique. My calling is different than yours even though they have many similarities – such as all three parts of Mark 8:34 listed above. God can call you to be a preacher, but the vast majority of Christians are not called to professional ministry. We are all called to be disciples of Christ, but we can also be called to be doctors, teachers, athletes, politicians, scientists, lawyers, sailors, cashiers, salespeople, musicians, bankers, miners, artists, writers, business owners, mechanics, homemakers, judges, assistants, nurses, and thousands more.

I believe there is coming a time when no man can work. I don’t know exactly what that would look like, but it won’t be pretty. But be encouraged brethren. While there is daylight left, while there is still time for you to respond to the call of God, while others still need to be saved, while the Holy Spirit still convicts us, and while we can still advance the Kingdom of God regardless of the position we have been called to, it is our responsibility to work with diligence and fervency.

After looking at the global financial landscape for as long as I have, I can tell you that a sense of urgency has developed toward my work. Take note: urgency is not the same as panic. We should be diligent and focused on accomplishing the tasks that God has given us, but that doesn’t mean that the Holy Spirit can’t still provide us with patience, peace, calm, joy, and rest in Christ as well.

Answer God’s call. Press in to Jesus through the Word, prayer, and work. After all, God’s promises are sure, and that includes this one:

He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much
Luke 16:10

A great reward will be ours both in this life and the next if we rely on God to give us the ability to accomplish His calling and purpose for our lives. Let us endure to the end, run the race, and fight the good fight of faith my brothers and sisters in Christ!

For more great insights from Steven visit his website The Amateur Society here.

What Does Digital Physics Have To Do With Hanjin Shipping? – Steven Menking

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No, fellow amateurs, I have not delved into a John Nash style madness a la ‘A Beautiful Mind’. However, I may in fact out myself as a quintessential nerd by admitting that when the movie came out and I was 13 I wept at the loss of intellectual genius portrayed in the film. I’d like to blame hormone imbalances due to puberty, but instead I’ll just own up to it. After all, I’m going to be writing about digital physics here, so we’re getting into some unorthodox, nerdy material in any case.

What is digital physics?

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The Dog Whistle Point, Faith, and ‘The Voyage of Life’ – Steven Menking

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Amateurs,

We’re living during a temporal juncture that has a certain ethereal quality to it. It’s almost like when you take a hearing test and the increasing pitch of the sound exceeds your hearing threshold and goes into dog whistle territory. You are simultaneously cognizant that a sound is still being generated and that it is no longer audible. You know that there is something to be heard, but you don’t hear it.

This summer has seen incredible, unbelievable, and shocking events from all quarters, yet it seems as if for all this stimulus there is little to no response. By now it should be obvious to anyone paying attention that our primary institutions of government, finance, and media here in the US are terminally corrupt at best and overtly criminal at worst. For all of the startling revelations it appears that the general populace is content to let events that even a decade ago would have generated national outcry simply roll off their shoulders.

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The Final Swan – Steven Menking

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For nothing is secret, that shall not be made manifest; neither any thing hid, that shall not be known and come abroad.

Mark 4:17

I haven’t been as active as usual for the past two weeks. This is mostly because I needed to be refreshed. Following global events and analysis in real time is cognitively, emotionally, and spiritually taxing. While I toned down my efforts, some absolutely incredible events have taken place. The status quo has proven itself profoundly robust to new information that should be earth-shattering. Perhaps this stands as a testimony of the general obliviousness of a populace subject to 24/7 propaganda. Maybe, just maybe, it’s something else. Can you feel the tension? Can you sense the desperation? Can you see the truth?

The NSA has been hacked and it’s cyberwarfare weapons are up for auction

George Soros was hacked and his geopolitical influence exposed

Contradicting Obama, the State Department admitted that it paid $400M in ransom to Iran

Russia is now bombing ISIS from Iran

Turkey announced a deeper partnership with Russia via the Turkish Stream oil pipeline

1,000 year flood in Louisiana due to a stationary storm system

Hillary Clinton’s questionable health came into the spotlight

Julian Assange’s lawyer apparently killed himself via a train

The DoD Inspector General found that the Pentagon can’t account for $6.5 TRILLION

And on and on it goes. In my opinion we’re seeing the cracks in the facade become the tremors that precede the earthquake. It seems like people will brush off one thing after another of any degree of seriousness unless they wake up to find the stock market imploded or World War III begun. However, if you can see the trends you’ll notice that the unprecedented is now a weekly – or even daily – occurrence.

The United States has lost the Middle East

With Turkey swinging to Russia after the failed coup, the new Turkish Stream pipeline deal in place, the Russians beginning aerial bombardments from Iran, the Yemenis failing to roll over to the Saudis, the US signing a nuclear accord only to have Iran demand and receive ransom for political prisoners while chanting ‘Death to America’, and now the Chinese getting more seriously involved in the affairs of the region, it is past time that everyone acknowledges that the neoconservative plan implemented during George W. Bush’s tenure and escalated under Obama’s is now a ruinous heap. Mission failed. PNAC is over. The 21st Century will not be another American century. The Pax Americana is finished. The Middle East is under new management.

This is an historic development made more dramatic by its amazing rapidity and limited visibility. Ask your friends about Incirlik and see what they say. Shouldn’t it be front page news that the US is no longer the arbiter of power in such a strategically important sphere? It is everywhere but the US. It’s time that we here in Amaruca recognize that no matter what we say and what tantrums we throw (former Deputy Director of the CIA demonstrates our insane geopolitical logic) that the idea of our sole hegemony is an outdated relic.

The truth is bubbling to the surface

Lies are fragile. The web of deception that has been built up over decades and centuries has persisted because of the ability to compartmentalize and control information. Total informational control is no longer possible.

The truth is potent. Sometimes all it takes is one truth to obliterate an armada of lies. When we see the State Department have to walk back a now-blatant falsehood from Mr. Obama about paying Iran $400M ransom in cash in less than a week – while it is still in the same news cycle no less – we know that there is an acceleration of the truth.

Hacks, leaks, and other data dumps are exposing plainly that plenty of hypothesis dismissed as conspiratorial are actually fact. In order to avoid tumbling down the rabbit hole of tens of thousands of emails and documents and communications, I’ll leave it at this: we’re seeing an escalation of volcanic activity in the truth department. When the real eruption will occur is anybody’s guess.

Despite all this, we’re still…

In more normal times, any one of the topics discussed would command the strict attention of the entire nation and a comprehensive, actionable solution would be demanded. We are not in normal times. The “new normal” is a garbage twist on words and a vain attempt to explain away why the structure of society is deteriorating.

In this summer we’ve been fed a steady diet of other shoes, black swans, and last straws. Yet the facade persists. I can’t shake the feeling that there is something else in store. Maybe it’s the Final Swan: a black swan, feet adorned with the other shoes and wings made of straw. An inelegant picture perhaps, but it does have the inevitability of Icarus in its imagery.

If any amateurs out there put together some concept art for the Final Swan – patent pending – email it to amateursociety@gmail.com. For the record, I’d prefer an actual swan to Natalie Portman, but far be it from me to impose any formal creative limitations. After all, I’m an amateur too.

This artricle was posted originally on The Amateur Society here.

Thoughts from Just Before the Fall – Steven Menking

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With August coming to a close and the fall season shortly at hand, I have a few observations to make:

1. It is becoming clear to more and more people that the primary narratives in essentially every area of our lives are nothing but lies and propaganda.

Cognitive dissonance levels are so far off the charts right now that a new descriptive term may be necessary that goes beyond total denial. The severity of the narrative contortions going on currently points directly to a troubling yet all too real prospect: spiritual blindness.

Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch.
Matthew 15:14

In the Bible there are many instances where madness and blindness have come upon the leaders of a land. Nebuchadnezzar was stricken with what we would now refer to in newspeak as ‘mental health issues’ when he was driven from the throne and lived in the wild like an animal in Daniel 4.

Returning to the present, we have Hillary Clinton calling out InfoWars and the “Alt-Right” and decrying everyone questioning any aspect of her campaign, health, record, or history as a conspiracy theorist while BleachBit brags about ‘wiping’ her email servers. We also see that there are real consequences to asking questions and making statements against obvious corruption and cover-ups. Just ask Dr. Drew or Seth Rich. Hopefully InfoWars is too high profile to interrupt through covert means without overplaying a hand that ultimately engenders grassroots support for the “Alt-Right”, but that conclusion unfortunately rests on the assumption that we’re dealing with sane people. We are not.

It’s tricky to claim incessantly that everyone else is lying about everything in the face of clear and direct evidence. You can attempt to bury evidence and refuse to deal with realities like the influence of George Soros on global politics, but people just aren’t buying the lies anymore. The information is available for free in the public domain, and you can’t fool all of the people all of the time. Any day now I’m expecting a poll to come out showing that people don’t trust polls. I suppose that makes me a lunatic for questioning the objectivity of our institutions. Surely they are fully unbiased, follow proper methodologies, and get everything right.

I’m not “Alt-Right”. I’m a Christian who knows how statistics can be manipulated in unscrupulous hands and understands the law of noncontradiction, the law of the excluded middle, and the false choice fallacy.

Why isn’t an understanding of basic logic a universal requirement in our educational system?

Let’s save that for another time. Brexit showed us that people are awake now. The information war is being won in small battles. The truth will win because all lies ultimately fall apart. There is nothing hidden that won’t come to light. Hopefully we will see things for what they are before it’s too late.

2. After the quietest month in financial markets in a lifetime, things are about to heat up again and the central bank saviors are either totally clueless or entirely complicit.

Realized volatility is the lowest in a lifetime. It shouldn’t be a surprise to readers that stock indexes are currently out of touch with reality, but we’ve gone past the point where anything could be described as reasonable. Interestingly enough, this situation of hyper insanity that ignores all risk potential is a necessary step before reality can set back in. Investors have lost their memory of a properly functioning system because they haven’t seen a real market in decades. The younger batch have never seen one.

So what does the Federal Reserve think?

Well, out at Jackson Hole, Janet Yellen said a whole lot of nothing and then multiple Fed goons came out with contradicting statements. It’s all just diversionary tactics. We know that Stanley Fischer is the real power at the Fed and that Janet Yellen is a prop. We know that the Exchange Stabilization Fund controls price action in all financial arenas with off book money. We know that the Fed is not an independent institution.

With that in mind, let’s see what the Fed thinks about interest rates in the future. Make sure you’re sitting down. Here’s the key graph:

These people really know what they’re doing: look at all that precision and confidence! If this doesn’t make you chuckle then you may want to go elsewhere for your economic commentary. Even more amusing is the Fed’s Facebook disaster. Check out the comments people are leaving on their Facebook page. Take a look soon because it might not be up for long. The result of this experiment gone wrong really does give me hope for humanity.

The jig is up. When the next pressure is applied to the economy in the form of a recession the Fed may need to print $4 trillion to mitigate it. It says something that even Bloomberg is reporting on this and questioning the Fed. But don’t worry everyone: Paul Krugman says everything will be fine and he won a Nobel Prize in Economics! Now we’re just waiting on the The Final Swan to land and the global reset to occur.

We’re going into an interesting season.

3. Most importantly, get right with God.

Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him.
1 John 3:15

The climate of hate, disunity, strife, anger, resentment, bitterness, and unforgiveness that we are experiencing is truly poisonous. We can’t remove these things from our hearts in our own strength. Only God can deliver us from these prisons. Jesus Christ came to set the captives free and he is able to deliver you from these things that eat us up from the inside out. Surrender to the Lord in all things and He is faithful to begin and complete a work of purification in your life. It may not be instantaneous. It’s usually a long, delicate process. Yet continue to pray for your faith to be strengthened. He is able.

The New Testament teaches that a state of hatred in your heart and soul is equivalent to murder and that a state of lust in your heart and soul is equivalent to adultery. Those are hard lessons to learn if we are in either one of those prisons. Give it to God. Only He is able to deliver. We have all fallen short of the glory of God. We must forgive in order to be forgiven.

So who is our brother?

This epistle was written to the church, and we know all followers of Jesus are brothers and sisters in Christ adopted into the family of God. A brother isn’t necessarily a blood relative, a fellow countryman, or a member of the same ethnic group. We need to stand for truth, but we must do it in love – even if we are rejected – to show the world the love that God has shown us. We don’t have the ability to do that naturally. We must be supernaturally empowered by God to represent Him properly. Take everything to the Lord in prayer. Give everything over to Him. Let Jesus set you free.

If you’re still with me, perhaps you’ll entertain a thought I’ve had recently that I just can’t shake… We should pray for Hillary Clinton. Let me elaborate before I get taken to task. What an incredible testimony it would be if she were to be miraculously saved by Jesus and then stood up for righteousness and came out with the truth about the inner workings of political corruption in our nation that she has voluminous understanding of as a consummate insider for an entire lifetime. We know a tree by its fruits, so we know she needs Jesus. We also know that all things are possible for God. If this were to happen an untold number of the enemy’s plans would be ruined.

Remember who Saul was before he became Paul.

Perhaps another Road to Damascus moment is in the cards made wondrously poetic in light of the literal destruction of that historical city as a result of US foreign policy during her tenure at the State Department.

Look to Jesus. He is an ever present help in time of need. Have faith and be encouraged. Even if things get stormy know that God is still with each and every one of His children.

This article was originally posted August 26, 2016 on The Amateur Society website here.