Wednesday, April 22, 2026. Today is the end of the two-week ceasefire in the war between Iran and the US conglomerate. Presumably, this was entered into to give the warring parties time to work out a satisfactory solution but because each came to the table with unconditional demands about which they would not compromise, nothing was accomplished. However, just the other day, Donald Trump unilaterally extended the “ceasefire” by an indefinite amount of time while issuing blustering threats about what would happen if Iran did not come to its senses and knuckle under, which really amounted to just another unconditional demand which was rejected immediately. No diplomacy there, no genuine desire to see the war ended, just more pompous, bully-pulpit Truth Social thundering denunciations and proclamations.

In the meantime, the Strait of Hormuz is still off limits to free passage by ships carrying oil, natural gas, urea, and multiple other products, all of which are essential to the continued health, wealth, and well-being of the entire world and may result in economic depression on a scale never before seen, eclipsing even that of the Great Depression of the 1930’s. Whether this happens or not remains to be seen, but it is virtually certain that there will be very serious repercussions and consequences which may not be apparent now but will be evident in the near future.

“When disruptions strike the deepest layers of the global economy, their consequences do not arrive with spectacle but with delay. The most destabilizing feature of a systemic shock is often not its immediate violence but the deceptive calm that follows it. Cargo vessels already underway continue to reach their destinations, warehouses continue to dispatch inventory manufactured months earlier, and supermarket shelves remain stocked with goods produced in a previous season under conditions that no longer exist. This temporal inertia creates an illusion of stability at precisely the moment when the foundations of that stability are eroding. In the case of escalating conflict affecting energy infrastructure across the Gulf and maritime passage through the Strait of Hormuz, the world is experiencing this quiet interval between cause and consequence, a period in which daily life appears normal while the logistical arteries of the global system are progressively constricted.” — https://billkloss.law.blog/2026/04/20/the-global-economy-is-closer-to-collapse-than-anyone-wants-to-admit/

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It is not my intention to try to predict how the war will progress. There are more than enough experts and pundits who will do that. I can only guess (and am often wrong) as to what Trump, Netanyahu, & Co. will do next and can only speculate how the IRGC, Mullah, Inc. will respond, but I am certain of one thing. Like the Covid regime fraud and catastrophe which recently occurred (you haven’t forgotten that already, have you?), this instance of force and violence will not simply revert back to normal once the “dogs of war” are leashed and kenneled again. The consequences will be with us for a long time and it is simply foolish and naive to believe and act in a Pollyanna-like fashion. The future IS going to be different from what we are accustomed to and we should be focusing our attention, not on who wins the next election, but on getting our own personal affairs in order because we know that there’s a bad moon rising.

In the parable of the ten virgins, five wise and five foolish (Matthew 25: 1-13), Jesus gave fair warning that we should be alert, ready, and prepared for the eventual arrival of the bridegroom. This is taken by many people as a reference to His second coming and (presumed) Rapture of the Church before, during, or after all Hell breaks loose on Earth, which I will admit can be seen that way if you lean toward that theology. However, there is another interpretation which has nothing to do with that, but is extremely relevant to our situation: the “coming” mentioned in v. 13 can be seen as the natural and logical progression of events as seen from the perspective of a courtroom trial in which judgment is declared on actions already taken, guilt or innocence pronounced, and a sentence rendered on those found guilty. It is not necessary for the “bridegroom” to be physically present at all, but does promote the truth that there will be severe consequences for those who refuse to accept the truth that “…your sin will find you out…” and that we can live any way we like without dire repercussion. Put more simply, if you do this, that will happen. The Law of sowing and reaping cannot be ignored nor circumvented forever.

As individuals, cultures, societies, and nations, we have become accustomed to “falling asleep” and allowing situations to drift while we dreamed, more concerned with the promise of future benefits than with the reality of present-day living which guaranteed that devastating conditions would arise because of our preoccupation with the “good life” and worship of a System which proposed to give us anything we wanted if we would bow down and worship it. Which we did, for years, decades, and centuries. That System is now crumbling and will, in all probability, be replaced by something which may be far worse.

The upshot of this is that we cannot view this parable exclusively from a pie-in-the-sky sense of spirituality, but must consider what it means in the here-and-now. As a world, we have spent our time, treasure, and wealth, trying to gain power and control over others, regardless what it cost, and are now finding out that the verdict is not going to be issued in our favor. Everything we have done to build a McMansion for ourselves, a Tower of Babel from which we can never be dislodged, a prosperous future based on a sea of lies, is now collapsing into a quagmire of quicksand which is threatening to suck us under and there is nothing we can do about it, except to be personally prepared for it, filling our reservoir of “oil” so that we will not be caught flat-footed nor absent when the full effect of the sentence imposed falls on us.

Jesus is not coming back to snatch us out of the sinful mess which we have created for ourselves. There is not going to be any supernatural “rescue” of those who hold to a particular religious ideology and viewpoint. We are going to experience the full weight and consequences of our own rebellious actions against the Word of God which compels us to love our neighbors and our enemies as much as we love ourselves. Because we have refused this order, Judgement Day is upon us and what is coming is going to hurt. It is going to be painful It is going to cause enormous difficulty to our preconceived notions of what it means to be Christian and we can either submit to it in faith and trust, believing that our Father, Who administers the “spanking” has our best interests at heart OR we can continue to believe that a rich “daddy” will bail us out of any conceivable disaster which we have brought upon ourselves.

We can bear the suffering and change our ways OR we can fight back and resist which will only result in a more severe beating. This is the choice before us and we will make a decision–one way or the other. Choose wisely.