2017 will be history soon as the people around the world welcome 2018 in a week or so.

As I reflect on 2017 there are many incidents, trends and signs that alarmed(and still alarming) me:

Conflict in Syria

The war-torn country of Syria has been a chessboard for foreign powers such as America, Russia, China, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Iran. Middle East is the powder keg for regional war because of historical, religious and economical reasons. Regional war can easily morph into global war.

Nuclear crisis in North Korea

The continuous missile testings from North Korea have occupied the mainstream headlines for the latter part of this year.  What worries me is the attitude of Communist China.  China has been preparing their troops for a possible war with US, should Trump ordered a preemptive strike against North Korea.  If war erupts between US and North Korea, China might seize the opportunity to invade Taiwan and impose further military dominance in South China sea.  Should a nuclear device being denoted in North America or North Korea, the fallout of nuclear disaster would be the nightmare of several generations.

Rise and fall of Cryptocurrencies

I recently learned that the idea of cryptocurrency such as “Bitcoin” was discussed as early as 1997 by NSA.  Please Read:
Evidence points to Bitcoin being an NSA-engineered psyop to roll out one-world digital currency

What an eye opener!  As much as I admire the idea of blockchain technology that could potentially free us from the over-reaching of central bankers and governments, it could be the tool that would enslave humanity in the coming anti-Christ beast system.  As of this writing, Bitcoin has dropped from its peak of close to $20,000 to $14,000.  Other alt-coins share extremely similar price pattern with Bitcoin.  Ultimately, as I have warned on this site, cryptocurrency is a highly risky business and one has to be prepared to lose all his investment, much like playing with options and futures.

I have read reports that people are taking out mortgage loans and maxing out their credit cards to  buy cryptocurrencies.  To me, this is a sign that the crypto market could collapse soon.

Discrimination against Christian in Western countries

Christians in the western countries have been routinely discriminated and demonized by mainstream media, liberal governments and LGBT communities.  Christians are criticized for opposing legalization of abortion and same-sex marriage through avenues of peaceful protest, prayers and expressing personal views on personal web channels.  Yet, all over the world Muslims terrorists have been expressing their religious beliefs by smashing into crowds or chopping heads off the innocents while yelling “allah akbar”.

 Strangely, no media or LGBT communities dare to impose the charge of “hate crime” onto these Muslims terrorists.

Canada, under the leadership of  LGBT-Muslim-friendly Trudeau and Ontario, under the leadership of lesbian Wayne, have been waging war against Christians since the Liberal government took power.  From passing Bill C-279, Bill 28, Bill 89, the lawmakers have stripped away traditional parental rights and religious freedom while forcing the acceptance of gender ideology and socialism onto the general population.

Canada is definitely NOT a Christian nation because the government is starting to marginalize Christian ministries and churches to practice their faith.  For example:

• Canada bans summer job grants to pro-life employers
• Trinity Western University refused by law societies
• Atlanta fire chief was fired because of his Christian faith

I expect the persecution will intensify in year 2018 and I pray that our Christian readers keep on praying and stand strong in their faith.  Our Lord is coming back soon!

Widespread use of AI, virtual reality and robots

The Fourth Industrial Revolution is on the door stop.  In fact, we are in its initial stage.  The rapid adoption of “artificial intelligence, robotics, the Internet of Things, autonomous vehicles, 3D printing, quantum computing and nanotechnology” across all aspects of businesses will undoubtedly revolutionize our daily lives, again.

My wife is a critic of the previous 3 industrial revolutions.  She believes that factories, mass production and digitization of data are a curse to humankind rather than blessing.  Truth to be told, she is right on the money.

We read that greedy entrepreneurs lure farmers to work in factories and live in cities with poor conditions.  We read that workers in mass production facilities earn meager wages with long hours.  We read that people today are engulfed in texting, entertainment, electronics and consumerism.  People gladly give up their liberty and privacy in exchange for convenience.

We have lost the essential life skills that our great-grandparents/grandparents once possessed.  Instead, we rely heavily on huge corporations and governments – the “grid”.  As a result, the governments and international corporations keep expanding their realm of influence and ubiquitous surveillance on our lives.

Do we really have more “time” for ourselves, our families and others while being surrounded by these high-tech, “smart” gadgets?

As AI machines become smarter and eventually outsmart humans, nobody can predict what a supercomputer would do.  It only takes 4 hours for an AI machine to learn chess from scratch to beat a world class chessmaster.  We are creating a monster that we cannot control.

The automation of production using robots will put millions of people out of work.  Although the idea of universal basic income for everyone sounds like a good idea, it will utterly destroy the society.  People without meaningful work will be depressed and become desperate.  It is work that gives us value, dignity and satisfaction.

People are already addicted to the cyber world where one can hide or disguise his identity.  Fake news are also prevalent and easily fabricated on the internet with spiral effect.  Now comes virtual reality.  I am afraid that people can no longer distinguish what is real and what is not.  Remember the mayhem that pokemon go  brought to us last year?  Young people are especially susceptible to this highly stimulating technology.

I am worried that people will totally lose their common sense and the ability to distinguish between right and wrong (which most people are already lack of).

Earthquakes, volcanoes and mini ice age

Volcanoes eruption and high magnitude earthquakes have increased rapidly for the past decade.  Many scientists warn that the “Big one” is looming.

It seems that from historical record that the earth has a cooling and heating cycle.  According to John Casey, authors of book Cold Sun and Dark Winter, the sun has a cycle of 206 years and the temperatures will bottom out in around 2030.  In other words, we are approaching a mini ice age.  Crops will fail, winter will be colder than usual with heavy snowfall while summer will be short and cool.  There will be mass migration to warmer regions around the equator.  A quick interesting reading can be found here.

The earth condition is worsening.  Climate changes, natural and man-made disasters will intensify.  Prepare, prepare and prepare.

Most importantly, prepare your heart to accept and walk with Jesus Christ because His word has told us these things will happen (read Matthew Chapter 24).  Christians, be not dismay because this is our final tests of our faithfulness toward our God!

The best part of the story?  God wins and we are partakers of the victory.  Despite of all the alarming signs, the coming challenges present a great opportunity for soul winning.  As societies fall apart because of wars, famines, earthquakes and pestilence, people will seek answers and comfort.  The Bible has ALL the answers.

Even so, come quickly Lord Jesus.