HOW DOES IT END? Investing can be somewhat risky without guidelines as to what the future holds. Indeed, one branch of investing is called the "Futures Market." Investors speculate on the future price of grains or cattle or hogs as they buy "futures contracts." If they guess well, they can turn a profit. There are sources of information sometimes overlooked by investors. Important information on "How Does it End?" can be found in certain reference books. It ends like Daniel says in the Book of Daniel. It ends like John said in the Book of Revelation. It ends like Jesus said in Matthew chapter 24: "And you'll hear of wars and rumors of wars. Nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in various places. All these are the beginning of sorrows. And then many shall be offended, and shall betray each other, and shall hate each other. And many false prophets shall arise, and deceive many. And because sin shall be abundant, the love of many shall grow cold. Therefore when you see the abomination of desolation, spoken about by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoever reads, let him understand,) Then let those who are in Judea flee into the mountains, Let him that is on the housetop not come down to take anything out of his house, Neither let him that is in the field return back to take his clothes. For then there shall be great tribulation, such as hasn't been since the beginning of the world until that time, no, nor ever shall be. Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give its light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken. Now learn a parable from the fig tree, when its branch is yet tender, and puts out leaves, you know that summer is near. So likewise you, when you see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors. But as the days of Noah were, so also shall the coming of the Son of man be. For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, And didn't know until the flood came, and took them all away, so also shall the coming of the Son of man be. But know this, that if the householder had known at what time the thief would come, he would have stayed awake, and would not have allowed his house to be broken up." According to the book of Revelation, during the "great tribulation" there will be the "mark of the beast," in the hand, or in the forehead. Those who won't take the mark of the beast can't buy or sell. So, best to take the mark, right? No, because those who take it are damned. In his book, "The Vision," the late David Wilkerson wrote that one of the main things coming is financial confusion. "Distress of nations with perplexity," said Jesus. In his book, "How to be led by the Spirit of God," Kenneth E. Hagin told of an investor who never made a bad investment. At his house, the man had a large, walk-in closet. When it was time to do more investing, the man would go into his closet and pray for guidance about what to invest in. He might come out for a bite to eat, or to catch a little shut-eye, but he would go back to the closet until he had an answer. And he never lost money on his investments. This kind of guidance puts an investor in a position of advantage over his fellow investors not familiar with this strategy. But it would be important, when doing the praying, to be sure to pray to the correct God. Otherwise, the strategy will fail. Prior to the stock market crash of 1929, there was another, smaller crash of 1907. Safeguards were put into place after the 1907 crash, and safeguards after the 1929 crash, hoping to prevent a future crash. Safeguards that were removed in the deregulation of the early 21st century. Thus, the financial crash of 2008. History repeating itself. An investment area often overlooked is Luke 6:38--"Give, and it shall be given to you, good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over shall men give into your bosom." This is a safer investment than some of the investments people are making these days. Using this method, of course, depends on whether the investor relies on the words of Jesus. There's another investment where a hundredfold return is promised. So, at a return of a hundredfold, $100 invested would produce $10,000. Or, $1,000 invested would produce $100,000. That investment is found in Mark chapter 10. "Truly I say to you, there is no man that has left house, or brothers, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my sake, and the gospel's, but he shall receive a hundred fold now in this time, houses, and brothers, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands..." Investments are considered very good if they produce a profit of 10%. So then, an investment that returns a hundredfold outshines most other investments. Investors who disregard the scriptures place themselves at a serious disadvantage. Fred Hoehn, www.livingwater.bugs3.com