 Is there more behind inflation than meets the eye? Economist Jerry Boyer reveals what's really behind the soaring prices and why inflation is a moral violation, plus the practical ways to be inflation-free. Pastor Gary Metric breaks down what the Bible has to say about thriving during these economic times. Get ready. The premiere of Cornerstone Television Network's new prophetic series, Signs of the Time, starts right now. Welcome to Signs of the Times, where we are gonna talk about what God is saying in the prophetic now. You know, there's a reasoning behind this show and it's gonna give you a spiritual perspective of the days that we're living. You know, there's a lot going on in this world and you can see it through your own lens or you can see it through the lens of which it is that God is doing. You know, God has a plan in the midst of everything that's going on and today we're gonna be talking about inflation and how you can find victory in every era of your life. So what's wrong with inflation? Does it line up with Jesus' teaching? What does the scripture say about thriving during these hard economic times? All that and more is coming right up. Well, I'm so excited because in the midst of these hard economic times and everything that's going on, there is a word. God has a message and he wants you to have his perspective on what's going on and we've got a phenomenal man of God with us here today. I call him the Holy Ghost Economist because not only does he understand the economy and what's going on in it, he also has a perspective from God's lens and view in the prophetic now of what's going on. Jerry Boyer, so good to be back here with you. Jay, my friend, great to be with you again. Signs of the times. It's amazing that in the midst of everything that's going on, what I love about it, Jerry, is that God wants us to know his perspective of what's going on. Yeah, and he hasn't been silent on these things. Now, maybe the church is silent, but that doesn't mean that Jesus is silent or the Holy Spirit is silent in giving us the scriptures and in guiding his church after the giving of the scriptures. And there's actually a tremendous amount of material in the Bible about money, about finance, about economics and especially about inflation. One of the principal ideas in the Torah is that unjust weights and measures are an abomination to the Lord. An abomination to the Lord. Comes up in the prophets, comes up in Malachi, comes up in Amos, comes up in Isaiah, your gold has become dross. For example, you've made your shekel heavy. But what happened is that there would be cheating when it comes to the currency. So the value of the shekel would be changed based on what people in government wanted to do. And what that means is if you're producing more, if you're watering down, if you take gold and you mix it and you melt it down and you mix it with lead, you have more coins. And then the government can spend more coins and it has more spending power. But what you've really done is you've debased the value of each coin in circulation. And Isaiah talks about that. Amos warns that it was leading to mass slavery. People couldn't keep up with the inflationary prices and so the poor were sold for the price of a set of shoes. They couldn't keep up with their spending because of the inflation. And they had therefore sold themselves into slavery. So the Bible talks about this a lot. And Jesus is a prophet. He's prophet, priest and king. So he's our savior and we know that. We have a lot of emphasis on that. He's our king that maybe gets a little less emphasis, but he's no less king than he is savior. And he's also a prophet. So he's not less than Isaiah or Amos or Malachi, which means he also is talking about these things. If we have eyes to see and ears to hear, there are little details in the gospels where he confronts the money changers, for example. But we might not know that. Like if I talk to you about $5 a gallon gasoline or $6 a gallon gasoline, it's like, oh, you know what that means. That's high, right? So if I had said to you three years ago, we're gonna get $5 a gallon gasoline. You'd say, oh, gasoline's gonna go up. If we say $5 a pound ground beef, oh, that's high. We know those numbers. But if we see Jesus confronting the money changers and paying the temple tax, and he goes out and has Peter grab a stulture from the mouth of a fish to pay the temple tax, is that high or low? We don't know their prices. We don't know their world. Well, it's high, you know, it's double. It's a doubling of the price. So every time somebody went to do business with the temple, they went to the money changers and there was an inflationary price on the shekel. So they were getting ripped off and that's why Jesus gets angry and that's why Jesus calls the temple a den of robbers. Not just because they have a bad attitude or whatever about money or not cause they're doing commerce on the temple grounds but because they're doing crooked commerce. They're cheating. That's what makes them robbers. It's not just that it's inappropriate for them to be doing this in the temple. They wouldn't be robbers, they'd just be in the wrong place. But they're robbers because inflation was robbing the people and the poor most of all and they gave their dove sacrifices which is why Jesus three times singles out the dove merchants for his rebuke because the poor are hurt most when you have inflation. When a rich person during inflation has fewer houses, a poor person during inflation has fewer meals. So it's not equal in impact on everybody. Wow, so that's the reason why Jesus was upset. He's not upset because the church is actually doing any type of business but because they allowed inflation to come into the church. Is that what I'm hearing? Yeah, they had unjust weights and measures. So if you go back and read the details of the Torah, the church, the temple was supposed to be like a place where you worship God but it was also the Bureau of Weights and Measures. So there was a fixed value of the shekel and it's defined in terms of a backup. But we don't know what becas are, right? We don't know that language. And you also look at the Greek translation in terms of a drachma. So you knew how much silver was supposed to be in the shekel. You look at the Torah and then you go later, 1500 years later, Torah of the law, your law of Moses, right, Deuteronomy, Exodus. You go later in the gospels and you look at the details and the price of all of that has doubled because they cheated. Now the scribes and Pharisees, they come up with little cheaty workarounds why it was okay for them to do that. But in the end, they were making change but it wasn't at a fair price. Imagine you went to church and you want to give and there's a little ATM machine, you want to give $100. But the ATM takes $200 out of your account and then you make a $100 contribution. That's what the temple system was operating like. So there was an upsell. That's inflation, that's price inflation. And Jesus warned about it. He warned about the debt and he warned about the inflation. They weren't practicing the Shemit laws, et cetera. And he warned about it and 40 years later, there's a debt revolt because of the inflation and the debt where people can't stand it anymore and they rise up in violence, they kill the high priest, they burn down the hall of public records because they're alienated from the rulers who've been bleeding them dry. The Romans say, we got to deal with this problem. They roll in and Jerusalem's destroyed within a generation. And a lot of that was the inflationary debt spending economy and economic exploitation. Wow. So how does that apply to us today? We get the biblical respect of what was going on in Jesus' day. We know that Jesus didn't like inflation. What does that mean for us as Americans today? And how should we take what you just shared and translate into the 21st century that we're living in today with $5, a gallon gasoline. And matter of fact, I was at the store just a couple of days ago and I was buying, I go to Sam's Club or Costco to get these huge things of paper plates. They were $17 a month ago. They're up to $25. So all this stuff is going up. How are we supposed to look at it? Costco is supposed to kind of control it a little bit. It's a discount place, right? Yeah, exactly. It was everything is going up. What does that mean for us in light of what you're talking about today? Or the portions are going down. Like it's the same price, but the muffin is smaller, right? Shrinkflation, they call that. Well, how does it apply today? Well, first of all, it does apply today. What Jesus said still applies today. He's still king. He's still prophet. He's still savior. It still applies. Number two, it's still robbery. Wow, yeah. Right? I know people want to blame business for this. It's greedy business. Business is getting hurt by this, too. So I don't know where Jesus would turn over tables, but I suspect maybe our central bank would be where he'd start, because that's where the robbery is taking place. They've debased the currency. Why did they debase the currency? Because the government wants to spend. And so how does the government spend? Well, the government borrows. But we're not willing to lend our government that much money anymore. We don't do the savings bond. We're not savers, so we don't lend to the government. So they have to create new money. So the central bank creates new money out of thin air. They call it fiat currency. Fiat means let there be. In the Latin Bible, when God says let there be light, fiat looks. Well, they say let there be money. But only God can create something out of nothing. Government can't. So when they're doing that, when they're creating money out of nothing, what they're really doing is just debasing the currency for the rest of us. So who benefits? Government spenders benefit. Who else benefits? Well, big New York-centered banks are the ones who administer these programs. They run the plumbing for this new money creation. So they benefit the most. So the ruling class, both the government side of it and the financial side, they get that new money. They get that new spending power. And then the money seeps out to the rest of us. And by then it's debased. And we have limited purchasing power. But it's still robbery. It's still a sin. It's still unjust weights and measures. And it's still an abomination. So let me hear you, Sarah. Basically what happens then, the government wants to spend a whole lot more. And so when they start spending more, they run out and so what happened, everything goes up for us so then we can pay for what they're spending. Yeah, unlike us, they have a printing press in the basement. So when they wanna spend more, they print more. But of course- The value of the dollar then goes down. The value of the dollar goes down. Exactly, it's not that scarce. So let me ask you this question. What do we do now? Knowing that, what do we as the church people, what's our responsibility in this day and hour? We see this going on. We see this happening. Like you said, obviously we can't go in and flip over the tables like Jesus did. But what can we do? Well, we can take responsibility for the fact that we didn't take responsibility. This inflation is, we shouldn't think of it as something that just happens or just happens to us. We had a prophetic responsibility to disciple the nations, to teach them to obey everything that Jesus commanded. That's what he said. That's right. This kind of thing. It includes personal salvation. It includes staying away from sexual immorality and pornography and abortion and all that list of things. But every bit as much includes not robbing your neighbor. So you don't like knock over a liquor store. We know that. But when we don't prophetically witness against our government, it's like they're knocking over every store in the country. Everybody, everyone who's using dollars is getting kind of robbed from. It's the church's job to tell the state, you're not God. You're a minister of God. You're there to restrain evil. You're not there to practice evil. So we left a vacuum there. We didn't speak into that. And so we thought of inflation as just like, maybe they did their math wrong or somebody made a mistake. No, it's a system. It's designed to be a system. It benefits them. It hurts us. It's immoral. And we didn't tell them that. Remember what Ezekiel says? If you warn somebody about what God says and then they don't listen, then the bad thing happens, the guilt's on them. But if you don't warn them, then and the bad thing happens, the guilt's on you. So this is kind of ours. Do you think, Jerry, that part of the inflation, you know, we talked before about how inflation is like and a famine or kind of hand in hand. It's a forced fast. We have to get back to what's essential. Do you think that when we're going through times like this, say what God wants us to do is get back to the essentials. What's really important? Maybe it's even in the gospel, getting back to standing up for righteousness, getting back, because you know, I think about 2nd Chronicles 7, verse 14. We say that all the time. And we think that's for like the world. If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray, seek my face, turn from the wicked way. He said, then I'll hear from heaven, forgive their sins and heal their land. Well, if you read up above in verse 13, it talks about pretty much inflation, famine, pestilence, all those things. So when these things are happening, is this an opportunity for us to get back and start seeking the face of God and find out, why are the heavens closed? Why aren't things working and find out what God is saying so we can make the adjustment? Yes, so we can make the adjustment and get through it, you know, with God's help. And then next time, don't go through it, prevent it by being a prophetic witness before the fact. Yeah. We're in it now. Okay, so they create, they quintupled the amount of money in circulation. That's why inflation was gonna come. We're in inflation now. And it's gonna be tough to get out of it. The central bank is gonna have to contract the money supply, probably trigger a recession. Pretty good chance we're in a recession now by fighting this. And that's what, when you make bad decisions, you get to the point where there's no easy way out and that's where we are. So we need to ask God to help us to be our provider during this time, to be ready for this, to be a help to others. You don't stop helping others. That's right, that's right. Now you help more because more help is needed, but also speak prophetically to the government to say you shall not debase the currency. It is an assault on God and it's assault on the image of God. Money is supposed to be honest. When you debase the currency, you steal minutes, hours, weeks, months, days of our labor. It's invisible to us in some sense, but that's what's going on. You're transferring money from people who are working up to the ruling class. We've got to confront that. It's immoral. It's not just immoral in that it's a violation of immoral laws. It's immoral and that is an offense against God. God takes debasement of currency personally because he cares about people, especially the poor, and those are the ones who are hurt the most. So I can hear you people saying right now, okay, you're talking about talking to the government and talking to those that are debasing the dollar, things that, how do we do that as the church or as preachers, even me as a pastor? There may be people watching right now that are wondering, how do I take a role in that? What do we do to speak out against that? Oh, we're doing it right now, right? We're doing it right now on Cornerstone Television. And I think it should be part of preaching. I think preaching ought to include the idea that the government shouldn't debase the currency, that the government is not our savior. But wait a minute, Jared, people say, don't get involved with politics as a church. I mean, we're not supposed to get involved with that. So what do you say to the preacher out there that says that, or the pew sitter that says, we're not supposed to be involved in politics? I would say, have you read the Gospels? Yeah. I mean, who killed Jesus? The government. Why did the government kill Jesus? Because he was a threat to their power. He talked about politics. He goes down to the capital city, Jerusalem. He goes to the, basically with the capital, Herod's Temple, the temple controlled and built by the king. And he confronts them over their economic policies. So somebody forgot to tell Jesus not to be involved in politics. So I think there's a difference between getting involved with partisan politics. And that has gotten in a little bit, like the Trump Wars or whatever, right? Well, that's who to vote for. That's a different area, but fundamental principles, fundamental biblical teachings where the Bible is clear, we're supposed to be a prophetic voice on that. So maybe more like morality, speaking on these moral issues that are driving these bad economic decisions. Where God has spoken, the pastor must speak. Amen. Amen. So that includes this economic policy. The government is not our savior. We turn to the government as our savior. It didn't have enough money to be our savior. So it created money out of thin air to keep us from having recessions. Or government shuts down so much stuff with COVID, that slows down the economy. And then it tries to goose the economy with extra money. Well, all right, that's our government. We elected those people and we didn't speak to that prophetically. So where the Bible is silent, I think pastors should be silent. But where the Bible speaks, pastors should speak. Amen. Amen. So let me ask you this question. Let's get a little bit practical. And those of you that are watching, anytime that we are experiencing recession, we're experiencing inflation, there are practical steps along with spiritual steps. Sometimes we can get caught up so much in the prophetic that we're just blessed in the city, blessed in the field, blessed when we come, when we go. And I'm all for that. I believe that. But I also believe that we are three-part beings, that we are spirit, soul, and body. That means whenever we have trouble, it can affect one or one of those three or all three. So we can't always just say, well, I'm just gonna be blessed and this, that, and the other. But not do the things practically that we need to do. What can people do? And there's a way that I watch right now. I want you really to tune in right now because I believe this is very important. We see gas prices going up. We see how the shelves are bearing the stores. There's a shortage on baby formula, all these things. We have to do practical things along with the spiritual thing. What would you say to people that how they can be prepared, even practically, practical things, even if they weren't quote unquote Christians, what is the right way to steward in this time when there's inflation going on? Well, I don't know if people are gonna like it, but if the prices of things go up and your salary doesn't go up as much and that's what's happening, you have to cut your spending. And I know that seems like a austerity mindset or not abundance. But it's the foundation of future abundance to live within your means. That's good, that's good. So that's the fast. We didn't fast as a nation with our spending. We overspent, we over borrowed, we demanded our government overspend and over borrowed. So we consumed like mad, right? Because we didn't fast, now the fast is imposed on us and we need to go back to basics. Bargain, you mentioned Costco. Bargain hunting is important. You know, I'm making changes, right? Ground beef gets too expensive, maybe you switch to ground turkey or ground chicken or something, maybe you don't like it as much. Well, we're going through this, right? I mean, to me, this is judgment. It's judgment in the sense of when you violate biblical principles, God's design is when you violate biblical principles, bad things happen. We violated them so bad things happen so we go through that. So bargain hunting is important. You know, this might seem kind of silly, but I find it can be really helpful to people, especially if they have a lot of anxiety about inflation. Take a look at doing some gardening. It can cut your food bill, right? But it also is like a peaceful thing to do. Rather than sit and worry and watch Fox News or listen to talk radio or be on the internet, oh, this price went up and that price went up. Or whatever, it's bad for your blood pressure. So when I did something like, I looked at the things that you can grow that we buy that are kind of expensive, like asparagus is more expensive than lettuce. So I planted asparagus, you know? Herbs are kind of expensive. So we planted basil and oregano and, you know, thyme and sage and those kinds of things. So it's kind of an outlet for your energies. It's healthy, you're in the sun and it can cut back on expense. Mushrooms, I kind of like some kind of expensive mushrooms. I thought, I can't buy them at this price. You know, I gotta cut back, but I can grow them. Right, so it's a nice hobby to take up. It's kind of spiritual because you're kind of dealing almost more directly with God's world when you're touching His earth and growing things and you're seeing His blessing. You know, when He does that and it helps you control your spending to some degree. We know a lot of times people look at this and for some of you that tuned to check out here in just a moment, say, oh, wait a minute, that's not the blessing. Listen, even Joseph cut back during a time of we had seven years of plenty. He saved an extra 20% in order to make sure he could make it through those other seven years. There, I think one of the things that we have missed so many times, Jerry, we have missed the importance of being practical. We've been so spiritual out there. And I'm all about, listen, everybody knows, I believe in sea time and harvest. I believe in being blessed. I believe that we're the head and not the tail above and not beneath. All of those things, ladies and gentlemen, I believe all about, I am firmly, firmly, firmly rooted in the fact that we must be practical in these seasons too. Live within your means. But you can sow, and we're gonna talk about that in just a minute here, you can sow and you can do all of those type of things, but it's very important that we are practical in these days and in these hours. We shouldn't live outside of our means, is that correct? Because if we can't tell the government don't spend more than you should, if we're still doing it, exactly. Individual Christians, churches, live within your means, don't overspend, don't get into debt. And you can still have surplus. What do you do with your surplus? That goes to the poor, because they need it most during inflationary periods. So that one of the ways you sow is, you know, he gives to the poor lens to the Lord. So that's an investment, right? And that's an investment you should make and you should not be cutting back on that. But there's a lot of luxury items that people buy. We've just gotten to the habit of, you know, getting, going to Starbucks, you know. Right, right, right. You know, coffee that you make at home is. It's a Keurig Starbucks. Exactly, right. So just look around and say, where am I spending, you know, where I don't need to be spending and cut back. Not because God is stingy, but because this is a fast that we're learning from so that we can be a blessing to the world. And plus, could this be the case too, Jerry, that God wants to know if we'll be good stewards? I believe that there's a river, I want someone to hear this. There's a river of blessing, even in the time of the famine. There is overflow in the time of the famine. But see, you have to steward it. And I believe in these times, God, I would say it like this, Jerry, God doesn't want to give to somebody that He can give to. He wants to give to somebody that He can give through. Yes, right, right. And so do you believe this? Sometimes even in these moments, God's saying, hey, as you pull back a little bit, you continue to keep so and make my kingdom first, that He will increase people so then we can be a blessing to those that are hurting in this time by preaching the gospel. Yeah, absolutely. And I think one of the things, starting businesses, growing your business, you have a job, maybe you have a side business in order to grow. Growth is, that's what I'm looking for. I'm not looking for austerity. I'm just saying that your growth has to be within the limits that God in His providence has set. You shouldn't be credit carding your way through an inflationary crisis because in the long run, the debt is just gonna keep going and keep going. So it's just math. If the prices go up, your salary doesn't go up, then if you buy as much, then you're going into debt. And that's, I think that is something we should avoid because it enslaves us. But if we have excess, if we have assets, then what we can do is be a blessing to other people. And so there's a seasonality to this. And I think it's a time for Christians to really think about, how can I be better at my job? How can I get it, you want a growth story? The growth story would be, everyone's working from home and they're doing their laundry or whatever and they're not really doing a very good job at work, the great resignation. Be the best in your workplace so that when there are raises that are given out, you're first in line to get those raises or be the best running your business. That's growth and you can be a blessing. But until then, don't go into debt to buy Starbucks or whatever and not to pick on Starbucks. Live within your means, be a planner like Joseph, who was a blessing to the world. Amen, amen. And we wanna encourage you all, take your stand in this day and in this hour. Take your stand to be able to stand against inflation and do as he just mentioned, be a good steward even in these moments. And we wanna encourage you as well. We've got a few gifts that we wanna give to you and we're gonna ask anybody that is willing in this season to take a moment and sow some type of a love gift and for your gift of any amount at all, we have three gifts for you because we wanna see you overcome in this day and in this hour. And it's called The Maker and the Takers by Jerry Boyer. Can you tell me a little bit just about that book that we're gonna be offering to them for a gift of any size? What I did is I went through the Gospels carefully and read the things that Jesus said about economics and finance and put them in the historical context so that Jesus is talking about economics a lot. But an interesting thing is Jesus confronts some wealthy people in the Gospels. He confronts the Keyist, the tax collector, the rich young ruler and the money changers. He's a rich young ruler. He's not just a rich business owner. Every confrontation that Jesus has over money he has in the capital area with people connected with government. Up in Galilee, it was an entrepreneurial area. You had a lot of small businesses like Joseph and Fosterson Builders. An archeologist said pretty much anytime you dig up a village in Nazareth you find three or four shops. It's a shopkeeper, small business, entrepreneurial society. There were rich people there, but Jesus never, ever confronts any of the wealthy people up in that economy because they weren't takers, they were makers. They were producing things, farming, carpentry, building. They were making something of value. Down south in the capital region, they were takers. The rich young ruler defrauded, Jesus says. The Keyist was a tax collector, power of government, who took more than was due. The money changers, as we pointed out, inflated prices against Torah rules. So we don't just have Jesus goes around criticizing wealth. No, Jesus' criticisms of wealth are focused on the takers. When up in Galilee, he recruits his followers, entrepreneurs, makers. When Jesus wanted to get the job done he recruited from entrepreneurs in the private sector. When he goes down and confronts people enough that they get so angry that they kill them he's confronting government officials who are using their power to extract wealth from everybody else. And if someone doesn't see how that applies now I don't know how you can miss it because that's the same situation we have now. So ladies and gentlemen, we've got all that for you. Listen, we've got three gifts that we want to give to you for a gift of any size. We've got the makers versus the takers. We've got a wonderful book by Gloria Copeland about God being our source. And then we've also got a wristband for you that we want to give to you that we're gonna talk to you more about in just a moment. So for your gift of any size, go to the phone right now, 888-665-4483. We want to pray for you. And if you're struggling during this economy or anything else that's going on we want to stand in the gap with you because God doesn't want you just to survive but he wants you to thrive in this season. Jerry, thank you so much. Don't go away. We've got a whole lot more on signs of the times biblical keys to defeating inflation. We'll be back in just a moment. Cornerstone television is dishing out all new episodes to fill your home with truth and joy this season. From hope today to origins, hard questions, sister to sister, today's Nashville, move your mountain and dashing dish. Taste the best of local Christian TV on Cornerstone television network where hope happens. Welcome back to signs of the times where we are talking about biblical keys to inflation relief of soaring above all of that stuff that's going on out there. Ladies and gentlemen, let me tell you something. It doesn't matter what's going on in the economy, what's happening, God has a plan for you and the purpose of this show is all this stuff that's going on in the moment we are gonna talk about what God is saying in the prophetic now. We just talked with Jerry Boyer and he talked about why inflation is wrong and how we can defeat it even in the practical sense. But you know, I know a lot of y'all don't wanna talk about the practical, talk about the budgeting, talk about those things. Sometimes you need to cut back for a season. Hope you heard what he said. It's just a seasonal thing. But I believe that right now God wants you to know even though trouble may be happening right now. I love the song we sang years ago, trouble don't last always. And right now you're about to hear a message from a man that needs no introduction. We all know Pastor Gary Metric and he's gonna give us hope on how to thrive during these rough economic times. Well, I hope you got your lenses on because God's about to give you another perspective. Are you understanding what this show's all about? It's about giving you the right perspective. There's a lot of crazy stuff going on there. But how many of y'all know God is in control? He knows what he's doing and he's got prophetic voices that are gonna speak to you on how not just to survive but to thrive in this time. And we've got Pastor Gary Metric here to talk about how to do that. Pastor Gary, welcome to Signs of the Time. Yes, I'm excited about this new program series. You know why? It's relevant, it's dealing with issues that are just facing all of us today. Katherine Coleman used to say the Bible is more relevant than tomorrow morning's newspaper. That's good, that's good because really the Bible's already prophesied what tomorrow's newspaper is gonna catch up with. And that's what this show's all about, Pastor Gary. It's all about people are going through hard economic times, we see inflation, we see all these things that happen. But God's got a word, God's got a word. I think about the story of Elijah. You know when he said that there was gonna be a famine in the land for three and a half years. And he's wondering how in the world are we gonna get through this? And the word of the Lord came to him, sent him to the brook called Charith. And we know that God sustained him there. And when the brook dried up, the Bible says then the word of the Lord came again. I need someone to understand right now that the word of the Lord is coming to you right now to give you what it is that you need. Pastor Gary, what was on your heart that God gave you this message that the people are about to hear? Well, the enemy loves to promote fear. And when gas prices started to double and everybody went to the grocery store was paying more, you could just tell there was almost like a spirit of fear that was trying to come upon the people of God. And Pastor Jay, that's why I love Cornerstone Television Network because we like to offer hope. That's right. God is not a God of fear. He is a God of hope. You know, the Lord showed me one time a pot on the stove and he had two handles on it. One handle was faith, one handle was fear. And the Lord said, what handle are you gonna grab? Because faith is a choice. And so is fear. And you and I have to choose. We have to be intentional, especially in these times that I'm gonna live by faith and I'm not gonna live and succumb to the fear that I could hear every day if I turn on my television. And ladies and gentlemen, that's why we have this show for you. We want you to understand how to thrive during these times. Listen, the Bible says that in the end times there would be perilous times. We look at it, that there'd be famine, that there would be earthquakes, that there would be all these things. We see pestilence. We take a look at the COVID-19 virus. We still got different strands coming out from that. I mean, there's all sorts of stuff that's going on. But listen, God has a word. And I want you to understand right now that Pastor Gary prepares to teach us, he's got a word that you don't have to operate in fear. You don't have to operate looking at, well, the gas prices are going up and I'm on a fixed income. Listen, there is a word, just like it was for the Shunamite woman with Elijah. She was wondering how in the world are we gonna get through? So I got this little bit of meal, little bit of oil. We're gonna make this and we're gonna die. But you know what? The word of the Lord came in. I believe this man of God, Pastor Gary has a word today just for you. And if there's others that are battling with fear or struggling in this day and in this hour, tell them to tune in to signs of the time. We're gonna be giving you a prophetic insight to what God is saying in this moment. So Pastor Gary, take a moment and just minister to the people, give them the hope today that they can thrive during these hard economic times. And you know, I love that wristband that we're offering for your best gift because it says, I choose faith over fear. We did a whole project in our church. We're wearing wristbands that says, Jira, I choose to live in an anti-inflation zone. See, I believe we've gotta declare it. We've gotta decree it. We've got to just be intentional about it. I mean, let's face it, we are living in unprecedented times. We're living in a day that none of us have ever seen all of our lives. Inflation is at a 40 year high. Last month, it was higher than the month before. And Pastor Jay, I think next month, it's not going down. It's gonna continue to rise. You know what, I'm sensing in my spirit right now, Pastor Gary, for those of you that are watching, I believe this with all of my heart that as inflation is going up in the natural, I spoke this in my church just this past week. I said, there is an inflation of grace available for people. When Noah built the ark, when the storms came and the floods came, the higher the flood came, the higher the arc came. That is grace. And the Bible says that when that flood was prophesied that it was gonna come, which can be a sign of inflation, you can be a sign of famine or whatever is that it might be. It was amazing. The Bible says that Noah found grace. Can I prophesy over you for just a moment? God wants you to know in this season, grace is available. Now you do have to do what Jerry said. You gotta be practical. You gotta use wisdom. But if you will heed the word of the Lord, the grace of God is available for us today. And we are not just going to survive, but we are gonna thrive during these times of economic hardship, Pastor Gary. Somebody needed to hear that right now. That was a rainbow word for somebody. You know, the Bible says we go from faith to faith. So if inflation's going up, if recession's going higher, let your faith go higher in the Lord. God doesn't want you to succumb to fear. You know, I wanna talk about a term in the Bible. It's scriptural, but a lot of people aren't familiar with it. It's called the land of Goshen. Come on, Pastor. Goshen is found, it was found, first of all in the book of Genesis, when Joseph was alive and he revealed himself to his brothers and he said, is my father still alive? And they said, yes he is. He said, tell my father and all of you to come and move down here in the land of Goshen where you will be blessed and multiply. And then of course, in the book of Exodus, the book of the land of Goshen is found. I like to call it, Pastor Jay, it was a community within the land of Egypt. It would be like, here's the city of Pittsburgh, but then inside of Pittsburgh, there's Monroeville or there's a little town or there's a community within the city. That's what Goshen was. All of the Egyptians lived in the land of Egypt, all of the children of Israel lived in the land of Goshen. Now let me just read a couple of scriptures for a biblical premise. Genesis 47, 27 says, so Israel dwelt in the land of Egypt in the country of Goshen and they had possessions there and they grew and multiplied exceedingly. So here it is, there's a famine out there, there's recession out there, but in Goshen they're growing, they're multiplying, they're being blessed. And then it says in Exodus 9 and verse 26, only in the land of Goshen where the children of Israel were, there was no hail. Now this is interesting, the plagues hit Egypt. We all know about the 10 plagues, but they never touched and came into the land of Goshen. God somehow put a shield around the children of Israel. One of my favorite scriptures is Psalm 5 and verse 12. The Bible says he surrounds the righteous with a shield of favor. Now let me ask you this, do you believe God can put a shield around your life so that what's going on in the world doesn't have to affect you? Do you believe that while recession and inflation are affecting people out there in the world that a shield of favor, come on somebody, can surround your life and God can keep you and provide for you and protect you from what is going on out there in the world? Pastor Jay, I believe he can. I believe that too and I believe there is an anointing for that inflation of grace that is upon you. I love that word Pastor Gary because listen, it doesn't mean it's not happening. We're in this world, but we're not of this world and because of our relationship with the Father, I was thinking of Psalm 91. He said that no plague will come near our dwelling because we are in that secret place. That's so good. One more, Exodus 8 verse 22, I like this. In that day, the Lord says, I will set apart the land of Goshen in which my people dwell and no swarms of flies shall be there in order that you may know that I am the Lord in the midst of the land. See God said, I wanna make a distinction between the Egyptians and the Israelites and I believe in this day, God wants to make a distinction between the unbeliever and the believer. What is it that separates the believer from the unbeliever? It's one thing, it's God's presence. But God's presence is a shield. God's presence is a covering. God's presence is a divine, holy, invisible protection over us that I believe can shield us from what is going on out there in the world. But here's the key. We have to use our faith and believe it. Amen, we know, and that's where it comes back. I'm thinking, Pastor Gary, and those of you that are watching, I want you to catch this, talking about the story about Elijah here as well. Every one of you, whether it was Joseph, whether it was Elijah during the famine, the Shunamite woman, let me say this well before I go there. Every person, this is why you need a man of God in your life in this season, during the signs of the times. And this is the times of the signs. What do I mean by that? This is a time that all those signs that have been spoken of years and years ago, we're seeing the fulfillment and the unveiling of those things. You need a man of God in your life. The day of the lone ranger is over. You need people that can speak a word in season. Joseph had a word for the government to get them through the famine. Elijah had a word for the Shunamite woman, which could be a church member. Everybody needs a man or woman of God to give them the word of the Lord so then they can create that presence that you're talking about. So true, that is so true. This is not the time for you to stay isolated. You've got to stay connected. You've got to stay encouraged. Well, the second thing is, I love this story in Genesis 22. It's the story of God telling Abraham to take his son Isaac, go up on Mount Moriah and offer him there as a sacrifice. Now I love what Abraham says. See, he's the father of our faith. If we can learn faith from anybody, we can learn it from Abraham. He says to his servants, me and my son are going up on the mountain and we will return. He may not know of how God was gonna do it. He may not know of when God was gonna do it, but somehow he had the faith that the Lord was gonna provide for him. And he did. And so Isaac, he's carrying the wood and he's carrying the fire. And he says, father, I have the wood and I have the fire, but where is the sacrifice? And Abraham says to his son, the Lord shall provide. The Lord shall provide. So they get up on the mountain. And I love this story because what's interesting is that while they are ascending one side of the mountain of Mount Moriah, they did not see. They did not know that a ram was going up the other side of the mountain until they got to the very top. And Pastor Jay, sometimes we fear, we worry, oh, where's my rent gonna come from? Where am I gonna get money for gas? Where am I gonna get money for groceries? And we don't always see what the Lord is doing until that right time. God is not hiding it from you. He's hiding it for you. And I love this, Abraham lifts the knife. He's gonna sacrifice his son. And the angel says, Abraham, stop. And then he says this, here's the key. He says, now I know that I could trust you. And can I say to you that I believe that this inflation that we're in right now, this recession that we're in right now, it's a trust test. God is saying, can I trust you to believe that I'm gonna provide for you? Can you trust me? Can you trust me that I'm your provider? Not your paycheck, not the government, not your social security check. Those are all sources God uses, but he is your resource. And so when the angel says, now I know, he says there's a ram over there in the bush and he revealed himself as Jehovah Jireh. And a lot of people say Jehovah Jireh means the Lord provides. No, it literally means the Lord's provision for you shall be seen. Cause if the Lord provides and I don't see it, then what good is it? The Lord's provision shall be seen. And you and I have gotta believe, we gotta trust him. You gotta, we have to trust him that he is gonna provide and take care of you from unexpected sources. I love that passage in Isaiah 45-3. It says he'll give us hidden treasures in secret places. So sometimes God is gonna use, he's gonna use people. He's just gonna use other ways, other resources to provide for you. And you know, one of the things that the enemy uses, this fear right now to do, is to get people to cut back on their giving. Well, I don't have as much to give. I just, I spend twice as much filling my gas tank. So how can I possibly still tithe? How can I possibly give to cornerstone television? Listen, that's the last thing you wanna do is cut back on your giving. That's right. Why? Because first of all, when you tithe, he rebukes the devourer for your sake. Second of all, Luke 638 says, when I give, it shall be given back to me. Good measure, press down, shaking together, running over. God will cause men to give into my bosom. So in other words, he'll use people to bless you. You know, on Sunday, it was my granddaughter's birthday. So we had the whole family over to the house. And so I was gonna order from the Olive Garden and I was gonna, you know, buy dinner for everybody. And I said, oh Lord, I sure could use a financial blessing. You know, so church was over and I went into the restroom at church and a man walked into the restroom and he said, I'm so glad I saw you in here. And he shook, stuck on his hand, give me a shake and he gave me what I call a Pentecostal handshake. And he puts a bill in my hand. So I just stuck it in my pocket. And when I got into my car, it was a $100 bill. And when I got to the Olive Garden, my bill was $100. It was like, the Lord provides. Amen, amen. 10 minutes ago, I didn't know where it was coming from. I didn't see that ram coming up the hill. I didn't know a man was gonna walk into the restroom and give me a Pentecostal handshake. We may not know how God's gonna do it, who God's gonna use, or when he's gonna do it, but we gotta trust that the Lord's provision shall be seen. And then the third thing, and this is so key, and I know that Jerry touched on this. Blessing the poor. Listen, one of my favorite scriptures is Proverbs 28, 27. Pastor Jay says, when you give to the poor, you shall not lack. There's no lack in your life. You need to claim that. I tell all of our folks, we have a missions Sunday, first Sunday of every month is Mission Sunday at our church. We have a great work in Haiti. I know Cornerstone Television has Cornerstone Cares with all of our missions outreach. When you sow into Cornerstone Television, you're blessing the poor. Here's God's promise. And you need to claim the promise. See, I don't just tithe. I lay my hands, my wife and I lay hands on the tithe, and we claim the promise of a tither. We lay our hands on the mission's gift. We say, Lord, you said, you promised, when I bless the poor, I shall not lack. And I claim no lack in my life. No lack in our church and ministry. No lack here at Cornerstone Television. That's putting faith in the word. That's taking your faith and wrapping it around a promise from God. You know, Pastor Gary, as you were talking, I was thinking about that story about Abraham's coming up one side, the ram is coming up the other. If he would not have followed the word of the Lord, he would not have seen the provision. That's right. I believe even right now, and some of you may have heard it, there's been a prominent speaker that's been out there, that's been known for many, many years that was known about how the tithe is not necessary anymore. And I wanna mention this to you, God spoke this to my heart, that while that was going on, he said, there must be an anointing for increase during this, I feel the Holy Ghost right now, there must be an anointing for increase for the body of Christ. I know we're in the middle of this inflation. I know we're in the middle of all these things going on. But listen, if you will follow the word of the Lord, if you will follow the man or woman of God and the word of the Lord, while you're following that word, seeming like you're going to your demise, you don't see that God's provision is gonna meet you at the top, at the highest place of inflation, at the highest point of that mountain, the provision was there. Don't you dare walk in fear, God's provision is near. Hallelujah. Don't you dare walk in fear because his provision is near. And I believe if we will follow the word of the Lord, Pastor Gary, even the word that you're given, God wants people to know that these are the signs of the times, but he's got a word for us to bring us out and it calls us to thrive in these seasons. That is so true. And I'm convinced that this is a trust test. You know, in Malachi, it's the only place in the Bible where the Lord says prove me. In other words, trust me. Watch if I will not open windows in heaven over your life. I don't know about you, but if there's ever a time we need to live under some open heavens, it's right now. It's right now. You and I, you say, I can't afford to give. You can't afford not to. That's right. Pastor Jay, I tried to make a decision many years ago that I will not make a decision in my life based on fear. Amen, amen. Sometimes you just gotta push through those negative thoughts. Remember, the battle ground for Satan is your mind. That's where he's gonna torment you. That's where he's gonna play with your mind. He's gonna put fear and anxiety on you, but stand on the promise. God has not given you the spirit of fear, but power, love, and thank God for a sound mind. One translation says a disciplined mind. And then my third point is simply this. We may not be familiar with the scripture about the land of Goshen, but this scripture we are familiar with. Philippians 419 says, my God, somebody shout, my God, my God shall supply all your need. Doesn't say needs, plural. He supplies all your need according to his riches. But where are the riches? They're found in the glory. They're in his presence. The word glory is the kavad, the weightiness of his presence. I challenged our congregation. I said, look, when you go to the gas station, don't complain about the price of gas. God does not inhabit the complaining of his people. He inhabits the praises. I challenge them to have a glory spell at the gas pump. Get the hose, put it in your gas tank and just lift your hands and give God a shout of praise. Because when you're in the glory, when you're in his praises, that is when and where he's gonna supply your every need. Hallelujah. Ladies and gentlemen, I hope that you're getting this. I am so thankful for this time because I believe that in the midst of all the stuff that's going on, there is a word. God is speaking to us in the prophetic now. And there's somebody that are struggling right now with whatever might be going on. Maybe you've lost your job in this time. Maybe your money is funny and your change is strange. I don't know what's going on in your world, but the word is available today. And we wanna encourage you to take any size gift. We're not, this isn't about making money. This is about the word of the Lord. This is about Jehovah Jireh. The Lord's provision shall be seen. And I want you to pick up the phone. If you need prayer, we wanna pray for you. But while you're there, a gift of any size, any size gift, we're gonna give you three gifts. Three gifts are gonna be released into your life. We have the book by Jerry Boyer. That's gonna be a blessing. We have a book by Gloria Copeland. The Makers versus the Takers by Jerry Boyer. We've got, God is my source by Gloria Copeland and we've got the wristband, Pastor Gary. What's the wristband say again? It says faith over fear. Faith over fear. It's a choice, it's a decision. And I love this cause these are tools that really equip us. We need equipped in these days. Cause you know, and I don't mind is the devil's workshop. If you just sit there and worry and dwell on the negative and listen to all the secular news, you will open yourself up to a spirit of fear. But if you will get in the word, if you will get these books and read this material, wear this wristband and declare it. Shout it out, pray it, decree it. The Bible says in Proverbs 28, you shall decree a thing and it shall be established under you. I declare that that spirit of inflation that's in the world is not gonna affect me. I decree recession is not coming near my dwelling. I declare that because I bless the poor, I shall not lack. Come on, come on. So right now go to your phone for a gift of any size. And we wanna give you all three of those gifts. Think about what we're in the middle of right now. And God ordains this show to come to you in this moment. I want you to let everybody know about Signs of the Times. This is gonna be a powerful show, a series that we're gonna be speaking to you about what God is saying right now. And we all are facing inflation, but praise be unto God. There is a word, there is an inflation of grace as we're willing to follow the word of the Lord. Well, when we come back in 30 seconds while you go to your phone, we're gonna have some final thoughts with Pastor Gary and Jerry Boyer. Stay tuned. Do you have living water? Jesus stood up and cried out if anyone thirst, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water. Are you dry? Are you thirsty? Are you in need of prayer? Call our prayer line or connect with us online. Well, at the end of every show here on Signs of the Times, we'd like to have some final thoughts and takeaways. What did God say to us in the prophetic now? And I sense two things, men of God, that God is saying right now. And I'm looking at both of you. I see the economy. I see you being a prophetic sign of just what being practical, understanding the signs in the times. And then I see you with more of the spiritual revelation of that. There's a word from God that we can follow in these moments. So I wanted to give you a moment, Jerry, just to speak to the people for a moment there and just give them some final thoughts to encourage them how to thrive during these times. Well, I was thinking about Pastor Gary and Goshen, right? So they're in Goshen and they're protected and they thrive. And part of Jewish culture is an abundance, hard work, diligence, entrepreneurship, creativity, right? So we declare and we have promises and then we do something. So the growth mentality involves, how is God gonna provide? I'm sure God's gonna provide. So I'm trying to expand my business. Right now we're expanding faster than we ever have in our history. So I think we gotta focus towards God as abundance, but do our part of it. He promises, he gives commands, we obey that. Like you said, if he didn't walk up the hill, he wouldn't have seen the provision. So we have to do our part of it. Amen, Pastor Gary. That's the old faith without works is dead. That's the balance. Balance is my favorite word in ministry. Amen, amen. Well, Pastor Gary, Jerry, I thank you both so much for your words. I'm so excited about what God is saying to us in these signs of the times. You know, ladies and gentlemen, I wanna encourage you one more time. If you are struggling in any way to go to the phone, dial 888-665-4483. Let our prayer partners pray with you. God wants you to thrive during these tough economic times. And what are the gifts again, Pastor? You're talking about the bracelet one more time. Well, there's a bracelet you can wear right on your wrist and decree it every day. Faith over fear. And then your book, your book is called? The Maker Versus the Takers. That it's what Jesus is really saying about economics, finance and wealth. And he's saying a lot that we've missed in the past. That is so good. Thank you gentlemen so much for your words. I believe they've been a blessing to myself and so many others. Call right now for your best gift and get these tools. I believe this show is prophetic for what God is ready to do in your life. Father, I thank you for blessing every life, every soul. We bind up inflation and we release an inflation of grace over your life. You will not just survive, but I declare today, you will thrive in these signs of the times.