During any normal week, the featured story at the top of every news cycle would have been Hurricane Ike. But the week surrounding September 11 was anything but normal. Instead, the monstrous, Texas-sized hurricane, one of the most expensive storms in U.S. history, was submerged by the economic tidal wave that hit Wall Street.

Former Federal Reserve chief Alan Greenspan was asked if the economic crisis—marked by big-time failures, panic-driven merges and federal bailouts—was the worst of his career. “Oh, by far,” he said. Later he called it a “once-in-a-century type of financial crisis.”

Remarkably, at the same time, America was also weathering a number of other stormy developments. That very week, Defense Secretary Robert Gates presided over a ceremony that transferred command of U.S. forces in Iraq from Gen. David Petraeus to Gen. Ray Odierno. A cloud of uncertainty, however, still hovers over the next phase of America’s mission in Iraq. For several months now, U.S.-Iraqi negotiations have bogged down over the role America will play in Iraq after the UN mandate expires in December. Regular Trumpet readers know where this is headed. As we have repeatedly forecasted, Iran will inevitably wrest control of Iraq from the U.S. In fact, that process is now well under way.

In Afghanistan, the United States faces an increasingly violent insurgency and rising casualties. Deaths among U.S. forces in Afghanistan are at the highest level since the Taliban was toppled in 2001. Some military officials have even indicated that America is losing the battle for Afghanistan. The situation on the ground is further complicated by the cross-border attacks from jihadist groups that then seek refuge in neighboring Pakistan.

The crisis in Pakistan is actually a terrorist storm largely of America’s making. Though U.S. leaders even very recently called former President Pervez Musharraf a “friend” who made Pakistan an “extremely important ally in the war on terror,” they inexplicably arm-twisted him into relinquishing his military control and holding democratic elections. Unsurprisingly in a country that has the second-largest Islamic population in the world, the ensuing election brought leaders into power who are proving themselves far more hostile to America’s influence. Pakistan has quickly gone from being an important ally against terror to being a central front in the war on terror! All of this is playing out exactly as we said it would happen in January.

Then there’s Tehran’s involvement. Although it is not often acknowledged in Washington, jihadists and weaponry are also pouring into Afghanistan from the Islamic Republic of Iran. The fact that Shia Iran is supplying Taliban extremists, who are Sunni, flies in the face of conventional wisdom, which teaches us that Sunni and Shia don’t mix. Yet, even the 9/11 Commission concluded in 2004 that there was “strong evidence that Iran facilitated the transit of al Qaeda members into and out of Afghanistan before 9/11, and that some of these were future 9/11 hijackers.” When it comes to knocking out the United States, annihilating Israel and pushing hard against the European king of the north, Iran is quite happy to form strategic alliances with Sunni jihadist organizations. The Islamic Republic of Iran is the head of the terrorist snake—the biblically prophesied king of the south. It’s the next disaster looming on the horizon.

The fact that all these troubles are hitting in such rapid succession is no coincidence.

During an editorial meeting on July 15, my father told our writers that as prophesied events pound this world with ever-increasing intensity, our warning message needs to get stronger. He said that our nations—the United States, the British peoples and biblical Judah, called “Israel” today—have collectively reached the point of no return.

My father’s comments were later converted into an article that appeared in our September issue. Notice what he wrote: “If you study the biblical prophets, there came a point when their warnings no longer spoke about repentance. They were simply bold statements of fact—spoken as a witness against those peoples who had rejected God. I strongly believe our nations today … have passed the point of no return. The hope of their turning to God during this age has been eclipsed by the magnitude of their rebellion! … The increase in catastrophic events shows God strengthening His correction” (emphasis mine).

Since he made those comments, the pace of catastrophic events has increased all the more. If you’ve been watching world events, you know that’s true!

“Have you noticed the dramatic increase in catastrophic events lately?”, my father asked in that article. He highlighted two disasters in particular: the economic collapse and catastrophic weather. Regarding the bailouts of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, he wrote, “The government is bailing them out—but is already so deeply indebted that it needs to be bailed out!”

“Meanwhile,” he wrote, “within the U.S. and around the world we see an acceleration in weather disasters.” Look at what happened after he wrote that.

Yes, America, Britain and Israel are past the point of no return. The pace of catastrophic events will continue to accelerate. In this issue of the Trumpet, we look at the most dramatic of these most recent events and show you how they are fulfilling exactly what God has prophesied for the latter-day descendants of ancient Israel.

The good news is, those same prophecies show where these events are leading. All signs indicate that we are now very near to the return of Jesus Christ to this Earth as King of kings!