At about 10:35 on Wednesday 12 November 1998 I received a telephone call from journalist Lars Christian Wegner of the Norwegian tabloid newspaper, Verdens Gang (VG) requesting an interview and a comment on the two articles we have on this page about an imminent economic diaster (with a Norwegian translation) and possible earthquakes. As I was busy I asked him to telephone me again at 15:30.
Wegland told me that he had come across this site whilst surfing the internet and was interested in a story. I explained the visions and dreams I had had (which are in the original article) and told him that we believed two economic diasters would occur this November as a result of POSSIBLY and earthquake or, more likely, would have eathquake-like consequences to the economy. I told him that I felt the economic downturn would begin on or around 6/7 November and that at one point we had believed that an earthquake was one possibility but that we had never been sure about it. However, to be on the safe side, we advised people to take precautions, for although meteorolgists have not been expecting tectonic activity in Norway for another century at least, recent activity, consisting for the most part of very small tremors, indicated that something big might happen in the near future. I told him how in 1992 I was told in a revelation that an earthquake would occur. It happened on the very day, just off the west Norwegian coast where we were at the time, a little off Kristiansund, as I remember.
I spent most of our 15-20 minute-long interview discussing economics, reviewing how the Wall Street Carsh had taken place in the 1920s as a result of economic slumps in peripheral nations like Argentina, New Zealand and South Africa. I pointed out that with the recent crisis in Asia, a similar pattern was being re-inacted. Further, I told him that in recent months alarm bells have been going off amongst world economic leaders, many of whom fear another economic recession in the West, but this time much worse that the 'tremors' that took place in the 1980s.
He asked a little bit about the Church and I explained that we were evangelical Christians with a doctrinal position somewhere between the Baptists and Pentecostals. I explained that whilst we had been actively involved congregationally in the past our ministry most focussed today on the Internet and on a Bible correspondence school. The journalist was amicable and polite and, though suspicious of how journalists tend to massage facts in order to create sensationalist stories in order to sell their newspapers, prefer to give them the benefit of the doubt to test their integrity. He wished to interview me live and take my pciture for the morning edition of the newspaper which I declined as I first wished to see how he would write-up our discussion. This is what he wrote in the Thursday 12 November 1998 edition of VG on page 20:
"Judgement Day" Postponed
With judgement day prophecies on the internet, the New Covenant Church of God predicts that Norway will be struck by an earthquake catastrophe in November [1].
The catastrophe should have taken place last Friday or Saturday, but for reasons that are not clear, jugdment day has been allowed to wait a few days [2].
Equally emphatically the church leaders have warned all Norwegians to build up a crisis store of water and food. That the catastrophe will take place during November is certain, claim the Norwegian leadership.
- Earlier visions and prophecies which I have had have usually been fulfilled, including one that Germany would be re-united. Now I feel that something dramatic will happen, says pastor and patriarch Christopher C. Warren to VG [3].
The New Covenant Church of God is to be found in Bergen, Oslo and Bærum, and is the Norwegian branch of the New Covenant Church of God, an evangelical church community which was founded in England [4].
Footnotes
[1] This is not correct. We have predicted that Norway would be hit by two successive ECONOMIC disasters caused EITHER by an earthquake OR BY SOMETHING THAT WILL, IN ITS DEVASTATIVE EFFECTS, RESEMBLE AN EARTHQUAKE. The emphasis has always been on the economic side with the possibility of an earthquake. This is sensationalism at the expense of the facts.
[2] We never said definitely that anything would specifically happen on 6/7 November, only that we though sonething might. That is quite different from making a pronouncement. It was not a part of the official statement we gave out (on the internet and as flyers) and was only added to our site later to warn interested persons to take such into consideration. We wrote an article on the terrible effects of earthquakes and to alert interested people just how unprepared Norway is. But we stressed that we were not sure about this and to judge the matter personally and with caution. One thing that is for certain is that there have been major rumblings in the economy and at the time of writing the government is being squeezed on both sides by the opposition. The value of Norwegian oil shares has plummetted, with 35 billion kroner weing wiped off their value, money the government had planned to save to "use on a rainy day". Now it has gone.
[3] This has been reported correctly.
[4] This is also correct. And I wish to acknowledge Mr. Wegner's kindness in respecting my request that we not be addressed as a "sect" which is a term of abuse given to all and sundry, especially if they are small and not well known.
I suspect that Mr. Wegner has misunderstood and would like to give him the benefit of the doubt. However, I hope that he will be kind enough to correct the error in this article so as not to give a false impression to the many tens of thousands of readers of the newspaper he represents. Communication is not always easy especially when the one you are interviewing does not speak fluent Norwegian, which was true in my case.
We shall follow up this article with some information on the ECONOMICS of the present situation which is what we are principally interested in.
Laget: 12. november, 1998
Oppdatert: 12. november, 1998
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