Bad News, Good News
It’s all bad news! Where does one look for good news these days?
Consider just a little of the discouraging fare from the wires over the last few days:
Just a few days ago, it’s alleged that chemical weapons were used against defenseless civilians in Syria. The Assad regime denied it; yet most Western nations now have apparently concluded those attacks did take place, against a town just outside of the capital, Damascus. “There is very little doubt at this point that a chemical weapon was used by the Syrian regime against civilians in this incident,” said a senior Obama administration official (CNN.com, Aug. 25, 2013). Gruesome videos surfaced on the Internet purporting to show bodies of dead women and children caught up in the horrors of this bloody war.
In Egypt, the most populous Arab nation with a population of some 83 million, another bloody standoff continues, with Islamist supporters of ousted President Mohammed Morsi facing off against police and supporters of a more secular Egypt. Western efforts to rein in the Egyptian military, headed by General Abdul Fattah al-Sisi, and to seek a broad-based consensus government seem to have failed; and the tensions continue.
Some Muslim nations, such as Saudi Arabia, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates, line up in support of the military, while others, including Turkey and Qatar, root for the Islamists. Hundreds have died since the July 3 military coup, and the face-off shows no sign of abating. Meantime, Egypt’s old, established Coptic Christian community has also suffered badly, as dozens of churches have recently been attacked and burned. The world watches nervously. As goes Egypt, so goes the Arab world?
In the midst of these tensions, the influence and prestige of the United States is much diminished. Attempting to follow a tenuous middle ground between the democratically elected Muslim Brotherhood and the popularly supported military coup, it seems the U.S. may be alienating just about everybody. What’s more, press reports have emphasized that some of America’s closest allies—Saudi Arabia, the Emirates, Jordan and Israel—have expressed their concerns about the superpower’s role in the Egyptian conflict, urging Washington not to cut off aid to Egypt, for fear of even greater loss of American influence. Some of the wealthy states have even offered to fill the money gap created by any cutoff of U.S. aid.
Meanwhile, here in the U.S., violent incidents take place all too frequently, the latest being the beating death of an 88-year-old World War II veteran, Delbert Belton, outside an Eagles Lodge in Spokane, Washington. He is alleged to have been killed by two 16-year-olds in the parking lot of the lodge, where he loved to go and play pool.
Through the month of August, potential school attacks were thwarted in Tampa, Florida, and in Atlanta, Georgia. Only the heroic actions of one brave school employee in Atlanta served to thwart the latest threat—though it could have been disastrous.
It’s all rather depressing, isn’t it? So where can we look for good news?
In the midst of all this bad news, there is, in fact, some very, very good news. It’s something we here at Life, Hope & Truth would love to share with you. It’s referred to as the good news of the Kingdom of God, and it’s real!
As we approach the month of September, thousands of faithful Christians will live out a foretaste of this good news, as they celebrate the biblical fall festivals. These festivals are, respectively, the Feast of Trumpets, depicting the return of Jesus Christ; the Day of Atonement, a symbol of the day when Satan, the adversary of God and His plan, will be removed and restrained; and the Feast of Tabernacles, a beautiful depiction of that very good news, the time when Jesus Christ Himself will reign on this earth, and put an end to the wars, strife and threats to human well-being.
We invite you to read our booklet titled The Mystery of the Kingdom (see below for a link) and to take a close look at the articles published on this website. It’s all good news! And it’s all real!
For Life, Hope & Truth, I’m Ralph Levy.
Click the link to download The Mystery of the Kingdom booklet.
