Have you noticed the unsettling headlines recently? Headlines clearly remind us time is short and Jesus is coming soon — very soon.
Tens of thousands of angry people shouting with their fists in the air protesting changes in their labor union negotiated benefits packages. It's not in some distant third-world country but in that "wholesome as whole wheat" state of Wisconsin.
Trillions of dollars are printed and pumped into the faltering U.S. economy. Yet, people are still out of work and the cost of food and fuel continues to go up and up. Our national debt is now about $14,255,416,000,000 or approximately $45,829 per citizen. It's growing at a rate of more than $4 billion per day.1
Major political changes in the Middle East and the upheaval in Libya have endangered the stability of the entire region.
The 9.0 earthquake in Japan generated a tsunami causing unprecedented devastation and damage to nuclear reactors resulting in unacceptably high radiation levels. And speaking of earthquakes, those of 7.0 magnitude or higher are increasing in number. From 1863–1900 (38 years) there were 12 of these earthquakes. From 1901–1938 (the next span of 38 years) 53 were recorded. From 1939–1976 (the third 38-year span) 71 earthquakes were recorded. From 1977–2014 (the next 38-year span) 164 have been registered and we have three more years to go. Scientists predict 190 total.2
At least 40 percent of American rivers and 46 percent of American lakes are too polluted for fishing, swimming or aquatic life. Millions of dead fish clog a marina in Redondo Beach, California, with no apparent reason or explanation.3
The genocide in Darfur, Sudan, has claimed 400,000 lives and displaced over 2,500,000 people. More than 100 people die each day; 3,000 die every month.
Wars and strife around the world are causing thousands of fatalities each year:
• 1967 Naxakite/Maoist Insurgency in India — 10,500
• 1978 Afghan Civil War in Afghanistan — more than 2,000,000
• 1991 Civil War in Somalia — 400,000
• 2003 Iraq War — more than 100,000
• 2004 War in NW Pakistan — more than 30,000
• 2006 Mexican Drug War — more than 36,000
• 2009 Sudanese Nomadic Tribes — more than 2,000
• 2011 Libyan War — totals are still rising4
Some might complain I'm just being a doomsayer — cherry-picking all the bad news I can find.
I guess they'd be right, if this world was our ultimate home. But Jesus has our future in His hands. He wants us to not be discouraged with the deteriorating conditions of this world.
That's why we can take courage from what the Bible says: "And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand: Let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light," (Romans 13:11, 12).
1 "National Debt Clock," Babylon Today, Web. 06 Apr. 2011.
2 Earthquake, Frequency, Trends: Have Earthquakes Increased? "End Times" Prediction, Web. 06 Apr. 2011.
3 "Green Student Resources/GreenStudentU.com," GreenStudentU:Green Students, Environmental Education, and Eco-Lifestyles, Web. 06 Apr. 2011.
4 "Genocide in Darfur, Sudan," Darfur Scorecard, Web. 06 Apr. 2011.
