Coming: A Turning Point in Mankind's History
News sources the world over continue to report troubling trends. There is only one solution to it all: the return of Jesus Christ to this earth! The biblical Feast of Trumpets represents this momentous occasion.
London's Sunday Telegraph editorial reaction to the Norwegian mass killing in late July becomes highly appropriate for describing a whole range of disturbing trends afflicting humankind around the globe. "It is a salutary reminder that anarchy and tragedy can erupt even in the least likely venues: The complacent dictum that 'it could never happen here' no longer applies anywhere. In our dangerous and uncertain world, there are no safe havens. Nor is the nature of the threats we face predictable or consistent" (July 24).
Continuing troubles and tragedies
And yet in spite of our increasing mega-troubles, hope often springs eternal in the breast of mankind. We are all aware of the looming prospect of possibly plunging back into a global recession, perhaps much worse than the one from which we just emerged. Even more disturbing in one sense is the worldwide decline of religious freedom. A recent report by Pew Research Center's Forum on Religious and Public Life has shown that this is really happening. "Nearly a third of the globe's population—2.2 billion people—live in countries where religious persecution increased between 2006 and 2009" (Thomas S. Kidd, USA Today, August 23).
The ultimate solution is coming!
Yet we somehow believe that things can still change for the better. And we're right! Over three decades ago, an American newsweekly magazine wrote about the world needing "A Strong Hand from Somewhere." This evokes a divine solution to our minds.
Indeed divine intervention remains our only real hope for deliverance from the box canyon that mankind has willingly entered, but without fully realizing how. Jesus Christ promised a solution from above which would occur before humanity destroyed itself from the face of the earth (see Matthew 24:21-22). Over 300 prophecies in the Bible promise Christ's return to planet earth to save us from ourselves. "Behold the Lord God shall come with a strong hand and His arm shall rule for Him. Behold His reward is with Him, and His work [of salvation] before Him" (Isaiah 40:10).
One of God's annual Holy Days commemorates Christ's second coming to planet earth where He was before some 2,000 years ago. Many Christians celebrate this benchmark, world-shaking event by observing the little-known and even less-understood Day of Trumpets. Christ arrives on this earth at the seventh and last Trump. "Then the seventh angel sounded: And there were loud [angelic] voices in heaven, saying, 'The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever" (Revelation 11:15).
This whole story is told in our free booklets God's Holy Day Plan: The Promise of Hope for All Mankind and You Can Understand Bible Prophecy. Request both in print today or download them from our website.
Course Content
John Ross Schroeder
John died on March 8, 2014, in Oxford, England, four days after suffering cardiac arrest while returning home from a press event in London. John was 77 and still going strong.
Some of John's work for The Good News appeared under his byline, but much didn't. He wrote more than a thousand articles over the years, but also wrote the Questions and Answers section of the magazine, compiled our Letters From Our Readers, and wrote many of the items in the Current Events and Trends section. He also contributed greatly to a number of our study guides and Bible Study Course lessons. His writing has touched the lives of literally millions of people over the years.
John traveled widely over the years as an accredited journalist, especially in Europe. His knowledge of European and Middle East history added a great deal to his articles on history and Bible prophecy.
In his later years he also pastored congregations in Northern Ireland and East Sussex, and that experience added another dimension to his writing. He and his wife Jan were an effective team in our British Isles office near their home.
John was a humble servant who dedicated his life to sharing the gospel—the good news—of Jesus Christ and the Kingdom of God to all the world, and his work was known to readers in nearly every country of the world.
