How Can You Understand the Rapidly Changing World Scene?
The staff that produces The Good News magazine obviously plays no role in determining either Israeli or American foreign policy. We have no crystal ball to foresee day-to-day or month-to-month occurrences. What we do bring to our readers is basic prophetic insight, based on the Bible, making assessment of significant global events and trends much easier.
We are well aware that today's news indicates that our world may be on the edge of economic and political chaos. Earlier this year, an article in Fortune magazine on a different subject stated: "Too much is happening in the world. Politically, economically, and culturally momentous news is occurring on every continent seemingly every day, and it's overwhelming for the hapless citizen striving to stay on top of it all" (Geoff Colvin, "A World in Chaos? That May Be a Good Thing," Jan. 23, 2012).
An important role of The Good News is to help readers separate the wheat from the chaff in implementing Jesus Christ's instructions of Luke 21:36: "Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man." This is part of the end-time prophecy Christ gave on the Mount of Olives outside Jerusalem. It summarizes the traumatic events that will take place prior to His second coming.
Between one fourth and one third of the Bible is prophecy. If we choose to ignore or seriously neglect such an extensive portion of God's Word, we are depriving ourselves of crucial understanding of our modern world. After all, the prophet Amos did tell us, "Surely the Lord God does nothing, unless He reveals His secret to His servants the prophets" (Amos 3:7).
Today we have the prophets and Christ's apostles as well as the prophetic sayings of Christ Himself in the Gospel accounts. The apostle Peter wanted Christians to "be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandments of us the apostles of the Lord and Savior" (2 Peter 3:2, emphasis added). Portions of the apostolic writings were prophetic, including of course the book of Revelation.
For many years The Good News has been analyzing and explaining the changing world scene in the light of Bible prophecy, focusing in particular on three major prophesied trends—ongoing unrest in the Middle East setting the stage for a final devastating war, the rise of a new superpower centered in Europe, and the moral, spiritual, economic and geopolitical decline of the United States and the major English-speaking nations.
It's no coincidence that all three regularly dominate our headlines. All were long ago foretold as key developments reshaping our world before the return of Jesus Christ as King of Kings and Lord of Lords to usher in the coming Kingdom of God—another key message regularly emphasized in the pages of The Good News.
An Article from:
Good News Magazine: May - June 2012
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.
Scott Ashley
Scott Ashley was managing editor of Beyond Today magazine, United Church of God booklets and its printed Bible Study Course until his retirement in 2023. He also pastored three congregations in Colorado for 10 years from 2011-2021. He and his wife, Connie, live near Denver, Colorado.
Mr. Ashley attended Ambassador College in Big Sandy, Texas, graduating in 1976 with a theology major and minors in journalism and speech. It was there that he first became interested in publishing, an industry in which he worked for 50 years.
During his career, he has worked for several publishing companies in various capacities. He was employed by the United Church of God from 1995-2023, overseeing the planning, writing, editing, reviewing and production of Beyond Today magazine, several dozen booklets/study guides and a Bible study course covering major biblical teachings. His special interests are the Bible, archaeology, biblical culture, history and the Middle East.
