World News and Trends: The global famine to come
The Bible forewarns that the age-old problem of famine will eventually intensify beyond our worst nightmares.
The title of the London Times article says it all: "Rocketing Price of Food in a Hungry World Brings Riots, Fear and Conflict" (Francis Elliott, Jan. 12, 2011).
The Bible forewarns that the age-old problem of famine will eventually intensify beyond our worst nightmares. This is represented by one of the four horsemen of the Apocalypse in Revelation 6 and is specifically mentioned in the prophecy Jesus Christ gave at the end of His ministry in Matthew 24, Mark 13 and Luke 21.
According to the Times article: "Many factors are being blamed for the global increases [in riots, fear and conflict]...Experts think that the trend is upwards." Right now the effects of famine are mainly seen in poverty-stricken nations. That will change over time. Poor countries will have to cope with two billion more people seeking food in not so many years' time.
Bad weather in the form of droughts and floods (like the one in Queensland, Australia) or earthquakes (like the Haitian disaster) tend to exacerbate the basic problem of sufficient food production.
Shortages drive the price of crucial foodstuffs ever upwards. Ultimately only God can rescue humanity from the cause-and-effect cycle that grips poverty-stricken countries.
To understand more, read our free booklets Are We Living in the Time of the End? and The Book of Revelation Unveiled. (Sources: The Times [London], The Wall Street Journal.)
An Article from:
Good News Magazine: March - April 2011
Course Content
Jerold Aust
Jerold Aust has served in the ministry for 52 years, as a public speaker for 58 years, a published writer for 38 years, and is employed by UCG’s Media and Communications Services. He is a Senior Writer, interviewer, and editor for Beyond Today Magazine and has taught Speech Communication for UCG’s ministerial online program and the Book of Revelation for ABC.
Jerold holds a BA in theology from Ambassador College, Pasadena (1968), an MA in Communication from California State University, Fullerton (1995), a distance-learning Ph.D (2006), and a Famous Writers School diploma in non-fiction writing (1973). Additionally, he studied post-grad communication at University of Southern California (1995), radio, TV, voice-overs, and Public Relations at Fullerton College (1995-1996), and graduate communication at Wichita State University (1978). Jerold has taught communication at the University of South Alabama (7 years) and ABC (17 years). His published works include, Ronald Reagan’s Rhetoric: Metaphor as Persuasion and EZSpeakers: Public Speaking Made Easy in 7 Steps. Jerold's overarching goal is to share with humankind its incredible destiny!
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.
