World News and Trends: Stress and anxiety afflict U.S. citizens
Some in the United States are suffering from acute anxiety attacks and other forms of worry because of the recent financial setbacks.
Some in the United States are suffering from acute anxiety attacks and other forms of worry because of the recent financial setbacks. As USA Today reported: "As a nation, we are emotionally struggling to digest each day's dour economic news. Home foreclosures are at record highs. The stock market is gyrating. Retirement and college savings plans that families have spent decades building are crumbling" (Sept. 25, 2008).
This financial crisis has hurt citizens across the country, affecting executives, employers, employees, parents and children. Marriages are under greater stress as husbands and wives argue over how to best cope with the difficulties. Financial planners, executive consultants, employee counselors, psychologists and psychiatrists are overwhelmed with telephone calls asking what to do and how to react. One can quickly overreact, making unwise decisions based solely on emotion, or suffer from action paralysis and do absolutely nothing. Extremes are usually poor options.
One lady simply said: "I just put it in God's hands. I go to bed praying each night that things will someday get better" (ibid.). That's a very good start! Also, in an era in which one may purchase any of countless self-help books we strongly recommend that readers consult the best such book ever published. The Bible gives all kinds of important tips and principles about how to cope with adversity. (Source: USA Today.)
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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.
