World News and Trends: International solution to Mideast conflict?
Pope John Paul II came out in August in favor of an international peacekeeping force to quell the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
The pope said the international community must take "a more determined role on the ground." International mediation, he continued, was required to create "the conditions for a fruitful dialogue between the two sides." The Palestinians have long sought international protection, but the Israelis have rejected such proposals, saying that outside peacekeeping forces would not stop Palestinian attacks.
This comes on the heels of a proposal at the July meeting of the Organization of Security and Cooperation in Europe that Jerusalem be put under the control of an international consortium. Italian parliamentarian Marcello Pacini put forward the resolution out of fears that the Israelis, under international pressure, may eventually cede control of Christian holy sites to Muslim authorities. Yasir Arafat has already claimed guardianship of both Muslim and Christian holy sites in Old Jerusalem. The Israeli observer delegation at the OSCE meeting convinced Mr. Pacini to withdraw the resolution because they saw it as "problematic for Israel."
Keep watching Jerusalem, which is destined to become the center of world conflict (Zechariah 12:1-3). Major involvement by Europe, the Vatican and the Muslim world are all prophesied for the Holy City. (Sources: BBC.com, CNSNews.com.)
An Article from:
Good News Magazine: September - October 2002
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.
Melvin Rhodes
Melvin Rhodes is a member of the United Church of God congregation in Lansing, Michigan.
Tom Robinson
Tom is an elder in the United Church of God who works from his home near St. Louis, Missouri as managing editor and senior writer for Beyond Today magazine, church study guides and the UCG Bible Commentary. He is a visiting instructor at Ambassador Bible College. And he serves as chairman of the church's Prophecy Advisory Committee and a member of the Fundamental Beliefs Amendment Committee.
Tom began attending God's Church at the age of 16 in 1985 and was baptized a year later. He attended Ambassador College in both Texas and California and served for a year as a history teacher at the college's overseas project in Sri Lanka. He graduated from the Texas campus in 1992 with a Bachelor of Arts in theology along with minors in English and mass communications. Since 1994, he has been employed as an editor and writer for church publications and has served in local congregations through regular preaching of sermons.
Tom was ordained to the ministry in 2012 and attends the Columbia-Fulton, Missouri congregation with his wife Donna and their two teen children.
