The Near Distance| Current News and Events and why you should care!

What Do You Think?

What do you think about all the current events happening right now? This is a very fitting question because world events point to a hand bigger than ours guiding each and every one of them. It's difficult to grasp the immensity of what is happening on the world stage-especially in regard to some of the trends I try to keep everyone up to date on. Israel, Iran, Syria, terrorism, Afghanistan, oil spills, volcanoes, floods, hurricanes, financial crisis, and even more. I often think that what I write about is all so negative. The truth is that in many ways it is. To understand the days in which we live we need a source that is trustworthy. For me that source is the Bible. It speaks in great detail of the days in which we all are living AND speaks of the hope for what will come out of it all. I recommend that everyone investigate for yourself because knowing what is in store for this world of ours is important-your life will be impacted by it all.

In light of all this, there are a few things happening that are important to understand. The first is the status of the Middle East and the peace-process. The United States has become more unfriendly to Israel now than at any other time in our history. Part of the reason for this is the so called peace process. The U.S. and the world are pushing hard for a two-state solution to the situation in the middle east. At this point there hasn't been much movement toward peace and President Obama says he will call a world summit this fall to potentially force a solution on the Israelis if nothing happens in the next few months. Haaretz reports this: "U.S. President Barack Obama has told several European leaders that if Israeli-Palestinian talks remain stalemated into September or October, he will convene an international summit on achieving Mideast peace, senior Israeli officials told Haaretz on Thursday." Article here. This is very interesting and should be watched closely. It is interesting that the Bible speaks of a world that will be heavily burdened with Jerusalem-like a heavy stone. Peace is and will be very evasive in the middle east especially with the threat of war reaching fever pitch. Many expect war to be the next event coming out of the middle east since nearly every nation surrounding Israel is now hostile and armed to the teeth. Here are just a few headlines as of late:

Iran belongs to world's "nuclear club," cleric says
'Hamas smuggling arms into W. Bank'
Hezbollah received hundreds of Syrian missiles
Iran navy begins eight-day war-games in Gulf
Iran, Syria, Hezbollah gear up to provoke summer war

Secondly the global financial crisis is obviously not better or going away. Riots in Greece say it all. The small nation is the tip of the iceberg. Europe is on the edge of a financial cliff as is evidenced by the news this last week. Portugal, Spain, Italy and Ireland are in just as bad of shape. Our own stock market plunged as did many around the world as the fear of financial disaster is again in the air. Many are wondering how long it will be before the U.S. is facing the same crisis. The Financial Times says that a Greek crisis is coming to America-after all- how long can the world's biggest borrower remain the the world's biggest power? Article here. Are you prepared? Check out the videos to the side for more info on this.

As things seem to get more crazy, I find that I can steady myself with truth. I encourage everyone to seek out the truth about what is going on in our world. It's not just news and information, it's a story in process, in the process of being completed. If you are curious about the story, and you should be, take a look at the Bible and discover the story. It began, unfolded and will end. If you can't find any purpose to all of life, investigate and learn and find hope. It began and will end with God. He is who you can find hope in.

The Near Distance / News and Current Events

What Do You Think?