Current Events – The Lord is Coming Soon

“Today the signs of the times declare that we are standing on the threshold of great and solemn events. Everything in our world is in agitation. Before our eyes is fulfilling the Saviour’s prophecy of the events to precede His coming.” Maranatha, 68.

“The signs of the times give evidence that the judgments of heaven are being poured out, that the day of the Lord is at hand. The daily papers are full of indications of an intense conflict in the future. Bold robberies are of frequent occurrence. Strikes are common. Thefts and murders are committed on every hand. Men possessed by demons are taking the lives of men, women, and little children. All these things testify that the Lord’s coming is near.” Ibid., 175.

Seventy-four Chinese fishermen were missing on Monday, September 30, 2013, after a typhoon sunk three fishing boats in the South China Sea as Thailand and Vietnam braced for torrential rain and flooding. www.reuters.com

Seven people were confirmed dead and at least 1,500 homes destroyed in Colorado after a week of rare, torrential rains along the eastern slopes of the Rockies, and helicopter search-and-rescue flights resumed on Monday, September 16, 2013, in flood-stricken areas. www.reuters.com

With its Muslim-style minarets topped by a large black cross, the All Saints Church in Peshawar has for more than a century offered a daring architectural expression of Muslim-Christian harmony and cohabitation. This is how the Taliban destroyed it: two suicide bombers rushed the church doors as worshipers streamed out on Sunday, September 22, 2013. One attacker exploded his vest inside, the other just outside.

The death toll had risen to 85 by Monday evening, when Christians across the country protested the worst atrocity their community has suffered in Pakistan’s history. www.nytimes.com

September 25, 2013, Members of Christian community here burnt Pakistan flag and held a demonstration on the Jalandhar-Delhi national highway to protest the deadly twin suicide bombings on a historic church in Peshawar. Eighty three people were killed in the attack on All Saints Church at Kohati Gate area of Peshawar, which was the deadliest ever on the country’s Christian minority. Bombers had set off their suicide vests as people were emerging from Sunday mass. www.dnaindia.com/india

Gunmen stormed a shopping mall in the Kenyan capital Nairobi on Saturday, September 21, 2013, killing at least 39 people including close relatives of Kenya’s president and children, in an attack claimed by the Somali Islamist group al Shabaab. www.reuters.com