| (Copyright 2010) by John Jewell (London, England) |
|---|
| What would you say is the biggest problem in the world today? There are a lot of problems but which one of them is the one that contains the greatest threat to the world, to nations, to people? Which one over the years has caused more trouble than almost anything else, still does and threatens to bring even more? What would you say? War is a big problem. In the 20th century alone, we had two wars which involved nearly every nation on earth. Two wars fought with a blood-thirsty, cruel ferocity that was almost beyond belief. From the end of the second world war and through the remaining 50 years of the century there were more wars. Notable among them was the Korean war and the Vietnam war. Both involved a number of nations but mainly the United States which featured in both and then Britain which was involved in the Korean war in addition to a number of smaller wars and conflicts. As we came in to the 21st century we still have wars. Two are going on right now in the Middle East and there are a number of others going on around the world. Going back in history we find many more wars, prominent among them being the Peninsula war, the Boer war, the opium wars, the Napoleonic wars, the Trojan wars, the many wars fought by Imperial Rome and the occasion when England under King Harold lost the battle to the French under William the conqueror. I think it is correctly said that there is virtually never a time and never has been, when there isn’t a war going on somewhere. And it’s been like that from beyond the beginning of time. Before addressing that important point let us just ask the question, has anything positive been achieved by war? A history of war through the ages would show that nothing positive is ever achieved. North Korea is separated from the South and now has the atomic bomb and nuclear missiles. Throughout the world at this time, wars, and conflicts of all kinds, are being fought. We have the war in Afghanistan, another in Iraq and another always threatening to break out between Israel and the surrounding nations. Some might say that many useful inventions were developed through war! Oh, were they? Electricity? Radio? Television? Telephones? None of these, or other developments, were as the result of war. What war has produced has been misery for millions! Nations set back centuries. War is a strong candidate for biggest problem! Other problems exist such as climatic conditions, for example, widespread drought. Through history this also has set nations back, caused misery for multitudes and still does. Drought today is affecting most of the northern half of the African continent, a big area of the United States, South America and Asia. Famine also. Widespread diseases such as the Black Death which swept Europe have been a problem. There have been smallpox epidemics and then there was the Spanish flu which broke out in 1918 causing millions of deaths and then back in history there was the great epidemic of 1557. The world, in spite of the experiences of those pandemics is still at risk, perhaps more than ever, from similar diseases. Recently there was the swine flu scare! This, although in the event was not the threat at first thought, it not having the virulence originally assessed, did remind us all that the threat is always there, especially in these days of mass travel in crowded, packed airplanes and crowded trains. Terrorism is a big problem and probably affects all nations in one way or another. For example, the United States saw the destruction by terrorists of the two towers of the World Trade Center, most of the world saw it on television. Then there was the destruction in mid-air of a Pan American plane which crashed on the town of Lockerbie in Scotland with an overall death toll of around 260 people. There have been many other examples. The biggest effect however is the world-wide precautions that have to be taken to defend individual nations from terrorist activity. Another problem for the world at large is that of crime! There isn’t a single country on the face of the earth which is not affected by crime in one way or another. There are the small crimes such as taking, without permission, for personal use office stationery. But there are the huge crimes such as have recently come to light where people have set themselves up as investment bankers and taken, stolen, millions of dollars, millions of pounds, from others who trusted them and who could least afford to lose the money. Others, being trusted by a family member, have misused, and stolen the monies in their charge, betraying the trust in them. Crime is widespread and what is more, is glorified along with war, in movies or films and on television. So, through the media our children are being influenced to see nothing wrong in it. As long, as the proviso goes, no one is hurt by it. But someone is always hurt by crime whatever it is. Then there is religion! You wouldn’t think that religion would be a major problem for the world would you! Would you?? Well, you know it is! A handbook of the world’s religions will have listings of hundreds of different religions. In the professing Christian religion there must be around 600 different groups in America alone, at least another 200 in Britain with more in Europe and around the world. Most will have variations of belief. For the truth of that just list the doctrines of the Catholic church against those of the Presbyterian church and they’re quite different. Yet both profess to be Christian. Then there are major religions such as Buddhism, Islam, and of course Judaism and each has its individual splinter groups. Each and every one of them professes to have the truth! And they will be quite intolerant of all of the others. With some exceptions they all however profess to worship the one true God. Then there is indeed the one true church of God and even then, there are those who believe different things. They come up with ideas of their own! There seems, even within true Christianity, let alone any of the others, an inability to come to a joint agreement and understanding. It would appear that sometimes adherents get ideas contrary to everyone else, they have an understanding no one else has! Reminds me of George Orwell’s book Animal Farm, it is there that all pigs are equal except some are more equal than others! So, what problem does religion hold for the world? Although ostensibly it isn’t violent, physically speaking, it can generate violence as it has in Northern Ireland and many other parts of the world, and still threatens to break out yet again in Ireland. Yet it presents a confused view of life and what the purpose of life is and so people are just as confused as they always have been. Religion is a big problem in the world, and it is instrumental in preventing a unity developing among peoples. Everyone’s religious belief is the right one and adherents take great reassurance from convincing others of the rightness of their beliefs, that they might in fact be wrong isn’t an issue to them, how can it be when in their mind they are right! Gaining converts to their thinking reinforces their view as to the correctness of their beliefs, especially if they themselves are converts. We have the example of the Crusades of the Middle Ages dedicated to recovering the Holy Land from the Moslems, and now in one of the daily newspapers there is a photograph of a group of Moslems holding a big banner with the slogan “Islam will dominate the world” With everything else that is happening one would have to say there really is no hope for this world. Everywhere we look today, and indeed people have looked for centuries, we find confusion, everyone is right! In their own eyes, or in their view, they are. To talk in terms of “dominating the world” is aggressive, such a sentiment does not come from the one, true God. The bible itself mentions this as a problem. In Proverbs 21:2 it says this: “Every way of a man is right in his own eyes but the Lord ponders the hearts.” Another passage, this time in Isaiah 66:2 says “…. To this man will I look, even to him that is poor (or “humble”) and of a contrite spirit, and trembles at my word.” The one big problem for the world is that of government. It’s a question of “Who rules!” Whose word is paramount? Has there ever been even one successful government of man. It all started with the spirit world God created of angels, the word actually means “messenger”. There were three archangels, of which one was Lucifer who rebelled against God. He is described as being filled with violence, as being profane with the wisdom he originally had, now corrupt. He was cast out and then to be contained on the earth. Lucifer, now Satan, who wanted to take God’s position is now the god of this world. In 2nd Corinthians 4:4 it says how the god of this world has blinded the minds of those who don’t understand or believe the truth. In other words, it is the spirit of Satan that fills this world. A violent, profane, corrupt spirit. The master of destruction and confusion. Everyone, and I mean everyone, is a target. It is no wonder therefore that the world is as violent as it is. Satan knows his eventual fate and he wants to destroy any and every possibility of mankind fulfilling its true destiny. He has generated all kinds of religious beliefs in an effort to distract people from the biblical truth. He is the master of deception and has something for everyone. If you like lots of ceremony there are religious beliefs that will give you that! Lots of emotion? There are groups that will provide that! How about something which is very esoteric, capable only of being understood by the initiated, that’s there as well. Then there are those who really should be on the stage as they work best with large attendances, and everything becomes a theatrical performance. The truth contained in the bible is not difficult to understand. The apostle Paul in the New Testament in 2nd Corinthians 1:12 said that he presented the truth not as the world would present it, but “… in simplicity and godly sincerity, …” and in 1st Timothy 2:4 referring to Jesus Christ who, as he says, “… will have all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” Basically, if something is complicated and not easy to grasp then you can be fairly certain it is not of God. —————————————————————————————————– See John Jewell’s other articles at: Jewell, John – Church of God, Bismarck (church-of-god-bismarck.org) —————————————————————————————————– |
Views: 4
Sign up to Receive [The "New" Church of God Messenger] weekly newsletter: