I get most of my news off the Internet and read 5-7 news websites daily and keep an eye on my favorites throughout the day as they are updated. The news cycle consists of updates every three hours unless there is breaking news and I like to keep up with what is going on in the world as it happens.
I was talking to a young person the other day about the news and he said he rarely, if ever, watched it. He said it was too depressing. It is obvious that bad news is what sells. The worst the news, the more the coverage. Death, mayhem, destruction, tragedy, violence, scandals and evil rule! Good news is seldom if ever reported.
This is quite different than the Bible. Though the Holy scripture consistently gives us the bad news first, it is followed by the good news. It tells us that what is wrong in the world comes from sin and it is what separates us from the perfect goodness of God. Sin we are told will result in severe punishment and death and examples are given, but then we are given the Gospel or Good News. The Greek translation for Gospel is Good News, and refers to news of the coming of the Kingdom of God, and of Jesus’s death on the cross and resurrection to restore people’s relationship with God. Mark 1:14-15 – Later on, after John was arrested, Jesus went into Galilee, where he preached God’s Good News. “The time promised by God has come at last!” he announced. “The Kingdom of God is near! Repent of your sins and believe the Good News!”
I am trying to put together a couple of videos to illustrate this concept with current events. Most everyone remembers video footage of ISIS marching Christians out on a beach in their orange jumpsuits in Libya and beheading them. Few know that just a few weeks later a Muslim who had converted to Christianity baptized many new converts in that precise location. The Jesus Alliance has video footage of both events and it is a classic case of light penetrating darkness.
Another is footage of a Black Lives Matter march in NY where participants were chanting “pigs in a blanket” and “What do you want? – Kill cops! – When? – Now! – what do you want? – Kill cops now!” A few weeks later body cam footage was captured of two police officers trapped behind a car with a hail of gunfire coming at them from a house where a deranged man was barricaded and firing at them. He had shot his wife and she was laying in the front yard, and her cries for help can be heard in the background. It was feared he would also shoot their two daughters who appeared to be approximately 6 and 8 years old. Bam-Bam-Bam-Bam you can hear the bullets coming fast and furious, and in the background the woman can be heard crying and begging for help. One of the police officers looks at the other and says “I’m going to get her”, and with that he ran through a hail of gunfire and dragged her to safety.
Wow! Such bravery speaks volumes. Every person who hates police officers should be required to watch that video. The light penetrated the darkness as the deranged man was eventually arrested and the wife and two daughters were saved. Praise God!
On New Year’s Day I spoke with our new creative director for the Jesus Alliance and told him when he starts in mid-January I want to flood social media with such stories. What the world needs is a good news network – GNN – and we need to share the Gospel with relevant real life examples of good triumphing over evil.
Don’t be dismayed by the bad news you see daily. Remember the Bible’s promise of God’s kingdom coming. Though it is seldom reported, there is amazing good news occurring around the world and we are determined to bring it to you. If you find an example of good news triumphing over evil that illustrates the light penetrating the darkness, please send it to me right here at Words for the Day. We will be sharing them with a world hungry for good news of the Lord’s goodness.
Luke 4:18
“The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor”
January 3 2016 – Click here to listen