Our SORROWS!!

OUR SORROWS

BY HOLLY MILLS

"And ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars: see that ye be not
troubled. for all these things must come to pass, but the end is
not yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom
against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and
earthquakes, in divers places. All these are the beginning of
sorrows. " (Matt. 24: 5-8).

These words that Jesus spoke in Matthew are certainly true of
today. It seems that almost every day we hear of a war or some
type of disaster happening somewhere in the world. A look at news
items on the internet shows the following:

1. Syria: Tanks and troops `deployed in restive Hama' - BBC News
Middle East
2. Floods at China mines trap '40' -BBC News Asia-Pacific 3. Los
Alamos fire evacuees might return home soon - Weather on
MSNBC.COM
4. Jim Rogers: Boost Crop Production or 'No Food at Any Price'-
MONEYNEWS.COM 5. A Look at the Devastating Impact a Solar Storm
Could Have on Society - OILPRICE.COM
6. Huge rock avalanches rumble down Mount Rainier - The Seattle
Times
7. Tropical Storm Arlene slams Mexico - MSNBC.COM
8. Global Warming and the Science of Extreme Weather - Scientific
American
9. Horn of Africa sees 'worst drought in 60 years' - BBC News
Africa
10. Asian 'megapest' is chomping up US orchards - YAHOO NEWS
11. Record Flooding Crests for Some in North Dakota -
AccuWeather.com
12. Scientists Say  California Mega-Quake Imminent - The Weather
Channel, weather.com
13. Another Step Closer To A One World Religion: 50 U.S. Churches
To Read From The Quran On Sunday - The American Dream, endoft-
heamericandream.com
14. How climate change could cause a 30-year war - The world is
careening toward a bloody global battle over energy, says Michael
Klare at CBS News. - The Week, theweek.com
15. Australia Urged to Protect Key Farmland from Foreign Buyers -
voanews.com
16. Qantas and Jetstar cancel all flights for weekend - It could
be a long weekend for travellers wanting to get home as Qantas
and its budget subsidiary Jetstar announce all flights in and out
of New Zealand are cancelled all weekend because of ash from the
Chilean volcano.

These are just some of the headlines from the end of June, 2011
to July 1, 2011. So much is happening in the world right now it
is hard to keep up. Natural disasters seem to be increasing and
are more intense. Here are some statistics that I found on the
internet for earthquakes of magnitude 5.0 to 9.9: 2004 (1,672),
2005 (1,844), 2006 (1,865), 2007 (2,270), 2008 (1,948), 2009
(2,056), 2010 (2,117), 2011 (659 up to March 16). It certainly
appears that the earthquakes are becoming more intense. Here is
the website if you would like to look at the full list back to
1970, htt www.iohnstonsarchive.net/other/quakel.html. Of course
we are aware of the huge earthquakes in Christchurch, New Zealand
and in Japan. These were both extremely devastating earthquakes
and have changed those areas forever.

Tornados in the US have been extremely harsh so far this year.
Here are the statistics on tornados up to July 1, 2011 from
http://en.wikipedia.or/ wiki/Tornadoes of 2011:
"As of July 1, there have been 1,604 tornadoes reported in the US
in 2011 (of which at least 1,142 were confirmed). 2011 has been
an exceptionally destructive and deadly year for tornadoes;
worldwide, at least 551 people perished due to tornadoes: 12 in
Bangladesh, one in New Zealand, one in the Philippines and an
estimated 537 in the United States (compared to 564 US deaths in
the 10 years prior). Due in large part to several extremely large
tornado outbreaks in the middle and end of April and in late May,
the year is currently on nearrecord to record pace. It is also
the deadliest year in the United States since 1936, due mostly to
the 322 tornadic deaths that occurred during the April 27
outbreak across the Southeastern United States and the 157
tornadic deaths in the 2011 Joplin Tornado." Canada has also had
some severe winds and a few destructive tornados.

Flooding has been a very destructive force in the past year.
There has been flooding in Aus tralia, especially in Queensland,
which was disastrous. Flooding in China, the Philippines, Sumatra
and many other countries has been extremely devastating. Canada
has had and is still experiencing flooding in Manitoba, Quebec
and Saskatchewan.

The United States has also had terrible flooding along the
Mississippi River, which affected Memphis, TN and West Memphis,
AR. There was also extreme flooding in the Midwest which affected
Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota and Iowa. It's amazing to me
how much of the land that is being flooded is the bread basket of
our nations. What will come next, famine and high food prices?
What a year and these are only the beginning of sorrows! We must
remember though, that the worse things get, the closer we are to
the Lord's return and the coming Kingdom on earth. Hallelujah!
Remember Jesus' words, "And when these things begin to come to
pass, then look up, and lift up your heads, for your redemption
draweth nigh." (Luke 21:28).
..........

From "Thy Kingdom Come" - August 2011, a publication of The
Association of the Covenant People, Burnaby, B.C. Canada.