Tragedies Make Good Headlines - Abigail Skelton

Like water spilled on the ground, which cannot be recovered, so we must die. But God does not take away life. Instead, he devises ways so that a banished person may not remain estranged from him. 2 Samuel 14:14 NIV

Every time a newspaper runs a story of a murder or a fatal crash, I’m immediately sucked into the article. Tragedies make good headlines. 

Even when I read the Bible, the violent stories in the Old Testament capture my attention far quicker than the beautiful sections of prose and poetry. Maybe this says something about me. Or perhaps, this says something about humanity.

We are 100% mortal. And when life gets too comfortable, we can start to forget that. Ferocious crimes and tragic accidents shock us back into the terrible reality of living in a sinful world. A heartbreaking world. All too often, these grim reminders of human mortality leave me distressed. I ask, “Why God? Why so much death?” 

Joab, David’s military commander, reminded the king about God’s character, even in the bitter reality of political coups and vicious murders. 

We live in a fallen world, and death is an effect. But even thousands of years before Jesus came to rescue the banished and estranged, God was still at work, devising ways to bring people to him. He even sent prophets to unbelieving nations to warn them of destruction. (Think Jonah and the city of Nineveh). God worked miracles and appointed righteous leaders. 

And the good news is that God remains the same. He is still at work devising ways so that a banished person may not remain estranged from him.

Joab’s first statement is true: One day we must die. But God is not taking away life for fun. He wants us to know him and the life of freedom that only he brings. Additionally, God promises an antidote to the death and tragedies of the world: eternal life with Jesus. 

Be one of those devised ways that brings those around you closer to Jesus.

Abigail Skelton is from beautiful Southern Oregon, where she grew up with an avid love for Jesus, chocolate, and writing. She has lived in three countries while involved in missionary work and frequently travels and studies foreign languages. You can connect with Abigail on her website: https://abigailskelton.com.

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From Blues to Good News - Sara Lewis

The message that God sent to the people of Israel, announcing the good news of peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all. Acts 10:36 NIV

The older gentleman observed, “Nothing in the news but the blues.”

Years ago, as I traveled in the Bahamas, I met an older gentleman listening to a depressing newscast on ZNS (the Nassau radio station). Hearing the above statement, I smiled at the poetry of it, but the statement has also become a slogan of today’s reality. There isn’t much about news that is good.

As Christians, we use the term “good news” differently than our culture. Our good news—the gospel—is that God in His great mercy chose not to doom us to our own bad choices. Instead, He rescued us by sending His spotless Son to make the ultimate advance payment so that we could live with Him forever.

As correspondents of the Kingdom, we are instructed to share this good news of Jesus with the hopeless, helpless, and defeated. Our personal media resource material (the Bible) records beautiful feature stories to show how God’s plan works: the headline accounts of Moses, Joseph, Daniel, Esther, Ruth, the woman at the well, the good Samaritan, and the Great Reporter, Jesus Himself.

Seeing glimmers of the good news creeping into today’s media reports is heartwarming. Stories of compassion by policemen taking the knee in prayer with peaceful protestors, a man offering his townhome as shelter to people caught in street rioting, hospital workers serving selfishly through exhaustion and deprivation—kindness and light in the face of darkness. These are the good news stories God wants us to show and tell.

As participants in God’s Kingdom, we can demonstrate random acts of kindness amid chaos. We can also inspire others to go out and do more of the same. After all, who doesn’t want to see pretty feet heading their way with a joyful report?

Think of someone in your sphere of influence who needs to hear some good news rather than the blues.

Tweetable: Are you sharing more good news than blues news? 
 

Sara Lewis has responded to God’s calling to pray and to write in several ways. She has written two books: Walking on the Waterways: Parables from Sailing and Called to Pray: An Intercessor’s Toolkit. She has been active in forming two email groups of intercessors, The CORD (Chain of Redeemed Daughters) and the WatchWomen on the Wall. After retiring as a community college English instructor, she and her husband, Monty, began living their dream of winter cruising in the Bahamas, eventually publishing the Explorer Chartbook series of navigational charts and cruising guides. They spend the rest of their time at their home in Ocean City, Maryland.

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