The following is from one of last week’s Trumpet Briefs. These daily e-mails contain personal messages from the Trumpet staff. Click here to join the nearly 20,000 members of our mailing list, so you don’t miss another message!

These are shocking times. It seems nations all over the world are convulsing in earthshaking events!

We feel a strong urgency in getting the most significant news to you, our readers. But the news has no meaning of itself. In fact, it can be very discouraging or even distracting if we aren’t watching the news the right way.

Everything we write and discuss has an important purpose: We want to help you—and as many people as possible—discern the signs of the times.

We always aim to show you the meaning behind events. We put events and trends in their broader context, and explain where they are leading. Most importantly, we provide God’s perspective, and show how these events are fulfilling the prophecies of the Bible. They are actually clear signs that the end of this age of man is here, and that Jesus Christ’s Second Coming is very soon!

You will not hear this message anywhere else. But it is the crowning lesson to take from what is happening in the world. It is the real reason why it is so critical that you watch world events!

In America, the news media are filled with reporting on Hurricane Harvey. But none of them are talking about why such an unparalleled catastrophe is hitting one of America’s major cities! A few have tried to blame carbon emissions, which is terribly incorrect. None would even consider speaking of that storm as a curse on our nation. None would consider the possibility that God may have anything to say about it! But God has a lot to say about it! And if you are reading the Trumpet and listening to our radio programs (here, here and here), you know that. If you’ve read our booklet Why ‘Natural’ Disasters?, then you have an excellent overview of the Bible’s many passages explaining the spiritual significance of events like the one hitting Houston.

The news media are in a frenzy talking about the racist violence that recently hit Charlottesville, Virginia, and other cities. But they seem mostly interested in using it to accuse the president of bigotry. That is dangerously irresponsible! Those media personalities are actually adding fuel to the flames of the hatred and violence in this country! They are willfully blind to the fact that this nation is about to explode in civil war! The problem is far more dangerous than they realize! But if you watched my recent Key of David program (“Charlottesville Violence—‘The Real Danger Is Invisible’”), you understand this terrible reality. If you have been reading the Trumpet (articles like this and this), you know the Bible’s prophetic warnings about just how destructive the violence is going to get.

Examples are everywhere of how other news sources miss the real significance of events. They fail to understand why God is allowing or bringing these disasters. They do not recognize any of it as punishment or correction. And they take no responsibility for the egregious sins that are provoking God’s wrath!

Jesus Christ chided people for failing to discern the signs of the times (Matthew 16:1-3). The signs of His Second Coming are all around us—yet that same blindness afflicts virtually the whole world today. And most of the news media are the most blind of all!

That is why we feel such a responsibility to give you this understanding. God actually holds us accountable to proclaim it in an effort to save people!

If you saw someone you cared for carelessly heading into a disaster, wouldn’t you try to stop him? Wouldn’t you shout a warning, or do anything you could to save him?

As the Prophet Amos said, “The lion hath roared, who will not fear? the Lord God hath spoken, who can but prophesy?”

There is a lot of bad news in the world today. But if you discern the signs of the times, it is not depressing. It is corrective to recognize the chastening of God. It is exciting to realize that God is real and alive and active in carrying out His plan. It is moving to see events fulfilling the Bible’s prophecies.

And it is extremely inspiring to know what these signs actually signal: the very soon coming of Jesus Christ in power to set this sin-sick world right!

Keep reading the Trumpet. We will help you see how all these earthshaking events are actually signs of the greatest, most hope-filled event in history!