J. Davy Crockett III

As once I followed up with an old friend who had been wrestling, with some success, a serious health problem, a sudden update on his condition was devastating. What had seemed to be a good course of treatment proved to be less effective than expected. The condition had worsened, and the prognosis was not good.

The dominant crisis now on the world scene is the massive influx of refugees crushing in on the borders of Eastern European nations. Tens of thousands of oppressed peoples from the Middle East and Northern Africa are clamoring to get into these countries. Most want to get to the European Union, which has accepted over half a million migrants and is now balking at accepting more. This intense pressure, financially and culturally, may reveal cracks in the fabric of the E.U. as member nations try to absorb the massive influx of poor, desperate people.

Several years ago, while visiting South Africa, I heard an inspiring story from a young African who found biblical truth in an unusual way. This young man, who had some contact with the Church of God as a small child, was at the post office in his township. He walked over to the waste bin to discard some junk mail. As he glanced into the trash receptacle, he noticed a colorful magazine that had been torn in half…