Wyatt Ciesielka

France and Germany continue to vie for European leadership.  Who will triumph?  What will become of the cherished French ideals of liberté, égalité, and fraternité?  Will liberté or austerity prevail in Europe?

More human beings have been killed in war and genocide from World War I to now than ever before in the same span of time. Warfare, natural disasters, religious confusion and religious strife, economic calamity, immorality and famine all seem to be increasing. Prophecy is clearly marching forward. Has the second seal been opened? Has the Red Horse been released?

Most people dismiss the commercialism, the pagan influence, and the impossibility of a December 25 birth, and take comfort in slogans such as “Put Christ back in Christmas.” But how many professing Christians would feel comfortable celebrating Christmas if they understood that you cannot “put Christ back in Christmas” because Christmas is Satanic?

More than 1 billion of the earth's nearly 6.8 billion inhabitants are chronically undernourished.  Today alone, 16,000 children starved to death or died from hunger-related causes – this is one child every five seconds!  And 2009 is predicted to be the worst year yet by far for global hunger.  For millions and millions, hope is turning to hunger.  Why?

The young athletes battling for Olympic gold are impressive with their show of grace and strength. But, behind the bright lights of the 2008 Beijing games are lesser–known stories much more worthy of our attention. These are also stories of grace and strength, but more importantly, of mercy, of suffering, and of sacrifice.

As I watched the Chinese and American women's gymnastics teams compete, one such story came to mind. These young gymnasts are not much older than the girl whose story I recall.