Dear Friend,

In 1945 a group of scientists who had worked on building the first atomic bomb formed a fraternity called the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists (BAS). The ramifications of their own invention concerned them—the potential nuclear destruction of the entire world!

To illustrate this threat in simple terms, in 1947 they devised a clever graphic, the "Doomsday Clock." According to their Web site, "The Doomsday Clock evoked both the imagery of apocalypse (midnight) and the contemporary idiom of nuclear explosion (countdown to zero). In 1949 Bulletin leaders realized that movement of the minute hand would signal the organization's assessment of world events. The decision to move the minute hand is made by the Bulletin's Board of Directors in consultation with its Board of Sponsors, which includes 18 Nobel Laureates. The Bulletin's Doomsday Clock has become a universally recognized indicator of the world's vulnerability to nuclear weapons and other threats."

Two weeks ago, on Jan. 18, the BAS adjusted the clock. The minute hand moved ahead two minutes. In the judgment of these scientists, we are now five minutes to midnight.

Since its inception, the clock has been adjusted only 18 times, the last being after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Their rationale for once again moving us closer to anticipated world destruction was twofold: nuclear weapons and climate change.

A dismissive skeptic may say, "Well, we've had nukes for 60 years now, and the cold war threat has dissolved." The BAS statement counters with, "We stand at the brink of a Second Nuclear Age. Not since the first atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki has the world faced such perilous choices. North Korea's recent test of a nuclear weapon, Iran's nuclear ambitions, a renewed emphasis on the military utility of nuclear weapons, the failure to adequately secure nuclear materials, and the continued presence of some 26,000 nuclear weapons in the United States and Russia are symptomatic of a failure to solve the problems posed by the most destructive technology on Earth."

The climate change threat, they say, is less dramatic, but no less dire in the long run. This is not good news!

We here on The Good News staff have a different take on the Doomsday Clock. Scientists may move the clock's hands forward and back depending on how they assess the world's situation, but the truth is, you can't turn the clock back. The heat may be turned up or down from time to time, but human events are marching relentlessly ahead on a course foretold long ago.

Two thousand years ago, for example, Jesus Christ was on the same page as the Doomsday Clock scientists. What they have, they have right, He said. They just don't have the whole picture.

"The end will come," He confirmed in His vivid description in Matthew 24 of unfolding world events. And "the end" isn't going to be pretty. "For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be. And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved" (Matthew 24:21-22).

Someday the scientists tending the clock will be moving the minute hand straight up to midnight! It's not a question of whether, but how long, we can hold off the destruction created by our own devices.

Unforeseen by them, however, is that when humanity's last hour is ticking down to its final seconds, something unexpected and dramatic happens! The doomsday countdown isn't going to hit zero.

Instead, a new day is about to dawn. While the scientists see the reality of the bad news in the short term, The Good News magazine is telling you the rest of the story. First, Jesus promised, "For the elect's sake those days will be shortened" (end of verse 22).

How? When? Why? What happens then?

Well, God has a clock, too! He lays it out for us to see in His Word—the Bible. The clock is ticking, but more important than just knowing how to count the minutes, He tells us what events to watch, how to understand them and what He is going to do about the predicament we are in. He also tells us what is coming after we get past the crisis point. And even better yet, He tells those willing to listen to Him what they can do about it now!

Can you afford not to know these things? World affairs unfolding around us today are verifying the prophesied events, timing and conditions God has warned us about for thousands of years. While the scientists tend the Doomsday Clock, you can tend to God's!

Our booklets, Are We Living in the Time of the End? and The Gospel of the Kingdom, explain so much more of these vital issues. If you don't have these important booklets, let us send them to you today. A quick click of the mouse will take you to our link, www.gnmagazine.org/booklets, where you can easily place your order. They are absolutely free, of course.

Thank you for your interest and for taking the time to read this. We hope our efforts to convey the gospel, the good news of God's Kingdom, are making a difference in your life!

Until next month, may God be with you.

Clyde Kilough
President
United Church of God