The Trumpet Herald

The Trumpet Herald is a commentary on certain current events in the light of inspired prophecy.

Lord's Day Alliance sees growing Sunday movement

In the wake of the Pope's "apostolic letter" urging Roman Catholics to go to church on Sundays, The Atlanta Journal and Constitution (July 8, 1998, p. D01) interviewed the director of the Atlanta-based Lord's Day Alliance, an interdenominational organization that promotes Sunday observance. Referring to Sunday, Jack Lowndes was quoted as saying, "We believe what the Bible says: 'Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy.' It should be a day of rest, worship and good works."

Lowndes is also quoted saying, "There is a growing movement to make Sunday a day of rest, and it's not all based on rest and worship, although that is why we support it." He also stated that there are indications that his group — which reportedly also advocates that non-Christians be given their holy days off — is holding back the tide on an increasingly 24-hour, seven-day world.

The Alliance operates with a staff of three and sends a newsletter to 9,000 addresses.

Inspired Commentary

Inspiration has declared where the Sunday movement will lead.

"We are to be ready and waiting for the orders of God. Nations will be stirred to their very center. Support will be withdrawn from those who proclaim God's only standard of righteousness, the only sure test of character. And all who will not bow to the decree of the national councils, and obey the national laws to exalt the sabbath instituted by the man of sin to the disregard of God's holy day, will feel, not the oppressive power of popery alone, but of the Protestant world, the image of the beast..." (Selected Messages, vol. 3, p. 385).

Pestilence

The cover of the August 3, 1998 issue of Time magazine featured a report on the present outbreak of E. coli O157, a germ now poisoning the nation's water and food supply. Time reports that in the five years since the hamburger-related deaths of four children rocked the fast-food industry, "there have been as many as 30 E coli outbreaks each year in the U.S., resulting in thousands of very ill people and hundreds of lost lives" (Jeffrey Kluger, "Anatomy of An Outbreak," Time, Aug. 3, 1998, p. 58).

According to this article, the greatest risks for E. coli — together with salmonella and a list of other bugs — are to be found in meat (especially shellfish and pork), eggs, dairy products, deli cuisine, and untreated water (Ibid., p. 61). In trying to avoid E. coli, the article advises — among other things — that all meat and poultry be cooked thoroughly, and to avoid rare meat when dining out (Ibid., p. 62).

Famine

The July 27, 1998 issue of Time contained a horrific article on the renewal of famine in northern Africa. "Across the pitiless expanse of Sudan, starvation threatens 2.6 million people, of whom 350,000 may be facing death" (Bruce W. Nelan, "Sudan: Why is This Happening Again?" Time, July 27, 1998, p. 30).

The current tragedy in this stricken land is what aid professionals call a "complex emergency," one produced by what the article describes as "man and nature working together to destroy" (Ibid.). Not only the weather, but the warring parties in Sudan's present civil struggle have perpetuated the crisis by using food as a weapon, destroying villages as well as meager crops, sending thousands on treks for food through the wilderness in which many drop dead even within sight of relief (Ibid., pp. 30, 31).

Praying for Heat Relief

Newsweek ran the headline, "Praying for Heat Relief," detailing the continuing heat wave across the American South and Southwest (p. 4). The heat is blamed for at least 107 deaths in Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Arizona, and California (Ibid.). The resulting drought has cost billions in agricultural losses, causing farmers and ranchers to apply for federal disaster relief. The report ends ominously: "Meteorologists see no quick end. In fact, some are saying the worst weather is yet to come" (Ibid.).

Tidal Wave in New Guinea

The third week in July witnessed a devastating tidal wave which struck the coast of Papua, New Guinea, devastating scores of villages, leaving thousands missing and presumed dead. The wave was caused by an undersea earthquake measuring over 7 on the Richter scale, occurring so close to the shore that any effective warning system would not have been possible.

From El Niño to La Niña

The July 27, 1998 issue of Time reported the fading power of the weather phenomenon known as El Niño, and its unruly successor, called La Niña (pp. 52, 53). Due to El Niño, the first six months of 1998 have entered the record books as the warmest in 100 years (p. 53), bringing the scorching heat responsible for the fires and drought in the Southern and Southwestern U.S. (p. 52).

La Niña, by contrast, is likely to bring opposite weather extremes, such as "more Atlantic Ocean hurricanes, colder winters across Canada, wetter winters in the Pacific Northwest, warmer, dryer winters in the Southern U.S., more wildfires in Florida, lower wheat yields in Argentina, and torrential rains in Southeast Asia (Ibid.).

Inspired Commentary:

The following inspired statement puts in perspective all the crises and disasters reported above:

"While appearing to the children of men as a great physician who can heal all their maladies, he [Satan] will bring disease and disaster, until populous cities are reduced to ruin and desolation. Even now he is at work. In accidents and calamities by sea and by land, in great conflagrations, in fierce tornadoes and terrific hailstorms, in tempests, floods, cyclones, tidal waves, and earthquakes, in every place and in a thousand forms, Satan is exercising his power. He sweeps away the ripening harvest, and famine and distress follow. He imparts to the air a deadly taint, and thousands perish by the pestilence. These visitations are to become more and more frequent and disastrous. Destruction will be upon both man and beast. 'The earth mourneth and fadeth away. The haughty people . . . do languish. The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof; because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant.' Isaiah 24:4, 5.

"And then the great deceiver will persuade men that those who serve God are causing these evils. The class that have provoked the displeasure of Heaven will charge all their troubles upon those whose obedience to God's commandments is a perpetual rebuke to transgressors" (The Great Controversy, pp. 589, 590).

The E. coli outbreak reminds us of yet another inspired statement on the end-time increase of disease in animals.

"Let the people be taught to prepare food without the use of milk or butter. Tell them that the time will soon come when there will be no safety in using eggs, milk, cream, or butter, because disease in animals is increasing in proportion to the increase of wickedness among men. The time is near when, because of the iniquity of the fallen race, the whole animal creation will groan under the diseases that curse our earth" (Counsels on Diet and Foods, p. 366).

Page maintained by staff@projectrestore.com. Created:11/16/98 Updated: 11/17/98
ProjectRestore@POBoxes.com