Twenty five years is a very long time. If you don’t believe me find a picture of yourself from 1997. If that doesn’t convince you, think about these things: Twenty five years ago gas cost $1.22 per gallon, a loaf of bread was $1.17, and hamburger could be bought for only $1.38 per pound. Bill Clinton was starting his second term and Monica was an unknown aide. Smart phones didn’t exist, the Twin Towers in New York were still standing, smokers could still light up in restaurants and multi-billionaire Mark Zuckerberg was not old enough to drive.
Locally, the Good News Journal had it’s modest beginning 25 years ago this month. It was a scant eight pages with only 500 copies printed and few people thought that it would make it to the end of the year. Since you are reading this paper you can see that our page count has grown considerably and the total number of papers we have printed now exceeds 3,500,000. We never considered that one day we would be celebrating our quadranscentennial anniversary.
God has blessed us far beyond our initial dreams. Our readership quickly grew and local business realized that the Good News Journal was a positive vehicle to advertise their goods and services. Their support allowed us to grow even more, spread the Good News and remain a free publication, while many paid-for newspapers were being forced to cut back or even close.
I mentioned in the opening of this article some of the many changes that have taken place since we published our first paper. Sadly, as technology and the prices of goods have dramatically increased, the moral and the social well-being of our country has sharply decreased.
Since 1997, the divorce rate has more that doubled. The approval of gay marriage has increased from 26% to over 70% today. Twenty five years ago only 40% approved of having a child outside of marriage. That figure today is over 70% and continues to rise. In 1997 the church was rated the #1 institution in America. It is forth today and fading fast. And sadly, Americans are twice as likely to say the government is responsible for creating “meaningful change” in the nation than they are to say the same about the church.
Teen suicide has tripled, violent crime has quadrupled, and depression has increased 10 fold in 25 years.
A biological male has been named Woman of the Year and drag queen story hours have become common in our schools, libraries and most disturbingly in many of our liberal churches.
Since 1997 we have witnessed attacks on Christians and their beliefs increase so dramatically that it has almost become unacceptable to be a Bible-believing Christian in America. Christians are increasingly being castigated as intolerant, oppressive, and even dangerous to society. Each day’s news brings another story of a Christian who loses their job or is otherwise “canceled” because of their faith.
Peter’s exhortation rings so true today: “Don’t be surprised by the fiery trials that come our way because of our identification with Jesus.”
Time is short and it is imperative for Christians to wake up and take a stand! We must overcome evil with good, lies with truth and darkness with light regardless of the consequences. But most of all we must pray. Pray for our country and it’s leaders and pray that God will send a cleansing, revival fire down that will sweep across this land.
I believe today, more than any time in the last 25 years, it is vital to have a Christian perspective available for the citizens of our community. We at The Good News Journal are more committed than ever to spreading the good news of Jesus Christ, giving our readers a Christian view of current events and providing inspirational articles to lift you up spiritually.
I sincerely thank all of our loyal readers for your support, prayers and kind words of encouragement over the course of this journey. And a special thanks to our hard working and dedicated staff, Kim Gates, Starr Poplin, Lewis Leek, and my wife Suzanne Ball for helping achieve the vision God gave me in 1997. We would not be here today without them. I also want to thank all of the businesses that have supported us and have trusted us with their advertising dollars. May God bless your businesses abundantly now and in the years ahead!
Most of all I want to thank God for His patience, provision, grace and guidance that has allowed us continue to publish a Christian paper in this increasingly hostile world.
It has truly been a joyful and humbling experience.
May God’s blessings be with you all!