World News and Trends
Beyond Today Magazine
Good News Magazine: September - October 2003
Course Content
According to the August issue of Discover magazine: "In the 1990s some library scientists concluded that our stockpile of information doubles every seven or eight years.
A recent study at the University of California at Berkeley found that between 2000 and 2002, the total information of the world doubled. In many fields, such as life sciences and space technology, knowledge is accumulating at speeds that are impossible to keep up with."
The prophet Daniel was told that knowledge would be increased during the time of the end (Daniel 12:4). This almost appears as an understatement now. Regrettably, the most important type of knowledge—the knowledge of God—is not doubling and trebling every few years or so. Mankind has a habit of suppressing biblical knowledge. Even in free nations like the United States and Britain, where Bibles are available everywhere, secularism is stunting the spread of true biblical information.
You can swim upstream against these secular currents by enrolling in our free 12-lesson Bible Study Course and requesting or downloading our free booklet How to Understand the Bible.
(Source: Discover.)
Jerold Aust has served in the ministry for 52 years, as a public speaker for 58 years, a published writer for 38 years, and is employed by UCG’s Media and Communications Services. He is a Senior Writer, interviewer, and editor for Beyond Today Magazine and has taught Speech Communication for UCG’s ministerial online program and the Book of Revelation for ABC.
Jerold holds a BA in theology from Ambassador College, Pasadena (1968), an MA in Communication from California State University, Fullerton (1995), a distance-learning Ph.D (2006), and a Famous Writers School diploma in non-fiction writing (1973). Additionally, he studied post-grad communication at University of Southern California (1995), radio, TV, voice-overs, and Public Relations at Fullerton College (1995-1996), and graduate communication at Wichita State University (1978). Jerold has taught communication at the University of South Alabama (7 years) and ABC (17 years). His published works include, Ronald Reagan’s Rhetoric: Metaphor as Persuasion and EZSpeakers: Public Speaking Made Easy in 7 Steps. Jerold's overarching goal is to share with humankind its incredible destiny!
John died on March 8, 2014, in Oxford, England, four days after suffering cardiac arrest while returning home from a press event in London. John was 77 and still going strong.
Some of John's work for The Good News appeared under his byline, but much didn't. He wrote more than a thousand articles over the years, but also wrote the Questions and Answers section of the magazine, compiled our Letters From Our Readers, and wrote many of the items in the Current Events and Trends section. He also contributed greatly to a number of our study guides and Bible Study Course lessons. His writing has touched the lives of literally millions of people over the years.
John traveled widely over the years as an accredited journalist, especially in Europe. His knowledge of European and Middle East history added a great deal to his articles on history and Bible prophecy.
In his later years he also pastored congregations in Northern Ireland and East Sussex, and that experience added another dimension to his writing. He and his wife Jan were an effective team in our British Isles office near their home.
John was a humble servant who dedicated his life to sharing the gospel—the good news—of Jesus Christ and the Kingdom of God to all the world, and his work was known to readers in nearly every country of the world.
