It seems that people are always bringing up bad news.
Most of the time they are trying to sell us something: political positions, political candidates, TV networks, newspapers, or various other dubious products.
So we were surprised to see an amazing compilation of global good news in a recent Wall Street Journal article by John Norburg of the CATO Institute.
1. People around the world becoming more prosperous. The worldwide poverty rate was cut in half, from 18.2% to 8.6%, from 2008 to 2018, and the middle class now contains more than half of the population for the first time in history.
2. People are becoming healthier as basic sanitation and medicine have reached more people. For example, Malaria cases dropped 60% between 2007 to 2017. In the last decade life expectancy increased by 3 years and childhood deaths decreased by 30%.
3. The environment is getting better. During the last decade air pollution deaths dropped by 20%. Deaths from climate disasters dropped by one third over the last 15 years and have dropped by 95% since the 1960’s.
Beyond Mr. Norburg’s good news we can report that America is experiencing a revival of its prosperity. Unemployment rates age at historical lows and stock markets are at historic highs. Minority communities are seeing the best employment and wages in history. There is a boom in American manufacturing and blue collar wages are on the rise.
But the best news of all is that the Good News of Jesus is still spreading around the globe. Millions of souls are being added to the kingdom of God every year. We are living in the midst of the greatest revival in history.
So this Christmas let us banish doom and gloom from our tables and thank God for the Good News of Christmas.
Joy to the world, the Lord has come!