"What Makes a True Leader?"

Your July/August 2012 Good News issue regarding a crisis in leadership couldn't be more timely. Every time this country faced a crisis, a leader always appeared on the horizon. Three examples are George Washington during the Revolutionary War [of Independence, 1776-1783], Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War [1861-1865] and Franklin Roosevelt with the Great Depression and World War II.

I frankly don't see any viable leadership right now. The qualities I'd like to see in our leaders can be summed up in these three qualities: the wisdom of King Solomon, the patience of Job and the forgiveness of Jesus Christ. Is there such a person on the near horizon? Time is running out!

G.J.B., Hamtramck, Michigan

"What Are Ahmadinejad's Aims?"

I have just finished reading for the sixth time, "What Are Ahmadinejad's Aims?" I want to thank you most sincerely for this article. I am a Christian with a passion for the Word of God. Obviously, I am greatly concerned about the eye-opening revelation in your article.

S. F., Accra, Ghana

Just a few comments on the latest Good News. It would seem that while there is the good word of God's message throughout the publication, there is also much bad news. I agree that the Western nations have acted foolhardily toward the Iran problem, having allowed many Muslims into their countries, who have set up their own religious centers. If Iran should make the call to all true Muslims to carry out the threat as you have outlined, then there is a considerable number already in place to cause great harm.

Of course, should the Iranians deliver nuclear warheads, they would also kill Muslims. But they would not worry about them as they would then be glorified in the Islamic view of heaven. You offer a sound, comprehensive and well-researched view of Iran, which we do not read in the Western papers or other media. The gravest problem you mention is the electromagnetic pulse (EMP), as so much of our daily activities are involved with computers.

K.M., New Zealand

The Good News

It was about two years ago that I picked up a copy of The Good News to read while at the doctor's office. Your cover story was about the Middle East, a subject that has interested me for years. I have to admit that I took the magazine home so I could read it in its entirety. Since then I have read dozens of your publications and have joined the local United Church of God congregation—where I feel totally welcome and have made many friends. I sincerely believe that your publications and my Bible have begun to open my eyes to the real truth about God, Jesus and why I am here.

B.P., Saskatchewan, Canada

"Why I am here" is the subject of several articles in this issue. We hope all readers will read them carefully. Nothing could be more important!

First I would like to thank you immensely for the wonderful, interesting and inspiring magazine that I receive from you. I have been a Good News subscriber for about five years. This magazine satisfies my spiritual hunger, and I have been strengthened and renewed. The booklets I have also received from you have helped me to understand the Bible more and more.

A.G., Eritrea, Africa

I am very interested in becoming a subscriber to your magazine The Good News. My cousin, who lives 30 miles away, saves the magazines for me and I in turn pass them on to friends and family. So they're always in circulation. My problem is them asking for the next issue. So if it is possible, send my own issue promptly. I thank you beforehand.

R.T.D., Pharr, Texas

We are pleased to add you to our subscription list. We would also add friends and family, but all must request the magazine for themselves.

Bible Study Course

I would like to complete the Bible Study Course, as I find it very informative, encouraging and such a delight. I also thank you for the enlightening, encouraging and uplifting articles and booklets. They have really lifted me up. The work I have been doing can be very discouraging. But I've found all of this reading material is a wonderful light for me. I only wish I'd known about you a long time ago.

M.M., Winchester, England

I would like to enroll in your Bible Study Course. I am so eager to learn more about God and His Word. Thank you for making your literature available for free. I hope to receive the study course soon.

Reader from Bay of Plenty, New Zealand

Helping readers to cope

I am writing to thank you for the booklets. I was going to commit suicide but started reading Is the Bible True? I would love to receive more of your booklets and to subscribe to your magazine The Good News too. I would also like to enroll in your Bible Study Course. Do you study from the New International Version or the King James Version?

Reader from North Carolina

You may wish to request What Is Your Destiny? in particular. Our publications normally quote from the New King James Version, but we do employ various other versions on occasion when they make the meaning clearer. Request or download our free booklet How to Understand the Bible. It explains differences in Bible versions in more detail.

I pray that this letter finds you in excellent health and joyful spirits. I've been prone to melancholy and anxiety neurosis most of my adult life. I hope you will send me the free reprint "The Bible's Keys to Mental Health" and the booklet Making Life Work. Your magazines and booklets are an invaluable blessing to me and I'm truly grateful. A "brain attack" in 2001 damaged my faculty of memory, so I kept rereading all the materials I've kept.

Reader from Northern Ireland

I have just finished reading your publication The Good News. Could you please add me to your mailing list? I would also like to comment on a "Current Events and Trends" item in the March/April 2012 Good News issue titled "Sexual Abuse, Rape Widespread in America." I am putting these thoughts to you from personal experience. I was sexually abused repeatedly as a child.

Reader from USA

As to subscription and booklet requests, we are glad to honor them. And concerning the abuse, we are deeply saddened to hear about it and pray for your well-being. To the above reader and any others so affected, we offer our free 18-page reprint "Dealing With Abuse." It deals with this sensitive subject from a Christian, biblical point of view. 

Spreading the true gospel

Thank you for sending me your magazine for the past year and a half. I have no way of knowing who sent in my name, but I am very happy that they did. I really look forward to every issue. I especially like reading how current events relate to the Bible, though some of them are so scary. Enclosed is a donation.

A.I.F., Rice Lake, Wisconsin

Kindly accept this token of appreciation. I pray that God will bless, provide and make a way, so that I can really do as I desire concerning the spreading of His work and the gospel.

A.O., Milton Keynes, England

I am so glad that I finally found out that you are a Church that recognizes all of the Bible, including the seventh-day Sabbath. You never mention any of that on your [Beyond Today] TV show, which I look at every Sunday (wishing it were on Saturday). Enclosed is a check to help with keeping your program on the air.

C.W.W., Upper Montclair, New Jersey

The article "Is Your Life in Sync With God?", about the seventh-day Sabbath, is taken from a recent Beyond Today TV program. We deeply appreciate the generous contributions from our readers who want to help us in sharing this message. The Bible mandates this approach: "Freely you have received, freely give." Although it costs a great deal of money to spread God's truth around the world, the gospel is much too precious to put a price on it.