A Tale of Two Millennia
By Travis K. McSherley

It was the best of times.  It was the worst of times.  I think these words from A Tale of Two Cities describe the Year 2000 about as well as any other.  With much hype surrounding the almost mystical 2000, the year certainly had its share of craziness.  But through it all, I think we clearly saw God work in His usual mysterious and wonderful ways.

Y2K didn't bring down the planet as we feared it might a year ago.  Actually, since last January we really have not heard much about the "bug" at all, which leads me to question what happened to it.  I am grateful, however, that the glitches were kept minimal and we were able to move on with life.

The Middle East time bomb seemed to begin ticking ever faster last year.  Much of the year was spent trying to make sure the bomb didn't explode into a world war.  As we continue on, though, it is easy to see that hope for peace is dwindling.  What an incredible thing it is, however, to see God working in the situation and to see His Word coming true right before our very eyes!

The US Presidential election seemed to be fitting for a crazy year.  We saw John McCain, Al Gore, George W., and Bill Bradley go at it for a few months before Gore and Bush began their battle.  Then, after recounts, more recounts, lawsuits, Supreme Court action, and all the jokes we could stand, George W. Bush was finally officially given his chance to lead this country into the next millennium.

These three events seemed to be the trademarks of this wild year.  Obviously, many more wonderful and terrible events took place such as the Elian Gonzalez thing, the USS Cole bombing, the human genome project, mixed up weather, and much more.  With all of this stuff going on, we can be very sure that the last days are here and that our Savior Jesus Christ is coming back soon.  Things are bound to get more crazy as we head into the coming years, and we must continually be prepared, and we must continue to share God's promise and let Him be our guide.  As Christians, we can head into this new millennium with an incredible sense of hope and peace that can only come from faith in God.  Praise His name, because just like the years before and the years to come, the year 2001 is the year of our Lord!