So we've managed to survive another year. However, with world tensions mounting, and the prospects of a long and tortuous Presidential campaign ahead, it would seem that 2012 will likely test the presumption that mankind has "arrived" and is destined to solve all of the world's problems.

Of course, as believers, we know better. In fact, if anything can be assumed, it's more likely that mankind is simply finding new ways to screw things up, and instead of leading us into utopia is creating obstacles to our very survival.

The fact is ... apart from our hope and confidence in God's "plan and purposes" for this world, and knowing that He IS in control, the natural conclusion to all we see happening about us is not very optimistic. From a strictly humanistic perspective, we seem to be on a collision course with chaos. Even the Mayan calendar suggests the end of the world on December 21, 2012.

HOWEVER ... there IS Good News.

In the words of one of my favorite authors, Timothy Keller, he offers the following insight:

"How, then, will the story of human history end? At the end of the final book of the Bible, we see the very opposite of what other religions predict. We do not see the illusion of the world melt away nor do we see spiritual souls escaping the physical world into heaven. Rather, we see heaven descending into our world to unite with it and purify it of all its brokenness and imperfection.

So ... as we begin a New Year we can be confident that God is in control, and whatever happens, be it political ... physical ... cultural ... or apocalyptic, we can rest in His unfailing love, mercy, and grace.