As the founder of Turning Point, a global broadcast and print ministry, David Jeremiah has made it his business to tie the Bible into what’s happening in the world. In his last book, What in the WorldIs Going On? the 68-year-old evangelical pastor looked at 10 biblical “clues” related to Christ’s second coming. Jeremiah’s new book, Living with Confidence in a Chaotic World, will be bolstered by live rallies and a presence on such social networking sites as Twitter and Facebook.
RBL: Why this book now?
David Jeremiah: What in the WorldIs Going On? dealt with some pretty heavy things mentioned in the scripture and happening in the world today. When I got all done, as I talked with people, they would say, “I believe all this stuff, but now what? What do we do now?”
RBL: What’s changed in the world since the last book?
DJ: I think what’s happened more than anything else is that the average person has totally lost confidence in the things they used to hold themselves together. There’s an awful lot of angst, anxiety, concern and some fear. There’s an awful lot of anger, too. This is the most unusual experience I’ve had and I’ve never seen anything like this.
RBL: But hasn’t the world always been chaotic?
DJ: In my lifetime what I’ve noticed is that we’ve had one kind of chaos that would come, then go away. What has happened here is the gathering of a number of things all at once. We’re living in a time that’s unprecedented. Now we have a collection of chaos like we’ve never had before.
RBL: Is your message in this book geared to Christians or is it for anyone?
DJ: I think a lot of people can use it. The first chapter is about being calm. Another one, more broad-based, is “stay compassionate.” I see a lot of people who are not Christians do that, but certainly it is a Christian value. Another one is to be sure you stay constructive. All of these are basic values and all come from the scripture.
