The world continues its rapid downward spiral. Article after article reveals more about what final conditions will look like after man has spent the previous 6,000 years disobeying his Creator. Humanity remains cut off from God, helpless to solve its problems, and this becomes more evident as each day passes.

One example of man’s inability to control conditions around him can be seen in the recent Republican National Convention, held in Tampa, Florida. Delegates from around the United States planned to meet for four days as part of the “democratic process” to officially nominate a candidate for the Republican Party. (Of course this was Mitt Romney.) However, Tropical Storm Isaac began forming and threatening to hit Tampa. One source described it this way: “The prospect of a major storm blowing through the Gulf of Mexico toward New Orleans upset the tight choreography of the Republican convention on Sunday, straining the party’s highly scripted plans for showcasing Mitt Romney and raising the possibility that news media attention could shift elsewhere. With the Tropical Storm Isaac now forecast to roar northwest past Tampa on Monday and Tuesday, officials scrambled to reconfigure what had been a four-night schedule into three and to make contingency plans for further changes, and news organizations” (The New York Times).

It is astonishing that as America is in greater trouble than ever, and by far, the major television networks are actually showing much LESS interest than in the past, now televising only one hour each night through both conventions one week apart. This is hard to believe with so much at stake in the future of the country. The networks’ explanation was summarized by one statement I read, “We want to remain focused on the advertising revenue to be had.”

Isaac did miss Tampa, but then strengthened to a Category 1 hurricane and struck Louisiana. Although New Orleans was not directly hit by the storm, many other areas around the state saw flooding and evacuations. After the storm, half of the state was left without power. Hundreds of homes were underwater and tens of thousands of people were evacuated near the Louisiana-Mississippi border due to the possibility of a dam bursting. (In a matter of days, Isaac dumped 23 trillion gallons of water—an amount that would fill the Great Salt Lake FIVE TIMES!) While politicians and leaders at the convention discussed how they can return prosperity and hope to America, the recent storm becomes another instance of how man is ultimately helpless in protecting himself without God’s help.

While parts of the American South are seeing too much rain, most of the U.S. is still experiencing the worst drought in 56 years. Ongoing, extremely dry conditions have devastated the nation’s crops, especially corn and soybeans, and will soon hit consumers in the form of rising food prices: “Drought-decimated fields have pushed grain prices sky high, and the rising feed costs have prompted some livestock producers to liquidate their herds. This is expected to shrink the long-term U.S. supply of meat and force up prices at the meat counter…The U.S. Department of Agriculture expects beef and veal prices to rise as much as 4.5 percent this year, and as much as 5 percent in 2013” (Reuters).

The ramifications of such drought are very serious, and they cascade into many kinds of problems. The drought is also being felt around the world. For instance, the U.S. provides around 35 percent of the world’s corn and soybean stock. The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) published an article in early August revealing the effects of the crisis: “The ongoing drought in the Midwest has affected approximately 80 percent of the U.S. corn crop and more than 11 percent of the soybean crop, triggering a rise in global food prices…that CFR’s Isobel Coleman says may fuel political instability in developing countries…‘When you see a crop failure of the magnitude you have seen this summer, it flows through the whole food chain,’ says Coleman.”

However, in some ways, the most sobering news is coming out of the Middle East, specifically Egypt. A great many articles are now outlining what has become the sudden extreme radical shift to an Islamist-dominated government in what is the largest Arab nation in the region.

Late this month it was announced that Mohammed Morsi, Egypt’s new President, would travel to China and Iran to reinforce diplomatic ties: “If the latter trip [to Iran] takes place as expected…it will have special significance. No Egyptian leader has set foot in Tehran since the mid-1970s. Diplomatic relations broke down after Cairo signed a peace treaty with Israel in 1979 and received the Shah, who fled Iran following the Islamic Revolution in the same year…Some analysts have expressed concern over the apparent decision of the new president, who hails from the Muslim Brotherhood, to reconnect with Iran. They note that Tehran hailed Mr. Mursi’s election as an ‘Islamic awakening’” (BBC). Another article from an Israeli newspaper (written by a former ambassador to Egypt) brought new far-reaching proof that the Egyptian leadership is taking complete control over EVERY element of the country.

Then there is the situation regarding Israel and Iran. By every account, the Israelis are planning to attack and attempt to at least seriously set back (but likely not be able to destroy) the Iranian nuclear installations.