The movements that culminated in these events had already begun when this first letter was written. Thus it is clear that the Thessalonian Christians were facing perilous times. We too are living in dangerous times. Many years ago, E. M. Blaiklock, who was then Professor of Classics at the University of Auckland in New Zealand, said something that I have never forgotten. We can, therefore, feel very close to this young church in Thessalonica.
Many today sense an approaching world crisis.
Add to this the now familiar threat of AIDS, the spread of famine in many countries, and, of course, the ever-present threat of nuclear warfare, and it is clear that something terrible is about to happen. We are living in a world in chaos. In 1980, leaders from all over the Western world attended the First Global Conference on the Future, held in Ontario, Canada. The good news is, not yet. But the decade of the 1980s is going to be the most important in human history.