no one else sees that as 'good news' ?
to be clear, i think the OP fell asleep with the FauxNews station on TV, after eating too much late-night pizza,
but look at the state of the Church in America today. we are full of hypocrisy, false teachings, false converts, unbelief, stagnation, impatience, covetousness and all kinds of unlovely things and attitudes.
the most 'persecution' 99% of American Christians ever suffer is to have a cashier at stuff-mart tell them "happy holidays" instead of "merry Christmas" when they are in line to buy hundreds of dollars of junk. then, fuming about a 'war on Christmas' most of these so-thought-martyrs will walk right past the Salvation Army Santa, past a score of homeless and hungry people, and load that shopping cart full of baubles into the back of an expensive 8-passenger SUV, to drive back to their comfortable suburban home and think about how terrible the world has become while they sip hot cocoa and watch Naked Survivor on TV.
don't you think it would be galvanizing if Christians here actually were persecuted?
you think that might help separate wheat from tares, strengthen our faith, work patience and all kinds of good fruit in the hearts of the real believers?
how many people go through these luxurious & mediocre lives of ours without ever having a chance to definitively take a stand and say "i believe in Christ" when there are some actual consequences?
i'm no Zionist. the Lord himself haste the day of his coming. but i welcome it, i don't tremble for it.
i don't call his soon coming "terrible news" by any means.