It can be easy to be discouraged, even depressed, about the state of the Christian church today. Bad news headlines abound: church leader turns out to be sexual predator, pastor resigns due to infidelity, another Christian music star deconverts from Christianity, denomination splits over ___ (fill in the blank issue). The list could go on.

This glut of bad news, combined with our own struggles to live faithfully, can lead us to despair. Bad news isn’t always a bad thing, of course. These sobering stories can be helpful warnings. Each of us is only a few choices away from becoming a “cautionary tale” headline ourselves. But it’s also important to recognize that while bad news stories often get press and buzz—and can thus skew our overall impression of the church’s health—every day there are good things happening in Christianity too. There are stories of faithfulness, integrity, and kingdom advance happening all over the world. Stories that can encourage us when we feel discouraged and embolden our faith when we feel defeated.

At TGC we try to find and tell these stories, like the one featured below about how God is spreading his gospel in Iran. There are so many aspects of this story—reported by Sarah Zystra—that encourage me. But perhaps most hopeful is the way God is using the internet to reach and disciple Iranians, whether through online Bible studies (on Zoom), seminary classes delivered online, or TGC’s own Farsi website. It’s encouraging to know that as bad as the internet is in so many ways, it’s also a tool God is using to grow his church. And as much as the church in some parts of the world is seriously ailing, it’s faith-building to know she is thriving in other places. That’s the beauty and mystery of the kingdom. We can’t always predict where and how it will grow. But we can rest assured God is always at work. He’s unstoppable. His mission won’t be thwarted. And that means there will always be good news stories to witness and tell. Let’s look for them and share them.