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J. D. King
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Why You've Been Duped Into Believing That The World is Getting Worse Kindle Edition

by J.D. King (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 95 ratings
The evening news is filled with bloodshed and war. Poverty, pandemics, and injustice appear to be overwhelming the world. Yet there is more to this story.

In his controversial new book, “Why You’ve Been Duped Into Believing That The World is Getting Worse,” J.D. King recounts statistics that contradict popular narratives. Drawing from the New York Times, Washington Post, and other leading authorities, King recounts something unexpected.

Beneath the social turmoil and political controversy, things are actually getting better. King contends, “Restrictions attributed to race, gender, and social class are not as rigid as they once were. The marginalized and impoverished are finding a seat at the table. Hope is rising, and people are discovering their reason for existence. Spiritual fervor is riding high.”

Despite documented advances, a faulty sense of doom continues to grip conservatives and people of faith. It’s regrettable that multitudes gravitate toward bad news. Our hard-wired pessimism and guilty self-flagellation obscure progress. It is time to re-envision the hope of the gospel.
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  1. Print length
    146 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publication date
    January 1, 2019
  4. File size
    4.2 MB
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  6. Word Wise
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"With a wealth of accurate statistics on his side, King goes toe-to-toe with the pervasive message of hopelessness, revealing the difference between facts and lucrative sensationalism. A world headed towards ruin might sell more papers, but King brilliantly proves that our world is not deteriorating. It is advancing.... If ever we needed a book of this nature, it is now."--BILL JOHNSON, author of When Heaven Invades Earth
"This is a brilliant work that restores hope to a hopeless society."
--STEVE GRAY, author of When The Kingdom Comes: Lessons From the Smithton Outpouring
"I'll be completely up front: I do not know if my end-times theology is in complete harmony with J.D.'s. And you know what? That's okay! I am convinced that every believer needs to wrap their collective thinking around the data J.D. presents in this timely book."--LARRY SPARKS, author of Arise, Breakthrough Faith, Ask for the Rain, and The Fire That Never Sleeps

From the Author

Q&A with J.D. King

1. What inspired you to write this book?

I've heard well-meaning people assert that America is on the verge of collapse. Multitudes are caught up in disaster stories. Newscasters and social media mavens tend to amplify social unrest. For some, the future is so dim that they can barely get out of bed in the morning. Many feel that hope has been dashed.

I'm tired of this distorted narrative. Obviously, problems remain in the world, but there are also a number of wonderful things occurring. Someone needs to draw attention to incidents of progress. Much of what is deeply impacting lives--violence, economics, health, and family--are trending in the right direction.

I felt that I must write about the goodness and hope that is breaking into this world. Wanting others to be aware of global advancements is part of what inspired me.

2. What was the most challenging part of writing this book?

One of the hardest things about this project was incorporating the statistics and relevant data points. Over three hundred footnotes from sources such as The Washington Post, Newsweek, and Harvard University can be overwhelming. I wanted the documented sources to be embedded within relatable stories and fast-paced narrative. Trying to effectively bring together these elements was a considerable challenge.

3. What can readers learn from this book?

We are not always getting the whole story. While violence, perversion, and greed remain in our world, these dreadful practices are not increasing. On the contrary, beauty and wonder are growing. Many find it hard to believe, but faith, hope, and love are transforming creation. I think the big takeaway from this book is that God is up to something wonderful in the world and it is time to throw off fear. That is an inspiring truth that I want everyone to discover.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B07L622DZM
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Christos Publishing (January 1, 2019)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ January 1, 2019
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 4.2 MB
  • Simultaneous device usage ‏ : ‎ Unlimited
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 146 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 95 ratings

About the author

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J. D. King

J. D. King

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J. D. King has a wealth of experience from a diverse range of leadership roles. He currently serves as a pastor at Revive Church in Kansas City. Over the years, King has also has been the International Director of the Revival Network of Ministries, the Academic Dean at the Revival Training Center, and has served dozens of congregations as an itinerant minister. In addition to his work with churches, King is a prolific writer. His blog posts have had over 1.5 million page views, and his articles have been published in Charisma, Spirit-Led Woman, God TV, and Pneuma Review. King has wrote: Regeneration: A Complete History of Healing in the Christian Church, Why You've Been Duped into Believing the World is Getting Worse, Shift: Leading in Transition, and Thunder in the Whirlwind: A Collection of Revival Quotations. With his love for books, King also serves as a publisher, founding Christos, an enterprise dedicated to producing superbly researched books that are informed by a Spirit-led worldview.

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4.5 out of 5 stars
95 global ratings

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Customers say

Customers find the book readable and encouraging. They appreciate the author's perspective and the documentation provided, including facts, statistics, and a bibliography for further research. The book provides hope and an enlightening viewpoint.

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ReadabilityUpliftingDocumentation
15 customers mention "Readability"15 positive0 negative

Customers find the book readable and encouraging. They say it's a good resource for understanding the increase of Jesus' kingdom. The book offers a biblical perspective and excellent records about why things are not getting worse, but better.

"...Such a refreshing and enlightening viewpoint from an incredible author!" Read more

"...Things are getting better, not worse. He writes with clarity and plenty of research. You should give it a read." Read more

"...This is a good read for those who believe "things are at their worst. " Far from it!" Read more

"...After finishing this wonderful book, I was delighted to have discovered a precious "Gateway Gem" that I believe will cause many to rethink their..." Read more

13 customers mention "Uplifting"13 positive0 negative

Customers find the book encouraging and motivating. They say it provides hope and a fresh perspective in a pessimistic world. Readers mention that the world is getting better, freedom prevails, and life improves.

"...Such a refreshing and enlightening viewpoint from an incredible author!" Read more

"...It’s true that the amazing advances in health care, considerably longer life spans and access to clean air and water aren’t necessarily proof that..." Read more

"I appreciate the view of the world in this book. Things are getting better, not worse. He writes with clarity and plenty of research...." Read more

"...pleased with the state of the church around the world and its amazing growth. This is a good read for those who believe "things are at their worst. "..." Read more

9 customers mention "Documentation"9 positive0 negative

Customers appreciate the book's documentation. They find it brimming with facts and statistics, with a nice bibliography for further research. The book provides data that supports its points, with references to secular sources. It is an uplifting overview that shows documented evidence.

"I appreciate the view of the world in this book. Things are getting better, not worse. He writes with clarity and plenty of research...." Read more

"...by the author's straight forward reporting backed by numerous references and sources...." Read more

"...Heavily foot-noted and referenced, it brims with facts and statistics about the condition of our world compared to ages past. #..." Read more

"...This book gives data which proves this point. Much of the data is from secular sources and is reflected in the secular book, “Factfulness” by Hans..." Read more

Statistically challenge the media’s negativity
5 out of 5 stars
Statistically challenge the media’s negativity
Wow! What a great book! In a time where we are all lead into more fear and believing partial truths (and that’s generous) from the media... this book comes crashing in with a FRESH perspective. Backed up by study after study, the data is hard to ignore. It’s a must read for anyone who wants to tip the scales back to true north. Highly recommend!!
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Top reviews from the United States

  • Laur Curtiss
    5.0 out of 5 stars Highly Recommend!
    Reviewed in the United States on January 4, 2025
    Verified Purchase
    Read in ministry school, highly recommend especially in a day and age folks are hyper obsessed with dispensationalism and the western church culture. Regardless of personal beliefs on eschatology King most certainly will cause you to think! Such a refreshing and enlightening viewpoint from an incredible author!
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  • CWC
    5.0 out of 5 stars Profound conclusions based upon excellent documentation
    Reviewed in the United States on July 5, 2023
    Verified Purchase
    Review of J.D. King’s book WHY YOU HAVE BEEN DUPED TO BELIEVE THE WORLD IS GETTING WORSE.

    This book that needs to be read and reread in order to fully digest the starling implications JD has uncovered. For far too long we’ve been told that we’re losing and that “we lose down here”… to the point many have lost hope and given up. The pessimistic expectations of dispensational premillennialism (which is today’s dominant eschatological view) are darkening our lenses and blunting our perceptions of reality. We have lived under the presumption that the world is imploding, a new world order of evil is inevitable and that antichrist is soon to burst onto the scene. Every negative event, school shooting, natural disaster and immoral display, is considered proof that we are living in the last days… and that our only hope is a rapture. Everything is filtered through this doom and gloom worldview and we, therefore, have lost the capacity to see God’s handiwork in full display. Just because the U.S. is severely struggling does not mean that God’s Holy Spirit is not mightily working in other parts of the globe.

    For the skeptics let me offer this. The author is not saying is that the world is grand and that we’re on the precipice of entering a Christ-centered worldwide utopia. Clearly the world faces rather serious issues that are rather daunting. Nuclear tensions rising, a U.S. admin controlled by malevolent forces that threatens the destruction of our founding biblical values. Egomaniacal, agenda-driven globalists bent on seizing control at all costs. Another pandemic looming on the horizon. Election fraud so rampant and comprehensive that it threatens our Republic. Major players in our alphabet agencies corrupt to the core. Evil unpunished by many corrupt of our largest city’s DAs. The potential for civil war. The unprecedented assault on free speech through big tech oligarchs and the weaponization of all government agencies. Amid France’s political unrest, the government is threatening access to the internet. The nuclear family undermined to a degree I’ve not seen in my lifetime. Legitimizing and actually promoting sexual deviancy. Not to mention attempts to destroy free-market capitalism with massive social spending, and a national debt reaching unsustainable limits. To ignore our massive problems is unwise but it is equally unwise to assume that these serious challenges are insurmountable, unsolvable and inevitable.

    The vast majority of Christians are being controlled by negative apocalyptic expectations. So, instead of identifying solutions and fighting for implementation, too many are giving up. What’s the use?, they say. Why bother? Everything is going to crash and burn. They have been convinced by the writings of godly men like David Jeremiah and John MacArthur, that every negative event is not only proof that we are living the last days of human history but that it is God-ordained. In many quarters the triumph of evil is expected, and in some weird way actually celebrated…because they think that means that Jesus is coming soon. We have become glass-half empty Christians, accentuated by the ridiculous assertion that we live in the worst time in human history. Really? The worst? If you think this tell me when you would have preferred to live. As JD points out, we have very poor memories and a glossy view of history.

    It’s true that the amazing advances in health care, considerably longer life spans and access to clean air and water aren’t necessarily proof that everything is rosy. But as JD succinctly points out, they are symptoms of a burgeoning body of Christ taking dominion of our planet. Wherever the Gospel goes, freedom prevails and life improves. Our mandate to disciple the nations is not a pipe-dream conjured up by Pollyanna-ish Christians but is, in-fact, our marching orders from the King. We have become too small-minded to view the world as it is. JD speaks of revivals all over the planet. By 2030 the Christian population of China will surpass the U.S.’s entire population. God is clearly on the move and in the coming decades the center of Christianity may shift to Asia or Africa.

    In the past 50 years, western Christians and specially those in the states have been overcome by expectations of doom. Lindsey, LaHaye, Robertson, Falwell, MacArthur and Jeremiah have so poisoned the well that many have given up hope. Read this book and you will rejoice in what God is doing. It will remove your blinders and change your focus. Don’t become a statistic. Be part of the solution. Don’t allow these self-proclaimed prophecy gurus to short-circuit your calling. If someday soon Christian persecution on U.S. soil rivals that in China and in Muslim nations, it will only be because we have allowed that to happen. It is not God-ordained and it is not a fulfillment of 2 Tim 3. It’s because we have drunk the Kool Aid and have become players in a self-fulfilling prophecy. God’s Kingdom is advancing and we can either partake in the victory or remain part of the problem. Read JD’s “The Beast of Revelation” to learn about the eschatological presuppositions that lie beneath the surface of this book.

    In closing, some say they immediately put this book down because they contend taht the foreword was written by a heretic. I’m not going to debate that issue, but I will say that it is extremely myopic and counter-productive to discount the indisputable facts found in this book simply because of the author’s relationships. A wise person will evaluate this book on its merits. And on that basis, in my view, the arguments against this book fall flat.
    5 people found this helpful
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  • Laurie Bateman
    5.0 out of 5 stars really helpful book
    Reviewed in the United States on November 12, 2024
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    I appreciate the view of the world in this book. Things are getting better, not worse. He writes with clarity and plenty of research. You should give it a read.
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  • Raymond C. Paget
    4.0 out of 5 stars An encouragingly and motivating read
    Reviewed in the United States on January 18, 2021
    Verified Purchase
    I was skeptical about reading this. But, considering all of the "doom and gloom" news from the media, I decided to give it a go. I was encouraged by the author's straight forward reporting backed by numerous references and sources. As a Christian I was particularly pleased with the state of the church around the world and its amazing growth. This is a good read for those who believe "things are at their worst. " Far from it!
    One person found this helpful
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  • JC
    5.0 out of 5 stars This Book is an Absolute Gem!
    Reviewed in the United States on February 3, 2019
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    I must admit that this book wasn't exactly what I was expecting. In many ways, it was MUCH better! I thoroughly enjoyed it and finished it off in two sittings. As a Partial Preterist, I was expecting the author to mix encouraging statistics with a treatise on a much more victorious eschatology than what most people in the Western world have been accustomed to hearing. After finishing this wonderful book, I was delighted to have discovered a precious "Gateway Gem" that I believe will cause many to rethink their eschatological pessimism and stop superimposing their theological slants and the nightly "news" onto the Scriptures...and ultimately their worldviews. The fact that the author doesn't take the reader into deep theological/eschatological territory makes it even more valuable to many because it is extremely palatable for most readers who have been receiving mixed signals between the Hope Who lives within them and the doomsday messages with which they have been inundated. This book is like a beautiful porch that should cause people to wonder about how much more is inside the Christus Victor House! When it comes to books about "Things Getting Better", I highly recommend this one, along with Jon Ortberg's "Who Is This Man". Both books are written in a manner which will appeal to scholars while being easily understood by children. That factor alone makes them super special in my estimation. If I were to add just one statistic to the book, it would be the number of "practicing" Christians who have left the conventional, Post-313 AD church models for what they believe to be more organic communities that are in keeping with the First Century model. I belong to that large number...and we are growing. Again, this book is an absolute gem! Highly recommend!
    9 people found this helpful
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  • TED ADAMS
    5.0 out of 5 stars UNEXPECTED
    Reviewed in the United States on September 11, 2021
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    This book is filled with excellent records about why things are not worse, but have actually gotten better in spite of the hype of so much news persons. He shows why things are moving to be better and better, why the things that people are using as doom and gloom are lies, and not according to what the reality of today's world is. In many areas from the persecution of Christians, medicine, poverty, race, climate change, things are really better than what is believed. We have much to be thankful for, and the transformation of the world is taking place which Jesus will wrap up, not as many believe, but as a kingdom that will be presented in God's time by Jesus as accomplished. A very good and excellent book, that brings the reality of hope to all of us so we can focus on what Jesus is doing in this world instead of what evils humans are trying to do. In so doing we see how the gates of Hell ARE NOT PREVAILING, but are crumbling more and more every day, in every way. The victory in Jesus Christ is very, very real.
    One person found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

  • Peter Sweeney
    5.0 out of 5 stars This is a book I could not put down until I finished it. I recommend it.
    Reviewed in Australia on January 4, 2019
    Verified Purchase
    One of the best books I have read concerning the future of the Church and the kingdom of God. This book is very informing, factual and exciting. I could not put the book down. Thank you J.D. King.
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  • Barb Bremner
    5.0 out of 5 stars uplifting
    Reviewed in Canada on May 4, 2020
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    It is nice to hear that things arent as bad as we generally believe. this book is uplifting. Poverty is less around the world, less people are starving and Christianity is on the increase. All these facts supported by statistics. I enjoyed it
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  • Sunny
    5.0 out of 5 stars We have been duped !
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 10, 2025
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    This is an inspiration to hear how the world is getting better and The Kingdom of God is advancing! Don't believe the media , cultural narrative...God is in the move. Read this book! Don't be duped any longer
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  • Lee Barber
    5.0 out of 5 stars Things are Not as Bad as They Seem
    Reviewed in Canada on July 10, 2020
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    Great insight with an abundance of facts as to why the world is getting better and not worse.

    Changed my perspective.
    Recommend.
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  • khama
    4.0 out of 5 stars Where we are Duped
    Reviewed in Australia on December 14, 2023
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    Found the book great. Opened my eyes to a lot of things. At the price of the book it is worth a read.
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