Twenty centuries ago, “in the fullness of time,” God sent Jesus the Christ. Now there is a special time in history-a season (kairos)- summoning the faith and obedience of God’s people. For Christ has gathered and deployed his people around the earth, across political and economic lines, in places of powerfully protected affluence, and among the poorest of the poor. The body of Christ responds to the world’s pain with empathy and anguish, one part for another, in our time. But we believe that these times, so full of peril and tragedy for the human family, present a special call for obedience to our Lord, the Prince of Peace. The Spirit is calling us to life out of death. The church must discern the signs of the times in the light of what the Spirit is revealing.