Signs of The Times the monthly magazine which encourages readers to lead joyful Christian lives. Published by the Seventh-day Adventist Church, this monthly four-color magazine emphasizes Christ’s second advent and the prophecies and “signs” that indicate the nearness of this event, which Scripture calls the Christian’s “blessed hope.”Signs of the Times was first published in Oakland, California, on June 4, 1874, by James White, a co-founder of the Seventh-day Adventist Church who also served three times as the church's president. Publishing Signs as a weekly newspaper, White intended it to be not only an expositor of the prophecies, a report of the signs of our times, but also a family, religious, and general newspaper for the household. As its circulation grew, publication of Signs of the Times® stimulated the founding of Pacific Press® Publishing Association, which still publishes the magazine. The current magazine resulted from the merger of Signs of the Times® and another magazine called These Times. Before the merge, These Times served the United States east of the Mississippi River in the same capacity as Signs did west of that river. The first issue of the merged Signs of the Times came out in April 1984.