Islam and the End Times

Will this prevail in the future?

Periodically, it becomes necessary to review what biblical prophecy reveals concerning religion on earth during the end times preceding the return of Jesus Christ.

The Bible reveals that neither Islam nor any other pagan religion will prevail in the last days before Christ returns. While some folks will take issue with my description of Islam as a pagan religion, Islam's roots can be traced to the pagan religions of ancient Arabia.

In fact, prior to Islam, Allah was known as "al-ilah," the moon god of the Quraish tribe that Muhammad belonged to.

What does the Bible tell us about religion on earth in the last days? It reveals that a counterfeit form of Christianity is going to rise in conjunction with a world government. And this global religion is going to spread rapidly via counterfeit signs, wonders and miracles.

Here's what the apostle Paul revealed concerning the coming global religion: "The coming of the lawless one (Antichrist) will be in accordance with the work of Satan displayed in all kinds of counterfeit signs, wonders and miracles, and in every sort of wickedness that deceives those who are perishing." (2 Thessalonians 2:9-10)

Paul revealed that this great wave of miraculous signs and wonders will begin occurring just before the advent of the Antichrist. But how does that prove that the coming one-world religion is going to be a Christian counterfeit?

By what Jesus Christ revealed concerning the last days. Here's the caveat He issued to His followers: "At that time, if anyone says to you, Look, here is the Christ!' or 'There he is!' do not believe it. For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect if that were possible. See, I have told you ahead of time." (Matthew 24:23-25)

Christ revealed that the counterfeits will come in His name rather than in the names of the founders of world religions. These counterfeits will be followed by the Antichrist who will be the greatest counterfeit of them all, who'll deceive the entire world with his supernatural powers.

Islam isn't a religion of the supernatural. Unlike early Christianity that spread via miracles in the 1st century, Islam has historically used violence to advance and maintain itself. And that's how Islam is attempting to perpetuate itself throughout the world today.

But the world is growing weary of Islam and its violent theology. Rising eastern nations such as China, India, Russia and South Korea don't want Islam. And as these nations continue to expand their influence throughout the world, they'll do away with Islam and force its adherents to flee and find refuge in the west.

That's why the western world has been increasingly under attack from Islamists in recent years. Because Muslims are being pushed out of the east by a growing number of nations that want nothing to do with Islam.

Western nations such as France, Belgium, Sweden, Spain, Holland, England and Germany are finally realizing that Islam is a violent religion that cannot be reconciled with or assimilated into western culture.

And certainly, while the vast majority of the world's Islamic population is peaceful, Islam will always promote violence because the Koran contains over 100 verses that encourage Muslims to conquer the world by the sword.

That's why the world will never surrender to Islam. Most people abhor violence and want nothing to do with Islam's violent nature. That's why Islam's days on earth are numbered.

However, most people will respond to miracles, even if they're demonically inspired. Miracles have a way of converting even the most hardened skeptics. And the father of all counterfeit revivals is coming that will feature incredible miracles.

But that counterfeit will lead to the greatest fraud the world will ever see--the Antichrist. He will claim to be Jesus Christ and his followers will believe that he's the real deal.

And so, if this fraud claims to be Christ, then his followers will believe themselves to be Christians. Therefore, the future belongs not to Islam, but rather to Christianity.

Unfortunately it will be a false Christianity that will lead millions into hell.

Islam and Taqiyya

Hassan Nasrallah

Hassan Nasrallah, the Secretary General and spiritual leader of the terrorist group Hezbollah, demonstrated the art of Taqiyya recently when he presented a passionate speech that was intended to convince ignorant dhimmis that Islam is all about peace and not about violence.

What is Taqiyya? It's an Arabic term for obfuscation, or hiding one's true intentions behind a pile of verbal baloney. Nasrallah sliced the baloney nice and thick when he claimed that the terrorists who murdered 17 people in France recently weren't genuine Muslims.

Here's what Nasrallah said: "The behavior of the takfiri groups that claim to follow Islam have distorted Islam, the Koran and the Muslim nation more than Islam’s enemies ... who insulted the prophet in films... or drew cartoons of the prophet."

http://rt.com/news/221343-hezbollah-nasrallah

According to Islam, a "takfiri" is a phony Muslim who violates all the tenets of the Koran and the teachings of Muhammad. Nasrallah, who offered his remarks during a televised speech to honor the birthday of Muhammad, added that "takfiris are the biggest threat to Islam, as a religion and as a message."

While Nasrallah's baloney special works best on folks who don't know anything about Islam--such as U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and former Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean--it doesn't work with those who know Islam. Islam isn't about peace and has never been about peace. Those who persecute and murder in the name of Muhammad, do so in obedience to Islam's prophet rather than in defiance of him.

Nasrallah wants the world to view him as a man of peace who avoids violence like a vampire avoids the sunrise. But Nasrallah is anything but a man of peace. He's a man of violence who has frequently called for the mass murder of Jews and the annihilation of Israel.

Here's what he said concerning the Jewish nation back in November, 2014 when he sounded more like the Parisian terrorists who he recently condemned: "You (Israel) should close all of your airports and your ports, because there is no place... on the land of occupied Palestine that the resistance’s rockets cannot reach."

http://www.jpost.com/Arab-Israeli-Conflict/Nasrallah-to-Israel

And in 2002, Nasrallah, the man of peace, made this remark concerning the Jews: "If they all gather in Israel, it will save us the trouble of going after them worldwide." In a 2005 televised speech to his supporters, he said this: "How can death become joyous? How can death become happiness? How can the foul taste of death become sweeter than honey? Only through conviction, ideology and faith, through belief and devotion."

http://www.camera.org/index.

That's what Nasrallah is really all about. He's a man of violence and war. And he exploits the ignorance of non-Muslims to convince them that Islam is really a religion of peace that's been hijacked by apostates or takfiris. 

If Nasrallah happens to appear at a venue near you, then please to ask him about the takfiri thing. If the Parisian terrorists, like all the others in the last 50 years who committed violence in the name of Islam were takfiris, then what motivated them? Poverty? Unemployment? Mental Illness? Social alienation? 

Or, could they have been inspired by writings such as this one? Quran (4:74) - "Let those fight in the way of Allah who sell the life of this world for the other. Whoso fighteth in the way of Allah, be he slain or be he victorious, on him We shall bestow a vast reward."  

Or, how about this one? Quran (4:89) - "They but wish that ye should reject Faith, as they do, and thus be on the same footing (as they): But take not friends from their ranks until they flee in the way of Allah (From what is forbidden). But if they turn renegades, seize them and slay them wherever ye find them; and (in any case) take no friends or helpers from their ranks."

Or, this one? Quran (5:33) - "The punishment of those who wage war against Allah and His messenger and strive to make mischief in the land is only this, that they should be murdered or crucified or their hands and their feet should be cut off on opposite sides or they should be imprisoned; this shall be as a disgrace for them in this world, and in the hereafter they shall have a grievous chastisement"

Those writings can be found in the Koran. That's the Islamic holy book that Nasrallah claims preaches peace, tolerance and humility towards all men. 

And that's the same book that those Parisian terrorists dutifully read before they snuffed out 17 lives. So, Hassan, who's the real takfiri? The Muslim who pursues peace? Or violence?

March Madness

Parisians rally against terrorism

If you live in Chicago as I do, then you're familiar with street violence. Heavily-armed street gangs have controlled many of Chicago's streets for decades, and they've supplied the local cemeteries with countless victims of their endless narco wars.

Every so often, one of the victims turns out to be an innocent bystander such as a young child or an honors student who was on his or her way to finding a better life via a prestigious college or university when they were erased in the crossfire.

Invariably, when the victim turns out to be that young child or academic high-achiever, there's outrage. And typically, the outrage comes from the usual cast of characters such as the sanctimonious politicians, community activists and blowhard clergymen who are attracted to cameras like bugs are attracted to streetlights. 

Then there are those inevitable marches down the blood-soaked streets. The goose-stepping politicians, clergy clowns and activists are followed by the "protesters" waving their prefabricated signs that call for an end to the violence and of course, tougher gun laws. 

Recently, an estimated three million people turned out in the streets of Paris to protest the murders that took place at the Charlie Hebdo newspaper offices and at a kosher supermarket. The murders were committed by Islamists who were merely being obedient to Islam's prophet Muhammad by murdering Jews and infidels.

Marches and rallies are akin to taking the proverbial bath or shower with a raincoat on. You can stand under the water for hours, but it's prevented from doing what it's supposed to do in washing away the dirt. 

You can protest as much as you want in the streets against gun violence, narco-gangs or Islamofascism, but all that does is make you feel good about yourself. It doesn't wash away the moral and spiritual dirt that contaminates the culture and it has absolutely no impact on those who need to be cleansed the most. 

Certainly not the violent thugs who return to the streets to resume the carnage once the protesters and TV crews are gone. And certainly not to the soldiers of Allah who continue to look for new victims once the Gendarmes are gone. 

The way to change a culture is from the bottom up through the gospel of Jesus Christ rather than from the top down. When the culture is changed from the bottom up, people change because they become aware that they're morally accountable to a holy God and they act accordingly. They don't have to be forced to behave because they'll instinctively do that on their own.

But when a culture is changed from the top down, then people are forced to follow the edicts of a tyrannical government that enforces its laws at the point of a gun. That's called a police state and if you're not familiar with how that works, there are still millions of folks around who lived under the iron fist of Soviet communism who can tell you how that worked.  

Changing a culture from the bottom up is extremely difficult. It requires folks who are committed to sharing the good news of Jesus Christ with those who have never heard it. It requires making Christianity relevant once again to a cynical world that views religion as irrelevant and obsolete. 

And it requires distinguishing the faith from all the false religions of the world--including Islam--that poison minds and foment evil. Nearly 2,000 years ago, the apostle Jude urged the early church to "contend for the faith" (Jude 1:3) because the church's enemy Satan works tirelessly to pervert and destroy the faith. 

Had Christendom not stopped contending for the faith about 150 years ago, Islamofascism wouldn't be raging across much of the world. 

The apostle Paul said it best in his epistle to the early church in Ephesus: "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms." (Ephesians 6:12)

Satan and his fallen angels are the spiritual puppeteers who inspire Islam and all false religions. They encourage destruction and murder in the name of the gods of these false religions. Christ revealed that Satan is "a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies." (John 8:44)

The way to destroy lies is by utilizing the sword of God's spirit (Ephesians 6:17) that is God's word contained in the bible. That requires patience, dedication and hard work. 

But in the end, that pays dividends in a changed society that lives peacefully and values life. And that's something that candlelight vigils and kumbaya street marches will never accomplish.

Radical Islam? Or Fundamental Islam?

Is this radical Islam?

Inevitably, after the recent massacre in France that was perpetrated by Islamists, the "voices of reason" appealed yet again for an Islamic reformation, not unlike the Protestant Reformation that occurred five centuries earlier.

The Protestant Reformation began when a Roman Catholic Monk named Martin Luther realized the falsity of the Catholic gospel and began preaching the biblical version. Luther recognized that his church had become corrupt because it had strayed far from the bible.

While the Catholic Church condemned Luther for his audacity, millions of her followers didn't, and they followed him out the door. Without Luther, Christianity would look very different today. And not for the better.

But an Islamic reformation? That's impossible. Those who wage jihad in the name of Islam haven't strayed from the Koran. Rather, by murdering and mutilating "infidels", they're being obedient to its teachings.

And so, in order for Islam to be reformed, its holy book would have to be rewritten. Specifically, how? The Koran's war verses that motivate Muslims to wage war against unbelievers would have to be erased.

Thus, consider the irony. The Protestant Reformation challenged Christians to start reading the bible while an Islamic reformation would implore Muslims to stop reading the Koran until Islam's "reformers" could publish a new and improved edition that eliminates the mandate for bloodshed and violence.

And that will never happen. Why? Because Muslims--and sadly many Christians--actually believe that the Koran is divinely inspired. They're convinced that God commanded Muslims to kill those who reject Islam. As such, many Muslims will persecute and slaughter those who either deface a Koran or openly criticize the Islamic holy book.

Therefore, there will never be an Islamic reformation. And unless the world gathers the courage to do away with this nemesis, Islam will eventually conquer the world by the sword.

Islam spreads the fastest where weakness prevails. And much of the western world has become morally weak and spiritually bankrupt, unwilling to defend its own values or freedoms.

However, a growing number of Islamic immigrants who have come to the west have no qualms about dying for their values. And they have no problem killing those who refuse to embrace Islamic values.

Western elites who control such institutions as the media, education, politics and the entertainment industry have chosen appeasement and its corollary propaganda to pacify Muslims and reassure westerners that Islam is really a religion of peace that's been hijacked by a "few" radicals.

That was President Obama's rhetoric after the recent Charlie Hebdo massacre. And former Democratic Party head Howard Dean, who knows absolutely nothing about Christianity, injected his own ignorant opinion after the Hebdo attack: "I stopped calling these people Muslim terrorists. They're about as Muslim as I am. I mean, they have no respect for anybody else's life, that's not what the Koran says. And, you know Europe has an enormous radical problem. ... I think ISIS is a cult. Not an Islamic cult. I think it's a cult."
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2015/01/08/howard-dean-paris-attackers

Dean has never read the Koran or the Hadith. Because if he did, he'd come across verses such as this one that motivate Muslims to wage jihad: Bukhari 1:35  "The person who participates in (Holy Battles) in Allah’s cause and nothing compels him do so except belief in Allah and His Apostle, will be recompensed by Allah either with a reward, or booty ( if he survives) or will be admitted to Paradise ( if he is killed)." 

Here's another example: Muslim (20:4696) - "The Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) said: 'One who died but did not fight in the way of Allah nor did he express any desire (or determination) for Jihad died the death of a hypocrite.'"

And here's one more: Muslim (1:30) - "The Messenger of Allah said: I have been commanded to fight against people so long as they do not declare that there is no god but Allah."

Yes Howard, the Koran and the Hadith command all Muslims to spread Islam by the sword, and to kill those who resist. That's what motivates these people to do what they do rather than poverty, unemployment or "mental illness."

These folks aren't radicals; they're fundamentalists. They take the Koran literally. There's no such thing as radical Islam. That's a term invented by western pansies such as Howard Dean who are in denial of Islam's true, violent nature.

And unless the western world wakes up from its politically correct coma, it's going to be conquered by Islam. The east has already awoken and is working to rid itself of this violent religion.
http://www.prophecyreviewonline.org/Prophetic-Outlook

Russia, China and India, who are the three biggest powers in the rising eastern world are determined to do away with Islam. In Russia, Czar Putin has declared that Islam has no future in his nation. And when Russia begins to spread her influence throughout Europe, Islam will be forced to find sanctuary in the west.

And when the Bear gets to the west? That's the end of Islam--radical, fundamental, cultural and otherwise.

Wolves in Sheep's Clothing

Jeremiah Wright and Al Sharpton

Someone--rather boldly--once tried to convince me that the Rev. Jesse Jackson and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. had much in common.  Indeed, they did, but not in the ways that most of us would recognize.

Certainly, both are African-Americans, although I believe that Dr. King would probably eschew the hyphenated designation and emphasize the American part. And certainly, like Dr. King, Jackson probably stands up in the men's room when he--ahem--empties his bladder. Beyond that, the comparisons end.

And rather abruptly. Dr. King was a legitimate Baptist minister who spent countless hours in church pulpits preaching the genuine gospel.

And the Rev. Jackson? He possesses one of those synthetic ordination certificates that anyone who has money can obtain. These days, you can purchase them online from various organizations that will ordain you for the cash. But back in the day, you had to fill out a form, send in the money order and wait for the envelope to arrive.

Rumor has it that when a young Jesse Jackson arrived in Chicago from the south in the early 1960s, he asked then Mayor Richard J. Daley for a job. Being a generous and considerate man, the mayor offered Jackson a position collecting coins in a Tri-State tollbooth.

Jackson declined and decided that by posing as a man of the cloth, he could earn a lot more money than by sitting in a tollbooth for eight hours a day in the middle of an expressway.

Indeed, the synthetic reverend has not only collected the big coin for nearly five decades from his grateful and gullible flock, but he's applied the race card effectively in intimidating various businesses into enhancing his family's good fortune.

Two of Jackson's sons, Jonathon and Yusef, obtained a Budweiser distributorship several years ago after Jackson leaned on Anheuser-Busch for being too white. Whether Jackson offers communion with Bud-Light instead of the liquid of the vine isn't known.

However, what is known is that Jackson isn't a legitimate servant of Jesus Christ. Nor has he ever been. And neither are other assorted clergy poseurs such as the Rev. Jeremiah Wright and the Rev. Al Sharpton who masquerade as representatives of Jesus Christ.

Wright was Barack Obama's pastor and race mentor for many years when the 44th president hung his hat in Chicago. Sharpton currently serves as Obama's race mentor, having visited the White House on numerous occasions to school the president in the art of racial politics. But it's highly doubtful that Sharpton's conducting bible studies with the president during his visits.

For those who truly believe that men such as Jackson, Sharpton and Wright are legitimate church leaders, then pick up a bible and compare what Christ taught with what these men teach. Christ said this: "Blessed are the peacemakers for they will be called the sons of God." (Matthew 5:9) 

And here's what Wright said: The (U.S.) government gives them the drugs, builds bigger prisons, passes a three-strike law and then wants us to sing "God Bless America". No, no, no, not God Bless America. God damn America — that's in the Bible — for killing innocent people. God damn America, for treating our citizens as less than human. God damn America, as long as she tries to act like she is God, and she is supreme. The United States government has failed the vast majority of her citizens of African descent.

And here's what Sharpton said: White folks was [sic] in caves while we was building empires…. We taught philosophy and astrology and mathematics before Socrates and them Greek homos ever got around to it.
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2011/11/25

Finally, here's something else that Christ taught concerning those who claim to be God's ambassadors on earth: "Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will recognize them." (Matthew 7:15-16)

However, you can only spot a wolf in sheep's clothing if you recognize what's coming out of the sheep's mouth. Those who can, stop listening. Those who can't become like sheep destined for the slaughter.

The Post-Christian America

Is this America's future?

Though many folks still consider the United States to be the most Christian nation on earth, America is about as Christian these days as Saudi Arabia is Hindu.

Oh sure. There are still thousands of churches across America. And several do an admirable job of preaching the biblical gospel and bringing souls into Christ's kingdom. But not nearly enough.

However, there are too many churches located in America's inner cities that share their turf with alcoholics, drug addicts, pimps, prostitutes and violent, heavily armed gangbangers. 

Many--but not all--of these churches are led by ministers who've sold out Christ for the impotent social gospel that seeks to attain salvation via Big Government and its assortment of sugar daddy entitlements.

Not surprisingly, absent the biblical gospel and its corollary of moral accountability to a Holy God, crime, violence, poverty and moral decadence prevail in those areas where the social gospel is preached. 

Where is the most crime? In America's inner cities. Where is the most moral depravity? In America's inner cities. Where are the most abortion clinics? In America's inner cities. You don't have to be an astrophysicist to see the correlation here. Rather, all you have to do is look.

And when you look at many of the churches that occupy some of America's leafy suburbs, you find the same moral decrepitude. I know a man who attends one of those big suburban mega-churches and finds his happiness down at Disney World in Orlando where he frolics with Mickey and Goofy during his vacation time.

I don't know whether Jesus would take his disciples down to Florida to party with Mickey and Goofy if they were sojourning in America today. More likely, they'd stop at a few diners and maybe peruse some book stores, but they'd stay out of the places where too many of America's soft and heavily compromised Christians spend too much time in.

As they say, people are like mirrors--they reflect who they admire and what they follow. It follows that if you follow costumed-cartoon characters who wander around overpriced amusement parks, you'll eventually begin to sound and even look like them.

Thus, if too many of today's American Christians sound and act like cartoon characters, or even clowns, that's because they're a reflection of whoever they're prostrating themselves before. 

It stands to reason, then, that if you're prostrating yourself before Christ, then you'll act and sound like Christ. The apostle Paul said it best: "Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God." (Ephesians 5:1-2)

But how many Christians practice or even believe what Paul wrote 2,000 years ago? Or, how many Christians have even read that verse? Not many. 

However, don't worry. Where America's churches have checked out of, Islam checks in. Whether Islam is the fastest growing religion in America is debatable. 

But what's not debatable is the fact that Christianity in America is heading toward the exit. Since the early 1950s, America has lost over 25 million Christians and closed over 8,000 churches. And in the early 50s, America's population was less than half of what it is today. So America now has fewer churches and fewer Christians with more than twice the population.

That's not a recipe for survival. If the trend continues, Christianity in America will eventually resemble Christianity in Europe today--empty churches that serve as white elephant monuments to what Christianity once was.

And some of those vacant churches will become mosques just as some of those ornate synagogues that flourished in the first half of the previous century have now become mosques. And so, as the strong overtake the weak, they also impose their belief systems on the weak.

Is Christianity finished in America? A long as what remains of American Christendom continues its attempt to survive via the ballot box instead of changing the culture by fulfilling the Great Commission of Jesus Christ (Matthew 28:16-20), then America becomes Europe sooner rather than later.

If that happens then your Disney World experience may be a bit different with Snow White trudging about in a burqa and her seven dwarfs reciting the Shahada. Have a party and dance to that. 

Resurrection and Renewal

Ellen Katz: 1919-1928

I don't visit cemeteries very often for obvious reasons. They're depressing places and they remind us of our mortality. And, as you can see from the photo above, when headstones have pictures attached to them, they offer a personal dimension.

I've been looking at that headstone since I was a child. The young girl pictured on the stone is buried near a family plot and she's hard to ignore. She was obviously a very beautiful child and she died way too young.

And of course, it's only natural to wonder what happened to her. At that young age, she probably succumbed to a catastrophic disease such as cancer. Or, she may have been killed in an accident. But then again, only God knows what happened to her.

When many folks see the tombstones of young children such as the one above, they're inclined to ask why God allows these things to happen. The loss of a young child turns many parents bitter and resentful toward God. It causes some people to question whether God even exists. And certainly, that's an understandable reaction.

In fact, some folks believe that Charles Darwin took out his revenge against God by writing his atheistic thesis: On the Origin of Species after the death of his young daughter Annie. Darwin's book eliminated God by attempting to explain the existence of physical life from a purely naturalistic perspective.

Whether the death of his daughter motivated the lapsed theologian and amateur scientist to write his book is debatable. But what isn't debatable is the fact that Darwin changed the course of human history with that terrible book.

The rise in crime, violence and moral decadence throughout the western world since Darwin's book was first published in 1859 provides a testimony to what happens when people no longer believe in God and spurn His laws. And it was the apostle Paul who prophesied that the last days on earth preceding the return of Jesus Christ would see terrible times. (2 Timothy 3:1-5)

And so, why indeed does God allow young children to die? Why does he allow pedophiles to rape and brutalize children; Islamic head-hackers to murder them under the banner of "honor killings", and why does he allow them to be born into destitute households where apathetic and irresponsible parents either ignore or persecute them? Why?

Those aren't easy questions to answer. But there's an answer. And that answer naturally upsets some people. What's the answer?

In commandment two of the Ten Commandments, the Lord said this: "You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments." (Exodus 20:4-6)

Tragically, the sins of people can have deadly consequences. Sins can bring curses (Deuteronomy 28-29) and those curses can visit children generations after those sins were committed. There's no rational or scientific explanation why curses land on some children and not on others. I found out that the girl pictured above had a sister who lived to a good old age.

Before anyone accuses me of being a pompous, self-righteous jerk, (I've been accused of that) I'll admit that I'm a sinner just like everyone else who's ever lived on this planet. And my sins condemned me and brought me an eternal death sentence.

But I've been saved by God's grace. As the apostle John wrote: "And the blood of Jesus, his (God's) Son, purifies us from all  sin." (1 John 1:7) And Christ Himself said this: "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." (John 3:16)

Death will claim our sinful mortal bodies at some point, as it has since the dawn of history. It will claim mine, and it will claim yours.

However, there's good news. There's going to be a resurrection. And we're all going to raised up. If you don't believe that, then consider the resurrection of Jesus Christ. "But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep." (1 Corinthians 15:20)

The resurrection of Christ is evidential and irrefutable. When a 19th century Harvard law professor and an atheist named Simon Greenleaf looked at the evidence for the resurrection of Christ, he became a believer. And he said this: "Based upon the evidence for the Resurrection, there isn't a court of law in the world that could deny it."

And the great news is that young children like the one pictured above are going to be resurrected. God loves children and he's going to raise them up and give them immortal bodies that will never die again. In fact, he showed the ancient prophet Ezekiel an incredible vision of just what the resurrection is going to look like. (Ezekiel 37)

And so, don't fret. We'll see these young people again. And it will be a time of incredible joy.