As I understand the Bible, Jesus Christ is God. The Father is God and the Holy Spirit is also God. It may be difficult to fathom, but God is actually three unique persons in perfect harmony of purpose. Each has a unique role to fulfill. The King James Bible will be used as our text of reference. The sceptic who, at this point would scream that the Bible is not the authoritative Word of God needs to explain how the Bible has accurately foretold events for thousands of years. He also needs to explain why no other book in existence, religious or otherwise, has done the same. The explanation is simple. It was an easy way for God to prove the Bible is, indeed, His message to humanity. For those who might question why I rely upon the old King James version, I will elaborate later on. In Genesis 1:26, on the first page of the first book of the Bible, it states "And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness:. 1 John 5:7 declares "For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one. In John 1:1, in the New Testament, it identifies Jesus as 'The Word' and states: "1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 The same was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4 In him was life; and the life was the light of men. 5 And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. 6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7 The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe. 8 He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. 9 That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. 10 He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. 11 He came unto his own, and his own received him not. 12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: 13 Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. 14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth. 15 John bare witness of him, and cried, saying, This was he of whom I spake, He that cometh after me is preferred before me: for he was before me. 16 And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace. 17 For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ." The above passage clearly and indisputably identifies Jesus Christ as God. It states that He is both the Creator and the Savior. For those who wonder what, or who God is, God is a spirit, an invisible being. For those who wonder what God is like, the Bible tells us that "God is love". He is holy. God's heart is a heart of comp***ion and forgiveness, but it is also a heart that requires justice. In terms of the eternal picture, this makes perfect sense. There is no love without justice. They are inextricable. Our sins erect a spiritual wall of separation between us and an eternally holy, sinless God. The Bible explains that "The wages of sin is death" and "there is no forgiveness without the shedding of blood". Neither is there any salvation without repentance. Part of salvation is understanding we are sinners, feeling repentant or 'sorry' for past sins and deciding to turn from sin in the future. You don't have to worry about faking repentance. When you are ready to be saved, you will feel it in your heart, and it will be real. That is why Jesus came from Heaven to die on the cross. To pay the price for our sins with his innocent blood so that we might be forgiven and reconciled unto, or 'reunited' with God, and made ready to spend eternity with Him. No one can force or coerce you into getting saved. The Bible says "Know ye not that it is the goodness of God which leadeth unto repentance? You will only be saved when your heart is ready. No one can decide for you. The best thing a Christian who cares about your salvation can do is keep you in their prayers and be a gracious and consistent example of a loving heart and a changed life. Christians are by no means perfect but you should be able to see Jesus at work in the lives and hearts of Christians. When we come to understand who Jesus was and accept Him as our Savior, we are changed forever. You may not see lightning in the sky or feel an earthquake, but something changes. God, in the person of the Holy Spirit, takes up residence in our hearts. We are 'born again' or 'born of the Spirit'. The Bible explains that, at that very moment, we are birthed into the family of God and washed of all our past sins and saved. You become the spiritual brother or sister of every other true Christian. Our bodies become the 'temple' of the Holy Spirit. It is, or should be, the start of a changed heart and a changed life and a 'godly' existence. God is omniscient, or 'all-knowing'. He knows everything and every detail of every event throughout eternity. This explains His ability to fill the Bible with prophecy. He knows our every thought, word and deed. This is nescessary in order for Him to be the just judge of us all on Judgement Day, which we all will face at the end of our life. "It is ***igned unto a man once to die, but after this, the judgement". This scripture not only refers to our day of judgement, but exposes and unequivocably rebuts the false eastern religious theory of reincarnation. God is 'omnipresent', which means He is everywhere at all times. If you are wondering if He is where you are at right now, the answer is yes. He is omnipotent, which means 'all-powerful'. He can do anything He wants at any time. There was a time when I didn't believe the Bible was the Word of God, when I was told it was. I've always wanted to know the answer to life and was never afraid to find out. Instinctively, I knew that if I ever found the truth, it would have something to do with good and evil and eternity. I took it as a challenge and engaged in years of research. I investigated and challenged all of the subjects you all commonly raise and asked every question about life I could. I even asked the tough questions about the types of sin that were prevalent in my own life at the time. The Bible answered every question. I wasn't afraid of, or offended by, the answers because my desire to know the truth was more important to me than anything else. Without realizing it, I fulfilled the condition of the following scripture: Jeremiah 29:13 (King James Version) 13And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart. I would never take anyone's word for it, nor would I stop searching until I had the answer. In terms of spiritual truth, I ultimately came face to face with the Lord Jesus Christ and accepted Him as my Savior. Not a single thing has happened in the years since to ever make me regret it or change my mind. Nothing ever will. Once you know the truth, any amout of investigation only confirms it. John 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. I sincerely hope you all find the truth and make it to Heaven. That is my prayer. 1 John 4:8 (King James Version) 8He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love. Question: Say, I don't believe in God. But then, I don't not believe in God either. Basically, I'm unsure about the whole thing. Even if I'm willing to accept the possibility of God, I do not truly have faith in Him. Firstly, following christianity, am I going to hell? What you have described is referred to as 'agnosticism'. Pertinent to the existence of God, you're not sure, but open-minded. As I understand it, in order to be saved, one must understand who God is. You must come to realize that there are three eternal persons commonly identified as the trininty or Godhead. These three eternal entities, together, constitute what we understand as 'God'. They are God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. They each have individual roles to fulfill and are in perfect unity of purpose. The nature, or character, of God is perfect holiness and love personified. God created Heaven and the universe and everthing in them. God's love, and His desire to share His creation and His desire for interaction motivated him to create all life. Jesus Christ is the Creator. God created the angels. God created the world. He subsequently created humankind in His own image, meaning humankind inherently possessed the character, or personality, of God. Human beings are the crown of God's creation. God gave the angels and humankind a conscience and a free will, with which to make decisions freely and independantly of God. One of the angels became prideful and reprobate and rebelled against God. That angel became the enemy of God. He convinced one third of the angels in Heaven to rebel with him. They were cast out of Heaven. We know them as the devil and demons. They hate God and would wish to hurt Him any way they can. God is eternal and omniscient, omnipotent and omnipresent, meaning all-knowing, all-powerful, and everpresent everywhere. The devil and His demons are unable to challenge Him directly. In light of that fact, they deliberated upon how to most effectively hurt Him indirectly. They are aware that God loves humanity with a greater love than we can understand. They know that the most effective way to hurt God is to hurt those God loves most. God named the first two people He created Adam and Eve. They were holy beings in a perfect environment. God is perfect in holiness and unchanging. Perfect holiness is His very nature.The devil knew that if he could succeed in convincing Adam and Eve to disobey God, he knew that the act of disobedience would spiritually isolate them from God in the same manner as their own disobedience had separated the devil and his demons. God only forbade Adam and Eve from doing one thing, which was eating the fruit from the 'tree of the knowledge of good and evil' which God had placed in a garden where Adam and Eve were. The devil is a phenomenally intelligent being. He took advantage of Adam and Eve's free will to coerce them into an act of disobedience. This act of disobedience, or sin, separated them spiritually from God. The eternal laws of God, as dictated by the very nature of a Holy God demand that the wages of sin is death, both spiritual, and otherwise. This is how evil, or sin entered the world. As a result, humankind has been cursed with a fallen or sinful nature ever since. That is why you see all of the evil in the world. God, in His love for us, devised a way for humankind to be freed from respnsibility for our sin and thereby be reconciled and reunited with Him for eternity. It is a tenet of the eternal law that remission of sin demands the shedding of innocent blood. All of humankind has a fallen, or sinful nature. In order to save humankind from the fate of eternal separation from God, Jesus Christ offered Himself as a sinless sacrifice. He paid the price for us. He was the propitiation for our sins. In order to be 'saved', or 'reconciled' to God, we must repent of our sins, which means to understand and acknowledge we are sinners and be willing to turn from our sinful ways. We must accept and trust in the blood sacrifice of Jesus Christ which He provided as the price of our salvation. We are all eternal beings. Our bodies die, but our spirits live on forever. As part of His eternal plan, God is effecting the eternal separation of good and evil and the eternal separation of the redeemed from the damned. If you die saved, you will be given a new body and live with Jesus forever in a perfect paradise. If you die lost, you will suffer eternal torment in the lake of fire which God has prepared for the devil and his followers. Question: Is the Bible really the Word of God? There was a time when I didn't believe the Bible was the Word of God. I argued that it wasn't. I've always wanted to know the answer to life and was never afraid to find out. Instinctively, I knew that if I ever found the truth, it would have something to do with good and evil and eternity. I took it as a challenge and engaged in years of research. I investigated and challenged all of the subjects you all commonly raise and asked every question about life I could. I even asked the tough questions about the types of sin that were prevalent in my own life at the time. The Bible answered every question. I wasn't afraid of, or offended by, the answers because my desire to know the truth was more important to me than anything else. Beyond the above, I also discovered that the Bible has told the future with perfect accuracy for thousands of years, distinguishing it from any other book on earth. I sought God and searched for Him with all my heart. Without realizing it, I fulfilled the condition of the following scripture: Jeremiah 29:13 - And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart." The Bible promises that we will find God when we seek Him and search for Him with all our heart. I would never take anyone's word for it, nor would I stop searching until I had the answer. In terms of spiritual truth, I ultimately came face to face with the Lord Jesus Christ and accepted Him as my Savior. Not a single thing has happened in the years since to ever make me regret it or change my mind. Nothing ever will. Once you know the truth, any amout of investigation only confirms it. Jesus said He was the way, the truth, and the life and that no man can be reconciled with God except through Him. I sincerely hope you find the truth and make it to Heaven. I hope to see you there. You are in my prayers. No doubt the usual assortment of blasphemers, scoffers, mockers, haters of God and other reprobates will instantly slither out of their snakepits and howl like rabid banshees when I say this. One of the primary proofs that the Bible is, in fact, the Word of God, is that it has told the future in numerous phophecies over the course of thousands of years with perfect accuracy. No other book in history can honestly make the same claim. I will now be assailed with all of the usual arguments against the Bible, such as accuracy of the Bible text, different versions, similar claims by other religions, Old Testament versus New Testament, etc., etc., etc. Suffice to say that I have investigated all of these arguments thoroughly and found them to be devoid of credibility. I have addressed myself to most, if not all of the contrary arguments, earlier in this thread. To address your question from the perspective of spiritual truth, or spiritual reality, I will repost the following for you. With all due respect, I do not expect you to understand it, or accept it, on the basis of the following scripture, but I would encourage you to read all of it with an open mind: 1 Corinthians 2:14 - But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. After Noah's flood, there were only eight people left alive on the earth, and they all knew the one true God. Noah worshipped God, as do I. At some point, man chose to reject that one true God and go his own way. Whose fault is that? Genesis 7:11 - In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened. Genesis 7:13 - In the selfsame day entered Noah, and Shem, and Ham, and Japheth, the sons of Noah, and Noah's wife, and the three wives of his sons with them, into the ark; Genesis 7:15 - And they went in unto Noah into the ark, two and two of all flesh, wherein is the breath of life. Genesis 7:23 - And every living substance was destroyed which was upon the face of the ground, both man, and cattle, and the creeping things, and the fowl of the heaven; and they were destroyed from the earth: and Noah only remained alive, and they that were with him in the ark. Genesis 8:20 - And Noah builded an altar unto the LORD; and took of every clean beast, and of every clean fowl, and offered burnt offerings on the altar. Genesis 9:1 - And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth. The following is my opinion, based on my contemplation of scripture. It is my understanding that those who have never heard of Jesus Christ will still be judged, but not in the same way we are who have heard of Him. God is revealed to every human being who has the mental capacity to understand. Romans 1:19 Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them. 20 For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: 21 Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Now they might not be able to accept Jesus Christ as their Savior if they have never heard of Him, but they can still try to please the God that they know is out there. God is capable of revealing Himself to them if they are willing to accept Him. If they try to obey the laws that God has written on every human's heart, I believe God will accept that. Jesus' blood would cover their sins even though they have never heard His name. Which makes this statement by Jesus Christ true: John 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. Even though they don't know who Jesus Christ is it is still by Him that they are allowed to come to God the Father. His blood covers them. I believe this is the same for those who don't have the mental capacity to accept or reject Jesus Christ. Whether that is because they were mentally retarded or because they died before reaching an age of accountability. Jesus Christ's blood still covers their sins, because God requires blood for the forgiveness of sins: Hebrews 9:22 And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission. In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness. They are saved by God's grace just like a person who has understood and accepted Jesus Christ as their Savior is saved by God's grace. Rejection of Jesus Christ once you know about Him, is an entirely different matter. Since the advent of Christ, many people from other cultures, upon hearing the Gospel, have rejected the false religions of their fathers and accepted Jesus Christ as their Saviour. Genesis 18:25 That be far from thee to do after this manner, to slay the righteous with the wicked: and that the righteous should be as the wicked, that be far from thee: Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right? God will be the ultimate Judge of each and every one of us, and for all of us who have heard the Gospel, each and every one of us have a decision to make. How I think it should be is irrelevant. What's important is how it is. God made Hell as a place of eternal punishment for the devil and his demons, not people. Our sins have put a wall of separation between us and the eternal, sinless, Holy God. God is love, and He loves every one of us. He came to earth to pay for our sins with his own blood. All we have to do to be saved is repent of sin and accept Jesus as our Saviour. Our sins are forgiven. At the moment of salvation, God changes our heart which enables us to turn from sin. In the beginning of our Christian life, we will still be succeptible to sin but over time God helps us overcome it. He really does change our hearts, and that change makes us wan't to do good. I know. He changed my heart. If you're defining 'good person' as someone who doesn't sin, then we all deserve Hell, because we have all sinned. God's plan is to separate good and evil, and the damned from the redeemed, for eternity. It has to be this way. If God allowed us to go to Heaven with our wicked hearts, before long, Heaven would look a lot like Hell. We would make it that way, just like we have done to the earth. God's plan is perfect. I don't want to live with wickedness and evil for eternity, I want to live in God's perfect paradise, and those are precisely our options. When we get saved, we become one of God's children. Every other true Christian on earth is our brother and sister. I am going to Heaven, and I hope to see you there. 1 Corinthians 2:9 - But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. With regard to Buddha and ancient eastern religions, I have always found it fascinating that the most ancient Chinese pictographic language, which predates the Bible, tells the story of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. http://www.chinesebiblemission.org/documents/chinesegenesis.pdf#search='Chinese%20pictograph (Copy and paste the entire URL above into your browser) (Other articles pertaining to the subject of biblical themes in ancient Chinese pictographs are available.) I have had quite a few requests for Bible prophecies. I posted a long list of specific Old Testament prophecies which were fulfilled by Jesus Christ, but the person who asked for them refused to read them. The truth can be of great offence when your losing the argument. Here is a specific prophecy from the book of Daniel in the Old Testament, followed by a brief explanation of it's meaning. It was written by Daniel during the Babylonian era. Daniel told King Nebuchadnezzar the prophecy concerned "the latter days": Nebuchadnezzar's Dream Daniel 2:1 And in the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar Nebuchadnezzar dreamed dreams, wherewith his spirit was troubled, and his sleep brake from him. 2 Then the king commanded to call the magicians, and the astrologers, and the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans, for to shew the king his dreams. So they came and stood before the king. 3 And the king said unto them, I have dreamed a dream, and my spirit was troubled to know the dream. 4 Then spake the Chaldeans to the king in Syriack, O king, live for ever: tell thy servants the dream, and we will shew the interpretation. 5 The king answered and said to the Chaldeans, The thing is gone from me: if ye will not make known unto me the dream, with the interpretation thereof, ye shall be cut in pieces, and your houses shall be made a dunghill. 6 But if ye shew the dream, and the interpretation thereof, ye shall receive of me gifts and rewards and great honour: therefore shew me the dream, and the interpretation thereof. 7 They answered again and said, Let the king tell his servants the dream, and we will shew the interpretation of it. 8 The king answered and said, I know of certainty that ye would gain the time, because ye see the thing is gone from me. 9 But if ye will not make known unto me the dream, there is but one decree for you: for ye have prepared lying and corrupt words to speak before me, till the time be changed: therefore tell me the dream, and I shall know that ye can shew me the interpretation thereof. 10 The Chaldeans answered before the king, and said, There is not a man upon the earth that can shew the king's matter: therefore there is no king, lord, nor ruler, that asked such things at any magician, or astrologer, or Chaldean. 11 And it is a rare thing that the king requireth, and there is none other that can shew it before the king, except the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh. 12 For this cause the king was angry and very furious, and commanded to destroy all the wise men of Babylon. 13 And the decree went forth that the wise men should be slain; and they sought Daniel and his fellows to be slain. 14 Then Daniel answered with counsel and wisdom to Arioch the captain of the king's guard, which was gone forth to slay the wise men of Babylon: 15 He answered and said to Arioch the king's captain, Why is the decree so hasty from the king? Then Arioch made the thing known to Daniel. 16 Then Daniel went in, and desired of the king that he would give him time, and that he would shew the king the interpretation. 17 Then Daniel went to his house, and made the thing known to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his companions: 18 That they would desire mercies of the God of heaven concerning this secret; that Daniel and his fellows should not perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon. 19 Then was the secret revealed unto Daniel in a night vision. Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven. 20 Daniel answered and said, Blessed be the name of God for ever and ever: for wisdom and might are his: 21 And he changeth the times and the seasons: he removeth kings, and setteth up kings: he giveth wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to them that know understanding: 22 He revealeth the deep and secret things: he knoweth what is in the darkness, and the light dwelleth with him. 23 I thank thee, and praise thee, O thou God of my fathers, who hast given me wisdom and might, and hast made known unto me now what we desired of thee: for thou hast now made known unto us the king's matter. 24 Therefore Daniel went in unto Arioch, whom the king had ordained to destroy the wise men of Babylon: he went and said thus unto him; Destroy not the wise men of Babylon: bring me in before the king, and I will shew unto the king the interpretation. 25 Then Arioch brought in Daniel before the king in haste, and said thus unto him, I have found a man of the captives of Judah, that will make known unto the king the interpretation. 26 The king answered and said to Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, Art thou able to make known unto me the dream which I have seen, and the interpretation thereof? 27 Daniel answered in the presence of the king, and said, The secret which the king hath demanded cannot the wise men, the astrologers, the magicians, the soothsayers, shew unto the king; 28 But there is a God in heaven that revealeth secrets, and maketh known to the king Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the latter days. Thy dream, and the visions of thy head upon thy bed, are these; 29 As for thee, O king, thy thoughts came into thy mind upon thy bed, what should come to pass hereafter: and he that revealeth secrets maketh known to thee what shall come to pass. 30 But as for me, this secret is not revealed to me for any wisdom that I have more than any living, but for their sakes that shall make known the interpretation to the king, and that thou mightest know the thoughts of thy heart. 31 Thou, O king, sawest, and behold a great image. This great image, whose brightness was excellent, stood before thee; and the form thereof was terrible. 32 This image's head was of fine gold, his breast and his arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass, 33 His legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay. 34 Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces. 35 Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshingfloors; and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth. 36 This is the dream; and we will tell the interpretation thereof before the king. 37 Thou, O king, art a king of kings: for the God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory. 38 And wheresoever the children of men dwell, the beasts of the field and the fowls of the heaven hath he given into thine hand, and hath made thee ruler over them all. Thou art this head of gold. 39 And after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee, and another third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth. 40 And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron: forasmuch as iron breaketh in pieces and subdueth all things: and as iron that breaketh all these, shall it break in pieces and bruise. 41 And whereas thou sawest the feet and toes, part of potters' clay, and part of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; but there shall be in it of the strength of the iron, forasmuch as thou sawest the iron mixed with miry clay. 42 And as the toes of the feet were part of iron, and part of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong, and partly broken. 43 And whereas thou sawest iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men: but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay. 44 And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever. 45 Forasmuch as thou sawest that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold; the great God hath made known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter: and the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure. 46 Then the king Nebuchadnezzar fell upon his face, and worshipped Daniel, and commanded that they should offer an oblation and sweet odours unto him. 47 The king answered unto Daniel, and said, Of a truth it is, that your God is a God of gods, and a Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets, seeing thou couldest reveal this secret. 48 Then the king made Daniel a great man, and gave him many great gifts, and made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon, and chief of the governors over all the wise men of Babylon. 49 Then Daniel requested of the king, and he set Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, over the affairs of the province of Babylon: but Daniel sat in the gate of the king. Daniel told King Nebuchadnezzar, of the Babylonian Empire, that he and his kingdom represented the 'head of fine gold' of the image. The 'breast and arms of silver' would be the kingdom that relaced the Babylonian empire. It is an historical fact that Babylon was replaced by the Medo-Persian empire. Daniel said the 'belly and thighs of brass' would be the kingdom that replaced tha 'breast and arms of silver'. Historically, the Medo-Persian empire was replaced by the Grecian Empire. He said the 'belly and thighs of brass' would be replaced by 'a fourth kingdom, strong as iron'. The Grecian Empire was replaced by the Roman Empire. Daniel then refers to the 'feet and toes, part of potters' clay, and part of iron', and tells us 'the kingdom shall be divided'; This is precisely what happened with the fall of the Roman Empire. The Roman Empire has ultimately been replaced by the 'Revived Roman Empire', or European Union as we know it today. Daniel tells us that in the days of these endtime kings, or rulers of the European Union, God shall set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed. Daniel told Nebuchadnezzar that 'Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces. 35 Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshingfloors; and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth". This is a reference to Jesus Christ returning to take over the world to establish the Kingdom of God and usher in the millennial, or, thousand year, reign of Christ over the earth. Other Bible prophecies describe to us in great detail, the events that are happening before our eyes today, such as '' And as he sat upon the mount of olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world? 4 And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you. 5 For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many. 6 And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. 7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. 8 All these are the beginning of sorrows'-Matthew 24:3-8 and 'there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring;'. It reveals the events which will occur between now and the Millennium, such as an event referred to as the 'Rapture', where all true Christians are taken to Heaven by Jesus Christ during the seven year 'great tribulation period' on earth, the invasion of Israel by Russia and it's arab and muslim allies, a subsequent attack by China and it's allies, the advent of the endtime world leader from Europe often referred to as the 'Antichrist', a false religious leader referred to as the 'false prophet' who works with the Antichrist, the 'mark of the beast' and '666', which requires that 'no man might buy or sell save he that had the mark', what will occur at the conclusion of the Millenium, such as the Great White Throne Judgement and the establishment of God's eternal kingdom on the 'new earth' and numerous other detailed prophecies. Prophecy As I write this in 2005 many awesome events are taking place in the world. With regard to the future, based on Bible prophecy, I can tell you the following. One of these days, an event referred to as the 'Rapture' is going to occur, where all true Christians are taken to Heaven by Jesus Christ during the seven year, so-called 'Great Tribulation period'. A man will appear on the world stage and become the de facto leader of the world. He will come from the European Union. I could be wrong but my studies indicate that that man will likely be King Juan Carlos of Spain. The Bible refers to that man as 'the Beast'. He will be introduced as a man of peace. A seven year treaty or covenant will be introduced bringing peace to the Middle East and the Beast will affirm that covenant with many. The Beast will be on the world scene in his role as the 'Antichrist' world leader for about seven years. He will require everyone to receive a 'mark' in their right hand or forehead, and no one except those who have the mark, or the name of the Beast, or the number of his name will be able to buy or sell. His number is 666. At some point in the seven years, I believe about the mid-point, Russia and it's allies will invade Israel. This will cause a war of holocaust proportions. They will enjoy initial success, but Russia and it's allies will ultimately be defeated. After this, China and it's allies will march into the Middle East. Ultimately, all of the nations of the world will be gathered together to do battle over Jerusalem. At that time, at the end of the seven-year, so-called Great Tribulation period, Jesus Christ returns from Heaven with an army of his saints. Jesus Christ destroys the armies that are gathered to do battle and shortly thereafter the 'Millenium', or thousand year reign of Jesus Christ begins on the earth. The Bible says that near the end of the Millenium, Satan shall be loosed for a short season to tempt those upon the earth. Following that, Jesus Christ wil rule for eternity. To be continued.......