Whoever rules the Congo, or whether the Muslims succeed in enslaving the Christian population of Sudan is only part of the continuing ferment of the group world. It is what takes place in the life of individual people, from the starving infant to the tottering grandmother left to die in the deserted village, surrounded by decaying corpses, that really matters. This is the second world, the world of the individual.

Christians get caught up in this sort of vanity. A hundred thousand Christians march through a town and pass out tracts. "Boy, we showed them! We put one over on the bad guys! But unless God actually sponsored the activity it is only the superficiality of the group world. Perhaps one thing that actually happened is John Doe watching the parade thought: "If these smug know-it- alls represent Christians then get me out of here."

But we marched and we passed out tracts and we let them know we're in town.

It is so terribly easy to see only the outside of an event and judge by that appearance. It is not until you get in the heart of the child or the adult that you know what is taking place.

So God permits the antics of the masses of the earth, the ebb and flow of the sea of mankind, to continue its frantic, howling, insane dance of destruction. The nations are led this way and that by the politicians who use stereotypes, images, and emotional appeals to prop up one group against another as they seek their own glory, or else act according to what they sincerely believe to be the best for their group.

Christian leaders advance this program and that, bringing thousands of people to the altar. Talented pastors build huge churches, leaving the smaller churches around them nearly bereft of young people—and they don't seem to care! How many young people want to remain in a small church when they can go to the megachurch and mill around with a thousand pretty girls and handsome young men? How many will remain with the plain pastor and his wife and an older congregation as they serve God faithfully? Only the most consecrated, you may be sure. So much for Christian charity and unity.

The result of this worldwide ferment and ignorance is an endless slaughter of human beings and the construction of religious babylons.

This is the outer shell of history, the history of the group.

But all the while God is having His way in the heart of individuals, examining, testing, teaching, warning, leading those who have integrity to the knowledge of Himself. As for the millions who are dying, they go to various areas of the spirit realm to await the Day of Judgment. No one is lost in the sense of becoming extinct or vanishing into nothingness.

Life is like a play. A shot rings out. The actor falls dead. The curtain falls. Then the "murderer" and his victim go out to lunch. So it is true that when people die they get up again and live according to God's will.

To be continued.