Just a thought

Around the time that PLO leader Arafat died, I began to think about who would be the next highly influential people to die and cause the world to focus on the person, their life and work, and also look forward to who would take over after them. Here are the big names I thought of:

• Pope John Paul II: he obviously recently passed on and his successor as Pope was Ratzinger, or Pope Benedict XVI.


• Billy Graham: evangelist, extremely popular world wide; his health as of late causes me to think his time is very soon. Without a doubt, the coverage for his death and funeral will be close to that of the Pope's (not equal to the magnitude, but close).


• Gordon B. Hinckley: current prophet of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints; he is getting very old and we will see a changing of the guard. If you wondered about the direction the Roman Catholic Church would take with a new Pope, the new direction of the LDS church under a new prophet will be quite the attention grabber.


• Queen Elizabeth II: while the monarchy in England is nowhere near in relevance as in centuries past, the eyes of the world will turn to the island when this news comes out. England will have a King again and he will be the new head of the Church of England.


• Fidel Castro: while most of the eyes that will be watching this one will be American in nature, the transition will be immensely important.

Yes, there are some other big names (e.g. Nelson Mandela) but their impact and influence (including that of their region) was limited in scope.

Anyways, those are just some thoughts of mine. I am reminded of how God sets in place those who will rule in areas, and govern people. God is sovereign, in control at all times. And He will even be at work, I believe, with transition of the LDS church for the good of the Christian Church. I do pray for those who are for whatever reason trapped in their snare; but God (two amazing words) can do all things.