I have a great-uncle on my mother’s side that died of the famous influenza of 1918. He was a soldier from Colesburg, Ky. on his way to World War I when he contracted the flu and died in New York. Only recently, news sources have revealed that the 1918 flu was a strain of the same Bird Flu threatening the entire globe today.

Many scientists have publicly said regarding a possible pandemic of Bird Flu: not IF but WHEN. I read a United Nations health official’s appraisal that the flu could break out at any time and kill between 5 and 150 million people. That kind of death toll would cause deaths in other recent hurricane and earthquake disasters to be miniscule by comparison.

What is happening in our world? Jesus said regarding the end times; “For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of sorrows.” (Matthew 24:7-8)

People often say that we have always had wars and earthquakes so it doesn’t mean anything now. But I heard the head of the World Food Bank say in an interview that natural disasters have increased three fold just since the 1960s. He keeps track because it is his organization that has to respond to such things and he’s getting worried about the resources to keep up.

Don’t be scared; that’s not the point. Here’s the point: “Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.” (Matthew 24:44)