(AgapePress) - An author and biblical scholar says as Christians watch the events in Iraq, they need to realize the entire geopolitical horizon is changing right before their eyes -- and that it all fits right into what the Bible says about the end times.

Chuck Missler used to handle the missile arsenal of the United States Air Force. Now, as the co-founder of Koinonia House Ministries, he is watching the Iraqi war as just one small part of a world that is changing -- and he says that change fits right in with biblical prophecy.

"The European Union seems to be emerging, [and] the U.N. is [almost] resolving itself into ... irrelevancy. That's exactly Europe has been pushing for anyway," Missler says. "And as we watch all of that, I think we realize that the whole structure in the Middle East is going to change. I think that's profound for those of us who try to take a close look at the biblical prophetic text."

The conflict in Iraq, he says, is just a small part of the equation. "We're watching it tactically, if you will, by watching television and listening to news broadcasts," he says. "But on a strategic level, I think we need to recognize that the whole geopolitical horizon is altering before our very eyes.

"I think as we watch France and Germany play their cards, so to speak, their cards have little to do with Iraq," the author says. "It has more to do with trying to consolidate the E.U., [and] France and Germany [trying] to dominate it."

Missler is fearful that the European Union will rise to become a European super-state, which many scholars believe will birth the anti-Christ's "one world" government.

Ready to Disciple
Meanwhile, a Canadian Baptist church hopes to plan churches in Baghdad once the regime of Saddam Hussein is deposed. Jeff Christopherson is pastor of the Sanctuary of Oakville, a Southern Baptist-affiliated church just outside Toronto.

The Canadian pastor says his church has made substantial contacts with Iraqi Christians living in Toronto who say their homeland is ready for the gospel. He says there are some 500 believers in Baghdad who are ready for the liberation.

Christopherson says now that the war for Iraqi's freedom has started, his church is scrambling to be ready when the pipeline is indeed open. "With this apparent window of opportunity coming, we want to jam that window open with a pipeline and go in there so we can see churches established in Baghdad."

He says his church is "scrambling" to get prepared right now. "We're wanting to at least establish some sort of a network," he says, "and God has given us favor in some pretty high-level circles to give us an entrance into [Iraq]."

While Christopherson says he was embarrassed about his country's decision not to help the United States liberate Iraq, he thinks God will use that neutrality to help open doors for the gospel.

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