# 1 > About the cover: the Arabic letter pictured in red is pronounced "noon" and is the letter "N" in the language. It is the first letter of the word "nasara," or Christian. It was recently spray-painted in red on the homes of Christians in Mosul, Iraq, by Islamic State (ISIS ) soldiers to denote families that would have to make a choice: convert to Islam, pay an exorbitant tax, leave the area, or die. Christians around the world have posted this letter in social media and worn it on T-shirts to signify their solidarity with persecuted Christian brothers and sisters in ISIS-controlled lands. It has become a one-letter symbol of Christian genocide in the Middle East.
# 2 > The young man has the start of a healthy beard. Dark, wavy hair. Bushy eyebrows. He dressed himself in several layers before going out that August morning in Mosul, Iraq. He could be my son. It's his eyes that haunt me. They opened briefly as he perhaps realized what had just happened to him, that soldiers from the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria ( ISIS ) had cut his throat, and now he lay on the ground woozy and wounded. As I watched one of the many "contains disturbing images" videos showing the brutality of ISIS forces in Iraq and Syria, those eyes had a message for me: "Tell the world." They burned in my mind as I finished this book, reminding me of a line from my first book, From 9/11 to 666, when my family watched the live feed from New York on September 11 in our apartment outside of Paris, and I blurted: "We should have warned them." Now, as many Westerners discover the ancient way that a conquering Islamic army advances, courtesy of YouTube videos and Google images, that line echoes louder. After reading this book, consider yourself warned.
# 3 > This is what Muslims practice, and have practiced since the inception of Islam. Throughout history they have beheaded infidels who resist the onslaught of Islamic forces. As I write, it is "back to the future" in Iraq and Syria, a return of the Golden Age of Islam, circa AD 610__precisely what millions of Muslims want. People have written about religious conflict in the Middle East for centuries, and anyone alive today has grown up reading headlines about Israel defending itself against rocket attacks, revolutions and regime change in Iraq, and rumblings in many other nations from Saudi Arabia to morocco. Yet something feels different today. The troubles have become more personal for those of us who are Christians. We are learning every day about churches being desecrated, crosses being broken, families being driven out of their homes, and worst of all, brothers and sisters in Jesus being executed for their faith.
# 4 > Despite meager media reporting of these killings, nearly all of us who follow Jesus have seen Facebook postings and blog articles about a Christian mother facing death sentence in Sudan, an innocent Christian teen on trial for blasphemy in Pakistan, or an entire Christian village emptied in Syria or Iraq with hundreds dead. All of those biblical texts about persecution and running to the hills and not looking back seem a little closer when we see them filled on the evening news. Christians are running and are being handed over for persecution unto death, and Christians seem to be hated by just about all ethnic groups in the lands of the Bible.Why has this fierce persecution broken out now? What makes this era of danger for Christians different from others? The thesis of this book asserts that the most vicious side of Islam, what I will call Islamism, was loosed, once and for all, with the start of the Arab Spring in late 2010__with no turning back the tide on this change in world events.
# 5 > I maintain that the Arab Spring has become a true Christian Winter for believers in the countries impacted by the sweeping political changes in the Middle East, and the spread of Islamism will not reverse course. In fact, I think it will be given power to wage was against God's holy people and to conquer them. And ... given authority over every tribe, people, language and nation ( REVELATION 13:7 ), led by an Antichrist figure who will rule the world just before the return of Christ. When Mohamed Bouazizi set himself on fire on December 17, 2010, in Sidi Bouzid, Tunisia, he had no idea that he was playing a part in the fulfillment of biblical prophecy.
# 6 > "Basboosa," as he was known in his town, knocked down the first domino in the rapid re-alignment of governments across the Middle East with his suicidal protest. Bouazizi__this catalyst for the Arab Spring__who has since won international awards posthumously, and has streets and squares named for him around the world, sparkled the massive and ongoing reconfiguration of the political map in the Islamic world, allowing the voice of the people to be heard from Mauritania to Oman. This voice of the people to be heard from Mauritania to Oman. This voice is decidedly fundamentalist, and needed to rise to the fore of Muslim nations were to veer closer to the prophet Muhammad's original vision for Islam and become a competing force in the world once again. Nine years ago, in FROM 9/11 to 666, I laid out a case for Islam playing a key role in the End Times, knowing that Muslim nations needed to push out their secular governments to prepare for alignment under the messiah that Muslims await: al-Mahdi.
# 7 > That's how Mohamed Bouazizi played a role in the fulfillment of biblical prophecy. Through his seemingly personal protest, he unwittingly unleashed a tide of Islamism that has not stopped spreading into governments around the world. The next step is for all these Islamists to unite and pledge to fulfill the prophet Muhammad's original vision: a world entirely submitted to Allah ( Sura 8:39 ). I tried to describe in my first book what I saw coming in the Islamic world by detailing a major desire of Muslims in chapter 7, "The Replacement of Ruling Elites." I wasn't sure how it would happen, but God had begun the transformation. All on track for a continued progression toward the rule of an Islamic Antichrist who will lead a powerful Islamic bloc of countries into a direct showdown with the West.
# 8 > Suffice it to say that noting that has occurred over the past nine years works against the realization of the thesis I offered in my book. I again humbly state that I could be completely wrong in my theory, but I pray that you will consider my points and, more importantly, build the type of faith you need to withstand trouble ahead__in whatever form it comes. We should absolutely live on planet Earth two thousand years, but I believe many sign point to Christ's return within next few decades. Among them are the
outstanding progress made in the fulfillment of the Great Commission, which Jesus Himself used as the exemplar for the Last Days ( MATTHEW 24:13 ), and the growing influence of Islam around the world, particularly strict fundamentalism. Let me define "Islamism" from the outset as the interpertation of Islam that seamlessly blends religion into politics by holding two sacred tenets: 1 ) the Koran is the basis for any government and law, and 2 ) Islam is meant for the entire world.
# 9 > This interpretation of Islam I do not see as "radical" or unusual. I call Islamism "pure Islam" because it most accurately captures the ideas of Muhammad and applies them today. With the continued repercussions of the Arab Spring still rocking the Muslim world. I feel it is time for a new book for the following reasons: ( 1 ) to examine how this massive movement fits into biblical prophecy; 2 ) to consider what it means for Christians around the world, specifically, the impact on Western Christ-followers; and 3 ) what should be done in anticipation of a growing fundamentalist Islamic bloc in the twenty-first century.
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