Another result of Pope Francis's visit to the U.S. was a new focus on the United Nations. Here he made a keynote speech at a meeting to adopt a plan for global peace called, "Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development." Afterward the 193-nation UN General Assembly approved the Agenda which lays out goals to " ...free the human race from the tyranny of poverty and... heal and secure our planet," —in the next 15 years. Members were supposed to go home and implement policies to reach those goals.

Agenda 2030 is an update of a previous Agenda 21, adopted by 178 governments in 1992 for a similar purpose. History since then has proven how difficult these goals are in the real world. Without enforcement teeth, the UN`s grandfatherly suggestions have been mostly ignored by the world`s bad men.

On their face, these goals are wonderful: prosperity for all, global religious freedom, elimination of sex trafficking and drugs, etc. —justice for all. Much less specific are the details of how to achieve this and moreover, who will enforce "justice." Unstated, but obvious, is the assumption that somewhere in the recesses of the UN structure an army will need to provide that service.

Fledgling attempts over the UN's 70 years to put 'UN Peacekeepers" in the middle of a conflict have been ineffective at best. Often they either got caught in the crossfire, or beat a hasty retreat. If some world power such as the US did not step in, millions often died in the "sectarian violence," sometimes labeled as genocide.

But if such an army emerges, who will stipulate the rules of engagement? Will it be a Muslim general who believes that all non-Muslims should be either slaves or dead? Or maybe an atheist who is okay with freedom of worship as long as it is kept inside the church building? Or perhaps a Marxist who revels in his role enforcing all the minute regulations of big government?

In addition, the proposals to "heal and secure the planet," include elimination of much of modern industry that has already lifted a billion or more out of that poverty in the last decades. The claim of man-made climate change has been endorsed by even the pope himself.

When the pope addressed the UN meeting, one would expect that we would have heard about Jesus` plan for world peace from this "world leader of Christianity." But a search of the text of Pope Francis` speech finds "Jesus" mentioned zero times, "Christ" zero, except as part of the three times "Christian" is used. "Bible" and "gospel" are also zero."

Instead, the nebulous "common good" is the central reference for deciding good and evil. This is not helpful. Most of the wars in history have been fought over differences of opinion about what is the "common good!"

The Bible is clear that such universal harmony will not arrive until Jesus Himself sits on His throne in Jerusalem, ruling with a "rod of iron." Until then, the Bible describes increasing chaos, with men`s hearts failing for fear.

The pope is right: the planet is in a mess. But his fix is rooted in human wisdom and political power, rather than hearts changed by the Spirit of God. While the Bible offers a spiritual solution, it also predicts that man will, instead, look to a political solution from the Anti-christ.

How sad that the "evangelicals," charmed by the pope, are not declaring redemption through Christ instead of the UN. Bible believers will pay a high price during the chaos, as they are even now in many places.

In the West, we still have enough freedom to get the gospel out. But when they come to try you for being a Christian, will there be enough evidence to convict you?