When Jesus walked the earth with His disciples, they asked Him, "...What will be the sign of Your coming and the end of the age?" Matthew 24:3.  "Jesus answered and said to them, 'Take heed that no man deceive you, for many will come in My name, saying, I am the Christ, and will deceive many'" Matthew 24:4-5.  This was the first among ten signs that Jesus ssaid would signal His return.  This month's newsletter will be the first in a series of newsletters that will expound on each of the ten signs Jesus spoke of in Matthew 24.  There ware doubters today, even in the Christian community, concerning the return of our Lord and that His return is near.  God told us in His Word that the rebirth of Israel (Zion) as a nation would precede the return of the Lord Jesus (Psalms 102:16); thus, the prophetic clock began ticking once Israel became a nation in 1948.  More false Christs have arisen during the 20th Century than any other period since Jesus ascended to heaven and stated He would return.  I have listed below those who claimed to be Christ during the 20th Century:

1)   Haile Selassie I - AKA Jah Ras Tafari.  There are an estimated 100,000 Rastafarians (followers of Jah Ras Tafari) in Jamaica.
2)   George Ernest Roux - AKA - the "Christ of Montfavet" or "Georges-Christ" founder of the Universal Christian Church (now named the Universal Alliance) in France.  He has about 4,000 followers.
3)   Ernest Norman - Claimed to be Jesus reincarnated and cofounded Unarius Academy of Science.  Unarius Claims to have 500,000 members worldwide. 
4)   Krishna Venta - born Francis Herman Pencovic.  He claimed to be Christ and had thousands of followers with a monastery in California and in Alaska.  
5)   Ahn Sahng-Hong - Claimed to be God the Father, and his wife God the Mother.  The church still has an estimated 1 million followers as of 2008.

6)  Sun Myung Moon - Claimed to be Christ.  Founder of the Unification Church and is said to still have possibly several million members worldwide (en.wikipedia.org).
7)   Jim Jones - Founder of Peoples Temple, claimed to be the reincarnation of Jesus and Father Divine.  A mass suicide and murder at the Jonestown Temple killed 909 members.

8)   Marshall Applewhite - declared he was Jesus Christ and instructed 39 members of Heaven's Gate to commit suicide, and they did.  Two other committed suicide after the 39.
9)   Yahweh ben Yahweh - meaning God, Son of God.  Born as Hulon Mitchell is said to have 12,000 followers (trutv.com).  
10)  Laszlo Toth - claimed he was Jesus Christ as he vandalized Michelangelo's Pieta with a geologist hammer.  
11)  Wayne Bent - AKA Michael Travesser of the Lord Our Righteousness Church.  He claimed to be the embodiment of God and had about 80 followers.  
12)  Ariffin Mohammed - AKA Ahah Pin, founder of Sky Kingdom.  His followers believe he is the incarnation of Jesus and Muhammad and is said to have several thousand followers.
 13)  Mitsuo Mataoshi - believes he is God.  He established the World Economic Community Party in Japan. He says he will bring judgment under the world's current political system.
 14)  Jose Luis de Jesus Miranda - established Creciendo en Gracia (Growing in Grace) and claims to be Christ.  He has millions of followers in the world, who tattoo "666" on their bodies.  Jose Luis de Jesus Miranda says there is no hell and earth is already heaven.  Jose also has "666" tattooed on his body, but says it is the symbol of Christ.  (see CNN video on the News Videos page of this website).

15)  Inri Cristo - born Alvaro Thais - claims to be Jesus reincarnated.  Has innumerable followers in Portugal, Australia, England, Brazil and France.
16)  Thomas Harrison Provenzano - An American convicted of murder, who compared his execution with the crucifixion of Jesus.
17)  Shoko Asahara - founded Aum Shinrikyo.  He declared himself Christ and he declared the world would end, except for the few who joined Aum.  He had as many as 40,000 followers worldwide.  He instigated the Sarin gas attack on a Tokyo subway and has been sentenced to death and is awaiting execution.

18)  David Koresh - born Vernon Wayne Howell - He was the leader of a Branch Davidian religious sect in Waco, TX.  He claimed to be "the Son of God."  After a siege on his compound by the FBI, the ranch burned to the ground.  David, 54 adults and 21 children died among the cult group.  

19)  Hogen Fukunaga - founded Ho No Hana Sanpogyo.  He claimed to be Jesus and Buddha reincarnated, is very wealthy and said to have about 30,000 followers. 
20)  Marina Tsvigun - AKA Maria Devi Christos, leader of the Great White Brotherhood.  She is recognized as a "new messiah" and has about 80,000 followers.  
21)  Sergey Torop - claims to be Jesus Christ returned.  He founded the Church of the Last Testament and the spiritual community Ecopolis Tiberkul in Southern Siberia.  He has about 5,000 devout followers and many thousands more who have left their homes to move close to his village in Southern Siberia, which is not even on a map it is so remote.

22)  Isa - Muslim "Jesus" to come.  According to CAIR (Council on American-Islamic Relations), there are about 1.2 billion Muslims (~22% of world's population) awaiting the return of their Mahdi (Muslim Messiah), who will appear with Isa (Jesus), who they say is a prophet of Allah.  The Qu'ran (Muslim bible) teaches that their prophet Jesus (same Jesus we know is God and Savior) will return with the Mahdi and he will kill all pigs (Christians and Jews) who do not convert to Islam (Hadith Volume 4, Book 55, Number 657).
Source:  The list of false "Christs" was taken from en.wikipedia.org.  Details of the lives of each were gathered through various internet sources and biographies.

These are 21 known false "Christs" in the world today (as well as Isa, the "Jesus" of the Muslims, #22), most of whom have a serious following of believers, some number in the millions (and billions of Muslims await Isa).  There has never been before throughout history so many false "Christs."  This is the first of the signs Jesus said would be prevalent in the world when He returns.