Power encounters

And having disarmed the powers and authorities, 
he made a public spectacle of them, 
triumphing over them by the cross. 
Colossians 2:15

“Christianity has all too often been presented as a religion of the textbook and the head,” (C. Peter Wagner). This type of approach appeals to our rational, Western mindset. But it has very little influence on much of the unreached world which is held captive by powerful demonic forces.

For them, the display of God’s power to heal and free them from demonic possession is much more convincing. When Jesus came to earth, He won people to Himself through both approaches...the rational explanation of who He was and what He had come to do as well as through miracles and power struggles won over the demonic world. Westerners need to first believe in the spirit world and then learn how to overcome this world through the power of Jesus Christ.

In my last blog entry, Are Harry Potter and Twilight for real? , I spoke about the power of the demonic world. It holds much of the world captive to fear. But the power of Jesus Christ is so much greater! When Christ is revealed as more powerful than Satan and his demons, a show of power takes place. These power encounters are happening all over the world. They are one of the main ways that Christ built His Church in the past and how He continues to build it today.

The Bible is full of these power encounters, where the power of God directly challenges and overcomes the power of Satan and his demons:
- Moses vs. Pharaoh and his priests Exodus 7:10
- Joshua vs. the city of Jericho Joshua 6:15
- Samson vs. the Philistines Judges 16:23
- David vs. Goliath 1 Samuel 17
- Elijah vs. the priests of Baal on Mt. Carmel 1 Kings 18:20
- Jesus vs. the demons possessing men at Gadarenes Matthew 8:28
- Jesus vs. demon possessing young boy Matthew 17:14
- Jesus vs. hold of death over Lazarus John 11:38
- Jesus vs. Satan in the Garden of Gethsemane Matthew 26:36
And ultimately...Jesus vs. Satan and death through His sacrificial death and triumphant resurrection! Matthew 27

These power encounters did not end with Biblical times. They continue today throughout the world wherever Christ is preached. There are numerous instances of this...I would like to share a few below:
- a missionary in Cuba tells how God stopped a storm to increase faith in Him (see storm)
- healed a young muslim girl to show His power (see healing)
- an African girl is healed from demon possession ( see possession)
- various stories of deliverance from Youth With a Mission missionaries (see stories)

In conclusion, Western Christians need to be aware of the spirit world and take it seriously. But we don't need to fear it. Our focus should never be on the occult or we may grow fascinated with it and be drawn into unholy focus on demons and Satan. But neither should we be blind to the hold it has on much of the world.

Are Harry Potter and Twilight for real?

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, 
but against the rulers, against the authorities, 
against the powers of this dark world 
and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
Ephesians 6:12

In America today, there is a growing fascination with things of the occult. Harry Potter and Twilight are just two of the more popular book and movie series which portray sorcerers, witches, vampires and such as intriguing, beautiful and evil, all wrapped up in a slick, attractive package. To most in America, these characters are just that, characters in a story who have no real basis for reality in this world.

This is where America is mistaken. The demonic world is very real. The Bible talks about this world many times, (Romans 8:38, Matthew 8:31, 1 John 4:1). It is not something to be celebrated, glamorized or used for Hollywood profit. On the other hand, it is not something to be feared, if we have the Holy Spirit living within us. "You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because
the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world." 1 John 4:4

Picture a world where you believe that spirits/demons inhabit trees, animals and other people. If a loved one grows sick and dies, it is not because of cancer or TB but because of a demonic curse. If your crops fail for lack of rain, it's because you didn't offer enough sacrifices to the local gods (Deuteronomy 32:17). You may perform any number of sacrifices, including your own children, in an effort to try to make the demonic powers happy (Psalm 106:37). You worship cows, as the Mahratta of India do, because you believe there are 330 million gods inside their stomachs. Your life is filled with fear, anxiety and a real awareness of a powerful spirit world.

This is reality for the vast majority of countries in the world. Much of Africa, Asia, the Middle East and even parts of Europe and South America live in fear of spirits forces and do their best to appease them.

The fact that Western Christians have little understanding or personal knowledge of demonic forces, I believe, stems from our privileged status in America. Yes, demonic activity is alive and well in America but it is much more subtle. Our country’s Christian heritage and large number of believing Christians has in many ways protected us from this harsh reality in so much of the world. 

Unfortunately, this privileged status has caused us to disregard the devil, debating on our talk shows whether evil or the devil really exist. Satan is more than happy with that. When we glamorize demonic activity as in Harry Potter, Twilight and a myriad of other books, TV shows and movies, or view the devil as a little red man with a pitch fork, we are, in essence, not taking him seriously. We do not realize that we need to resist Satan and the demonic world (1 Peter 5:8, James 4:7) and that we must know how to wage war against him (Ephesians 6:13).

This is not only about Americans, though. We are told to go into all the world and preach the Gospel, sharing the love of Christ with the lost. How do we do this if we really don't believe or understand the demonic world that holds so much of earth captive? Hospital advice will not speak to a woman’s heart who believes that the reason she is infertile is that an evil spirit has brought this upon her. Agricultural advice will not speak to a farmer who believes that if he does not sacrifice precious cattle to an unseen demon, rain will not come. The preaching of peace and tolerance will not speak to a tribe who believes that a neighboring tribe has cursed them time and again. 

In these instances, they need to see that the power of Christ is so much greater than the power of the demonic world with which they are very familiar. When this happens, when Christ is revealed as more powerful than Satan and his demons, a show of power takes place. I will share more about these power encounters in my next blog. 

Is Allah God?

Muslims praying to Allah in Indonesia

Let me begin by saying...I do not claim to be an expert on Islam in any way. I write this article because this question has burdened my heart. I have asked God for His wisdom and also talked to some friends, who work with Muslims, for their thoughts.

The question I want to address - Is Allah God?

The answer I have come up with is no and yes.

I'll begin with comparing Jehovah God to Allah in the Koran.


The god of Islam, Allah, as defined by the Koran, is seen as creator of the universe, all powerful and the One who determines the fate of all men...just as the Biblical God. But there are many ways in which they are not the same.

"Allah is presented in the Koran as an autocratic ruler who is aloof and arbitrary (Sura 5:40). Allah is unknowable whereas the God of the Bible is knowable (2 Timothy 1:12). Allah is impersonal, unlike the personal God the Scriptures reveal (1 Peter 5:6-7). Allah is unitarian (Sura 4:48) whereas the God of the Bible is trinitarian (2 Corinthians 13:14). Here is what the Koran says about the God of the Bible (Sura 4:171): “Believe in Allah and say not ‘Trinity.’ Cease! It is better for you! Allah is only One God. Far is it removed from his transcendent majesty that he should have a son.”

Allah is capricious (Sura 2:284), whereas the true God is trustworthy. And Allah is never anywhere presented as a god of love — which is the essence of the nature of the true God (1 John 4:7-16).

Jesus — The Koran denies point blank that Jesus was the Son of God (Sura 112:2-3). It also denies His atoning sacrifice by claiming that he never died (Sura 4:157). A substitute died for Him on the Cross. Jesus was translated to Heaven, like Enoch, where He will remain until He returns to kill all pigs, destroy all crosses, and convert the world to Islam. Jesus will marry, reign for 40 years and then die and be buried next to Muhammad in Medina.8 Jesus is characterized in the Koran as nothing more than “an apostle of Allah” (Sura 4:171). "

Source: The Truth About Islam Dr. David R. Reagan...to read more see God and Allah

There is much more you can read about this topic, so I will sum it up by saying that overall, the character and nature of Allah, as declared by the Koran and his followers, has some similarities but many differences to the character and nature of God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ. I do not believe that they are the same God at all. I do not believe that when Muslims pray to Allah and we pray to God our Father, that we are praying to the same God.

However, I do not want to stop here, which is where I believe so many Christians stop...which is where I stopped until recently.

As I spoke about in my last blog A witness in every culture and in earlier ones,  The incredible power of God and Eternity in their hearts, for Christians to reach out to an entirely foreign people group, it is so important for them to find a culture key...something in that people group's culture that will help them relate to Jesus, that will open the door to the Gospel, that will show them that God has left a witness for Himself within their culture (Rom. 1:20, Acts 14:16-17, Romans 2:14-15 and Psalms 19:1-4).

I believe, as do many other Christians, that one of the main culture keys for the Muslims is the word Allah. Before I say anymore, I want to share with you the words from a friend of mine, Malath, who is a pastor in Iraq. He has worked with Muslims his whole life and knows much about sharing Christ with them.

"Allah is the name of God in Arabic. In our Arabic Bible, it is written Allah, so we are using the same term to express our faith in God. That is good because we consider that as a common ground between us.

However, the attributes of our God are totally different than Allah in Islam. Allah in Islam has 99 names and it is missing the one we have, which is "God is Love." So we use this name, "God is Love," to reach them (Muslims) and tell them that our God loves us and them as well. At our church in Iraq, we supply some food and children gifts to show them the love of our God.

Also Allah in Islam is very hard to reach or talk to, so we tell them it is not hard or impossible at all in Christianity. We as His people can be in fellowship with God...known to them as Allah. Also, as you know, there is no insurance of salvation in Islam, not like us, so you can use this also. All these things show to Muslims, in indirect ways, that our God is different than Allah in Islam."

So, while Allah and God are not the same God, the term "Allah" as referring to a creator and all-powerful God, can be used as a common bond, a culture key, a redemptive analogy, in order to introduce the God of the Bible to Muslims. This has been done by numerous Christians throughout the centuries...in fact, as Malath stated, the Arabic translation of the Bible uses Allah as the word for God.

This was reiterated by my missions teacher, Dr. Goodwin, himself a missionary for many years, who said, "My understanding, from talking with Egyptian Christians, is that the word Allah is simply the Arabic word for God.  The word was around a long time before Islam started."

The use of this culture key, by Christians, has not been lost on Muslim leadership. "Millions of Christians in Indonesia (which has the highest number of Muslims of any country but also has a sizable number of Christians) use Allah for God and Tuhan Allah for Lord God. Perhaps because of this, Indonesian Christians have been much more effective in winning Muslims to Christ than any other Christians. Let is also be known that Muslims in some Muslim nations, knowing the access the name Allah gives to the Muslim heart, are passing laws to forbid Christians from using it in reference to the Gospel of Christ," Don Richardson in Redemptive Analogy.  Malaysian Christians still banned from using "Allah" , Malaysian Muslims attack churches over Christian references to Allah

In conclusion, I do not believe that God and Allah are the same, however, when reaching out to Muslims, Christians can find common ground in the name "Allah" to reference a creator, all powerful God. They can use the Muslims' understanding of God as a beginning to an understanding of who Christ is. We as Christians must defend the tenants of our faith, but we must also diligently seek for ways to share Christ with those who have a hard time understanding that Jesus came to die for them.

A witness in every culture

The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge.
There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard. 
Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world.
Psalm 19:1-4


"There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard." What exactly does this mean? I believe it means that God has left a witness for Himself in every culture. God has "made every nation of men...so that men would seek Him and perhaps reach out for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us" (Acts 17:26-27) Think about that for a moment...every nation of men...not just the Jews or the Americans or the Europeans or the Chinese, but every nation.

Paul tells us that God has made them in such a way that men from every nation would seek Him. He has left a witness for Himself in every culture, every nation. There is some bit of truth in their worldview, their belief system, that has prepared them to hear and receive the Gospel. This is what Jesus meant when He told His disciples, "Do you not say, 'Four months more and then the harvest'? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest." (John 4:35).

How are the fields (referring to people who do not know Christ as Savior) "ripe for harvest?" The disciples did not prepare those fields...those people's hearts, to receive Christ. No...God did! God left a witness for Himself so that when the disciples made it to that group of people and shared the love and truth of Jesus with them, they would be ready to receive it.

I believe that this idea challenges some of our core beliefs. We tend to look at a culture like the Muslims, Hindus or Buddhists, or any number of other "pagan" cultures and believe they are unreachable without some miraculous intervention from God. Yes...God does intervene miraculously as I pointed out in my earlier blog Dreams of the Muslims , but more often, He asks us to harvest the fields that He has already ripened.

So how does a Christian harvest the fields? How can the Gospel be explained to a group of people so that it seems culturally right to them?

The answer is through something called "redemptive analogy," a phrase coined by missionary and author Don Richardson (author of Peace Child and Eternity in Their Hearts...two books I have previously blogged about at The Incredible Power of God and Eternity in their Hearts).

The Jewish people practiced lamb sacrifice. John the Baptist proclaimed Jesus as the perfect, personal fulfillment of that sacrifice by saying, "Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!" This is redemptive analogy.

When Jesus spoke to Nicodemus, a Jewish teacher, both knew that Moses had lifted up a serpent of brass upon a pole so that Jews, dying of snakebite, could look at it and be healed. Jesus told Nicodemus that "as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." This too is redemptive analogy.

The Karen of Burma (seen in above picture) had been searching for centuries for a "white brother who was supposed to bring them a book...(whose) author is Y'wa-the Supreme God...that the white brother, having given them the lost book, will thereby set them free from all who oppress them." Their folk religion's hymns bear striking resemblances to God's character and "the Karen story of man's falling away from God contains stunning parallels to Genesis chapter 1: Y'wa formed the world originally. He appointed food and drink. He appointed the 'fruit of trial.' He gave detailed orders. Mu-kaw-lee deceived two persons. He caused them to eat the fruit of the tree of the trial. They obeyed not...they believed not Y'wa...when they ate the fruit of trial they became subject to sickness, aging and death." Wow! This was a remote group of people who had never come in contact with Jews or Christians before, yet their own religion, thousands of years old, had an incredible witness of the Lord! The Karen nation was thus poised like an 800,000 member welcoming party, ready for the first unsuspecting missionary who approached them with a Bible and a message of deliverance from God." When missionaries finally brought the Gospel to the Karen in the early 1800s, thousands accepted Christ almost immediately and "almost as quickly as Karen were converted and baptized, they became missionaries to spread the good news still further among their own people" and neighboring tribes! This is redemptive analogy. 

There are many more stories like this, of missionaries bringing the Gospel to groups of people who have never heard of Jesus Christ. When the missionary looks for and finds that redemptive analogy, that culture key, the people become very open to hearing about and believing in the Gospel. They "are made aware of spiritual meaning dormant within their own culture. In this way, conversion does not deny their cultural background. Instead, they experience heightened insight into both the Scriptures and their own cultural heritage, and thus they are better prepared to share Christ meaningfully with other members of their society." 

As we focus on the Muslims during this time of Ramadan, could there be a redemptive analogy, a culture key within their heritage that would help them see that Jesus loves them, that He came to die for them also and that He is not asking them to become Westernized (as many believe) in order to become a Christian? 

I will share my thoughts, and the thoughts of a few other Christians, tomorrow. 

In a woman's eyes

Their eyes...their eyes can speak volumes...of the hope that is in each female for someone to love her, protect her, tell her she is important. They plead for justice, equality and liberation. They show strength of character, determination and love for her family. They can also convey loss, fear, hopelessness and despair.
Jesus saw this in the eyes of the widow whose son had just died (Luke 11:1), the Samaritan woman at the well (John 4), the woman caught in adultery (John 8) and so many others throughout His time on earth. Their eyes spoke volumes about their suffering. And His heart was moved with tenderness and compassion for them. He reached out to not only heal and free them but to touch them and call them "daughter" (Matthew 9:22).
He broke all societal norms in His inclusion and outreach toward women. He elevated the status of women more than any other human ever has. It is a testament to the power of the Gospel that where true, heartfelt Christianity spreads, women and girls benefit.
One such example can be seen in the life of William Carey, missionary to India.
"William Carey," argues an (Indian) female social science scholar, "was the first man to stand against both the ruthless murders and widespread oppression of women, virtually synonymous with Hinduism in the 18th and 19th centuries.
The male in India was crushing the female through polygamy, female infanticide, child marriage, widow-burning, euthanasia and forced female illiteracy, all sanctioned by religion.
The British Government timidly accepted these social evils as being an irreversible and an intrinsic part of India's religious mores.
Carey began to conduct systematic sociological and scriptural research. He published his reports in order to raise public opinion and protest both in Bengal and England. He influenced a whole generation of civil servants, his students at Fort William College, to resist these evils.
Carey opened schools for girls. When widows converted to Christianity, he arranged marriages for them rather than allowing them to be burned alive. It was Carey's persistent 25 year battle against sati that finally led to Lord Bentinck's famous Edict in 1829, banning one of the most abominable of all religious practices in the world: "widow-burning." (Vishal and Ruth Mangalwadi).
Today, the eyes that haunt me most are those of Muslim women and girls. Their fate is similar, in many ways, to the Indian women of Carey's time. Polygamy, female infanticide, child marriage, honor killings and forced female illiteracy, all sanctioned by religion. Yet the American government, in many ways, seems to mirror the British government by timidly accepting these social evils as being an irreversible and an intrinsic part of Muslim religious mores.
Why? Political correctness, fear of being named racist or intolerant of Islam?
Whatever the reason, as in the time of William Carey, it is not going to be the government of America, or any other nation, that speaks up for the Muslim women. It MUST be the Church.
We must allow God to break our hearts for these women and girls. We must pray for them...especially that they would find Isa (Jesus), the One who loves them and can provide them with hope they have never known. We must reach out to Muslim women in our area...ask God to show you one or two and then pray for them and become their friends.
Their eyes...they can speak of pain that an American woman can not even fathom, but they can also speak of peace and joy that only Jesus, the lover of their souls, can give them.

Praying for Sudan

Sudan Needs Our Prayers

Christians in Sudan have asked you and I to pray! Both north and south Sudan are preparing for war. The situation is complex, the problems many. Please ask prayer networks you know to be involved in this strategic prayer effort for Sudan.

Background:

A Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) was signed between North and South Sudan January 9, 2005. The deal stated South Sudan would hold a Referendum -- January 9th 2011. South Sudan is to vote on whether it will choose independence or be part of a united Sudan.

It is believed that S. Sudan will have to declare independence and then let the fighting happen...hoping the int'l community will stop the fight quickly.

Officially North and South politicians claim they want a united Sudan, specifically they say they do not want war. South Sudan has much oil, but it is exported from North Sudan's ports. North Sudan is under Sharia law and strict ideologies of Islam. South Sudan is "Christian" and animist (in fact, there are many Christians in government and areas of leadership and business).

Sudan has been torn with war for many years, both Religious and Cultural (tribal wars). There is little unity in Sudan, the largest country of Africa.

Another complication is Darfur which strains relationships with neighboring countries such as Chad. Although an international arrest warrant has been issued on Sudan's (Muslim) president Omar Hassan al-Bashir, it has not stopped him traveling to neighboring countries who in turn get pressure from the International community. (Realistically the International community is also interested in the oil and is not pushing hard for Bashir's arrest nor for renewed war.)

There are many reasons war might break out in Sudan now, it is a complex situation. But the real eye-opener is to read the forums where open hatred is spewed between North and South Sudanese.It seems that ordinary Sudanese sitting at home on their computers want revenge for past atrocities and bloodshed. The mood of the forums is that these computer users are ready and willing to go to the killing fields. Here are some examples:

Forum Quotes

• "Show me a southerner who ever said I am a Sudanese ... they always take pride in being Southern and never Sudanese." [In a showdown with a post from a north Sudanese writer.]
• "Neither do we care about being Arabs or not, but you can see the barrage of hatred here." [A southerner observing the comments on a Sudanese newspaper site.]
• "And who is going to control the water (Nile River)? Not those boys up there!" [Another complication since water is precious to the region.]
• "Yeah war is not yet over! All Sudanese must taste the killing including the North Sudan." [On whether war will come if independence comes. One of many, many entries where both north and south Sudanese show they are ready if not committed to a new war!]
• "Therefore, I call upon all South Sudanese people as we approach referendum to decide our fate and total independence from north, let us desist from Arab and Islamic culture and to abide to our unique African and Christian culture to differentiate us from radical Arab and Islamic culture, which I know will take years and years to overcome it in our South Sudan society but have we forgotten our African and Christian cultures!" [Commentary from a Southerner about the "Arabization" of South Sudan.]
• "However, after an Islamic legal code was introduced on a national level, the ruling National Congress (NCP) established themselves as the sole political party in the state and has since supported the use of recruited Arab militias in guerrilla warfare, such as in the ongoing conflict in Darfur." [The history of Sudan.]
• "Program of "Arabization" in process." [Sudanese newspaper article.]
• "A generation drenched in hate." [A comment observing the mood from a forum where both north and south Sudanese flame each other.]
• "Sudan's independent history has been dominated by chronic, exceptionally cruel warfare that has starkly divided the country on racial, religious, and regional grounds; displaced an estimated four million people (of a total estimated population of thirty-two million); and killed an estimated two million people." [Wikipedia entry on Sudan.]

Prayer Starters specific to War in Sudan:

• Pray that the Christian leaders of South Sudan can hear clearly the Lord's will regarding Sudan's future.
• Pray that grass-roots reconciliation can become widespread -- between the tribes of Sudan and the many hurt people.
• Pray the surrounding countries will stay out of Sudan and stay out of this complicated referendum.
• Pray for the various people groups / tribes of Sudan (we have several listed on site).
• Pray that there would be a fair and comprehensive deal for both South and North on the splitting of the oil wealth.
• Just imagine getting to heaven and the Lord adds, "Well done, you stopped a war in Sudan."

This was taken from the website The 30 Days Prayer Network

Dreams of the Muslims

For decades, a phenomenon has been recurring in the Muslim world. Men and women – without any knowledge of the Gospel and without any contact with Christians – have been forever transformed after experiencing dreams and visions of Jesus Christ. Reports of these supernatural occurrences often come from “closed countries” where preaching the Gospel is forbidden and where converting to Christianity can invoke the death sentence. A common denominator appears to be that the dreams come to those who are seeking to know and please God.

Ramadan is the time of year when Muslims are earnestly seeking to know Allah. Unfortunately, Allah is not a god to be known. Unlike the Lord God who makes His way known through His Word and most lovingly through the personhood of Jesus Christ ("He is the image of the invisible God" Colossians 1:15), Allah is a distant god.

"The first of the Ten Commandments is that we are to love the God of the Bible with our whole heart; but never does the Koran say a Muslim is to love Allah.  You cannot love Allah, because he is unknowable.  The God of the Bible can be known and repeatedly calls upon men to know Him; but the Koran says no one can know Allah because he is too great.

In spite of being infinite, without beginning and end, and the Creator of the universe, the biblical God reveals himself so that men can know Him.  Jesus himself said, "This is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent" (John 17:3).  No one knows Allah," (taken from www.menorah.org).

This same idea, that God is love while Allah is not known for his love, was expressed in an email from a friend who is a Christian pastor in Iraq: "however the attributes of our God is totally different than Allah in Islam. Allah in Islam has 99 names and it is missing the one we have which is "God is Love".

The Bible says, in Joel 2:28 and Acts 2:17
"In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will 
prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams."


Amazingly, this is what is happening in the Arab world! All you need to do is type in "God appearing to Muslims in visions and dreams" to find a number of internet resources concerning this. One site, Isa al Masih, talks about this at great length. I'd like to close this entry by sharing some of the various dreams with you.

Please pray that during this time of Ramadan, when Muslims are earnestly seeking a God they can know, that they will not continue their faith in Allah but will find faith in the One, True God who can be known through Jesus Christ (Isa)!


God is Great! Just as He did in the past, God is showing His mercy and guidance to Muslims throughout the world today! Read the following story portions from Muslims worldwide who have reported such dreams and now follow Isa al Masih as their Savior:

"...two angels dressed in white robes stood on top of the mountain. Jesus was standing between the angels. He left the angels and came to where I stood watching. As he approached me, I knelt down and he laid his hands on my head..."

"...['D.'] dreamt he was sitting with his arms tied to a chair. Then he saw a man he recognized as Jesus coming. Jesus touched the ropes and they fell from his arms..."

"...In the dream, Jesus told me to come to Him and read the Bible and He would show me the way, truth and the life..."

"...I was standing in a cross shape with a low wall around it. In my right hand, I had a big stack of white unwritten papers. I was standing at the cross beam, and I was looking to a small group of people who were standing at the top. They all wore long white clothing, but one of them was different. He was standing at the right side, and with his left hand he was leading the people through a door in the wall. Beyond the door was light, and I could not see what was in there. One moment I was standing in the dream, and the next moment I was seeing the cross from above..."

"...I saw some Christians standing in line to get into Heaven. I tried to get into this line also, but a very tall being blocked my path and I started to cry because the side I was on was really horrible but the side they were on was a beautiful place, so beautiful, so blue..."

"...I went back to bed after a short prayer and saw a second dream. This time it was Jesus as I saw him in the Jesus film years ago and I had trashed his video. He was hanging on the cross, the nails were in his hands and feet, yet he was smiling at me and talking to me. Though he was dying he seemed so beautiful. The cross was huge and I seemed like a little boy. My neck was falling back trying to see the whole face of Jesus and suddenly a huge big circle of light came from above the cross and down upon me..."

"...I was swimming. It was very dark, without any stars in the sky. After swimming for a while, I stopped and looked up at the sky. Suddenly, I saw a star shining. I closed my eyes and made a wish. I said, 'Morning Star, teach me the secret of life'...I kept having this dream for years almost every other month and this pattern continued until a few months after my conversion, when I read Rev. 22:16, which says, 'I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give you this testimony for the churches. I am the Root and the offspring of David, and the bright Morning Star'..."

Muslim call to prayer...what is it?

Across the entire Islamic World men called the muezzin call the faithful to prayer five times per day: at dawn (fajr), noon (dhuhr), in the afternoon (asr), at sunset (maghrib) and nightfall (isha’a). On Fridays all male Muslims are supposed to attend the noon time prayers which are usually accompanied by a sermon. So today literally hundreds of thousands of muezzin are calling the faithful to prayer. Many millions of Muslim men will go to the mosque as their local muezzin pronounces the call to prayer.

(Photo: The famous minaret in Switzerland which inspired a national referendum in 2009)

Voices Behind the Scene

In most places the call to prayer is given by loud speakers located on a minaret attached to the mosque. Sometimes recordings are used but most people prefer a live voice. Some muezzin have become very famous for the dignity, professionalism and the beautiful vocal and musical quality of their calls to prayer. Recently a documentary film by Sebastian Brameshuber named "Muezzin" was released about individual expression and competition between muezzin in Turkey (www.muezzindocumentary.com). One muezzin says in the film "The more people I can attract to the mosque with my voice, the more successful I am."

In Western and non-Islamic countries muezzin often cannot make the call to prayer except on the radio or in the courtyards of local mosques because of laws restricting loud and intrusive noises. In Africa Christian preachers sometimes give the Muezzin competition early in the morning using their own loud speakers to preach while the Islamic call to prayer is given.

Whatever our reaction to the call to prayer, God calls us to love the muezzin.

What the Muezzin Say:

Below are the words which are repeated day after day (Shiite Muslims use slightly different phrases for some lines).

x2: Allahu Akbar (God is the greatest)
x2: I bear witness that there is no deity except God
x2: I bear witness that Mohammed is the Messenger of God
x2: Make haste towards worship
x2: Come to the true success
x2: Prayer is better than sleep (said only at dawn)
x2: Allahu Akbar (God is the greatest)
x2: There is no deity except God

Prayer Starters

• Pray for the muezzin in your own country and around the world.
• Pray for the hundreds of thousands of muezzin around the world. Pray to many of them will encounter the living God through Jesus, the Messiah.
• Sometimes muezzin become very centred on their role in society. As with any public figures like pastors and politicians some muezzin are tempted to place their own honour and prestige very high on their list of priorities. Pray that all muezzin would be brought to humility before God and truly confounded by His majesty in order that they may truly say "God is great."

This entry is from The 30-Days Prayer Network

The amazing story of Christianity in Algeria

Duben maskat

The Kabyles live in the rugged mountains called Kabylia to the east of the Algerian capital, Algiers. They belong to the Berber or Imazighen people groups. Berbers were the original inhabitants of North Africa before the Arab invasion of the region around 1,350 years ago. There are several different Berber people groups scattered across North Africa, though they live mainly in Algeria and Morocco.

Early History of the Kabyles of Algeria

When the Arabs invaded North Africa, they Arabized and Islamized the Berbers, many of whom had been at least nominally Christian as early as the second and third centuries AD. Many Berbers had been martyred for their faith under Roman persecution, well before the Arab conquest. The Kabyle Berbers fled to the mountainous regions of Kabylia and, despite the many centuries of Arab occupation, have been able to keep their language alive by passing it on orally to each generation. They have also kept their traditional clothing (colourful dresses and headwear for the women). Their Christian faith, however, did not withstand Islam, although the Kabyles were very reluctant to become Muslim. The fact that the Bible was never translated into Berber in those early years is a major reason why the Kabyles eventually became Muslim. The Kabyles have been Muslims for many centuries. Christian missionaries came and went without seeing fruit. Some died as martyrs.

Work among the Kabyles of Algeria

In the early 1980s, the Lord started moving among the Kabyles in a new way. An Arabic Christian shared the Gospel with some young Kabyles on a football team. They accepted Jesus and in turn reached out to their people. Others saw dreams and visions. Small house churches began in the mountains. All this took place secretly for fear of persecution from the Muslim population. The churches grew in size and eventually became visible. It is now well known that many Kabyles are Christians. A few years ago the Algerian government even published figures indicating the presence of at least 7,000 Kabyle Christians.

Some Kabyles started translation work and saw the emergence of Kabyle in writing. The first book ever written in the new Kabyle Berber script was the New Testament and the first film ever translated was the Jesus film. Worship tapes in Kabyle now exist. Soon the entire Bible in Kabyle will be printed. The Kabyles are bold people, willing to share their faith. Clearly, a revival is taking place.

An excellent book concerning the early Christians in North Africa is This Holy Seed by Robin Daniel (published by Tamarisk Press in the UK). You can also discover more about Kabylia at the non-Christian website kabyle.com.

This is Algeria

Pray for the Muslim Kabyles of Algeria:

* Thank God for the Kabyle Church. Pray through Paul's prayers in Colossians 1:2b-12, applying them to the Kabyle Church.

* Pray for strengthening of these young but dedicated churches through the various training programmes which have already started.

* Pray for closer and better relationships between church leaders. A promising partnership has already begun and needs to grow.

* Pray for the Kabyle Christians to have a greater vision to reach out to other Muslim people groups in Algeria and beyond. May they take the blessing of Abraham everywhere they go (Gal. 3:8-14).

This story comes from The 30 Days Prayer Network

Ramadan prayer

For the next 30 days, I am asking for prayer for the Muslim people - that God would move mightily amongst them, showing them His love and His salvation and that they might come to know Jesus as their Savior.

Why now? Because of Ramadan.

Muslims throughout the world will celebrate Ramadan from 11 August through 9 September 2010.   They will fast during daylight hours in an effort to break bad habits and seek forgiveness of sins.

Ramada, the ninth month of the Islamic calendar, is observed by Muslims the world over with dawn to dusk fasting.  This provides them with an opportunity to practice one of the "obligations" (also known as the "five pillars") of their religion - soum or fasting.

Muslims fast during Ramadan because they believe this is the time of year in which the founder of Islam, the Prophet Muhammad, received "recitations" from the angel Gabriel.  These were later compiled to form the Qur'an.

The most important night of Ramadan - and of the entire year - is called Laylatul Qadr (September 5, 2010).  Also known as the "night of power," it is described in the Qur'an as being "better than a thousand months" (97:3).  "Any action done on this night," writes one Islamic scholar, "such as reciting the Qur'an, remember Allah, etc. is better than acting for one thousand months which do not contain the night of Qadr."

During Ramadan, especially on the night of power, Muslims "ask forgiveness for past sins, pray for guidance and help in refraining from everyday evils, and try to purify themselves through self-restraint and good deeds."  Many are desperately and genuinely seeking to be cleansed from their transgressions and find favor with God.

Since 1992, Christians all over the world have been setting aside the thirty days of Ramadan to pray specifically for Muslims.  For intercessors, this month-long celebration is a chance to see precious souls set free from the bondage of Islam and introduced to the Savior of all mankind:  Jesus Christ.

My focus for the next 30 days will be on Muslims, who are they, how is God moving among them and how can we pray for them.

There is a website specifically geared towards praying for Muslims during Ramadan. It is The 30 Days Prayer Network

Please pray for them during this time. God loves them just as He loves you and me. He has a plan for their lives. God will work in their hearts as we pray for them.

Martyred medical missionaries were not fools

"He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep, to gain what he cannot lose."

Those are the words of Jim Elliot, a missionary who was shot and killed by the Auca Indians of Ecuador while trying to share the truth of Christ with them. 

On Friday, ten medical workers most of them Christian, who had felt the call of God on their lives to serve the people of Afghanistan, were also shot and killed by those they were trying to serve. See Medical Missionaries killed

Were they fools? Many in this world may think so. I began reading some of the comments posted after various articles on this killing and have posted just two. Much worse was said about them:

"The murders were wrong, but they could have been avoided. The idiot missionaries should not have been there in the first place. The so-called 'West' should get the hell out of Afghanistan, AND pay reparations to the Afghans (instead of repeating that embargo XXX they pulled on Iraq in the 1990s).

And missionaries everywhere (including the Muslim countries) should sit down and think about the idiocy and evil of spreading organized religion.
One thing at a time, though. First things first. Get out of Afghanistan, or don't whine if you get killed there."

"Unarmed doctors?
Missionaries have destroyed communities and societies for centuries without using guns. A doctor with a christian mission is not doing charity work, but advancing a genocidal agenda."

comments

There is much I could say about Christians being willing to risk and even lose their lives so that others might know the truth. But all of that is summed up in one word:  JESUS.

He did exactly what these missionaries and Jim Elliot and countless others have done throughout the centuries. He gave up His life so that others might live.

Did Jesus hate those who killed Him...no. He prayed for them. He asked forgiveness for their actions and loved them, desiring that they might spend eternity with Him. 

So what should our reaction be toward the Muslims who killed these missionaries? Should it be the attitude of this poster?

"As I have been saying for years, there is NO dealing with these rabid rag heads. We need to use the NUCLEAR OPTION for the entire region!!!!! Take out every thing south of Russia and west of Israel, including China! 

We do it now and we won't have to go back and do it again for fifty years. The population explosion will be well under control. 
You can bet that those XXX would do it to us in a NY minute."

NO! We are not called to hate them and desire their destruction. We are called to love our enemies and to do good to those who hate us. 

The Muslims NEED our prayers, our kindness and our help. 

Missions should not come first

What is the purpose of this blog? Why do I spend my limited time writing words that only a handful of people will ever read?

Does it stem from all that I read about the horrible things happening in this world? Does it stem from the thought, the belief, that I can make a difference...that I, through my writing, can somehow cause a reader to take action, to do something about the lost in this world? No.

The reason I write...Obedience and a desire to see His Glory.

I want to see God's glory; to see His Kingdom come to this earth; to be a part of what He is doing and to let everyone I can know about it!

I'm not going to change one heart, one mind about the Great Commission and what our involvement should be. Only God can do that. And what is it, ultimately, that will cause our mission focus to grow...
- An increase in compassion and commitment for the lost in the Christian’s heart?
- An increase in information about the lost and encouragement to share Christ with them?
- Sharing statistics and stories about the plight of the lost without Jesus?

None of these. I believe it only comes through the Holy Spirit intensifying our passion and love for Christ so that His heart’s passion becomes ours as well. Jesus must be first in our hearts, not missions. When He is first, He will “break our hearts for what breaks His” and missions will become an intense passion.

We must set out hearts towards hope in God. Like Peter, if we look at all the “storms,” the horrible things going on in our world, we will begin to sink in sadness, weariness and despair. But when we fix our eyes on Jesus, when we understand the promises of Scripture and look for His hand in history and our modern times, we will see that the Kingdom of God is advancing and God is calling us to be a part of it.

Compassion for people, for the lost, for the orphan, for the persecuted church, is not what will ultimately compel and motivate us for mission. Only our hope for God’s glory and His kingdom will cause us to endure.

I have seen this transition of motivation for mission in my own life’s walk with the Lord. When one focuses on all the needs, hurts, and atrocities done to others in the world, the sadness, despair and depressiveness of the situation can be overwhelming. That’s what I did for quite awhile and there were times I was very discouraged by all that I was learning. Our human compassion can only take us so far before burnout sets in.

But as I grew closer to the Lord, spending time daily with Him in prayer and Bible study, constantly asking Him to make my heart more like His, He began to refocus my thoughts toward Himself rather than on the world.

I began to realize that the way to call people to mission concern is not to focus entirely on all the bad. They usually know the bad. But they often times have no idea about all the good that God is doing in the world. I began to see that the Bible doesn’t focus on the bad so much as it focuses on God!

For example, when Jesus was born, people in Judea already knew about the bad. The angels gave them “good news of great joy which will be for all the people” (Lk 2:10). Good news from God was the message and it should still be the message today.

 Jesus won the victory on the cross! Our salvation is sure and His Kingdom will not be shaken (Heb. 12:28). We are not fighting the battles on our own. God is fighting the battles and asking us to join Him. 

When we focus on God’s glory and His Kingdom rather than all the horrible problems in the world, we cease to look at missions as our arduous responsibility and instead see it as God’s responsibility and God is more than able! This type of focus, rather than depressing a person and overwhelming them with sorrow, instead strongly encourages them to seize the hope set before them...a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul (Heb. 6:18-19).

It’s not up to us and our meager efforts. God is inviting us to join with Him in pursuing His purpose in the world. He is the One who sets the agenda, grants the wisdom to proceed and gives the strength to endure. This is God’s world, His battle, His victory. With this type of motivation, “participation in God’s mission is no longer a somber duty. It becomes a joyous privilege and an adventure of passion and hope” (Tim Dearborn).

Is God colorblind or colorful?

Isabell Ides was 101 years old when she died in June, 2001 (see Ides article). A Makah Indian, a member of a whale-hunting people, she lived in the last house on the last road on the farthest northwest tip of the United States.

Isabell was known far and wide because she loved and taught Makah culture and language. Hundreds of people learned to weave baskets under her hands. Several generations learned words in their language from her lips.

Young mothers brought their alder-smoked salmon. After chewing a bit, she could tell whether their wood was too dry. Archaeologists brought her newly excavated 3,000-year-old baskets, and she could identify what the baskets were, how they were made, and how they had been used. "It's like losing a library," an anthropologist said at her funeral.

Isabell also taught Sunday School at the Assembly of God church on the reservation. She attributed her long life to her Christian faith.

Did Isabell's basketry matter to God, as well as her Sunday school teaching? How important was her ethnic heritage in the Kingdom's big picture?

These questions get at the heart of what culture is and whether or not it is an important part of the Kingdom of God. While on earth, we live in distinct cultures with different languages, foods, costumes, dances, songs and achievements. But what about when we get to Heaven? Will everyone be exactly alike? Will all of our cultural qualities, distinctions and achievements be lost or will they be celebrated and showcased?

Revelation 21:24-26 speaks of the Heavenly city saying:
the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it...
The glory and honor of the nations will be brought into it.

Isaiah 60:11, speaking of the Heavenly city, says:
Your gates will always stand open, they will never be shut, day or night, 
so that men may bring you the wealth of the nations-- their kings led in triumphal procession.

From these passages it is clear that there will still be some sort of distinction between nations/people groups. Their "splendor," "glory," "honor," and "wealth" is believed to be referring to each nations' cultural achievements that bring glory to God.

Imagine what we will see: people from African tribes, Scottish clans, Chinese dynasties, American towns, South American pueblos, bringing their distinctive songs of praise to the Lord, works of art that glorify Him, dances that give Him praise...all to honor and worship the Lord who made them. Each culture with its unique and beautiful characteristics that shed light on God’s own, multi-dimensional character, will cause Him great delight as He watches the various ways that people express their love and worship of Him!

Our God, the God of creation, has an incredible capacity for variety, beauty and wonder. "Our Creator delights in colors. He generates smells, from onion to rose. He shapes every fresh snowflake. He births billions of unique personalities," (Miriam Adeney).

But what about the human world? Are we endowed with as much creative variety as the animal world? Yes! While it may not be as apparent in our appearances (we all look pretty similar compared to the variations seen in the animal world) God’s amazing creativity comes through in the culture of each people group. From different languages and dress to different forms of music, dance, writing, inventions, etc., the capacity for variety in culture is truly amazing.

This variety in culture was created by God. It delights Him to see all that man has made; to see the creative capacity of each people group which comes from being created in His image. When this creativity is used to worship God, through music, art, dance, science, inventions, etc., God is glorified and honored.

God put a bit of His incredible character qualities into each people group. Different cultures are known for their different characteristics: Filipinos are family oriented, Koreans industrious, Japanese technically savvy, Mexicans hardworking, African cultures colorful in dance and music...the list goes on and on. Each culture that God created has unique characteristics all its own, characteristics which showcase a creative and loving God. As these cultures use these unique qualities in the worship of God, they are  bringing the “glory and honor” of every people into the heavenly city (Rev 21:26).

This pleases God immensely. He does not desire that we all worship Him in the same way, just as He did not make an animal world of only giraffes. He loves variety and is truly glorified when that variety is used in the worship of Him.

This appreciation of each culture must be understood and embraced by the Church of today. Sadly, in the past, many Christians have tried to enforce their culture’s way of worshipping God on the people they were sharing the Gospel with. This lack of appreciation for cultural differences resulted in many viewing Christianity as a “Western” religion or a religion of the “white man.” Nothing could be further from the truth!

I believe that modern technology is helping to change this. With the advent of television, the computer, movies, and widespread access to books, people of today can learn all about the cultures of other people. As they learn about them, God places an appreciation for and love of each culture into His followers’ hearts.

Thus, when Christians, especially missionaries, encounter new cultures today, they are much more likely to find the good aspects of that culture which can be used to bring worship and honor to God, rather than try to recreate the culture to resemble the personal culture of that missionary. “Mission work can be seen as helping people begin to bring God a measure of the ‘glory and the honor of the nations,” (Miriam Adeney). God is truly a colorful God!

Great online Bible study for kids

As Christians, we desire that our children would begin the practice of spending time with God daily, praying and reading His Word. Last year, our two oldest daughters read portions of the Bible every day. They used the NIV Adventure Bible and the NIV Kids Study Bible.

This year I have found a great, online Bible study program for children. It is called Explorers Bible Study and you can find it here. Once you sign up for it, you will receive a weekly email with download instructions for the Bible studies. There is one for preschool, young elementary, older elementary, teen and adult. There are five days of work per week and each day has Scripture to read, verse to memorize and questions to answer. I highly recommend it!

Why the Jews?

As a Christian, I've often wondered "why the Jews?" What made them so special that they were called God's chosen people? Are not all people chosen by and loved by God? What did they do to deserve this distinction?

It has only been recently that I have begun to recognize that they really didn't do anything to be called God's chosen people. God did the choosing...not them. God spoke to Abraham first. And God chose them for a very specific purpose. To illustrate this, I would like to share the words of Ralph Winter:

"We were created to glorify God and to worship and love Him forever. The first man and woman did this for an unspecified length of time. But, given the gift of a perfectly free will, they chose to know evil and thus caused a curse to fall on all creation.

From that point on, tremendous evil flooded humanity (murder, worship of stars and created things, etc.) to the point that God, looking at all He had made, was grieved and filled with pain (Gen 6:6). Noah, alone, was fulfilling his purpose and found favor with God. He became the forefather of the human race.  
After the flood, men again chose to worship themselves and created things which culminated in the building of the Tower of Babel. God intervened, once again, and scattered them, forming the different nations at this time. One man, Abraham, was singled out and called by God.

Abraham obeyed and he was blessed by God in the covenant promises of Genesis 12:2-3.

        "I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you;
          I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.
          I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse;
          and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you."


This intervention by God highlights His desire to draw men back to Himself. It is “the grace of God intervening in a ‘world which lies in the power of the Evil One’ (1 Jn 5:19), contesting an enemy who temporarily is ‘the god of this world’ (2 Cor 4:4) so that the nations will praise God’s name.”

It is at this point that God has been showing me something...this covenant promise to Abraham was not just for him and his children but for every nation “and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you” (Gen 12:3). God was intervening and calling Abraham out from the rest of the nations, not just to bless Abraham and his descendants alone, but to extend His blessing, through Abraham and the Jewish nation, to all nations.

God was never strictly for the Jews. Instead, following Genesis 12, God gradually and indirectly draws people from other nations to Himself through His miraculous interventions on Israel’s behalf and through His show of power to bring them the promises of the covenant (land, children, His presence). In the process, some people of other nations (Rahab, Ninevah, Egyptians, Ruth, ...) are drawn to Him as well.                                                                                                          
Throughout the rest of the Old Testament, God is seen countering Satan’s evil reign with His presence, blessings and intervention on behalf of Israel, for the nations. Israel is given the primary blessing but they are then expected to give that blessing to the nations around them.

When Israel stopped sharing God with the nations around them but instead worshipped the gods of the nations around them, God caused them to be scattered in the diaspora. This scattering of the Hebrews resulted in their living in various nations, thus bringing to these nations the message of one, sovereign God, a message foreign to the polytheistic cultures around them.                    

This counter-attack to Satan’s kingdom on earth culminated in the birth of Jesus Christ. The arrival of God, in human flesh, his life among people, his atoning death and triumphant resurrection resulted in victory for God and for the human race. Jesus was the ultimate blessing to the nations. It is through belief in Him that all nations can be grafted into Abraham’s family tree and thus receive the free gift of salvation.                                                                        

As believers in Christ witnessed His return to Heaven, Jesus assured them of the blessing of His continued presence with them through the Holy Spirit, but He also charged them with a responsibility that went along with the blessing. Like the Hebrews, they were blessed to be a blessing to all nations.

In the “Great Commission” they, and all Christians since them, are directed to go into all the world, past Jerusalem, Judea, Syria and even the Roman Empire and preach the good news of Jesus to everyone. And for each person that receives Christ as Savior, Satan loses a bit of ground.                                                                                                                    

Thus, God's singling out of the Jewish nation as His chosen people was not only for Abraham and his blood descendants, but for all of us and for the nations. The same holds true today for those nations, like America, Korea, England and others, who have been greatly blessed by God both in prosperity but more importantly, in Christian growth.

We are blessed, not so that we can keep it to ourselves, enjoying our prosperity and blessings from God, but failing to bring those blessings to the nations of the earth.  No, we are blessed to be a blessing. We are to take the Gospel to the far corners of the world..to spread the fragrance of the knowledge of God (2 Cor. 2:14). We have been grafted into God's chosen people, not because of anything we have done to earn this but because He has chosen us to be a blessing to others. May we not keep Jesus to ourselves but share Him with the world.

In the words of famous Olympian and Christian missionary to China, Eric Liddel: "Christ for the world; for the world needs Christ."