did you ever sing that song in the 70s? if you did, sing along with me, 'cause it is stuck in my head now...
i admit i never really think much about God in the WORLD, mostly just God in MY world. my immediate world, that is. in my daily life, my city, and often my country, what with the economic mess we are in, and the big decision about whether obama or mccain is the answer to it all...
so yesterday when pastor kicked off "missions month" in our church, i was glad to have my eyes opened somewhat. his sermon was about God in the world, and it was meant to open us up to the fact that He IS working incredibly, amazingly, astonishingly, BIGLY. everywhere!
our scripture base for the sermon was from not-very-oft quoted habakkuk (1:5):
Look at the nations and watch— and be utterly amazed. For I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe, even if you were told.
the point was that unless we look around, we might miss the fact that Jesus is moving in a greater way on our earth than ever before in the history of mankind. some examples:
Africa - 65% of the country of Ghana is Christian, which makes it the most Christian nation on earth. did you know that america does not send the most missionaries out in the world? that africa is currently sending a huge influx of missionaries to do work in NEW YORK CITY?
China - now has 80 million believers, growing at 5x the birthrate there. over 30,000 per day are converting to Christianity.
Australia - has seen 1000% growth in Christianity since 1990.
Ukraine - hosted the greatest revival in history, in kiev, with millions saved.
Russia - now 36% Christian, compared to 25-28% for America. Public schools in Russia now teach children from the Bible.
Latin America - now up to 50 million believers. Countries such as Chile, Bolivia and Costa Rica are now over 40% Christian. Puerto Rico has the highest number of Christians per square foot on the planet.
Japan - Bible is the best selling book.
Korea - In 1900, there were 0 churches. Today, 6 new churches per day are being built.
The real picture is that Christianity is EXPLODING across the ends of the earth. Growth of new believers over the last 10-12 years has exponentially been much larger than since the time Christ walked the earth. THAT is reality. THAT is my world.
i'm so grateful, and excited, and i really have to remember not to forget :)
ps. i think this is information from Assemblies of God specifically. "believers" or "new believers" means born-again believers, if that is the case. don't ask me to confirm my math, i was just taking notes really, really fast...he he.
4 comments:
It's kind of embarrassing. We're the slugs of missions work, really. We're just too darn comfortable, aren't we? Maybe this financial crisis will rock our boats a bit.
I love that God works BIGLY. :-)
yeah. we are the ones who need God most now, it seems. because one can be assured that the Gospel IS being spread to the ends of the earth. we have more churches here in America than fast food restaurants, unfortunately, it seems not many are hearing.
My kids were horrified that AFRICA sends missionaries to America...although Moose has been to N.Y. and he could kind of understand that need.
oh. Africa is also responsible (cannot remember the exact country) for building the most expensive church in the world. cannot remember the #, but a millions and millions.
and the average income PER YEAR of the people there is ... $600. they put their MONEY where their hearts are!
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