Why Muslims are becoming the Best Evangelists - part 8 in a series on God's Kingdom

If CNN dared to publish this, or any other TV channel, they'd declare, "Developing Story!"

Muslim Background Believers are becoming the best evangelists in the Muslim world.

This video, made in Denver, Colorado, shows what God is doing in raising up Muslim Background Believers (MBB's) as an incredible force for evangelism. Not the story line, the tight logic, amazing passion, God's personal intervention through Video here
dreams and visions and Nabeel's willingness to count the cost of accepting Christ in this amazing presentation:

When you click on this Christianity Today story (there are five electronic pages to go through) if you want to get this story - something you may not have heard in the regular secular news. I don't have to suggest why the appearance of MBB evangelists for Christ is left out of the "news".

Read an incredible story here

Paul in Athens - Part 2 - 47 photos with explanations

The impact of Paul's preaching in Athens was initially unnoticed by the general population, but today the place of the Christian church in Greece is profound. Orthodox churches form the second largest group within "Christendom".

Athens was the center of Greek culture, philosophy and history. The city considered itself to uphold the best of Greek values.

A thousand years of tradition had spread Greek ideas to every corner of the Roman Empire.  We speak of a Greco-Roman culture when we come to the pages of the New Testament.


Read here - find 47 photos and explanations in a quick visit to Athens

Paul was wise enough to know his message would cause loud objections for it against the traditions of Athens. He found a unique way to introduce his beliefs to these very clever men.

At some point in the past, a sculpture had been placed in a prominent place. It led people to think about a 'god that as yet had no name'. This was curious and people must have wondered who the "unknown god" was.  Every god in the pantheon had its own name and specific powers, or realm of control.

The apostle spoke of an "unknown god" and used this unique statue to teach about the Almighty, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus.




 

Gladiators and horsemen fete Rome's 2,767th anniversary - 60 photos of Rome's Strength Early Christians Faced

In Aspendos, a Turk wants to be a gladiator

April 21 - Rome's birthday. 2,767 "anniversaries".

Easter - Christ is Risen. "In the Beginning was the Word and the Word with God and the Word was God."

Early Christians faced the might of Rome's laws, armies and institutions. They were opposed by Greek religions and put down by wise philosophers who brought their great knowledge against followers of "The Way", hoping to crush this new faith.

The Great Theater in Ephesus seats 24,000

Rome's glory lasted for a little more than 1,000 years. Constantinople's majesty also captured the world's attention for a little more than 1,000 years. Western European powers are presently caught up in the pride of their own (temporary) successes.

In Pergamum, the Temple of Trajan and Hadrian is partly restored

The seven novels I'm writing, one about each of the Seven Churches of the Revelation, explore the challenges early Christians faced when the might of Rome and the wisdom of Greece confronted humble followers of Jesus Christ in Pergamum, Sardis, Thyatira, Philadelphia, Laodicea, Smyrna and Ephesus. I would appreciate your prayers as I bring the fifth novel to a conclusion in the next month.

A photo journal of events in Rome shows 60 photos, marking the 2,767th anniversary of the founding of Rome. These photos may indicate the kind of world in which early Christians found themselves. Find photos here

Easter in music and photos

The Garden tomb in Jerusalem

Easter is here. "He is risen."

"Yes," comes the reply, repeated for almost 2,000 years in thousands of languages and from the lips of millions of believers,

"He is risen indeed!"

"He Died for Me" A song with photos as a background.

"The Glory of the Resurrection" A dramatic poem with background of many paintings, drawings and art.

"Skull Hill" in Jerusalem, located near a bus terminal today

On Good Friday, our thoughts turn towards the cross, where the Lamb of God bears the suffering of the world. Incredibly, many passages in the Old Testament are fulfilled simultaneously, all the way from "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" (Psalm 22), to the description of the Messiah's carrying our sin upon him.

He became our sin, and he was stricken for our iniquities. (Isaiah 53) He has known my sin.

But then, he is "assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence and no deceit was found in his mouth."



Two men ;eave the Garden Tomb, as Peter and John did

In Jerusalem, visitors will find two locations "where Jesus died and rose again." The oldest is in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre", mostly visited by Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Coptic and other traditional churches. (Because of quarrels among the clergy of these three strands of Christianity, the key to the church is held by a Muslim caretaker.)

The three photos on my blog post today  come from the Garden Tomb, mostly visited by Protestant Christians.

Christians around the world commemorate Good Friday in different ways, some trying to identify with Jesus Christ by being nailed to crosses. 14 Photos will take you around the world as you see how the Christian message penetrates deeply into various cultures. (Some photos are graphic.) Unfortunately, many of the people who take part in this type of cruel punishment do not know the truth that once the Lamb of God was sacrificed there is no more need for anyone to be crucified.   Photos from around the world on Good Friday


 

"Hallelujah" - New, unforgetable Easter words to Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah"

This music video, based on Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah", was giv
en permission for the Easter words to be put to the famous, enchanting music.

Watch the Music video here

An Illiterate Asian Grandma and the Kingdom of God - Part 7 in a series

It was Palm Sunday and  word had come from one of the church's missionary families in South East Asia. Pastor Hugh said, "Before I preach about the hype people experienced as they saw Jesus come into Jerusalem riding on a donkey, I want to read you a letter that came from your missionaries yesterday. I've been preaching that Jesus Christ reaches out to the poor as well as the rich, to men as well as women, to people of every language. But, can God reach a humble, illiterate woman who in her heart desires to know the truth? Here's what they wrote:"

 

"Do you remember our petite local, illiterate Grandma? Last Saturday she told us she had been having dreams of Jesus coming to visit her with 200-300 men in white. This was truly remarkable as we have never spoken about angles with her before. (She has had a couple of personal visitations from Jesus himself). She has been a Buddhist all her life, but the Lord is drawing her to himself. In these recent dreams, Jesus invited her to go with him. She wanted to go, but she did not want to go with these 200-300 other men (all of whom were younger than Jesus and very beautifully dressed, all in white). She didn't trust these men who were coming and going in and out of her room, and she felt so underdressed and grubby beside them. We strongly urged her that if he came again in a dream, to go with him!!! I returned home feeling that she would be leaving this life any day. 

"On Tuesday she fell down and was unable to get into her house. She slept outside all night, and was laying there all day long without anything to eat or sleep. She could not move and no one knew she had fallen. At 5 pm, 2 of our girls decided to drop in on her for an unplanned visit. They almost left, thinking she wasn't home, before they saw her raise her hand from the ground. She was unable to move or speak. I took her to the hospital and they admitted her. 

"Her hospital stay has been an experience in itself, as the nurses will not feed her, neither will any of the family members of the other 8+ women in the room. they all just watch her cry. Unless we come and feed her, she goes hungry. We have told the nurses that she has no family and we have asked them to feed her if we are unable to come, but no. 

"Today she was discharged, and we brought her back to the community centre, where she lives. We were very concerned about having her out of hospital as she can no longer do anything for herself. We prayed about it this morning, and by this afternoon it was all taken care of. They had set up a bed for her in a public area, which I initially thought was a terrible idea, but now I see that it was the perfect place, as she will have lots of visitors and attention.

 

"We have set up a roster for feeding her between all our students and staff. I am praying that the Lord will be glorified in all this. Our village headman is very vocally against Christians and makes fun of foreigners. His wife has been involved in setting up this place for the old grandma to sleep. (!) We are more involved in the life of our community than ever before at the moment.
 

"Could you please pray that the Grandma will die peacefully and that even in her death the Lord would be glorified somehow." 

Paul in Athens ( Part 1) - 43 Pictures in a Photo Essay

Model of the Acropolis in Athens (Royal Ontario Museum)

The arrival of the Gospel in Athens took place at the center of the Hellenistic world. Paul's short stay there had long-lasting effects.

Paul's speech on Mars Hill, which is part of the Acropolis in Athens, became is a model for taking the Gospel into a culture where there are few overlapping concepts between the "worldview of God's Kingdom" and the "worldview of a contemporary society".

In order to read the photo essay with a few explanations about Athens and the challenge Paul faced: Read more

The statue of the goddess Athena

Pagan temples? there were plenty  scattered around the city. Followers of the Lord Jesus Christ? There were none. Courageous proclaimers? One, exactly. Paul.

Paul and Silas had been sent to Thessalonica.

Athena, the goddess of the city, stood more than 30 feet high (some claim she was a 40 foot figure). Her strength had, according the historians of Athens, protected the city from the invasion of the Persians, 500 years before. Everything revolved around her statue and that of a dozen other Greek gods.

Yet, there was one tiny opening for Paul. He had seen a statue dedicated to the 'Unknown God." That was his starting point when he was invited to explain his faith to the most celebrated, most intellectual men of that time (in the Greek world).




Plato, Socrates and other Greek philosophers left their mark here

Instead of backing away because of "all the difficulties", Paul "reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and the God-fearing Greeks, as well as in the marketplace, day by day with those who happened to be there." Acts 17:17.
Those initial seeds, planted in the hearts of philosophers and people who loved to debate, yielded a great harvest.

Be encouraged. God's word never lacks for messengers. His truth can enter the most difficult of places.

"Whoever wants to save his life, living his own way, will lose it; but whoever loses his life for my sake and the Gospel, will find it." - Jesus.




 

Muslims filling a Street at prayer time in New York

This is a scene you would not have expected to see 20 years ago.

Or 10 years ago.

Or, probably, today.

In New York.

On a major Avenue.

With the presence of New York's highest authorities who marched at the head of this event that ended with the closure of the streets and avenues.


On the other hand, here's the story of a man who found the Lord, one of those whose relatives can be found in scenes like these. Note the sincerity of faith expressed in both  those on the streets and also in this story in which Nabeel Quereshi discovered that the Gospel could withstand rigorous scrutiny but the Koran could not.



Think about Nabeel's story as you look at these next three pictures.

 

 

Unschooled Kids and the Kingdom of God - Part 6 in a series.

Wondering who might lend a good ear to the young man in his congregation who felt depressed, Pastor Hugh flipped through the church phone directory. His eye fell on Roger's telephone number. He was a business man.

"Roger, I want to talk with you over lunch. Are you free for a conversation?"

"Yes, Pastor Hugh. Let's meet at 12:30."

Sitting at a table, Hugh said, "There's a young man in our congregation. His brother says he's becoming more depressed all the time. Can't get a job. His girl-friend ditched him. Since you're also from Jamaica, I thought I'd give you a call. Who would you recommend to be a big brother to him?"

"I'd love to, and I would volunteer, but you know about my commitment, don't you?"

"No, how do you use your time?"

"I thought you knew. I grew up in the interior of the Jamaica. I walked two miles to school and two miles back home, hot sun or hot sun, every day. We studied under a tree, only a few of us. When I immigrated and got a good job here, I gathered a group of ten others, also from Jamaica. We raised money to build a school for the other kids in our village. Now we are putting in bathrooms and a playing field."

"Well, I never knew all that! Thanks for telling me." Hugh felt elated, learning something Roger was doing, kind actions no one in the congregation knew about.

"Not at all. You preach about Jesus Christ training disciples. They were to make a difference in the world in their time, starting in Jerusalem. My problem right now is I don't know where my 'Jerusalem' is! Is it my little village in Jamaica, where I grew up, or this suburb, where I now live?"

They laughed together. "I'll have to find someone else who can come alongside Scott," said Pastor Hugh. "Pray for him. I want two or three people to be real friends for him."

"Yes, and don't count on me to usher at Easter! We're  traveling, all ten of us, to bring the whole community back home together. There are lots of reasons for sharing our love. I guess Easter is the time to share the message with them. What do you think?"

They shared the meal and returned to their Kingdom work, Hugh a pastor, Roger a business man, struggling to pay his mortgage, happy to share in his village.