Should We Be Ashamed At This?

According to the National Council of Churches' 2008 Yearbook of American & Canadian Churches the two fastest growing "church" bodies are Jehovah's Witnesses and the Mormons. Read a summary of the report here.

Remember the Persecuted

This Christmas, while we in America are enjoying the last vestiges of religious freedom and tolerance, don't forget the millions of persecuted Christians around the world:

• Christian bookstore owner arrested in communist China
• Anti-Christian TV leads to violence by Muslims in Turkey
• Hindu mobs threaten the safety of Christians in India
• Political party promises persecution if elected in India
  
• Christians murdered and churches burned down in Nigeria
• Teenagers beheaded for being Christians in Indonesia
• Prominent Christian leader murdered in Gaza
• Two shootings, just hours apart, in Colorado
  

And these are the stories from just three websites for just the month of December!!!

2 Murdered in Nigerian Jihad

This article describes the effects of a violent jihad against young Christians in Nigeria where one man was killed with a sword and another, a Sunday school teacher named Henry Emmanuel Ogbaje 24 (pictured), was bludgeoned to death.

Iranians Becoming Christians

The author featured in this article suggests the deep dissatisfaction with the Islamic regime in Iran has created a growing interest in Jesus Christ in that country.

Christian Sacrificed to Hindu 'Goddess'

Click here to read about Vipin Mandloli, a 27 year old shepherd and convert to Christianity from Hinduism who was allegedly shot as a sacrifice to the "goddess" Kali "a bloodthirsty ‘goddess’ [that] is even given human sacrifice."

And this article describes the increasing persecution Christians are facing by Hindu extremists / fundamentalists in one region in India -- a country I thought was more progressive because so many of our companies were doing business there -- while this article makes it clear that this persecution is widespread in that country.

Did U Hear What China Banned @ The Olympics?

Read here that the organizers of the 2008 Olympic Games in China have put the Bible on the list of items that athletes are banned from bringing with them to Beijing.

Christian Persecution in Egypt

Radical Islamic lawyers join the government's opposition of a newly converted Christian from Islam in Egypt who's life has been threatened for this. Read more about what this brother and his wife are facing here.

Palestinians Murder Christian

Read here about the murder of Rami Ayyad, manager of a Christian bookstore operated by the Palestinian Bible Society in the Palestinian territory of Gaza.

Turkey: Leads on Murderers of 3 Christians

I posted earlier this year about the murder of three Christians, the men pictured above, in Turkey here.

I found out here that they have some suspects from inside the Turkish military who may be responsible for their gruesome torture and murder.

Pastor Necati Aydin, 36; Ugur Yuksel, 32; and Tilmann Geske, 46. Three more the world is not worthy of.

Preacher Murdered by Hindus

For being humanly responsible for the conversion of three families from Hinduism and to Christianity, Ajay Topno was murdered (read story here).

"Topno left his house on September 16, telling his wife that he was going to Sahoda village, but he never returned."

The world is not worthy of men like Ajay.

10 Christians Slaughtered...

In Northern Nigeria Muslims destroyed 9 churches, displaced some 500 Christians, injured 61 and slaughtered 10. Why? "Muslim high school students claimed a Christian student had drawn a cartoon of Islam’s prophet, Muhammad, on the wall of the school’s mosque" (see the rest of the story here and here).

Cults Are Invading Russia!!!

I spent my evening at a fund raiser for the Russian arm of the Centers for Apologetics Research (CFAR). We heard about the dozens and dozens of western and eastern cults (many of which were "born" here in the U.S., which the founder, Paul Cardin, called the greatest exporter of error on the planet today) that are flooding the former Soviet Union.

Having come home from Ukraine two months ago, I was truly moved, even to tears, when Mr. Cardin told us about this invasion and then told us that CFAR is the first and ONLY evangelical countercults ministry in the former Soviet Union. And, I spoke with the Russian brother Pasha who heads up the ministry in St. Petersburg who told me that the cults are MORE active in Ukraine than Russia because Ukraine has more freedom (for instance, the Mormons are building their first temple in the former USSR in Kiev, Ukraine's capital city).

Ron Rhodes, noted author, scholar and countercult evangelist, was the keynote speaker who gave us "10 Keys to Witnessing to the Cults," and I want to share them with you here. These keys come from his many years of evangelism to cultists:

1. Don't Assume All Cultists Believe Exactly the Same Thing -- for example, all Jehovah's Witnesses don't agree so instead of telling them what they believe and why you disagree (which I've done), ask them what they believe and THEN dialogue.
2. Know Your Bible -- and, keep taking them back to it over and over again
3. Know that Cultists Are Trained to Answer Your Objections
4. Always Check Their Scripture References -- and NEVER take their interpretation of a passage as true
5. Always Define Your Terms -- because they use the same words we do, but with totally different meanings
6. Ask Strategic Questions -- force them to think (just like Jesus did with His questions)
7. Be Loving -- Arrogence always undermines your right answers, and make sure you love the cultist after God saves them because they'll likely loose all community
8. Demonstrate Jesus' Deity -- know what the Bible teaches on this (e.g., Isa 43:11 --> Titus 2:13-14 = Jesus is Savior and God)
9. Emphasize God's Awesome Gospel of Grace -- in a works-righteousness religious systems where people are earning their salvation, they are often overcome with guilt, frustration & despair, and need to hear of the grace only found in the biblical Gospel
   
10. Give Your Testimony -- and focus on God's specific grace to you
    

As I sat there, my heart was further breaking for the church I went to in Zhitomir, and knowing what I do about the conditions in that church, I know it is just ripe to be decimated by a cult.

Ministries like CFAR, and there aren't ANY in the former USSR but CFAR, need our help. Please, please, please think about supporting them by clicking here.

Obsession THE Movie

I don't buy many movies (maybe one every 2 years), but I purchased and watched Obsession, the movie about radical Islam, and I have to tell you it was absolutely riveting. I think I'm going to watch it again right now.

If you don't buy it, I'm sure you can rent it--but either way, you HAVE TO see it. For you own good, you HAVE TO see it.

Pray for This Church

I wanted to make you aware of this new and growing church in India that needs our prayers.

Two More 9/11's?

John Piper's weekly Taste & See is about Three 9/11's We Need to Know.

It is thought-provoking and utterly challenging, especially for us fat, happy, lethargic and apathetic American Christians.

Obsession the Movie

I've tried to keep this a purely religious blog, but when geo-politics and religion are colliding like they are in our day I cannot help but recommend that you go here and watch the trailer for the award-winning Obsession: Radical Islam's War Against the West.

You can also watch short clips of the movie here:

• Jihad in the Classroom (clip)
• Jihad and the Media (clip)
• Jihad and Hitler (clip)
• Jihad and the West (clip)

If you do nothing else, you should watch this 12-minute version of the documentary.

God Trending Away from the West

This article, as well as books like Philip Jenkins' The Next Christendom and David Wells' Above All Earthly Pow'rs make it clear that vibrant, biblical Christianity is leaving the West and showing up in the East and the southern hemisphere.

My favorite line from the article:

"Serious missionary work began in Nigeria in 1842, conducted by a Church Mission Society dedicated to promoting 'the knowledge of the Gospel among the heathen.' In 2007, the Nigerian outreach to America officially began, on the fertile mission fields of Northern Virginia."

For those of us in the West, I can't help but think this trend is evidence of God's judgment upon us. I don't see times getting any easier for us--both from within and from outside the church.

Premoderns, Moderns & Evangelism

David Wells, in his excellent book Above All Earthly Pow'rs, writes insightfully about the difference between premodern and modern societies and their relationship to God:

"In premodern societies, the sacred was a matter-of-fact part of life; in modern societies, God has been excluded from public life, pushed to the margins of relevance, and made to live out his life, as it were, underground and out of sight" (27).

Why mention this seemingly academic difference? Because when you're witnessing or speaking to a poorly discipled Christian, and they don't understand your Christian commitment, it may be because you're coming across as a premodern to a modern or postmodern person.

For example, if you see the hand of God in every event of your life and you see living a life that is pleasing to Him as most important than you're thinking and acting and interpreting the world as a premodern (which I'd add is closer to the biblical view of life).

However, if God is a kind of after thought in your life, and your personal history as well as world history is interpreted without any thought of God that's more modern and postmodern--and far less biblical, I might add.

Often times, our miscommunication comes from the fact that we're approaching all of life from different eras. We need to know this if we're going to communicate the premodern gospel to modern and postmodern people effectively.

Cults in Ukraine & Russian

If you're Russian or Ukrainian, please take note of the Centers For Apologetics Research. I met the executive director of this ministry a few years ago though very good mutual friends, and he is a solid brother.

The reason I bring them to your attention is because anti-Christian cults, like Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses, are infiltrating your country in LARGE amounts and having a devastating effect. You need materials that will train you and others to fight them off your family, friends, neighbors and maybe even yourself.

Bookmark their page here. Now, I tried to link all their separate pages on their Eastern European ministry on this blog, but their website was not done well. So, to find out what they're doing in Ukraine, you'll have to search around their site a little bit. I did find this Russian language page though, which I'm sure will be helpful.

If You Speak Russian...

If you happen to be blessed enough to understand Russian (or know someone that does), I want to make you aware of some invaluable resources by John Piper.

These are Russian versions of some of his best books in pdf format, fully downloadable and completely FREE:

• Seeing and Savoring Jesus Christ (I recommend this highly)
• God is the Gospel (haven't read this, but the name alone makes me want to)
• The Passion of Jesus Christ (this came out to supplement Mel Gibson's movie)

I hope you're able to take advantage of these important and enjoyable books.