Justinroy

If the rapid expansion of the Church is, in fact, a move of God, our new brothers and sisters will hunger and thirst for understanding.

On average, there are 28 million new Christians each year outside of the United States, and if you didn’t already know, the shape of World Christianity is changing. In fact, most argue that it has already changed.  The West is no longer the epicenter of the Church, and along with this global shift of Christianity, new challenges to the faith arise. The lack of sound theology and biblical teaching is a major problem. New global Christians are left without a biblical framework in which to live and learn the Christian faith. Even though I am overwhelmed with the success of evangelism, we now must exhort and equip our foreign family so that their worship might be true and their doctrines life-sustaining.

This is where Desiring God comes in. Desiring God Ministries have an international outreach program that is committed to feed the theologically starving Church.

International Outreach is working to relieve this theological famine. We are building a network of collaborators who provide biblical resources, in appropriate languages and formats, to equip church and missions leaders around the world. Will you join us in strengthening the global church for the cause of spreading the Gospel to all nations?

Some of their strategies are to:

Cultivate Relationships with those working in the cause of missions and church-planting.

Develop Resources in formats and languages to help equip those in our network.

Build Support through prayer and financial assistance from friends passionate about relieving this famine.

Mobilize Networks to distribute resources through the channels of our partners.

International Outreach is on the frontline of God’s mission by supplying theological education for pastors throughout the world. Jon Bloom, executive director of Desiring God, issued a statement today outlining their current strategy and goals for the year. He promises we will hear more as the year progresses, but he also asks for financial support.

I believe that the global shift of Christianity is God’s work, and He has providentially equipped the West to fund it.

Read Jon’s article here

Give here

Persecution in India: Francis’ Response from Cornerstone Church on Vimeo.

Orissa has one of the worst records for violence against Christians, due in part to the activities of a religious fundamentalist group. Many churches have been destroyed and Christian workers continue to be attacked. There is a law prohibiting conversion and, since 2000, baptism requires the permission of the government. About a year ago, Hindu radicals went on a “bloody rampage that left 50,000 Christians fleeing for their lives into the state’s forests.” (GFA, 2009).

Music by The Champion and His Burning Flame: http://www.myspace.com/thechampionandhisburningflame

Justin Taylor has commented on his blog as well.

Justin Taylor has taken the videos down but i’ll keep them up.

Two more churches in Malaysia were firebombed Sunday, bringing the total to six since a court ruled that non-Muslims can use the word “Allah” as a term for God.(article)

The highest court in Malaysia has ruled that Christians can use “Allah” as a term for God. This move by the courts provoked Muslims to react violently against Christian Churches in Malaysia.  Most of the contraversy centers around bible translations that use the term Allah for God within the bible.  Some muslims see this as trickery to convert muslims to the christian faith, while indigenous Christian- Malaysians see this just as saying “God” in their own language.

Christian Churches have been firebombed and bibles have been burned to protest the “christinizing” of Allah.

I personally dont have any problems with Malaysian Christians using Allah, but there is a point of hesitation. Should we examine the amount of baggage a word carries? Does the muslim accusation of “trickery” carry any weight?

what do you think?