Muslims

Has God stopped moving?

/ Steinar Opheim

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A 25-year anniversary coming up next month will either put God or the global church to shame.

Expectations where high as the 4.300 leaders at the Lausanne congress in Manila in 1989 were finalizing the Manila manifesto. For the first time the great challenge of the unreached people groups had been highlighted in front of leaders from the whole world-wide church. The participants from 173 nations were eager to take the Gospel further and make Jesus salvation known among the thousands of unreached people groups that were known. Leading voices believed that the job could be finished by the end of the millennium.

Now, 25 years later, the task of reaching the unreached in many ways looks just as unfinished as it did for the participants in Manila.

According to Joshua Project close to 7,000 of the world’s 16,600 people groups must still be labeled as unreached. The total number of people in these groups is close to three billion. More than 4,600 people groups are still below the radar of the worldwide church and no one is planning to reach them with the Gospel.

Shame

“We are deeply ashamed that nearly two millennia have passed since the death and resurrection of Jesus, and still two-thirds of the world’s population have not yet acknowledged him,” confessed the participants at the Manila congress.

Who is to blame for the fact that next to nothing has changed in the quarter of a century that has passed by since then? Has God stopped being on the move or does he no longer have a desire to see all people saved? Or is it Jesus followers who have misunderstood the task their Lord gave them or maybe they are just unwilling to fulfill it.

In an article posted on Joshuaproject.net, Kent Parks in Act Beyond points out some reasons why the church has failed to fulfill the Great Commission. Lack of interest is one key factor.

– The emphasis on unreached people groups seems to have resulted in “boredom”among some church leaders – and they seem to want to find the next idea. One Asian mission leader shared that just about the time the Western Christians have succeeded in raising awareness for the unreached people groups s around the world, some seem to have developed “attention deficit disorder” and want to move on to something new, writes Parks.

Lack of friends

Joshua Project estimates that for every dollar of Christian resources less than one penny is directed at reaching unreached peoples. The American-based resource center also refers to a survey done a few years ago showing the likeliness of Hindus, Buddhists and Muslims being reached with the Gospel. According to the survey 86 out of 100 Muslims, Buddhists and Hindus worldwide do not know a single Christian.

John 1:14 states: “The Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighborhood” (The Message). If God is to continue to be on the move, Christ’s followers may need to be willing to move too.

The summer months often give time for reflection. Could you consider applying for a job, start a business or study in a place where you can reach one of the people groups that has yet to hear the Gospel?

69 new Christ-movements among Muslims

/ Steinar Opheim

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– Throughout history there have been 82 movements where Muslims in great numbers have come to Christ. 69 of them have started the past 20 years, says David Garrison.

A few years ago the well-known missions researcher was challenged to investigate more closely to what extent Muslims come to Christ today.

– There are many rumors and anecdotes about what is happening. Three years ago a foundation approached me to ask if I could find out what the reality is. So I began what I didn’t realize at the time would be a journey of a quarter-million miles throughout the Muslim world gathering information, says Garrison in an interview with BreakPoint. His research and the stories he has gathered are published in the newly released book named “A Wind in the House of Islam”.

In his research Garrison has defined “movement” as more than 1,000 Muslims from one particular people group being baptized within a two-decade period. Based on this definition he concludes that there in history have been a total of 82 movements where Muslims have come to Christ. 84 percent of those movements have happened within the last 20 years.

– This is historically unprecedented, it’s stunning to learn, says Garrison.

He confirms news shared by many others that a great number of Muslims are led to Christ through visions and dreams.– The stories I have been told are just remarkable, states the researcher. View video here.

Powerful Stories of Muslims Who Met Christ

/ Phill

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Many people have heard that Muslims 
are led to Christ through visions and dreams.

Now the American pastor Tom Doyle has gathered several such stories in a book called «Dreams and Visions: Is Jesus Awakening the Muslim World?»

– The stories in this book are about real people I know personally or are known by my family’s closest friends in the Middle East. If we couldn’t verify the experience, we left it out – no Christian fairy tales here, states the author in the introduction to the book that was released last week.

In addition to being a pastor, Tom Doyle plays a central role in the mission and development agency named “e3 Partners”. He estimates that he has been visiting the Muslim world close to 100 times. The content of the book is partly based on interviews with 200 former Muslims who have received Jesus.

One of the stories is about Adel from Syria who was a nominal Muslim in his teenage years. As a young adult he started searching for the real truth.

– The beginning of the end of his search occurred the first night he met Jesus in a dream. The morning after, he tried to convince himself it was “only” a dream, a desire erupting from somewhere in his subconscious and motivated by his compulsive thinking about ultimate things. The next morning – the morning after his second dream – dismissing the experience was more difficult. Twenty-eight additional nights in a row of seeing Jesus left Adel helpless before the gracious God he had encountered. Within a week after the last dream, he found a Christian believer who could explain what he should do, and Adel accepted Jesus, states the book. Adel later on was imprisoned because of his faith. While in prison he led many of the other inmates to Christ.

The author confirms reports given by other sources that more people are coming to Christ today than ever before in history.

– I believe Islamic terrorism is Satan’s attempt to keep the gospel message away from Muslims. The enemy thinks that if he can make the rest of us afraid of Muslims or make us hate them, then he can short-circuit Jesus´ church fromreaching Muslims. But that is not working. Jesus has stepped in 
and is opening Muslim hearts Himself, states the author.

Muslims and Christians take over the world

/ Steinar Opheim

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The two biggest religions in the world are growing in number and influence. The others are diminishing.

Islam and Christianity seem to be the winners on the religious market according to a new report from the Center of Study of Global Christianity.  200 years ago 33 per cent of the world´s population belonged to one of these two religions. Today their share has grown to more than 50 per cent. Estimates for the future show that they will continue to grow and that 66 per cent of the world’s population will be either Muslims or Christians by year 2100. The Christians will continue to outnumber the Muslims.

The intermingling of Muslim and Christian peoples is evident in Africa, Central Asia, India and Indonesia—all areas where Muslim-initiated persecution and conflict are more likely. Religious conflict could become a major destabilizing factor along the fault line between Muslim and Christian areas, states Patrick Johnstone in the book The Future of The Global Church that was published last year.

Stein Villumstad who is heading the European Council of Religious Leaders (ECRL) says it is important that leaders from different religions acknowledge and show respect for each other.

To a growing extent the leaders now take part in both formal and informal talks across the religious borderlines and we experience that there is a greater sense of understanding between them than before, says Villumstad.