Posted on 05/07/2005 8:05:03 AM PDT by churchillbuff
What is the fastest-growing religion on Earth?
Most news reports suggest it is Islam.
But a new book makes a compelling case it is a new, or, perhaps, old form of biblically inspired evangelical Christianity that is sweeping through places like China, Africa, India and Southeast Asia.
In "Megashift," author Jim Rutz coins a new phrase to define this fast-growing segment of the population. He calls them "core apostolics" - or "the new saints who are at the heart of the mushrooming kingdom of God."
Rutz makes the point that Christianity is overlooked as the fastest-growing faith in the world because most surveys look at the traditional Protestant denominations and the Roman Catholic Church while ignoring Christian believers who have no part of either.
He says there are 707 million "switched-on disciples" who fit into this new category and that this "church" is exploding in growth.
"The growing core of Christianity crosses theological lines and includes 707 million born-again people who are increasing by 8 percent a year," he says.
So fast is this group growing that, under current trends, according to Rutz, the entire world will be composed of such believers by the year 2032.
"There will be pockets of resistance and unforeseen breakthroughs," writes Rutz. "Still, at the rate we're growing now, to be comically precise, there would be more Christians than people by the autumn of 2032, about 8.2 billion."
According to the author, until 1960, Western evangelicals outnumbered non-Western evangelicals - mostly Latinos, blacks and Asians - by two to one. As of 2000, non-Western evangelicals outnumbered Westerners by four to one. He says by 2010, the ratio will be seven to one.
"There are now more missionaries sent from non-Western nations than Western nations," he writes.
This trend, says Rutz, has been missed by Westerners because the explosive growth is elsewhere.
Hundreds of millions of these Christians are simply not associated with the institutional churches at all. They meet in homes. They meet underground. They meet in caves. They meet, he says, in secret.
And what is driving this movement?
Miracles, he says.
"Megashift" attempts to document myriad healings and other powerful answers to the sincere prayers of this new category of believer, including, believe it or not, hundreds of dramatic cases of resurrections - not near-death experiences, but real resurrections of actual corpses.
"When I was a kid in Sunday school, I was really impressed that 3,000 people were saved on the Day of Pentecost," he writes. "I thought, 'Wow, that'll never happen again!"
But, Rutz says, it now happens around the globe every 25 minutes.
"By tomorrow, there will be 175,000 more Christians than there are today," he writes.
The essence of Rutz's book is about how Western Christians can tap into what he sees as a mighty work of God on Earth.
"Very few people realize the nature of life on Earth is going through a major change," he writes. "We are seeing a megashift in the basic direction of human history. Until our time, the ancient war between good and evil was hardly better than a stalemate. Now all has changed. The Creator whose epic story flows through the pages of Scripture has begun to dissolve the strongholds of evil. This new drama is being played out every hour around the globe, accompanied sometimes by mind-bending miracles."
Spreading the Gospel about Christ is our special charge.
I think some preachers and evalgelicals have found that some people can't take in the full message of Salvation and Faith in one gulp, and they have decided to start with God loves you. "God so loved the world"
Then they move on to "that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believeth in Him shall not perish, but shall have everlasting life."
The saddest parable Jesus told in the Gospels was of the seed that was scattered and that not all grew or bore fruit, some landed on barren land or poor soil, or was carried off by birds.
Your fear is that the soil is poor and that the second and vital half of the message is not being transmitted. I cannot judge if you are right about that, but you can be grateful for their conveying the first half of the message and then express your concern that the second half needs to be told, too.
You've got me thinking. Maybe I could check on the Bible study programs offered by my church and see if they are held at hours convenient for those new to the faith and those who have families. I could offer to host some at my home at more convenient hours for those new to the faith, if I could get someone to prepare and lead such a group, as I don't have the energy.
'Tis true Paul talked in such a way as his audience would understand him - that is a common trait and one we who witness and teach much follow. But I would not call his preaching in this scene "seeker sensitive". He told them who God is, that He needs not man, that God will judge the world, and that assurance to His chosen ones has been given by His being raised from the dead. Only One has been raised from the dead to give assurance of life. And seeker sensitive preaching centers on "feel good" for the lost soul, not clear proclamation of the Truth as Paul did on Mars Hill.
Always good to go to the source Document. Thanks for making so many aware of this most excellent portion of God's Word.
HERETICS AND HYPOCRITES?
Every now and then I get a terse email from someone who has taken exception to my candid comments on Rick Warren, asking questions like: “Have you ever spoken with him personally about your objections and concerns and tried to work through your differences privately as scripture teaches, rather than attack him publicly as you do?”
The scripture they usually cite is, of course, Matthew 18:15-17
“Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother. But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established. And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church: but if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican.”
This is probably one of the more misunderstood and misapplied scriptures quoted today, especially among those who ingest Church Growth Carcinogens and Purpose Driven Lies. Because we have been inappropriately taught that unity and relationships are the most important things for Christians to pursue and protect in the church, these verses are often touted as the principal directive we should follow when addressing false teachers, which frankly, couldn’t be any further from the truth and only ends up protecting, sustaining and empowering them, which is probably why they teach it.
There is absolutely no biblical record of Jesus or any of His disciples ever taking a heretic off to the side for coffee and donuts after they led someone astray distorting the Word of God. They didn’t shake hands, exchange hugs, kisses and phone numbers or set up appointments on their PDAs to dialog their doctrinal differences over lunch in the quiet corner of a favorite restaurant at a more convenient time.
No, Jesus dealt with heretics harshly, publicly and immediately, as did Paul and the other disciples. And, keep in mind; we’re talking New Testament here friends. In the Old Testament, false prophets were simply taken out and stoned to death for their lies. That’s how serious God is about His Word being rightly divided and properly proclaimed.
So, what was Jesus referring to in Matthew 18? Look again carefully at how he begins:
“…If thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone…”
You see, the Lord is referring here to a personal offense, grievance and/or misunderstanding between two people – something that has broken their fellowship and has little or nothing to do with anyone else. Personal and private matters of wrongdoing should always be dealt with personally and privately first, so as not to unduly disrupt the unity of the body. That is indeed, biblical.
Now, as for wolves in sheep’s clothing that stand in pulpits and on stages before vast audiences with microphones and television cameras proclaiming demonic doctrines as the Word of God, the scriptural directive is altogether different:
“But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.” – Galatians 1:8
“And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.” – Ephesians 5:11
(“Reprove” is another word for rebuke)
“A man that is an heretic after the first and second admonition reject” – Titus 3:10
“If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed: For he that biddeth him God speed is partaker of his evil deeds.” (2nd John 1:10)
Jesus didn’t request a closed-door session with the Scribes and Pharisees in order to find common ground, build relationships and promote unity in Jerusalem. He condemned their blasphemy before one and all and repeatedly warned His disciples about their leaven. And when His number-one disciple challenged Him about His own up and coming crucifixion, Jesus didn’t put His hand gently on Peter’s shoulder and effeminately whisper: “My friend, you just don’t understand.” No, He lashed back at him with power and authority in front of ALL the disciples saying:
“…Get thee behind me Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men.” – Matthew 16:3
Why? Because, Peter was publicly contradicting God’s Word and Divine plan, which is the equivalent of proclaiming Jesus to be a lunatic or a liar.
Did the religious leaders stone Stephen to death because of all the cute and cuddly things he had to say about them? I don’t THINK so. Stephen spoke the cold hard truth that day and they hated him for it because God’s Truth is always "evil" and intolerable in the ears of the unrepentant. He told them:
“Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears…who have received the law by the disposition of angels, and have not kept it.”
You see, defenders of today’s religious leaders almost always resort to calling their critics, among other things, “legalists,” for incessantly using scripture to rebuke unbiblical teachings and practices; comparing them to the Pharisees of Stephen’s day, when, in reality, Stephen might just as easily say to Rick Warren and others like him:
“Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears…who have received the Gospel, but have not proclaimed it.”
Of course, when someone reprimands today’s religious leaders for their unbiblical teachings, they are silenced, shamed, slandered, marginalized, isolated and/or asked to leave. But, isn’t that exactly what the religious leaders did to Jesus and His disciples?
The Pharisees were a lot of things but they were not “legalists.” They’ve merely been labeled as such by the religious liberals of OUR day in order to try and discount the importance of studying and obeying scripture. In fact the word “legalist’ does not even appear in any version of the Bible I searched. It is just another contemporary twisting of the truth to forward a corrupt agenda and steer people away from God’s Word to something more flexible, entertaining and endearing.
“Legalism” is defined in my dictionary as the "strict adherence to a literal interpretation of a law, rule, or religious moral code." Under this definition, is not Jesus Himself a legalist? You see, without the law, there is no need for a cross; which probably explains why both are being expelled from the church and society today as outdated and offensive relics from the past.
So, according to Stephen’s own testimony, if the religious leaders indeed “received the law but have not kept it,” they don’t even QUALIFY as true “legalists” but only as lawbreakers; or, as Jesus repeatedly called them; “Hypocrites,” which is another word for “actor,” meaning, they only pretended to keep the law.
And THAT, my friends, is what today’s Purpose Driven Pastor is – an actor – a hypocrite and a pretender, because he CLAIMS the Word of God but does not actually believe it nor proclaim it. If he did, he would preach the Bible and nothing else; verse by verse, for the rest of his ministry; not The Purpose Driven Life, chapter by chapter for 40 days. He would quote The Almighty with power and conviction before a trembling and uneasy congregation, instead of quoting Rick Warren with purpose and ambition before a casual and comfortable constituency.
When church attendance and revenues are down, closet liberals, be they Purpose Driven or otherwise, often minimize, in varying degrees, the importance of the Bible in a Christian’s life, calling it “legalism” whenever one encourages the brethren to obey God’s Word or dares to chastise those who refuse. Well, THEY might call keeping God’s commandments “legalism,” but Jesus Christ calls it “love.” Don’t believe me? Read it for yourself:
“If ye love me, keep my commandments.” – John 14:15
“He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.” – John 14:21
“Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him. He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings: and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father's which sent me.” – John 14:23-24
“If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love.” – John 15:10
“He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.” - 1st John 2:4
“For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.” – 1st John 5:3
Keeping God’s commandments will not gain you entry into the Kingdom of Heaven anymore than attending church will make you a member. That only comes by faith in Jesus Christ and His sacrifice on the cross for our sins. (Ephesians 2:8-10) But for those of us who claim Him, there is no other way to exercise that faith and prove our discipleship.
Loving God is not having a hand-raising, hip-hopping, wave-making, emotional experience in a Hawaiian shirt and sandals before a rock band in some downtown arena full of shrieking Seekers, Creekers, Promise Keepers and Passionate Purposeites. The only true act of love, worship and service to God is obedience to His Word. Everything else is distortion, distraction, deception, delusion and destruction.
And, when you set your Bible aside for some other book or teacher or preacher, you are neither loving, nor following, nor obeying the One you claim as your Lord and Savior. Oh, you might be Purpose Driven or Seeker Sensitive; but more than anything else, you’re a hypocrite.
“Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.” – Matthew 7:21-23
By Paul Proctor
May 8, 2005
Then they move on to "that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believeth in Him shall not perish, but shall have everlasting life."
What's missing isn't the second half but the first half. Man is a sinner. The wages of sin is death. Then and only then do you get to the free gift of God. And you can't leave out repentance and faith. The free gift is only free to those who repent and believe. Half a gospel is a false gospel. It is deceptive to imply that God forgives before we repent. The unrepentant still stand under His judgement.
Here's another question for you: What US President said the following and how come the anti-Christian, secularized libs and the MSM are not incensed by what appears to be a direct relationship between government and Christianity as believed by a president and a great majority of Americans?
"Intelligence, patriotism, Christianity, and a firm reliance on Him who has never forsaken this favored land, are still competent to adjust in the best way all our present difficulty."
Your answers please. It's a test.
His tragedy was that Tyndale was pursued for years by the Catholic leaders in England. He was and finally trapped, imprisoned, garroted and burnt at the stake as a heretic for translating the Bible and making it available to all who could get a copy. His principle pursuer was none other than Sir Thomas More, counselor to Henry VIII. Go figure!
Basically did that.
Things seem to be running reasonably well now. Disconnected one of my alternate HD's Haven't reconnected it yet.
Not sure if I'm going to reload PAID AVG yet. Things seem to get bogged down with toooo many anti-spywear/anti-virus things running. And, Norton is not inclined to work well with others. Wheee.
Norton 2005 seems to be a lot better than earlier versions with more features. Had to get it to get GOBACK. Not sure how I lost GO BACK on the earlier install.
Anyway--MUCH THANKS FOR YOUR INPUT. You helped me focus and insure more systematic doings.
LUB,
LUB,
LUB Dear Sis.
God's best to you.
I agree about hopping all over the place.
Though, in spite of my aversion to such changes, God has forced me to change churches more than 5 times in the last 3 years. Wheee.
Was in only one church which emphasized Biblical relationships.
It was a house church founded by a Methodist MD and his wife who had studied under Derek Prince and a host of such characters and were Charismatic. The mental hospitals and churches from LA south ended up sending the 'bits of human garbage' as one shrink called them who all the churches and mental hospitals HAD GIVEN UP ON--sending such to this house church.
AND they put an amazing percentage of such broken creatures back together into functioning human beings.
Sadly, the thing dropped off the deep end because the leadership refused to share leadership or allow much input beyond the 2 daughters and their sons-in-law. And, one of the sons-in-law ended up scr*wing everything that wiggled in the church.
It seems that when something really powerful occurs in the Body of Christ, the enemy really works overtime trying to neutralize it.
Anyway--this church had the least amount of gossip of any church I've been in. Every member would police themselves and every other member--Either you spoke positively OR YOU HAD TO BE ACTIVELY WORKING THE RESOLVE, IMPROVE the situation you were talking about. And, they would follow up to see if you had followed through.
Also, To join the group, there was a 6 page 'searching sheet' wherein one listed all one's past sins, habits, obsessions etc. of any significance at all. Such was prayed over with a group and then one was assigned to a 'spiritual family.'
Sometimes the heavy handed control was too heavy handed. But sometimes, it was needed with some personality disorders.
The house objects--clothes etc. were also gone over and the home went through a 'spiritual house cleansing.' Idols, dark, demonic sorts of things that were not edifying etc. obsessions etc. were tossed; given away; burned etc.
In the 'spiritual families' every household had an evening on the hot-seat on a rotating basis wherein the household on the hostseat would share what had been going on since their last turn and what issues they felt they were confronting in themselves and their relationships. The group would give prayerful, discerning input and then pray accordingly. Powerful things happened routinely.
Anyway--was quite an experience. Hated to see it fall off the deep end.
LUB
>Do you refer to a lack of bibles, or is it a literacy issue?
Both actually. More of the latter, with lack of some to explain the meaning to them sprinkled in.
Agree completely. When I go to other churches I miss the repentence of sins part of the liturgy before communion.
I am an oldster who needs the liturgy. The music isn't so important to me.
"To join the group, there was a 6 page 'searching sheet' wherein one listed all one's past sins, habits, obsessions etc. of any significance at all. Such was prayed over with a group and then one was assigned to a 'spiritual family'"
This is totally unscriptural.
When I lived in California, the local church pastor had been to Florida and came back with a new twist -- he began practicing what they called "Inner Healing" where untrained lay members interviewed every member (I refused to participate) and went all the way back to their mother's womb to find all their sins and problems. It was psychology by the amateur. One young man attempted to commit suicide. It was a total misuse and abuse of the membership to subject them to such treatment.
I like your message here. What many people today think is a "great revival" is really evangelism at work. "Revival" means "renewal" for those who already believe.
The Left Below episode of the Simpson's yesterday gave due respect to "evangelical" doom sayers, soothsayers, and fortune tellers. The crumbling credibility of dispensationalism indicates resurging health in the true church of our Lord Jesus Christ.
You would profit from considering the spies sent into Canaan. Ten brought back an evil report of the land, demoralized/disheartened the people, exaggerated the prowess of the enemies, and libeled the power and promises of God. They paid for their cowardice with their lives -- after having derailed God's people for 40 years.
If that's what you aspire to do with your life, keep on preaching that gopel of failure. And according to your faith, it may well be done unto you.
Which would be a real shame, considering how good God is. Still, some folks would rather squat on a dung heap with the turkeys than soar with the eagles.
There is no "failure" in the Truth.
Depends on how one construes it when it was functioning more or less healthily.
They were 'merely' applying some valid Biblical principles and methods in a very powerful small group way.
At some point, the coercion became unBiblical.
But the lives of those whom the mental hospitals and churches had rejected as hopeless were turned around for The Kingdom and they became functioning, contributing, overcoming, pleasant, positive members of society instead of hopelessly dependent and miserable.
The group started out as just a Bible Study supplement to church. Then ended up becoming it's own church.
About the time it started going off the deep end, they kicked me out--essentially for jealousy because I felt led to attend a quality school for my PhD instead of their mom and pop college they were trying to start. That whole episode was extremely unBiblical. Shocked me tons as the MD had considered me like a son.
A lot of people don't realize a lot of the demonic gods and goddesses they have in their homes. And, others, don't realize a lot of things they have made into idols. The group process was uncannily accurate in hearing Holy Spirit's input on such matters.
And often some serious ancestral stuff would be uncovered easily and dramatically to great cleansing benefit.
And, the lives of the people changed dramatically--often overnight in some respects and a lot faster than any other way I knew of with very hard to change syndromes etc. A lot of these people were very miserable and desperate people with no where else to go.
The MD and his wife and family as well as other old timers in the group gave thousands of hours of quality counseling and dollars away to very desperate individuals and families.
Single mothers had their homes and yards cleaned up by their 'spiritual families' and their finances and lives put in order. Their kids were turned around from heading down a road to terrible trouble and prison. Father figures stepped forward from the group to devote time to the children--especially the sons who most desperately needed such. Their wardrobes were overhauled, replaced by gifts from the group.
And, at it's healthiest, it was wonderful that there was the flexibility and breadth of vision and discernment to follow Holy Spirit in helping folks change--even when the path was not a common or routine way. Holy Spirit's creativity in such a context was fascinating and powerful to watch.
It was the most powerful example of persistent CHRISTIAN Love and tough Love I've ever been around. Incredibly well rounded overcoming Believers resulted.
Anyway--I can understand your response. Lots of pastors in San Diego would have agreed with you. But interestingly, a lot of those same pastors had their marriages, families and churches saved from serious shipwreck by the MD and his wife.
As to the inner healing stuff Tommy--depending on how it's done etc. there's some Biblical benefit in many cases.
And, lots of pastors and other Christians provide countless hours of counsel to folks who would never set foot inside a professional counselor's office. Some of it is horrible. All of it is flawed. But so is the counsel from the most degreeded and licensed professionals--even from the professional Chrisitans.
At least, in this situation, the benefit of the diversity of group discernment and perspective was better as well as more powerful. Yes, sometimes group-think could set in with less than admirable results. But on the whole, the leaders and group encouraged a diversity of at least consideration--particularly in early stages of approaching a complex problem.
And there was a very tenacious, determined and heart-felt effort on the part of all to keep things very Biblical. Eventually, their pride seemed to override that and things fell apart. But for a good period of time, they succeeded in keeping things much more Biblical than even most--if not all--of the better churches I'd ever been in.
I think most churches COULD teach and MODEL BIBLICAL RELATIONSHIPS--they just do not--for various reasons. These folks did.
At their best: They were very servant hearted to one another. They were very humble and sacrificial in behalf of one another. They were very faithful to The Lord and to one another. They did not flinch from the depth or complexity or nature of the sin or problems. They waded in redemptively in The Lord's Love and Spirit to incredibly powerful results. There are many lives in The Kingdom and people out of mental hospitals and out of prison--uncommonly--today because of the good done back then.
Would I do things differently if I had the opportunity? Sure. But they developed some powerful tools under the guidance of Holy Spirit. And, with proper safeguards, I think a lot of desperate miserable people could be set on a solid path with The Lord through such means.
One of the problems was that the MD and wife ended up not allowing significant feedback into the leadership unless it was through their daughters and sons-in-law. That was a serious flaw, insecurity, pride. And it was at least one of the keys to the beginning of their downfall.
I think EVERY group, congregation, leadership group needs at least yearly if not every 4-6 months some quality assessment from a diversity of Spirit-led Believers from OUTSIDE the group.
Anyway--FWIW.
I'm sure angels are going up and down the asiles of every congregation and adding extra black marks and punishment to every unbeliever caught alive in the worship service going through the motions of trying to learn what that's all about.
Probably the angels then cause all kinds of car trouble, flat tires, indigestion from Sunday dinner etc. to those evil false worshippers as punishment on the way home.
/sar
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