Posted on 01/03/2006 9:30:55 AM PST by SirLinksalot
Top 10 overlooked stories of 2005
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© 2006 WorldNetDaily.com
If you're tired of hearing the rehashes of Katrina, Iraq, terrorism, et al., this will give you a little breather.
1. World evangelization.
The Earth is becoming Christian at a very fast clip. My best estimate is that there are 64 million more Christians now than a year ago. That breaks down to 175,000 a day (births plus conversions minus deaths). The numbers are debatable, of course, but I've consulted with several of the best religion statisticians on the planet, and my stats are defensible, being partly based on denominational surveys costing $1.1 billion. History has never seen such a rapid and vast shift in loyalty and identity.
2. War.
Combat deaths have hit their lowest point since World War II, dropping perhaps below 20,000. The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute has announced that the world's ongoing wars now number only 18, compared to 33 in 1990. That's dramatic. And, none of these wars are between nations! They're all civil conflicts. Also, our much-ballyhooed daily body count in Iraq is less than 1 percent of what it was during all the years of World War II.
3. U.S. debt.
I'm afraid this is one of my two bad-news items. With a $333 billion expected deficit for this fiscal year, I can no longer envision how we're going to get out of this mess – and believe me, I have a vivid imagination. With the Republicans' abdication of financial responsibility, I suspect it's all over. We've painted ourselves into a corner – or we're backing over a cliff, choose your metaphor.
The average college grad this year staggered out of the ivied halls with a $28,953 debt load. Bernanke will not be able to tighten our way out of this as Volcker did – there's simply too much private debt overhang. And looming above all else is an unfathomable, tangled mass of interlocked derivative deals, totaling in excess of $499 trillion, last I checked. I've not been able to find anyone on Wall Street who has any inkling of what it would take to tripwire this time bomb, much less what would happen if it went off.
4. The church.
It has taken us almost 2,000 years to get a clue, but we're finally starting to do some key things right in structure and outreach. For instance, India probably saw only a few hundred new churches planted in 1995. Then we adopted the house-church model, where even the dalits ("untouchables") can go out and plant expanding networks of lay-led, home-based congregations. With no financial need for buildings or pastors (and no sermons!), growth exploded to 20,000 new house churches in 2002. In 2005, that grew to 50,000 new house churches. The same story has been repeated in China, where total Christians are nearing 120 million. Ditto for dozens of countries. So do the math.
5. Islam.
Muslim authorities have admitted they are rapidly losing Africa. Indonesia, Earth's largest Muslim nation, is now 30 percent Christian. In Bangladesh, a stunning 522,000 Muslims have turned to Isa (Jesus) since 1997. I could go on. Islam is doomed – and along with it, militant Islamism.
6. Eco-miracles.
As part of the huge wave of miracles sweeping the globe, rapid ecological transformations are occurring in dozens of countries: droughts ending, crops exploding, endangered wildlife returning, destroyed forests bouncing back, dead zones in oceans coming alive with fish not seen before – even the discovery of diamonds in one newly Christian area!
7. Social transformations.
In answer to simple, sustained prayer, we now often see bars and crack houses shutting down, poverty fading, heathen temples being shuttered for lack of interest, government corruption being exposed and stopped, anti-Christian hostility waning, crime rates plunging, etc.
8. U.S. health.
Our life expectancy has hit 77.6 years (or more if you wear a dress). Our major killers (heart disease, stroke, cancer) are down 3 to 5 percent. Alternative health methods are starting to get respect, and this will eventually transform "old age" into a vibrant, active time of life extending to 100-110 years because chronic degenerative diseases are being cured.
9. World health and progress.
Evangelical lodestar Philip Yancey has demolished whole sets of gloomy statistics. In recent years, he says: Illiteracy has plunged from 53 percent to 20 percent ... malnutrition has dropped from 50 percent to 20 percent ... infant mortality (first-year) has gone from 1 in 8 births to 1 in 16 ... per capita income is up 60 percent, extreme poverty down almost by half ... substandard housing is down from 80 percent to 25 percent ... 75 percent now have clean water, up from 25 percent ... leprosy is way down, polio is almost gone, and smallpox has vanished.
10. Iran.
You haven't heard the whole story yet, but Iran is going to get better ... and worse. Stay tuned in 2006.
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James Rutz is chairman of Megashift Ministries and founder-chairman of Open Church Ministries. His recent book, "MEGASHIFT: Igniting Spiritual Power," announces major upgrades in human life and a coming transformation of society.
I don't know if my skin is thick enough to start wearing a skirt.
Might just have to bite the bullet and resign myself to dying younger.
This is why we must keep pressure on the mullas and imams and take care of them one by one.
No way.
While God sent the diamonds to Christians, she sent a tsunami to wipe out a bunch of those pagans!
Way to go God!!!
So, you are saying Catholics and Orthodox are not Christians? Only Evangelicals should be countd as Christian?
If so, you are are extremely ignorant.
Adscam - the leftist leaders in Canada got caught with their hands in the cookie jar. Thats whats driving the need for a Canadian election. Even worse - the Canadian courts put a gag order on the media.
People in the United States have no idea how far Canada has gone to the left.
I agree. The potential for folks developing "itching ears and wandering into myth" is great.
Just call it a kilt (although the name Vinnie doesn't exactly bring Scotland to mind)
bump for later
Many Catholics are Christians! :-)
About 50% of the number of US automotive deaths in 2001.
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So, you are saying Catholics and Orthodox are not Christians? Only Evangelicals should be countd as Christian?
If so, you are are extremely ignorant.
>>>>
No, I am saying that to be accurate, you should ONLY INCLUDE THOSE WHO HAVE MADE A CONSCIOUS DECISION TO BE SERIOUS ABOUT THEIR FAITH. In this sense, Evangelicals are a more accurate headcount. If you count the number of Roman Catholics who are serious about their faith ( not the ones who are merely baptized as infants but who abandon their faith as adults ), it would also be more accurate.
Being baptized as a baby "could" potentially count, but it will be inaccurate. Many of those who were baptized as babies grow up to be UNBELIEVERS. Counting them skews the numbers.
Specific under-reported items might include:
also:
- The NSA leak.
- Clinton's corrupt use of the IRS.
"Bible study sounds pretty Christian to me."
Did I say otherwise?
I roll my eyes in your general direction.
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The sterotyping of Roman Catholics as not serious Christians, who abandon their faith, is a cheap shot. Back it up with documentation, please.
>>>>
Some examples :
1) Spain, a Roman Catholic country, IN DEFIANCE of the Roman Catholic Church, votes to LEGALIZE GAY MARRIAGE.
Tell me how that squares with being serious with their Roman Catholic faith.
2) France, a majority Roman Catholic country has its churches almost totally empty on Sundays. never mind that the country voted to support politicians who are almost unanimously PRO-ABORTION.
I would highly doubt the sincerity of the faith of these Roman Catholics. Just as I would doubt the "christianity" of an Anglican/Episcopalian who vote to allow the performance of gay marriage ceremonies in their churches.
Just as there are RINO's, there are also CINO's ( Christians in name only ).
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