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."
thx DONE a lot of that.
Praying too.
lub
Every religious kook / heretic who ever lived viewed the observations of the orthodox as "assaults". Your "reality" aside, truth is never inconsistent.
"Yes, I recognize it and listen to it, and I do what He says."
If you're unwilling to take correction or rebuke or instruction .. how do you expect GOD to use you ..??
It's just this .. if you're going to follow HIM - and HIS scripture says to "do good to them that despitefully use you" - then WHINING IN PUBLIC ABOUT EVERY LITTLE THING THE MAN DOES - IS NOT FOLLOWING GOD. It's following your little petty offence at what the Pastor supposedly did to you, or because he didn't agree with you.
We are called to serve our church leaders as though we were serving Jesus Himself. They're not perfect - and if we're expecting them to be .. then we're the ones who aren't dealing with reality.
My Pastor has done lots of things that I didn't necessarily agree with .. however, I learned to serve him anyway - as my commitment to Jesus - and somehow when those things didn't work out - my Pastor would end up doing what I thought should have been done in the first place. How did that happen ..?? I prayed and I stayed the course. GOD knew how to handle it.
Well .. what I'm trying to explain is that you SHOULD DO THEM ALL IN SEQUENCE - AND NOT JUST ONE OF THEM ONE DAY AND ONE THE NEXT DAY.
It's a sequence of events - as you clean it out - you need to go on to the next program - until you get to defrag and after that do a restart.
Do you have XP - and do you have the new supplemental?
How old is your Norton?
Once, I had to delete Norton and start over.
If you do that - then you will still need to follow the same maint procedure after you remove Norton.
After the restart - re-install Norton - run defrag only - again.
Every time I delete or add any program I run defrag - always. Saves so many headaches.
Please answer all my questions or I can't help you.
It's not really public if he doesn't name names. Plus, I think it is hard to serve a church leader who tells you to scram.
Thanks! Yes, we found another church a few months later. Doctrinally its confession is good, but the church seems unsure of what it wants to be. Elaborate drama and loud music are replaced by no drama at all and less chest thumping music, with no explanation. The pastor's sermons have catchy titles, but unfortunately less meat than I might like. Line-by-line preaching of the Word of God seems almost to have disappeared in the church today. Everything is topical, which is fine, but I like a balance.
But we have found an excellent Sunday School class that challenges us, and a good home group. That's a good thing.
That is a big problem - we expect too much out of pastors. Most pastors went to seminary because they love to teach the Bible, love people and feel called by God into this ministry. Then parishioners demand that they chair committees, be the chief financial officer, make sure the lawn is cut, and deal with the complaints of the elderly when they don't hear enough hymns. Too often people expect the pastor to be at church every time the doors are open and his own family is neglected.
It isn't what they signed on for, and many of them wind up unhappy and underperforming, because they really have little gift for what they spend their time doing.
We could only hope!
Are you saying GOD doesn't know who he's talking about ..??
Yes, it can be very hard to serve some Pastors. While I was the administrator of my church's Bible school - I had to work with 2 people who were almost impossible. I would get so frustrated when I would show up directly from work (with no dinner) and find out the room to be used for school was a total mess - and I would get stuck cleaning it all up - while they were in their offices chatting about whatever.
I got so angry one night that on my way home from school, I was yelling and screaming to GOD at the top of my lungs .. how unfair they were and how rude they were, etc., etc. When I finally shut up and let GOD get a word in edgewise, GOD's answer was - "Do it as unto ME". I was shell-shocked. GOD's words hit me like a bolt out of the blue .. I just sat there in my car (in the driveway), in total silence (for which GOD was probably grateful).
Not only was GOD expecting me to swallow my anger, but my pride and everything else. What happened was really a miracle. Overnight I made an attitude adjustment. I never went there expecting them to do anything for me .. and I went out of my way to serve them - while I was doing everything else. Sometimes I would cry all the way home because my precious little feelings had been hurt .. but then GOD's words would come flooding back to me and I would remember WHO I was really serving; and repent.
Within a year - both of those people were dismissed by the Pastor. Why? Because GOD saw my heart - and because GOD is able to make all things work out for good - to those that love HIM - and are called to HIS purpose.
While serving people who do not treat you right is unpleasant - perhaps it's GOD's way of refining you. I truly learned to "walk in love" toward others. I'm so grateful for having the opportunity to learn how to do that GOD's way.
Paul held a seeker-sensitive service in Athens which is recorded in Acts 17:22-31. In his short, culturally relevant and contemporary sermon he never even uses the name of Jesus. He quotes a Greek poet more directly than scripture.
Paul was a Roman to the Romans, a Jew to the Jews. To the weak he became weak that by all means he might win some. (1 Corinthians 9:19-22) To the suburban Americans, the seeker-sensitive church has become suburban American.
Some people think that diminishes our call to holiness.
They said the same thing about Paul.
You must think that there are times to leave a church behind.
I see a growth in church numbers, particularly of "mere Christian" type churches such as espoused by that great Christian apologist, C.S. Lewis.
I abandoned my protestant Church years ago. My new one is non-denominational. Unapologetic Fundamentalists with a Hunger for His Word. These are the Churches growing in the U.S.
Among the remainder of traditional Churches, those of absolutist teachings experience growth while the humanistic pop culture churches tend to be on decline.
Historically oppression breeds revival. Whether it be the removal of the ten Commandments or the enslavement of people that wear a cross around their neck, the environment of the world at this point in its history is ripe for a Christian Revival.
I agree with you. I have felt for a long time we're in the midst of spiritual change and I do not take the events of the day to be without meaning.
Take the backlash against Christians by the MSM currently. It may please their readers that are numerous, but for far more than it pleases there are those with eyes opened that find themselves repulsed. Anyone with dormant beliefs in a Creator is being jarred awake, purposely, imo.
Ahhhhhh and in your inestemable wisdom
you have both the perspective and comprehensive viewpoint of all reality such that
conclude that God's view of the depth and breadth of reality is not essentially different from yours.
Further that reality is soooooooooooooooooo finite and comprehendable that you are 1,000% certain that no
FACET
of any aspect of reality
COULD EVER
APPEAR
TO BE
in stark contrast to another
FACET of reality on the opposite side of the diamond.
So, enjoy your starchy, rigid, fossilized, unreal reality.
And, don't forget to look down a very long nose to the end of a very long finger at all those who see things differently.
WHAT A WONDERFUL EXAMPLE OF CHRISTIAN INTEGRITY, AUTHENTICITY AND FAITHFULNESS!
I knew there was tons I liked about you.
CONGRATULATIONS. You must have been through some brokenness to arrive at such saintliness, I'd bet, though.
LOL.
No. I need to do them in sequence as you suggested. Have been in the middle of some other things and may not get to it until Mon or Tues. Sigh.
Am trying to install NOrton System Works 2005. It's having problems.
Have finally found a software package that MAY get rid of the CASHTOOLBAR thing.
Thankss tons.
I know abundantly what that's like.
I think it hurts more when one has been a faithful servant hearted servant and the pastor still chases you off because of THEIR pride, insecurities and/or sins.
Still . . . God can work all things together for His and our good.
I am willing to take correction or rebuke, as long as it is from a Godly leader. I will not take it from a pastor who tells sexual stories from the pulpit.
Another impressive example well put.
Thanks.
EXCELLENT points well put.
Thanks.
King David was willing to take it from his enemies' actions as though from God Himself.
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