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Fastest Growing Religion

"In a number of respects, Islam actually isgrowing faster than Christianity. Islam's growth rate of 2.15 percent annually does exceed Christianity's rate of 1.45 percent. It is worth pointing out, however, that 96 percent of the growth of Islam is attributable to biological growthchildren born into Muslim families. Islam is flourishing in parts of the world where population growth is high. Christianity, increasingly decentralized, has its traditional base in parts of the world where population growth is quite slow or has come to a standstill. Thus, the overall trends do show Islam growing faster than Christianity."

by Woodberry and Shubin-- "Why I Chose Jesus"

Missions Frontiers--March 2001(read more here)

Former Soviet Nations Closing

I read recently, in one of the International Mission Board’s (IMB) newsletters, that those nations that were once soviet are slowly becoming closed once more to the Gospel. Of course, for a nation to close to the Gospel entirely is impossible. God can get in even if missionaries can’t. In the 1980s, Brother Andrew proved this by smuggling Bibles into the “closed” Soviet nations. The time maybe coming yet again for such exploits.

The article mentioned the thought that perhaps God had opened up those countries so that He could rebuild them and renew their resources and spirits. That may well be. Recently, after the Soviet reopened, Bibles belonging to families within the Russian nations were found in warehouses. These Bibles were distributed back into the hands of the people. In retrospect, the Soviets may well say they did themselves no justice by keeping instead of burning these Bibles but by the same token God knew that they would be needed. He opened up the region and allowed the Word of God to go forth unhindered.

It has been a decade and a half since the fall of the Soviet. The church in Russia is growing. Leadership training has been the focus in many churches. New Seminaries have been established and are sending out many pastors, teachers, and missionaries into the surrounding regions and across the world and the government is noticing. Slowly but surely, attention is turning back to religious freedom and questions are being raised as to its benefits.

In Kazakhstan, President Nursultan Nazarbayev announced a few days ago the intention to start tightening down on religious freedoms. Though Kazakhstan has no national religion, that does not mean that this country should become a religious dumping ground for all, he said. While I can understand the logic behind this, I believe that this is only beginning. I heard from a Ukrainian brother a week ago that things there are not looking good either. He fears it may lead to a war. And the accounts are growing.

How much longer will these nations remain open? There is no way to tell but we must remember that all is under God’s sovereign control and will occur according to His plan and timing. Now is not the time for fear but rather the time to take advantage of the freedoms that remain. Please join me in remembering our brothers and sisters abroad in prayer, and remember also to pray for the leadership of these nations.

A Few Thoughts on the Mosque Visit

Today we went to a mosque. We have been studying the rise of Islam for the past couple weeks in class but there's nothing like a little hands on experience, right? The goal of today was primarily to observe and thereby gain a better understanding of what Muslims believe.

We arrived in time for Friday prayers and the sermon. The sermon was really interesting. I had a little difficulty following the message but from what I can tell they do not really prepare beforehand. It appears that the aim of the message is to exhort the believers to good works and obedience to Allah by means of the Quran. They main emphasis today was that life is short and one shouldn't waste it with things like television while there are such devotions as prayer and discipleship that are far more profitable to spend time doing.

There are definately things about it that i agree with. James 4:14 tells us that life is just a vapor and as you read James it would seem that he is exhorting us to good works as well but there is a difference. James makes the distinction between believers and non believers in saying that knowledge of truth isn't enough to warrant salvation unless it bears fruit (ie. Good works). James explains that even the demons believe. What sets us apart from the demons is that we love God and out of that comes a desire to serve God and be obedient to His Word (bearing fruit).

Within the context of Islam, goodworks are a means of earning salvation. It would not be possible to live a life of sin apart from good works and still gain entrance into paradise. They do say that the primary requirement is belief in god but it is not enough to simply believe. One must earn entrance by fulfilling the five pillars to the best of their ability: prayers, alms giving, confession, fasting, and pilgrimage. And even in doing these things there is still no assurance. God does as he wills.

What I dislike the most about this god is that he seems fickle. I cannot understand how he can set forth rules and be holy and just as they say he is and yet still be able to make judgements completely apart from the decree he put forth. How can a man live a perfect life and commit one sin at the end of his life and still be cast in to hell while another man can live a terrible life and somehow he can be permitted to enter paradise because Allah wills. This god does not seem to set forth a standard and hold to it. He seems to change his mind and be blown by every little wind. For some reason my mind keeps falling back to the gods of greece...