Gospel.com Blog

Two items from GFA. The first is an update of the Orissa situation filmed on Sept. 15 at the Gospel For Asia site.

Secondly is an in depth write-up of the violence being perpetrated against Christians in India. Head over to the GFA site to read the whole article. Here’s a quick excerpt:

The latest report of violence came September 16 in Uttar Pradesh, a state in north central India, when four GFA missionaries were attacked while handing out tracts. Hindu extremists confronted the missionaries, grabbed their cell phones and used them to make threatening phone calls to the GFA state office. They vehemently told the men to “stop converting Hindus into Christianity” and mercilessly beat the missionaries.

A missionary school in Kerala was also attacked September 15, according to a report issued by the Evangelical Fellowship of India

Uttar Pradesh is home to about 190 million people. You can read more about the state on its wikipedia entry.

Please pray for Christian missionaries worldwide.

On that day a great persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria. Godly men buried Stephen and mourned deeply for him. But Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off both men and women and put them in prison. —Acts 8:1-4

Persecution is nothing new to the church—the above passage describes a campaign of persecution launched in the earliest days of the Christian church. Persecution of the church (sometimes even at the hands of fellow Christians) of some sort has been present in every century since Jesus’ time. And it’s a reality today, even if those of us living in relatively free Western societies find it hard to believe.

There are several ministries in the Gospel.com community that focus on the plight of the persecuted church around the world. Perhaps most prominent is the Lausanne World Pulse newsletter, which has some excellent articles describing the state of the persecuted church today:

• Lessons from the Persecuted Church, which lists five important things we can learn from the existence of persecution—and which suggests that persecution should not be seen as an abnormal part of the Christian walk.
• Essays about the persecution of Christians in the Muslim world, Indonesia, North Korea, and elsewhere.

Perhaps the most well-known instance of persecution took place under the Roman Empire in the early centuries of the church. For a good rundown of that era of persecution, this transcript from Christian History Institute goes over the basic history.

Over at Sermon Index you can find a classic George Whitefield sermon exhorting Christians to hold firm under persecution, whatever form it takes. Also at that site is the inspiring story of John Cennick, who suffered greatly for his faith.

There are many other resources on the topic of the persecuted church within the Gospel.com community; if you’ve checked out the above links and want more, see the Persecuted Church page.

Yesterday we pointed out a number of resources to help Christians learn more about Islam. Today we’ve got a few more, starting with a series of short Introduction to Islam videos from People of the Book. Here’s the first video:

Be sure to watch part 2 and part 3 if you found that useful.

The above videos, and the resources we noted yesterday, focus primarily on introducing the basic teachings and tenets of Islam. But if you’re looking for a more thorough analysis comparing Islam’s teachings to those of Christianity, Faith Facts has an exhaustive comparison of the two faiths. If you’ve ever wondered exactly how Christianity and Islam differ, or if those differences are theologically important, that’s a good place to start.

And last but not least, Into Thy Word has an excellent summary of Muslims beliefs, as well as some concrete ideas for effectively sharing the Gospel and showing Christlike love to Muslims. This essay, by Patrick Cate, also addresses many of the more cultural questions about Islam and the Arab world that have cropped up since September 11, 2001—questions about Islamic fundamentalism, terrorism, and Western biases against and misconceptions about Muslims.

For Christians, summer and autumn make up a long gap between the major holidays that dot the church’s calendar. But for Muslims, this is an important time of year: we’re right in the middle of Ramadan, a month-long period of fasting and prayer. Arab World Ministries describes Ramadan more specifically:

The fourth pillar [of the Islamic faith] is the fasting, or the “Saum”, during the ninth month of the Islamic lunar calendar, the month of Ramadan. Muslims go by the lunar calendar, and so Ramadan moves every year. From sunrise to sunset, Muslims do not eat or drink. Smoking, sexual contact, swearing and anger are forbidden. The faithful are encouraged to use the month of fasting to draw closer to God, and to renew their spiritual strength.

Why should Christians take the time to learn about Muslim holidays or other elements of the Muslim faith? Because understanding what Muslims do (and don’t) believe is critical if we want to introduce them to the Gospel message. The Ramadan period is as good a time as any to learn a bit more about Islam and its tenets, and to that end a number of resources from the Gospel.com community can help:

• Questions About Islam: an incredible repository of information about Islam; answers dozens of commonly-asked questions Christians ask about Islam.
• What Muslims Believe: a quick rundown of the basic teachings of Islam.
• Respecting Muslims While Sharing Christ: on the challenge of respecting and loving our Muslim neighbors rather than just trying to “convert” them.
• What should our attitude as Christians be toward Ramadan? Should Christians emulate Ramadan within their own faith?
• What struggles do Christians of Muslim background face during Ramadan? Should converts from Islam to Christianity observe Ramadan—and what types of pressure do they face to do so?

Ministries like Arab World Ministries, Lausanne World Pulse, and People of the Book all have excellent information about Islam and the importance of understanding and reaching out to Muslims. Take advantage of the Ramadan period to educate yourself about Islam, and consider ways you can pray for or minister to Muslims!

[The accompanying image is an old map of the city of Mecca.]

The Paralympics are currently being held in Bejing and More Than Gold News has been blogging about each day’s events and results. Here are the highlights from day 10:

The USA Wheelchair Rugby team came into today’s gold medal game against undefeated Australia leading the way in this tournament in goals, steals and blocks. They won the battle in two of those categories and won Paralympic Gold today. The final score was 53-44.

Meanwhile, the USA Men’s Wheelchair Basketball lost to Great Britain today in the bronze medal game 85-77. The team from Australia won the gold and Canada took silver.

Now to track and field where the United States won Paralympic gold today in the men’s 4-by-100 meter relay. The team of Brain Frasure, Casey Tibbs, Jerome Singleton and Jim Bob Bizzell outlasted Brazil. Bizzell spoke with Sports Spectrum following the race and is already looking ahead to 2012. Bizzell also won silver in the men’s 400 meters today. It’s a gold medal for Joshua George as he won today’s 100 meter heat and Casey Tibbs won a bronze medal in the men’s long jump. The USA women also on the medal podium today in the 4-by-100 meter relay. The team of Tatyana McFadden, Anjali Forber-Pratt, Amanda McGrory and Jessica Galli finished third for the bronze medal.

The closing ceremonies are tomorrow, but you can still watch all of the action from the previous days on UniversalSports.com or learn more about the Paralympics at the International Paralympic Committee.

Are you looking for resources for your church or ministry? You might want to check out Faith Alive. Faith Alive is the publishing branch of the Christian Reformed Church. In addition to an extensive catalog of bible studies, Sunday School curriculum and worship music they publish The Banner and Reformed Worship as well as Spanish language materials under the Libros Desafio name.

Faith Alive is not just for the Christian Reformed Church, as they state “over half of our sales are to denominations other than the Christian Reformed Church.”

The mission of Faith Alive Christian Resources is to provide resources that call people to follow Jesus Christ by helping people to understand, experience, and express the good news of God’s kingdom that transforms lives and communities worldwide.

Back to the Bible is running a survey contest that can net you a trip to Israel with Woodrow Kroll! The survey, from the Center for Bible Engagement, is gathering information about how people deal with temptation in their daily lives, and how that affects their spiritual growth.

The survey has been extended for a few days, but the deadline is almost here—you’ve got until this Sunday, September 7, to take the survey and enter to win the trip to Israel. The Back to the Bible website has the full contest rules and details.

Looking for a way to start out each day on the right foot? Sports Spectrum has a devotional that will help you keep grounded—it’s called Training Table (formerly Power Up), and it provides a short devotional message by a different author each day, each with a sports-focused theme. You can download the September edition (PDF) at the Sports Spectrum website.

In addition to Training Table, Sports Spectrum has a number of changes and new additions coming up later this month, when their magazine switches to a quarterly format. A more interactive The Daily blog and an online version of their magazine are among the promised features—so check their site on September 15 to see all the improvements!

What’s going on with XXX Church? Now you can keep up with the people and personalities behind their ministry by watching their weekly video podcast at xxxchurch.tv. The first episode is online, and follows the XXX Church team as they head out to set up a ministry presence in—where else?—Sin City:

You can subscribe to xxxchurch.tv though iTunes or RSS, and you can become a fan on Facebook.

For most high school and college students, summer is officially over and the new school year has begun. All around the country, school campuses are full of nervous freshmen trying hard to plug into campus life, make new friends, and get their personal and spiritual lives organized. If you’re an upperclassman, that means there’s plenty of opportunity to reach out to new students who could use a helping hand as they adjust to school life.

Several articles at StudentSoul.org look specifically at the challenges and opportunities of campus ministry during the opening weeks of the school year:

• The Power of a Personal Invitation: if you’re an upperclassman, you might be surprised how much of an encouragement you can be to a new student trying to find their way around campus life!
• Help, I’m a Freshman! remember how overwhelming your freshman year was? Here are a few ideas to help you lend a helping hand to new students on campus.
• New Student Outreach: Get Ready! a list of some fun and unique ways to minister to your fellow students.

If you’re an upperclassman, you’re in a unique opportunity to help struggling freshmen on your campus. Next time you see a freshman wandering lost around campus, don’t point and laugh—think about how you can show Christlike love and encouragement to them. And keep an eye on StudentSoul.org for more ministry ideas like the ones above.