Christ's Return

Jesus IS coming back. He told us He would and we have set our hope on His return. But when? I believe there is one verse in the Bible that gives us the best idea of when that will happen...Matt. 24:14.

Throughout the centuries, different people have tried to predict when Jesus Christ will return. Even His disciples were eager to know when He would return: "As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. "'Tell us,' they said, 'when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?' Jesus answered: 'Watch out that no one deceives you. For many will come in my name, claiming, 'I am the Christ,' and will deceive many.'" 

Jesus clearly stated that "No one knows about that day or hour (the hour of His return), not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father." (Matt. 24:36)

But Jesus did make one statement that will help us to know when He will return. He said: "And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come." (Matt. 24:14). The whole world...every people group...every nation, must have an opportunity to hear the good news of Jesus Christ. And who is to do the preaching? The Church, us, His hands and feet in the world.

"God has entrusted to us the continuation and the consummation of that task. Here is the thing that thrills me. We have come far closer to the finishing of this mission than any previous generation. We have done more in the last century and a half in worldwide evangelization than all the preceding centuries since the time of the apostles. Our modern technology has provided printing, automobiles, aeroplanes and radios. These and many other methods have allowed us to speed our task of carrying the gospel into all the world. Previously unknown languages are being recorded into writing. The Word of God has now been rendered al least partially into over 2,000 languages or dialects, and that number is growing yearly. Here is the challenging fact. If a relatively small minority of God's people took this text seriously and responded to its challenges, we could finish the task of worldwide evangelization in our own generation. We would then witness the Lord's return!" (George Eldon Ladd)

Wow! Can you imagine the privilege and awesome responsibility of having a part in bringing Christ back to earth? It should be something that causes all Christians to do all they can to spread the good news of Jesus to every people group.

But that isn't happening. Why? I think it's partly due to whether or not we eagerly anticipate and desire the Lord's return.

Do we? How often do you think about Jesus coming back? I know I don't think of His return very often. My life on earth is comfortable and relatively easy. I want Him to come back but I don't think I eagerly anticipate His return as I should.

But, if we really comprehended how incredible Jesus is, what life will be like in Heaven with Him, if we even looked forward just a bit to Heaven, then I think we would be thinking about His return a lot more than we are!!! I encourage you to read a wonderful book, Heaven, by Randy Alcorn. It takes Scripture and paints a picture of what Heaven will be like...how awesome it will be!!!

And Jesus tells us plainly that He will return once every nation has had an opportunity to hear the Gospel message. That doesn't necessarily mean every person but it does mean, at least, every nation (people group with a distinct culture, language, ethnicity, from those around them).

According to 2020 Vision by Bill and Amy Stearns:

- There are 6,600 Unreached / Least-Reached ethnic people groups out of 16,300 total groups in the world. (“Unreached - Least-Reached” is defined as less than 2% evangelical individuals and less than 5% Christian adherents in the people group.)

- 3,700 of these Unreached / Least-Reached groups are small, under 10,000 in population, so the task isn’t as large as it first appears.

As you can see, the task can be completed...it will be completed...the question is When? The answer has a lot to do with us! Each of us can make a difference...we can pray, learn, share, support, go!

Pray for North Korea

North Korean girl

Pray for North Korea

The eyes of the world will be on South Korea this week as the Olympics unfold in this beautiful country. But their neighbor to the north, North Korea, was named the worst persecutor of Christians in the world for the seventeenth year in a row by Open Doors. The conditions for Christians inside this politically closed, spiritually dark country are considered “extremely harsh,” with untold thousands imprisoned for their faith, many of them tortured and some used as human guinea pigs for testing biological and chemical weapons.

While the international community is legitimately concerned about North Korea’s nuclear ambitions, the world seems to be overlooking the ongoing and serious human rights violations being carried out by the repressive regime of Kim Jong Il.

Among the many atrocities taking place in North Korea is one of purposeful neglect. Though the leaders of the nation live in opulence, millions of citizens have died in famines that have ravaged the population since the 1990s. One study estimated that in 2006, 37% of the nation’s children were undernourished and more than 24% were underweight.

The national religion of North Korea is an ideology called Juche, developed by former leader, Kim Il Sung. Juche is a form of emperor worship that “centers on the worship of the country’s leaders.”

“Every religious activity,” notes Open Doors, “is recognized as an insurrection to the North Korean socialist principles.” The government has been especially zealous in its attempts to eradicate Christianity. “The people have been taught that Christians are ‘crazy people.’” Those who follow Jesus must worship underground. If they are discovered, they face arrest, torture, imprisonment and, often death.

Untold thousands of Believers are currently languishing in dozens of North Korean labor camps located throughout the nation. Along with torture, some are subject to chemical and biological weapons testing.

“In spite of these inhuman circumstances,” reports Open Doors, “Christianity is growing and the chances to hear the Gospel are growing especially for those who live in nearby China.”

North Korea is listed as the number one persecutor of Christians in the world on the Open Doors World Watch List 2018 of the top countries that are the worst persecutors of Christians in the world. 

PRAY FOR:

the heart of Kim Jong Un and the other leaders of North Korea to be transformed by a personal encounter with Jesus Christ. (The Bible, II Corinthians 5:17)

an immediate end to the barbaric treatment of Christians and other citizens considered to be a threat to the repressive government. Pray for this mistreatment and abuse to be made public, capture the attention of the media, and for international governments to call for it to cease right away. (The Bible, Hebrews 4:13)

the Light of Christ to shine throughout this darkened nation. (The Bible, I Peter 2:9)

the Lord to be present with Believers who have been imprisoned, those being tortured, and with families who have lost loved ones. Pray for the Lord to comfort, strengthen, and encourage them. (The Bible, II Corinthians 1:3-5)

the Gospel to continue to spread in North Korea. Pray for Christians to share their faith with boldness, seeking to honor the Lord, despite fierce resistance. (The Bible, Ephesians 6:19,20)

Pray Christian Believers will be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. (The Bible, Ephesians 6:10)

the Kingdom of God to come to North Korea with great and awesome power. Pray for the Holy Spirit to move among the people, drawing multitudes into relationship with Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord today. Pray they will be discipled in the ways of the Kingdom of Heaven. (The Bible, John 6:44)

Sources: Open Doors, Voice of the Martyrs, Barnabas Fund, Window International Network

Why do Christians Suffer?

Ever since I have been interested in and burdened for the persecuted church and the lost, the issue of suffering comes up repeatedly. We know the Bible says time and again that if we follow Christ we will suffer.  I have listed just a few of the many references to suffering and persecution:

“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

“Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.—Matthew 5:10-12   

“If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours.—John 15:18-20   

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written,“For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.—Romans 8:35-39  

Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted,—2 Timothy 3:12   

Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ's sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name.—1 Peter 4:12-14, 16

I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. ---- John 12:24-25

Jesus tells us that we will be persecuted. But why? Because in no other act of a human being is God’s love shown more profoundly. Jesus was the ultimate martyr. He gave His life for us and He tells us time and again that we must be willing to do the same for others. And that is just what Christians are doing all over the world.  

As people willingly sacrifice their lives, not just through death but also through other types of loss and persecution, those around them see a God who is worth giving everything for. As they see Christians give everything for God, they begin to believe that God loves them and will give everything for them.

    
The Christian Church grows through persecution. “The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church.” God is glorified when people see that faith in Him is worth losing everything on this earth, even life itself. Actions speak louder than words. When people see Christians who are bold in their belief and desire to tell others about Christ, even at the risk of persecution, unbelievers often want to know more. Paul even said, in Philippians 1:14, “Because of my chains, most of the brothers in the Lord have been encouraged to speak the word of God more courageously and fearlessly.”

    
Let me interject some thoughts about America at this point. Right now, there is much concern about the future of America, morally and financially, but I don’t think we, as Christians, should be worried and concerned or look on this as entirely bad. According to Robert E. Coleman, "The Church should not fear affliction, though it causes anguish and even death. Suffering may be necessary to convince us that we do not live by bread alone. When received as an expression of God's trust, our suffering can be a means of helping us comprehend more of the love of Christ, 'who suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps' (1 Pet 2:21; Heb. 2:10, 5:8). "

    
Without hardship, probably few of us would learn much about the deeper life of grace. We all know this is true in our own lives. When we go through difficult times, it draws us closer to the Lord. Well, maybe God has more difficult times ahead for the Church in America, in order to draw her closer to Him and purify her for greater works as we anticipate the return, someday, of our Lord Jesus Christ. 

    
In addition to persecution and suffering drawing the non-believer and us, closer to the Lord, it helps to keep in mind that we are in a spiritual battle. The Church doesn't talk about this as much as it used to (remember "Onward Christian Soldiers"), but that doesn't mean the battle isn't being waged. Satan hates us: This is a spiritual battle first and foremost. Ephesians 6:12 says “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” This battle is greater than any other battle on earth. And unlike the war on terrorism or any other war, it’s a battle not just for freedom on earth but freedom from Hell and Satan for eternity.

    
I write all this fully aware that I have never suffered on the scale that many are suffering today. I pray that when the suffering comes in my life, I will be reminded of all of God's promises that He will be with me and will give me the strength to endure. I share all this with the belief that we, as a Church, need to be mindful of those who suffer, pray for them and do all we can to help them, and be prepared (as much as we can be) for suffering, knowing "that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us." (Rom 5:3-5)

This life is so short compared to eternity! If we are asked to suffer so that Christ will be glorified and so that other people will not suffer for eternity in Hell, I pray that each of us will be willing to obey.

10 Ways to Help Kids Love Missions

Young missionaries

10 Ways to Help Kids Love Missions

There are things we can do to help our kids love the nations and the cause of Christ, even though a heart and calling for the Great Commission is ultimately something only God can grant. Here are a few ideas from Ryan and Anna, who are serve in Asia with their two young daughters.

1. Pray for missionaries as a family. We keep a stack of prayer cards on the dinner table and rotate through them during mealtime prayers.

2. Read missionary biographies to your children. The stories of Hudson Taylor, Adoniram Judson, William Carey, Gladys Aylward, and other missionary pioneers are captivating ways to orient a child’s heart on the most important things in life.

3. Draw the whole family into supporting missionaries financially. Teach your kids from a young age that being a good steward of their money involves channeling resources toward the the cause of Christ in missions. Older kids can donate some of their lawn mowing and babysitting money. Younger children can earn money doing chores around the house which can be set aside for missionaries.

4. Find your child a missionary kid (MK) pen pal. Many children of missionaries around the world would be delighted to get mail from a child their age in their parent’s culture. Your child (and the whole family) will learn valuable insights about living abroad through the eyes of a child. Additionally, when the missionaries visit your church, your child will already have a relationship with the MK and will be able to include them more easily.

5. Entertain missionaries in your home. Inviting missionaries over will be as much of a blessing to your family as to the missionaries. Host them for dinner or for a whole furlough. Build or buy your house with this in mind.

6. Take risks as a family. There are ways to live life which help children grasp the reality that discomfort and suffering are normal and rewarding parts of the Christian experience. Volunteer at a rescue mission; house a single mother; move to the inner-city.

7. Affirm and nurture qualities in your children which could serve them on the mission field. As your children grow in knowledge and skill, encourage them to think about how they could use their gifts in missions work. Then, if God says, “go,” release them to go!

8. Teach your children to be world Christians. Don't expose them to only the American perspective on news and realities around the world. Go out of your way to make them more aware than the average American Christian about geography, world history, and the plights and perspectives of people across the globe.

9. Read missionary prayer letters to your children. Ask them questions about the content and look up facts about the missionaries’ location on the Internet.

10. Use missions fact books and resources such as Operation World, the Global Prayer Digest, the Joshua Project, and Voice of the Martyrs (VOM). Kids of Courage is the youth-oriented arm of VOM and offers activity books, spotlights on the persecuted world, and more.

Most of all, pray every day that your kids will develop hearts that mirror God’s compassion for the nations and love for his glory in them!

A Praying Family

A friend of mine suggested I read Nancy Campbell's devotionals which have been dealing with the same things I am passionate about. Her ministry is called Far Above Rubies http://www.aboverubies.org

I have included one of her most recent devotions on prayer.

ENEMY CHASERS

Leviticus 26:8, “Five of you shall chase an hundred, and a hundred of you shall put ten thousand to flight: and your enemies shall fall before you by the sword.”

We can be a close-knit, loving family and yet live to ourselves. I believe we should lift up our eyes to see what an influence we can be as a family to the world. One of the greatest ways we can influence the world is by prayer. The power of praying families is enormous.

Prayer should be part of every home. Jesus said, “My house shall be called a house of prayer.” If our home belongs to the Lord, it will be a home of prayer. That means prayers will be conducted daily. That means prayer will happen spontaneously throughout the day. That means prayer will be very natural in our home. It will be as familiar as breathing to our children. As my husband often states, “If we haven’t taught our children to pray, we haven’t taught them.”

One of the most powerful times in our home is our Family Devotions each evening where everyone prays around the table—father, mother and all the children and whoever else happens to be at the table. We pray for current needs. We pray for our nation. Can you imagine the blessings that would come to us if every family prayed together each day for their nation?

We also pray for the nations of the world. It is amazing that we can sit around our dinner table in the Tennessee woods and yet see mighty things happen for God in countries of the world to which we haven’t even visited.

Sometimes we will encourage each one to pray for a country that is on their heart or comes to their mind. Currently we are using the book 100 Gateway Cities of the 10/40 Window. After our Bible reading, we read the information about the city in the book. This last week we have been praying for the cities of Casablanca in Morocco, El Aaiun in Western Sahara, Nouakchott in Mauritania, Dakar in Senegal, Banjul in Gambia and Bissau in Guinea Bissau. We are certainly learning our geography! The children learn about the world at the same time they learn to forget about themselves and instead pray for needy, persecuted and often enslaved people in other cities and countries of the world. You can also use Operation World: Day to Day Guide to Praying for the World.

God’s Word tells us that five people can chase 100 aliens (Lev. 26:8)! How many children in your family? Do you have three! With you and your husband and your children (five of you) you can put 100 enemies to flight! This is amazing! This is powerful! No wonder Satan seeks to get us interested in doing everything else but pray together as a family. Dear mother, I know. There are a thousand things that turn up to lure us away from this powerful ministry. There are even “good things” that will keep us from this “best” task of moving the hand of God in prayer. Watch out for extra-curricular activities which rob us of much togetherness as a family, as especially prayer times.

This powerful ministry doesn’t just happen. You have to make it happen. You have to make it a commitment. But you can do it. I have proved it over years and years and we are still doing it today.

As it comes to this culminating moment of the day when we have the Family Altar and pray together, I am aware of the power of what is happening. We are reaching out beyond our four walls. We are going into nations of the world that are closed to the Gospel. We are going into countries where we could be killed for preaching the Gospel—but we are going in by prayer. God is hearing our cries. He hears the cries of the children.  He loves children’s prayers.

The more people we have around our table, the more prayer goes up to the throne of grace. The more children you have praying around your table, the more impact you have upon the world. Praying together is the most important thing you can do together as a family.

The enemies of God will bite the dust as you and your family pray.

Love from NANCY CAMPBELL

Above Rubies, www.aboverubies.org

PRAYER:

“Oh God, help me to never forget the power of prayer. Show me how I can get my family together every day to pray and impact the world. Amen.”

AFFIRMATION:

We are a missionary family, going into the countries of the world through the power of prayer!

Wake Up and Fight!

"For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms." Ephesians 6:12

Things in America are changing rapidly. Many Christians are concerned...wondering what the future will hold for us and our children. Anxiety can quickly set in. Or what if you are one of my many friends in South Korea right now...tensions are rising between South and North Korea. What does the future hold? How do we pray? 

Yes, we need to pray for our respective governments, for wisdom and for Godly guidance. But things may not change for the better. In fact, they may get worse. This shouldn't worry us when we remind ourselves that God is in complete control. 

So what do we pray for? I believe one of our overriding prayers, as Christians, should be that the Church in America and South Korea and throughout the world will wake up to the spiritual warfare that is being waged around her. We have been lulled to a peacetime mentality for too long by the prosperity of our countries. But Jesus and Paul and others said time and again that we are at war! (2 Tim 4:7, 1 Tim 6:12, Eph 6:12-18, 2 Cor 10:3-5, 1 Tim 1:18)

We are in a global war much worse than WWII and it stretches to every town, village and home. Its casualties don't just lose an arm or leg but their very souls to eternal damnation! May we wake up, out of our peacetime living, and wage this warfare on behalf of our Lord and Savior (and I'm talking about missions...especially overseas to the least reached people groups). 

Christians used to be aware of and wholeheartedly join in the battle for man's souls. Look at the hymnals of old (Onward Christian Soldiers, etc). We sent missionaries by the boatful and lived a life of meeting basic needs rather than wanting more and more! I'm ashamed as I look at just the wealth we have accumulated at the expense of sending more of the money God has blessed us with overseas, where souls are being won or lost for Christ. How many people's lives could have been touched for just the cost of the pretty statues I have sitting on my shelves? 

America and South Korea and other prosperous nations have become like the third soil in Jesus' parable of the soils. Jesus sows His urgent seed (the Word of God). But instead of taking it up as our sword (or bearing fruit), we "are those who hear the Word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things enter in and choke the Word, and it proves unfruitful" (Mark 4:18-19)

Yes, changes in our countries are starting to light some fires under Christians. But shouldn't fires have been lit already when we saw the atrocities Satan has undertaken in this world, time and again, over the past few decades (AIDS, Rwanda, Dem Republic of the Congo, Intifada in Israel, China's Tienamen Square, Mao, etc). 

So, my number one prayer, more than anything else, is that God would use the rapid changes in this world to get Christians on their knees. And I suspect, that as Christians pray fervently, their prayers will change from: Lord, preserve the prosperity and richness of this nation and my lifestyle to: Lord, may Your will be done. Break my heart for what breaks Yours. May the Gospel be preached to the ends of the earth to glorify your name and save people, just like me, from Hell. 

Yes...I am concerned. But it's for the soul of the Church. May we turn our hearts, minds and pocketbooks over to the Lord. May we be willing to tithe/fast the "American Dream" for the thousands of unreached people groups in the 10/40 Window, the Muslims who have less than 5 missionaries per million Muslims, the AIDS orphans, the women and young girls sold into sexual slavery... May concern for the glory of Christ and love for his people change America and South Korea (and any other home country of my readers) back to a country with God as our foundation, truly! 

You, my friends reading this blog, are the prayer warriors whose prayers will help bring this to pass! 

Praying for the Lost

Matthew 9:36-38   When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field."

Each of us can be one of those workers in the harvest field of the world...right from your own home, through prayer. 

Prayer is especially significant for missions because in mission work, we come up against so much of the evil status quo and the fatalistic views of so many cultures. Satan desires that the Christians, in missions or in mission support, will doubt God’s power to change. He doesn’t want us to beseech the God of the Universe to bring unreached people groups to Himself because Satan will continue to lose ground. Satan wants us to think that the situation is hopeless, that the people are a lost cause, that God doesn’t care about them.
   
This is a battle for every soul!  We must engage in petitionary prayer on behalf of the lost and in our own lives. We must ask ourselves this question...”Do we really think God would fail to bring about justice for His chosen ones who cry to Him night and day? Will He keep putting them off?” Jesus answered it for us in Luke 18:7-8, “I tell you, He will see that they get justice, and quickly.”
   
So, what do we do? How do we go beyond a quick "bless the people in China and bring all the lost to you" into true spiritual warfare on behalf of the lost? God has provided a wealth of resources.

The two websites I visit every day during my prayer time are:
http://www.operationworld.org/
http://www.unreachedoftheday.org/

One I use with my children to help them learn about and pray for other countries (each country has a short video which really helps them gain a visual sense of a nation) is:
https://www.1040windowreporter.com/day-1

The website, Operation World, leads you in prayer for a new country every day, and not only do you pray very specific prayers for that country, but you also will learn a lot about other countries in the process. Unreached of the day will lead you in prayer for a different group of people/nation each day who need to know about Jesus. Your prayers for these people will prepare their hearts to hear the Gospel

There are also a number of other wonderful resources, both books and websites. I have listed just a few of them below. I will list more as I come across them under the "Prayer" tab at the top of the page or along the right side of the blog.

Window on the World (for children) and Operation World (for adults) books
The Prayer Driven Life by Pastor Robert Oh
Voices of the Faithful by Beth Moore
Voice of the Martyrs www.persecution.com  sends out a weekly list of prayer requests for the persecuted church
http://www.finishthetask.org/prayeralliance/calendar.pdf

Prayer is effective and so very necessary...it moves the hand of God!

Colossians 4:3-4 And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should.