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The Gospel's Coming Avalanche

It is only recently that Christians in America are beginning to understand that Christianity's epicenter has shifted from North America to Africa and Asia. This is a natural result of the democratic ideal of recognizing many gods as equal to Yahweh. It might be said that this violation of the first commandment could not be prevented, but neither can its consequences. In recognizing other gods in America, we allowed people the freedom to compete with Christianity.

Europe has extended equality to Muslims, though Muslim countries do not extend such rights to Christians in their countries. Without a level playing field, it would only be matter of time before Islam would become the dominant religion in the world--and with it, we would inherit the values found in Muslim countries.

However, I am not here to pass out the bad news of what might happen. I am here to encourage you by what God is about to do--and is already doing to rectify the situation. He is NOT raising up a Christian army with guns and explosives to kill as many unbelievers as possible before they take over America and the world. He is, instead, moving in the hearts of people around the world by direct intervention.

Many have been praying and interceding and engaged in spiritual warfare for a long time. I have personally been involved in spiritual warfare and intercession for this very thing since 1981. Now, after 25 years, I can see that a major shift has been occurring in this time. You will not find many news articles dealing with this phenomenon, but it is happening.

Probably the most significant change over the last half-century has been taking place in China. China is now estimated to have well over 100 million Christians, about a tenth of their huge population. Communist ideology has not succeeded in stamping it out. For example, a story is told in James Rutz's book, Megashift, page 5,

"For 21 years Mrs. Chang had lain in bed at her home in China, unable to move her arms or legs. Finally, the pain got to be too much, and she asked her eldest son to take her to the hospital, 40 miles away.

"The Doctors there discovered that some of her organs were almost dead, so they advised her son,'Take her home so she can die with our family.'

"But before she left, a Christian nurse came by her bed and slipped her a copy of the Gospel of Mark. 'Read this when you get home,' she whispered.

"When Mrs. Chang got home, about the first thing she did was to ask her son to read something from the booklet. Opening it to page one, he began, 'This is the good news of Jesus Christ." Before he could read any further, Mrs. Chang's bones started to move. Within moments, she sat up, completely healed. She promptly gave her life to the Lord

"The next day, on her way to the village well to draw water, she was asked by everyone, 'Say, aren't you Mrs. Chang? What doctor healed you? We want to use him too!'

"Mrs. Chang invited all the women to her simple home. When a large group had assembled, she stood and began speaking. 'This is the good news of Jesus Christ. . .'

"In only four weeks, all 600 people of the village decided to follow Jesus. . .

"When the report got around, a police force arrived to stamp out this 'new sect.' They beat the villagers, shot their animals, burned the crops, and left, thinking that would be the last they would ever hear about this Jesus Christ.

They were oh, so wrong. The 600 converts remained steadfast, and within our years, 70,000 turned to Christ throughout the whole region."

This is a good example of what Tertullian said in the third century: "Our blood is seed." You see, religions are spread by Christian soldiers in the name of God. But the gospel is spread by the power of God through spiritual warriors, armed with weapons more powerful than guns or explosives.

Every day in the news we see and hear of more acts of violence in Iraq, Afghanistan, and other countries. Many insist that the violence is being done by "thugs" or perhaps "Iraqi people," trying to distance Islam from the violence. My opinion does not really matter. What is important is that thousands of Muslims look at the violence and see Muslims attacking Muslims in the sectarian violence--and when they hear that Jesus is the Prince of Peace, they want to know more.

In the past decade, Jesus Christ has been appearing to thousands of Muslims in dreams and visions, in much the same manner as Saul when he had his "Damascus Road" experience. In Joel Rosenberg's book, Epicenter, page 211, he writes,

"Before September 11, 2001, there were only seventeen known followers of Christ in all of Afghanistan. Today Afghan Christian leaders tell me there are more than 10,000 believers in the country, and Afghan Muslims are open to hearing the gospel message like never before. Dozens of baptisms occur every week. People are snatching up Bibles and other Christian books as fast as they can be printed or brought into the country."

"In Sudan, meanwhile, one of the biggest stories in modern Christendom is unfolding--a spiritual awakening of almost unimaginable proportions amid civil war, radical Islam, rampant persecution, and outright genocide. More than one million Sudanese have turned to Christ just since the year 2000--and not in spite of persecution, war and genocide, but because of them. 'People see what radical Islam is like,' one Sudanese Christian leader told me, 'and they want Jesus instead'." (p. 210)

"Muslim clerics throughout the region have been watching this dramatic movement toward Christianity for some time and have been horrified. Now the trend is rapidly accelerating.

"Eight years later, in December 2001, Sheikh Ahmad Al Qataani, another leading Saudi cleric, appeared on a live interview on Aljazeera satellite television to confirm that, sure enough, Muslims were turning to Jesus in alarming numbers. 'In every hour, 667 Muslims were converted to Christianity,' Al Qataani warned. 'Every day, 16,000 Muslims convert to Christianity. Every year, 6 million Muslims convert to Christianity.'

"Stunned, the interviewer interrupted the cleric. 'Hold on! Let me clarify. Do we have 6 million converting from Islam to Christianity or converting from Islam and other religions?'

"Al Qataani repeated his assertion.

"So 6 million Muslims a year convert?" said the interviewer.

" 'Every year,' the cleric confirmed, adding, 'a tragedy has happened'." (pp. 210-211)

"Despite the fact that numerous Iraqi churches have been fire-bombed and converts from Islam have been attacked and killed, at least fourteen new evangelical churches have opened in Baghdad alone since the war. Other evangelical congregations are forming all around the country, some with as many as 500 to 600 people attending every Sunday. . .

"Why such spiritual hunger? Every Iraqi Christian I have interviewed has given me the same two answers: war and persecution." (p. 214)

"Perhaps the most dramatic story unfolding in the Middle East is the explosion of Christianity inside Iran . . .

" 'In the last 20 years, more Iranians have come to Christ [than in] the last 14 centuries,' said Lezarus Yeghnazar, an Iranian-born evangelist now based in Great Britain. We've never seen such phenomenal thirst . . . I believe this phenomenon [will] snowball into a major avalanche." (p. 216)

"At the time of the Islamic Revolution in 1979, there were only about 500 known Muslim converts to Jesus inside the country. By 2000, a survey of Christian demographic trends reported that there were 220,000 Christians inside Iran, of which between 4,000 and 20,000 were Muslim converts."

More to come . . .