Unusual Glory

23 May 2013

Praying for Muslims

1.5 billion lost souls. That's 1,500 Million...that's MORE than the entire population of Europe and the USA combined.

The Muslim world is desperately in need of your prayers. Sometimes there is so much that needs to be done and prayed for it is overwhelming. When thinking about praying for the Muslim people I think of three areas: the lost, the believers, and the laborers.

Praying for Muslims

Wow - this can be a big area. I think first we must pray for their hearts to be softened to hear the Gospel. Muslims from birth are basically indoctrinated against Christianity. Pray that they will see God's true character. They do not understand a God of love Who wants a relationship with His children. Pray for them to saved. Pray for them not to fear what man can do, but what dying without Christ will do. Many Muslims do not get saved because of pressure from their family or community.

Praying for the believers.

Pray for them to grow. Pray for them not to fear. In Islamic countries, there can be much persecution against Christians. I know it varies from country to country and even area to area within those countries what that persecution is like. It can range from not being able to find work, having your family cast you out, or being arrested. Pray for God to grant them His peace and grace. Pray for them to be bold. I can tell you that one pastor in North Africa is one of the boldest witnesses for Christ I have ever met. It is a joy to see.

Pray for the laborers.

There are 168 million people in just 5 countries of Northern Africa. There are about 400 million in the Middle East. These areas need more laborers to take the Gospel message and plant churches. How shall they hear without a preacher?

*Just a quick additional thought: how about praying for ourselves? Let's pray God would let us see the Muslim people through His eyes. Pray that God would give us compassion in place of fear and prejudice.

27 March 2013

The Greatest Message

Guest Post by Ben Johnson

The days leading up to Easter are wonderful days to reflect and meditate on the death and resurrection of Christ. It was during this week some 2,000 years ago that Christ was beaten, marched up Calvary and crucified. A death on a cross was nothing new. Many died at the hands of Roman soldiers nailing them to two pieces of wood. But when it came to Christ, no one died like He died.

He did not just endure the death of the cross, He endured the wrath of God on sin. On that cross, the holy and perfect one was punished for the unrighteous and wretched ones. He took our punishment willingly as a sheep to the slaughter. It was on that cross that He bore our sins and iniquities. A great and amazing transaction took place on Calvary that day.

But He didn’t stay dead. After three days in the tomb, He arose victorious over death, hell and the grave. By rising again, He showed us that the debt had been paid in full. So now as when we place our faith in Christ, His punishment on the cross is credited to us as payment for our sins. We are now viewed as holy and righteous. We are complete in Christ.

There is no greater message than that. There is no more exciting news than that and we are given the honor and privilege of telling people that message! We can tell them that the sins they so desperately try to pay for can be paid in full through faith in Christ. There is no more important job that we have been given than to get this message to the world. It is what we are called to do.

If we had the cure for all cancer then we would do our best to promote it and get it to everyone we could. But what we have is better than a cure for cancer! Cancer can only kill the body but not the soul. A cure can only save the body but only the Gospel can save the soul.