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.

Read more by Ben Johnson here.

A Quick Look at...Egypt

• Population – 80,335,036
• Religion – Islam: 90%, Coptic: 9%, Christian: 1%
• Government—Republic
• Size - slightly larger than 3 times the size of New Mexico

Places to Visit in Egypt:

• Pryamids in Giza
• Luxor
• Red Sea

**All images are from the CIA World Factbook

A Quick Look At...Libya

• Population – 6,036,914
• Religion – Islam: 97%, Other 3%
• Government— In Transition
• Size - slightly larger than Alaska

Places to visit in Libya:

• Cyrene   - Greek Archeological site
• Leptis Magna - Roman archeological site, some of the best Roman ruins

**All images are from the CIA World Factbook

A Quick Look At...Tunisia

• Population – 10,276,158
• Religion – Islam: 98%, Christian: 1%, Jewish and Other: 1%
• Government—Republic
• Size - Slightly larger than Georgia

Places to visit in Tunisia:

• Carthage - ancient city with Roman ruins
• Southern Tunisia - where 4 of the Star Wars Movies were filmed
• Hotel Sidi Driss - sleep in Luke Skywalker's home

**All images are from CIA World Factbook

A Quick Look At...Algeria

• Population – 35,406,303
• Religion – Islam: 99%, Christian & Jewish: 1%
• Government—Republic
• Size - a little less than 3.5 times the size of Texas 

Places to visit in Algeria

• Algiers - Notre Dame d'Afrique, the largest cathedral in Africa
• Le Jardin d'Essai du Hamma - Gardens
• Le Bastion 23 - Palais des Rais, a palace

*Images are from the CIA World Factbook

A Quick Look At...Morocco

• Population – 34,139,792
• Religion – Islam: 98.7%, Christian: 1.1%, Jewish: 0.2%
• Government—Constitutional Monarchy
• Size - slightly larger than California

Places to Visit in Morocco:

• Fez - Cultural Capital
• Marrekech - Tourist Area
• Casablanca - Hassan II Mosque, third largest mosque in the world

**images and facts from the CIA world factbook

The Countries of North Africa - Overview

When most people think of "Africa," they think of safaris, malaria, grubs, lions, zebras and giraffes. There is a section of Africa that is more Middle Eastern than typically African. It's the Northern section. This little thing called the Sahara Desert separates what we typically think of Africa and the northern, more Middle Eastern Africa. It's full of ancient history (Egypt, for instance - yes, African country) . People define the section called "North Africa" differently, but I want to share a few things about the countries of North Africa in the next few blog posts. Did you realize Egypt was an African country? Is it surprising that these countries are more "Middle Eastern" than "African?"

                                            

•  North Africa is 2,400 miles across (the US is about 3,000 miles across)
• Population: approx. 168 Million
• Mediterranean Sea to the North
• Sahara Desert is to the South
• Atlantic Ocean is the Western Boundary
• Red Sea is the Eastern Boundary
• Climate: summers are hot and dry, winters are mild and rainy