Hi all,
I've long been a fan of the work of Joel C. Rosenberg. Recently, I picked up a copy of one of his older books 'Epicenter'. First published in 2006, it discusses in many of the last chapters of the growth of christianity in the middle east. I know that we often decry that christians are being persecuted and jailed for even mentioning the name of Jesus, and that's certainly a danger to be aware of, but Joel gives moving testimony attesting to the growth of christianity despite these possible consequences.
Anyway, I was wondering if anyone else was familiar with this work and whether we might begin a group of prayer and supplication to our God that He continue the good work that He is doing by His mighty hand to bring back those in the land where the gospel was first proclaimed, to the truth of His Son, Jesus.
Joel makes the point that even though we know that these nations will one day all rise up in the great war of Gog and Magog, there is a window opening in which they can, some, come to know Jesus before that day arrives. I'll just close with one of the more moving testimonies included in this book.
It seems that a pair of men were driving a carload of bibles through a mountainous terrain of Iran. Suddenly the steering wheel of the vehicle locks up and the driver has to slam on the brakes to prevent driving off the road. Immediately, an old man is tapping on their window and asking if they have brought the books? "What books?" the two christians ask. "The books Jesus sent me down here to get," the old man replies.
The old man goes on to explain how he had a vision in which Jesus had appeared to him and told him to follow him. The old man woke up the next morning and was surprised to hear that everyone in his small village had received the same vision in the night. They were all brand new believers, but they didn't know what to do as next steps. Then the old man had another dream/vision where Jesus told him to go down the mountain pass and wait by the road for someone to bring books that would explain how to be a christian. He followed Jesus' instruction and suddenly there were two men in a car, full of bibles, that stopped right in front of him.
Oh praise God for His marvelous mercies. Even in the lands that hate Jesus more than any other living person on the earth, God is making His Son known.
God Bless,
Ted
I've long been a fan of the work of Joel C. Rosenberg. Recently, I picked up a copy of one of his older books 'Epicenter'. First published in 2006, it discusses in many of the last chapters of the growth of christianity in the middle east. I know that we often decry that christians are being persecuted and jailed for even mentioning the name of Jesus, and that's certainly a danger to be aware of, but Joel gives moving testimony attesting to the growth of christianity despite these possible consequences.
Anyway, I was wondering if anyone else was familiar with this work and whether we might begin a group of prayer and supplication to our God that He continue the good work that He is doing by His mighty hand to bring back those in the land where the gospel was first proclaimed, to the truth of His Son, Jesus.
Joel makes the point that even though we know that these nations will one day all rise up in the great war of Gog and Magog, there is a window opening in which they can, some, come to know Jesus before that day arrives. I'll just close with one of the more moving testimonies included in this book.
It seems that a pair of men were driving a carload of bibles through a mountainous terrain of Iran. Suddenly the steering wheel of the vehicle locks up and the driver has to slam on the brakes to prevent driving off the road. Immediately, an old man is tapping on their window and asking if they have brought the books? "What books?" the two christians ask. "The books Jesus sent me down here to get," the old man replies.
The old man goes on to explain how he had a vision in which Jesus had appeared to him and told him to follow him. The old man woke up the next morning and was surprised to hear that everyone in his small village had received the same vision in the night. They were all brand new believers, but they didn't know what to do as next steps. Then the old man had another dream/vision where Jesus told him to go down the mountain pass and wait by the road for someone to bring books that would explain how to be a christian. He followed Jesus' instruction and suddenly there were two men in a car, full of bibles, that stopped right in front of him.
Oh praise God for His marvelous mercies. Even in the lands that hate Jesus more than any other living person on the earth, God is making His Son known.
God Bless,
Ted
