Pastor To Be Executed

I saw a headline that caught my attention. A Christian pastor in Iran has been arrested, tried and is set to be executed. What was his crime? Being a Christian and refusing to renounce Christ. You can read the article in this Fox News Report

Tertullian once said, "the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church." When Christ followers are killed for no other reason than being a Christ follower the end result is the opposite of the murderers' intent. The murderers' intend for this to be a warning to others who might consider Christ and want to follow Him. It seems logical to think that, but history proves otherwise. In 2000 years, where the persecution is most extreme the gospel spreads the fastest.

Thankfully we live in a free country. We face some religious challenges, but nothing like they do in other parts of the world. As people of freedom and followers of Christ we should pray for our brothers and sisters who face serious threats each day simply for their relationship with Jesus. We should also pray for our "enemies". We should ask God to use the life of those persecuted to reach many with the gospel of Christ.

UPG's -- "You Shall Be My Witness..."

Here in the buckle of the bible belt I've often said that you can't throw a bible down the street without hitting at least 2 churches. That is not the case in other parts of our country, but especially the world.

A UPG is an unreached people group. Here is the official definition from the International Mission Board Website (imb.org) "A people group is unreached when the number of Evangelical Christians is less than 2% of its population. "

Let's dissect that. People group - that is a group of people (duh) that share some commonalities. Like location, language (dialects), and other cultural commonalities. You can't just say a country, or nationality because that is too broad. Every country and nationality has within it smaller subsets of culture -- people groups. One country can be comprised of even hundreds of different identifiable people groups. Or, it could have just a few.

Unreached -- this phrase is used to describe "evangelical presence". Evangelical means different things to different people, but in this context it is used to refer to bible believing Christ followers who also believe in evangelism in that particular people group.

So, a UPG is a country/people group that has less than 2% that acknowledge to be bible believing Christians. Statistics vary, but here in America there are anywhere from 25-40% that acknowledge being evangelical(we will save a debate on the validity of those statistics for another time). This means if you are to walk up to a random person in America and ask them if they have heard of Jesus, they will probably say yes. If you do the same thing in an UPG they will probably say no.

In November I am going with a small team on a mission trip to Estonia. Estonia is an unreached people group. Less than 2% of the population acknowledge being evangelical. The overwhelming majority of Estonians are lost, unsaved, don't have Jesus, are heading to hell. God loves them just as much as he loves you and me.

The great commission of Jesus commands us to "go, and make disciples of all nations". It's not the great "suggestion", it is a command. It is important for us to realize that there are lost people right where we are, and that there are lost people all around the world. Doing nothing is not an option. People's eternity is at stake -- will we be obedient to the Lord who rescued us from our sin?

What's In It For Me?

What's in it for me? That question may not be vocalized, but it is the underlying assumption for just about all that we do in this culture that we find ourselves in.

Every time you watch a commercial they are answering that question. Here is what our product has for you. Infomercials are infamous for answering this question. "These ginsu knives are only 19.99. But, wait, there's more..." Just in case you were thinking, "Is that all that is in it for me?" Well, no. You also get a pairing knife, a kitchen chamois, and and seed strainer.

I get junk mail all the time. Some company feels it would help their business to show me their product and tell me "what's in it for me". I also get lots of fliers for churches. Even these churches are telling me what their church offers. They do this because people that are looking for a church home are looking to have that question answered, "what's in it for me?"

That question is probably on a lot of people's minds when it comes to Christianity. "You say I should become a Christian, well, what's in it for me?"

If you listen to some churches, pastors, preachers, the answer seems to be everything. Health, wealth, peace, prosperity, good relationships, a better job, joy, absence of conflict, no difficulties. "What's in it for me?" Some portray the answer as "anything you want."

Now, there are lots of benefits to being a Christian. Some of the things in the list, if properly defined, are true. But, the answer is much shorter, more simple, and more essential. The answer to the question, "what's in it for me?" is JESUS. That's what we get when we become a true, biblical Christian. JESUS.

How come it seems like JESUS is not enough?! After all, He is the eternal God of the universe. He is the Supreme Lord. He is the Savior who gave His life to redeem us from our sin. He shed His blood so we might be forgiven and made right with God. His cross and resurrection was so we could know Him and have a relationship with Him. The answer is JESUS.

Is that enough for you?