{"id":1570,"date":"2011-05-05T23:36:17","date_gmt":"2011-05-06T03:36:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.fbclafayette.org\/?p=1570"},"modified":"2011-12-12T09:27:28","modified_gmt":"2011-12-12T14:27:28","slug":"missions-and-the-arab-spring-five-steps-to-take-now","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/missions-and-the-arab-spring-five-steps-to-take-now\/","title":{"rendered":"Missions and the Arab Spring: 5 Steps to Take Now"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

Historic Events<\/h2>\n

Changes are occurring around our world at a\u00a0breathtaking pace.\u00a0 Of course this is the week\u00a0everyone is talking about the death of Osama Bin Laden, and rightfully so.\u00a0 But, his dramatic capture and death\u00a0is simply one of an entire series of events occurring around the Arab world that are almost impossible to believe.\u00a0 Entire governments are toppling\u00a0in places like Egypt and Libya.\u00a0\u00a0Women are protesting for equal rights in Saudi Arabia.\u00a0 The phrase “Arab spring” has been coined by many culture watchers to describe the awakening of a desire for political, social, and religious freedom in countries\u00a0that have long been frozen by tyranny and abuse.<\/p>\n

Unprecedented Opportunities<\/h2>\n

It is highly likely that\u00a0these events will result in greater religious liberty around the world.\u00a0 Just like the fall of communism provided tremendous opportunities for ministry in eastern Europe, there very well may be open doors for service\u00a0in places that many of us would have only dreamed about a few years before.\u00a0 Praise the Lord for His sovereign hand.<\/p>\n

The question before the house is…what can the\u00a0the church of Jesus Christ do now to be prepared to effectively serve the Lord as these historic events continue to unfold?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Five Steps to Take Now<\/h2>\n
    \n
  1. Pray for, and work toward, personal and corporate holiness<\/strong>. In the past decade, some church leaders in eastern Europe expressed concern about influence from American Christianity because they worried that our worldliness would pollute the message and extinguish the mission.\u00a0 Let’s not allow that to happen again as these new opportunites unfold.<\/span><\/li>\n
  2. Explore\u00a0and\u00a0embrace cutting edge ways of communicating God’s Word<\/strong>.\u00a0 This cannot be “your grandfather’s way of doing missions.”\u00a0 Just as the early church adapted to changing ministry conditions, without compromising God’s Word, ministry today will require similar creativity and flexibility.<\/span><\/li>\n
  3. Be prepared to give sacrificially<\/strong> to\u00a0fund these new ministry endeavors.<\/li>\n
  4. Faithfully pray for the ministries and churches<\/strong> that already exist in the Arab world.\u00a0 In many cases there are\u00a0pockets of followers of Jesus Christ who have been\u00a0serving and ministering at great risk and personal peril.\u00a0 They will be on the front lines of amazing opportunities.<\/li>\n
  5. Ask God<\/strong> if He, the Lord of the harvest, would want you to go to serve on one of these emerging fields as a short or long term missionary.\u00a0 Why not?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Proverbs 21:1 –\u00a0The king\u2019s heart is like channels of water in the hand of the Lord; He turns it wherever He wishes<\/em>.\u00a0 Anyone who has eyes to see is simply amazed at what God is doing in His world.\u00a0 Let’s do everything we can to sow the gospel of\u00a0Jesus Christ.<\/strong> (That is what every good farmer does in the spring.)<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Historic Events Changes are occurring around our world at a\u00a0breathtaking pace.\u00a0 Of course this is the week\u00a0everyone is talking about the death of Osama Bin Laden, and rightfully so.\u00a0 But, his dramatic capture and death\u00a0is simply one of an entire series of events occurring around the Arab world that are almost impossible to believe.\u00a0 Entire… read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[94,257],"tags":[4327,130,117],"yoast_head":"\nMissions and the Arab Spring: 5 Steps to Take Now - Faith Church Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/missions-and-the-arab-spring-five-steps-to-take-now\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Missions and the Arab Spring: 5 Steps to Take Now - Faith Church Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Historic Events Changes are occurring around our world at a\u00a0breathtaking pace.\u00a0 Of course this is the week\u00a0everyone is talking about the death of Osama Bin Laden, and rightfully so.\u00a0 But, his dramatic capture and death\u00a0is simply one of an entire series of events occurring around the Arab world that are almost impossible to believe.\u00a0 Entire... read more\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/missions-and-the-arab-spring-five-steps-to-take-now\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Faith Church Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-05-06T03:36:17+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2011-12-12T14:27:28+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/files\/2011\/05\/Missions-and-the-Arab-Spring-e1304719957521.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Steve Viars\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Steve Viars\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/missions-and-the-arab-spring-five-steps-to-take-now\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/missions-and-the-arab-spring-five-steps-to-take-now\/\",\"name\":\"Missions and the Arab Spring: 5 Steps to Take Now - 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