Christian Faith Is Vital To The Future Of The World

The follow is acknowledged by Chinese atheists and others:

In 2005 a book by American sociologist, Rodney Stark was published, called 'The Victory of Reason: How Christianity Led to Freedom, Capitalism, and Western Success'. The ‘modern world,’ he argues ‘arose only in Christian societies’ thanks to Christianity’s commitment to ‘reason, progress, and moral equality’The capacity which Christianity has to contribute to social, cultural and economic progress has been long observed. In his book Jesus in Beijing, the journalist David Aikman tells of a lecture he attended in China in 2002. A professor from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences had this to say to a group of American visitors about his years of study in the West:One of the things we were asked to look into was what accounted for the success, in fact, the pre-eminence of the West over all the world. We studied everything we could from the historical, political, economic, and cultural perspective. At first, we thought it was because you had more powerful guns than we had. Then we thought it was because you had the best political system. Next we focused on your economic system. But in the past twenty years, we have realized that the heart of your culture is your religion: Christianity. The moral foundation of social and cultural life was what made possible the emergence of capitalism and then the successful transition to democratic politics. We don't have any doubt about this.From a Talk by Professor Stuart Piggin of Macquarrie UniversityAt the Kingston Mayoral Prayer BreakfastNational Day of Thanksgiving, May 2008


Follow this link to see the full paper
http://www.pastornet.net.au/mpn/StuPiggin.doc
We have sadly come to believe the lies of the secularists that the Christian faith does not have a place in modern society. Stuart Piggin and others reveal the opposite: Modern society exists only because of Christian Faith and will collapse without it.Stuart says it is way past time for the Church to know and boldly take up its crucial role in our nation, before the nation collapses!The ALL MELBOURNE MATTERS project is aimed at calling the Church across Melbourne to stand up!The Future of our city depends on the faithfulness of God's people to His call to seek His Kingdom in Unity, Servanthood and Prayer.

ONE CHURCH expressing the fullness of Christ IN THE CITY

There is a growing movement away from an unreflective and restrictive use of the language of "church" that is limited to local congregations and denominations. Overwhelmingly, the New Testament speaks of the church (singular) in a particular city (Acts 8:1; 11:22; 13:1; 20:17; Romans 16:1; 1 Corinthians 1:2; 1 Thessalonians 1:1; 2 Thessalonians 1:1; Revelation 2:1,8,12,18; 3:1,7,14).

Because the church is defined solely by Christ's relationship to it, and not by variations of belief, race, class, age and so on (Galatians 3:28; Colossians 3:11), the only abiding distinction between churches in the New Testament is on the basis of location. Christians in the same city (or town) belong to the one church in that city.

As believers appropriate this truth, and begin to live and act as one, the presence of the Spirit (Ephesians 4:3) will become more intense in a city, revealing that the favour of God is on his people (Psalm 133; Acts 4:33). The result will be an increasing number of its inhabitants to turn to Jesus as the one sent by the Father as the Saviour of the world (John 17:21).

Where unity is truly Christ-centred and expressed in corporate prayer for the progress of the kingdom of God, the Holy Spirit will consistently lead and empower the church in every location. He sends it forth into constantly new initiatives, local and global, so that all people might have the opportunity to hear the gospel and turn to Jesus as Saviour and Lord (Acts 4:23-33; 13:1-3).

Transformation Principles

“What will it take to achieve the vision for transformation?”

Spiritual Vitality
- Laying the foundation for ministry through corporate spiritual growth
Relational Priority
- Fueling momentum for ministry through loving relationships
Compelling Vision
- Aligning transformational efforts by maintaining vision for the completed task
Empowering Leadership
- Identifying leaders and initiating a process for community transformation
Thorough Research
- Increasing understanding of the current realities of one’s community
Loving Service
- Enacting high leverage opportunities to minister to the community
Intentional Learning
- Making a fresh commitment to individual and corporate learning around needed skills and effective ministry models.

Challenge To The Church

"I LOOKED FOR A MAN TO STAND IN THE GAP" by Harvey Porter

Ezekiel was not a popular prophet. He never sought to be. He was like Jeremiah, a bearer of bad news to Judah and especially to Jerusalem.

The people of God had sinned grievously. They had turned away from God and the Law and turned to their own ways. The land was filled with rebellion and sin. God had warned Judah what would happen if they did not return to Him. He had foretold that they would be taken into captivity in Babylon. They should have listened, for their brethren to the north, Israel, the ten tribes, had already been taken into Assyrian captivity for their sin.

In Chapter 22 of his book of prophecy, Ezekiel portrayed a dramatic scene. He spoke of the impending doom of Jerusalem, but said that it might be averted if just a few would be faithful and stand with God. Here are his great words: "I looked for a man among them who would build up the wall and stand before me in the gap on behalf of the land so I would not have to destroy it, but I found none" (Ezekiel 22:30 NIV).

What language! Just one to "stand in the gap!" To plug the leak. To fill the hole and spare the land. This would be the man or woman of the hour-the one most needed for the right moment. Life has always been that way.

There come times in our lives that demand precise action for that very moment. Much of the human family never realizes this truth. We delay, put off, procrastinate. We feel that everything is going along as it always has. It takes real wisdom to recognize what is really worthwhile and what demands first place-priority.

The church of our Lord is as the people of Judah in the time of Ezekiel. There is much to be done. A world needs to be taught the saving gospel. The need to stand in and be counted upon is personal in nature. Every congregation has many needs that must be served. For example, when you do not show up to [serve] at worship, or sit in the nursery, or teach a class, and on and on goes the list, the work suffers. Often the gap is not filled. Sometimes someone else has to fill the gap unprepared.

The business world will not put up with this kind of service. The truth is that the Lord does not put up with it either. He wants dependable servants. He wants us to be on time, to serve with diligence and enthusiasm. It ought to be counted a privilege to serve the Lord in any capacity. It should never be taken lightly. Our Lord said, "I must be about my Father's business." We must too. We never retire from the Lord's work. There is always a need for one to "stand in the gap." You are needed no matter if you are young or old, busy or not, talented or less talented, rich or poor, educated or uneducated, working or retired.

Everyone who is a devoted Christian can find something to do, encouragement to give, worship to enjoy, sacrifices to make and the Lord to love. Remember, the Lord still needs us "to stand in the gap." In Ezekiel's time He said, "but I found none." Will it be true of our time?

Revival In Melbourne

Did you know there was a revival in Melbourne 100 YEARS AGO?

In 1898 a petition with 15,300 signatures was sent to D.L.Moody in USA asking him to come and lead a crusade. He died before he could come, but in 1902, R.A. Torrey came and led a crusade.

10,000 A night crammed the Royal Exhibition Buildings every night for months 3000 men met in the Melbourne Town Hall every day for Bible studies and then the same number of women!

Other meetings were held in marquees in Fitzroy, Collingwood, South Melbourne and other suburbs.

With the population of Melbourne then 500,000, over 250,000 people came every week! Over 8,500 people came to Christ!

The sermons were printed on the front page of “The Age” and “The Argus” each day. The city was deeply impacted.

THE SECRET:
All the evangelical churches in Melbourne were working together.
They held 1700 weekly prayer groups across Melbourne!
They appointed 45 evangelists to preach in every area of the city.

“THE VITAL ELEMENTS: UNITY and PRAYER”

From: “Evangelical Christianity in Australia” Stuart Piggin (Oxford)

The Call And Foundation To Unity & Reconciliation

LOOK around and see...the increasing move of the Holy Spirit bringing about unity in the Body of Christ. In John 17 (our Lord's passionate prayer to His Father) Jesus prayed that we may be one, as He and the Father are one, so the world would believe that the Father sent Jesus for them. Since our Father in Heaven is utmost mindful of showing the world that He sent His Son, we must also be as passionately mindful for the same. Scripture says we should put away all that would cause division and love one another with sincerity of heart. What joy this would be to our Lord. Therefore, let us join with the Holy Spirit of Truth to help bring this about

1- PRAY John 17 and live to eliminate anything in our lives that would hinder our Lord's prayer for unity, sp the world will know Jesus!
2- PRAY with your church or prayer group for Unity and Reconciliation.
3- SHARE your ideas and love with others to increase unity.

In order to have broader vision from God, we must have unity. We have to serve together as the servants of God. Of course there is a risk faced by us when we serve together in unity - when we have to leave our individual interest and give priority to group interest. We must also have a commitment. A big work requires a big place. A big thing can happen if the small or separated things are gathered. Reconciliation between churches is needed to have unity.

Reflection:
Do you want to be His agent of transformation and shaped according to His will?

Commitment:
Just as Isaiah said, “Here I am, send me”, let Your will happen in my life. Be willing to pay the price to live as an agent of transformation.

Taken from the book “Transformation Journey”
By Dr. Ir. Niko Njotorahardjo & Iman Santoso Ph.D

City Transformation & Church's Repentance

'Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lamp stand from its place—unless you repent.' Revelation 2:5

Transformation is always marked with three things: [1] repentance [2] decreased crime rate and [3] increased welfare.

If revival only happens in one church denomination, it is not a transformation. It is a transformation, though, if revival happens in one city and the crime rate decreases.
The key to transformation is the church’s repentance. We have to know that a nation’s restoration is God’s work. When we unite, a restoration will happen, because that is the time when God comes to restore us. (2 Chronicles 7:14) - God will be there and fight for us. No one is able to restore a nation other than God.

If churches are not united, we can’t change a nation. The churches which have understood this concept will respond to this call. It’s our duty to enlighten churches which have not understood this concept. We have to enlighten the churches: from one city to other cities, from one church to other churches, so that repentance can happen and the denomination which considers itself as the best denomination will be able to unite with the body of Christ.

The most effective tool to unite the churches is prayer. Through prayer, God will lead the churches to forgive and pray for each other – and as a result reconciliation and repentance will happen. So prayer is the tool that binds us.

Church’s repentance is marked by a paradigm change: that churches are not just the buildings.
There are two points for the unity of the body of Christ for the glory of Christ. First, the servants of God are willing to sit together and humble themselves and pray and fast so that God will visit them and make all the leaders and congregation turn from their wicked ways. Second, when we pray to seek God’s face (the phase when God listens our prayers) and forgive each other, restoration will happen. What does it mean? It means transformation will happen if there are unity, humility, prayer & fasting.

If churches unite, God will be there. If God is there, He will restore. It means that transformation will be followed by souls’ repentance. It means there will be great harvest. We have to prepare the barns and the harvesters as many as possible.

Human programs will enable a church to grow, even though it will not be a healthy way. According to data, transformation happens not because of a program, but because of God’s visitation.

The period before year 2000 was the era of local church. After year 2000 is the era of the Kingdom of God. We can’t have a feeling that our church is the best church. We have to repent from this kind of feeling. These days we are entering the Kingdom of God’s era. If we understand this concept, we will see other brothers and sisters from different churches with different perspective.

If we are talking about the growth of local church, the measurement is the number of congregation in the church. Sometimes we make a mistake in applying God’s will. If we are talking about the growth of perfect Kingdom of God, the measurement is community’s transformation, city’s transformation and nation’s transformation.

If churches want to please God and be blessed, they need to enter and stay focused on transformation inside the era of the Kingdom of God. The movement era in God’s church nowadays is “super team” where churches can’t work alone – God is moving his servants from many denominations to become a solid team who can be used as transformers. Churches will be prepared as transformers who will transform the nations and become a blessing for many nations.

Essence:
If churches are not united, they can’t change a nation.
Points to achieve the unity of the body for Christ’s glory are:
1. God’s servants want to sit together, humble themselves and fast so that God’s visitation will happen and the leaders and congregation will turn away from their wicked ways.
2. We pray to God to seek His face [this is the phase when God listens to our prayers] and then forgive others. Restoration will happen afterwards.
In order to make transformation happen, there must be unity, humility and fasting and prayer.

Reflection:
How is our relationship with other churches in the city? Is it good and close? Is there any distrust and jealousy?

Commitment:
To make transformation happens in my nation; I will build a relationship, work and unite with other body of Christ.

Taken from the book “Transformation Journey” By Dr. Ir. Niko Njotorahardjo & Iman Santoso Ph.D(From the Transform World Movement See: http://transform-world.net/