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JOEL-NEWS-INTERNATIONAL-402 * 15 JUNE 2002 * WWW.JOELNEWS.ORG

IN THIS EDITION:

JN402-1. TYPICALLY GOD: Jesus rules over the snake god
JN402-2. PRAYER FOCUS: Pashtun people in Pakistan and Afghanistan
JN402-3. KINGDOM DEVELOPMENT: City Church, a new chapter in history
JN402-4. RESOURCE: Great Revival prophecy
JN402-5. RESOURCE: A perspective on Islam
JN402-6. RESOURCE: The Observatory

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JN402-1. TYPICALLY GOD: Jesus rules over the snake god

A group of Christian researchers traveled to a village in northern India to study local religious practices. As they neared the village, they felt a bump, as though they had run over something. When they looked to see what it was, they discovered a dead cobra. The team continued to the village, where they began their research, asking the residents about the local religion. They were told that each morning a large cobra came to the village and the people would feed it and worship it. The researchers told the people, "Well, that means we probably accidentally ran over your god this morning. Let us tell you something about the creator of the snake -- and of us all." At the end of the day, the villagers decided to become Christians, and a new church was started the very same day.

Source: Dr. Alex Abraham through Friday Fax

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JN402-2. PRAYER FOCUS: Pashtun people in Pakistan and Afghanistan

The 6 million Southern Pashtun of southwestern Pakistan and southern Afghanistan are a tribal society made up of approximately 60 different tribes. Radically resistant to change, Pashtun children grow up with a fear and hatred of outsiders. The Southern Pashtun present one of the strongest challenges to the Christian church today. The few Southern Pashtun Christians meet secretly in groups of two or three. Persecution is harsh in Pashtun society and involves banishment or death. Presently, there is no Bible in the Southern Pashto language.

Ask God to shower grace on the Southern Pashtun people group, which gave rise to the Taliban movement. Pray for the Pashtun believers, asking the Father to make them bold and effective witnesses in the face of persecution. Pray for a powerful movement of the Holy Spirit among the Southern Pashtun.

Source: Advance

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JN402-3. KINGDOM DEVELOPMENT: City Church, a new chapter in history

Imagine Christians meeting in your area or city again in two places, just like in New Testament days: 'from house to house' and at a real big and central place. In many areas of the world this two-stroke-model of church (the very small combined with the very large) is stirring again.

In this prophetic article strategy consultant Wolfgang Simson builds a case for the restoration of this New Testament 'two-stroke model' of Church. He explains how the city church can help us overcome denominationalism. "Most Christians are so taken up with their own set of congregational programs and activities plus the occasional involvement through denominational agendas, that they are, in practice, effectively isolated from the rest of the body of Christ in a city or region," says Simson. "The result is nothing short of institutionalized inefficiency, the death of synergy, spiritual malnutrition and the development of an unhealthy and tribalistic clan-mentality."

Simson calls for a 'prophetic fusion': a true expression of the city church, for which it is necessary that leaders and churches give up their own agenda's. A development like this has several advantages:

- relief for all pastors and full time workers: everyone works less, but together we achieve more;
- we will more fully use the god-given gift potentials: everyone will be able to work within the exact focus of his or her gifting, calling and anointing (like Eph. 4:11), and does not have to be "everything to everybody";
- Christianity, which has been divided into ineffective small fractions would gain a dramatically higher "visibility" and a voice in the city which is difficult to ignore;
- through the pooling of resources on a city level there will be an immediate increase in the quality level of ministry in areas like children's ministry or biblical teaching;
- common use of city-level buildings/auditoriums (which could be financed together);
- the high percentage of unchurched Christians and those hurt or excluded by the existing structures find a revolutionary new concept of church to click with;
- the constant clash of available dates and the collision of separate interests would be dramatically reduced, since those serving full time will stop living in their own small world driven only by their own set of agendas, programs and appointments.

In his article Simson also offers practical steps to further expressions of City Church.

COMMAND: This article can be retrieved by sending an empty e-mail to lyris@xc.org with only this command in the body of your e-mail:
get joel-news-international simson-city-church
(Please note: this option only works for people who are subscribed to the e-mail version of Joel News. See colophon how to subscribe directly.)

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JN402-4. RESOURCE: Great Revival Prophecy

A 'classic' prophecy attributed to Smith Wigglesworth in 1947 about two distinct moves of the Holy Spirit across the Church in Great Britain.

COMMAND: This prophecy can be retrieved by sending an empty e-mail to lyris@xc.org with only this message in the body of your mail:
get joel-news-international great-revival-prophecy
(Please note: this option only works for people who are subscribed to the e-mail version of Joel News. See colophon how to subscribe directly.)

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JN402-5. RESOURCE: A perspective on Islam

A study by Avner Boskey, offering a perspective on Islam. He deals with questions like: Is Islam a monotheistic religion? Are most muslims peace loving and not terrorists? What is jihad? Is the West ready for jihad? How should we respond?

COMMAND: This study can be retrieved by sending an empty e-mail to lyris@xc.org with only this message in the body of your mail:
get joel-news-international boskey-perspective-on-islam
(Please note: this option only works for people who are subscribed to the e-mail version of Joel News. See colophon how to subscribe directly.)

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JN402-6. RESOURCE: The Observatory

The Observatory, a research center targeting spiritual transformation, compiled prayer and general information of most nations of the world. Researcher Derrick Trimble also wrote prayer profiles of the nations of the so called 40/70 Window (Europe and Central Asia). An excellent resource for Christians who want to pray in an informed way.

LINK: http://www.globalharvestministries.org/home.qry?ID=390

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COLOPHON

Joel News International is a leading special interest bulletin on prayer, church growth and revival. We offer a keen selection of the most encouraging news reports, the most challenging developments and the best resources from over 100 reliable sources in six continents. Joel News International is a great help and time-saver for thousands of Christian leaders and intercessors in over 120 nations.

Editors: Branko Bjelajac, Adriaan van der Hoeven and Marc van der Woude. You can contact the editorial office at joel-news@xs4all.nl.

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