| JOEL-NEWS-INTERNATIONAL-469 * 25 FEBRUARY 2004 * WWW.JOELNEWS.ORG IN THIS EDITION: JN469-1. TYPICALLY GOD: Police protects church in Algeria JN469-2. PRAYER FOCUS: Iran and the Persian world JN469-3. NEWS: Prayer tour seeks to 'shift' 50 states toward God JN469-4. WEBLOG: Emerging leaders in Europe JN469-5. RESOURCE: Three things to know about the emerging church JN469-6. RESOURCE: New generation of pastors --- JN469-1. TYPICALLY GOD: Police protects church in Algeria "Muslims who find Jesus are regularly threatened by fundamentalist Muslims," reports a mission agency from Algeria. They are told that they are not allowed to visit Christian churches, but churches are forming in various places throughout Algeria, and experiencing astonishing growth. Two students, motivated by church planting training, planted a new church with 12 members. After only one year, the church had almost two hundred members. God shows his might through the many miracles which occur, changing people's lives, and the area. Some Muslims recently went to the police to complain about the Christians, but the police told them that since the church had started, drug consumption, alcoholism and theft had significantly decreased, and warned them to leave the church in peace, because it had a good influence on society. Source: Friday Fax --- JN469-2. PRAYER FOCUS: Iran and the Persian world A new prayer initiative has been launched for Iran and the Persian speaking world. It is called PrayR2P3 (Pray for the Reign and Rule of the Prince of Peace in Persia) and its mission is to unite praying people worldwide to intercede that all peoples of the Persian speaking world will come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. Let's pray for God's anointing on this prayer initiative, and on the church in Iran and the Persian world. LINK: http://www.teampsw.org --- JN469-3. NEWS: Prayer tour seeks to 'shift' 50 states toward God A movement of targeted intercession has been working its way across the United States as part of an attempt to turn the nation back toward God and prepare for revival. Dubbed the '50-State Prayer Tour', the move has been led by Dutch Sheets and Chuck Pierce of the U.S. Strategic Prayer Network (USSPN). Sheets gained prominence in 2000 when he mobilized thousands to pray for the presidential election. In June, he issued an urgent call for Christians to fast and pray that godly people would replace the retiring Supreme Court justices. He believes the nation is in a pivotal season and will either change for better or for worse. The first meetings were held in New Mexico, Oklahoma and Arizona. Pierce said he was led to start there because it has the greatest concentration of First Nations people in the lower 48 states. Since those first meetings, the tour has attracted hundreds of intercessors in each state. Through the course of the tour, which had hit 31 states by December and is scheduled to end in April, leaders say they have seen dramatic answers to prayer. LINK: http://www.charismanews.com/a.php?ArticleID=8595 --- JN469-4. WEBLOG: Emerging leaders in Europe Joel News publisher Marc van der Woude keeps a weblog in which he reflects on God, the Church and daily life. This week he reports about a meeting with emerging leaders in Europe, and how the prophetic and throwing snowballs can go well together. LINK: http://marcsmessages.typepad.com/mm/2004/02/apostolic_found.html --- JN469-5. RESOURCE: Three things to know about the emerging church Dan Kimball describes three characteristics of the emerging (postmodern) church: it is not about a model but about a re-imagining; it is not about a generation but about a worldview; it is seeker-sensitive, yet in an opposite way from what you would think. LINK: http://makeashorterlink.com/?T25912D35 --- JN469-6. RESOURCE: New generation of pastors Senior pastors of the Baby Buster generation (age 20-38) are shaping their church's ministry differently then was done by the preceding generations of clergy. They experiment with multi-media and experience-laden forms of communication, are stronger in leadership and weaker in counseling, avoid seminaries, and prioritize families, youth and children. In the USA the number of Busters who serve as senior pastors has doubled in just two years from about 22,000 to more than 45,000, according to a new study from the Barna Research Group. LINK: http://makeashorterlink.com/?V5B042587 --- 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. Editor: Marc van der Woude. You can contact the editorial office at joel-news@xs4all.nl. Joel News International is distributed weekly by e-mail on the basis of an annual donation. For more information see http://www.joelnews.org/donation-jni.htm#options. Has this bulletin been forwarded to you? Then subscribe directly by sending an empty e-mail to: subscribe-joel-news-international@xc.org. |
(c) Copyright 1997-2003 Joel News
