The WEST - MISSING the HARVEST?? - Andrew Strom
Posted by: prophetic <prophetic@...>
-by Andrew Strom.
Some years ago I remember reading the book 'Megashift' by Jim
Rutz. It certainly was inspiring, because it was all about the massive
growth in Christianity and the amazing miracles that had been
occurring right around the globe.
But one of the things that struck me was the absence of the WEST
from all of this. In China and many parts of Asia there was massive
Revival - with tens of thousands converted every day. It was the
same in large sections of Africa and South America. In fact, pretty
much the ONLY places that were without this huge wave of Revival
were the Western nations (ie. America, Europe, etc). Even today,
in most parts of the world, this explosion has been going on now for
YEARS - but not in the West.
Surely we are in the last days - the days of great HARVEST
before the very end. All the evidence from around the world points
to this conclusion. But I have a serious question for you- Are we
in the West actually MISSING the HARVEST? Has it already
begun, and we are almost the only ones missing out? Is it the
rich, comfortable and materialistic nations who are last - and may
not make it in at all?
This is a nightmare to me - and should be to every one of us.
What is it GOING to TAKE, my friends?
Below is what 'WorldNetDaily' said about the book Megashift when
it first came out. These extracts highlight exactly what I am saying:
"Christianity TAKING OVER PLANET?"
[-© 2005 WorldNetDaily.com ]
What is the fastest-growing religion on Earth?
Most news reports suggest it is Islam.
But a new book makes a compelling case it is a new, or, perhaps,
old form of biblically inspired evangelical Christianity that is sweeping
through places like China, Africa, India and Southeast Asia.
In "Megashift," author Jim Rutz coins a new phrase to define this
fast-growing segment of the population. He calls them "core
apostolics" - or "the new saints who are at the heart of the
mushrooming kingdom of God."
Rutz makes the point that Christianity is overlooked as the fastest-
growing faith in the world because most surveys look at the traditional
Protestant denominations and the Roman Catholic Church while
ignoring Christian believers who have no part of either.
He says there are 707 million "switched-on disciples" who fit into
this new category and that this "church" is exploding in growth.
"The growing core of Christianity crosses theological lines and
includes 707 million born-again people who are increasing by
8 percent a year," he says.
So fast is this group growing that, under current trends, according
to Rutz, the entire world will be composed of such believers by the
year 2032.
"There will be pockets of resistance and unforeseen breakthroughs,"
writes Rutz. "Still, at the rate we're growing now, to be comically
precise, there would be more Christians than people by the autumn
of 2032, about 8.2 billion."
According to the author, until 1960, Western evangelicals out-
numbered non-Western evangelicals - mostly Latinos, blacks and
Asians - by two to one. As of 2000, non-Western evangelicals
outnumbered Westerners by four to one. He says by 2010, the
ratio will be seven to one.
"There are now more missionaries sent from non-Western nations
than Western nations," he writes.
This trend, says Rutz, has been missed by Westerners because the
explosive growth is elsewhere.
Hundreds of millions of these Christians are simply not associated
with the institutional churches at all. They meet in homes. They
meet underground. They meet in caves. They meet, he says, in secret.
And what is driving this movement?
Miracles, he says.
"Megashift" attempts to document myriad healings and other powerful
answers to the sincere prayers of this new category of believer,
including, believe it or not, hundreds of dramatic cases of resurrections
- not near-death experiences, but real resurrections of actual corpses.
"When I was a kid in Sunday school, I was really impressed that
3,000 people were saved on the Day of Pentecost," he writes. "I
thought, 'Wow, that'll never happen again!"
But, Rutz says, it now happens around the globe every 25 minutes.
"By tomorrow, there will be 175,000 more Christians than there are
today," he writes.
The essence of Rutz's book is about how Western Christians can
tap into what he sees as a mighty work of God on Earth.
"Very few people realize the nature of life on Earth is going through a
major change," he writes. "We are seeing a megashift in the basic
direction of human history. Until our time, the ancient war between
good and evil was hardly better than a stalemate. Now all has
changed. The Creator whose epic story flows through the pages of
Scripture has begun to dissolve the strongholds of evil. This new
drama is being played out every hour around the globe, accompanied
sometimes by mind-bending miracles."
ANDREW again:
Friends, all of this excites me but chills me at the same time.
What is going on with the WEST?? If there is one thing that
should bring 'desperation' to our prayers and our actions at this
time - this is it.
God bless you all.
Andrew Strom.