Jan 23: The Americas, The Church in the Americas
The Americas
World
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Answer to Prayer
Praise God for the divinely ordered convergence in Latin America of spiritual, economic and social conditions that allows evangelicals to have a great impact. They now wield notable influence in many nations where they were previously marginalized as dangerous sects. Today, political, police and civic leaders court evangelicals, not just for the formidable numbers of votes to be won, but also for the transforming effect that evangelical ministries offer to society. Often, Christian ministries are the only effective solution to otherwise intractable troubles. Numerical growth continues, but evangelicals have also notably grown in stature and maturity.For an additional 9 Answers to Prayer see Operation World book, CD-ROM, or DVD-ROM.
More Information
The Operation World book, CD-ROM, and DVD-ROM provide far more information and fuel for prayer for the people of The Americas.The Church in the Americas
The Americas
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Challenge for Prayer
Maturity in the churches is a great need.Growth is undeniable in terms of numbers, finances and influence, but sanctification and maturity are often lacking. Churches that grow spectacularly often decline in the same manner. Pentecostals and charismatics demonstrate admirable evangelistic zeal and impact the poorer classes, but they have at times been weak in discipleship, interchurch fellowship and statistical and financial integrity. Of special importance:a) Moral purity and sanctification that yield Christ-like character and holy lives and living for all to see. The prevalence of immorality and godlessness – in handling of personal finance, in sexuality, in family life, just to name a few – in countries with large evangelical populations and Christian majorities is an affront to God.
b) Discipleship and spiritual development.There is often a lack of commitment to this painstaking process of intangible growth, as well as a lack of the methods and structures to do so. Those congregations offering a high-energy show can be weak in the long, slow effort of discipleship.
c) Consumeristic attitudes toward church,where people attend based on what they can receive and therefore change churches frequently according to taste and mood. Such shallow attitudes undermine congregational health as well as personal Christian growth.
d) Theological depth and biblical understandingof the Word of God are lacking. Few churches place solid grounding in God’s Word as a priority. Sermons can be Christian self-help messages rather than plumbing the depths of Scripture. As atheism and other religions assert their claims, believers must be equipped to retain confidence in the claims of Christ and to respond effectively to competing worldviews.
e) Prayerfulness must be cultivated once morein evangelical circles. The greatest periods of revival and growth routinely come on the back of prayer movements. The prayer meeting is disappearing as a normative expression of church life. Thank God that new prayer movements are rising up; pray that they might be rooted in congregational life rather than being parachurch alternatives to it.
f) Evangelism is an alien activity to most evangelicals. The passion for lost souls and the willingness to proclaim, to witness and to live out the good news must be reclaimed. Confidence in the universal truth and life-changing power of the gospel must be recaptured.
For an additional 5 Challenges for Prayer see Operation World book, CD-ROM, or DVD-ROM.
