Click here for today’s focus on Suriname.

The following information was taken from the 30 Days of Prayer for the Muslim World website.

The last ten days of Ramadan are considered highly blessed. They are marked by a heightened spiritual intensity.

One night in particular (this past Saturday to be exact), called the Night of Power or Night of Destiny, Muslims prayed for blessings and forgiveness all night long. In fact, one translation of the Hadith (Qur’an commentary), has the Prophet Muhammad declaring that “whoever prays during the Night of Power with faith and hoping for its reward will have all his previous sins forgiven.” Muslims believe that the prophet Muhammad had his destiny fulfilled by receiving the first revelation of the Qur’an on that night.

And so it was on this special night and in weeks to follow, that significant numbers prayed and will continue praying in desperation genuinely seeking help from God concerning their destinies. Many will even experience supernatural encounters with God for the supernatural is very much an accepted part of Muslim life.

Because they are open to dreams and visions, Ramadan is a strategic time for Christians to believe that God would in His sovereignty reveal Himself to those who do not yet know Him. There are many stories throughout the Bible where God spoke through a dream or vision (Genesis 41, Genesis 46:2 & 3, Daniel 4, Judges 7:10-15, Ezekiel 11:24, Matthew 2:12, 19, Acts 10:3-20, Revelation 1:1). In many of these cases the end result was for the purpose of salvation or physical safety.

Here are a few contended yet surprising statistics to consider about dreams and visions:

-80% of new Christians in South Asia come to Christ as a direct result of supernatural encounters.

-More than half of new believers in Iran have had a dream or vision of Jesus.

-At least 35% of all recent Turkish conversions were in response to a dream and/or vision.

Furthermore, as Ramadan draws to a close, Muslims from Abu Dhabi to Zanzibar will end their 30 days of fasting with a celebration feast called Eid al-Fitr. In many places this can last up to three days and include a special congregational Eid prayer and recitation that is normally performed at mosques or open areas like fields or squares. Apparently, Muslims are so open right now that conversation about faith could be easily initiated. Although Ramadan is over, the necessity for prayer and action towards Muslims continues.

So, let us fervently pray that:

-God would continue to draw people to himself through faith in his Son to the praise of his glory!

-as Muslims seek their God for favor and assurance of prosperity and fortune, the Lord would be gracious toward them and address their deepest need, their unbelieving hearts, by sending his Holy Spirit to convict them of sin and to bring about despair in their hope of Allah.

-believers around them would grow in boldness during this time of spiritual awareness to proclaim the light of Christ into their world of darkness.

-dreams or visions of Jesus might lead those who have heard the message of Jesus or even read parts of the Bible to put their complete trust in Him for their salvation!

~Jennifer Miersma for the Missions Team

Here are a few highlights from our Fall Kick-Off party on September 6th. Thanks to the Wellums for opening up their home for us. And thanks to Jennifer Miersma and Trent Hunter for the great pictures!

Fellowship



Mmmmm…Meat



Kristi gets her fixins



Lunch Buddies



Go Team Dilley!

This will be a short post so as to not reiterate much of what has already been said concerning Ramadan. If you’re just now joining us on this 30 day focus of loving Muslims through prayer, please feel free to check out the last two Missions Monday posts:

30 Days of Prayer for the Muslim World/What is Ramadan?
Continued Prayer for the Muslim World

Click here to read about today’s focus on Nagpur, India.

May God help us remain faithful in prayer for Muslims these last 9 days. For as they seek Allah’s approval through arduous praying and fasting, yet they will not be heard by the LORD because their faithless hearts are far from Him!

“The LORD is far from the wicked, but he hears the prayer of the righteous.” (Proverbs 15:29)

Thanks be to Christ, through whom our prayers are heard!

~Jennifer Miersma for the Missions Team

This week’s “Wednesday Word” is a summary of an exposition of Psalm 34 from student teacher Ryan Bishop given on Sunday, September 7, 2008.

“Of David, when he changed his behavior before Abimelech so that he drove him out, and he went away.”

Context, Context, Context. These words, a familiar refrain for our time spent in the Psalter again becomes an essential element in properly understanding the words of Psalm 34. Noting the superscription, we find this psalm set amidst the puzzling circumstances of 1 Samuel 21, where David, in attempts to find protection from Saul, comes before Abimelech (Achish of Gath), King of the Philistines. It seems that Achish understands David’s position better than David, and at this reminder, David begins to act insane in order to protect his life. Therefore, it is important to remember that in writing this psalm David seeks refuge to save his life from the hand of Saul. This theme of book 1 “Take refuge in Yahweh amidst suffering” fits perfectly within the parameters of Psalm 34. (This psalm is also unique in that it is an acrostic poem where every verse begins with successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet.)

In Psalm 34, David provides us with three directives on what do to amidst times of great suffering: 1) Praise, 2) Trust the Lord, and 3) Do good. In verses 1-3, David shows that regardless of suffering, praise should be on our lips at all times; this includes both private and corporate elements. David also calls us to trust in the Lord (v. 4-10). God has been faithful to deliver his people in the past and will continue to do so in the future. Another essential element to trusting the Lord is to fear him and that in fearing him God will bless in abundance. Finally, David calls us to do good while faced with suffering (v. 11-14). By not speaking in deceit, we are to not speak falsely about the one who has delivered us. This can be seen in that while David apparently sought to deceive Achish, he sought deliverance and trusted God to make a means of salvation. David concludes Psalm 34 by referring to God’s deliverance and justice in the anointed one (v. 19-22).

As we move to understand this Psalm in light of the new covenant and in the coming of Jesus, we see that John 19 picks up Psalm 34:20 in referring to Jesus as the Passover Lamb and the anointed one (cf. Psalm 2:2). Again we see this psalm picked up in the thought of 1 Peter. Alluded to in 1 Peter 2:3 and quoted in 3.10-12, Peter writes to Christians who have been scattered and are suffering for the sake of the gospel. Peter points them to a deliverer, Jesus Christ.

In conclusion, Ryan leaves us with two challenges: 1) Desire the Scripture as a newborn baby desires milk (cf. 1 Peter 2:22-25), and 2) Memorize a large section of Scripture— especially one that would be helpful in sharing the gospel with someone. So that we and they might take refuge in the Sovereign Lord.

Listen to this week’s lesson: Psalm 95

~ds

Last week, as part of the first Missions Monday, we introduced “30 Days of Prayer for the Muslim World.” This week we’re simply reminding you to continue loving Muslims through prayer as Ramadan is rolling right along into Day 8!

Click here for today’s focus on Ghana, a small country in West Africa made up of nearly 20% Muslims. Once you get there, be sure to spend some time browsing. For each day not only provides a unique video (from a documentary-type of some sweet spirited children who partook in the Ghana Youth Photo Project to an inside look at one Saudi woman’s life), but you will also find convicting testimonies, related articles and a handful of starter prayer requests for each country all in a precise and non-overwhelming format. I don’t know about you, but I didn’t know much about Ghana. So, if you’re interested in learning more, click here. Making use of the 30 Days website has been an easy way to see other parts of the world and immediately remember how they live without the gospel.

For example, Day 2 focused on Saudi Arabia and it listed many clans by name to pray for that the gospel would go forth powerfully among them. I was personally reminded of the great need for the specific peoples/clans to be prayed for by name, since the daily post mentioned that we may be some of the first ever to pray for those particular people groups!! The reality that there are hundreds even thousands of people groups in the world who have no gospel workers, let alone people who are consistently in prayer on their behalf should grieve us!

Did you know? [Click here for more stats.]

1 in every 5 people alive today are Muslims.

9 out of 10 Muslims don’t know any Christians.

Because Ramadan is a special and very spiritual time of year for Muslims, please make an effort to lift them up in prayer. Even if you print off the brief stories and requests for each day and then read over them before going to bed, that’s a huge step! Other ideas, and ones involving your family, include incorporating this somehow into your family’s worship time or being prepared to talk about it over a meal and then spending some time praying after wards! Simple, right? We just have to be intentional and make the decision to do so today!

I hope and pray you have been able to keep up with this. I am learning so much and at the same time being reminded again and again of how Jennifer-focused I can get! Reading about other cultures and remembering how they have little or no access to the precious message of the gospel of Jesus Christ has been a great help to me this week against those selfish moments where temptation tries to keep me from thinking of others rather than myself. I ask myself, “Why don’t I do this more often?!?!” In light of this, may we take the words of Paul in Colossians 4:3 as our initiative, praying that “God would open to workers in these places a door for the Word, to declare the mystery of Christ that people might embrace the Holy King of glory and be freed from their enslavement to Islam!

~Jennifer Miersma for the Missions Team

This week’s “Wednesday Word” is a biblical-theological consideration of the Imprecatory Psalms from Dr. Wellum given on Sunday, August 31, 2008.

The imprecatory psalms are some of the most shocking words in the Bible. Take Psalm 137:9: “Blessed shall he be who takes your little ones and dashes them against the rock!” This week, Dr. Wellum walked through these challenging verses in the Psalter and encouraged students of the Bible to read these verses in the full context of God’s revelation.

A Christ-Centered Interpretation
Due to the shocking nature of many of these imprecatory psalms, three primary interpretive responses have been proffered. Some have attempted to dismiss the imprecatory psalms as vengeful cries from a primitive people. Unfortunately, in making this assertion they disregard Scripture’s unity and authority, and they make themselves self-sufficient arbiters of God’s Word. A second approach is similar. In the progress of redemption and revelation, the New Testament imperative to love your enemies has trumped this Old Testament ethic of retribution. While acknowledging the place of these psalms in history, they make them out to be obsolete. The problem again is that this method disjoints the Bible, when in fact the NT interprets these psalms in light of Christ.

A third approach, advocated by Dr. Wellum, is to read these imprecations in the light of Christ. As we put these Davidic words in Jesus’ mouth, we begin to understand his pleas from the cross. Likewise, we better understand the purpose of these troubled psalms. On this side of the cross, we can read these psalms fearfully as we consider the eschatological retribution that will be poured out on Christ’s aggressors, who have not trusted in his own wrath-bearing atonement. This nuanced approach is most faithful to the Bible and most in accord with the progress of revelation.

A Biblical-Historical Context
To understand these wrathful psalms it is necessary to put them in their proper place in redemptive history. Since the uprising in the garden, all creation has been sentenced under a curse to receive the judgment of God (Gen. 3:14-19; cf. Rom. 8:19-22). Appropriately, the imprecatory psalms excoriate those persons, nations, and societies that wage war with God—in truth, this is all humanity. Simultaneously, the imprecatory psalms assert the coming vindication of God. In Genesis 3:15, a ray of light shines in the cursed skies, “a seed of the woman would crush the head of the seed of the serpent.” This promise is embedded in the context of cosmic conflict—the serpent’s offspring will rage against the children of God (cf. Ps. 2). This spiritual warfare must be seen as the underlining context of the imprecatory psalms.

Carried out in the fullness of time, this head-crushing seed of the women is Jesus Christ. Contending in his life against the powers and principalities, he is hoisted on a cross to die. This act of weakness turns out to be his moment of triumph, for in his death delivers to Satan his death blow (cf. Col. 2:15; Rev. 12). The imprecatory psalms point to this eschatological event (Ps. 69; cf. Matt. 27:34; Jn. 19:28ff). On the cross, Jesus Christ endured the imprecatory wrath called down on the enemies of God, and he did this in order to reconcile enemies of God to the Father (cf. Rom. 5:10). In this light then, the destruction of the Babylonian children in Psalm 137 is seen as imagery depicting the serpent’s demise. Moreover, Psalm 137:9, written in under the skies of Babylon, retells the hope of the proto-evangelium, a seed-crushing son. This is also explains the counter-intuitive notion that the destroyer of reptilian infants is “blessed.”

Modern sensitivities may militate against such violent language, but the biblical notion of peace comes at the price of blood. The imprecatory psalms are cries of justice for the Righteous God to carry out his judgment. This was done through military conflict in the OT (i.e. the language of the imprecatory psalms), and in the NT it was finished on the cross. Today, as we read these challenging verses we are confronted to ask ourselves, “What Spirit shall we hear?” The spirit of this age tells us to dismiss these hard sayings as archaic folly, but the Spirit of Christ points us to swallow these bitter words and look to the cross and to the end of the age when Jesus will come again to put all things under his feet.

Application
As we close, consider three applications: 1) Renewing our minds with the message of these psalms affirms in our own hearts the righteousness of God and the sinfulness of humanity; 2) Embracing these imprecations moves us to exalt God in his mercy and in his justice; and 3) Petitioning God according to these Psalms prepares us for the Day of Judgment, and prompts us to cling to the cross.

May we this week cry out to God, Maranatha! Come Lord Jesus! And may we tell everyone we know how to escape the coming wrath foretold in the imprecatory psalms.

Listen to the whole lesson: The Imprecatory Psalms

What is Missions Monday?

As the Missions Team, we (the Miersmas and the Graigs) hope to serve our class in sustaining a measure of attention and due appreciation of God’s plan to see his gospel proclaimed among all the different peoples of the earth through the ministry of his Word and his Spirit to the praise of his glory.

One way we hope to encourage you in this is by highlighting one (or more) of the following every Monday here at the Wellum’s Couples’ blog:

1. Pointing to Scripture as the source for all things missions
2. Offering prayer requests in a missions-conscious way
3. Informing you about God’s people and work around the world
4. Incorporating testimony from those involved in the missions effort
5. Recapping whatever was addressed on a Missions Sunday (last Sunday of each month)

In case you weren’t there, yesterday was one of those days! Nick had us look briefly in Psalm 67 at God’s global plan, touching then on ways that we as Christians could think and pray in light of what we read/see in the headlines/the daily news. Essentially, believers should not be calloused or worried about the strife and suffering in the world, but consider both the greater severity of the coming judgment upon those who reject God and his mediator Christ (the imprecatory psalms hit this) as well as the immeasurable riches of his grace as God demonstrated his love to the rebellious world by sending his Son, Jesus Christ, to pay the penalty for sins on our behalf. These two truths should move us to pray earnestly and frequently for God’s message/messengers of salvation and reconciliation to go forth that all the different peoples of the earth might come to God and worship Him!

In an attempt to apply this idea on Missions Monday, let’s focus our attention on an article I found at CNN.com entitled Pakistan suspends offensive for Ramadan.

What is Ramadan?

Today marks the first day of the month-long Muslim religious observance called Ramadan. Over the next 30 days all good muslims all over the world will fast from food and drink (as well as a selection of other things) during daylight hours. Fasting, one of the five Pillars of the Islamic faith, demonstrates obedience and causes Muslims to remember the qualities of Allah. Because of the spiritual dimension to fasting, many Muslims spend more time in prayer, reading the Koran/Qur’an, doing good to those less fortunate and making more visits to the mosque. They believe that adherence to this Pillar (as well as the other four: reciting their profession of faith, praying five times a day facing Mecca, obligatory and voluntary giving to the poor, and making a once-in-a-lifetime pilgrimage to Mecca) increases their piety and ultimately earns atonement for their sins as they plead with Allah for mercy. Their salvation is dependent on their acts of holiness!

How should we respond to this most venerated and blessed month of the Islamic year?

1. Learn a little more about Islam, specifically Ramadan! That way if you encounter someone of the Muslim faith over the next month, you would have an understanding about their faith, be able to relate to them during this special time of year, and perhaps share the message of hope found only in the gospel of Jesus Christ!

2. We would like to challenge you to pray for Muslims this month. As Muslims around the world meditate on spiritual things, pray that many will come to know the gospel through workers living in their area or through dreams/visions and as a result entrust their lives to Jesus. Don’t know what or how to pray? Don’t worry! Specific prayer for different areas of the Muslim world has already been organized online! Click here to follow a day-by-day prayer guide over the next 30 days, or click here for today’s focus on Tajikistan.

3. And last, spend some time meditating on the beauty of the gospel, Christ in you - the hope of glory! Anticipate Christ’s second coming when all of creation will be restored, sin will no longer have its divisive and destructive effect over the world, Satan will be crushed forever and we will all find unspeakable delight and satisfaction in our Triune God completely! Come, Lord Jesus, come!

~Jennifer Miersma for the Missions Team