January 1999

January 5, 1999

A portrait of 2100

Religious terrorism against missionary organizations using weapons of mass destruction. Space-based economies and colonies. Constant surveillance causes enormous restrictions in 10/40 Window ministry. FreeZones in Africa and Asia where most seminaries are based. Virtual drugs directly stimulate brain’s pleasure center, transmittable over the Net, lead to new structures of sin. TV with 1,000+ channels, but pay-per-view model leads to erosion of market share for televangelists. Single global currency with some locally-used national currencies strikes fear of one-world government. High-tech commandos coupled with robotic soldiers leads to end of army as we know it. Self-replicating nanotechnology factories can build a church [...]

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January 4, 1999

The future of Afghanistan

The Central Asian country of Afghanistan is one of the most restrictive and least-evangelized of the world. Yet, if the whole of the world is to be evangelized, this nation’s peoples, too, must hear the gospel. What is the likely religious future of Afghanistan? Could it be presented with the gospel of Jesus Christ by 2025 or beyond? Afghanistan is a landlocked country situated in the middle of Central Asia. Its position, in the midst of ancient trade and invasion routes from Central Asia to India, has been the greatest influence on its history, since invaders often settled there. It [...]

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January 3, 1999

Is our world likely to become more peaceful?

Is our world likely to become more peaceful in the next decade? Current events demonstrate this future isn’t a probable one. For example, in the past month: More than 100 people were killed in clashes in Sudan. Some 6,000 rebels invaded Freetown, Sierra Leone; 5,000 were killed and some 1,000 imprisoned or otherwise accounted for. Ethiopia and Eritrea exchanged prolonged artillery fire, and both sides said full hostilities could be resumed ‘any day.’ Fresh outbreaks of violence in Indonesia left 7 dead and many wounded. Rebels and soldiers clashed in Dolisie, Congo, bringing to about 1,000 the number who have [...]

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January 2, 1999

Bangladesh Muslim gathering 2nd largest in the world

Some 3 million Muslims from 70 countries joined a 3 day annual Muslim congregation, Biswa Ijtema, organized by World Tablig Jamaat on the banks of the river Turag at the suburban town of Tongi. The congregation is the second largest after the hajj pilgrimage to Mecca. Many Bangladeshis have joined the Taliban militia in Afghanistan. An outreach to Muslims might be possible if scheduled around such congregations (Bangladesh, for example, is more open than Saudi Arabia, where the hajj is held).

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January 1, 1999

The church should speak out forcefully on cohabitation

More than 4 million couples live together outside the bonds of marriage in the USA alone. More than a third are raising children. But a new study released by Rutgers University (New Jersey) finds that such arrangements don’t strengthen the eventual marriage—instead, they increase the risk of divorce by as much as 46%, while also increasing women’s risk of domestic violence and children’s chances of physical or sexual abuse. The report, Should we live together? (Barbara Dafoe Whitehead and David Popenoe), reviews nearly 50 cohabiting studies spanning more than a decade, and shows that half of all new brides in [...]

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