Lynn Green

Tag: world

  • Can anything good come out of COVID-19?

    Can anything good come out of COVID-19?

    Photo by Chris Panas from Pexels.

     

    Yes, it can! 

    And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28

    The Apostle Paul wrote those words nearly 2000 years ago.  Inspired by God to write, his words have inspired millions of Christians since then to find the faith to rise above the worst circumstances and trust God to bring good—and he does!

    But what about Covid?  To answer that, we should first address the question that I have heard many times. “Did God cause Covid?” 

    DID GOD CAUSE IT?

    No, of course he didn’t. But he did create us in his image and that means that we have creative potential—for good or for evil.  It also means that we must live with the consequences of our decisions and behaviour; he does not routinely intervene and override our freedom.  That is why I don’t agree with the phrase that I hear so often, “God is in control!” 

    He is “in charge” but does not meticulously control human behaviour—as is obvious from reading the Bible.  If he is in total control then all the appeals from the prophets, and the calls from Jesus for people to repent, and the exhortations to change behaviour from Paul’s letters, are all misleading.

    THEN WHAT DID CAUSE IT?

    So yes, I am saying that Covid-19 is a consequence of human behaviour.  I am not yet sure what that behaviour was, but it seems that most experts have concluded that it came from one of two potential sources:  It could have been from the wet markets of Wuhan where a very wide range of animals are kept together in small cages to be sold alive.  Disease can pass from one species to another and mutate until it is a danger to people. 

    The second and more likely cause is that it was a result of an accident in a Wuhan laboratory that was studying bats that carry the Covid viruses but are immune themselves.  Given the response and reactions from the Chinese Communist Party, we will probably never have a conclusive explanation about its origins and why the knowledge of it was kept secret for so many weeks, while is spread globally.  It is worth noting that the second location where it began to spread was Northern Italy, where China had purchased some luxury Italian fashion brands and had changed the work force from Italians to Chinese, especially workers from Wuhan.  So, it seems possible, if not certain, that much of the world is suffering from a series of decisions that reflect poor judgment—at best.

    But what God is promising in Romans 8:28 is that, no matter what comes our way, he is never taken by surprise and will work within the problems that human sins produce.   And that applies to Covid too.

    HOW DO I FIND THE GOOD IN IT?

    There are, however, conditions.  The people who love him and are doing what he has called them to do, are people who look for his good work in everything they do and everything that comes their way.  They are people who see the world through eyes of faith, not fear.

    To my mind, the worst aspect of this current season is not the disease, which has accounted for about 3% of the total number of deaths in the world from January 2020 to January 2021 with the average age of those dying being just over 80 years old.  The worst aspect is the pandemic of fear.

    For the committed believer, Romans 8:28 is a description of the cure for the fear pandemic.  So, how are you faring?

    The cure is not available to those who are passive.  It is not available to those who have no consistency in prayer and the scriptures.  It is available for anyone who sets out, each day, to listen to what the Holy Spirit is saying, who read and study the scriptures and who actively “throw all their cares on Jesus.” 1 Pet 5:7

    SOME OF THE GOOD HAS ALREADY BEEN OBVIOUS, BUT MORE WILL COME

    Already some of the good that God can bring, and is bringing, out of Covid can be seen.  Here in the UK, our teams are finding that conversations with ordinary non-Christian people are deeper and more sincere than any time in our memory.  People are now more serious about the big issues of life and death.

    Many Christians have discovered that meeting with much smaller numbers of fellow Christians can often go deeper and be more relevant to daily life than their weekly experience as part of the “audience” in larger congregational meetings.  Often, the very large online events are a poor second to being together in live events with good worship bands, good preaching etc.

    “TWO OR THREE TOGETHER IN MY NAME”

    The smaller meetings, whether online or in person, are another matter.  When just a few people open the scriptures together and meet in the name of Jesus, his promise is true, “where two or three come together in my name, I’ll be there in the midst of them.” (Mat 18:20) These small meetings can be so much more personal, lead to application and change, create an environment of personal support and touch areas of our lives that remain a closed book in the larger meetings.  I’m not saying that the large congregational or celebration meetings are wrong or unhelpful, but they are not so likely to lead to such deep relationships as the smaller gatherings produce.  The gospel has to include the deep sharing of lives together.

    UNPRECEDENTED GROWTH!

    It is no accident that the greatest numerical growth the Church has ever known was in China from the 1950s through the 1990s.  Now the greatest percentage growth of the church in any people group is amongst the Iranians.  In both cases, they were not able to meet as congregations, but took great risks to meet in small groups where they read the scriptures together, helped one another apply what the Bible taught and prayed for one another.

    CONNECTING WITH GREATER EASE

    Another good is coming from Covid.  I note that geography has become less important.  The online world of meetings can be equally effective with a group of neighbours or with friends from several continents.  In recent months, I have regularly been in online meetings with people from more than a dozen time zones.  Just today I chatted with, and then presented a half-hour message of encouragement to, people from South- Central- and North America. I noted that there were about 130 devices connected and many of them had 15 or more people engaging with the screen.  Next week I expect around 3-4,000 people to be online for one of our YWAM family gatherings.

    I could think of more positives to come from Covid 19, but I will finish with just one more.  More than a year has passed since Marti and I were last separated from one another and that is the first time ever, since we met one another in 1969.  We have really enjoyed it!

    What about you?  Can you identify some of the “good” that God has brought out of Covid 19? Can you stop and give thanks for those blessings?  If you have been struggling, a thankful heart can be good medicine!

  • Natural Resources — Blessing or Curse?

    Natural Resources — Blessing or Curse?

    Natural Resources—Blessing or Curse?

     

    **This is a personal website and reflects my thoughts and convictions. It does not represent any official position held by Youth With A Mission.**

     

    What a world God created!  When combined with human ingenuity, it seems that there is no end to the wealth and potential for prosperity.  And the world is prospering at an unprecedented rate.

    Hans Rosling, who died last year, was an amazing physician, statistician and public speaker.  He published a 4 minute and 48 second video on global development several years ago, that I still think is the best, most understandable and comprehensive summary I have seen.  Do have a quick look:

    What encouraging trends!  But there are still many reasons why our optimism should be mixed with concern.  I read two articles in the past couple of weeks that illustrate what I mean.

    One of them was about the remarkable boom resulting from new drilling technology and the massive oil output in Texas.  It was a Wall Street Journal article:

    https://www.wsj.com/articles/in-this-oil-boom-town-even-a-barber-can-make-180-000-11551436210

    The other, a BBC article, was about the huge oil reserves now confirmed in Guyana:

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-48185246

    In Texas entire communities are benefitting from natural resources newly accessed through the creativity of engineers.  In Sudan, or the Democratic Republic of the Congo—almost everywhere in Africa—proximity to valuable natural resources puts people at great risk.  Natural resources turn out to be a curse.  Which will it me in Guyana?

    What makes the difference?

    The answer is quite simple.  Where people are more virtuous, widespread benefit is more likely.  Where powerful people are corrupt, wealth is concentrated in the hands of a few who are not bothered about the plight of the poor and powerless, so the majority suffer.

    Jesus taught about the fundamental values that lead to a society that works—kindness, being a good neighbour, loving others as yourself, sacrificial generosity and the list goes on.  No society embodies these values fully, but as they grow more common, more people benefit from wealth.

    Yes, missionaries are still needed.  Every society, culture and nation needs to constantly hear more of the message of Jesus.  They all need those who are committed to making disciples.  God created enough wealth on this earth that all should benefit.  Now it’s up to us.

    Lynn Green.

  • Nobody is illegal – Mahmood Najjar storie

    Nobody is illegal – Mahmood Najjar storie

     

    **This is a personal website and reflects my thoughts and convictions. It does not represent any official position held by Youth With A Mission.**

    My name is Mahmood Najjar, I was born and lived in Racca, Syria in 1993, I am 24 years old. There are seven children in my family, my father has died. My passion and love since a child has been to be a world champion break dancer! Yes, I had very big dreams when very small. I used to watch break dancing on American films and shows I copied what I saw in my garden. Slowly I developed my own moves and started to get some recognition for my skills. Dancing has always brought a lot of joy to my heart. The more I danced the happier I was.

    “we were all filled with hope”

     

    Then when just about to enter some serious competitions in Syria the civil war started. In fact it was quite good at first because the free Syrian army took over Racca. It was a very big change for us, more freedom to do what we wanted and an excitement that Syria was going to change and catch up with the rest of the world. Girls could wear what they wanted which was very beautiful, I could dance as much as wanted, we were all filled with hope.

    Then the blackness came, with bullets and bombs and cruelty. Isis took over our town with better weapons and trained foreigners. Everything changed very quickly. Woman wore black, men and boys were forced to fight. My family and I packed up and fled to Latakia, a government held town in Allawite territory by the Mediterranean. More troubles came because at every check point along the road we were stopped. My two older brothers were always asked “Why have you not joined the army, why are you not fighting for your country?”

    “Dear God, please help me. I do not want kill, I just want to dance and bring joy to people.”

    As soon as possible they borrowed some money from a friend and bought a ride to the Turkish boarder about 25kms away. My oldest brother made it all the way to Germany very quickly, he was the smart one in the family. My next brother made it as far as Athens.

    For myself I was close to 18. One day some soldiers stopped me and said I must join the army, they also said only girls dance. This made me very angry. They took me by force to the army base. I was taken underground for interrogation. While sitting in a room waiting I closed my eyes, bowed my head and said a prayer from my heart. “Dear God, please help me. I do not want kill, I just want to dance and bring joy to people.”

    I was taken down a corridor by two soldiers. Just then a door opened and a man wearing pyjamas stepped out. He was only in pyjamas with slippers on his feet. He told the soldiers to stop. I realised he was an officer. He said, “Where are you taking this boy?” They replied, “To interrogation, he is from Racca, he is selling weapons to Isis!”

    The officer then said: “Can’t you see he is only a boy? His mother will be looking for him, he is not selling weapons to anybody, let him go.”

    The soldier’s then left me standing in front of this strange man in pyjamas. He asked me “Are you all right my boy, can I help you.” I said: “Please let me return home to my mother in Latakia.” He said: “Go quickly.”

    I ran all the way home and my mother said:

    “Mahmood, it is time for you to go west, leave here before they make you fight.”

    My mother gave me some money which she borrowed and my younger brother and I travelled to the Turkey . On the way we were stopped by Russian soldiers, then more Syrian troops, finally we passed into free Syrian army territory. They were kind to us, good people, fighting for freedom and a new life. They helped us across the border into Turkey.

    From there we caught a coach to Istanbul. We spent two years in Istanbul looking for work. We were lucky and got work, I sent money back to my mother and she repaid our loan. It was not easy in Istanbul, so when I had enough money my brother and I travelled to Avalick on the Turkish coast. Here we paid to join a rubber boat with 40 others and crossed the sea last August. Thank God the crossing was smooth and the weather warm.

    One day all will be good, I know because God heard and answered the cry of my heart. “Let me dance and not kill.”

    Since then we have lived in Moira camp. To stop me getting bored and depressed I have found a place outside the camp where I can teach other boys how to dance. This has given them joy and a smile on their faces. I like to teach dancing and it is good to have the freedom here in Greece to do so. It is normal here which is good, the Greeks like to dance.

    I hope my brother and I can travel on to Berlin where my smart older brother lives. I want to break dance on the streets of Berlin. Then maybe live in Austria, I have seen pictures of Austria, it is a very beautiful country and they like dancing. I want to enter competitions and become a world champion. Even amongst all the difficulties I hold on to my dream. One day all will be good, I know because God heard and answered the cry of my heart. “Let me dance and not kill.”

    I know there is a God who hears and answer’s prayers. I do not know if he is Muslim or Jew or Christian, I just know he is there and he hears. I don’t want to say I believe in one or the other, this seems to only bring pain and suffering and war.

    I am so happy that I can come to Next Wave on Wednesday night. I see so many joyful people and smiling faces. The music and singing are very good. If there was room I would dance! So many nationalities helping and being helped. There is goodness in the world, there is hope, there is freedom.

    Thank you.

    Mahmood Najjar.

  • Seismic Shifts in the Middle East

    Seismic Shifts in the Middle East

     

    **This is a personal website and reflects my thoughts and convictions. It does not represent any official position held by Youth With A Mission.**

    Even though I have been travelling to the Middle East since the 1970s and have watched many changes taking place, I am astonished at the pace of change in the last few years.  I have been in the Gulf States and Egypt the past couple of weeks and have come back with the assurance that the prayers of countless intercessors are being answered  to a degree that I could not have  imagined.

    In Dubai I was with the YWAM family who are scattered around the Gulf area.  They are Chinese, Egyptians, Iraqis, Filipinos, Indians, Afghans, Brazilians, Germans, Danes, Brits, Americans, and so on.  I was so encouraged by the unity of believers in this part of the world, which is the heart of Islam, and by the number of traditional Christians who have become genuine followers of Jesus, as well as those who have been called from all over the world to minister in the Middle East.

    I was particularly surprised to meet Afghan workers. They were a couple who came to Christ as a result of the living witness of a Korean family in Kabul. Before they were married, the young man followed Jesus but his fiancée hadn’t decided to do so at the time.  Their lives were soon under threat by the Taliban who gave notice that they were going to bomb their home. Three times they had to leave their house at short notice, moving to a new location and leaving everything behind.  Finally this dear young woman, mother of three little girls, thought she would put God to the test, so she prayed for protection as a Muslim and saw no change.  Then she prayed for protection in the name of Jesus.  In a dream that night she saw her house surrounded by huge angels and knew that she was safe.  In the long run they felt that they should go to another country.  So miraculous provision and visas opened to them in the Gulf area and they are now discipling many others from Afghan, Persian and Tajik backgrounds.  One of the other leaders there says he has rarely seen anyone as fruitful as this young couple.  Again, this far exceeded my expectations.  When I was first in Kabul in 1970, the only known believers were a handful of blind people.  (The government did not object to a Christian helping the blind because they were social outcasts.)

    One of the most memorable moments in this trip was when an Egyptian leader said, “We have been praying for revival and God sent us ISIS.”  That may sound quite strange to many, but the rise of extreme Islam and the revelation of its cruelty and inhumanity has been a major reason for disillusionment and a hunger for change.  No one can accurately estimate the number of people who have turned to Christ in the last few years.  Some people would say millions; others would say no, it’s more like hundreds of thousands. But any figure needs to be seen in context—there were almost no Muslims deciding to follow Jesus until about twenty years ago.

    I could tell you many exciting stories like the South American who is a football coach in one of the least reached nations where visas are very hard to get, but the government has welcomed him with open arms.  There were so many encouragements during my days there!  Amongst them was the fact that many of the workers are under the age of 30 and are putting roots down for the long term.  Several of them have just finished two years of language school.  I was impressed with their commitment but also with the bubbling life that was evidenced amongst them.

    I had a little more than a day at home before I left again, this time for Egypt.  I have been to the Western Desert many times and I am always uplifted by the experience because, for more than 17 centuries it has been one of the world’s great spiritual centres.  Monks from the Western Desert took the gospel to Ireland.  Then, in the dark ages, monks in Ireland and Egypt kept the light of the gospel alive.

    There were understandable security implications for people from so many nations gathering there, even though great efforts were made to keep the numbers down.  When it was first planned, we learned that the Chinese wanted to bring 4000 and the Egyptians figured as many as 12,000 would come if the gathering were open.   When the security implications were considered, we made the event available by invitation only.  As a result, we were only about 1,000.  (But we believe more open events lie ahead.)  Around 3-400 of the thousand were Chinese, then about 300 Egyptians with the remainder coming from around 30 other nations.  The theme was the Isaiah 19 highway:

    23 In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria. The Assyrians will go to Egypt and the Egyptians to Assyria. The Egyptians and Assyrians will worship together. 24 In that day Israel will be the third, along with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing[b] on the earth. 25 The Lord Almighty will bless them, saying, “Blessed be Egypt my people, Assyria my handiwork, and Israel my inheritance.”

    As usual with these events, it is very hard to describe the significance of it.  I will do my best to explain that below.  What anyone would have experienced is an almost unique sense of family love between believers from so many different nations.  That led to a clear sense of spiritual authority for proclaiming that the Egypt to Assyria highway is open!

    I will try to explain a little more clearly:

    It is rare for followers of Jesus to gather from so many nations with only one purpose—to worship God together and then believe and obey anything he says.  When we do that, it seems that His priority is to prepare the Church, the Bride of Christ.  He does that by leading us to tear down the walls that divide us.  Nationality, race, language, culture and religious traditions all serve to separate us; but all those become insignificant when we focus on Him.  A powerful sense of love pervades and the usual gulfs between us disappear.  In that atmosphere, we are able to talk about sensitive subjects, such as Jews and the land of Israel, different views of the second coming of Jesus and different perspectives on current politics and events.  But the love and unity prevail even when we have different opinions on these important subjects.

    We must all be familiar with what Jesus said to his disciples, “This is how everybody will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for each other.”  I have always understood that to apply to us as individuals and I am sure it does.  But recently I realized it could equally apply to nations or races or any groups that are traditionally divided against one another.  When Koreans, Chinese and Japanese believers love one another, it is a powerful demonstration that the good news about Jesus is supernatural and a powerful force for good.  The same would be true between Germans and French and British, or Israelis and Arabs.  I am convinced that such love has spiritual power.

    A lot has been said about spiritual warfare and the Ephesians passage is well known:

    “The warfare we’re engaged in, you see, isn’t against flesh and blood.  It’s against the leaders, against the authorities, against the powers that rule the world in this dark age, against the wicked spiritual elements in the heavenly places.”

    Over the years, we have sought to wage this warfare in different ways.  Sometimes it seemed as if our efforts were futile and missing the mark.  However, when we gather as we did in Egypt (and have done in many other nations over the past five years) we know, beyond doubt that territory is being taken for the Kingdom of God and the “powers that rule this world” are on the run.

    A major factor in this spiritual power is the Chinese.  That part of the Church has been refined through suffering and they have a level of commitment and zeal that is too rare.  In addition, it just seems that God has decided to give them a gift for praying for the birth of new things in the Kingdom.  It is as if they are spiritual midwives.  In these gatherings, they worship will all their hearts and then pray and travail in the Spirit with all their hearts and new ministries or relationships or other breakthroughs occur.  Their spiritual leadership is indispensable and they have made covenant commitments to stand with both Arabs and Jews for the sake of the Kingdom.

    One final important point on this subject:  One of our good friends from Israel said, “The destiny of a nation is to be seen it its redeemed minority”, and Paul wrote that all things will be brought together in Christ.  That cosmic destiny is demonstrated when we worship together and love one another across the usual divides.  When people from different nations, races, social and educational backgrounds find genuine love and unity in Jesus, the King, it gives us a foretaste of the Kingdom to come.

    This has already been long, but I have to mention one more bit of encouragement.  I was visiting a friend whom I have known for about 30 years and, to my amazement, I discovered that he had a friendship with the man who has been announced as the next King of Saudi Arabia.  This Crown Prince has been in the news recently because he paid a world record for a painting—over $450 million for a Da Vinci depiction of Jesus.  That in itself is amazing!  Muslims do not approve of any pictures of people or animals.  Why would he risk the wrath of fellow Muslims?  More importantly, though, was the news I read last month.  Crown Prince Salmon was reported as saying that Saudi Arabia was no longer following strict fundamentalism.  He said they were breaking with their Wahhabi version of Islam and embracing what we would call moderate Islam.  So I asked my friend, “Do you know him well enough to know if this is a sincere change?”  He said, “Yes, I have a warm and growing friendship with him and he means it.”

    Yes, these are seismic shifts.  What will the next few years bring?  I know better than to try to make a prediction, but I am certainly eager to see it unfold!

    Lynn Green.