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Revelation 7 - "After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations and kindred and people and tongues, stood before the throne and before the Lamb."
Today I am returning home from a 3 day conference of Lutheran church leaders from around the world. They came from Ghana, Madagascar, Argentina, Taiwan, Portugal, England, Nigeria, Korea, Hong Kong, Brazil, Paraguay, South Africa, Germany and more. "Of all nations and kindreds and people and tongues." Do you think that the church is in decline? In some places it may be but throughout the world Christianity is flourishing. Why shouldn't it be? Wherever the Gospel of Jesus Christ is present the Spirit of God will be working faith. For example, the bishop from Madagascar said his church has added a million members in the last decade, their membership now about 4 million.
Do you find the institutional church a wet blanket on your faith? Don't leave it but fuel the Pentecost fire by getting to know the stories of Christians around the world, if possible meeting them, visiting them. It charges me up. Conference devotions ended with attendees praying the Lord's Prayer in their native tongues, an unintelligible mix to us but known to God. Strange, whatever the language, we all came to the end together. That's our future, a great multitude before the throne and the Lamb. Amen, that is, so shall it be!
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