THE BLESSING OF OUR NATION

There's something that's really been on my mind this week and something that I'd like to research further. Have you ever stopped to think about our nation in terms of her being evangelized? I have no research notes or anything for reference for this posting, just some thoughts and questions.

I have a map of the globe hanging in the stairwell leading to my office and it shows all of the nations of the world with respects to the degree of evangelization of each country. What stands out more than anything is how "green" the US is colored in compared with so much of the rest of the globe. There are others, like Australia, Sweden/Norway area of Europe and some parts of Brazil that are seeing a good saturation of the gospel, but nothing stands out more than our USA! What I look at too is just how unevangelized other parts of the world are. If you look at Turkey, it is only "partially" reached...most yellows and oranges (red is the most unreached with green the most reached). I guess I look at Turkey specifically because I've been reading a book on the missionary journeys of Paul and he did so much work in Asia Minor at getting the gospel to them, and yet some 2000 years later the church still isn't nearly as established as it is in areas that have only had the gospel for much less time.

These are all questions in my head that I'm asking myself...feel free to answer via a comment...but what makes the USA "receive" the gospel and what has kept Asia Minor from growing the seeds that were sown by Paul? What makes us different? Why did God choose us, the United States of America, to be so effectively planted and then harvested? Why do some parts of the world who have had the gospel for 2000 years still struggle with a belief in Christ, when we've had ours 400 years and we're considered a "reached" nation? I would love to know who it was that took the gospel of Jesus Christ to England. Was it some little missionary who had the heart to share Jesus, the real Jesus? Was it simply the Lord working through Martin Luther that woke up the otherwise asleep "Evangelical Church" that took him from going up and down stairs on his knees for penance to trusting that GRACE in Jesus was enough? Was it Luther that challenged the system and ushered in the entire new reformation that ultimately led people in England to want to have religious freedom from the Church of England so desperately that they sailed the high seas and founded America? Or was it SPECIFICALLY a pastor that shared Jesus with someone there who ultimatly had a major say on the happenings here in the yet-to-be-called United States?

If so, once they got here did "they" just plant their feet and say we are going to found a nation based on Christ and Christ only? and as a result of that their children were brought up with an understanding of grace and faith in Jesus? And then their children and their children and their children?

I guess the one thing that we had going for us was that of a truly NEW nation...When Paul was preaching in now modern Turkey, he was preaching Jesus to people who either worshipped other false gods or worshipped the Law of Moses. He was working against much unbelief that had been firmly entrenched.

When the settlers came to America they did not take on the belief systems of the land...no they stayed away from the Indians' customs and they worshipped Christ the Savior. They were not swayed and they had nothing to build the faith of this nation upon except THE CORNERSTONE...JESUS. Look at the results...400 years of plenty, blessing, and being used to evangelize other nations of the globe.

I'd really like to see the flow of the gospel from the time of Paul to the nations of Europe to America and then to the entire globe. I bet it would be quite astounding to see the change in global evangelization once believers in America started going out and sharing and equipping new believers in other nations...love to see that map!

The thing is we still have the power of the Holy Spirit in us as believers. We can still make a difference in this nation and this world, one mission at a time. May we be as bold as our founding fathers as we declare the ways of our Lord. Let me know if you have any insight into this...I'm going to do some research of my own and I'll share with you anything I think is worthy of posting.