User:Conservative

"The Resurrection" by Carl Heinrich Bloch.

"...if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation". - Romans 10:9-10 (NASB)

"But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe; for there is no distinction; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed; for the demonstration, I say, of His righteousness at the present time, so that He would be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus." - Romans 3:21-25 (NASB)

"...bear fruits in keeping with repentance." - Luke 3:8 (NASB)

"And why not say (as we are slanderously reported and as some claim that we say), “Let us do evil that good may come”? Their condemnation is just." Romans 3:8 (NASB)

"Therefore He is able also to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them." - Hebrews 7:25 (NASB)

"When the disciples heard this, they were very astonished and said, “Then who can be saved?” And looking at them Jesus said to them, “With people this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” - Matthew 19:25-26 (NASB)

"‘Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him, and will dine with him, and he with Me.'" - Revelation 3:20 (NASB)

Two Christianity resources pages

"The heavens are telling of the glory of God. And their expanse is declaring the work of His hands." (Psalm 19:1 NASB)

And He said to them, 'Because of the littleness of your faith; for truly I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you." - Jesus, (Matthew 17:20 NASB)

"Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win. Everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things. They then do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. Therefore I run in such a way, as not without aim; I box in such a way, as not beating the air; but I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified." - The Apostle Paul, 1 Corinthians 9:24-27

"No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life, so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier." - The Apostle Paul, 1 Timothy 2:4

1 Two Christianity resources pages
2 Protestant missionaries and economic/societal development statistics
3 Future of Christianity
4 A few of my favorite quotes
5 My favorite version of the Bible
- 5.1 Memorizing the Bible
6 My favorite historians
7 Some of my favorite songs
8 One of my favorite videos related to what man can produce via technology
9 User:Conservative's essays
10 Notes

Protestant missionaries and economic/societal development statistics

The Harvard University historian Niall Ferguson declared: "Through a mixture of hard work and thrift the Protestant societies of the North and West Atlantic achieved the most rapid economic growth in history."^[1]

The article "The Surprising Discovery About Those Colonialist, Proselytizing Missionaries" published in Christianity Today notes:

“

In his fifth year of graduate school, Woodberry created a statistical model that could test the connection between missionary work and the health of nations. He and a few research assistants spent two years coding data and refining their methods. They hoped to compute the lasting effect of missionaries, on average, worldwide...

One morning, in a windowless, dusty computer lab lit by fluorescent bulbs, Woodberry ran the first big test. After he finished prepping the statistical program on his computer, he clicked "Enter" and then leaned forward to read the results.

"I was shocked," says Woodberry. "It was like an atomic bomb. The impact of missions on global democracy was huge. I kept adding variables to the model—factors that people had been studying and writing about for the past 40 years—and they all got wiped out. It was amazing. I knew, then, I was on to something really important."

Woodberry already had historical proof that missionaries had educated women and the poor, promoted widespread printing, led nationalist movements that empowered ordinary citizens, and fueled other key elements of democracy. Now the statistics were backing it up: Missionaries weren't just part of the picture. They were central to it...

Areas where Protestant missionaries had a significant presence in the past are on average more economically developed today, with comparatively better health, lower infant mortality, lower corruption, greater literacy, higher educational attainment (especially for women), and more robust membership in nongovernmental associations.

In short: Want a blossoming democracy today? The solution is simple—if you have a time machine: Send a 19th-century missionary."

...at a conference presentation in 2002, Woodberry got a break. In the room sat Charles Harper Jr., then a vice president at the John Templeton Foundation, which was actively funding research on religion and social change. (Its grant recipients have included Christianity Today.) Three years later, Woodberry received half a million dollars from the foundation's Spiritual Capital Project, hired almost 50 research assistants, and set up a huge database project at the University of Texas, where he had taken a position in the sociology department. The team spent years amassing more statistical data and doing more historical analyses, further confirming his theory.

...Woodberry's historical and statistical work has finally captured glowing attention. A summation of his 14 years of research—published in 2012 in the American Political Science Review, the discipline's top journal—has won four major awards, including the prestigious Luebbert Article Award for best article in comparative politics. Its startling title: "The Missionary Roots of Liberal Democracy."

...over a dozen studies have confirmed Woodberry's findings. The growing body of research is beginning to change the way scholars, aid workers, and economists think about democracy and development.^[2]

”

John Wesley

David Beidel wrote in his article The Bloodless Revolution: What We Need to Learn from John Wesley and the Great Awakening

“

In the 18th Century, most of Europe was on fire. Bloody civil wars and revolutions were decimating nation after nation. Unrestrained injustice, government and Church corruption, slave trade and the oppression of the poor created a powder keg for violence. Miraculously, Great Britain escaped the horrors of civil war and the brutal savagery that revolutionary anarchy engenders.

Few ancient monarchies are still in place today. The mystery of the UK’s capacity to honor the old guard, while raising up a more democratic system without a revolution, is a sociological wonder. Many credit the Great Awakening, in particular the Methodist movement, launched by John Wesley, for this extraordinary and peaceful transition.

Methodism unleashed an army of “little Christ’s” all over Europe. They cared for the poor, took in unwanted and abused children, fought unjust laws and labor conditions, visited prisoners, and battled against slavery; They joined hands with the Apostles and “turned the world upside down.” Eventually compassion became fashionable...

America is in desperate need of a Christ-infused revolution of compassion. We are a land of churches, who are well positioned to hear and answer the cries of our struggling communities. If a critical mass of congregations committed themselves to radically sharing the Gospel and passionately serving under-resourced/at-risk communities, we will see peace powerfully rise in these times of trouble. This will also enable, as in the days of John Wesley, wise reformation to take place because the true Christian Church is theologically hardwired to bring about peaceful, meaningful change that benefits all. I have written much about this in my book, Samaria, The Great Omission, and treasure every opportunity to strategize with churches who have a heart to minister in this way.

Let us stand in the gap as cultural/community peacemakers and healers in this season of sorrow and division. May our magnificent obsession be Jesus, the everlasting, ever loving, rescuer of the oppressed and Father of all.^[3]

”

Future of Christianity

See also: Future of Christianity

The prominent historian Sir Diarmaid MacCulloch, professor of the History of the Church at Oxford University, indicates that he believes Christianity faces a "bright future" worldwide (See also: Global Christianity).

According to MacCulloch, "Christianity, the world's largest religion, is rapidly expanding – by all indications, its future is very bright."^[4]

The prominent historian Sir Diarmaid MacCulloch, professor of the History of the Church at Oxford University, indicates that he believes Christianity faces a "bright future" worldwide (See also: Global Christianity).

According to MacCulloch, "Christianity, the world's largest religion, is rapidly expanding – by all indications, its future is very bright."^[5]

In 2012, the Center for the Study of Global Christianity at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary (GCTS) reported that every day there are 83,000 more people professing to be Christians per day, 800 less atheists per day, 1,100 less non-religious (agnostic) people per day.^[6]^[7]

Phillip Jenkins published the book The Next Christendom: The Coming of Global Christianity.

Chuck Colson, citing the work of Jenkins, writes:

“

As Penn State professor Philip Jenkins writes in The Next Christendom: The Coming of Global Christianity, predictions like Huntingtons betray an ignorance of the explosive growth of Christianity outside of the West.

For instance, in 1900, there were approximately 10 million Christians in Africa. By 2000, there were 360 million. By 2025, conservative estimates see that number rising to 633 million. Those same estimates put the number of Christians in Latin America in 2025 at 640 million and in Asia at 460 million.

According to Jenkins, the percentage of the worlds population that is, at least by name, Christian will be roughly the same in 2050 as it was in 1900. By the middle of this century, there will be three billion Christians in the world -- one and a half times the number of Muslims. In fact, by 2050 there will be nearly as many Pentecostal Christians in the world as there are Muslims today.^[8]

”

A few of my favorite quotes

The conversion of Paul by the painter Nicolas-Bernard Lepicie

"Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win. Everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things. They then do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. Therefore I run in such a way, as not without aim; I box in such a way, as not beating the air; but I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified." - Apostle Paul, 1 Corinthians 9:24-27 (NASB)

“The greater the obstacle, the more glory in overcoming it.” ― Jean-Baptiste Poquelin (Molière), French playwright, actor, and poet

“Most people fail in life not because they aim too high and miss, but because they aim too low and hit.” - Les Brown, Motivational speaker

"They had to reinvent themselves a lot...They had to have a great personal attitude. They were well rounded players that could adapt to a whole new style of play...They're really tough psychologically. They were hard bitten tough people and that could be pulled and at times pushed, but mostly pulled. And understood that great do it again. They had tremendous resiliency. They were tough, tough young people. - Coach Herb Brooks U.S. Olympic team that beat the Soviets

"You can't be common, the common man goes nowhere; you have to be uncommon." - Coach Herb Brooks

"The best way to predict the future is to create it." - Peter Drucker, Austrian-American management consultant, educator, and author

"Drucker taught that if you continue to do what made you successful in the past, you will eventually fail. This has been true in all times and in every field— including not only business, but war, politics and even in your personal life. Companies, industries, countries and even individuals that fail to understand this single principle litter history." - William A. Cohen, Retired Major General and author

"There is no security on this earth; there is only opportunity." - General Douglas MacArthur. One of the great military strategists in World War II, and responsible for governing and rebuilding Japan during the Allied occupation.

"Champions are famous for concentrating their energy and efforts on what they want and blocking out anything or anyone who threatens that focus. While average people haphazardly pursue loosely defined goals, champions concentrate on the attainment of a singular purpose with an intensity that borders on obsession. World-class performers invest an inordinate amount of time and energy in selecting their major goals . While the masses consider making changes every New Year’s Eve, the goal setting and planning process is an everyday habit of champions. When the goals are set, champions put mental blinders on and move forward with dogged persistence and ferocious tenacity. World-class performers create such an intense level of concentration to overcome challenges and achieve goals that it is the last thing they think about before they fall asleep, and the first thing that hits them when they wake up. The great ones dream about their goals so frequently that they often keep pen and paper on the nightstand so they can quickly record any ideas or solutions that come to them in the middle of the night. While average people see world - class performers’ successes as a matter of intelligence or luck, champions know sustained concentration of thought and action is usually the true key to their success." - Steve Siebold, 177 Mental Toughness Secrets of the World Class.

"If you want it like you want to breathe. If you want it like you say you want it, you can have it. If you are willing to persevere, if you are willing to fight for it, there is nothing you can't have if you are willing to work for it. You might be smarter. You might come from privilege. But you will not outwork me! If you want to be successful in life, you have to understand that there is a sense of urgency. You have to do things faster than your competitors. There are some guys who are at a whole different level. You have to separate yourself. I dare you to leave everything on the field. Get tired of losing. There is greatness in you. You can reach your full potential. Be what you were called to be. Do what you were called to do. Listen to me. Do not fear. I need you to understand. that you can have it, but it is going to be a fight. But if you are willing to fight, there is going to come victory." - Eric Thomas, Author, speaker, educator and pastor[1]

"Successful people do what unsuccessful people are not willing to do. Don't wish it were easier; wish you were better." - Jim Rohn

"Indeed, if thou hurteth in thy efforts and thou suffer painful dings, then thou art doing it right." - Richard Marcinko, Leadership Secrets of the Rogue Warrior

"Thou hast not to like it-thou hast just to do it." - Richard Marcinko, Leadership Secrets of the Rogue Warrior

"And He said to them, 'Because of the littleness of your faith; for truly I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you." - Jesus, (Matthew 17:20 NASB)