It’s easy to read the Bible and see the mighty ways that God acted in the past and think, “Yeah, that’s what he used to do.” It’s true. That is how God worked in the past. But what we often forget is that God is still working today, and He’s doing amazing things!
Look at these statistics that I read this week (Ok, so I’m a numbers person. But even if you aren’t, I think that the hand of God in modern history is still pretty stunning here.):
Percentage of the world’s population that calls themselves Christian:
- 0.1% in 100 AD
- 1% in 1500 AD
- 4% in 1900 AD
- 9% in 1980 AD
- 15% in 1992 AD
- 33% in 2005 AD
(Source: All That You Can’t Leave Behind, by Ryan J. Murphy)
The percentage of people who call themselves Christian only went up 9% in the first 1980 years after Jesus’ birth, but in the 25 years after that it went up 24%. Aren’t we living in amazing times!!
God is moving especially mightily in Latin America, Africa, and Asia, which is why us in the US are so easily oblivious to the miracles happening every day. But for a bit of encouragement to you, know this: a group of North Wahgi people in Papua New Guinea (an island just north of Australia) heard the gospel for the first time within the last week!