The Bethlehem MapYour fellow servant of Jesus, Bob Binkley
(The picture shown above is an early version of the map with Norwegian Text. The maps we send out contain the English version.) THE BETHLEHEM MAP - a picture of 2000 years and a challenge for the future - Quite a few people have Kaleb's first map of the "unfinished task" still hanging on their walls. That map, showing where the unreached peoples live and who has or has not the Bible, has been a great tool for intercessors over the last 15 years. Now Kaleb (Frank Kaleb Jansen) launches a new map, which he calls "The Bethlehem Map", in commemoration of the birth of Jesus. He might just as well have called it a new reformation, revolution or renaissance map because this piece of art prophetically portrays a paradigm shift standing at the Church's doorstep. This new map (28"x39") is a One Sheet Encyclopedia. It is so densely packed with a lot of information unknown to many that almost every sentence is enough "ammunition" for a whole sermon or lecture. Here, in short, is what the map shows: 1. The outer perimeter framing the map displays the portion of the world's 6 billion population living in each of the 235 countries of the world. Linked to the name is the percentage of Church members to the population of that country. 2. The central piece - the map itself - has the world separated into 10 regions. The countries in each region are tied together by things like politics, culture, ethnicity, language or religion. Each country has a thickness which equals the percentage of Christians in that country. The colors of the countries tell which religion is the biggest, thus this becomes a world map of dominant religions. 3. The central point of the map is Bethlehem where the Word became flesh. This is symbolized by the bright ray that also becomes the axis around which all spheres and fragments of society can harmoniously revolve. 4. The societal model at the bottom of the map Kaleb developed to research, strategize and evaluate the situation and evolution of a nation or culture. It is a "yardstick and a thermometer" with which to measure a nation's well being . 5. Two timelines of history - "Secular world" and "World of mission" - are divided into 42 generations of the same length that Matthew uses to describe Jesus' genealogy back to Abraham. We are born in the 42nd generation after Jesus! 6. Christianity has become the biggest ever world movement (2 billion Church members -34% of the world population) while the big empires of the world only have had a short time of glory and power. Although we must rejoice when we see this documented steady church growth, the map clearly shows something worrisome: We have been so good and busy in baptizing people into our churches, but we have often missed out on the two major points of Jesus' Great Commission: a) Discipling (that is, teaching them to obey all things Jesus has commanded) b) Bringing the Gospel of the Kingdom to every habitat (settlement) 7. Since the "discipler" of a person, which is the key to disciple a nation, is the family, Kaleb strongly points out the need for the Church to rediscover the Bible's teaching on family. 8. These three points, DISCIPLING - HABITAT - FAMILY, can only become effective if the Christians embrace the Word of God as the Truth and guide in every arena of life and society. The only prevailing truth in our pretentious tolerant societies is this: Everything is relative! With that as the philosophical core of our culture, nothing can stop it from becoming fragmented and disenfranchised. ON THE BACK The back of the map contains a listing of all the countries of the world divided by region. With each country is basic statistics including the current religions.
Note: If you believe this map would help your walk with the Lord or that of someone you know, but you cannot afford the suggested donation, please just send us a note explaining your situation. Thank You.To order, send checks to: |
