Christian Media Magazine Interviews John

[sue d.]

Nice interview with John, covering Petra's retirement, John joining Petra and the new Christmas CD.

http://christianmediamagazine.com/cmm/j ... _interview

You can also log in and listen to the audio.

[Joe Sull]

JS: We knew it was time to be done with Petra when we did one of the best rock albums that’s been done in Christian music and it was pretty much ignored. When “Jekyll and Hyde” came out there wasn’t a peep about anybody interested in Petra at all. Bob and I and our wives said, “You know what, Petra is done.” We can’t do better than this and if there’s no interest after this kind of record apparently this is now time for Petra to end. Did we really want that? No, I mean we still had plenty to say and we felt, plenty to do. You can’t fight city hall and right now city hall is controlled by a different generation that likes a different style of music. So we were pretty much forced out and that’s OK.

Without making a cliché about the younger generation, there's something else going on in this age that has nothing to do with Petra or there work. Multitudes of kids are being raised Godless. Whats on the radio these days is an outward sign of an inward emotion.

I comented in my other thread that God, thru Petra, set the bar to high. In my eyes, no band could even compete with them and were probably saying "You can’t fight city hall". I'm not sure compete is the right words but I'm just talking.

[brent]

Ahh...I think the bible says it best. "There is nothing new under the sun." Every generation thinks it is the one farthest away from God. They have all had their gods but have been equally Godless. There isn't a culture today doing anything that wasn't done in the bible. It just seems more extreme to us because we are living in the thick of it and not reading about in some disconnected fashion.

[Joe Sull]

I see your point, Brent. I guess what I was getting at is that there is'nt a place on earth that has'nt heard Gods word now. Thats something new under the sun. Right down into the deepest darkest jungle of Papua New Giunea, they've heard it. The words on everybodys lips, they know his name, Jesus Christ.
Daniel 12-6, Danial asks “How long will it be before these astonishing things are fulfilled?”
Petras mission? If they hear the word in another way, maybe they'll understand.

[rexreed]

The whole world has been exposed to God's word? If that makes you sleep better at night then good for you, but I do not believe the whole planet has been exposed to it. How would you even qualify that? If one person in a country has heard The Gospel do you count that as a whole country being introduced? just wondering because it is an interesting subject.

[Joe Sull]

How would I even qualify that?

I believe that for For 2000 years, Men and woman, powered by
the spirit have scowered the earth and brought the gospel to
every place on this planet. Do I think that every person that
god has forseen coming to him has come? No, I think there is still a
mission, mostly for the young.

Whats that have to do with me sleeping at night?

"If one person in a country has heard The Gospel do you count
that as a whole country being introduced?"

How would you have me anwser this, my friend? I'll use Kenya
for instance. Mission have spread the word there for 100 years.
One person excepts it another rejects it. The holy spirit works
in the person that excepts the word and it spreads like a fire.
The person that rejects the word, does'nt speak of it. That person
does'nt pass it down because they don't understand.
I find myself explaining the obvious.

Daniel 12-10; "Many will be purified, made spotless and refined, but
the wicked will continue to be wicked. None of the wicked will
understand, but those who are wise will understand."

To purify and make spotless and refined is the holy spirits work.
The word is out.

Happy Easter

[brent]

The whole world has NOT heard. Every dialect does NOT have a copy of the bible. Many translations are heavily altered to make it relative to the culture and work for the limited languages. Wycliffe does it probably better than anyone, I suppose. We still have not been to EVERY place. There are some lost tribes, that until recent sat technology was developed, they had not been seen by the civilized world. They don't have to be reached technically, if God foreknows that they would not accept him anyway. We have to do our part, because we don't know.

To my original point....This world today is no more lost than it was when Adam and Eve fell. That was my point. We are just seeing a higher concentration of sin and all of it's artifacts because of the day and time in which we live. We have media, the internet, phones, etc now. We have fast intercontinental travel. The same exact stuff is happening today, that was happening in the 1970s, the 1870s, the 70ADs. In fact, listen to the Servant song Jealousies. It is like they wrote it yesterday. The same stinking countries we were having issues with in the 80s are still causing us grief today. The same issues are here now.

The great commission is not to save, but to disciple. Many missions stop short. Some are more hands and feet, feed and water types. Others don't address the physical needs of the people, only the spiritual. It takes all types. The people are going to go to who gives them the most for the longest, so hopefully they get the correct doctrine of Christ and the people really own it. It's all up to the Holy Spirit, just as J said in his post.

[rexreed]

I was wondering how or why someone would claim that there was NOT a place where folks could hear the Gospel. The North Koreans come to mind as a people that used to have exposure but lately they don't.

[brent]

There are people who will be born without a knowledge of Jesus Christ, (God will even answer their prayers), love them, and give the Holy Spirit to draw them.

There are lots of countries where the Gospel is illegal and people have not heard it. There are people in the USA who have never heard. The bible documents that people will die without hearing the Gospel. Paul talks about them and how their situation will be handled. The fact that he did not say ALL will hear is telling.

[Joe Sull]

Wikipedia
N. Korea

Both Koreas share a Buddhist and Confucian heritage and a recent history of Christian and Cheondoism ("religion of the Heavenly Way") movements. The North Korean constitution states that freedom of religion is permitted.[269] According to the Western standards of religion, the majority of the North Korean population could be characterized as irreligious.[citation needed] However, the cultural influence of such traditional religions as Buddhism and Confucianism still have an effect on North Korean spiritual life.[270][271][272]

Nevertheless, Buddhists in North Korea reportedly fare better than other religious groups, particularly Christians, who are said to face persecution by the authorities. Buddhists are given limited funding by the government to promote the religion, because Buddhism played an integral role in traditional Korean culture.[273]


An ancient relief image of the Buddha, Mount KumgangAccording to Human Rights Watch, free religious activities no longer exist in North Korea, as the government sponsors religious groups only to create an illusion of religious freedom.[274] According to Religious Intelligence the situation of religion in North Korea is the following:[275]

Irreligion: 15,460,000 (64.3% of population, the vast majority of which are adherents of the Juche philosophy)
Korean shamanism: 3,846,000 adherents (16% of population)
Cheondoism: 3,245,000 adherents (13.5% of population)
Buddhism: 1,082,000 adherents (4.5% of population)
Christianity: 406,000 adherents (1.7% of population)
Pyongyang was the center of Christian activity in Korea until 1945. From the late forties 166 priests and other religious figures were killed or disappeared in concentration camps, including Francis Hong Yong-ho, bishop of Pyongyang[276] and all monks of Tokwon abbey.[277] No Catholic priest survived the persecution, all churches were destroyed and the government never allowed any foreign priest to set up in North Korea.[278]

Today, four state-sanctioned churches exist, which freedom of religion advocates say are showcases for foreigners.[279][280] Official government statistics report that there are 10,000 Protestants and 4,000 Roman Catholics in North Korea.[281]

According to a ranking published by Open Doors, an organization that supports persecuted Christians, North Korea is currently the country with the most severe persecution of Christians in the world.[282] Open Doors estimates that 50,000–70,000 Christians are detained in North Korean prison camps.[283] Human rights groups such as Amnesty International also have expressed concerns about religious persecution in North Korea.[284]

When the romans persecuted the christians they worshiped in secrecy.
I did not say that I believe every person has heard the word.
I believe the gospel has made it throughtout.
With respect, I disagree.

[brent]

The bible and Christianity is still illegal in N Korea. Missionaries positioned in S Korea go across the border in secret. There is a government controlled "christian" organization, but it is not Christian. According to various missions sources, there are less than 75 pastors and less than 11k...all illegal Christians. The major denominational missionary boards do not publicize their activities for that reason.