Thanks to the generous support of ministry friends like you, we are pleased to announce that the Reformation Study Bible has been carefully translated into Portuguese. Get this long-anticipated resource, A Bíblia de Estudo da Fé Reformada, for yourself or share it with someone you know.

Now available for a Portuguese readership, the Reformation Study Bible elevates Scripture on every page, providing comprehensive and trustworthy commentary that is accessible to every reader. This unparalleled study resource contains more than 1.1 million words of verse-by-verse and topical explanations, theological notes and articles, and nearly two millennia of historic Christian creeds and confessions.

Get this storehouse of faithful biblical commentary, entirely in Portuguese, for a lifetime of enriching study. The new Portuguese edition is available in crimson hardcover, black premium leather, burgundy leather-like, light brown leather-like, and navy leather-like cover styles. It is our hope that this new resource will help reach the 250+ million Portuguese speakers around the world with the life-giving truth of God’s Word. The Reformation Study Bible is also available in Spanish and in English.

As thousands of Christians travel to Orlando for the beginning of our 2013 National Conference tomorrow, we're preparing to reach out to thousands more by live streaming the conference's teaching in Spanish, Portuguese, and American Sign Language.

Thanks to our partner, Mision Virtual, each sesson will be translated live and available to watch here.

We're grateful for the team of translators that make this possible and we ask for your prayers as we seek to extend the reach of our teaching into the nations.

Watch Live at: http://misionvirtual.org/ligonier/

Note: There will be no live stream in English, however, the sessions will be posted on Ligonier.org next week for you to watch for free. Stay tuned to the blog for an announcement of when they're available.

A Bíblia de Estudo da Fé Reformada foi cuidadosamente elaborada sob a liderança editorial de R.C. Sproul e com a contribuição de 75 importantes teólogos de todo o mundo. Mais de 1,1 milhão de palavras com explicações versículo por versículo e temáticas para enfatizar a necessidade da graça de Deus ao conduzir das trevas para a luz das Escrituras. A Bíblia de Estudo da Fé Reformada oferece uma experiência singular de leitura, estudo e discipulado para todas as idades e fases da vida cristã. Fidelidade em erudição e comentários Notas teológicas do Editor-Geral, R.C. Sproul; Comentários de 75 pastores e teólogos de todo o mundo; Artigos temáticos para enriquecer o estudo das Escrituras. Notas exaustivas e recursos teológicos Mais de 1,1 milhão de palavras de explicações temáticas, versículo por versículo; Mais de 20.000 notas de estudo; Confissões e credos históricos de 2.000 de história da igreja. Ferramentas de estudo e ajuda visual 16 páginas de mapas coloridos premiados; Os mapas integrados fornecem referências rápidas enquanto se lê; Tabela de pesos e medidas, e muito mais. Publicado pelo Ministério Ligonier e pela Editora Fiel The Reformation Study Bible, Portuguese Edition has been carefully crafted under the editorial leadership of R.C. Sproul and the contributions of 75 distinguished theologians and pastors from around the world. Over 1.1 million words of verse-by-verse and topical explanations faithfully presented to emphasize the need for the grace of God to lead out of darkness and into the light of Scripture. The Reformation Study Bible, Portuguese Edition offers an unprecedented experience of reading, study and discipleship for every age and stage of Christian life. Faithful Scholarship & Commentary Theological notes from general editor, R.C. Sproul Commentary from 75 distinguished theologians from around the world Topical articles to enrich additional study of Scripture Comprehensive Notes and Theological Resources Over 1.1 million words of verse-by-verse and topical explanations Over 20,000 study notes Historical creeds and confessions from 2,000 years of church history Study Tools & Visual Helps 16 pages of high-resolution full color maps at back of Bible Embedded maps provide quick references as you read Table of weights and measures, and more Published by Ligonier Ministries and Editora Fiel

What sets the historic Christian faith apart from all other religions and worldviews? Nothing less than the good news of God’s saving grace in Jesus Christ. The Protestant Reformers boldly declared the marvelous message of the gospel: Salvation is by God’s grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, as revealed in Scripture alone, to the glory of God alone. Together, these “alone” statements are called the five solas of the Reformation. In this book, Dr. Gabe Fluhrer explains how the five solas give us the heartbeat of the gospel and the road map for the Christian life. By knowing these core biblical truths, we can cultivate deeper delight in God’s grace and greater devotion to His glory. Endorsements “We never truly move beyond the gospel nor graduate from the school of Christ. Every person, no matter their years in Christ, has but begun to understand the beauty of His person and work. Here is a book that helpfully sets before us the gospel in all its simple yet profound glory. Pastoral in tone, rich in theology, and an engaging read are a few thoughts that came to mind when reading Dr. Fluhrer’s recent book, The Beauty of Divine Grace. If you are a student of Christ, reading this book is time well spent.” —Rev. Jason Helopoulos “There is a growing interest in the Reformed faith in our times. Thou- sands of people from different religious backgrounds have come to the Reformed churches everywhere, hungry for the Word of God. We have felt the need for works by Reformed authors that explain simply and clearly what the central points of the Protestant Reforma- tion are and how they differ from what other traditions teach. This work by Dr. Fluhrer perfectly meets this need. It explains in a clear and succinct way what is at the heart of Reformed soteriology summarized in the five solas. Every one of them is explained carefully and the most common mistakes about them are cleared. With a pastoral spirit, Dr. Fluhrer draws in every chapter practical implications of each sola for daily life. This is a highly relevant book for our times. I hope it will be translated into Portuguese as soon as possible.” —Dr. Augustus Nicodemus Lopes

In this seminar, J.D. Bridges, Rev. Joel Kim, and Drs. Sherif Fahim and Augustus Nicodemus Lopes provide a look at the church around the world, helping us understand how God is moving to build His church in many nations and on many continents.

The Protestant Reformation is a story of transformation—a transformation from hate to love, from slavery to freedom, and from blind faith to a glorious discovery of the truth in Jesus Christ. In this short video, Dr. R.C. Sproul summarizes the main catalyst for the Protestant Reformation and the mission of Ligonier Ministries more than five hundred years later. Also available in Chinese, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish. You'll find below several other resources that explain what the Reformation was all about.

Books

Luther and the Reformation: How a Monk Discovered the Gospel by R.C. Sproul

This book (also available as a teaching series) by Dr. R.C. Sproul discusses several crisis moments in the life of Martin Luther that led to his recovery of the gospel as revealed in Scripture. Justification by faith alone was a liberating truth for Luther and the other Protestant Reformers, and it is still good news for God’s people to cherish today.

The Heart of the Reformation: A 90-Day Devotional on the Five Solas by Ligonier Editorial

Sometimes one word is all that stands between the truth and a lie. During the Reformation, that word was sola: “alone.” That word made all the difference during the Reformation, and the same is true today. This devotional covers the five solas of the Reformation, helping readers to better understand the core biblical truths that display the reliability of God’s Word and the depths of His mercy.

The Reformation: How a Monk and a Mallet Changed the World by Stephen J. Nichols

In this book, Dr. Stephen J. Nichols takes the Reformation and presents its major players in a fresh way. From Martin Luther to kings and queens, it goes behind the scenes to uncover the human side of these larger-than-life Reformers. Along the way, readers meet Luther, Ulrich Zwingli, John Calvin, Kings Henry VIII and Edward VI, Lady Jane Grey, Anne Bradstreet, and many others.

Reformation Women: Sixteenth-Century Figures Who Shaped Christianity’s Rebirth by Rebecca VanDoodewaard

Just as Deborah, Esther, and the New Testament Marys helped shape Bible history, so the women of the Reformed church have helped to make its history great. In Reformation Women, Rebecca VanDoodewaard introduces readers to twelve sixteenth-century women who provide an example to Christians today of strong service to Christ and His church. These influential, godly women were devoted to Reformation truth, provided support for their husbands, practiced hospitality, and stewarded their intellectual abilities. This book can help readers better understand church history and how God used women to further the Reformation through their work and influence.

Podcasts

Luther in Real Time with Barry Cooper

Covering events that occurred more than five hundred years ago, this podcast invites listeners to walk in Martin Luther’s footsteps at the dawn of the Reformation. Hear in Luther’s own words the powerful story of his journey from heresy charges to his famous stand for the authority of God’s Word at the Diet of Worms.

5 Minutes in Church History_ with Stephen J. Nichols**

Travel back in time with Dr. Stephen J. Nichols to look at the people, events,

On September 4, 1807, a ship called the Trident pulled into the port of Macao, a small Portuguese colony off the coast of China. Aboard the vessel was an Anglo-Scot Presbyterian minister named Robert Morrison. He intended to cross the border and go to the city of Canton, where he would begin missionary work among the Chinese people.

When others on the ship heard of Morrison’s plans, they were naturally skeptical. In those days, China was a mysterious and impenetrable world, sealed off from the West. Chinese law forbade westerners from residing in the country (except under very limited circumstances) and enforced strict laws on its citizens to prevent them from embracing Western ideas. Practicing foreign religions or teaching a westerner the Chinese language were crimes punishable by death.

From a human perspective, Morrison’s mission seemed impossible. Someone asked him cynically, “And so, Mr. Morrison, do you really expect that you will make any spiritual impact on the idolatry of the great Chinese Empire?” “No sir,” Morrison replied, “but I expect God will.” Indeed, God made an impact through the faithful labors of Morrison, who became the first Protestant missionary to China.

Early Life and Formation

Born on January 5, 1782, in the small town of Morpeth, England, Morrison was the youngest of eight children. His father, who was Scottish, and his mother, who was English, were active members of the Church of Scotland and raised their children to know the Bible and the Westminster Shorter Catechism. It is said that at the age of twelve, Morrison could recite from memory all of Psalm 119. By age fourteen, he left school for an apprenticeship in his father’s business. About two years later, he was converted. “I was much awakened to a sense of sin,” writes Morrison: I was brought to a serious concern about my soul. I felt the dread of eternal condemnation. The fear of death compassed me about and I was led nightly to cry to God that he would pardon my sin, that he would grant me an interest in the Savior, and that he would renew me in the spirit of my mind . . . It was then that I experienced a change of life, and, I trust, a change of heart, too.

After making a profession of faith, Morrison soon felt called to the mission field. In 1801, he began studying Greek, Hebrew, and Latin. In 1803, he entered the Hoxton Academy in London to be trained as a minister. Shortly thereafter, he was recruited by the London Missionary Society to go to China and lay the foundations for missionary work. Elated, Morrison wrote to a colleague: “I wish I could persuade you to accompany me. Take into account the 350 million souls in China who have not the means of knowing Jesus Christ as Savior.” After several more years of preparation and studying the Chinese language, he was ordained in the Scots Church in London in 1807 and sent to China as a missionary.

LOPES: I think one of the ways that churches in the Global South can help the Western church is to remind them of the need to remain faithful to Scripture. I know there are exceptions, but as you look as a whole, it appears that the churches that are growing in the Global South have a stronger faith in the authority of Scripture, and they are willing to die for that and to live out what they believe is the Word of God.

I say that there are exceptions, of course. I know that the church in the West has been infiltrated or impacted by liberalism, by the ideas of Friedrich Schleiermacher about whom we just heard, and by many other ideas. Perhaps we could remind the Western church about that, even though we’re very thankful to the Western church because our missionaries first came from there.

Also, perhaps we could remind the Western church that there has been a great change in the geographical center of Christianity, a shift in the last thirty-five to forty years, when the center of Christianity—I’m speaking about number of churches, of Christians, and even financial power—has moved from the North to the South.

Now, if you want to imagine what a standard Christian would look like, it would not look like a middle class white man living in the North, but probably a woman living in a village in Africa or in a slum in Brazil. So this is going to make a huge change in what Christianity looks like, in the profile of a standard Christian in the next few years. So the Western church should be sensitive to that because these things are going on.

Another thing: for the Reformation to survive in the Global South it has to adapt to what is going on in the Global South. Much of this growth of Christianity in the Global South is due to the Pentecostal and charismatic movement. We do share some things with them: the classical Pentecostal church does believe in the Bible as the Word of God, and they do tell the members to love the Bible, and to read the Bible, and to seek God’s ways there. Of course they are a little bit inconsistent when they believe in revelations, including personal revelations. But a normal Pentecostal member of a classic Pentecostal church would say that the Bible is God’s Word—infallible and inherent even—and would go by what the Bible says. But Pentecostalism is different from the classical Protestant tradition streaming from the Reformation. They’re different as to the way of worship, and they’re different as to the way they live every day.

So there has to be an adaptation. Many many Pentecostal and Neo-Pentecostal Christians have come to the Reformed churches in Brazil, or they have come to the Reformed faith. They have discovered R.C. Sproul on YouTube, they have discovered MacArthur on YouTube, they have discovered all of you who have somehow been translated into Portuguese, and they say “I want to be Reformed, but I’ve been raised in a Pentecostal

power of the Church's keys, which Jesus Christ Himself gave to the apostles and those who followed after them.

The word transubstantiation (change of substance) had been used before 1215 by men such as Hildebert of Tours (d. 1134), but the Fourth Lateran Council made the word and the associated concept official Roman Catholic orthodoxy.

ANTI-JUDAISM

The Council also condemned the teachings of dissenting movements such as the Waldensians and the Cathars (see below). It also required Jews who did not accept Christianity to wear distinctive garb and live in special Jewish areas of towns and cities, segregated from the Christian population. This decree echoed the increasing anti-Judaism that characterized Western society in the later Middle Ages. This attitude led to the expulsion of all Jews from England in 1209, from France in 1306, and then again more effectively from France in 1394. There was a general massacre of Jews in Spain in 1391, and the Spanish monarchy officially expelled them in 1492. The Portuguese expelled them in 1496. Jews were not expelled from Germany due to its lack of centralized government, but popular hatred of Jews was probably strongest there. In 1349, for example, a Christian mob in Strasbourg (which was then in Germany, but today in France) hounded the city's entire Jewish population—some two thousand people—to the local cemetery and killed all who refused to embrace Christianity.

This popular Christian animosity to unbaptized Jews was inflamed by tales that Jews kidnapped and murdered Christian babies and practiced religious rituals in which they treated the wafer of the mass with blasphemous mockery. There is no reason to believe these tales were true, but they do reveal the social and religious gulf which now yawned between the church and Israel. A more pragmatic explanation for Christian anti-Judaism was that until the close of the Middle Ages, the church prohibited Christians from practicing usury (lending money for interest). Jews stepped into the vacuum and became the great medieval moneylenders. It seemed utterly scandalous to Christians that unbelieving Jews should wield such economic power over them.

RELIGIOUS DISSENT AND THE RISE OF CAPITALISM

One of the greatest challenges facing Innocent III was the great upsurge of religious dissent in Roman Catholic Europe from about 1150 onwards. This mushrooming of dissent was probably connected to serious socioeconomic changes in the Western world at that time. In the Netherlands, western Germany, northern Italy, and France, the growth of towns, cities, trade, and industry was sapping the foundations of the old feudal system. Feudalism had been based on land ownership. Now, however, a new economy was emerging which was based increasingly on money rather than on land. Thus were established the key elements of capitalism (an economic system based on capital, that is, money). As a result of this proto-capitalist economy, the medieval rich became visibly richer, and more numerous; the poor, however, became visibly and shockingly poorer. At the same time, there was significant population growth, so that feudalism's old land-based way of life was less able to support those

into more than two dozen languages._ The MacArthur Study Bible, the cornerstone resource of his ministry, is available in English, Spanish, Russian, German, French, Portuguese, and Italian, with Chinese and Arabic translations underway.

Algeria, the Muslim government recently closed down thirteen Protestant churches, including a 1,200 member congregation. Algerian Christians have been imprisoned for “insulting Islam.” Missionaries have been expelled for “trying to convert Muslims to Christianity.” The Evangelical Protestant Alliance in Algeria claims fifty thousand members.

In Morocco, Muslim newspaper articles openly complain that up to forty thousand Muslims have turned to Christianity in recent years.

A leading Saudi Arabian Muslim leader, Sheikh Ahmad-al-Qatanni, reported on al-Jazeera TV that everyday “sixteen thousand Muslims convert to Christianity.” He claimed that Islam is losing six million Muslims a year to conversions to Christianity. This he described as a tragedy. We, of course, must allow for the fact that the Sheikh is inflating these numbers to incite Islamic violence against Christianity (he could be confusing those who are merely leaving Islam with those who are becoming Christians). Nonetheless, something momentous is happening in the Muslim world. Much of this is in Africa.

I have seen Muslims coming to Christ in Sudan and Nigeria. What used to be a rare event is now becoming a mass movement to Christ. Millions of Christians worldwide come from Muslim backgrounds. The Scriptures are being fulfilled: “The desert tribes will bow down before him and his enemies will lick the dust…all kings will bow down to him and all nations will serve him” (Ps. 72:9–11, NIV).

Even in central Africa, in what was the heartland of animism and oppression under dictatorial communist regimes, we are seeing mass movements to Christ.

The Congo must be one of the most difficult mission fields in Africa. The logistical complications, vast distances, endemic lawlessness, and corruption frustrate many travelers. Approximately fifty-five million people, in an estimated 450 ethno-linguistic groups, live in the Congo. Its vast mineral resources and agricultural potential were squandered by post-independence chaos, corruption, and mismanagement. Now, most of the once efficient road and railway systems are impassable. A succession of dictators have plundered the nation’s resources. Civil wars, assassinations, and incredible brutality and cruelty have devastated this long-suffering nation. Millions of people have been slaughtered in the violence. Yet our mission has had the joy of conducting extensive evangelistic outreaches even along the massive Congo River, and thousands have attended our leadership training courses there.

As the civil wars have ended in Portuguese-speaking Mozambique and Angola, tremendous opportunities for missions have developed. Once, Protestants made up less than four percent of the total population of Mozambique. Now Protestants make up more than thrity-four percent of what, under the Portuguese, was an officially Catholic country, and then for twenty years was officially atheistic under the Marxist Frelimo regime. The church has also grown spectacularly in communist Angola.

In Zimbabwe we are soon likely to face a critical turning point in history, similar to that in eastern Europe in 1989 when the Berlin Wall came down. The Marxist dictatorship of Robert Mugabe is in its last days as global and nationwide resistance to his tyranny increases. Our mission teams are preparing now to conduct biblical worldview seminars, God and government

(Furthermore, a millennium later the breakup of the Mongol Empire — which at its thirteenth-century, Pacific-to-Europe zenith had enabled East-West commercial, cultural, and religious interaction — squelched any European awareness of Asian Christianity.) Even so, apart from Western connections or knowledge, Asian missionaries continued to spread eastward, reaching the capital of T’ang Dynasty China by the seventh century. Spreading the gospel in such various languages as Syriac, Persian, Turkish, and Chinese, Christians grew in numbers that, surprising to many of us today, at times surpassed the number of Christians in the West.

The spread of Islam beginning in the seventh century contributed to Christianity never gaining socio-political ascendancy in most of Asia. Some Mongol imperial rulers, notably Genghis Khan (who reigned 1206–27), were tolerant of Christianity and other religions such as Buddhism. During the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries the recently established Franciscans sent missionaries eastward along the well-worn silk route to China. However, the late fourteenth-century rise of the savage Mongol ruler Tamerlane brought a scourge to Christians and Muslims alike throughout the reunited empire.

As European expansion throughout the world commenced in the late 1400s, Christianity in Asia resembled its presence in the late first century: small and fragile pockets existed in south Asia and in Syria. However, over the next several centuries peoples throughout Asia began to hear of Jesus Christ through new, Western avenues. For the most part, Western missionaries arrived together with Western commercial, political, and military advances. Early on that meant Portuguese-protected Jesuits such as Francis Xavier (1506–52) preaching along the coasts of India, southeast Asia, Japan, and China. Many of these Jesuits were of Italian heritage and daringly accommodated Christian teaching to indigenous thought, most notably Matteo Ricci (1552–1610) in China and Robert De Nobili (1577–1656) in India. Spanish-protected Franciscans and other Catholic missionary orders preached in the newly conquered and renamed Philippines. Protestant Christianity of questionable degrees of faithfulness and fervency arrived with English and Dutch trading companies. In certain areas Christian conversions were widespread; for example, by 1614 there were approximately 300,000 Christians in Japan out of a total population of twenty million. Understandably, however, many Asians receiving newly arrived Europeans were most interested in whatever economic and military benefits there were to be gained.

Another strand of Christianity spreading together with imperial advance into Asia was Russian Orthodoxy from the seventeenth century onward. As well, such spiritually focused German Pietists as Bartholemäus Ziegenbalg (1682–1719) and Heinrich Plütschau (1677–1752) entered India in 1706 under Danish patronage. Even with the dawn of Protestant missionary societies — marked by the formation of the English Baptist Missionary Society in 1792 to support William Carey’s (1761–1834) mission to India, the London Missionary Society in 1795 that sent the first Protestant missionary to China, Robert Morrison (1782–1834), and the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions in 1812, which sent out the first Protestant missionary from North America, Adoniram Judson (1788–1850), to Burma — Western missionaries went where their own nations economically and militarily enabled them to go.

European encroachments into

step in carrying forward the vision for a new Reformation.

Because one of the most striking features of the Reformation was its international influence, thanks primarily to John Calvin’s ministry in Geneva, the name was also selected with the desire of rekindling that same international outreach that spread from Geneva in the 16th century. Since Geneva is still well known and respected internationally, it seemed to be a logical choice.

And the New Geneva Study Bible will be used internationally. It is already being translated into Russian and German and will be available in the former Soviet Union and Europe simultaneously with its release in North America. A contract has been signed to authorize publication in Portuguese; in addition, discussions are underway regarding translation into Chinese, Korean, Spanish, French, and Indonesian, assuring its usage globally.

Problems are inevitable in all humanly wrought projects, and the New Geneva Study Bible was no exception. A major impediment was the unexpected financial difficulty experienced by Wolgemuth and Hyatt, which led to their acquisition by Word Publishing Company. Soon after that, Word was acquired by Thomas Nelson. Although all materials had been prepared and submitted on schedule, these transactions resulted in substantial, unexpected delays and a change from the use of the New International Version to the New King James Version as the text for the study Bible.

Finally, the vision for another Reformed study Bible is coming to fruition. The New Geneva Study Bible will make the majestic truth of the Reformed faith clear to the serious student of the Scriptures who wants to master its message. As the compelling, coherent, comprehensive content of Reformed thinking is crystallized in the mind and heart of readers all over the world, we pray that God might ignite a new Reformation.

Together, you and I can seize this moment for the gospel. I believe God allows unsettled times like these we’re experiencing today to drive people to Christ, who alone grants true peace, meaning, and reconciliation. More people have reached out to Ligonier Ministries this year than ever before, searching for something eternal to hold on to. You can help declare this eternal hope with your gift of any amount to help meet our year-end need.

The year 2017 was monumental for Ligonier:

We initiated an ongoing project to distribute thousands of copies of the Reformation Study Bible in Africa while moving forward on translation efforts in Spanish, Portuguese, Arabic, Korean, and German. We established an official Spanish department to develop resources for Spanish-speaking people around the world. We introduced “Ask Ligonier,” a biblical and theological question and answer service that allows people around the globe to chat with our team online. We celebrated the five-hundredth anniversary of Martin Luther’s posting of the Ninety-Five Theses, marking the beginning of the Protestant Reformation. Recovering the gospel is as important now as it was then.

That’s just scratching the surface, and it’s all been made possible by friends who give to this work because they want to seize this moment for Christ. We’re encouraged by friends like you who recognize the need for a ministry such as Ligonier and don’t count on others to give but stand to support us.

Lord willing, 2018 will be another milestone year for Ligonier. In March, we anticipate launching Renovando Tu Mente, the Spanish version of our Renewing Your Mind broadcast. We’ll host events defending the faith on college campuses around the country. We’ll hold several conferences here and abroad.

And this is all in addition to our growing translation efforts; publication of books, teaching series, and Tabletalk magazine; and our radio, TV, and Internet broadcasting.

But we can’t sustain and grow these gospel-teaching outreaches without your helping Ligonier to meet its year-end need. We’re only getting started. Billions of people need Christ, and false gospels abound. Having to reduce our voice because of a lack of funds would be tragic at a time like this.

The task before us in 2018 and beyond is great. But we serve God Almighty, who blesses those who love His truth. Your gift of any amount by December 31, 2017, will show strong support for Ligonier and enable us to do much good for the gospel together.

Thank you for the many ways you stand with us. We need you.

DONATE NOW

You can find the latest updates regarding Dr. Sproul’s health here.

It's been a year of challenges and opportunities. There's cultural opposition to God's Word unlike any I've seen in my life. But God's gospel shines brightly in the darkness.

God has used Ligonier to proclaim the fullness of His holiness around the world. This mission, Lord willing, will continue strong into 2016, but we need your help. We rely on your gifts of any amount by December 31 for a solid financial end to 2015.

Truly, the Lord has been faithful. We're on pace by year's end to reach more than 75,000 people who contacted Ligonier for the first time in 2015, the greatest number of first-time contacts in our forty-five-year history.

The Scriptures tell us that "Faith comes by hearing . . ." (Rom. 10:17a), and the many listeners to Renewing Your Mind tell us this program is vital for their Christian growth. In 2015, more than 90,000 people in 81 countries received Tabletalk, a magazine God has used to save many people and build Christians up in their faith.

The publication of the thoroughly revised Reformation Study Bible in the English Standard Version made 2015 a banner year for Ligonier, and this resource will reach even more people with its spring 2016 release in the New King James Version. Currently, this study Bible is being translated into Spanish, Portuguese, and German, and we're actively seeking to provide it in other languages such as Arabic as well.

More students than ever arrived on our campus this fall to begin a course of study at Reformation Bible College (RBC). RBC is in its fifth academic year, and the burgeoning student body is overflowing our classrooms even as we look toward future expansion.

The Great Commission calls us to disciple the nations (Matt. 28:18-20). That's what we aim to do in 2016. By God's grace, we'll do that in North America and in international outreaches such as gospel literature distribution at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. But we can't do this alone—the support and prayers of friends like you enable this work. God is using Ligonier to serve the church around the world.

Will you help us end the year strong by giving a gift of any amount to Ligonier's gospel outreach?

Note: The generosity of friends like you is key to our mission. Thank you for your support and prayers. Contributions are tax-deductible as allowed by law.

I am pleased to update you on the Lord's work through Ligonier Ministries as we declare the holiness of God around the world. By His grace, God is working great things as we stand with you to reach the ends of the earth with the gospel.

By all accounts, 2013 is shaping up to be a banner year for outreach. Internationally, we co-sponsored conferences in the United Kingdom in September, located a new partner in Brazil to make Ligonier resources available in Portuguese, and have continued working with friends to distribute Reformed teaching in Chinese and Spanish. A new church history podcast, more courses for Ligonier Connect, and eighty new stations for Renewing Your Mind have all borne fruit both domestically and internationally. In May we graduated the first class of Reformation Bible College, an institution made possible by gifts to our capital campaign totaling nearly $10.9 million from Ligonier supporters.

Lord willing, we look forward to further ministry expansion in 2014. Thank you for your faithfulness and for joining with us to help the church around the world.

In Christ,

R.C. Sproul

View Ligonier's 2013 Ministry Update below:

Portuguese is the official language of several nations on four continents—South America, Asia, Africa, and Europe—and many of these nations are experiencing significant population growth. A number of these nations have extensive regional and world influence. Imagine what God can do with the Portuguese-speaking church that has access to the truth of the Reformation through this study Bible.

We will expand our outreach efforts in Europe, particularly in the United Kingdom, with our first-ever conference in London. We’ve held conferences in Europe already, and the response has been so encouraging. By hosting a London conference, we will be able to minister to people in Europe and beyond who would never be able to come to the U.S. for a Ligonier conference.

Our efforts in Spanish will receive a greater emphasis as well as we seek new ways to make Renovando Tu Mente—the Spanish version of the Renewing Your Mind broadcast—available on more outlets and increase the number of resources available on our Ligonier Ministries Spanish website at www.Ligonier.es. When it comes to global languages, Spanish has the second highest number of native speakers in the world. For that reason, expanding Spanish outreach is crucial.

And those plans are just for starters. For instance, space prevents me from going into detail about our work to get the Reformation Study Bible translated into Arabic and for our expanding reach into the Middle East. There is no doubt that we all will face challenges in the year ahead, but it will also be another year of great opportunities. We need not be afraid, for even though we do not know what the future will be, we have confidence in our God and His sovereign plans. As Daniel wrote of our God: “He knows what is in the darkness, and the light dwells with Him” (Dan. 2:22).

You and I know that we are called to help people see the great Light and to live in that Light. And in partnership with Ligonier Ministries, you and I can fulfill that calling. Ligonier has vital work to do right now, and your help this month will ensure sound Bible teaching continues to reach people all around the world.

Like most ministries, Ligonier relies heavily on year-end donations to meet our annual budget and start the next year strong. December is our largest month for financial giving and perhaps the most important time of year to show your support for our mission. With your generous gifts, you can help reach our year-end goal and fuel our outreach into 2019. Thank you.

Donate Today

Contributions are tax-deductible as allowed by law.

In the Lord’s kindness, more of Ligonier’s discipleship resources have been translated into the world’s most-spoken languages. In turn, millions of people have greater access to the life-changing truth of God’s Word.

Thank you for standing with us through your faithful prayers and financial support as we press forward in gospel ministry together in 2025. Enjoy these recent updates on the outreach your generosity enables:

New Dedicated-Language Websites Ligonier has recently launched new online outreaches for two major Indian languages: Tamil and Telugu. These dedicated-language websites contain a new online library of biblical teaching to serve Christians worldwide.

Reformation Study Bible**_ Updates 

The French edition of The Reformation Study Bible** is now available. Ligonier’s goal is to distribute thousands of copies of this landmark resource across the French-speaking world, including many African countries, Canada, as well as France and other European countries.

The new Condensed Edition of the Spanish Reformation Study Bible**, using the popular Nueva Biblia de las Américas (NBLA) Bible translation, contains the most essential Bible study notes from the Reformation Study Bible in a portable format.

Ligonier recently distributed Reformation Study Bibles to pastors in the Philippines** at a conference attended by more than 500 people from around the country. Conference guests also received copies of Who Is Jesus? and God Is Holy by Dr. R.C. Sproul.

Newly Dubbed Teaching Series Farsi & Mandarin Chinese:** Union with Christ with Sinclair Ferguson Hindi & Indonesian:** Justified by Faith Alone with R.C. Sproul Portuguese**: Luther and the Reformation with R.C. Sproul

Newly Translated Books

Arabic:** R.C. Sproul: A Life by Stephen Nichols Dutch:** Seven translated children’s books Hindi:** What Is the Church?, What Is Faith?, and Surprised by Suffering by R.C. Sproul German__, Afrikaans, & Ukrainian: Everyone’s a Theologian by R.C. Sproul Japanese:** What Is the Church? by R.C. Sproul Modern Hebrew:** Can I Be Sure I’m Saved? and Does God Control Everything? by R.C. Sproul Romanian:** The Lightlings by R.C. Sproul

Explore and Share Our Dedicated-Language Websites

Ligonier is regularly adding translated and dubbed teaching to our nineteen dedicated-language websites. We encourage you to share these outreaches widely so more people can benefit from their ever-expanding libraries of discipleship resources.

There is a steep need for people worldwide to have access to discipleship resources that are faithful to God’s holy Word. In the Lord’s kindness, your support of Ligonier’s gospel outreach helps create a supply line to the front lines of the Great Commission. Enjoy these recent updates on the outreach your generosity enables:

New Vietnamese Dedicated-Language Website

Ligonier has recently launched its online outreach in Vietnamese. vi.Ligonier.org is our twentieth dedicated-language website, providing a new online library of biblical teaching and discipleship materials for nearly 100 million Vietnamese-speaking people worldwide.

Discipleship Resource Distribution Updates

Everyone’s a Theologian* by R.C. Sproul:** Ligonier recently distributed copies of the French edition of R.C. Sproul’s classic book to Bible college students in Haiti. Spanish Reformation Study Bible:** More than 1,300 copies of this foundational discipleship resource were gifted to conference attendees in Peru and Spain. French Reformation Study Bible:* More than 3,000 copies of the newest translation of the *Reformation Study Bible are being distributed to Canada, France, Haiti, and 11 African countries.

New Dubbed and Translated Video Teaching

Hindi:* * The Parables of Jesus | Teaching Series with R.C. Sproul Japanese:* * Moses and the Burning Bush | Teaching Series with R.C. Sproul Ukrainian:** What Was the Reformation All About? | Animated Video

New Book Translations

Albanian:* Who Is Jesus? by R.C. Sproul Bulgarian: Sammy and His Shepherd by R.C. Sproul Farsi: * What Is the Gospel? and * Who Is Jesus?* by R.C. Sproul French:* Saved from What? by R.C. Sproul German: The Donkey Who Carried a King, Does Prayer Change Things?, and Can I Lose My Salvation? by R.C. Sproul Hindi: * Surprised by Suffering by R.C. Sproul Lithuanian:* Does God Exist? by R.C. Sproul Portuguese: * A Little Book on the Christian Life by John Calvin Russian:* Lessons from the Upper Room by Sinclair Ferguson Spanish: * Hard Sayings by R.C. Sproul

Explore and Share Our Dedicated-Language Websites

Ligonier is regularly adding translated and dubbed teaching to our twenty dedicated-language websites. We encourage you to share these outreaches widely so more people can benefit from their ever-expanding libraries of discipleship resources.

of the Bible. Indeed, it’s a great resource in my library, and I am massively blessed by it.”_

Demand continues to grow. We have now received requests for more than 20,000 study Bibles for pastors, students, and lay leaders from multiple missions and training organizations since 2023.

Study Bibles in the Philippines

More than 200 Reformation Study Bibles were gifted to participants of pastor training events in the Philippines earlier in 2024.

The ministry has already received many thankful responses:

“These Reformation Study Bibles are a great resource and truly a help. The cost of Bibles in the country, decent ones with sound commentary such as these, are not generally affordable. Thank you for your grace and goodness in providing us these Bibles. Serving Christ with you until He comes for us.” —Pastor Ray C., Philippines

“It is with great delight to express my deepest praise and gratitude for the unsurpassed mercy and grace of our great God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Through the ministry of the Holy Spirit, He has ordained and blessed you with the obedience to heed His call of advancing the gospel of Christ by providing essential resources to help the faithful and truthful equipping of many of God’s saints across the world—of which we have recently become one of the blessed recipients! I personally wish to thank you for sending to local church leaders in the Philippines copies of the Reformation Study Bible. It is our prayer and desire that through these study Bibles, pastors and other church leaders in our country will grow deeper both in understanding and affection for God and His Word and, in turn will continue to rightfully reform and be rightfully equipped to care for God’s flock.” —Pastor Ian I., Philippines

Current Translation Efforts

Multi-year projects are underway with trusted partners to translate the Reformation Study Bible into Arabic, Russian, and Polish. Ligonier is also receiving interest in study Bible translations for other minor Eastern European languages.

Expanding Global Outreach

Spanish Outreach

This fall, we look forward to the first Ligonier conference in the Dominican Republic. We are prayerfully planning to serve more than one thousand Spanish-speaking attendees from all parts of Central and South America.

Our outreach, including the Spanish website (es.Ligonier.org) and weekly radio broadcast Renovando Tu Mente, contributes to ongoing reformation in Latin America. Total engagement with Renovando Tu Mente was 4.8 million in 2023 (an 18% increase over 2022). We are preparing to publish the condensed edition of the Spanish Reformation Study Bible later this year. Our online learning platform, Conexión Ligonier, continues incorporating new video teaching series covering various biblical and theological topics.

Ligonier’s Church Partnership Program has enabled the distribution of 3,200 copies of the Spanish Reformation Study Bible to pastors and seminary students in Bolivia, Perú, Ecuador, Honduras, El Salvador, Mexico, and Cuba in 2024.

Portuguese Outreach

Earlier this year, 477 copies of Portuguese study Bibles were sent to pastors throughout Brazil. We continue to

Today, millions of people around the world are watching the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics. As skilled athletes from many countries compete, Ligonier is taking this opportunity to raise critical questions: What is the most important goal you’re striving for in life? Is it truly worth pursuing?

Dr. R.C. Sproul wrote The Race of Faith to bring clarity to these questions. He uses the Apostles’ Creed as a framework to present a simple summary of the gospel message and emphasizes the importance of one goal—focusing on what is true and eternal. Download this free ebook today and get to the heart of the ultimate race of our lives: the race of faith.

This ebook is available in English and fourteen other languages, including Arabic, Chinese (Simplified and Traditional), Dutch, Farsi, French, German, Hindi, Hungarian, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, and Spanish. Combined, these languages are spoken by more than 5 billion people.

Download your free ebook today, and share it with your family and friends around the world so they may be encouraged by the gospel of Jesus Christ and called to focus on the race that matters most. Invite them to visit Ligonier.org/TheRaceOfFaith.