Hello
Great to hear from both of you. I apologize for the delay in responding; too many irons in the fire or not enough fire (probably the latter). Very interesting article and video clip about Ms. Gabriel and ACT! for America. I hadn’t heard of her or ACT! for America before. I lived with Muslims (and Jews and Christians) in Missouri for several years, an experience I greatly enjoyed. My Muslim roommates were wonderful guys, and one of them married a young Catholic woman in a joint Catholic – Muslim wedding.
But my reading of the Koran is that they were liberal Muslims, while the radical Islamists are more in keeping with both the Koran and Muhammad, the latter of whom led multiple raids against (mostly Jewish) caravans for women, children, and booty. Because the fundamentalist Muslims are in ascendancy across the Middle East and are beginning to control the political, military, and foreign policy apparatus of these nations (Egypt, Libya, etc.), the liberal Muslims are largely on the sidelines in this conflict in the Middle East (and perhaps here in the U.S.).
I suspect that the moderate/liberal Muslims are either intimidated, or as some suggest, secretly believe that Islam will eventually take over the world, albeit through peaceful means. In many respects, they are also victims of the fundamentalist Muslims – those who seek to follow in Muhammad’s footsteps.
The book “Infidel”, by Ayaan Hirsi Ali, a (formerly Muslim) woman born in Somalia, but raised in Kenya and Saudi Arabia confirms this perspective. The harassment and murder threats against her for speaking out against Muslim violence against women in the Netherlands were very real. They murdered a Dutch movie maker with whom she was co-producing a documentary film. Events seem to prove this perspective. The violent riots protesting a sorry little film that portrays Islam as a religion of violence just confirms that reality. This is in direct contrast to Jesus, who instructed His followers to love their enemies, a commandment disobeyed in the Catholic crusades.
While the Muslim dictators were not nice guys (Mubarak, Kaddafi, Saddam Hussein, et.al.), they did allow relative freedom of religion and even some women’s rights. It is strange that our current administration would support the Arab Spring and the Muslim Brotherhood, which is at its core fundamentalist and therefore opposed to the West, to freedom of religion, and to women’s rights. However, it is not as strange if one considers the possibility that our president is a Sunni Muslim (see “Saudi Plant” and “Is Obama a Muslim?” on YouTube).
That may also help to explain the animosity between our current administration and Israel, President Obama promising to never invade a Muslim country, his bowing to the king of Saudi Arabia, his instructing NASA to publicize the scientific achievements of Islamic scientists, his describing Islamic contributions to the founding of our nation (really), and his recent U.N. speech in which he stated that the future belongs to those nations that honor the prophet Muhammad.
By the way, I would encourage you to question everything (including what I say) and follow the evidence with an open mind. I have learned that there is merit in stepping back and trying to look at the big picture, seeking clues that show patterns and ultimately to conclusions.
Watching the video clip of Ms. Gabriel, I found her most convincing. What and how Islam is being taught in our schools is in direct contrast to how Christianity is being treated in our schools. The “nice” version of Islam and jihad that is being taught in public schools contrasts with the reality of Islam and jihad experienced in much of the rest of the world. A film called “Jihad in America” was made several years ago that documented that radical Islam is being fostered throughout mosques in America.
If we include the reality that there are hundreds of terrorist sleeper cells in America (http://shariafreeusa.com/iran-has-sleeper-cells-in-u-s-ready-to-attack/), the statement of Islamic terrorists to go after Saturday (the Jews) first, then Sunday (the Christians), several nuclear suitcase bombs in the U.S., Ahmadinejad’s belief that it is his job to create the global chaos necessary for the Mahdi to return (and recent statements that the Mahdi is about to return), Iran’s development of EMP capability, and his statement about nuclear explosions going off in America if Iran is attacked, there is ample reason to be concerned.
I am not that familiar with the Tri-Faith campus you mentioned. My sense is that while on the surface, Christianity, Judaism, and Islam share a lot in common because they are monotheistic; underneath that exterior is the reality that all three serve different God/gods. Perhaps there are really four competing religions, each of which claim to be true – Christianity, Judaism, Islam, and monotheistic universalism. But only Christianity passes the test of fulfilled prophecy.
In his recently released book “The Math of Christ”, Army retired Colonel Stephen M. Bauer calculated the odds that 40 Old Testament prophecies that have been fulfilled could have happened by chance to be one chance in 10 to the 136th power. To gain some insight into this staggering number, if the earth was covered with silver dollars, one of which was red, then asked a blind guy named Fred to go pick out the red one, Fred’s chance of success would be one chance in 10 to the 17th power, a small number compared to one chance in 10 to the 136th power.
This is consistent with Jesus’ claim: Jesus said “I am the way, the truth, and the light; no one goes to the Father but through Me.” I would add that only Christianity invites us to move from religion to relationship – a relationship with the sovereign, living God of the universe. Our nation is facing dire times – an impending WWIII that will land on our soil, and an economic crash as the petrodollar fades away to name just two. The Lord invites us to walk with Him through the coming fires, just as He walked with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego through the fire in Daniel 1.
More Evidence for Christianity
- So Christianity reveals that the God of the Bible is personal – He is a spiritual being with a personality, and created us in His image. He is not merely energy, or a force like gravity.
- Because He is personal, and because He created us with the capacity for relationships, we can have a relationship with Him, which is amazing.
- We could define “religion” as our searching for god, a set of beliefs about eternal matters, or even us creating god in our own image. But Christianity is unique in that we can have a relationship with the sovereign, living God of the universe.
- Jesus claimed to be God, as evidenced by the chief priest tearing his clothes after speaking with Jesus. Tearing one’s clothes was the sign of the ultimate sin in Jewish law at that time – the sin of blasphemy, or claiming to be God.
- Furthermore, Jesus stated: “I am the way, the truth, and the light; no one goes to the Father but through Me.” He could have said that He was one of the ways, some of the truth, and part of the light, but He didn’t.
- So His claim to exclusivity – to be God – was either really true, or He was one of the greatest liars and frauds in history.
- Although the Bible refers to God as “He”, this does not do justice to God and His nature. In Genesis, God said: “Let us create man in Our image… So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him: male and female He created them.” So both men and women were created in the image of God, and each is incomplete without the other. Although the term “He” is used for God, this portrayal of God as masculine (alone) does not do justice to the wholeness of God.
I hope this note finds all is well with you and your families.
Love from Arkansas,
Life in the Spirit 