Tag Archives: Islam

May 9 2015

Universalism – today’s modern enemy of the Gospel

(I’ll talk more on Morocco shortly)

I was talking to someone the other day who isn’t a churchgoer but has had some Christian upbringing.  He told me he thought it was possible that all religions follow a mostly similar set of rules and framework, and it is ok to mix them together.

Here’s why this idea is a bad one if I look at quotes from three of the most well-known faiths.

Judaism has The Shema;
ְׁשמַע יִשְׂרָאֵל יהוה אֱלֹהֵינוּ יהוה אֶחָד
“Shmai Y’Israel Adonai Elohinu Adonai Echad”
Hear oh Israel, the Lord is God, the Lord is one

Islam has the Shahada
لا إله إلا الله محمد رسول الله
“lā ʾilāha ʾillā-llāh, muḥammadun rasūlu-llāh”
There is no god but god, Muhammad is the messenger of god

Christianity has Jesus’ proclamation of no other way;
λέγει αὐτῷ ‹ὁ› Ἰησοῦς Ἐγώ εἰμι ἡ ὁδὸς καὶ ἡ ἀλήθεια καὶ ἡ ζωή• οὐδεὶς ἔρχεται πρὸς τὸν Πατέρα εἰ μὴ δι’ ἐμοῦ.
I am the way the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father except through me – John 14:6

These three quotes as you can see are mutually incompatible!   You can’t build a one-fits-all faith any more than you can make a cake out of cement!

Christianity uses the foundation parts of Judaism with many of the laws fulfilled by Jesus, Islam mimics some elements of Judaism and is considered to be an ‘Abrahamic’ faith, but it’s only through Jesus we have salvation.

The message of the gospel requires love but also the courage, to tell the truth.   If we tell people that it’s fine to follow another religious system then the sacrifice on the cross Jesus did means nothing.

Other religions don’t accept the Trinity, and many pseudo-Christian (7th day Adventists, Jehovah’s witnesses, some hyper-Hebrew Roots) groups don’t either, the Trinity isn’t explicitly mentioned in the bible but it is there if you get a closer look.   I’ll blog on this soon. This link actually.

Oct 1 2011

Iranian pastor Youcef Nadarkhani faces execution

I was sad to hear about a young pastor called Youcef Nadarkhani about the same age as me who is facing death in his home country of Iran for apostasy.

Apostacy in crazy Islamo-fascist states like Iran, is defined as leaving Islam because its not your cup of tea, not through insulting Mohammed or the Koran.  In this case though, its because some Persian people would rather seeking the love of Jesus than their state enforced religion.

Heck, Iranian people can’t even write blogs as they can be traced via their internet providers.   Executions of Christians is a depressing reality that happens quite often, especially in Iran, China, Indonesia and even Turkey.

Iran has the largest number of Muslims coming to Christ.   Some of the time this down to missionaries in the most hostile place in the world, and sometimes its down to dreams and visions (Joel 2 : 28)  and without any human intervention, entirely down to the holy spirit.

I really think western nations and the UN should get more vocal about this and put pressure on Iran to set this man free.

After the recent Ahmadinajad’s crazy outburst at the UN, should be a huge embarrassment for all decent people who work for Iran’s government, if there are any.   I wonder what rules the UN have for this kind of outburst and if they have ever asked anyone to leave.

In the mean time, please do pray for this man and contact the UK Iranian embassy and tell them what you think on info@iran-embassy.org.uk or 0207 225 3000.

Dec 11 2010

Turkish massacare of Armenian people remembered

Back earlier this year there was the convoy of protestors from Turkey.

At the same time, around the Christian Armenian community in Jerusalem’s old city put up lots of posters around the city warning what happened just under 100 years ago.  Click to zoom.

This was a reminder of the men and women killed in a genocide against the Armenian people.   With so called peace ships that fooled the media supposedly trying to help Gaza but had terrorists with weapons, its a warning that extremist Islam affects everyone.

Oct 30 2010

Parcel bombs from Yemen to US

Just heard in the news about alerts that parcels containing explosives from Yemen were bound for a synagogue in Chicago in the United States.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-11654390

It would appear from a lot of news stories, that this was a bit of an amateurish attempt at terrorism and this was a test run, to analyse security on delivery and logistics companies like UPS.

I think Muslims and the media that says that try to convince 9/11 Mosques are a good plan, have questions that need to be answered here.

I know people who worked for an IT company in Portsmouth UK, 7 years ago that did some overseas installation work all over the world including Yemen.   It sounds like shipments from this country are likely to be suspended.    What kind of impact does this have on people in Yemen with ordinary businesses that want nothing to do with terrorism?

Yemen is a poor Arab country, nestled between the polar-opposite economies of Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.  With strange things happening this month in the news like ex UK PM Tony Blair must be hugely embarrassed of his sister in law Lauren Booth who is ultra pro-Palestinian and become a Muslim recently as already an apologist for Iran and Hamas.   Shouldn’t spokesman in Yemen and other the Arab countries, regardless of what they think of America, Israel and Judaism, ought to be condemning these attacks, as this is only going to hurt the reputation and economy of their own nations?  This is a good opportunity to do some PR work for Islam and shun extremism is it not?

Yemen had a sizable Jewish community, but its one of a few countries that is now more or less a void for Jews as they all moved to Israel or America, in the same way that other Jews from the other mostly Islamic Arab nations had faced hardship.

But in recent years, Yemen has some people coming to Christ.  http://islamdom.blogspot.com/2007/10/2000-converts-to-christianity-in-yemen.html Please do pray for Yemenite people to see ‘dreams and visions‘ and find Jesus, and for those who who already believers to be safe from persecution.   Of course Israel and the west, US and Europe are likely to be on higher alert, so pray for terrorism activity to be exposed and stopped.

Sep 9 2010

Burning of Korans. Yeah smart plan from some Christians….

In the news, some Christians from Florida want to burn Korans as a way of remembering 9 years since the 9/11 attacks.

The guy in question is called Terry Jones who has set up International burn a Koran day.   I was thinking is this a reuniting of Monty Python doing some Islam themed sketch?   Alas not.

Really would this be something that Jesus would approve of?   Are Muslims, even the secular ones or those disillusioned with an Islamic upbringing going to turn around and say, good job chaps, I will think I will give my prayer mat and Arab tunic to local cat shelter charity shop and do something different?

This act is just dangerously provocative and will encourage responses from Muslims that could lead to people killed or property destroyed.  Probably those that Christians living in already hostile parts of the world.

I would welcome it if a case where a whole town came to Jesus and burned books from a Satanic cult they belonged to.   Indeed I have seen non-nutter Christian do burning of occultic, pornographic or other material, this is more of a personal decision to get rid of material from a previous destructive lifestyle, and make a statement in doing something new, embracing Jesus as their saviour.

You often see militants in Arab nations on TV burning flags of the US, Israel, or more recently Denmark because of the cartoon fiasco, I also remember when I was young people outside WH Smith burning copies of a book written by Salman Rushdie, as well as burning of books (not just religious and political) by the Nazis.   Attempting to imitate this practice just seems childish and pointless.  I hope Terry Jones can live with himself if Christians are persecuted as part of a revenge act.

Please pray that this will not cause revenge attacks and that this gathering of Christians doing some unhelpful will be called off, and that Muslim people will turn away from Islam and find Jesus.

Aug 23 2010

praying with a genuine heart or as a Pharisee

Read something interesting this week that asks Christians who are critical of Obama’s administration.  It may be about the Middle East conflict, the NY mosque or overhaul of the US healthcare system.

Obama has been rumoured to have Muslim background, as there is some uncertainty over his background and if he is even a US citizen or not.  To be honest I have seen all kinds of people in the media, even some of the British Royal family taking interest in Islam.

As a Christian I think this is more to do with a spiritual darkness that is blinding people from the true Messiah Jesus.

This week I read this very challenging article really drives it home if as Christians we are praying for our leaders who just wanting to be Pharisees wanting something to moan about.   The point about seeing  a wicked politician like Yasser Arafat changed really quite moved me.

http://www.ministrytodaymag.com/index.php/evangelical-essentials/18387-mind-your-prayer-language

In times of the bible, things happened to leaders of nations that changed their hearts, look at at Persian leader Cyrus the Great who took pity on the Jews, see Ezra 1 in the Bible.

I think our modern day leaders can easily change from good to bad or vice versa, for that reason prayer is needed for them whatever circumstances there could be.

Aug 17 2010

Christians praying for Arabs during Ramadan

This week its Ramadan, an important fast for Moslems.   Looking out of my kitchen window I see across our big Arab neighbourhood, and there are animated Christmas style flashing lights in the distance, the house nearest to me has a bright blue star and crescent.

My friend Aaron sent me this, so I thought it deserves a mention in the blogosphere.

Greetings!

As most of you know, the Moslem feast of Ramadan began last night. During this month long festival, according to Wikipedia;

“Moslems refrain from eating, drinking and sexual activities from dawn until sunset. Fasting is intended to teach Moslems about patience, humility, and spirituality. It is a time for Moslems to fast for the sake of Allah and to offer more prayer than usual.

During Ramadan, Moslems ask forgiveness for past sins, pray for guidance and help in refraining from everyday evils, and try to purify themselves through self-restraint and good deeds.

Moslems believe Ramadan to be the month in which the first verses of the Qur’an were revealed to the Islamic Prophet Muhammad.”

All well and good.

What this wikipedia article does not talk about and what I wouldn’t expect it to talk about is that this month is widely loathed by Moslems who see it as a tremendous hassle.

The rate of car accidents, work accidents, and other problems related to people fainting or having trouble staying awake skyrockets in the Moslem world during this month, especially in places where there is great heat, as there is this summer.

Ramadan is also a traditional time when terrorist activity against Israel, the US and other “infidel” countries increases, because traditionally it was a time when Moslems felt they would have great strength to attack their enemies and/or the enemies of Allah.

So we need to be praying for two things.

One, we need to be praying for the Moslems themselves, for their physical safety and well being during this time when they are observing a religious festival most of them don’t know the source of, and that God, who loves them and sent His Son to die for them, will have mercy on them and grace for their physical health and safety.

Two, we need to be praying that God will protect all us “infidels” from the terrorist intentions of those Moslems who take it upon themselves to show their devotion to Allah by attempting to slaughter Allah’s enemies (which is, by the Qu’ran’s own definition, anyone who is not a Moslem.)

But there is a third thing we should also be praying for, and that is this.

A little known fact about Ramadan is that during this time of fasting and (in many cases sincerely) seeking God, many Moslems come to faith in Jesus Christ. It happens every year, and it is a fast growing phenomenon. Often times it happens through them having a spontaneous vision of Jesus, or even in a dream.

So that’s something to be praying for as well, especially if you have Moslem neighbors, friends, co-workers, etc.

Below is a link to a very interesting editorial in today’s Toronto Sun newspaper. It is written by a Moslem about the Palestinian Moslems, and is a very educational couple of pages. I encourage you all to read it and pass this link on to your friends.

http://www.torontosun.com/comment/columnists/salim_mansur/2010/08/06/14944096.html

God Bless you all.

Jun 17 2010

Multifaith room in Heathrow Terminal 5

Just reading a friend Jon B’s visit to Turkey on Islamic culture, reminds me of something.  At Heathrow airport I had a long wait for my flight, and I saw a sign about a multifaith room, a kind of politically correct euphemism for a one size fits all church for any faith.

There is a church in at least one of the hospitals in Portsmouth, there is also a multi faith centre in the recently built £40m Lymington hospital in the New Forest I worked at sometimes about 18 months ago, when I visited this, I was pleased to see judging by the literature put out it was mostly had Christian books and bibles there.

Here is this one in the shiny new and hopefully post-problematic Heathrow Terminal 5, is one of these places, so I decided to take a look, as there’s only so long you can spend reading books and magazines you aren’t going to buy in WH Smiths. 🙂

Firstly apologies to the chap bending over, it was hard to get a quickie shot of this place without appearing to be disrespectful. 🙂  When I went in there and first of all unlike any religious establishment there is no symbol on the wall of any deity, or any centre point to make the room significant apart from the screen reminding passengers of upcoming departures.  There is a wooden cabinets with labels for Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, Sikh and other holy books.  There are signs asking people to be respectful and not use it as a place to sleep or do baby changing.  The place also smells like a gym changing room as people take their shoes off at the door.   I didn’t bother at first, but there were five Islamic worshippers here at one point and one of the pointed out I should do the same to be respectful so I likewise decided to comply.

Out of the ten people I saw that went in and out of this place nine of them were Muslim, each borrowing a prayer mat from the cupboard, at least two of them were employees of the airport, one was an Indian gent (I think Hindu) with a piece of rope being held in both hands.   With some praying aloud in Arabic, it was a little hard to concentrate when I was reading a bible at one point, but it got me thinking.  There was a message from a Chaplin about that people should ask permission before leaving any literature in the cabinet to avoid causing offence.  I am not sure if the Chaplin has a sit-on-the-fence attitude to the Christian God to try and ‘not offend’,  just a general admin bod employed to keep the places clean and tidy, or someone with a real zeal and love for Christ but wants to be a servant to people not following the Lord.

Where as we could get alarmed at the number of worshippers of faiths other than Christianity being practised in the UK changes our culture, (and oh how the BNP and similar fascist groups and their ilk love to rub this in) but how many of us Christians actually make the effort to go to one of these places and maybe spend time in prayer before a journey or silently pray for the other users of the room for them to find the loving acceptance of Jesus?  Maybe if we did we would have very different faith landscape in the UK.

If anyone in church leadership is reading this, I would like to know what you think.  Is it a spiritually difficult to pray in a room with people with other beliefs or is worshipping Jesus here could be a good way to pray for others, or are these rooms pointless.  Those of you who are Christians travelling to other lands blogging on airport things too.  Please let me know your comments.