Friday, December 11, 2015

More Pressure on Iraqi Christians

Here is the latest sad news from Iraq, where the rights of Christians are far worse than they were under Saddam Hussein.
The Chaldean Catholic Patriarch of Iraq renewed his opposition this week to an article in the nation’s new national laws requiring minority-faith children to become Muslims if one parent converts to Islam.  
Describing the new law as both unconstitutional and “unacceptable,” Patriarch Louis Raphael I Sako has called on President Fouad Masoum to send Article 26.2 of the National Charter back to Parliament to be amended.
Read it all HERE.

Thursday, December 10, 2015

Were the Paris attacks really Islam?

Here is my reflection Paris:

We're used to this by now. Muslims kill scores of people, and explain that they have done this because they are Muslims, because the Qur'an commands them to do so, and their authorities issue detailed legal arguments explaining why said acts were legitimate acts of struggle (in Arabic the word is jihad) against the unbelievers. 

And then we get the response. 

But Muslims could never kill fellow Muslims! 

No one mentions that according to Islamic State and Al Qaeda and friends any 'Muslim' who collaborates with the unbelievers is not actually a Muslim anymore. And we get citations from the Qur'an, like "Whosoever kills a man...it is as if he killed the whole of mankind..." (Qur'an 5:32).

But then others note that the entire verse reads, "whoever slays a soul, unless it be for manslaughter or for mischief in the land, it is as though he slew all men..." 

In other words, if someone is spreading mischief, like criticizing the Prophet or his successor (which is what the word caliph means in Arabic), then well, it is ok to slay him. So where is the truth? Let me propose an analogy to the Christian faith.

Read the rest of this article by yours truly HERE.

Wednesday, December 02, 2015

The Origin of the Islamic State

Here are two (rather academic) lectures on the genesis and origin and nature of the Islamic State, aka ISIS, aka ISIL, aka Daesh (good grief). The last of which is especially stupid for Americans to use because in Arabic it simply stands for Dawl Islamiyya fi Iraq war Sham, which is Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. Duh.

But take the time to watch both lectures. Note that you need to click on Del 2 at the bottom of the screen, not Del 1. Not sure why Del 1 is even there...but it is.

In any case, watch and learn: http://play.ht.lu.se/media/c29c7ddd

Saturday, October 17, 2015

Muhammad's Intercession is Useless

Some time ago I posted a hadith about Muhammad being an intercessor on the Day of Judgment.

But here is another hadith wherein he clearly says that such intercession is useless:
When Allah revealed the Verse: "Warn your nearest kinsmen," Allah's Apostle got up and said, 
"O people of Quraish (or said similar words)! Buy (i.e. save) yourselves (from the Hellfire) as I cannot save you from Allah's Punishment; O Bani Abd Manaf! I cannot save you from Allah's Punishment, O Safiya, the Aunt of Allah's Apostle! I cannot save you from Allah's Punishment; O Fatima bint Muhammad! Ask me anything from my wealth, but I cannot save you from Allah's Punishment."
Sahih Al-Bukhari, Volume 4, Book 51, Number 16
All in all the topic of the intercession of the Prophet is ambiguous and very unclear. Did Muslims impose on Muhammad sayings about him being a savior later in order to exalt him above Jesus? This strikes me as likely.

Monday, October 12, 2015

Worry about conversions to Christianity spreading

This article is about a member of the royal Kuwaiti family who recently converted to Christianity. There are some questions as to his identity, but the story has spread.

What caught my attention though was at the end of the article:
After Heidar Moslehi, the Iranian intelligence minister, asked Muslim seminaries to become proactive in stopping the spread of Christianity, a high-ranking cleric declared that Evangelical Christianity is the most horrifying intelligence and security organisation in the world. This statement seems to have appeared on press agencies close to the Revolutionary Guard. In a conference on “New Age cults” held in Varamin, a district south of Teheran, Akhond Mohsen Alizadeh declared: “We should not allow these cults to question Islamic jurisprudence under the cover of mysticism.” He went on to add: “They tell the youth that God is wrathful and horrible in Islam but is love in Christianity. Also, Christian preachers answer the questions and doubts of youth in their own interest and try to attract them.” Nevertheless a whole series of signs seem to indicate that non-traditional Christianity – there are Catholics and Orthodox Christians in Iran as well as a large Armenian community – is spreading. The regime’s press recently spoke of them with concern and the number of cases of repression and condemnation following conversions is growing.
I think these two paragraphs communicate to us two things: 1) the authorities don't understand evangelicalism at all, and 2) they are worried.

In any case, let's pray that we would continue to see these conversions. And let's also pray for the traditional churches that they would be more active in welcoming in converts from Islam.

Friday, September 18, 2015

Bp John Harrower on context and Bible

I really liked this quote from the outgoing Anglican Bishop of Tasmania:
I often say to people when they say 'Christians should be reading the Bible', 'well, Christians should be reading the newspaper.'
HT to VirtueOnline for this tidbit.

Wednesday, September 16, 2015

RIP, Anglican Communion

It looks like the Anglican Communion is over. But maybe it is too early to call...so let us wait.

Right now the Anglican Communion (theoretically) is not a confederation, but a true communion of national/regional churches. Over the years I have ministered with and been ministered to, among others, The Episcopal Church in Jerusalem and the Middle East, The Episcopal Church of the USA, The Episcopal Church of Scotland, the Church of England, and others. These are the regional churches, we call them provinces. The head of each province is called a primate. There are 37 or so of these provinces around the world (and they cover most of the globe), and these form the Communion.

Previously, a priest of one province was a priest of all the other ones. In other words, they shared their sacraments and holy orders, which is important.

But now it looks like the titular and historic head of the Communion, the archbishop of Canterbury, will call for this communion to became a mere confederation or something like that. Who knows...It is sad news for me because this communion is the only truly global communion of the Protestant tradition.

Anyway, if you are interested, read more here:

Archbishop calls for Primate Gathering

Saturday, August 08, 2015

PDF of Twenty-three Years by Ali Dashti

Twenty-three Years, by Iranian thinker Ali Dashti, is one of my favorite lives of Muhammad. Written by an Iranian Muslim who had a critical and questioning mind, I am happy to share this link to a PDF of the book which I have found online:

Twenty-three Years, by Ali Dashti

Tuesday, August 04, 2015

The Dutch give up on multiculturalism

I can't say I'm really surprised about this. But the reality is that it is too little too late, I suspect. 

Immigrants will be required to learn the Dutch language and no exceptions to obedience to Dutch law will be allowed for followers of sharia.  In addition, the government will stop subsidizing Muslims and making special criteria for their employment...and will ban the burqa...

Read more: http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2015/08/netherlands_abandoning_multiculturalism.html#ixzz3hu1FUU6D 


Wednesday, July 22, 2015

Newbigin: "The secular society is a myth..."

Hear the words of this great prophet!

The secular society is a myth, and it has the power of a myth to blind people to realities. A powerful myth, such as this, has in it the power about which I was speaking in the chapter on “principalities and powers.” Christian affirmation in this context requires the unmasking of the powers. It calls for a new kind of enlightenment, namely the opening up of the underlying assumptions of a secular society, the asking of the unasked questions, the probing of unrecognized presuppositions.

Newbigin, Lesslie (1989-10-30). The Gospel in a Pluralist Society (p. 220). Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.. Kindle Edition.

Newbigin on the myth of secular modernity

I read this book many years ago when I was new to Christian mission. I am rereading it and it is as refreshing and powerful as it was all those years ago.

Here is a great quote:

I am suggesting both that the belief in a secular society is an unproven belief accepted uncritically to justify a social institution, and also that the belief is mistaken. Put very briefly, the belief is that modern society is on a steady and irreversible course toward increasing secularization, and that this is to be welcomed since it enables us to put the wars of religion behind us and to create a society in which the conflicting truth-claims of the religions do not tear society to pieces.

Newbigin, Lesslie (1989). The Gospel in a Pluralist Society (p. 211). Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.. Kindle Edition.

Monday, May 25, 2015

Great Quotes from Francis Schaeffer

Schaefer really influenced me a great deal as a young Christian in college. I read all of his collected works (five volumes!)

Here are some great quotes of his:

Christianity, the Church and Responsibility

Christianity is the greatest intellectual system the mind of man has ever touched.
Tell me what the world is saying today, and I’ll tell you what the church will be saying in seven years.
Christianity provides a unified answer for the whole of life.
Each generation of the church in each setting has the responsibility of communicating the gospel in understandable terms, considering the language and thought-forms of that setting.


Culture & History

When all is done, when all the alternatives have been explored, ‘not many men are in the room’ – that is although world views have many variations, there are not many basic world-views or basic presuppositions.
Art is a reflection of God’s creativity, an evidence that we are made in the image of God.
Rome did not fall because of external forces such as the invasion by the barbarians. Rome had no sufficient inward base, the barbarians only completed the breakdown – and Rome gradually became a ruin.
There is a flow to history and culture. This flow is rooted and has its wellspring in the thoughts of people … The results of their thought world flow through their fingers of from their tongues into the external world.


Life and Abortion

Certainly every Christian ought to be praying and working to nullify the abominable abortion law. But as we work and pray, we should have in mind not only this important issue as though it stood alone. Rather, we should be struggling and praying that this whole other total entity “(this godless) worldview” can be rolled back with all its results across all of life.
Christianity provides a unified answer for the whole of life.
But the dignity of human life is unbreakably linked to the existence of the personal-infinite God. It is because there is a personal-infinite God who has made men and women in His own image that they have a unique dignity of life as human beings. Human life then is filled with dignity, and the state and humanistically oriented law have no right and no authority to take human life arbitrarily in the way it is being taken.

Truth and Sin

The beginning of men’s rebellion against God was, and is, the lack of a thankful heart.
I have come to the conclusion that none of us in our generation feels as guilty about sin as we should or as our forefathers did.
In passing, we should note this curious mark of our own age: the only absolute allowed is the absolute insistence that there is no absolute.
The inward area is the first place of loss of true Christian life, of true spirituality, and the outward sinful act is the result.
Truth always carries with it confrontation. Truth demands confrontation; loving confrontation nevertheless. If our reflex action is always accommodation regardless of the centrality of the truth involved, there is something wrong.


Read more: http://www.whatchristianswanttoknow.com/18-powerful-francis-a-schaeffer-quotes/#ixzz3b8PVoDqb

Read more: http://www.whatchristianswanttoknow.com/18-powerful-francis-a-schaeffer-quotes/#ixzz3b8POeLuv

Thursday, May 07, 2015

Pray for Yemen

People who have been reading this blog for a while will know that I have a great interest in seeing the Gospel reach the people of Yemen. This is a country that has no indigenous Christian population, outside of a couple hundred converts from Islam. And their safety is often precarious of course.

And now, Yemen is undergoing a civil war, there are attacks from Saudi Arabia (and I'm not saying those are either good or bad, just tragic), and the country is cut off from the rest of the world. A small snippet of good news is that a five day halt to violence from KSA was announced so humanitarian aid can enter the country.

Pray for:

Yemenis to hear and believe in the Gospel
Indigenous churches to grow in each city and village
For the safety and boldness of indigenous Christians
For the civil war to end
For a lasting peace that comes from God, and not from killing

Sunday, April 26, 2015

The Triune Human Soul

I very much liked this quote:
The human mind is triune in its being ordered to the transcendental splendor of the good, the true and the beautiful which resides in the Mind of God. Since the metaphysical is best expressed in terms of metaphor, we can say that the head can be seen as the seat of the True (reason), the heart can be seen as the seat of the Good (love or virtue) and the loins can be seen as the seat of the Beautiful (creation, pro-creation and sub-creation). The head, as the seat of the true, is the home of consciousness which seeks clarity; the heart, as the seat of the good, is the home of conscience, which seeks charity; and the loins, as the seat of beauty, is the home of creativity, which seeks chastity.
From HERE.

Friday, April 17, 2015

Pray for Ali Khamenei: Terminally Ill with Cancer

This just in from Iran 30:

Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, is suffering from prostate cancer, which has reportedly spread to the rest of his body. Khamenei underwent surgery for his condition last September, and doctors estimate that the 75 year old has perhaps two years left to live.

And then the prayer points, which are very important:


Pray for
  • Khamenei’s salvation
  • His family
  • A successor that rules with justice and righteousness
Lord God Almighty, you know and love Ali Khamenei, and you have a wonderful and marvelous plan to glorify yourself and bring life to many through him, if only he will not harden himself to your love and grace. Even now, send your Holy Spirit to move in his heart, draw him to you, to your love and mercy, and above all to your Son our Lord, Jesus Christ. Amen.



Thursday, March 19, 2015

Wednesday, March 11, 2015

The Archbishop of Canterbury on Youth joining the Islamic State

Kudos to Archbishop of Century Justin Welby for grasping an important point and having the balls to say it out loud.

Going off to join the Islamic State (aka ISIS, aka ISIL) makes sense. I mean, it makes sense from the point of view that Christianity in Europe is pretty tame and lame and really offers no adventure for young men. And secularism? Ditto. You can play games, keep around, get stoned or loaded, you might even be able to be successful and make money (not likely these days).

But what if you are a young man who wants an adventure? Who wants respect and adventure and a great challenge in life?

As a Christian I would say become a missionary. God knows this has been a challenging and adventurous vocation for the last decade or so.

But the Churches in the UK don't do that sort of thing. Here are some key morsels from the article:
Young people are turning to Jihad because mainstream religion is not "exciting" enough, according to the Archbishop of Canterbury. 
The Most Rev Justin Welby told faith leaders that Britain's religious communities must do more to provide an alternative to extremism which gives young people a "purpose in life". 
He also warned against being too quick to brand people and groups with strong views on religious matters as extremists. 
Nothing will ever be achieved if the only conversations which take place involve "nice people talking to nice people about being nice", he said.
And:
But he added: "I would want to turn the question back to us as religious leaders and say to the faith communities: what are we doing that provides a narrative about purpose in life and commitment to society and benefits of a purposeful, flourishing life that is so exciting that the evil temptations offered by extremist groups of all cultures and types anywhere in the world including this country are simply paled into insignificance?

Read it all at VirtueOnline.

Friday, February 20, 2015

Mark Steyn on the reprimitivization of the post WWII world

Mark Steyn is a provocative author and there is a great deal of panache in his style.

He recently wrote a post titled Living History which argues that the world after World War II is becoming more primitive and savage, not more enlightened and free. I find this thesis compelling.

Throughout the article he is debunking (and ridiculing) this Tweet from one Max Fisher:
People who think Christian sectarian militias are the solution to Iraq's problems could stand to read a history of the Lebanese civil war.
Here are a few sections that caught my interest:

A lot of things have gotten worse. If Beirut is no longer the Paris of the east, Paris is looking a lot like the Beirut of the west - with regular, violent, murderous sectarian attacks accepted as a feature of daily life. In such a world, we could all "stand to read" a little more history. But in Nigeria, when you're in the middle of history class, Boko Haram kick the door down, seize you and your fellow schoolgirls and sell you into sex slavery. Boko Haram "could stand to read" a little history, but their very name comes from a corruption of the word "book" - as in "books are forbidden", reading is forbidden, learning is forbidden, history is forbidden. 
Well, Nigeria... Wild and crazy country, right? Oh, I don't know. A half-century ago, it lived under English Common Law, more or less. In 1960 Chief Nnamdi Azikiwe, second Governor-General of an independent Nigeria, was the first Nigerian to be appointed to the Queen's Privy Council. It wasn't Surrey, but it wasn't savagery. 
Like Lebanon, Nigeria got worse, and it's getting worser. That's true of a lot of places. In the Middle East, once functioning states - whether dictatorial or reasonably benign - are imploding. In Yemen, the US has just abandoned its third embassy in the region. According to the President of Tunisia, one third of the population of Libya has fled to Tunisia. That's two million people. According to the UN, just shy of four million Syrians have fled to Turkey, Jordan, Lebanon and beyond. In Iraq, Christians and other minorities are forming militias because they don't have anywhere to flee (Syria? Saudia Arabia?) and their menfolk are facing extermination and their women gang-rapes and slavery.
And he has more to add to that. Check out the whole article HERE.

Thursday, February 19, 2015

Son of Hamas: "ISIS is Islam"

With the Islamic State and others in the news so much, there has been a lot of thinking and talking and reflecting about to what extent the IS actually is (or is not).

President Obama recently came out with his standard, "Every religion has extremists" and "IS are not Muslims, they are terrorists" and so on.

I want to be clear that I am not saying that I necessarily agree with the following statement. It is provocative. I do think it is worth discussing though, because so many of the Christian converts from Islam that I know believe that this is accurate, and also, no one in the lame-stream media will even discuss this position.

So here is what the Son of Hamas has just posted:

When you recognize that ISIS is Islam, you free yourself from the naiveté of world leaders who tell you that ISIS is an anomaly of Islam, leaders that, I am sorry to say, include US President Barack Obama, who told CNN’s Fareed Zakaria recently that, “There is an element growing out of Muslim communities in certain parts of the world that have perverted the religion, have embraced a nihilistic, violent, almost medieval interpretation of Islam.”
What do you think? If you believe it wrong, then please explain why. Likewise, if you think it is correct, then why is it that most Muslims don't acknowledge the caliphate of Abu Bakr?

Wednesday, February 11, 2015

Atallah Hanna, the only Orthodox Palestinian Bishop

A colleague referred me to this interesting interview with Bishop Atallah Hanna. All the bishops of the Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem in the Holy Land are Greeks (weird, I know), with the exception of this single man. While almost all the indigenous Christians within the patriarchate are Arabs (or Palestinians), and most of the clergy are Arabs too, there is only one Arab bishop.

Here is part of one of his answers:

I am proud of my religion and nationality, I am proud to belong to my fatherland. I am a Palestinian, and I belong to this religious people who are fighting for the sake of their freedom and dignity to implement their dreams and national rights. 
I support Palestinians and share their cause and their issues. We the Palestinian Orthodox Christians are not detached from their hardships. 
The Palestinian issue is a problem that concerns all of us, Christians and Muslims alike. It’s a problem of every free intellectual individual aspiring for justice and freedom in this world. 
We the Palestinian Christians suffer along with the rest of Palestinians from occupation and hardships of our economic situation. Muslims and Christians suffer equally, as there is no difference in suffering for any of us. We are all living in the same complicated circumstances, and overcoming the same difficulties. 
As a church and as individuals we protect this people, and we hope a day will come when Palestinians get their freedom and dignity.
I just want to note that he doesn't mention here (or anywhere in the interview) that sometimes Palestinian Christians are mistreated by Palestinian Muslims. Indeed, I know of many such cases. 
Half the truth is a complete lie.

Wednesday, February 04, 2015

"For the Sake of the Name: a letter to new missionaries in the Arab world" by Abu Daoud

I am pleased to share with you that I have recently published this article in St Francis Magazine (Vol 11:1).

I had the privilege of being part of the training and mobilization of this couple, and shortly before they moved to the Arab world, I wrote this letter to them. I thought it was worthwhile enough to share with a wider audience.

Here are a couple of the points of advice I offer:

  • learn from the ancient churches
  • remember that you are Americans and don't try to hide it
  • apply yourself to language acquisition above all
  • learn the history of the people and the country

And others. But read the article which contains a lot of other good stuff.

Read it all. Download the PDF from St Francis or check it out on Academia.edu.
But before I get to that, let me share with you my favorite Bible verse about missionaries, and I commend this to you: “For they went out for the sake of the Name, accepting nothing from the Gentiles [that is, non-Christians]. Therefore we ought to support such men, so that we may be fellow workers with the truth” (3 John 7, 8). This might seem like the kind of verse you would use when fundraising, but I like it because it reminds us of who we are and what we do at the heart of our vocation: that we have gone out– out from our culture, from our homeland, from our language– and that this has been done for the sake of “the name”. Jews in the 1
st
 Century (as today) often did not want to pronounce the divine name (YHWH) because of its overwhelming holiness, so they would say “the Name” or “ha shem”. (May I note that the Hebrew 
shem 
 and the Arabic 
ism 
 are cognates?) But here John the elder means not God, but God as revealed in Jesus– 
Jesus 
 is now 
ha shem 
 or “the name”. There is much more one could say on these two brief verses, but let us move on to the heart and soul of this letter.

Friday, January 23, 2015

A quarter of French youth support the Islamic State

So much for the idea of the IS being thugs and very few Muslims supporting them.

The official response to such domestic hostility towards European society and culture is to say, ‘Let’s not talk about it’. This is because officialdom fears that an open discussion of the cultural threat facing European society would only strengthen support for both radical Islamists and right-wing nationalists. That’s the main reason there was so little discussion of the implications of an ICM poll that showed 16 per cent of French citizens had a positive assessment of IS – among 18- to 24-year-olds, this rose to 27 per cent. The poll also revealed that seven per cent of British and German citizens supported IS.
From Spiked Online.

Thursday, January 22, 2015

A prayer for Salman, the new king of Saudi Arabia

TIME has a nice (if brief) article about the new monarch in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Saudi Arabia has one of the worst human rights records in the world, especially when it comes to freedom of religion. And just to think that British gold in the hands of the Christian man, Lawrence of Arabia, was so instrumental in building its independence!

But let us hope and pray for a new day for Arabia.

Lord, in your mercy we ask of you:

Peace and justice in Saudi Arabia
Freedom for all people there to worship and live according to their conscience
Wisdom for the Salman, the new king
To confound the plans of the wicked, and deliver the righteous
Strength and power for your holy Church

And we thank you:

For a great increase in the number of people leaving Muhammad for Jesus in KSA
That even in this closed kingdom you have ambassadors from your greater and eternal Kingdom
For the faithful witness of martyrs who loved Christ more than life itself

Amen.

Please do share this far and wide, and use this prayer in your small group, home church, or cathedral, or personal devotions. The power of prayer is not to be underestimated.

Wednesday, January 21, 2015

UCLA and the end of Western Civilization

No comment:
For instance, Heather MacDonald notes that in 2011 the University of California at Los Angeles instituted a major change in requirements for an English degree,  replacing three requirements in the foundations of English literature with a mandate for all English majors to take a total of three courses in four areas: “Gender, Race, Ethnicity, Disability, and Sexuality Studies; Imperial, Transnational, and Postcolonial Studies; genre studies, interdisciplinary studies, and critical theory; or creative writing.” Instead of UCLA English majors being required to read Chaucer, Milton, and Shakespeare, then, they are required to be exposed (via the course catalogue) to “alternative rubrics of gender, sexuality, race, and class.” These radical changes were caused by a revolt by the junior faculty.
From HERE.

Sunday, January 11, 2015

TS Eliot on the First Crusade

I love what Eliot says about the (first) Jerusalem Crusade:

"In spite of all the dishonour,
the broken standards, the broken lives,
The broken faith in one place or another,
There was something left that was more than the tales
Of old men on winter evenings."

From his Choruses from 'the Rock'

Thursday, January 08, 2015

No, Europe's Muslims will not integrate into a secular society

When I talk about Europe's Islamic future, I often get the rejoinder, "Everyone is becoming more secular and European, whether Christians or Muslims." Not really. Here is Dr Eric Kauffman of the University of London responding to that claim:
Other sceptics claim that Muslims will increasingly integrate and leave Europe’s culture largely unchanged, but this is difficult to prove. Here intermarriage is arguably the best barometer of assimilation. Leo Lucassen and Charlotte Laarman of the University of Leiden have researched this area, focusing on Muslim populations in Germany, Belgium, Holland, Britain and France. They concluded that roughly 6 per cent of foreign-born Muslims married outside the faith, rising to 10-11 per cent by the second generation. Much of the increase can be attributed, however, to the somewhat exceptional integration of French Algerians. Overall, the level of Muslims marrying out remains low. In Germany, for instance, just 7.2 per cent of Muslim men and 0.5 per cent of Muslim women were married to someone of another religious faith.
Also, young Muslims are as religious (or devout) as their parents are:
An alternative route to integration is secularism. If Muslims are turning into secular Europeans, demography is immaterial. Here again, though, group boundaries are holding. Europe-wide surveys find that Muslims under 25 are as devout as those over 55, a big contrast with Catholics or Anglicans. Muslim youth are often stricter than their elders: a 2006 poll discovered that 37 per cent of 16 to 24-year-olds want to live under sharia law compared to 17 per cent of those over 55.
Here is the link to the article: "Europe's Muslim Future"

That having been said, I want to wish all my readers a happy and religious new year!

Abu Daoud

Tuesday, January 06, 2015

Why doesn't the American Church spend $ on non-Christians?

This is a great question, isn't it? I found these great figures at the site of Global Frontier Missions:

Basically, the world can be divided into three parts based on how people respond to two questions:
  1. Do you have access to a Christian witness?
  2. Are you a Christian?
People that respond “yes” to both questions are considered “World C”. These people are spread out in countries like the United States, Spain, England, Poland, Kenya, Romania, and all throughout Latin America. They have had significant access to the gospel and many people living in these areas would at least claim to be “Christian” even though they may be very nominal or cultural followers of Christ. About 10% of the world’s population is estimated to be true believers while another 23% are at least considered adherents to the Christian faith.
People that respond “yes” to the first question and “no” to the second question are considered “World B”. These people are spread throughout countries like India, Thailand, Japan, China, Nigeria, and Vietnam. These are people that for the most part have had access to the gospel but have not chosen to embrace it for a many number of reasons. They are what we would call exposed unbelievers because they have had a chance to respond to the message.
People that responded “no” to both questions are considered “World A”. These people live in countries like Iran, Bhutan, Somalia, Turkey, Afghanistan, and Algeria. Many of these people have no access to a Christian, a missionary, a church, or a Bible. These guys are virtually unreached and would need an outside witness to come and share Christ with them. We refer to them as unexposed unbelievers because they really do not have any chance of hearing about Jesus.
As of 2011, the world’s population can be divided into these three categories:
World A – 1.6 billion people 29.6% of the world’s population
World B – 2.4 billion people 40.1% of the world’s population
World C – 2.0 billion people 33.0% of the world’s population
So, where are the missionaries going?
This is the breakdown of the worldwide foreign missionary force and where they are currently deployed:
World A – 10,200 (2.4%)
World B – 103,000 (24.5%)
World C – 306,000 (73.1%)
So, basically, we only have 2.4% or 1 out of every 40 of our foreign missionaries serving among “World A” where the majority of the unreached people groups in the world live.

Friday, January 02, 2015

Hadith on the inferiority of women in Islam

It was narrated that Abu Sa’eed al-Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him) said:  
The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) went out to the musalla (prayer place) on the day of Eid al-Adha or Eid al-Fitr.  
He passed by the women and said, ‘O women! Give charity, for I have seen that you form the majority of the people of Hell.’ They asked, ‘Why is that, O Messenger of Allah?’  He replied, ‘You curse frequently and are ungrateful to your husbands. I have not seen anyone more deficient in intelligence and religious commitment than you. A cautious sensible man could be led astray by some of you.’  
The women asked, ‘O Messenger of Allah, what is deficient in our intelligence and religious commitment?’ He said, ‘Is not the testimony of two women equal to the testimony of one man?’ They said, ‘Yes.’ He said, ‘This is the deficiency in her intelligence. Is it not true that a woman can neither pray nor fast during her menses?’ The women said, ‘Yes.’ He said, ‘This is the deficiency in her religious commitment.’
(Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 304)