David Virtue interview Abu Daoud on Sharing Jesus with Muslims in America

I was very pleased to be interviewed by David Virtue earlier today on my recent book Sharing Jesus with Muslims in America. Read it all HERE.

Also, please do share it, and leave your comments on David's page rather than here.

Here is a taste of the interview:

VOL: Can moderate Islamists co-exist with Christians? 

DAOUD: The Muslim world is trying to figure out what moderate Islam is. I don't really know what that means. Does it mean Islam without shari'a? Then it's not Islam anymore. Does it mean a-political Islam? Islam is and always has been an empire and legal system as well a religion. Like the Ayatollah said, "Islam is politics, or it's not Islam." 

But we certainly can form relations with Muslims in America. You may be worried about cultural queues and what is appropriate or not. Well, get the book because we cover all that. In the end, if you are acting out of love and charity then any missteps will be forgiven. 

Just start praying every morning, "Lord, give me a Muslim friend." Not the most eloquent prayer, I know, but just do it. Let God surprise you!

Read the rest of it HERE.

My new book: Sharing Jesus with Muslims in America

Dear Friends,

I am very happy to share with you this new book which is available both in print and Kindle editions through Amazon.

The Muslim population in the United States is growing quickly, and there are no signs of this growth slowing down. So how should Christians respond? With fear? With tolerance? By ignoring Muslims?  Or with boldness, hope, and the Good News of Jesus Christ, clearly the biblical answer. For centuries the church did not go to Muslims with the gospel because Christians thought it was too dangerous or too difficult. Now God is bringing Muslims to America where Christians can lead them to Christ. But when I share this opportunity with churches around the country, I'm asked, “But how? How do I meet Muslims? How can my church make the connections?” This book seeks to answer those questions and more. If you are a Christian, I hope you will open your heart to God’s plan for Muslims in your community.  You can start by reading this book.

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'

Why Short Term Missions are so dangerous

Here is a great new article on Short Term Missions (STM), and how they can be quite harmful and disastrous. I'm happy that someone has written this article! It really needed to be said.

Read it all at The Gospel Coalition

Here is one part I liked:

Imagine a team from France calls your church and says they want to visit. They want to put on VBS (which you have done for years), but the material is in French. They have heard about how the U.S. church has struggled and want to help you fix it. They want to send 20 people, half of them youth. Only two of them speak English. They need a place to stay for free, with cheap food and warm showers if possible. During the trip half of the group's energy will be spent on resolving tension between team members. Two people will get sick. They'd like you to arrange some sightseeing for them on their free day. Do you want them to come? Most trips I know focus on those who are going, not on those receiving the teams. We send youth so they can have an experience or so God can really grip their heart. You may want your adults to gain a larger heart for the nations. Even if research shows that short-term trips do not affect the lives of participants in the long-term, we still send teams.

New Bible Translation in Farsi (Persian)

Here is some wonderful news for our brothers and sisters in or from Iran. Elam is glad to announce a new translation of the Bible in contemporary Farsi!

The recently launched New Millennium Version of the Bible has been eagerly anticipated by the Iranian church, ever since Elam began the translation work in 1995.  Prior to the publication of the new translation, Persian Christians have been reading the Old Testament in the old standard version. This translation is over 100 years old, and uses obscure and archaic words and phrases, which render the text difficult to comprehend.

Did you know that Christian missions is the main force in the world today that helps to preserve indigenous languages? This is indeed the case, because missionaries are often the first to provide an alphabet (normally a modified version of Latin alphabet, but not always) for indigenous languages that don't have one.

Praise God! And God bless our brothers and sister in and from Iran.

Read more HERE.

"September Eleventh" by Penny Cagan

September Eleventh
by Penny Cagan
1. I could tell you what it was like to be there - the sky black with bodies - humanity colluding with gravity - people jumping in pairs - linked lives spent working together in towers so tall it must have felt like heaven to sit at a desk and watch the city transform with the light of the seasons - the moment sealed windows were liberated with office furniture, the moment of shattered glass when doomed colleagues linked hands and decided to jump - the early fall air washed with morning coolness - the escape from the rattling of downtown, suffocating smoke, the heat - to be a witness to all this, on the ground, not quite safe, but spared from all but the watching, yes, I could tell you what it was like, but that would require the crafting of a narrative from the singed paper raining down like confetti, the sky blackened with terrorist graffiti, the towers stricken, and then stricken again, their dark shadows erased from the sky, my clothes soaked with dust and ash - that gorgeous autumn day - the kind that makes late August bearable because of the promise of its crisp breath, and the light, the pure sweet morning light of September Eleventh, the event that I could speak of - if there was something here to say. 2. September was my favorite month the sun suddenly different than it was the day before, somehow gentler and sunken in the sky, its reflection elongated against the towers, languorous August now in retreat, both the unease and promise of longer nights, the new season upon us with all that it brings, the residual memories from our school days, the purchase of new school supplies - the lure of a sharpened pencil, a notebook neatly divided into subjects, the fine lines of green graph paper, the anticipation of unopened textbooks, the comfort of a light woolen sweater slung low on the shoulders, slung low like the month itself - hope embedded in a porous rubber eraser. ©2001, Penny Cagan

Pope Francis in Middle East: People mus be free to choose their own religion

Good news from the pope's recent visit to the Middle East:

During his first official visit to the Middle East, Pope Francis repeatedly told Muslim audiences that religious freedom is “a fundamental human right” and that governments must allow people to choose their own faith.

From HERE. Pray that freedom to convert from Islam to Christianity will triumph in the Middle East, and that people will disobey the Prophet of Islam who said that, 'whosoever changes his religion, slay him.'

Christians in UK offer safe-houses for converts from Islam

Here is some great news:

A CHRISTIAN campaign group is launching a national network of safe houses for Muslim converts who face ostracism or violent reprisals for leaving their religion.

It says it knows of up to 1,100 former Muslims at risk in Britain but the true number could be 3,000.

Andrea Williams, chief executive of Christian Concern, which is organising the network, said: “We are motivated by a deep sense of love and compassion for those that feel trapped in a situation from which they cannot escape.

“The penalty for them at best is to be cut off from their family; at worst they face death. This is happening not just in Sudan and Nigeria but in east London. The government has failed to deal with the rise in anti-Christian sentiment.”

News of the support network for converts comes in the wake of international outrage at Sudan for imposing a death sentence on Meriam Yehya Ibrahim, a pregnant Christian woman, for refusing to renounce her faith. Her estranged father was Muslim.

Michael Nazir-Ali, a former bishop of Rochester, said a “mistaken respect for culture” meant that British converts were not being protected.

From Nicholas Hellen at The Sunday Times and HT to David Virtue. God willing we will see similar moves in France and Italy and Germany, where they are much needed.

On the middle ages

Former Muslims United (USA)

I was aware that various councils or groups for ex-Muslims existed in Belgium and the UK and some other countries in Europe, but behold, there is one in the USA as well. On their Mission Statement page they list, among other things, the following goals:

1. Develop a legal framework for and ensure the civil rights of American individuals and organizations to provide sanctuary for former Muslims without being subject to legal penalties or threats.

5. Educate the American public, especially politicians and those in the U.S. legal system, of Islamic law’s encouragement of extra-judicial enforcement or vigilante street justice against apostates who are subjected to serious death threats in America and from abroad.  Denial is a common reaction by many Muslim leaders to those who warn about clear-cut laws in all Islamic legal schools of Sharia.  As a matter of fact, Islamic law states that it is permissible to lie to non-Muslims to accomplish a Sharia-sanctioned objective.  Thus, since killing apostates is a Sharia-sanctioned objective, misleading Western publics is permissible and practiced regularly.  This point must be clear to the public in order to understand the extent of the threat and the disingenuousness of the public response by Muslim advocates of Sharia.

God bless them in their efforts! Learn more about them HERE.

Turkey: a mixed bag for religious freedom

Turkey can be a difficult country to interpret. On the one hand, legal conversion there is possible and I very much appreciate that. On the other hand, the notions of identity there mean that anyone who leaves Islam is understood to have betrayed the Turkish people.

But here is a little bit of good news:

For almost a century, the bells of St. Giragos, a magnificent 14th-century church built of sturdy black basalt bricks, were silent.

Severely damaged during the 1915 massacre and deportation of local Christians, it stood roofless and abandoned for decades, a poignant reminder of the void left by the killing of its congregants.
Yet for several months now the tolling of bells can once again be heard emanating from the belfry and echoing through the city’s narrow alleyways and busy markets.

St. Giragos recently underwent an extensive $3 million dollar restoration that included a new roof, the reconstruction of all seven of its original altars—a unique feature for a church, which usually has just one—and the return of an iron bell to its belfry.

“Right now the bells are just symbolic,” said Arahim Demirciyen, an ethnic Armenian who rings the bells twice a day. “A priest is currently in training in the Armenian quarter in Jerusalem. When he finishes and arrives here we can also start holding regular weekly services.”

Well, God bless this small community, and may this church be willing to welcome believers in Christ from among the Turks and Kurds and not only the Armenians. From HERE.

Syrian-Australian woman speaks out for Syria

Powerful. Please do share.

Good news for Christians in Turkey

Turkish leaders smooth way for Christians

TURKEY The recently reelected Muslim prime minister of Turkey is making the country more comfortable for its Christian minority. Recep Tayyip Erdogan has granted Turkish citizenship to a number of young Eastern Orthodox bishops around the world. This makes the bishops eligible for leadership in the Patriarchate of Constantinople, currently run by 71-year-old Patriarch Bartholomew and an aging cohort. Erdogan's government has also allowed Christians to reclaim land they had lost illegally, restored old churches, and criticized ultranationalists responsible for recent violence against Christians.

From Christianity Today.

Augustine: "To Thee [O God] there is no such thing as evil..."

Augustine on evil as lack of being:

To thee there is no such thing as evil, and even in thy whole creation taken as a whole, there is not; because there is nothing from beyond it that can burst in and destroy the order which thou hast appointed for it. But in the parts of creation, some things, because they do not harmonize with others, are considered evil. Yet those same things harmonize with others and are good, and in themselves are good. And all these things which do not harmonize with each other still harmonize with the inferior part of creation which we call the earth, having its own cloudy and windy sky of like nature with itself.

Confessions 7:13

What a fount of comfort and wisdom is this great African saint.

Augustine on the bankruptcy of Western academia

Academics are hard to deal with for the most part. They tend to think their learning makes them superior to the common man. Well, Augustine disagrees (and he is smarter than they are, I know).

But those who strut in the high boots of what they deem to be superior knowledge will not hear Him who says, "Learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and you shall find rest for your souls."

Confessions 7:9

On the unrest in countries like Egypt, Yemen, and Jordan

by Abu Daoud

Well, what can I say?

I have been surprised by the outbreak in massive riots in Egypt, and lessed such events in Yemen and Jordan. What really seemed like the moment when 'the levee's gonna break' was when folks in Egypt started calling for the resignation of Mubaarak.

You see, you can have riots, even violent, destructive ones, in the Middle East, for certain causes, like Islamic stuff (of course), and anti-American and anti-Israel stuff (of course), and even maybe for rather pragmatic things like the price of bread or sugar of tomatos. You can even call for new elections or a new parliament or a new group of ministers (the new boss...same as the old boss), a la Jordan. But you can't call for the top guy to be replaced, or to leave, or to step down, or anything. In fact, you should not even mention him, unless you are saying, hey this guy needs to save us from these corrupt jerks. Then it's ok.

Well, that's not what is happening in Egypt. The police are out of play, widely despised by people in general. Now the military has been called in, and what of that? Even if one or two main commanders tell their troops, you know, we're here to defend Egypt from Israel and Libya and fill-in-the-blank, so we're just not going to get invovled in this, either way....well, that will end up being decisive. If a couple of influential commanders do that, then a new regime in Egypt is not impossible.

But if the military by and large obey their orders (which seem illegitimate to me, but then again I'm American), then sooner or later, perhaps after much bloodshed, the iron will of the Mubaarak Dynasty will be enforced upon all.

Religious freedom as the path to peace

Religious freedom expresses what is unique about the human person, for it allows us to direct our personal and social life to God, in whose light the identity, meaning and purpose of the person are fully understood. To deny or arbitrarily restrict this freedom is to foster a reductive vision of the human person; to eclipse the public role of religion is to create a society which is unjust, inasmuch as it fails to take account of the true nature of the human person; it is to stifle the growth of the authentic and lasting peace of the whole human family.

--Pope Benedict XVI

Glorious Servants

One thing that is interesting about back in the sending country (note that I don't say being back home, I don't consider this home), is that you find rare people who really become your cheerleaders.

Like there is one old lady at a local church which is rather large and wealthy and she always gets our prayer requests and tries to get us an entrée to speak about our ministry in the ME, and yes, raise funds. She does not seem to be particularly dynamic in her personality, her emails don't end with dramatic Christian sign-off's like 'in Him' or whatever (not that I dislike those), and she doesn't appear to have a very deep knowledge of mission or the Bible or theology. But she is a big supporter, not in terms of her own funds, but in terms advocacy. Without people like her our work would not be possible.

The last six years have been extremely difficult. I sometimes wonder why I'm putting my family through all this. It is encouraging to find people like this unassuming, glorious sister who partner with us by using the resources they have at hand.

AD

Pope wants religious freedom in Middle East

Another contribution that Christians can bring to society is the promotion of an authentic freedom of religion and conscience, one of the fundamental human rights that each state should always respect. In numerous countries of the Middle East there exists freedom of belief, while the space given to the freedom to practice religion is often quite limited. Increasing this space of freedom becomes essential to guarantee to all the members of the various religious communities the true freedom to live and profess their faith. This topic could become the subject of dialogue between Christians and Muslims, a dialogue whose urgency and usefulness was reiterated by the Synodal Fathers.

From here.

Am tired and it's late for comments on my part. But this is great stuff!

Algerian Christians Acquitted of Eating During Ramadan

I always enjoy reading through the semi-monthly publication Mission Catalyst. The folks there gather together snippets of mission-related news from around the world, email it to you, and give you the links so you can read the complete story if you like. Really a valuable service. Thanks!

In today's issue which I just got in my inbox, there is an interesting story about tolerance in Algeria, may God prospoer that country and the church there. Here is a part of it:

The incident took place in Ain El-Hammam, a town in the province of Tizi Ouzou about 150 kilometers (93 miles) east of the Algerian capital. Tizi Ouzou is part of Kabylie, an area of Algeria where the country’s Protestant church has grown with relative freedom in recent years.

Officers at a nearby police station saw the two men eating and confronted them for not fasting. When police realized the two men were Christians, they accused them of insulting Islam, according to local French-language press reports.

“I do not apologize for anything, and I regret nothing,” Fellak said before the verdict, according to Dernieres Nouvelles d’Algerie. “I have the right to not fast. I am a Christian, and until found guilty, the Algerian constitution guarantees respect for individual freedoms.”

The rest of the story is here.