Jerry Tousdale, Miraculous Movements: How Hundreds of Thousands of Muslims Are Falling in Love with Jesus
Jerry Tousdale, Miraculous Movements: How Hundreds of Thousands of Muslims Are Falling in Love with Jesus (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2012), 208 pages, ISBN 9781418547288.
Jerry Tousdale is the Director of International Ministries for CityTeam International. He has also served as a church planter in the Muslim world. This volume is sure to be a source of great encouragement to those who seek to bring others to Jesus, particularly if the “others” are Muslims. While Muslims might be difficult to reach, this book shows that they are reachable. In fact, they are coming to Jesus in large numbers in some parts of the world. This book is an interesting combination of information, strategy, and testimony.
In this book the author not only tells us that a great many Muslims are coming to faith in Jesus but he also shares some of the significant factors that are helping to make this happen. Prayer is, of course, essential because evangelism is a spiritual battle as light seeks to invade darkness. One thing that the Lord is using to reach Muslims is Discovery Bible Studies. In order to set up one of these Bible studies a Christian worker goes into a Muslim area and looks for a “person of peace.” This individual is one who is open to the gospel. Once this person is located he or she is encouraged to gather their family and friends for a Bible study. In this way the ministry is not directed to an individual but to a group of people. What is interesting about the Discovery Bible Studies is that they are not primarily evangelistic in emphasis. They do not seek to make converts; instead, they seek to make disciples. This may sound backward to those of us who live in the West, but it is in fact very biblical (Matthew 28:19-20). The Bible study is designed to expose the people to God’s Word and then to ask them how they should respond to what they have read. The book lists a number of texts and topics that are good for these studies. The topics include: creation, the fall, and redemption. The studies are geared toward moving the hearers toward obedience to the biblical text. As amazing as this may sound, this approach actually works.
The author also mentions some other things that contribute to the success of the gospel among Muslims. I will mention two of them here. The first is a sense of frustration or disillusionment with Islam among Muslims who are spiritually hungry. The other is dreams and visions. The Lord is giving dreams and visions to many Muslims in our day. These supernatural encounters are having a profound impact on them, in many cases bringing them to faith in Jesus.
This book is easy to read and contains encouraging reports of what the Lord is doing around the world today. I think that the Discovery Bible Study method is one that we in the West should take a closer look at and consider using here. It may prove very beneficial in moving us on from gathering converts to making disciples who produce other disciples, which is what Jesus called us to do.
Reviewed by John P. Lathrop
Category: Ministry, Spring 2013
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