When we meet people’s humanity, we see how much we are alike. It is easier to appreciate others when we recognize that we are in the same human boat.

Jesus teaches to love our neighbors. He does not give us religious criteria for loving the neighbor. We do not need to agree with our neighbors to love them.

In a world of political and social distresses over ethnic, gender, racial and religious plurality, how can the Christian lead in expressing love? One way is to get to know our neighbors. It is hard to truly love people we do not know.

We must not allow the media, social media, politicians and others teach us who another person is because of the other person’s beliefs or preferences.

Let’s meet and spend time with people who are not like us – whatever “us” means to you.

Learning from others is a civil exercise.

Living alongside people who we do not agree with is a sign of intelligence.

Loving people who are “different” is the heart of Christian love of neighbor.

The future of our world belongs to those who know what it means to bear witness to Christ in lifestyle and love of neighbor. Amidst increased plurality, what wonderful opportunity as well as challenge to live out the call of Christ in renewed ways!

Many blessings,

Dr. Antipas

[Editor’s note: Read Tony Richie’s report: “Consultation on American Evangelicals and Islam.”]

To begin, and in the interest of full disclosure, I have previously written on the question of the identification and relation of the Triune God and Allah being considered by Duane Litfin. (http://pneumareview.com/do-all-abrahams-children-worship-abrahams-god/.) In that article I essentially argue that the true and living God is not contained or controlled by any religion (Isaiah 66:1 and Acts 7:49). Why should it be considered inconceivable that God is infinitely greater than any religion’s perception and presentation of divine reality and identity? Yet I am a Christian. I unreservedly confess my faith in Jesus Christ as the Son of God and as Lord and Savior (John 14:6; Romans 10:9). For me, the question is not to which religion does God belong but who among us belongs to God and in what way. According to the Bible, in some sense all creation and every creature belongs to the Creator God (Psalm 24:1; 1 Corinthians 10:26). However, according to John’s Gospel the Church belongs to Christ as the bride belongs to the groom (3:29). Christians belong to God as those who have heard God’s word in Christ (8:47). And Christians belong to Christ as the Father’s gift to him; therefore, Christ gives the Spirit to them to make known the otherwise unfathomable depths of divine mysteries (16:15). In my estimation, Christians can (and should) consistently affirm that God isn’t the exclusive property of any particular religion and also that God is definitively and decisively made known only in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.

Jerusalem, seen from the roof terrace of the Austrian Hospice of the Holy Family in the Muslim Quarter of old Jerusalem, looking towards the south. In the foreground is the silver dome of the Armenian Catholic chapel, “Our Lady of the Spasm,” the fourth station of the Via Dolorosa. In the background, left side, the golden Dome of the Rock.
Image: Justin McIntosh / Wikimedia Commons.

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

Perhaps no other Christian magazine is as poised to offer as complete a picture of the historical conflict between Islam and Christianity as Christian History. In a few brief and readable articles this issue summarizes the rise and beliefs of Islam in direct relation to the Church.

Since the purpose and memory of the Crusades is such a point of contention in this day, it is appropriate that many articles discuss it. Professor Paul Crawford writes that there has been a collective amnesia on the part of the West, especially in the Church, as to what the wars known as the Crusades were all about. Only in recent decades has the Islamic world increasingly attached guilt to the West as aggressors in the Crusades; wars which were started, and eventually won, by Muslims.¹ Ignoring history, many in the Church have accepted this guilt. “But if Christians are allowed to wage war when attacked, and if Christians believe that their religion has a right to exist outside the sphere of Islamic law,² perhaps modern Christians should take a second look at the crusades and their historical context, in which Christianity was under near constant pressure from the Islamic world from the seventh century to the seventeenth” (“A Deadly Give and Take,” p. 24).

Mateen A. Elass explains that jihad means more than warfare, but that the sword is central to Islam in “Four Jihads.” “Imperial Evasion” by Andrew F. Walls relates the evangelistic opportunity and blunder that occurred during the time of European imperialism when most of the Islamic world came under the rule of “Christian” nations. Also discussed by articles in this issue are the differences of belief between Islam and Christianity and stories of witnesses of Jesus to Muslims in history. The issue closes with an interview with Fuller Seminary professor J. Dudley Woodberry asking how Muslims view the West today and what can be done to bring “Justice and Peace” to the rising tide of Islamic militancy.

Those who are purporting the notion that Islam is a “peaceful” religion will find little to like in this issue of Christian History. Possible side-effects from reading this issue may include intense thirst for resources that go deeper than the well-written but brief articles found there. As always, this issue of Christian History is certainly going to get you thinking, imparting a desire to know more about the history of the Church of Jesus Christ in the world.

Reviewed by Raul Mock

Issue 74 of Christian History may be found [as of May 1, 2014] on this page: www.christianhistoryinstitute.org/magazine/issue/christians-and-muslims

Notes

¹ Muslims stressing the importance of Jerusalem is also a rather recent development, since historically less significance was attached to the city because it is the third holiest to Islam.

² For more about how oppressive “toleration” of Christians has been historically, read Christian History editor Elesha Coffman’s article “Secrets of Islam’s Success,” pages 16-18 in issue 74.

Woodberry and Shubin have compiled a number of testimonies of Muslims coming to faith in Jesus as Messiah, thereby reminding all of us of the life-changing power of the gospel. It is no secret that people living in Muslim dominated nations pay a heavy price for coming to trust in Jesus—so why do they? What do they find in Messiah that makes them accept the surrender  of their livelihoods and the ostracism of their families?

It is good to note that according to Mission Frontiers, Islam adherence is growing faster than Christianity—but only by increase by birth. If only conversions are measured, the ratio is nearly 3 to 1 conversions to Christianity versus conversions to Islam.

This article explains that most Muslims believe that: Jesus was not crucified (though His enemies planned to kill Him and He had a willingness to die); He was a prophet; the Torah, the Psalms, and the Gospels (understood to be the New Testament) are thought to be holy books by Muslims; and—though not often mentioned—the Qur’an teaches that Jesus was sinless (even though Mohammed was not).

From this starting point, Muslims are coming to Jesus by encountering Him in the Bible and finding truth more plausible than Islam; by having a powerful dream or vision of Jesus revealing Himself; the example of other Christian’s love; and the revelation of God’s love (something rather foreign to Islam) and His invitation to a personal relationship. You may be amazed how God is using dreams and visions to draw people to Himself. Woodberry and Shubin say that one in four of those surveyed stated emphatically that a dream or vision were key in bringing them to Jesus and sustaining them through oppressive circumstances.

I encourage you to read the many testimonies in this article to be encouraged at what God is doing among Muslims worldwide. I hope this will bring you to prayer, for there is much to be done to reach Muslims for Jesus. Perhaps He is dramatically revealing Himself through dreams and visions because we have not gone to share His love in person.

Find the full article on-line here: www.missionfrontiers.org/issue/article/muslims-tell…-why-i-chose-jesus (URL revised Jan 16, 2014).

Reviewed by Raul Mock