Shows the great need for the gospel and evangelism and missions to Muslims and to Muslim peoples and countries to be promoted by us who know the Lord. Muslim culture has some good in it - incredible hospitality and emotional passion and feeling. They see westerners as not having much feeling - "dry as toast" (as in the film, "My Big Fat Greek Wedding") But those negative aspects of Muslim's culture, that Shapiro reports - "honor killings" and suicide bombing and admiration for Ben Laden, stoning for adultery and homosexuals, etc. - is a culture of death - as in 2 Cor. 3:7 - the Old covenant law is "a ministry of death" - excecution for adultery, pre-marital sex, stoning, etc. - as in the Old covenant law without the life and power of the Holy Spirit to do right and obey God's law. They want Sharia law because they don't have the Holy Spirit and because they focus on externals and honor - having the appearance of a moral society.
"the letter of the law kills, but the Spirit gives life" - 2 Cor. 3:5
I don't think the Pew poll of the people of Iran is accurate, that Ben Shapiro gave. It was probably controlled by the Iranian government.
I also don't think the NT has the violence of the punishments that the OT does (maybe Shapiro is talking about hell and those passages.)
If the other polls (of the other countries besides Iran) are correct, it does reveal the backwardness of Islamic culture, but it does not mean those same numbers will take action or do the terrorism things that ISIS and Al Qaeda and Boko Haram do; (there are different degrees of "radicalness"/ Jihadism/ terror / taking the law into your own hands, etc. - but it does reveal that a lot of Muslims generally want an image of honor (that in the eyes of everyone else - they have a morally upright society - kind of like, to put it in a parallel with western conservative culture; - the image that many conservatives have to 1950's TV shows like "Father Knows Best" and "Leave it to Beaver") Muslims want honor; an externally clean image of a moral society, where women know their place and submit to the husbands and homosexuality is abolished, etc. - Most Muslims do think the Palestinians should control the land of Israel - as in the centuries before the Ottoman Turks took over and then the Ottomans lost WW 1 - because to them, the Arab Muslims conquered that land for Allah around 638 AD and it should not have been lost in 1948. They view that as an injustice to the Palestinians.
Unregenerate people in a culture of death are lost and they need the gospel. A veil lies over their heart. (2 Cor. 3:15). The god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving. (2 Cor. 4:4) "their minds are hardened" (2 Cor. 3:14). Islamic Sharia law is like parts of Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy, without the inspiration of the Holy Spirit and without the New Covenant fulfillment in Christ and the Holy Spirit.
Pray for laborers to be sent forth - Matthew 9:36-38
Only Christians can keep the Balance of patriotism and justice and just war against ISIS/ ISIL and Al Qaeda, etc. with gospel principles of prayer, evangelism, and missions.
The difficulty, as you know, is that so many Muslim countries are closed societies which forbid Christian evangelism and punish conversion. It is possible to expose some Muslims to the Gospel via the Internet. But I suppose the main opportunity is to evangelize Muslims who migrate to Western countries, to live or study.
True, to provide social and financial support for the Mu -jihad-een (jihad fighters) is the way in which other non-fighters do their part in the greater Jihad. That is why PLO and Hamas and Hezbollah so often are embedded in "civilian" areas.
All Muslim majority countries are closed to missionaries and evangelism officially. One has to be creative and enter with some kind of legitimate job or other valid visa and talk to Muslims slowly one on one and respectfully, learning language and culture and hospitality.
but with that, there is always risk of running afoul of the authorities or if God gives new hearts (conversions), and little house churches and growth, then they start persecuting the believers and the foreign missionary usually gets deported, or something worse.
Reading and meditating in 2 Corinthians 3 and 4 this morning, made me think of this and responding to this video.
2 Corinthians 3:10 shows Theonomy is not true, IMO. "For indeed what had glory [ OT law without the new, the gospel, the Spirit] in this case has no glory on account of the glory that surpasses it."
Shows the great need for the gospel and evangelism and missions to Muslims and to Muslim peoples and countries to be promoted by us who know the Lord. Muslim culture has some good in it - incredible hospitality and emotional passion and feeling. They see westerners as not having much feeling - "dry as toast" (as in the film, "My Big Fat Greek Wedding") But those negative aspects of Muslim's culture, that Shapiro reports - "honor killings" and suicide bombing and admiration for Ben Laden, stoning for adultery and homosexuals, etc. - is a culture of death - as in 2 Cor. 3:7 - the Old covenant law is "a ministry of death" - excecution for adultery, pre-marital sex, stoning, etc. - as in the Old covenant law without the life and power of the Holy Spirit to do right and obey God's law. They want Sharia law because they don't have the Holy Spirit and because they focus on externals and honor - having the appearance of a moral society.
ReplyDelete"the letter of the law kills, but the Spirit gives life" - 2 Cor. 3:5
I don't think the Pew poll of the people of Iran is accurate, that Ben Shapiro gave. It was probably controlled by the Iranian government.
I also don't think the NT has the violence of the punishments that the OT does (maybe Shapiro is talking about hell and those passages.)
If the other polls (of the other countries besides Iran) are correct, it does reveal the backwardness of Islamic culture, but it does not mean those same numbers will take action or do the terrorism things that ISIS and Al Qaeda and Boko Haram do; (there are different degrees of "radicalness"/ Jihadism/ terror / taking the law into your own hands, etc. - but it does reveal that a lot of Muslims generally want an image of honor (that in the eyes of everyone else - they have a morally upright society - kind of like, to put it in a parallel with western conservative culture; - the image that many conservatives have to 1950's TV shows like "Father Knows Best" and "Leave it to Beaver") Muslims want honor; an externally clean image of a moral society, where women know their place and submit to the husbands and homosexuality is abolished, etc. - Most Muslims do think the Palestinians should control the land of Israel - as in the centuries before the Ottoman Turks took over and then the Ottomans lost WW 1 - because to them, the Arab Muslims conquered that land for Allah around 638 AD and it should not have been lost in 1948. They view that as an injustice to the Palestinians.
Unregenerate people in a culture of death are lost and they need the gospel. A veil lies over their heart. (2 Cor. 3:15). The god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving. (2 Cor. 4:4) "their minds are hardened" (2 Cor. 3:14). Islamic Sharia law is like parts of Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy, without the inspiration of the Holy Spirit and without the New Covenant fulfillment in Christ and the Holy Spirit.
Pray for laborers to be sent forth - Matthew 9:36-38
Only Christians can keep the Balance of patriotism and justice and just war against ISIS/ ISIL and Al Qaeda, etc. with gospel principles of prayer, evangelism, and missions.
http://beggarsallreformation.blogspot.com/2015/02/dividing-line-on-tuesday-feb-17-2015.html
http://beggarsallreformation.blogspot.com/2015/02/2-articles-on-islamic-sources-and-texts.html
He didn't suggest that most of them will commit terrorism, but that they provide social and financial support for terrorists.
DeleteThe difficulty, as you know, is that so many Muslim countries are closed societies which forbid Christian evangelism and punish conversion. It is possible to expose some Muslims to the Gospel via the Internet. But I suppose the main opportunity is to evangelize Muslims who migrate to Western countries, to live or study.
DeleteTrue, to provide social and financial support for the Mu -jihad-een (jihad fighters) is the way in which other non-fighters do their part in the greater Jihad. That is why PLO and Hamas and Hezbollah so often are embedded in "civilian" areas.
DeleteAll Muslim majority countries are closed to missionaries and evangelism officially. One has to be creative and enter with some kind of legitimate job or other valid visa and talk to Muslims slowly one on one and respectfully, learning language and culture and hospitality.
but with that, there is always risk of running afoul of the authorities or if God gives new hearts (conversions), and little house churches and growth, then they start persecuting the believers and the foreign missionary usually gets deported, or something worse.
DeleteReading and meditating in 2 Corinthians 3 and 4 this morning, made me think of this and responding to this video.
ReplyDelete2 Corinthians 3:10 shows Theonomy is not true, IMO. "For indeed what had glory [ OT law without the new, the gospel, the Spirit] in this case has no glory on account of the glory that surpasses it."