An Encouraging Word

A Look @ the News

            The national news did not cover significantly a fairly monumental item that occurred on Easter Sunday in Rome this year.  Pope Benedict XVI baptized journalist Magdi Allam.  Mr. Allam’s is no ordinary baptism, (an oxymoron if there ever was one).  Mr. Allam’s decision to give his life to Christ, be baptized and follow Jesus has monumental ramifications.

            Magdi Allam is a Muslim.  That in itself is significant.  But Allam is a famous and controversial Muslim journalist. Because he has denounced Islam’s violence, his life has been threatened and he has required Italian protection.  His baptism could not have been made lightheartedly.  His decision to commit to Jesus was a life altering, relational changing decision that would cost Mr. Allam the life that he once knew.

             Christian writer and analyst Chuck Colson reports that according to the website “Islam Watch” over two million Muslims converted to Christ in Russia alone last year.  Additionally 10,000 French Muslims, 35,000 Turkish Muslims and about 10,000 people of India abandoned Islam for Christ last year.

             Colson cites author Joel Rosenberg who claims that in recent years in Algeria about 80,000 Muslims have turned to Christ.  This is a land that bans the evangelism of Islamic people.  There are reports of other countries, such as 25,000 to 40,000 Muslims in Morocco turning to Jesus as their Lord.  Five million Muslims have submitted to Christ in Sudan since the early 1990’s despite terrible persecution of Christians by the government.  One Christian leader of Sudan stated that people have seen the real Islam and want Christ instead.

             While Edna and I were in Qatar we heard of works going on among various Muslim groups.  When Muslims convert to Christianity they lose their family, their tribe, frequently their jobs, their networking and are often deported.  They must count the cost in order to follow Jesus.

             But I’ve also witnessed the emptiness and helplessness of Islam.  Muslims have no assurance and little joy.  All of their prayers (five calls a day) are without a guarantee that God hears.  There is no assurance of salvation.  Only at death do they learn if they have done enough.

            Yet Muslims are brutal to former Muslims who convert from their religion.  Some are put in chains.  Some are hunted down and killed.  Contrast that to when a Christian converts to Islam.  There is genuine concern on the part of other Christians, but no physical harm.  

             When Jesus claimed to be the Way, the Truth and the Life (John14:6) and that no one had access to the Father except through him, Jesus was not saying that there are hundreds of ways to God but that his way was the superior one.  Jesus was stating that there are no ways to God whatsoever, but that he alone makes access to God possible.  Many are finding Jesus to be authentic. They are discovering God and life. They are discovering first hand that Jesus is authentic.

             A leading Muslim cleric of Saudi Arabia delivered the news to Al-Jazeera (which is in Doha, Qatar and Edna and I passed it frequently when we lived there) that the mass conversions of Muslims to Jesus had not escaped the notice of Islamic leaders.  In 2001 Sheik Ahmad Al Qatanni claimed that 16,000 Muslims convert to Jesus every day!  That is six million Muslims become Christians every year.  If this leading Saudi Muslim is telling the truth, then a revolution is occurring in the world today. People are being set free from the power and darkness of sin and coming to Christ’s powerful light.

             Pray for our brothers and sisters who are being persecuted for their new found faith.  Rejoice and give God thanks for their conversions.

                          Bob Jackson