May 2016

If we define Islam, not as the practice of Muslims, but as the teachings of Muhammad then violence is an integral part of Islam. 

Those Muslims who teach that surah 9 of the Quran has not been abrogated (the final teaching of Muhammad), still affirm the command to disavow all treaties with polytheists and to subjugate Jews and Christians so that Islam may "prevail over every faith." This final surah of the Quran gives no limits to assimilation, subjugation and violence against non-Muslims.  According to this surah those Muslims who do not fight are even counted among the hypocrites.

Former Muslim Nabeel Qureshi says,

"...frustrated by the increasing frequency and scale of Islamist terrorism [many people] suggest that Islam needs a reformation. What they may not realize is that radical Islam is the Islamic Reformation.

This might sound shocking, but consider: Just as the Protestant Reformation was an attempt to raze centuries of Catholic tradition and return to the canonical texts, so radical Islam is an attempt to raze centuries of traditions of various schools of Islamic thought and return to the canonical texts of the Quran and Muhammad's life. 

The question arises then, If Muhammad taught this, why don't all Muslims believe this then? Because each persons Islam is interpreted through the tradition of their local imam or jurist. Many local imams may claim this part of the Quran has been abrogated. But those Muslims who continue to affirm surah 9 and the traditions of Muhammad and the earliest followers of Muhammad, believe violence or subjugation against non- Muslims is still valid. Qureshi says,

by A. W. Pink

 "Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do" (Luke 23:34)

This first of the seven cross-sayings of Jesus presents Him in the attitude of prayer. His public ministry had opened with prayer (Luke 3:21), and here we see it closing in prayer. Surely He has left us an example! His hands would no longer minister to the sick, for they are nailed to the cross; His feet would no longer carry him on errands of mercy, for they are fastened to the cruel tree; He would no longer instruct the apostles, for they have forsaken Him and fled. How then does He occupy himself? In the ministry of prayer! What a lesson for us.

In praying for his enemies not only did Christ set before us a perfect example of how we should treat those who wrong and hate us, but He also taught us never to regard anyone as beyond the reach of prayer. If Christ prayed for his murderers, then surely we have encouragement to pray now for the very chief of sinners! Never lose hope. Does it seem a waste of time for you to continue praying for that man, that woman, that wayward child of yours? Does their case seem to become more hopeless every day? Does it look as though they had gone beyond the reach of divine mercy? Perhaps that one you have prayed for so long has been ensnared by one of the Satanic cults of the day, or he may now be an avowed and blatant atheist, in a word, an open enemy of Christ. Remember then the cross. Christ prayed for his enemies. Learn then not to look on any as beyond the reach of prayer.

If the mighty works, which have been done in thee [Capernaum], had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. But I say unto you, That it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment, than for thee.
Matthew 11:23-24

Sodom and Gomorrah were given an opportunity. Read the story in Genesis 19. But consider what the names of these cities suggest to us; Sodom has become a symbol of everything that is false and ugly in man as the result of the Fall. Sodom and Gomorrah suggest profligacy, born in the very gutters of sin, with marauders walking the streets with eyes that stand out in lasciviousness—those were the characteristics of the life there. Now what our Lord said in Matthew 11 was that the case of Capernaum and Chorazin and Bethsaida was worse than that of those Old Testament cities.

"Unless the Holy Ghost blesses the Word, we who preach the gospel are of all men most miserable, for we have attempted a task that is impossible. We have entered on a sphere where nothing but the supernatural will ever avail. If the Holy Spirit does not renew the hearts of our hearers, we cannot do it. If the Holy Ghost does not regenerate them, we cannot. If He does not send the truth home into their souls, we might as well speak into the ear of a corpse." - C. H. Spurgeon

If you have a heart for friends and family whom you’d like to see come to know Christ as their Savior, it is imperative to join your gospel witness to them with prayers from Scripture.

Hebrews 4:12 declares that God’s word is sharper than a double-edged sword.  As you pray for your friend(s) using Scripture, you’re joining with the truth God has already spoken and thinking your thoughts after God on their behalf.

The 12 prayers below ask God to work in the life of the person you’re praying for in a saving way, and they tie your prayers with a relevant Scripture passage.

1. Gracious God, in you great mercy, set my friend  ______ free from spiritual captivity. Grant repentance to _____ leading them to a saving knowledge of the truth, that they may escape from the snare of the devil having been taken captive by him to do his will. (2 Tim 2:23, 26) Enable me to gently instruct ______  when he/she is in opposition to you,