The Call for Muslim Evangelism

I openned our Bible study up to questions last night, and this was the first question, “Why does the Bible have four gospels instead of just one?”

It’s actually a pretty good question. I mean what’s the point of having four books which pretty much tell the exact same story?

If you’re wondering the same thing, here’s what I told him last night.

Pretend you’re a judge of an extremely important case in court. You want to be as unbiased about everything as you possibly can. The prosecution has their story, the defendent has his story, but nobody really knows who’s telling the truth or not. You, as the judge, weren’t there when the incident took place and neither was the jury.

In every single case, the most powerful source in determining what happened is an eye witness.

The only thing more convencing than an eye witness is four witnesses telling the exact same story. 

Was Jesus the Messiah? Was He crusified and did He rise again? Is He the Son of God?

Don’t ask my opinion, ask the eye witnesses who saw the whole thing.

When evidence is stacked up like that, you have to either accept it or choose to ignore it.

It’s as ridiculous as saying that I don’t believe George Washington really existed. It’s just something made up by patriotic Americans to sound like we had a great man lead us to independence. I never saw him and my professor says the story is made up. Only naive fanatics would believe in somebody like that.

Another interesting thing about having four gospels instead of one, is that we get the same story about the life of Jesus but from four different perspectives.

Matthew focuses on Jesus Christ the King of kings and His right to the throne of David.

Mark focuses on Jesus the servant.

Luke focuses on the humanity of Jesus Christ as the “Son of Man.”

John, who was the closest disciple to Jesus, goes extreme and focuses on Jesus as the “Son of God,” and God in the flesh.

This probably isn’t the only explanation for having four gospels, but it sure makes sense to somebody as simple as I am.

My friend Sabir Ali sent me an article by Christianity Today which discussed this issue.

According to them our greatest tools for reaching the Muslim world are…

1. The lifestyle of Christians (if they really live like Christians should)

2. The power of God in answered prayers and healing

3. Dissatisfaction with the type of Islam they have experienced

4. The Spiritual truth found in the Bible

5. Biblical teaching on the love of God

Click here to read the entire article by Christianity Today.

Also Click here to read more about Ministry of Grace. 

A friend of mine has been working with Muslims in Southeast Asia for several years now.

Check out his blog Ministry of Grace, and get some exciting news about his ministry and learn how you can be more effective in your outreach to the world of Islam.

Living waters has some good materials on how to witness to a Muslim.

Click here to check it out.

A friend of mine who works with Ministry of Grace, named Sabir Ali, told me a little while back about a ministry named Life Challenge Africa and a DVD series they have entitled “Battle for the Hearts.”

I just got all of their materials in the mail and it is a goldmine of information. If you are interested in Muslim evangelism their books and DVD’s will help you tremendously.

The Scripture refers to this man as “the friend of God” and “the father of all who believe.” Do you know who it is? It is the prophet of God, Abraham {Ibrahim in Arabic}. The Holy Scriptures speak a great deal about Abraham. His name appears in the Writings of the Prophets more than three hundred times. Therefore, God willing, we will search the Scriptures to discover what they teach concerning this man who was called the friend of God. In this first part we intend to look into the story of Abraham, to see how God called him to follow Him, and why He called him and what God promised him.

Did God do what He promised? Did He make of Abram a great nation? Did He give the land of Palestine to Abram’s descendants?

What does it mean to believe God? As you may know, the Scriptures of the Prophets were written in the Hebrew language. In Hebrew, the word for “believe” is “AMAN” from which we get our word Amen. When you say “Amen” you are simply saying, “Yes! It is true!” or “Yes, I agree!” This is what it means to believe. When God made a promise to Abram, Abram’s heart response was: “Amen! Yes! It is true! I believe your words!” Based on that simple “Amen” to the word of God, God counted Abram as righteous.

Thus, the Scriptures say:  “Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, ‘So shall your offspring be.’ Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead–since he was about a hundred years old–and that Sarah’s womb was also dead. Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.” (Rom. 4:18-21)  Nevertheless, Abraham wanted to know what would happen to Ishmael, the child of his servant, Hagar. God replied, “As for Ishmael, I have heard you: I will surely bless him…I will make him into a great nation. But my covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you…I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him.” (Gen. 17:20,21,19)Thus, God confirmed His purpose to bring forth the prophets and, at last, the Redeemer Himself through the descendants of Isaac. In the next lesson, God willing, we will see how the Lord gave Abraham and Sarah the son of the promise—Isaac {Ishaq in Arabic}.  Truly, God is faithful. God does what He promises! Nothing is too difficult for Him! Listen to these beautiful verses from the holy Gospel {Injil}: Read this article in its entirety—

** This concludes our first part of a two part study of Abraham from the Holy Scriptures.   To go to part 2 click here . This teaching from the Scriptures is a compilation of Lessons 18, 19 and 20 from “The Way of Righteousness” by Paul Bramsen.    Posted here by permission of copyright holder – Paul Bramsen.

Main passages: al-Baqara 2:30-37, al-Maida 5:27-32, al-A`raf 7:11-27, al-Hijr 15:28-43, al-Isra’ 17:61-65, Ta Ha 20:115-123, Sad 38:71-84

1. What material Adam was created from: Dust: Al Imran 3:59, Earth: Hud 11:61, al-Kahf 18:37, al-Hajj 22:5, al-Rum 30:19, al-Fatir 35:11, Ghafir 40:67, Loam: al-Mu’minun 23:12, Nothing: Maryam 19:67, Water: al-Hajj 22:5, al-Mu’minun 23:13-14, al-Furqan 25:54, Ghafir 40:67, Nuh 71:14, al-Qiyama 75:37-38, al-`Alaq 96:2
2. The formation of the first human being: al-A`raf 7:11, al-Hijr 15:29, al-Sajda 32:9, Sad 38:72, Ghafir 40:67, al-Taghabun 64:3, al-Infitar 82:7-8
3. The original glorious appearance of Adam: al-Tin 95:4-6
4. Adam’s choice: Al Imran 3:33
5. Adam names everything: al-Baqara 2:30-33
6. Worship of Adam. Satan’s Fall: al-Baqara 2:34, al-A`raf 7:11, al-Hijr 15:28-38, al-Isra’ 17:61, al-Kahf 18:50, Ta Ha 20:116, Sad 38:71-82
7. Satan’s profession: al-Nisa 4:118-119, al-A`raf 7:16-17, Ibrahim 14:22, al-Hijr 15:39-43, al-Isra’ 17:62-65, Ya Sin 36:60-62, Sad 38:83-84
8. The creation of Eve: al-Nisa 4:1, al-A`raf 7:189, al-Rum 30:21, al-Zumar 39:6, al-Shura 42:11
9. Allah gives Adam the interdiction: al-Baqara 2:35, al-A`raf 7:19
10. The constitution of the prohibited tree: al-Mu’minun 23:20, al-Nur 24:35, al-Tin 95:1-2
11. Allah’s covenant with Adam: Ta Ha 20:115
12. Allah exhorts Adam: Ta Ha 20:116-119
13. Seduction by Satan: al-A`raf 7:20-21,27, Ta Ha 20:120
14. The fall of man: al-A`raf 7:22-23, Ta Ha 20:121
15. Expulsion from Paradise: al-Baqara 2:36, al-A`raf 7:24, Ta Ha 20:123
16. The curse: al-Baqara 2:36, al-A`raf 7:24-25, Ta Ha 20:55, 22:66
17. Adam’s repentance and restitution: al-Baqara 2:37, al-A`raf 7:23, Ta Ha 20:122
18. Eve’s pregnancy. The fall of the first human beings: al-A`raf 7:189-190

Read on…

The following stories are exerpts from answering-islam.com:

Many of the stories of the Qur’an are derivatives of Biblical stories, containing many similarities but also striking differences in what is stated and what is omitted. This compilation provides references to the passages of the Qur’an which are re-narrations of Biblical material, and has the objective to allow the Christian reader who is familiar with the Bible to quickly find and compare the Biblical story with the Quranic version.

So far, this is done only for stories from the Old Testament. We hope to soon provide similar reference lists for the passages in the Qur’an that speak about John the Baptist, Mary, Jesus, and his disciples.

Read on…

One of the biggest obsticles the church faces in reaching Muslims with the gospel is the overwhelming ignorance of Christians on the topic of Islam. Before we can expect to win any person to Christ, we must learn how they think, how they live, and how they talk. Language is vital to touching the heart of an individual, and we have an obligation to speak to them in terms to which they can relate. Ignorance should never be an excuse for not completing our mission. Therefore we need to educate ourselves on this matter. The following link will provide you with a helpful resource which defines the common terms they use in their everyday religious lingo. 

http://www.answering-islam.org/Books/Hughes/index.htm

I read this on Austin Gardner’s blog the other day.

It’s an excelent study on who was according to the Bible.

Taken from http://www.apologetics.com/default.jsp?bodycontent=/articles/doctrinal_apologetics/bowman-jesusisgod.html