Biblical Commentary
For our struggle is not
against flesh and blood, but against the rulers,
against the authorities, against the powers of this
dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil
in the heavenly realms (Ephesians 6:12)
On Islamic Terrorism
Much
has been said about the terrorist attacks against the
World Trade Center, and the United States and its allies
have now embarked upon an ambitious war against terrorism.
This war will be unlike other wars, and will include
political, diplomatic, law enforcement, security, intelligence
and financial efforts as well as military responses.
These are all quite appropriate. However, there is a
spiritual dimension of this battle which we must understand
in order to win it. There is a greater battle between
good and evil, between truth and lies.
Michel McFaul, a senior associate at
the Carnegie Endowment and professor at Stanford is
very close to the mark when he wrote recently in the
Washington Post:
Above all else, we must remember
that the battle against communism, like our struggle
against extreme strains of Islamic fundamentalism, was
a war of ideas...[communism] did not terminate on the
battlefield or result from a successful counterintelligence
sting. Rather, it ended after people, even in Russia,
stopped believing in communism and then mobilized to
overthrow the Soviet communist regime.
Prior to the fall of communism in the
Soviet Union, the Christian missionary organization
Open Doors conducted a seven year prayer campaign with
the specific goal of complete religious freedom in the
Soviet Union starting in 1984. God is faithful and no
power in heaven or earth can stand against him. Let's
pray remembering that.
In the case of communism, the lie was
that if people just followed communist utopian economic
and political ideas, countries could overcome the evils
of capitalism. In the case of radical Islam, the lie
is that sinful man can save himself from his sins by
his own efforts, and in this case —absurdly by
committing mass murder. The antidote to this lie is
the truth that "salvation is found in no one else,
for there is no other name under heaven given to men
by which we must be saved" (Acts 4:12) Our God-ordained
weapons include faith, prayer, and the Gospel. The sword
of the Spirit, which is the word of God, is the only
sword which can cut this snake off at the head.
Let's join together to pray for the
effective evangelization of the Muslim world. There
are some 1.1 billion Muslims in world and only a few
missionaries per million Muslim people. The vast majority
have never heard of the only way of salvation. The only
religious education they receive teaches them to deny
and doubt the truth about the only way of salvation,
the holy Gospel of our Lord
Jesus Christ, and many are under death threats if they
dare even to believe the truth.
I want to invite you to begin praying
for the evangelization of Muslims, starting with those
right here in America. I also want to invite you to
start evangelizing your Muslim friends and acquaintances.
Though they are inaccessible in many Muslim lands,
we have full and free access to them, and an open
door to offer them the love and forgiveness held out
in the gospel alone. Why can't the Christians in each
town and city take responsibility for reaching their
Muslim neighbors, demonstrating the gospel by loving
them and bringing the gospel to them through tracts
such as Show
Us the Way.
I have written a tract, which is printed
in brochure format on an ordinary 8 1/2 x 11 sheet of
paper. Anyone with a computer connected to the internet
or with access to a copy machine can make an unlimited
supply of these.
The theme of the tract, Show
Us the Way, is taken from a part of the Koran and
which probably predates Mohammed and is universally
used in the Islamic world:
Show us the straight way,
the way of those whom Thou hast favored,
not the way of those who earn Thine anger or of those
who go astray (The Opening, 5-7)
Jesus Christ alone can answer that
heart cry: "I am the way, the truth and the life;
no one comes to the Father except by me" (John 14:6).
Please download Show Us the Way here
and share the gospel with Muslim friends and neighbors:
Show
Us the Way in PDF format, which requires a free,
downloadable Adobe Acrobat Readers.
Show Us the Way in HTML format
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Pastor
Tim Keller's Reflections on 9-11
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