Exloring Life Eternal

Erland Nord forwarded some things that help reduce conflict / confrontation when they are presented right up front in dicussions. Perhaps these will help others as well:
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These things have been used to reduce the level of conflict initially (though this may or may not be the best way to approach things:)

A. INITIAL "INVITATION" FROM GOD:
Use the Quran 9:111 text: Allah (god, but no name) saves you if you give yourself to him to kill others. Quran 9:5: to force them to observe prayers to Allah until all the world gives in to Islam. Quran 8:39 permits all manner of war to be used in this.
VERSUS
Bible: Romans 6:23: Christ saves you to God (name: YHWH) by giving up His own life, body & blood, for your salvation ... this is a free gift.

B. SUBSEQUENT "SUBMISSION" TO THE LORD:
Allah then calls you to a life of slavery & evil in all forms of war & violence to enforce worship & submission to "Allah."
VERSUS
Christ saves you to a life lived in the freedom & power of the Holy Spirit, to love, & to self-discipline. We are reborn, being changed from the inside. (see John 3; Romans 5:1-5; Galatians 5:1, 6, 13, 22-26).

C. SO THEN:
According to Quran 9:111; 9.5; 8:39, evil pleases "Allah" so he will give you paradise if you give yourself to do evil & harm.
HOWEVER:
Only rightousness pleases the God of the Bible who saves (YHWH, Yeshua = The Lord Saves). For example, in Exodus 20 we see the Ten (10) commandments to be done (see also, Leviticus 18:5). This sacrifice had to be done by Jesus Christ to undo the devil's work (see Genesis 3:15; I John 3:8; Romans 7:13-25; 3:19-31)

D. WHAT IS THE BASIS FOR CLAIMING TO BE GOD & HAVING THE TRUE WORD?
Quran: we can't see God with our physical eyes to check.
Bible: we can go by Jesus' test: the deeds which are seen (John 10:38). We can also ask the one claiming divine power & authority to tell us what will be & what has been from the beginning to the end (see OT prophet Isaiah 41:21-24). In Deuteronomy 18:21-22, the tests include: a prophet is never false. They bear true witness (Deuteronomy 19:15). They direct people to the same God (Deuteronomy 13:1-3) ... thus there must be a correlation between what the Bible says about God & what the "prophet" says. There must be consistence & agreement, not discord (Jeremiah 28:7, 8, 9).

E. _WHO_ SHALL WE SERVE?
The "Allah" of the Quran gives no name, just a claim to being God.
VERSUS:
In the Bible, God is YHWH, Elohim, Adonai, El Shaddai, El Elyon, and many others. He is the Lord who Saves = Yeshua / Jesus. He is God With Us / Imm-anu-El. The Law, the Prophets, & Psalms prove the saving power of God & are preserved true.
Examples of fulfillment in the Bible:
On Christ / Messiah
- At the time of arrival, Roman governors replaced kings & tribes; thus the Kingship belonged to Jesus (Genesis 49:10).
- The place of birth was in Bethlehem (see Micah 5:2).
- The time of the Lord's death was prophesied in Daniel 9:24-26.
- The place of the death of Jesus was foretold in Isaiah 46:13: Jerusalem, Zion.
- The Name given is "My Salvation." Christ Jesus means "chosen salvation" or when interpretted, the Lord's appointed salvation & rightousness.

A Muslim may agree with you and yet not be telling the truth as to agreeing. Therefore, PRAY about these things & for the Lord Jesus to be honored. He is able.

Surah 9:111 (Allah makes a pact with you, exchanging you
for paradise, so he can use you to kill others)

Surah 9:5 (fight until they observe prayers)

Surah 8:39 (fight until all the world is under Islam)

Why?

This is contrary to Surah 2:256 (no compulsion in religion).

Why?

This murderous nature of the Quran is contrary to the 10 Commandments.

Why?

They have a "no-name" god: Allah (the god) instead of Jehovah, or Yahweh.

Why?

If the Quran confirms what went before, as Surah 3:3 says.

Why the contradictions?

And if there can be no change in God's word (Surah 10:64; 6:115)

Why the lack of consistency or improvement?

Sincerly in Christ,

Erland Nord

As I post this, I remember that Hosea recorded the word of the Lord: out of Egypt I will call My Son. This was later fullfilled in the life of Jesus (see Matthew 2).

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EGYPT: GLAD TIDINGS FROM CAIRO
Charisma Online (http://www.charismanow.com)
December 16, 2005
By J. Lee Grady

... Normally I wake up to the sound of an alarm clock at 6 a.m. But today, long before that hour, I was jarred out of a deep sleep by the sound of a Muslim cleric singing his prayers over a loudspeaker near my apartment on the Nile River. ... [O]ne of the world’s oldest Christian communities is rooted here. These Christians have lived in the shadow of Islam for centuries, enduring persecution and discrimination. But I am happy to announce that the Egyptian church is headed toward its finest hour.

... “God is showing us that he loves the Arab people,” my new friend explained. Egypt’s Christians are holding fast to a promise from the prophet Isaiah, who predicted hundreds of years ago that spiritual renewal would sweep from Egypt to the other nations of the Middle East.

“In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria, The Assyrians will go to Egypt and the Egyptians to Assyria. The Egyptians and Assyrians will worship together. In that day Israel will be the third, along with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing on the earth.”
(Isaiah 19:23-24, NIV)

... when you visit this region you realize more is happening under the surface than what we hear about in Western media reports. God is on the move. ... Arab Christians feel neglected and abandoned by many of us in the West. They don’t understand why some Western Christians seem to show favoritism toward Jews, especially when the Israeli government has at times persecuted and harassed Arab believers in the Palestinian territories. +

Egyptian Christians love all lost people, this leader told me. “But our love for the Jewish people should not cause us to love any other group of people less.” During my December visit to Cairo, just a week before Christmas, I was reminded that Mary and Joseph brought the infant Jesus to Egypt to hide him from King Herod (see Matthew 2:13-15). ...

Source (http://www.charismanow.com/12-16-05). (Please visit this link to read the full article from which this was excerpted.)

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+ [This is particularly an issue when Christians are unjustly biased towards those who are Jews according to the flesh while they neglect to show kindness to God's chosen people who have faith, whether Jews or Arabs or from other ethnic backgrounds in Israel or elsewhere. The issue is: will we look to politics or will we seek for the presence of God.]

By Vincent Donovan
He was among the spread the Word among the Maasai as a (RC) Christian Missionary. A wide variety of Christians have been inspired by this work & it is considered, truly a classic.
Christianity Rediscovered, 2003 = 25th anniversary edition.

http://store.wmepress.org/chrebyvido.html
http://www.amazon.com also has a few good reviews of the book:
ISBN: 1570754624

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I have not yet read it, but have not heard any negative comments about it.