Exloring Life Eternal

Why Is it that American Women Like Islam?

Here are some reasons I've observed:

1. They are encouraged to be modest. (Many observations &
conversations).

2. The guy doesn't feel drunkenness improves sex. (Conversation
overheard).

3. Dude makes money and has the power, unlike my old homey. (Often observed by others & by certain famous marriages.)

Mert Hershberger

One man in North Africa was ostracized by his family when he became a believer. Over several years he has sought to show love to his family and by so doing he has been able to break down barriers with at least some of them. They are curious as to why things are going well for him. After all he has left the "true faith" so isn't Allah angry with him? He should be unhappy and failing in his life. Yet the person they see has come through his difficulties, is happy within himself and moving forwards in life. Their preconceptions are challenged and they are starting to ask questions of him about his new faith.

One man has been a believer for several months now. A few weeks ago he decided it was time to tell his best friend of his decision and to share the Good News he had received with him. Since this time he has not been in contact with other believers. Please lift this man, as it seems likely his friend is trying to persuade him to turn back to his former beliefs. Ask for him to be refreshed and to remain faithful to his Lord.

Over the past week, I have chatted 3 times with a fellow whose office is in the Social Work Building. He is among the least kind people I have ever met:

Once he said, "Young man, if this is a conversion attempt. You can leave, because it will not work." He not only does not want to be converted, he does not want to converse with people who care.

Once he said, "If you persist, I will have to report you to the authorities."

I asked him, "For what?? Talking?"

Once he was talking about how he looked forward to someone joining in a hate group.

The man is running from God's grace. He avoids reality. He is an arrogant man, to all appearances & despises people, by his own words. May God save the guy who seems to have some degree of authority at u.mich.

He is of South Asian descent seems to prefer hate speech & effots to make conversions illegal to true freedom. May God save him & open his eyes to see the truth!!

I have known few people to so adamantly opposed to the Gospel.

Although such people delight in ruining the lives of others & I had a bad attitude, I sincerely believe that one day the fellow will bow his knee to Jesus. Perhaps unwillingly just before he is cast into outer darkness. But I would prefer to see him cheerful at the Father's throne.

Mert Hershberger

MALAYSIA - COURTS FACE CHALLENGE OF CHRISTIAN CONVERSIONS
from: Compass Direct (http://www.compassdirect.org) - April
26, 2006

On April 13 [Malaysia's] Federal Court granted permission to
Lina Joy, a Malaysian Muslim convert to Christianity, to appeal
the government’s refusal to remove her Muslim status from her
identity card.

The ground-breaking decision came after lower courts – the High
Court and the Court of Appeal – repeatedly dismissed her application.
Besides religious rights for Joy, at issue is whether Islamic
courts have the sole right to handle cases of Muslims who leave
their religion.

Joy, previously known as Azlina binti Jailani, became a Christian
in 1990 and was baptized in 1998. The NRD refused to change her
religious status and insisted that Joy obtain an order from the
Islamic law (sharia) court stating that she had become an apostate.

Full story here (http://www.compassdirect.org/en/newslongen.php?idelement=4332).

A Christian friend wrote:
"Once he dared to think, he was killed.
Islam is against people thinking."

Western Politically-correctness and Islam both love non-thought.
Perhaps it is why they make such ready bedfellows.

Hindo-Buddhism in some lands is the same.

IF (as some political leaders maintained)
the example made of a man named "Servant of Mercy"
& who steadfastly looks to the Lord Jesus for hope,
is to kill him,
then what remains for those would attack compassion & faithfulness
which are the foundations of the throne of God?

"OH, King of Glory, intercede for Your name's sake!"

Christ alone is our redeemer.

Psalm 2


=====
Various Responses to the case of Abdul Rahman in Afghanistan:

http://www.catholic.org/international/international_story.php?id=19149

Many leaders show much less Political Correctness on this issue than on cartoons. Both Bush and Rice have spoken out quite clearly on the situation in the USA:
http://www.localnewsleader.com/kindred/stories/index.php?action=fullnews&id=162870


Australia, Germany and Italy have also all spoken against the trial.
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,18574818-421,00.html).

Even CAIR, has come out against the trial:
http://www.muslimnews.co.uk/news/news.php?article=10811

BUT their web site hasn't spoken against the injustice:
http://www.cair-net.org/

In response to all this, the statements coming out of Afghanistan so
far are a bit defensive
http://tinyurl.com/r3m3d

An accusation of insanity can cover the face for a moment, but can the Muslim world face God by throwing around accusations of insanity?

Murder, riots, execution, etc. are simply not justified on the basis of disagreeing with the importance of a dead Arabian poet who never clearly claimed for himself the divine status which many Muslims seem to accord him.

For example, Bush has said,

"I'm troubled when I hear, deeply troubled when I hear, the fact that a person who converted away from Islam may be held to account."

[What about Saudi Arabia which has had & continues to have the same pattern of killing & imprisoning those who refuse to subject themselves to the irrationality of Islam??

When will they be free??]


From the New York Sun
"Intolerable Trial"
http://www.nysun.com/article/29616


"And now, on the heels of the cartoon controversy and the port deal,
comes perhaps the worst of it all: Afghanistan's trial of Abdul Rahman, who grew up as a Muslim in Afghanistan, but converted about 15 years ago while working with a Christian-run refugee aid group in Pakistan.

If you wanted to write a tale designed to get Americans furious with
the Muslim world as a whole and with the Afghani government in particular, you would be hard-pressed to come up with an outrage more effective than this."

Contrary to teaching of some who have heard about the confidence & assurance Christians can have: our salvation is not a license to sin, but it means we are sent ... "Go & sin no more." In other words, salvation is salvation from sin. To be "once saved & always saved" is essentially a freedom from the curse of the Law, which is death, damnation, and destruction. We are saved from sin. We are not saved to sin.

To be blessed, is to be turned from sin. Any other secondary material blessings actually derive from that primary one.

There is actually a great judgment facing those who go on in sin after coming to a knowledge of the Truth: Hebrews 10 talks about this in the New Testament.

So, if you claim to know the truth, why are you continuing in Islam if you have not thoroughly studied the Word of God, which can be found in the canonized & Holy Bible if you look for Jesus & seek eternal life?

If you do know the Good News & realize the fact that the path to wisdom begins by living in light of the Reality & Rule & Reconciling nature of the Lord, then Why are you not following Jesus?


Having read some stories of "christians" who "converted to Islam," I found NO real evidence of any such conversion. As Muslims suggest, they were at best, already muslim: under the law.

The only reasons or motives I found on websites had to do with the sins of some who bore the name of Christ ... & NOTHING to do with the Bible. Essentially, some people who did not want to seek the Lord with their whole heart&mind fell for some cultural miscellany that certain forms of Islam offer (obedience to a certain cultural pattern & traditions, that is Law.) ... & that they believe that there is one (1) God.

The demons also know that there is one God. (James 2:19) So, what does faith that only 1 God exists prove? One has intelligence comparable to that of demons/jinn. Note that when James says it is "good" that his audience is aware of the existence of God, it is a sarcastic comment and does not indicate the moral perfection of his readers. In other words, it is "good" compared the "folly" of denying the existence & efficacy of God [& His Word].

Christ died on the cross, as prophesied through the willingness of Abraham to offer up his son. The tomb is now empty. ... Now that is an obedience that is both powerful & proving, convincing & conquering!!
(Reflecting Christ in our lives results in real knowledge of God & wisdom from God, not merely knowledge about God based on human wisdom.)

Let me encourage you, fear God & understand the Word of God!!

Get a Bible
Read Genesis-Exodus 34.
Read Deuteronomy-2 Kings, Ezra-Esther.
Read the Psalms, Job, Proverbs, and Ecclesiastes.
Read Isaiah - Malachi.
Read the whole new Testament, with particular to Luke-1 Corinthians.
Study Galatians-Colossians.
Read the letters to Timothy & Titus,
Don't neglect to read James, 1 Peter, 1 John & certainly Revelation.

While you would do well to read the whole canon of Scripture, these are books that particularly outline the main purpose of God in human history.

Don't be afraid of what your peers, family, & leaders will think. Read the Bible & follow Jesus who died for you out of love for you. You will be glad you did.

If you care to write: "Mertaka at everybody dot org."
Mert Hershberger

The two following stories describe a basic reality: persecution in SE Asia. To be Malay is the Muslim in the mind of many. Only the cross can break the power of lies. Indonesians are growing stronger & the gospel is spreading ... Pray that this would also happen in this land & would not stop ... to the last day!!

Peace,
Mert Hershberger

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MALAYSIAN COURT RULES AGAINST RIGHT TO CONVERT
The country of Malaysia consists of four main ethnic groups: Malay, Chinese, Indians and tribal peoples. On September 19, a superior court upheld an earlier judgment that the Malay people cannot renounce Islam. According to the Malaysian constitution, ”A Malay citizen is a person who professes Islam.” For the approximately 15,000 Malay converts to Christianity, this means that they retain the official status of a Muslim, regardless of their religious beliefs. Two of the three judges on the panel ruled that she could only change her status with the permission of Muslim religious authorities. The third judge, a Hindu, held that she had the right to renounce Islam without permission, since the Malaysian constitution guarantees the freedom of religion.

In 1998, Azalina Jailani converted to Christianity and changed her name to Lina Joy. She went to court to force the National Registration Department to change her religious status from Islam to Christian so that she could be married in a civil ceremony to her Christian husband. Her request was rejected when the judge ruled, ”As a Malay, the plaintiff exists under the tenets of Islam until her death.” Pray for Lina and the other Malay Christians living in a state of constitutional limbo. Pray for them as they experience social rejection and legal discrimination. As one Christian woman told AsiaNews on September 21, ”We are discriminated and virtually live underground lives. Our parents, siblings and friends all shun us like lepers.”

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INDONESIANS ANSWER CALL TO MISSIONS DESPITE ONGOING PERSECUTION
Roy Peterson of the Seed Company, who recently returned from a trip to Indonesia, says Indonesians are willing to spread the gospel to their countrymen despite the ongoing threat of persecution. “Churches were being closed down by the majority religion [Islam] there,” he said. “There is a lack of freedom to get land to open up and build new churches. They are living with persecution. It’s very quiet . . . not well-broadcast persecution, but it is a part of everyday life.” Despite the pressures, believers are doing everything they can to encourage evangelism. At a conference where Peterson spoke, hundreds of young people responded positively to the call to get involved in missions. “Many of the people groups in Indonesia still don’t have the Scriptures in their language,” he said. “There are about 700 different languages across those 3,000 miles of islands.” The Seed Company is training Indonesians to do the work. “Across the spectrum I saw young people, I saw pastors, and I saw business people giving strategically,” said Peterson. “I just came away with a sense of God working in that country.”

Hamran Ambrie's testimony:
A dedicated Muslim leader of a large Indonesian Islamic political Party, before reading the Gospel/Bible led him to receive Jesus Christ as his own Savior and Lord. He paid a heavy price but stayed faithful to the end.

His story:
http://www.the-good-way.com/eng/book/b08.htm