
Islam is erupting from within, over the recent Saudi execution of its most senior Shiite cleric in that country: Sheikh Nimr Baqir. For those needing a quickie refresher course in Islam 101, Saudi Arabia is ruled by Sunni Muslims. Neighboring Iran is ruled by the Shiites. The two branches of Islam don't like each other to begin win, and what the Saudis just did has infuriated the Iranians. What geo-politicos are now expecting is a Muslim version of "The Hatfields vs. McCoys" over this execution. According to MERF, the Middle East Reformed Fellowship www.merf.org , a gospel ministry to Muslims, the book The Fall of Islam's World by Egyptian political commentator Dr. Hamed Abdel-Samad (a Sunni Muslim), the entire Muslim world is corrupting from within at a rapid rate, even as it appears to be growing world-wide. Abdel-Samad vehemently rejects the idea that Mohammed resembles Christ in any way, and says so in his book.
Increasingly, books, articles and internet blogs from Muslims themselves are critiquing the Islamic worldview of sharia law, as well as the messianic hope of a world-wide caliphate encompassing all Muslim nations. This is the goal of ISIS and other terrorist groups, who view the borders of nation-states such as Iraq, Syria and others as arbitrary lines on a map imposed upon Muslims by "Christian" statesmen after World War I. Just as Hitler in the 1930s refused to respect the new states of Europe created out of the Peace of Versailles and worked to undermine whatever stood in the way of the unity of a pan-European German political unity, so also is ISIS is trying to do the same thing by religion.
According to MERF, which broadcasts to the Muslim world, the gospel of Jesus Christ is penetrating closed Muslim societies on an unprecedented scale. And due in part to the Internet and the free exchange of ideas through social networking, the leaders of Islam can no longer control the thinking of their own people.
Muslim Violence in Perspective: Matthew 16:18
The unspeakable violence of ISIS, Boko Haram, Islamic Jihad, Hezbollah, Al Qaida and others can best be describes as RE-active, not PRO-active, to what God is doing in the Muslim World. Islam isn't "conquering"; it's reacting to conquest. For example: consider the words of Christ when he said to Peter: "Thou art Peter, and upon this rock [not PETER as the rock, but the revelation of who Peter declared Christ to be, as the "rock"] ... I will build my church; and the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it," Focus on the word "prevail" here: it means to succeed in resisting. Here Christ prophesies about His militant church attacking fortresses, storming strongholds, and advancing against a world system forced to "play defense", and which finally succumbs to the truth of Peter's revelation. Seen from that perspective, what Islam is doing through its latest militancy is reacting to a prior action by the Holy Spirit. Look through the annals of warfare or simply observe the behavior of animals in the wild. When does a foe fight most fiercely? Answer: when it feels most threatened. And as for Islam, this is justifiably the case!
Increasingly, books, articles and internet blogs from Muslims themselves are critiquing the Islamic worldview of sharia law, as well as the messianic hope of a world-wide caliphate encompassing all Muslim nations. This is the goal of ISIS and other terrorist groups, who view the borders of nation-states such as Iraq, Syria and others as arbitrary lines on a map imposed upon Muslims by "Christian" statesmen after World War I. Just as Hitler in the 1930s refused to respect the new states of Europe created out of the Peace of Versailles and worked to undermine whatever stood in the way of the unity of a pan-European German political unity, so also is ISIS is trying to do the same thing by religion.
According to MERF, which broadcasts to the Muslim world, the gospel of Jesus Christ is penetrating closed Muslim societies on an unprecedented scale. And due in part to the Internet and the free exchange of ideas through social networking, the leaders of Islam can no longer control the thinking of their own people.
Muslim Violence in Perspective: Matthew 16:18
The unspeakable violence of ISIS, Boko Haram, Islamic Jihad, Hezbollah, Al Qaida and others can best be describes as RE-active, not PRO-active, to what God is doing in the Muslim World. Islam isn't "conquering"; it's reacting to conquest. For example: consider the words of Christ when he said to Peter: "Thou art Peter, and upon this rock [not PETER as the rock, but the revelation of who Peter declared Christ to be, as the "rock"] ... I will build my church; and the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it," Focus on the word "prevail" here: it means to succeed in resisting. Here Christ prophesies about His militant church attacking fortresses, storming strongholds, and advancing against a world system forced to "play defense", and which finally succumbs to the truth of Peter's revelation. Seen from that perspective, what Islam is doing through its latest militancy is reacting to a prior action by the Holy Spirit. Look through the annals of warfare or simply observe the behavior of animals in the wild. When does a foe fight most fiercely? Answer: when it feels most threatened. And as for Islam, this is justifiably the case!