The headlines describing the latest terrorist attacks are frequent and tragic. The heartbreaking loss of innocent lives is detestable and repulsive. How should I respond as a loving Christian? The Christians that I know truly desire to be obedient to the mission of Jesus to the ends of the earth (Matthew 29:18-20; Acts 1:8). Ironically, Christians that I know are also given the mandate to love and protect their families and trust the Lord (Psalm 35:1-28).
The most honest answer I can give? I don’t know.
As one man said, last night, during a discussion on these topics, “These pants are not ‘one-size-fits-all.’” There should be unique responses based upon the uniqueness of each situation. For the escalating issues of Islamic terrorism and Syrian refugees, and there is no simple answer.
Should the United States open it’s borders to all terrorists, of any ideological persuasion, so that they can plan and carry out a terrorist attack on innocent American lives? Of course not!
Should the United States refuse entry to a Syrian Christian family who will be immediately martyred for their faith in Jesus Christ if they are forced to remain/return to ISIS controlled Syria? Of course not!
We must be wise and obedient to providing the proper response.
We must not allow fear to cause us to forsake our mission.
Some have asked me to address Islam and the world view of the Muslim. As I have begun to formulate a cogent response I have learned that Islam to too diverse, even complicated, for an untrained person to respond in haste. I have not read the Kor'an and I have not studied Islam.
The Kor’an speaks to both peace and war.
Many Muslims are peaceful and they ignore the parts of the Kor’an that calls them to violence toward their enemies. They prefer to observe the passages of the Kor’an that call the Muslim to peace.
Some Muslims are violent and they ignore the part of the Kor’an that calls them to peace. They prefer to observe the passages of the Kor’an that call the Muslim to fight.
I am not as concerned with what Muslims believe about the Kor’an as I am concerned about how I, and the Christians that I know trust and obey the Bible.
If you would like to educate yourself I believe I have found a good resourse. Dr. Nabeel Qureshi, is an excellent resource for Christians to wish to educate themselves about the Islamic faith.He has recorded several Youtube videos that try to explain Islam in a simple manner. If you are brave, you can read the comments to see how divided we are on these complex issues.
He has also recorded a graduate level classroom videos at Biola.edu University that explain Islam in an academic manner.The key is to stay calm, prayerful, and trust in a sovereign and holy God. He alone will protect us for eternity.
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| Dr. Phil Sallee, Pastor twitter.com/philsallee facebook.com/phil.sallee philsallee.info nbchurch.info nbfamilies.info |
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