ISLAM SPREADS IN THE WEST, CHRISTIANITY IN THE MIDEAST

by Chuck Missler

There are well over a billion Muslims in the world today, and the numbers keep growing. Islamic is not only prospering in Middle East countries, but in the West as well. Muslim neighborhoods have sprouted up across mainland Europe and the UK, as well as in the good old United States – parts of the world considered predominantly Christian.

Should Christians be concerned? Certainly. Christians should be more concerned, perhaps, that too many Christian churches are weak and worldly and full of mushy, lifeless messages. If the Western Church were full of the Spirit of God and gushing life, there would be little to draw people to Islam.

Both Christianity and Islam, however, are missionary religions. Christian missionaries and evangelists spread the Good News that Jesus Christ died for our sins, and Muslims spread Islam. Yet, if people decide they want to leave Christianity, they are free to go. Jesus never chased people down and forced them to follow him. Judgment might await unbelievers, but believers do not pick up stones to hasten the journey. In fact, many Christians pray desperately for their loved ones who walk away from Christ, waiting with hope for the prodigal's safe return.

Leaving Islam, however, is not such an easy thing. Even in the West, Muslim young people resist telling their families they have converted to Christianity out of honest fear. And while Muslims are free to spread their faith in the West, Christians are not necessarily free to preach the Gospel to Muslims.

Algeria

Four Algerian Christians have just received suspended jail sentences and fines for attempting to convert Muslims to Christianity. Under 2006 law, it is illegal for non-Muslims to attempt to convert Muslims. The Muslim government of Algeria denies harassing Christians, but over a dozen Christian churches have been closed in the past half year.

Iran

Muslim converts to Christianity have had their homes raided and have been imprisoned in a recent crackdown in Iran. Many Christian converts are held for weeks and are physically and psychologically mistreated. Huge bail amounts are required for their release, and they are threatened against spreading their faith or worshiping.

Yet, it may be the difficulty that makes Christianity so precious in traditionally Muslim countries. In the free West, we take the love of Christ for granted. In Iran, though, the underground Christian church is healthy and growing, much to the alarm of the Islamic authorities. Open Doors USA President Carl Moeller said the Iranian authorities, "are recognizing that there's a mushrooming house church movement going on in Iran. (It's) doubling in size of the indigenous house church movement there in Iran every six months. So the rate of growth is actually stunning."

Under current law in Iran, leaving Islam can be punishable by death, though no execution has been carried out in recent years. The home church growth in Iran has been enough, however, to get even the Iranian parliament upset. There was a proposal reportedly put out this January to make the death penalty mandatory for "apostates" who leave Islam.

Moeller said he believes there is "disillusionment with conservative clerics and harsh political hatred," in Iran, which he said "creates a tremendous opportunity for the love of Jesus Christ to make inroads into people's lives. People are searching for real spiritual answers, and they are finding it in Jesus Christ." Radio and satellite broadcasts of Christian messages in Farsi have been a tremendous evangelical tool.

Britain

While the Church is growing in Iran, though, the Muslim community has been spreading in England. In fact, it was reported Monday that two preachers handing out tracts were told to stop by a Muslim policeman. "You can't preach the Bible here," the officer said, "This is a Muslim area."

The officer went on to say that spreading the Gospel in a Muslim area was considered a hate crime. "You have been warned," the officer said. "If you come back here and get beat up, well, you have been warned."

The two preachers, one of them an Egyptian-born Muslim convert to Christianity, did not take the rebuff sitting down. Baptist Missionary Arthur Cunningham said, "I am dumfounded that the police seem so nonchalant. They seem content not to make it clear that what we were doing was perfectly legal. This is a free country and to suggest we were guilty of a hate crime for spreading God's word is outrageous."

An Idea

What is the answer to the spread of Islam in Britain? Anglican Paul Eddy is arguing that the Church of England should stop being so blasted wishy-washy.

Last week, Eddy proposed that the Anglican Church state very plainly that it believes Jesus Christ to be the only way to God, and stop watering down its faith. It should give its members tools for evangelizing Muslims and wisdom on helping Muslims converts to Christianity.

"For years, we have sent missionaries throughout the whole world, but when we have the privilege of people of all nations on our doorstep, we have a responsibility as the state church to share the gospel of Jesus Christ," said Eddy.

Islam is making its way in the West, but it would have far less success without dead Christianity. Dead Christianity is a vaccine that inoculates people against the real thing. True Christianity is full of life and health through the Spirit of God. Dead Christianity has few answers, and looks no different than any other religion on earth. Christ-centered Christianity is full of holy power that frees people and heals lives. The Christians of Iran have found what too many Western churches have lost - Jesus Christ. If we get him back in our churches, in our homes and our lives, we'll be leading the Muslims to him, rather than the other way around.

"Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." - John 14:6

The Christians in the Middle East have also recently found themselves in trouble. For several hundred years under the capricious thumb of the Ottoman Sultan, the different faiths of the Ottoman empire lived, if not in complete harmony, then at least in a kind of pluralist equilibrium.
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Tanyaa
http://www.christian-drug-rehab.org

we should be concerned and we should be praying for oppertunitys to spread the gospel in these muslim communitiies that are propping up and establishing them selves in our citys and in our country towns


we are praying now since its their Ramadan


also sheep in my country have been ordered for ramadan and are being sent over 50,000 thousand australian sheep have been killed and packed for delivery to needy muslim countrys i guess they dont mind the odd sheep being killed for the fake god


hear is an oppertunity for us chrsitians to do something instead of sitting in our comfort zones


each year when RAMADAN starts the christians in Australia pray we pray over the muslims we also pray that their wil be oppertunitys to share the gospel


it is a fast growing religon and its spreading all over the world

what i am seeing many are flocking to this false religon the ones that flock are searching and what i am seeing is it draws the ones who have been let down


in my fiancee country it is not spreading as it is in other countrys

we have set up programs and are looking at ways were we can reach out to the muslims


the koran is seen as the book of war


true when a person leavs its hard for them to tell their familys i was just recently going over a testimony were a muslim had just done this and what puzzled me a certain muslim found it hard to believe that a fellow country man can do this to were he denounces his religon and accepts christ into his life i took my time reading what was being left by the muslim who found his way to our forum he just would not accept what members were leaving taking things out of contex and he was showing no respect he stated it could have been a christian prettending this is how warped islam is its dangerous and we should be worried

do you want to live in a neighbourhood were young terrosist are being trained and raised to mame us and kill us ?

we who live in the west are lucky we have not experianced what persecuted christians are experiancing


one thing i have learnt never agree with a muslim never accept their religon or what a muslim has to say when it comes to the koran



this is also a law in india they have conversion laws that means if a christian reaches out to a muslim and that muslim is known by other muslims the christian who reached out to the muslim will find them selves in trouble

yet a muslim mob can go into a community or village drag the ones that have given their lives to god and physically beat them until they denounce christ they also wil kidnap your children this recently happened to a pastor he his daughter was kidnapped and the men who did thie beat her also another pastors 13yr old daughter was raped

the muslims do not respect what the bible has to say we are seen as the enemy and if you were to find your selves living in one of these countrys you can say good by to your freedom no freedom of free speech or no freedom were you can worship god freely

they hate our god and they hate what the word has to say to them



but i am hearing where hard core muslims are comming around and some have to leave there villages to the point were they have to keep silent knowing if they are found out its over for them


if you hear muslims wanting shariah law in your part of the world you live in go against it and say no to shariah law

if you dont know what shariah law is google shariah and law and do some reading so you understand


if you ever travel into iran take your time and go over their laws so you are aware


in my fiancee country we are praying for the muslims causing trouble to be cought by the army right now the filapino army is chassing down these trouble makers who want one island for them selves were it can be a islamic state


australia is a bit diffrent ASIO is keeping a close eye on the muslims and muslims are told not to give the christians a hard time it does not though stop non believing aussies giving the muslims a hard time they stick to them selves they dont blend you cant date their single women and if a single women is dating an aussie guy it has to be kept silent which is really silly this is what the goverment is wanting to change

the muslims wanted to build a mosque in the farming community i was living in and the mayor and council said no so what they are doing they rent out a room at the university that i use to clean

i am amazed how some goverments have done what they can to make life easy for this fake religon why make it easy for this group to were you have muslim police officers in english speaking countrys such as england to were a chrsitian is told you cant hand out tracs yet they can come to our countrys do as they please and show no respect what so ever to us or obey our laws


this is what gets up my nose



God bless from damo

Hi,
This is lee,Judgment might await unbelievers, but believers do not pick up stones to hasten the journey. In fact, many Christians pray desperately for their loved ones who walk away from Christ, waiting with hope for the prodigal's safe return.
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lee
Foreclosure Auctions

Soldiers returning from Iraq say it's spreading there too, but is all quite and underground. Most of the converts are young people.

I had a strange event happen yesterday. I was driving in my car with the radio on country/western. In the middle of a Kenny Chesney song the radio became quiet for a few seconds and then.....it sounded like Aljazeera! For about thirty seconds there was the sound of Islamic voices ranting (they all sound as if they are ranting even if singing a lullaby) and there was that strange foreign music in the background. Very, very weird.

And then....back to normal. For a second I thought....Oh my gosh, the country's been taken over. I guess it was caused by sunspots or something.

There is a real possibility that the religion of Islam could turn out to be the cult of Satan's beast at the time of the end. There are many parallels with the adherents of Islam in the Middle East and the visions of the Bible prophets for the end of this present age. I would suggest that the believer study the visions and compare them with Israel's direct enemies surrounding the nation in the Middle East.

How freaky, Whirlwind. Sunspot... LOL!

-7

Christians are way ahead of Muslims when it comes to conversions, the only reason Islam is growing at a faster pace is because most Muslim families have many many children. By 2017 it is expected Islam will overtake Christianity, I think we have been too politically correct with these people, I mean they do not let churches inside their countries so why should we allow Mosques to be built?

If anyone wants more reference on the true face of Islam and the horrors their false prophet committed check out:

http://www.faithfreedom.org/


http://www.islam-watch.org/

God bless

also i was watching last night on the national geographical channel concerning the koran

the koran contradicts its self many say its a peace full religon if you go over the koran it says god is against those who comitt suicide but the ones who go out putting bombs on them selves and then walking into a place were people gather and kill inocent people its as if the muslims who are doing this feel that god will reward them


i found it intresting to what the national geographical had to say concerning the koran

i say it was wel researched and it was well pressented muslims cant live in peace with us they say the koran tells them to wipe out those who they see as their enemy

back in the 70 the women never covered them selves the scholars who have studied the koran and who have read the hadiths have used their own interpretation

they say mohammed ascended into heaven which is a load of rubbish


if you have cable tv and can get the national geographical channel and if this ever is pressented in your country i would recomend you watch it its worth the watch have note pad and pen next to you


the muslims that come to this forum have a hidden agenda and when they are questioned they wil not answer or respond

what got me cracking up the angel gabriel visted mohammed numerous times and each time he visited mohammed mohammed would get some one close to him to write everything down that was said to him by the angel as mohammed was unlearned stupid or uneducated

you cant use the koran as we have our bibles to were we are able to bring in a sermon from the gospels and from the old testament its impossible to do this with the koran


what we need to be doing is praying that this violent religon fades out we also need to be praying for the ones who flock to this false religon


it showed the mosque in jerusalem and it showed were abraham was to sacrifice his son to god

their was no mosque built when abraham stood on the very dirt to sacrifice his son the muslims built that mosque when they conqured israel i can see why god gave out specific orders to wipe sertain tribes out

i guess they did not do a good enough job


the muslims are very foolish to believe that mohammed ascened to heaven on the very same ground abraham stood

i can see why the muslims have been fighting with the israelits over this peace of land that does not even belong to the muslims


thats right we should not alow muslims to build mosques in our own countrys they dont let other religons do this in their own country yet when they settle in our countrys they expect to for our goverments to bend over back wards

its a false religon and when judgment day comes they will soon see were there false prophet is and i can tel you he is not in heaven sitting next to jesus and God he is not fellowshiping with king david with moses with joseph with daniel and eligah and elisha and christs disciples and the apostle paul




God bless from damo

In my home town (UK) we had churches turned into mosques
My own brother would rather I became a muslim than a Christian.
People complained about pig ornaments in the shops and I taught a child who was fasting for Eid. I was supposed to teach other religions but I always taught that they were works and brought Christianity in. Thankfully we had a Christian RE co-ordinator. In my next school I was a multicultural co-ordinator and spent my budget on language help rather than helping promote religions. There is a lot that committed Christians can do in schools and there are many opportunities to teach the children about Christ.
My mother taught in a secondary school and many young muslim girls were married at the age of 14 / 15. They would be sent to Pakistan for arranged marriages and sometimes mum would be able to comfort them before they went. Unfortunately at the time she believed in many paths to God so I don't think that spiritually she would have been effective. We used to get invited to muslim celebrations and I went as a young child to muslim weddings etc. I feel sad for the people as they think they are doing the right thing but they are deceived.
Unfortunately the UK is becoming more and more politically correct to the extent that they are rejecting God and loosing their culture.
Here in Aussie people are more likely to say what they think, which means that the politicians aren't so appeasing to the Muslims. On the negative side of this there have been racist riots and people attacked just because of their ethnicity.

As Christians we need to pray for muslims, take every opportunity to witness and realise that our fight is not against them, but against the forces of evil behind them.

i hear what you are saying and when those riots broke out in cronulla my Aussie friends were worried about me because i am european and i am olive brown what i heard is that a white suppremises group started the riots not the muslims on cronulla beach

i never got the tex message that many had gotten that day when the cronulla riots broke out but i heard about it and i saw it on news

plus i was living in Armidale working close with the police and goverment youth workers trying to resolve the tension between the aborigonal youth and some older folk and the white people

when the aborigonal youth heard about the cronulla riots ther was tension to the point were 40 young people decided enough was enough they got into a big fight and then the adults i can tell you it was not nice wittnessing what i saw unfold

the police or security gaurds could not even control the young people and the adults so i know what it must have been like for the police who were called to sort the cronulla riots out

i know if i was walking the streets in cronull i would have been jumped on they attacked anyone who looked european

most have been cought and charged but a lot have not been cought and charged the bra boys and a muslim bike group were working together to keep the peace among the two cultured groups

the muslims could have went off if they wanted to from what i was hearing a tex message went out to all muslims and muslims were asking eurpoeans to join in like the greeks and italians and croations and serbs


we need to pray for oppertunitys to reach to the muslims in our areas we live in

our old worship leader is in australia for a short brake and heads back to indonesia he said he is enjoying preaching and reaching out to the muslims he said you get a tex message that is like an invitation as you cant walk into a muslim neighbour hood and preach he said muslims in indonesia have mobil phones he shared how his young son was invited to share the gospel to some muslim students he was asked to share and he shared openly he got a tex message asking if he could bring more bibles as they wanted to learn and this time their teacher sat in on the session and he listened to what my friends son had to say as they know he is a born again christian and this kid is only 18yrs old my friend moved his family to indonesia and he teaches english and works close with the muslims in his neighbour hood they have a progject where they want to broad cast gospel messages in their language to the muslim neighbour hoods and its going real well

what happens is this some one from with in takes your phone number down and when you get an open invitation you will be greeted and led into the community you wil be introduced to the family and if the immam wants to meet you and listen you wil be told that their immam is wanting to listen to what you have to say

my friend said its just the way the muslims are they are very alert and dont just let a stranger come into their neighbour hoods also my friend took his time to get to know their laws and traditions so he does not offend no one or gets him self or his family into trouble since he is a stranger living in their country he just does not force his views on to the muslims he wil only share when asked to share

so if you are traveling in indonesisa follow these tips i have given

we just have to have faith in god and be willing to be used as open vessels



God bless from damo