Ways To Pray for the Muslim World

There have been far too many horror stories of violence inspired by militant Islam in recent months. How can we pray, grieve, and intercede for those involved? Here's some help along those lines from an excerpt from 5 Ways to Pray for the Muslim World by J. Lee Grady (via Charisma)

...How can we pray in the aftermath of such a horrific tragedy? Here are five ways I am praying for the Muslim world these days:

1. Pray that cowardly acts of violence will backfire. The history of the church is written in the blood of its martyrs. But whenever Christians have been killed for their faith, their blood becomes a seed for the advancement of the gospel.

Many nominal or liberal Muslims are deeply troubled by the actions of Islamic militants who belong to groups like ISIS or the Taliban. In Pakistan, my friend Faisal says liberal Muslims are distancing themselves from extremists, and they are condemning these acts of terror. "They are even donating blood to help the Christians. They are embarrassed and they are getting tired of Islam," he says. Pray that millions of Muslims will see the brutality operating in these terrorists groups. Pray that they will reject Islamic jihad and the doctrines behind it.

2. Pray that Muslim governments will pursue justice. In a televised message last Sunday, Pakistan's prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, condemned the Taliban massacre and pledged to fight terrorism in Pakistan "until it is rooted out from our society." But the United States and other Western governments must continue to pressure Muslim nations to oppose extremist groups. Pray that God will plant Christians in strategic positions in these governments so they can work to protect believers from the inside.

3. Pray that terrorist groups will be exposed and stopped. We tend to be fearful of militant groups like ISIS because their tactics are so cruel and intimidating. (An ISIS faction in Yemen allegedly planned to crucify Catholic priest Thomas Uzhunnalil on Good Friday, but some reports say he is still alive.) But if we could see this situation through God's eyes, we would realize that these terrorist factions are fighting a losing battle. They are the ones who are afraid. Soon they will be defeated.

Psalm 37:35-36 says: "I have seen the wicked in great power, and spreading himself like a luxuriant tree. Yet he passed away, and he was not; I sought him, but he could not be found." Pray that God will dry up their funds, confuse their communication, create disloyalty in their ranks and lay a trap for them.

4. Pray for a continued release of miracles in Islamic nations. Reports out of Iran, Pakistan and other Muslim nations indicate that God is displaying His power like never before in this dark region. Muslims are coming to Jesus secretly, often because they have dreams about the Son of God. Muslim women are attending underground meetings and hiding Bibles under their black burkas. "Many Muslims are coming to Jesus secretly in Pakistan," says my friend Faisal. "I have seen many Muslims come to Christ because they saw miracles or because He answered their prayers."

5. Pray that Christians will not be intimidated by persecution. It isn't easy for my friend Faisal to live in the United States while his family struggles in Pakistan. Two days before Easter, some Muslim thugs broke into his family's home—one hour from Lahore—and stole furniture after demanding that they stop spreading the gospel. Those who follow Christ in Muslim countries suffer job discrimination, social harassment and a lack of government protection. Pray that Christians in these countries will be empowered with supernatural boldness to defend their faith—even in the face of terror. 

Remember

We Remember September 11, 2001.

On that morning a co-worker ran down the hall of our office shouting that a plane had hit the World Trade Center. We gathered in front of a TV normally used for training videos to watch as the disaster continued to unfold. I called my wife to tell her to get to a television. Not much work got done that day.

The plane that hit the Pentagon destroyed the section of the building where my father had worked almost 30 years earlier. My in-laws were in Washington, DC stuck in some of the traffic caused by the Pentagon attack.

May the Lord be with those who still mourn the loved ones lost that day, and with the surviving heroes of the NYFD and NYPD and other first responders who were so brave that day. May His grace be with those brave men and women in uniform who fight for our freedom and the freedom of other peoples and nations, and may God bless America.
 

The Threat to America from Shariah Law

I do not enjoy posting things like this on my blog. If you wandered here following some search engine, you should know that this is not a typical post at this site. I'd much rather be talking about Jesus and the Gospel. However, I think the information in the report discussed below is so important that it needs the widest distribution possible.

I saw an article at the American Thinker  today entitled The Shariah Threat to America. For those of you who do not know, Shariah is Arabic for the code of Islamic law, the entire system of moral and societal code based on the Quran. The article described the conclusions from The Shariah Threat To America, a report published yesterday by the Center for Security Policy, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank. This report was not produced by a bunch of right wing "Islamophobic" kooks. The people behind this report include, among others, a former Director of the CIA, a former head of the Defense Intelligence Agency, a former Deputy Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence, and a former Commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet - heavy hitters all.

The key findings of the report, as quoted from the referenced article, include:

• The United States is under attack by foes who are openly animated by what is known in Islam as shariah (Islamic law).
• Shariah is based on the Quran, hadiths (sayings of Mohammed), and agreed interpretations. It commands Muslims to carry out jihad (holy war) indefinitely until all of the dar al-harb (i.e., the House of War, where shariah is not enforced) is brought under the domination of dar al-Islam (the House of Islam -- or literally, the House of Submission, where shariah is enforced).
  
• Shariah dictates that non-Muslims be given three choices: convert to Islam and conform to shariah, submit as second-class citizens (dhimmis), or be killed. Not all classes are given the second option.
• Both Islamic terrorism and pre-violent "civilization jihad" (popularly referred to as "stealth jihad") are commanded by shariah. That is not the view of only "extremists" and "fringe" elements "hijacking the religion," but of many authorities of Islam widely recognized as mainstream and drawing upon orthodox texts, interpretations, and practices of the faith.
• The Muslim Brotherhood is the font of modern Islamic jihad. It is dedicated to the same global supremacist objectives as those (like al-Qaeda and the Taliban) who share its adherence to shariah but who believe that violent jihad is more likely to more quickly produce the common goal of a global caliphate.
• The Brotherhood's internal documents make clear that civilization jihad is subversion waged by stealth instead of violence only until such time as Muslims are powerful enough to progress to violent jihad for the final conquest.
• Those who work to insinuate shariah into the United States intend to subvert and replace the Constitution (itself a violation of Article VI) because, according to shariah, freedom of religion, other civil liberties enshrined in the Constitution, and the rule of man-made law are incompatible with Islam (which means "submission").
• The shariah-adherent enemy prioritizes "information warfare," manifested in American society as political warfare, psychological warfare, influence operations, and subversion of our foundational institutions. Our government structure fails to recognize this strategy because it is focused so exclusively on kinetic attacks. As a result, the United States remains crippled in its inability to engage this enemy effectively on his primary battlefield.
• The Brotherhood exploits the atmosphere of intimidation created by Islamic terrorists, thus inculcating in the West a perceived need for "outreach" to the "Muslim community," which, in turn, opens up opportunities to pursue a campaign of stealthy infiltration into American and other Western societies. The combined effect of such "civilization jihad" and jihadism of the violent kind may prove to be considerably more dangerous for this country and other Western societies than violent jihad alone.
• The Brotherhood has succeeded in penetrating our educational, legal, and political systems, as well as top levels of government, intelligence, the media, and U.S. military, virtually paralyzing our ability to respond effectively.
• Muslim Brotherhood organizations conduct outreach to the government, law enforcement, media, religious community, and others for one reason: to subvert them in furtherance of their objective, which is implementation of Islamic Law.
• An informed and determined counter-strategy to defend the Constitution from shariah can yet succeed -- provided it is undertaken in the prompt, timely, and comprehensive manner...

There is much more at the link. All of this information should be kept in mind when reading and discussing the proposed Mosque at Ground Zero in New York, and the efforts of our government to win "hearts and minds" and appease the Islamic world.

I think itt should also be the subject of much prayer.

See also:  Press Release, Rep. Pete Hoekstra (R), House Intelligence Committee

Remember

Son of Hamas Turns to Christ

Did you see the article in the Wall Street Journal about the author of the new book Son of Hamas? The article can be found here - Weekend Interview with Mosab Hassan Yousef.

Mosab Yousef is the son of one of the founders of the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas, who has turned to Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior, rejecting both Islam and terror.

The researcher and co-author of the book, Ron Brakin, is an old friend and ex-neighbor of mine. We used to live on the same cul-de-sac in Maryland back in the 80's, and were part of the same church. I'm sure this is a great read and inspiring story, and I look forward to reading it.

Blessings and more professional success to you, Ron! And peace, protection and safety for Mosab.

Punishment for Osama

When we finally catch Osama Bin Laden, I hope that they fly him to his execution site via commercial airliner.

I hope that he has to take of his shoes, get patted down by rude TSA inspectors, and have his personal toiletries pawed over in public. Make him eat stale peanuts and sit in a seat that crams his knees up to his chest. And put a 6 year old behind him kicking the back of his seat the entire flight.

Oh, and add an eight hour overlay stuck in a hot airplane in Atlanta.

Only seems fair.

Six Years Ago Today

From a post at Red State comes this reminder of the threat we continue to face in this world. Six Years Ago Today…

…Daniel Pearl was kidnapped, later to be brutally beheaded by his captors with the video proudly posted on the Internet for the world to see.

The terrorists who committed this act, were they to be captured today under the Obama Administration’s policies, would be brought to the mainland United States for trial in civilian courts, be granted the rights of habeas corpus and the right to remain silent, could not be subjected to any coercive interrogation practices, and would have the right to see all evidence against them, as well as cross examine their accusers.

Rest in peace, Daniel.

Thank You, President Bush

I remember watching the second plane hit the tower on September 11, 2001, and thinking "We are at war." Who could of believed that over seven years later we would not have been successfully attacked again on our home soil.

Thank you, President Bush, for protecting us. Whatever, your faults, you done good on this task, and I appreciate it! God bless you and your family during your retirement from public life. I hope that someday the whole country and the world acknowledge what you accomplished.

Goodbye, Sir, and God Bless!

Bush the Healer

Thinking about President Bush as he leaves office this week, I saw this at The Thinklings

Former Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist opines on why Bush will be remembered as a healer. Here's a taste:

"A legacy of President George W. Bush will be that he saved 10 million lives around the world.

His critics ignore it, but name another president about whom one can say that with such certainty. It is what historians will say a decade from now looking back. Not bad for a president who leaves office with the lowest approval rating in recent memory.

The bottom line is: George Bush is a healer."

The Anchoress also quotes Frist. I agree with his assessment, and think that, once enough time has passed, the verdict of history will also agree.