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The Word's Eye View is a newspaper column written by
Religious Recruitment
Cal Thomas has made an astute observation that should be heeded by all Americans. He writes: “President Barrack Obama’s appointment of Rashad Hussain, his deputy associate counsel, as special envoy to the Islamic Conference (OIC), the second largest inter-governmental organization after the United Nations, charged with safeguarding and protecting the interests of the Muslim world, should be of serious concern to Congress and the American public. Especially since this Hussain, a devout Muslim, has a history of participating in events connected with the Muslim Brotherhood, according to the Chicago Tribune, “the world’s most influential Islamic fundamentalist group whose goal is to create Muslim states throughout the world.” In 1991 a memo written by Mohammed Akram for the Shura Council of the Muslim Brotherhood spelled out the objective of the organization. Akram said the Muslim Brotherhood must understand that their work in America is a kind of grand Jihad in eliminating and destroying the Western civilization from within and sabotaging its miserable house by their hands and the hands of the believers so that it is eliminated and God’s religion is made victorious over all other religions. A myriad of other quotes could be provided indicating that force is the primary method that terrorist organizations seek to use in the spreading of their religion. A thousand years ago so-called Christians tried this approach in a march known as the Crusades with disastrous results. I say ‘so-called’ because they most clearly didn’t receive their marching orders from Jesus Christ. Any reader of the Bible knows that New Testament evangelism is built upon words not swords. A genuine Christian never holds a gun to the head of the unrepentant, but simply preaches Christ and Him crucified. Over the years I have at times received the impression that some would have preferred the gun! In the final analysis, words (particularly those of God) have a sharper edge than any blade. My challenge to the Muslim would be… put away your guns, knives and bombs and bring your ideas and language to the arena of expression. Truth needs no defense, only to be declared. Jean-Paul Sartre said, “Words are loaded pistols.” The Christian’s only Bible endorsed method of recruitment is to brag on our Founder. No personality in history stands above Jesus Christ. Agnostics and atheists have found fault with Christian ideas, but they can never find fault with the Person of Jesus Christ. He stands at the turning point of time. Men everywhere must bow to His superiority. Since Christianity is Christ, those who wish to be a Christian must accept and follow Him as a person. Not one recognized religious leader—Moses, Buddha, Confucious, Mohammed—ever claimed to be God. Jesus is the only person who has ever convinced a great portion of the world that He is God. This claim can either be true or false. If false, Jesus either knew His claims were false and He lied, or He was deluded and a lunatic. If Jesus knowingly lied, He was the world’s greatest hypocrite and a charlatan of the worst kind. He would also be the greatest fool, for what person would die for a lie? If Jesus was operating in a world of fantasy, how could His precepts have been so helpful to so many for 2000 years? His critics and enemies had nothing but the highest accolades on His character. The philosopher John Stuart Mill called Him a “pre-eminent genius” and “probably the greatest moral reformer and martyr who ever existed on earth, the ideal representative and guide of humanity.” There is no argument with Mr. Mills assessment but we feel compelled to add: if god had meant Christ to be merely a perfect example, Jesus was overqualified. Any human being who is better than I am (and I am certain there are plenty), is a good enough example for me. What do we need with a perfect example? In fact, we’re much better off becoming a disciple of someone only 15% superior to ourselves. Following the example of a perfect person depresses us. If Jesus’ mission was only to be an example, nobody needs Him. But if He’s a sacrifice, everybody does. The Honorable William Jennings Bryan, more that once candidate for the U.S. presidency, in his remarkable book, In His Image, writes: “The fact of Christ cannot be denied. Christ lived; that is admitted. He taught; we have his words. He died upon the Cross, that we know. We can trace His blood by its cleansing power as it flows through the centuries. Judged by His life, His teachings, and His death, and the impression they have made upon the human race, we conclude that He was Divine, and that He has justified the titles bestowed upon Him. No other explanation can account for Him.” If anyone professes Christ at the point of a sword, he is not really a Christian at all, for the necessity of believing with the heart (Romans 10:9) has been ignored. To the Muslim or adherent of any other religion, we would say: persuade with words, letters, logic, history and all other forms of compelling evidence and if you are successful then you may have a true convert. To do otherwise is to cover the inadequacies of your message.
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