Wake Up, The Muslims Are ComingDr. Arthur M. Vincent “Wake up!” Martin Luther warned Europe, because the Turks, the fanatical followers of Mohammed, were threatening Europe. Today, Christian leaders are crying, “Wake up!” to believers around the globe. Five spiritual powers war against Christ Jesus' goal of establishing God's Kingdom on earth. They are Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Communism and Materialism. Each of these forces is gigantic, but I believe Islam is the greatest of these giants. Islam means “surrendered to God.” Muslims confess one God (Allah) and Mohammed, as his prophet. Communism has proven a failure, but Islam marches on stronger than ever with 50 million new Muslims yearly. Wake Up World!Islam is experiencing tremendous growth. Its followers have increased by more than 500% in this century. The number of Muslims in the western world has doubled in the last ten years. By AD 2020 there will be 1.2 billion Muslims or 25% of all people on earth. Most of these followers of Mohammed are not located in the Middle East. They live in Southeast Asia. Indonesia's 10,000 islands are home to the world's largest Muslim nation. More Muslims live in China than in Saudi Arabia! From its beginning,
Islam has been a religion with great missionary zeal and
fervor. Now Islamic nations, especially those in the
Middle East, declare, “In the next 50 years, we
will capture the western world for Islam! We have the men
to do it; we have the money to do it; in fact, we are
already doing it!” Wake Up America!“We’re wide awake now,” millions of Americans said after radical Islamic terrorists attacked the World Trade Center and Pentagon, September 11 of last year. Today you will find a strong Muslim presence in 22 major cities from coast to coast. But the majority of Americans are unaware or apathetic towards this quiet invasion. Many Americans are too busy with their own lives, too secure in their own beliefs, and too confident in our democratic system to care about what an Islamic minority is or can do in the United States. However, new headlines alert us more and more to wake up. In March of 1996, Louis Farrakhan, the leader of the radical black anti-government organization, The Nation of Islam, called for a million African- American men to come to Washington. We saw the results on television. Awesome! Islam is the fastest growing power among African-American men today. World famous athletes proudly confess Allah as their God and Mohammed as their prophet. In our prisons, black Muslim inmates aggressively “evangelize” the other prisoners there. Still, most Americans are unconcerned and little effort is made to reach out to Muslims living near us with the Gospel of Jesus. Wake Up, Church!One large Muslim conference in Los Angeles proudly announced its goal of winning 50-75 million Americans to Islam. Many estimate there are 5-6 million Muslims in the United States now. Islam already has more followers than the Presbyterian or the Episcopal Church. Muslims in the USA outnumber the Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod two to one! Islam will soon become the second largest religion in our nation. Here are four main reasons why Muslims are growing so fast in America: 1. The increasing number of immigrants from Muslim nations. 2. The high birth rate among Muslims. 3. Marriages between Muslim men and American women. 4. Conversions (In a single year New York City Muslims listed more than 8,000 converts; Wash. DC, 15,000. Wake Up and See the Invasion!Today there are at least 1,200 mosques in America, at least one in every state. Most of them have been founded in the last ten years, many with Islamic oil money. (In 1900, there were no Muslim organizations in America.) 165 Islamic schools, 426 Islamic associations, and about 90 Islamic publications are now at work in the USA. Again, the majority of these endeavors are funded by oil-rich Islamic nations who oppose America. These organizations and mosques are dedicated to follow Mohammed. Martin Luther said of Mohammed that he, “denied that Christ is the Son of God, denied that he died for our sins, denied that he rose again to bring us to life, denied that through faith in him, sins are forgiven and we are justified, denied that he will come as the judge of the living and the dead (although Mohammed does believe in the resurrection of the dead and the day of Judgment), denied the Holy Spirit, and denied his gifts.” (Ewald M. Plass, What Luther Says, Vol. 2, page 962.) Wake Up And Witness!We must begin to witness the truth of the Gospel of Jesus to Muslims. Experienced missionaries suggest six ways to witness to Muslims: 1. Pray. Muslims pray to Allah 5 times a day. Show them we are a godly people and pray also. Muslims use memorized prayers. We use memorized prayers but we can also talk to God as a friend. Muslims can't do that. Spend time each day praying for Muslims. 2. Show Christian love. Sam Schlorff of Arab World Ministries says, “We should be reaching out in love and friendship to Middle Easterners, Asians and other aliens in our midst, whether Muslims or otherwise. And we should speak out against every form of harassment or violence perpetuated against them simply because they are Muslim, or look like they could be Muslim.” Muslims are people. Don't think of them as terrorists or poor or unreachable. Open your heart and home to Muslims. Show respect for their culture and customs. Practice “friendship evangelism.” Muslims will resist the traditional "plan of salvation" because our biblical words have different meaning to Muslims. Don't argue; you may win the argument but lose the person. A Christian man should not talk to a Muslim woman about personal matters. Find a Christian woman who will befriend the Muslim woman. Then she will be free to discuss her fears and concerns with another woman. 3. Give your personal testimony. It is better to tell your experiences with God than debate theology. Your personal testimony can impact Muslims and make them hungry for similar blessings from God. They believe Allah is so holy and far above them that he is unknowable. They are amazed to hear how God answered your prayers, guided you in decisions, forgave your sins, and healed you. 4. Give a reason for the hope that is within you (1 Peter 3:15). Dialogue as Jesus did with the Samaritan woman (Jn. 3). Patiently explain how to deal with sin and how to receive forgiveness of sins through Christ. Because words like sin, salvation and blood atonement have different meanings to Muslim (in fact the whole idea of a personal relationship with God is unthinkable to them), you must be willing to explain repeatedly without frustration. 5. Give them a copy of the Bible in their language. Some want an English/Arabic side-by-side translation because they want to learn English. Explain why the Bible is unique. Know your Bible and show respect for it as God's Word. (A Muslim would never put the Koran on the floor.) Point out Scripture verses during your discussion. But don't argue. Let the Holy Spirit convict them through the written Word of God. 6. Pray that the supernatural gifts of the Holy Spirit will be evidenced through your life. Muslims believe in the supernatural. As we live in faith, backed by a godly life and prayer, the Lord will often do signs and wonders through us to confirm his Word. We hear more and more wonderful reports from missionaries in Islamic nations. They tell of Muslims coming to faith by the Word of God confirmed by healings, deliverance from demons, and dreams and visions from God. Sometimes even an angel or Jesus himself visits them. I can believe these reports, because I have also heard similar reports as I talked to converted Muslims at the Agape Bible School in Almaty, Kazakstan, and to new believers in Russia. George Houssney,
Editor of Reach Out to the Muslim World, says, “On
the day of Pentecost, there were people from many lands,
including Libya, Turkey, Egypt, and the Middle East. They
were in Jerusalem by God's providence to hear the Gospel
and carry the good news back to their nations. Today,
each American city is a modern Jerusalem. We must see the
influx of Muslims to America as both a challenge and an
opportunity to proclaim the Gospel to them and through
them, to the entire Muslim world.” Islam's emblem, the crescent, is shaped like a moon in its first or last quarter. As I watch the moon, I notice that it is increasing or decreasing. I ask you, “Is Islam growing or decreasing?” All the evidence says that it is increasing rapidly. Islam wants to be like the full moon reflecting its light over the whole world. We Christians have the cross of Christ Jesus as our emblem. This cross reminds us that Jesus Christ lived, died, rose, and is coming again. He is the full-orbed Sun that gives greater light than the moon. He does not change like the moon. His light will increase and grow brighter until he comes again to manifest his victory to us, to the Muslims and to all peoples. God has sworn by himself, “To Jesus, every knee shall bow to the glory of God the Father” (Phil. 2:10). It will be so because he said so. Let us do our part.
Dr.
Arthur M. Vincent Want to learn more about Islam? Order Roland E. Miller, Muslim Friends, (Concordia Publishing House, 3558 So. Jefferson Ave., St. Louis, MO 63118) 1995, 429 pages. Know how to respond to Muslims, check: http://www.cph.org/newsletter/muslimrespond.htm Learn more about Muslim Friends, check: http://www.cph.org/newslettermuslimfriends.htm Article modified from an earlier one from May, 1997 |