UNDERSTANDING THE TIMES
The Newsletter of Contend for the Faith, Inc

1 Chronicles 12:32

SEPTEMBER 2002

DOCTORAL STUDIES BEGIN

Now that it is September, school buses are rumbling through neighborhoods, picking up some children even before the sun has dared to show itself. Students are learning ABC’s, algebra, history and the like. Universities are crammed with young scholars seeking a degree (and perhaps a wife or husband).

This Fall Southern Evangelical Seminary has begun a Doctor of Ministry program in Apologetics. It is the only degree of its kind in the country. Because I want to do all I can to assist the Church in engaging the culture with the claims of Christ, I have entered this program and, with the Lord’s help and after lots of hard work, in three years I will earn this degree.

Because I need a few more Masters level classes, I will be taking one Masters class each semester in addition to the doctoral work, so I have my work cut out for me.

I would ask you to keep me in your prayers in this endeavor for two reasons:

That I will be able to keep up with the work load in addition to my other ministry and family duties, and

That the Lord will provide the finances to pay for these classes, as the cost of earning a doctorate is very expensive.

I am excited to be a full time student again, and I am looking forward to being even better equipped to train others to advance the Kingdom of Christ.

PRAYER AND PRAISES

Please pray for Deborah and me as we are traveling to Denver to participate in the Young Defenders Boot Camp on Sept. 20-21. Pray that hundreds of students will attend and not only be strengthened in their faith but also learn how to reach others involved in cults and false religions for Christ. Please pray for traveling safety for the entire team coming to Denver from around the country, and pray that we will all communicate clearly how the Gospel can be defended in our society.

Please pray for Heather, the young lady raised in a solid Baptist church who recently became a Mormon. I met with her and her pastor for more than three hours for a second time recently, demonstrating the problems and errors of Mormonism and explaining the superiority of orthodox Christianity. She is truly desirous of knowing which belief system is the true one, and she wants to be committed to the right one. Please pray that the Lord would help her to clearly see the truth of the Christian gospel and the falseness of Mormonism.

Please pray for two other upcoming events. The first is the Counterfeit Christianity Conference, October 6, 7, & 8, being held simultaneously at 12 different churches in the Charlotte area. This free conference, presented by Watchman Fellowship, will be teaching Christians some basic information about Jehovah’s Witnesses, Mormons, and the New Age Movement. Watchman is an excellent ministry, and I will be assisting them in their efforts.

Mark your calendars and plan to attend the ninth annual National Conference on Apologetics and Other Religions, November 8-9, being held this year are Christ Covenant Church in Matthews. This should be the best conference ever, with Dr. Ravi Zacharias as the keynote speaker. See the enclosed brochure for details, and register for the conference today!

UPCOMING SCHEDULE

Sept. 20-21 Young Defenders Boot Camp, Denver, CO

Nov. 8-9 National Conference on Apologetics and Other Religions, Christ Covenant Church, Matthews, NC

www.contendforthefairth.org

CONTENDING FOR THE FAITH

UNDERSTANDING THE RELIGIOUS ROOTS OF 9/11

It was predictable, but it was sad nonetheless.

As this nation recently remembered, mourned and memorialized those 3025 victims of the worst terrorist attack in American history, I watched hours of broadcasts on networks and cable, both before and after the one-year anniversary. I read numerous articles in local newspapers and on the Internet. Yet I did not find anyone who squarely addressed the roots of the actions of the 19 Muslim highjackers and those who supported and applauded them – the religious teachings of Islam.

What I did hear was people speaking of political motivations of the terrorists. If their religion was addressed at all, it was in the context of these men “perverting” or “highjacking” this “religion of peace” called Islam.

PBS’ Bill Moyers gathered together a group of scholars and journalists to discuss Islam and terrorism recently, and a comment by a French journalist was typical of this attitude. He said that Islam is neither fundamentally good nor fundamentally bad, just as Christianity and Judaism are neither inherently good nor bad. People simply use their chosen religion as an excuse to support their hatred and bigotry. He said that is what these terrorists did.

Another program on PBS the week before the anniversary, called “Faith and Doubt at Ground Zero,” discussed good and evil, God’s culpability, and it explored “the potential for darkness within religion itself.”

The problem, we are told, is not within the teachings of the major faith systems, but in those who distort these teachings because of their religious fervor. After all, is there really much difference between Muslim fundamentalists and Christian fundamentalists? Aren’t both religions smeared by some of their overzealous followers?

Ed Williams, the editor of the Charlotte Observer editorial pages, said as much in his June column titled “Think Islam is Bad? Then Look at Christianity.” He uses the “well, they are just as bad” argument. Even if some Muslims have committed violent acts in the name of Allah, there have been Christians who have killed or imprisoned others whom they considered heretics. Therefore, the argument goes, you cannot claim that Christianity is superior to Islam because some followers of each group “have their share of sins to atone for.” (As a side note, Mr. Williams sees those who criticize and point out the errors of Islam as “theologically arrogant,” yet it is doubtful he sees himself as theologically arrogant when he attempts to point out the “errors” of such preaching).

This kind of reasoning is not surprising in our secularized, sanitized, pluralistic culture. Those who hold to a postmodern mindset believe that, although they are in direct contradiction on essential beliefs, both Islam and Christianity are “true” to the sincere followers of each. The greatest sin one can commit in our society, it seems, is to claim that one belief system is actually superior to any other.

Yet when the teachings and actions of the founder of each faith are examined, it is difficult to miss the stark contrast between them. Consider:

While Jesus taught His followers to “Love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you” (Matt. 5:44), Muhammad said Allah revealed dozens of verses in the Qur’an directing Muslims to “strike terror into (the hearts of) … your enemies” (Surah 8:60), “fight and slay the pagans wherever ye find them” (Surah 9:5), “fight those who believe not in Allah … from among the People of the Book [Jews & Christians]” (Surah 9:29).

When the enemies of Jesus came to capture Him and one of His followers cut off the ear of the servant of the high priest, Jesus rebuked him, saying “all who take the sword will perish by the sword” (Matt. 26:52). By contrast, the authoritative biography “The Life of Muhammad” by Ibn Ishaq reveals the prophet regularly encouraged his followers to kill by the sword those who opposed or mocked him, including a mother of five who composed poetry against him. He also ordered that a Jew be tortured because he would not tell where a treasure was hidden. Elsewhere we are told that the prophet orchestrated the beheading of between 600-900 Jewish men in a single day.

A religion or philosophy should not be judged by its abuse. Herein lies the fatal flaw in the argument that Christianity and Islam are equally guilty. When Muslims kill in the name of Allah, they are being consistent with both the teachings and the traditions of Muhammad, but when Christians kill innocent people in the name of Jesus they are being horribly inconsistent with the life and teachings of Christ.

Admittedly most Muslims in the U.S. are rightly appalled by the attacks of 9/11 and they reject terrorist acts as despicable. However, these actions were the logical outworking of the faith of Muhammad. All who reject these actions should likewise reject the religion that motivated them.

Those who desire true peace with God can find it only through the Lord Jesus Christ (Rom. 5:1).

Jude 3,

Dave