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Tag: evangelism

  • Slightly Obsessed #097: Who Will Tell Them?

    Slightly Obsessed #097: Who Will Tell Them?

     

    I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching.

    For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.

    – 2 Timothy 4:1-5

     

    He sits on an old sofa, his gun nestled against his arm. He is pale and sweating.

    He doesn’t look like other terrorists we see on t.v., although he dresses like them and sports a beard. In this video, recorded before his death by suicide bombing, he rambles for the camera. One moment, he delivers a fiery threat to the west. The next moment, he preaches a recruitment message. Behind the bravado is a man struggling with fear as he tries to convince himself that his sacrifice is a righteous one.

    His face fills with dread. Sadness. Hate. He speaks an awkward mix of English and Arabic, mirroring his misery as an American Muslim growing up in middle-class America.

    His mother is American. His father is Palestinian. He grew up in Florida, earned a high school degree and attended college in the States before dropping out and traveling to Syria.

    There, on May 22, 2014, Moner Mohammad Abusalha, the man who grew up in two worlds, became the first American suicide bomber in Syria. He was 22.

    Before he died, he spoke about life in his native America:

    “I was never happy. I as always sad and depressed…I had to walk from work home. I begged Allah, I cried, ‘Allah, get me out of this land.’ All you do is work forty, fifty, sixty hours a week. And then you go waste it on garbage. This is what you do your whole life.”

    Abusalha lost his own life and committed a heinous act of murder in his quest for fulfillment. His story is our solemn reminder of an empty generation around us. Earning money and buying things doesn’t satisfy them. They don’t know why. It’s up to us to tell them that they are made for more. There is something to live for. 

    If you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, you know this.

    And if we let fear, complacency, personal bias, or political correctness keep us from sharing the truth with others, they are lost and we are responsible.

    We may never know if anyone gave Moner Mohammad Abusalha a chance to find salvation and something for which to live.

    I hope someone tried.

  • Slightly Obsessed #047: Why the World Has Not Ended

    Slightly Obsessed #047: Why the World Has Not Ended

    In the last days mockers will come with their mocking, following after their own lusts, and saying, ‘Where is the promise of His coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all continues just as it was from the beginning of creation.’

    – 2 Peter 3:3, 4

    There is blood in the streets, in the homes, in the land.

    During the twenty-year-old war in Syria, more than 100,000 people have died, and over 2 million Syrians have fled to nearby countries. There appears to be no hint of resolution as the region rages with hate.

    In the neighboring countries, believers living there share what they have with the refugees. Teams of Christians share medical supplies, spiritual help, and the Gospel with the displaced Syrians.

    They used to be called “infidels.” Now they are often referred to as the “Bible People.”  

    Despite the dangers of being a Christian in these countries, these persecuted people continue to faithfully reach out to the hurting. Because of their faithful witness, thousands of Muslim refugees have accepted Christ as their Savior.*

                      The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you,

    not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.

    – 2 Peter 3:9

    In the heart of Africa, the Lemba Tribe practices ancient rituals. Their skin is black, but DNA testing has confirmed this tribe in Zimbabwe to be descendants of the priestly Jewish tribe of Levi. Jewish Voice Ministries International reports that through their medical clinic outreach, more than 5,000 members of the Lemba Tribe have become believers in the last year, embracing Jesus as their Messiah.**

    This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come.

    – Matthew 24:14

    Around the world, we see the brutal evidence of dark forces at work.

    But our favorite news show probably won’t report the great harvest being brought in at this midnight hour. Christ is still about His Father’s business, the Head and great communicator to millions of cells who are His hands and feet, hard at work establishing a kingdom of hearts united in praise to the Creator.

    And what a harvest it is! What a bountiful return on the investment of God’s Spirit to His fields!

    Sometimes it feels like Jesus Christ will never come back for us. Believers have hoped for over two thousand years to see His beautiful face, to hear the cry of victory announcing His return. His apparent slowness is not because He doesn’t care, but because He loves the world so much, He hates to send anyone to destruction.

    So He labors in those white fields, bringing in all who will come before the door closes forever.

    The fields are white. The harvest is in full swing. The end is coming.

     

    *From information provided by Voice of the Martyrs.

    **From information provided by Jewish Voice Ministries International