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Dr. Erwin W. Lutzer: A Christian Response to Islam in America

Islam is on the rise around the world, whether it be terrorist activity in the Middle East or the increasing number of followers here in United States. Though these trends open up many opportunities to share the Gospel, Christians also have reason for concern. We cannot ignore the fact that Christians are being targeted by radical jihadists. Additionally, some of the public policy changes that have been proposed endanger our civil liberties of speech and religious practice.

Dr. Erwin W. Lutzer shared his wisdom and insights on how Christians can respond to radical Islam in this special video presentation below. We originally recorded this event in May 2015, and are thrilled to now make his timeless message available to you via the IFI YouTube channel. During this time of “shelter-in-place,” we have an opportunity to get our thoughts off of the COVID-19 crisis and intentionally augment our Christian worldview while enjoying an encouraging exhortation from Dr. Lutzer about how we can joyfully shine the light of Jesus to a world lost in darkness.

Please watch and share with your family!

Dr. Lutzer is Pastor Emeritus of The Moody Church, where he served as the Senior Pastor for 36 years. He is the best selling author of dozens of books, including The Cross in the Shadow of the Crescent: An Informed Response to Islam’s War with Christianity. Without a doubt, this is one of the most pressing issues facing the church and our nation today.

“Remember that the real threat to the United States is not so much terrorism, but Islamism,
which intends to challenge our constitutional liberties and take advantage of political correctness
to silence discussion and debate about Islam and to undermine our national security…”
~Dr. Erwin W. Lutzer


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Radical Islam to Agnosticism to Disciple of Christ

How did you come to faith in Jesus? For most of us, a parent, grandparent, Sunday school teacher, or other influential person in our life shared the Gospel with us, answered our questions, encouraged and prayed over us, leading us to the point where we were ready to embrace Jesus as our Lord and Savior. No doubt we’ve heard of someone who came to faith in Jesus by reading a tract, watching a Billy Graham crusade on television, maybe listening to Ray Comfort ask probing question, or hearing a teaching program on a Christian radio station, but usually decisions to follow Christ are the result of frequent, personal interaction with an established believer.

In the video below, Mark Issa gives his testimony of how he became a disciple of Christ. His story is fascinating, and far from typical by the standards of western Christianity. Issa was born in Kuwait, but grew up in war-torn southern Lebanon in a secular Muslim home – his father didn’t take him to pray in the mosque or teach him Islam or the Quran. At age 16, after 9/11, Issa’s latent spirit of anger and resentment toward Israel, the United States, and other Israeli allies was kindled. He decided to learn more about Islam, becoming a radical Muslim, and then, jihadist, from information he gleaned from Islamic jihadist websites on the deep web.

Disillusioned that the Arab Spring freedom uprisings didn’t bring about the changes he anticipated, Issa decided to relearn Islam. This time, with a more objective perspective, Islam was revealed to him as “nothing but a large Ponzi scheme … falsely labeled as a religion of peace.” He embarked on an agnostic journey, examining various philosophies and religions solely by means of YouTube videos and online media. The teaching programs of Ravi Zacharias International Ministries, along with his reading of the Word of God, were instrumental in Issa’s decision to accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior in 2016.

Liberated from the lies of Islam by the freedom found only in Jesus, Issa now serves the Lord in a media ministry that targets Muslims. Striving to “win back the Middle East to Jesus Christ,” Issa uses media to reach Muslims and Arabs with the truth about the Lord he loves.

Praise God for our brother in Christ and his testimony to the Lord’s grace and love!




The Left Really Is Trying to Silence Us

Maybe you once thought that the left wanted tolerance and diversity, but in reality, tolerance and diversity have never been the goals of the left, especially the radical left. Instead, it wants to suppress and silence opposing views, and the further left you go, the more extreme the intolerance.

For those who have still not come to grips with this, let these recent examples jar you.

It is bad enough that states have been passing legislation banning counseling for minors struggling with same-sex attraction, even if they have their parents’ backing. But now, there are reports that some states are considering banning such counseling for people of any age. (I was informed of this last week by a Christian counselor in California.)

In other words, it could be illegal for a 30-year-old man with unwanted same-sex attractions to go for professional counseling that focuses on helping him deal with and even overcome these attractions. This is a monstrous violation of individual freedom, not to mention a serious misrepresentation of scientific data, as if all “conversion therapy” was harmful.

Taking things one step farther, “A church in Michigan has come under intense attack this month [meaning, February] after posting on Facebook that it was holding a workshop at the church for girls who are struggling with essentially LGBT thoughts.”

So, not even a church is allowed to help its young people who struggle with unwanted same-sex thoughts. I guess freedom of religion and, even more fundamentally, freedom of self-determination only goes so far. How dare a church do such a thing!

The pastor Jeremy Schossau, stated that, “‘It is hard to believe how much vile filth has been sent our way,’ adding that many of the emails contained gay pornography. ‘We’re talking 10,000 emails and posts and messages and phone calls. It’s just been virtually nonstop.’”

Ah, the sweet, gentle voice of tolerance and diversity!

On a very different front, Pamela Geller explained to Milo Yiannopoulos that, “Google has scrubbed all internet searches . . . of anything critical of jihad and Sharia. So, if you Google jihad and you Google Sharia and you Google Islam, you’re going to get Islamic apologetics, you’re going to get ‘religion of peace.’ Whereas my site used to come up top, page one for jihad and Sharia or Islam, or JihadWatch did, you can’t find it now. They scrubbed 40,000 Geller posts of Google.”

She continued, “You know what? It’s Stalinesque.”

Geller wasn’t exaggerating, and her example is just one of many.

But all you have to do is label something as “hate speech” these days, and you can get it removed from social media in a hurry.

A friend of mine had his Facebook page shut down for sharing Bible verses about homosexual practice – I mean verses without commentary.

Another friend had his Facebook page shut down for posting medical data about the health risks associated with homosexual practice.

These are just two examples out of many more, where colleagues have been warned, if not censured and then censored.

Even Joe Rogan, hardly a conservative activist, noted how “squirrely” things have become with “hate speech” labelling on social media. (The context of his comment was his interview with Douglas Murray, himself anything but a conservative activist, noting how Murray’s discussion with atheist Sam Harris was somehow labelled hate speech, thereby in violation of Twitter’s community guidelines.”)

Over at Harvard University, a Christian club has been penalized for daring to live by its biblically-based code for leaders. As reported by Todd Starnes, “A well-respected Christian student organization at Harvard University has been placed on probation after they allegedly forced a bisexual woman to resign from a leadership position for dating a woman.

“The Crimson reports that Harvard College Faith and Action was put on ‘administrative probation’ for a year. The group is largest Christian fellowship on campus.”

So, a Christian club cannot require its leaders (not its members) to live by Christian standards, which begs the question, Could the leader of a campus Islamic club be a professing Christian? Or could the leader of a campus PETA club be a meat-eater? Or could the leader of the campus atheist club be an Orthodox Jew?

By why ask logical questions? The left wants to enforce its intolerant groupthink on everyone else. Leftist tolerance is a myth.

Just consider the recent debate on gun control in the aftermath of the tragic shooting in Parkland, Florida. Regardless of which side of the debate you’re on, was any tolerance shown to Dana Loesch (representing the NRA) at a CNN-sponsored town hall? Not only was she called a murderer and bad mother, but Jake Tapper actually asked her if she and her husband had security to escort them out of the building.

Is it stretching things to imagine that there could have been physical violence against Loesch? We’ve already seen how violent the left can get at places like Berkeley, where “punch a Nazi” becomes the rallying cry.

This doesn’t mean that we respond with violence and anger. God forbid.

But it does mean that we start speaking up more loudly, clearly, fearlessly, and persistently. And in the appropriate ways, as with the new “Internet Freedom Watch” initiative announced by the NRB (National Religious Broadcasters), we fight back.


This article was originally published at AskDrBrown.org




U.S. Senator Ted Cruz Files Bill to Ban U.S.-Based Islamic State Jihadis From Returning to the U.S.

This is simple common sense. By going to Iraq and Syria to join the Islamic State’s jihad, these Muslims have joined an entity that has declared war against the United States. They have committed treason. They have forfeited the rights and privileges of citizenship. But it will be interesting to see who opposes this, and on what grounds.

“Cruz Files Bill to Ban American Islamic State Fighters from Returning to U.S.,” by Adam KredoWashington Free Beacon, January 23, 2015 (thanks to Pamela Geller):

Sen. Ted Cruz (R., Texas) will file legislation on Friday to ban American citizens who fight alongside the Islamic State (IS) and other terror groups from returning to the United States, where they pose a significant terror threat, according to sources in the senator’s office.

Cruz, who first proposed the legislation last year, seeks to strip those Americans who travel abroad to fight with IS (also known as ISIL or ISIS) of their U.S. citizenship rights and stop them from coming back stateside.

The bill, known as the Expatriate Terrorist Act (E.T.A.), tightens and updates existing regulations by which a U.S. citizen effectively renounces his or her citizenship.

Cruz said that he is filing the bill partly in response to President Obama’s Tuesday State of the Union address, which he described as “detached from reality” on the foreign policy front.

“President Obama’s approach to foreign policy refuses to acknowledge the threats our enemies pose to our national security—it is detached from reality and making the world a more dangerous place,” said Cruz, who also is releasing a new video that takes aim at Obama for misleading the nation about these threats in his annual address.

Cruz said stripping American IS fighters of their citizenship is a step toward securing the country and restoring the country’s image.

“We’ve seen the grave consequence of the Obama-Clinton-Kerry foreign policy unravel with respect to Iran, Russia, and now Yemen,” Cruz said. “These consequences are not confined to faraway lands. They directly threaten America and our allies.”

“That is why this week, I am re-filing the Expatriate Terrorist Act, which prevents Americans who have fought abroad for designated terrorist groups from returning to the United States,” he said. “I look forward to working with senators on both sides of the aisle on this and additional measures to secure our nation and restore America’s leadership in the world.”…

Take ACTION: Click HERE to contact Illinois’ U.S. Senators Dick Durbin and Mark Kirk to ask them to support S. 247, known as the Expatriate Terrorist Act.  American citizens who take an oath to a foreign terrorist organization should have their citizenship revoked.