Two Kingdoms

"May your Kingdom come soon. May your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven." Matthew 6:10

Wanting to talk about the Kingdom of Heaven and the Kingdom of Earth, I asked my two Somali friends about their take on the current events in the Middle East. The talk shifted to 9-11.

"Muslims would never fly planes into buildings", my Somali friend 'Ahmed' said emphatically. "These were cargo planes hijacked by someone." "The twin towers were detonated..." On and on he talked and listed a half dozen 'textbook examples of conspiracy theories'. It's not difficult to find credible answers to counter each of these on the internet. But I want to give rebuttals carefully. It gives me an opportunity to give gracious answers. Remember the old adage "win the battle(or argument) but lose the war(or relationship)"?

I feel for 'Ahmed'. He comes from an honor and shame paradigm that doesn't allow Muslims or Islam to look bad.

When we look at events in the Middle East spilling over into the West, it's all about domination. In 'Ahmed's mind the problems of today are caused by superpowers or past colonizers. Yes, the current political climate is related to what happened in history but the future lies with those in power today. That's why 'Ahmed' is here. It's not working.

Jesus preached the Kingdom of Heaven. Hebrews 12:22 reads, "No, you have come...to the heavenly Jerusalem."  The focus is on justice, peace, love and proclaiming the Good News...not Real Estate. Its all about reconciliation between God and man and man with man.

My brothers and sisters, we need to revisit what the Kingdom of God(heaven) means in 2021. Could we say the Sermon on the Mount is like the 'constitution of the Kingdom of God'? I shared with my seeker friend 'Farid' how this focus is in the Beatitudes. How much better does it get than "God blesses those who are merciful, for they will be shown mercy. God blesses those whose hearts are pure, for they will see God. God blesses those who work for peace, for they will be called the children of God.."? Matthew 5:7-9. 'Farid' loves these verses. They bring peace to his heart.

'Ahmed' is processing what he has seen since coming to the West. The process can't be hurried. An Eastern Christian friend met 'Ahmed' and pushed the Gospel Message on him without befriending him. My relationship with 'Ahmed' has never quite been the same.

It takes time and much prayer to break down cultural and religious barriers to the Good News. It's often like taking off layers of an onion, one at a time. And it usually takes Friendship First! Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. gives it urgency "If the church does not recapture its prophetic zeal, it will become an irrelevant social club without moral or spiritual authority.” ~Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. 

Dear Heavenly Father, my Muslim friends are worried about world events. Help me to show them that Jesus is the Prince of Peace, the only hope for the Nations. Amen.

Empowered, Engaged and Equipping

The brochure we developed for In Canada Missions emphasizes Empowered to Serve, Engaged in Outreach and Equipping others. Currently church attendance in our context is limited. We are blessed that a church nearby has a lighted cross for all to see! That is a great testimony. Another uses their signage creatively to give meaningful messages. A few are offering prayer and helpful practical help.

More than ever it is vital that Christians are Empowered to Serve. It was God's idea in the first place "go and make disciples...you will receive power from on high." We don't need to wait for the church doors to re-open to show love and connect with a neighbor. Home Depot's motto used to be 'You can do it, we can help'. That's being empowered. God's people need to be encouraged to serve--you can do it. We all have a unique assignment from God.

The second part puts some feet to that encouragement--Engaged in Outreach. The needs have probably never been as great as during the Pandemic. There are many frightened, lonely and hurting people out there. We as God's people can be the hands, feet and mouth of Jesus in fleshing out his love for the nations around us. When we are locked down it may be 'hi' from our driveway, a WhatsAp or Zoom conversation. We have tried to lead by example in doing this regularly, even in lock-down. We have prayed for our Muslim and believer friends virtually. There are limitations. On the other hand there are many opportunities to serve others this way. For example, a few weeks ago a brother from Muslim background needed a car. Travelling to work, medical appointments and shopping was getting increasingly more difficult as winter set in. After numerous consults about Carfax about specific cars, he was able to narrow down his search and purchased a car he is pleased with. At other times we've studied the Word(Bible) over Zoom or prayed for a friend. 

As we age, we want to multiply our efforts--Equipping Others. There are many lessons we've learned along the way in 40 years of ministry to Muslims and believer friends. We love sharing these lessons with God's people. Luke writes "The harvest is great, but the workers are few..." Very few of our friends are drawn to Christian websites without a friendship with a follower of Jesus. While methods like 'Disciple Making Movement' are great--they start with a friendship and trust and ultimately deepen if there is spiritual hunger and thirst. Where does spiritual hunger and thirst come from? That's where intercessory prayer on the long haul comes in. While we can't spend a lot of time with our Muslim friends these days, we view them as our parish that we care for. This is called Pastoral Evangelism. 

I suggest prayerfully consider who God would want you to give attention and care to. Once they are on your list, it's good to touch base with them regularly. Some days I have what I consider productive spiritual conversations, other days it's just keeping in touch. You never know what will help a friend start a journey to Jesus.

Dear Heavenly Father...please remind my brothers and sisters that they are already empowered to serve and are on assignment from you. Help them to discover this--discovering their 'mission' for life. Amen.

  

The End - The Beginning

"See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland." Isaiah 43:19

We have just passed the threshold again of an old year passing and a new one ushered in. What will the new year hold?

A major event this New Year's is the memorial of Bishop Tutu. What a great man he was who lived by the words of Jesus to forgive those who were behind apartheid. He was a great unifier!

Asif is gloomy about the new year. He has already heard several reports of major violence in the region of the world he came from. He is bracing himself for more.

On the other hand, with political changes happening around the world, some wonder if this is signaling the end of the world. Many of my Muslim friends are frightened.

I've been blessed by the message in 'The Book of Mysteries', that in God's economy the end ushers in a new beginning--"I am doing a new thing..."

"...Tabernacles is the last feast of the sacred year. It's the greatest celebration and it comes at the end...In the world...the greatest things come at the beginning. Everything starts out young, and then gets older and older...But the Feast of Tabernacles reveals the kingdom of God, it's the opposite. The greatest celebration comes at the end. So if you live in God's power, you don't move from life to death, but from death to life." from  'The Book of Mysteries'

We were reminded this morning that 'Immanuel'--one of the names of the Messiah is composed of 3 Hebrew words. 'Eem' means 'with'. And the word for 'us' is 'anu'. The word for God in Hebrew is 'El'. So now we have 'Eem-anu-El'-'with us is God'. From this we have Immanuel. Isn't that wonderful?

So Immanuel is with us in 2022. Immanuel(God with us) in good times. Immanuel in hard times. Asif has reason to be gloomy about the end of the world. He doesn't have any assurance that things will end well. His Shia friends talk about the Mahdi will come out of the shadows and make things right in the world while his Sunni friends talk about Jesus returning and destroying pigs and all crosses and forcing everyone to become Muslims. Many hope for the 'Golden era of Islam' to return. When will this happen? No-one knows.

The assurance the Injeel gives to the world is the message of 'Immanuel'. Asif doesn't yet have the assurance that 'God is with us". When Immanuel is here, all will be fine. Eem-anu-El(God is with us) in the storm.

Partners in the Gospel, let's move into 2022 with confidence. God is at work in the hearts of Muslims around the world. In 2021 we personally saw God draw Muslims to himself. What a privilege to be there to welcome them into God's kingdom!

The best is yet to come! Happy New Year.

Lord Jesus, Thank-you for giving us this past year to reflect you in this world. Help me to be even more effective in communicating with Muslim friends and new believers about you. Amen.