Please understand these are some of my thoughts I want to share for people to think about. I have struggled with hating our enemies since the first plane hit the first Twin Tower on that day none of us will ever forget.
Thank you for your heartfelt post TC. It is true we are so much a reflection of our life experiences. I never had anything close to what you experienced living in the Middle East, but as a police office for 8 years in a very rough city, I had my share of witnessing the very worst of humanity. The most vile, hateful, despicable people I ever knew until 9/11!
>>>In this case, I cannot truthfully say that I hate the sin, but love the sinner. They have become inseparable in my mind<<<
I’m glad this was brought up. IMHO, the hardest and most difficult of all of Jesus’ teachings is
"But I say to you, love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you."
As a Christian, I admit, I don’t like this commandment. I try to avoid it. I try not to read it, and I certainly don’t want to quote it. How do we love our enemies? How can we possibly love those that hate and want to destroy us?
After reading your post, TC, something jumped out at me. Jesus teaches, love for ALL, including our enemies. What does the Koran teach? To hate and destroy anyone who believes different from them.
That is a powerful comparison between Christianity and Islam. One teaches love the other hate. One offers no hope at all, the other offers salvation and eternal life. Is it easy to love our enemies? No. As Christians we have to view things as Jesus did.
”If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.” John 15:19
We have a Freedom in Christ that they can’t comprehend and they hate us for it.
If you look at what Islam has done to its people, you can start to understand why they have the hate and anger that they have. Their god is a god of hate and vengeance. They are slaves, forced to submit, unable to think for themselves. They have no love or joy or hope. How can they do anything but hate? It is all they know.
The question is, what do we do about it? We can hate them in return and kill each other until one side wins. But will it ever end? I don’t think so.
IMHO I think we need to expose Islam for what it is. It’s an Ideology of hate and total submission and domination. We must expose the darkness with the light. The Truth will always triumph over a lie.
Jesus and Mohammed.
Teach how they lived and what they taught and the Truth and Light will be revealed.
Jesus was brutally flogged before He was crucified. Here was the Son of God, he lived a perfect life, and yet He was tortured and killed. How did Jesus respond to those vile people who killed him?
Jesus said, Father forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.” Luke 23:34
Does Islam need to be exposed and destroyed? Yes. Is it a threat to our very existence? Yes. Islam is an enemy of Christianity and of a free society. But we need to keep Jesus’ words in our attitude of seeing the “people” not “knowing” what they are doing.
Love is so much more powerful than hate. We need to teach them of Jesus and the power of the cross.
”But now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.” I Corinthians 13:13
Something to think and pray about.
That was a powerful post jan.
Thank you and God Bless you!
I have had many spiritual battles in my life, and I know what you say is true.
When Jesus was demonstrating His abilities to cast out demons to His Disciples, He cast out the demons from the crazy man, but He admonished His followers that their only weapon against demons like this was prayer.
To be able to love the muzzies after what I have seen would be equal to Saul's ephiphany on the road to Damascus, even though I know that's the proper way, and the way Jesus would want us to follow.
As I said, may God forgive me. I'm not there yet.
Thank you for illuminating this teaching, and I promise I will work on it.
I've felt consumed by Islams evil and hatred too at times. Often I feel it pollutes all it touches with its poison, and I have had to take more than one breather to get over it, collect my thoughts and refocus... (like in the Nigeria thread).
When we respond to Islam by returning evil for evil and hatred for hatred, we have lost...and Islam has won, Satan has won, and evil has won.
As hard as it is to imagine, Jesus was scourged and nailed to the cross so Salvation could be offered to everyone, including Muslims.
"Does Islam need to be exposed and destroyed? Yes. Is it a threat to our very existence? Yes. Islam is an enemy of Christianity and of a free society. But we need to keep Jesus? words in our attitude of seeing the ?people? not ?knowing? what they are doing.
Love is so much more powerful than hate. We need to teach them of Jesus and the power of the cross."
Jan, thank you for your inspiring post.
I have not wanted to come back to this thread today.
I felt immense dismay by some of the foolish posts I read
here last night.
How do we reason with people who refuse to listen?
Are these posters serious, or are they just playing with us?
I don't know the answer to that question, but I do know you brought us back to the real essence of our annoyance with these posters.
There are so many provacative issues raised in this thread, and we want to illustrate the pure wrong headedness of some of these opinions.
What's the answer?
You answered for me, faith and prayer.
Thank you again.
Thanks Jan.