World Impact Ministries / Peter Youngren

Thank you for your adherence to Jesus’s teachings of unity in His name-there is no heirarchy in the Body of Christ whether you be the hand or the foot- (let he who is greatest be the least) - but there is an open door even to those who think they are greater and who judge - to let Christ work-‘believers’ have to be willing to be the hand or the foot.

You hit the nail on the head Pastor Peter, in this articule about ‘My Muslim Friends’, and the ungodly bigotry that professing Christians dare to speak against this nation of people. There are many wonderful Muslim people in this world and some of them outshine some Christians I’ve met, with their compassion and good hearted ways in serving the community of London, Ontario…and around the globe.
Off subject…but there is a connection to this articule and my short story about an experience I had in my life, when it comes to intolerence and bigotry towards others of various walks of life.
Several years ago, while doing homecare with an elderly gentlemen, I once sat upon his sofa with one of his neighbors who came in for her daily visit. Jo-Anne was also an elderly person, with failing health. She spoke of how she was raised from birth in Africa, until coming to Canada in her latter years. She stated how black servants worked within her parents mansion, as she came from a financially priviledged home. As she spoke of her childhood fondly, she would interject her story with negative comments about the servants, calling them a horrid name that I had never heard of before meeting her. I believe I became flooded with an internal righteous anger within my spirit. This name calling label that her family and associates pinned on their servants was not the Tom Sawyer version of inappropriate slang. I kept my peace as I silently prayed for the words to speak to this woman. She continued to speak bigotry, and racial slurs towards these precious people who are the desendants of the orginal tribes of Africa. I asked her if she would have still sat on the couch beside me if I had been born with black skin. She retorted that she wouldn’t have even entered Jim’s residence if I was a black woman. I laughed and replied ‘Thank God I was born with white skin…or I would have missed out on the honor and priveledge of meeting and speaking with the likes of you.’ I don’t recall that woman ever speaking to me again, as I went to and fro from Jim’s apartment, before he passed on.
My point is that not one of us chose what gendar, environment, nationality, Religion, or location on this planet earth that we would be born into. Each detail of our lives was already in His mind, as He knit us together in our mother’s womb, and He knew what crosses we would need to bare, in order to grow and be moulded by our life experiences, tribulations and challenges as we grew into a perfect people in Jesus. God sent His beloved Son into this world to save ‘ALL’ of His creation (people) of every race creed and color, least none should parish. Any Christian that thinks the blood of Jesus cannot be released to cover the sins of the Muslim people, and that they too can and will be drawn to our Heavenly Father through the almighty gift of His Holy Spirit, better get themselves into some serious prayer and Bible study. When they reach the scriptures of ‘God’s Living Word’...‘The Holy Bible’ where an arrogant self righteous man stood in the temple and boast about being so happy that he had not been born as some of the humble workers (low lifes in the eyes of wealthy man), who came and gave greatly of the little they had and worshipped God with open and clean hearts…I hope they realize that their attitude is not of God! Our Creator only wants to give us, and His Holy Spirit within us, good gifts (living water) and a renewed Christ like mind. Sin not being of God, we need to question where this bigotry comes from…‘the pit of hell’ is the only answer I can come up with.
The true Koran following Muslims, are more dedicated to their Religion that they were born in, then most professing Christians who give the Bible the occassional glance if their time allows them to have a few minutes to share with Jesus in quiet meditation.
I have had the priviledge of befriending a few Muslims. One gal sat outdoors with me, at our place of employment, and we dialogued on some of the similiarities of the ‘Bible’ and the ‘Koran.’ All I thought about after our conversation was how I would make a horrid Muslim….as the 5 spaced out prayer times that they are committed to do on a daily basis, and the cleansing of their bodies that is required before they seek Ali in prayer, was a bit much for me. That would really cut me short on my prayer time, when I’m out digging up the soil and planting my flowers, as I would be pretty dirty and not able to speak to Ali if something was on my mind. Jesus doesn’t care if I’m knee deep in dirt, riding a city bus, out for a walk, etc., as He is only a breath (prayer) away from any who have opened the door of their heart and invited Him in to dwell with them forever. If I was a Muslim I would have to go bath, then do the kneeling on the matt thing…facing in the right direction as it would be depending on the time of day and the position of the sun and earth. That could create a very tense prayer life for me, as I am not always in a place where I could roll out a prayer matt, and begin to pray and worship. Some Christians should try kneeling and bowing in prayer at their employment business meetings, and see how many heads turn and how much ridicule they would receive from non-believers. So it goes back to our ‘Muslim Friends’ with us seeking tolerance, understanding and dialogue with these people, as that is the only way we can plant the rich seeds of the gospel, hoping that the ground is fertile and ready to hear the truth of what salvation through Jesus and reconcilation to God is all about.
I hope the gentlemen that has a deep rooted hatred for the Muslim people will come to understand where and how that evil hatred came into his life, and seek to be set free from this issue as soon as possible. It isn’t the majority of Muslims who are terrorist…any more then everyone that attends church is a Christian. We are to work out our own salvation with fear and trembling so that we can enter that place with Jesus of having peace that passes all understanding, and sharing that with others who are in Religions that function on rules, rules, and more rules and haven’t a clue about being set free in Jesus and filled with His Holy Comforter.
One last morsel of food for thought: When a farmer of an apple orchard picks a bushel basket of the fruit, and sets it aside for a long period of time, he may go back and find that a number of apples have gone bad. Is he going to throw out the whole bushel basket or just the ones that are rotten? Even the ones that are close to the rotten ones may have spots that need to be cut off…then the good part is cut up and used to make apple pie or sause. Let’s not throw out the Muslim nation because of some bad apples that were part to a terrorist attack on the twin towers. We need to pray that the bad apples are found and dealt with before any future attacks. Also there are many other terrorist in many other nationalities, therefore we can not sterotype all the people for the sins of the few that have been totally deceived unto their death and the death of their victims…so sad!
My last message to anyone who feels hatred twards the Muslim nation…or any group/nationality who are expressing their way of worship: Don’t hate them, ask Jesus to give you His abundant love to enable you to overlook any differences you have…while you sit, dialogue and share possible common interest, as you would be surprised that they just might have some of the same hobbies or interest as you. Any mature Christian knows that when they hold unforgiveness, anger, bitterness, grudges, bigotry and any other sinful nature of our past nature before salvation, this dead fruit can start rotting within us…causing multiple unnecessary illnesses and dieases. Best be set free from those ugly things, before they turn on the vessel (human flesh) and do the destruction that the evil one meant for them to do. Ann Landers said it best with this small quote: ‘Hate is like acid. It not only destroys the object that it is poured on, but corrodes the vessel it is stored in’.
I believe with all my heart that God loves the Muslim people just as much as any of us sinners who needed Jesus to come and show us the right path to journey on, in our pilgramge through life. God bless each and everyone of us…world wide, as we continue in His service… while spreading the good news that Jesus loves everyone, and promised He would come again to dwell amongst His (our) Abba Father’s children throughout His awesome planet earth and Kingdom to come.
Brandi

I read a good part of the Koran and (correct me if I’m wrong) doesn’t it talk against the bible.

Sincerely,
David

Personal Testimony

The other day, I was in Muslim village called Ujung Teran here in Indonesia. After 2 nights of crusade, I was invited into a home of a very nice Muslim lady to pray for her kids. The last night of the crusade, she had gotten Peter Youngren’s ‘Salvation Gods Gift to You’ translated in Indonesian. She said she went home and put it aside. But then she said ‘something’ prompted her to read the book. When I came to visit her, she had a few questions for me. Then, I proceeded to share the Gospel to her quoting from the Bible and the Qur’an. We had a great discussion about Jesus. Her neighbors came by and heard me share some more as well. Even one of her Muslim friends received healing in her ears. Now we plan to start a home group in this house. Jesus is our contact point with the Muslim world. Give the book a chance.

Gola from Sumatra, Indonesia

Jesus loves the Muslims and all nations.He died for every person,and does not want any to perish.If we say that we love God and not love others then the love of God is not in us.Why not make the devil mad and take one hour a day and pray in the spirit for the lost.We will be acting on his word and the love of God will be shed abroad in our hearts.Double benefit you will be building your self in your most holy faith.Reading love scriptures will help us grow to love like Jesus loves.God bless you.Alice

Love the sinner not the sin. I have absolutely nothing against the muslim people - I believe Christ died for all not some. Many of the muslims I have met are really lovely people but that is because I live in a society where muslims are moderates. It is a different story in the middle east where the true islam is being preached and lived out under the leadership of extremists.

Having read the Koran and researched on it, the books is filled with violence, anti-jew sentiments, anti-Christian sentiments (initially it reads that Christians are friends then it begins to read anyone who does not believe M is the prophet and that Allah is the one true God must die, and a huge load of contradiction. It also is very different from the text of the Torah. The story of Isaac and Ishmael is different. The story of Joseph is different.

There is absolutely no way the Allah of the Koran is the same as the Jehovah of the Torah or Bible. And whilst it may seem admirable to pray 5 times a day, many of them do it because it is a ritual and because not doing constitutes a sin. I praise God that we are encouraged to spontaneously have a relationship with Christ and with the Father… and that the emphasis is not on the rituals but the relationship. I guess that love for God is something we can share with them, and the love of Christ too. So many Muslims I know live in fear of God, as misrepresented by their book as Allah, or have not read the Koran enough to see the areas where their religion is warped.

I do not think we should hate the muslims because that contradicts Christ’s call to love our enemies too.
However, it pays to be as wise as a serpent and as gentle as a dove regarding Islam and the true face of Islam - extremism. The moderate islam is truly a diluted representation of islam; and islam, being a truly political religion where the aim is to literally take over the world, is something we need to be cautious about but not overly hateful or insensitive towards.

I love my Muslim brothers and sisters and want them to come into the full knowledge of who Jesus is for everyone!

In His grace,
Mary

I for one I have not read the koran and I have no interest to read it not that I hate them NO. But is just there is no time for it. One thing I want to let people know about Muslim is that Christ died 4 them too no exeption and also when u read the acount of Abraham’s blessing even the convenant God took with Abraham concerning his blessings God did not execpt Ishmel from d blessing though God said he is going to be a king od worrior in the mist of his brothers that is kind of not been in understanding with his brother but God said He is going to make him a great nation too just like Isaac but through Isaac all the earth will reveive salvation. So Jesus died for them too but the question is ‘Did they know this’ But how can they know unless we preach to them and always pray for them as our brothers cos of the Love of God cos He asked us to love one another but not to partake of their sin anyway, I mean voilence in terms of forcing people to be or u die No but of cause Christian doe not force people to become, they beleive that when they speak to u the Holy Spirit will do the rest work of convinction. They are blessed just as we are blessed thru Isaac that is why we cam bodly claim the blessings of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and also confess them as our fathers too. So if we hate them then d love of God is not in us. God has blessed just like u too who is u to curse them,hate or separate from them. So love them, pray 4 them and make them ur friend by so doing one day they will come to know that Jesus died for them too.

I am surrounded by Muslim people since I moved to Edmonton and I love it- I love all the colour and culture here. I just met new neighbours across the hall and I need to know that facts about having Muslim friends. I also need to learn the language Urdu. God has just put an excitement and a passion in me just 5 minutes after meeting my new neighbours. I have around me Christian friends that do not have the same feelings that I do about the other cultures and religions around here.
I am buying your book “My Muslim Friends” to help me learn how to be a helpful and friendly neighbour to the woman that speaks no English. She has just been moved here from Pakistan. I need to understand about the woman’s place in the family as I want to respect their beliefs - but I am a woman and the men are the ones that speak English and are very talkative and friendly.

Thanks for sharing. Pastor Youngren

Lynda

I am puzzled by most “organized religion” and their followers. When I was growing up Catholic it was taught that I should love my neighbor. It was never stated anywhere that this neighbor should have a particular belief set, skin color or preference for friends. I do not think that any religion has the true meaning of what God has intended correct. I also feel that NO ONE should push their beliefs on anyone else. If people could simply agree to disagree in this world then we would all be much better off. Territory, religion, bigotry, sexism, racism, all of it should be abolished. If more Christians were completely true to Jesus’ teachings and hated (which is a sin!) less and loved their neighbor no matter who they are this nation and the world’s nations would be far better off.

It’s not a question of “not having anything against muslims”, but of actively loving them! God is LOVE, and that is his nature! He who hates does not know God. He who loves is born of God and knows God. It’s that simple. Whatever you think of Islam has absolutely nothing to do with the matter! If God looked at our philosophy of life before deciding whether or not to love us, where would we be? It is unconditional love that wins the sinner’s heart, and the muslim’s heart alike! Grace, grace, grace. Love, love, love. I won’t hear a word to the contrary!