What Is the Christian Response to the Attacks in Paris?

Another deadly terrorist attack.

Place of attack; Paris, France.

130 people murdered, over 350 injured, 99 seriously injured.

On this past weekend of this attack, Facebook blew up with posts calling for the crackdown on ISIS and the halting of the immigration of Syrian refugees in light of all this. Just as the Bible has predicted, our hearts are failing us with fear. States are already going on record as saying that, to keep their citizens safe, they refuse to accept Syrian refugees. Anger at President Obama mounts as he defends his policy to allow Syrian refugees into the U.S. even as he vows to fight terrorism and "defeat ISIS." I have been seeing more and more posts, from Facebook users who are believers, show opposition to admitting refugees, out of fear of letting in terrorists.

What is to be the response of a follower of Jesus to all of this?

At a worship service where I was vsiting this weekend, the sermon included this very topic. The pastor told us just how we need to respond, as Christians.

Recognize That God is Still in Control

It seems that right now, ISIS has control and are leaving people terrified of them and what they can do. It seems that more and more, we are headed to becoming a police state. Our civil liberties are slowly eroding, and now there is all this talk about stepping up military involvement to "stop ISIS." I can understand why people are running scared, especially those who do not know God and His power to change our sinful hearts, even the black, unfeeling, sociopathic hearts of the members of ISIS. Yet we who know God, should believe that God can concert and transform even brutal killing machines such as ISIS members. What does this mean? It means we need to pray. We certainly should pray for all the victims of the attacks, including those who were eyewitnesses of this horror. Pray for a spiritual awakening in France! It is estimated that there are many more atheists than Christians in France. France is said to be more secularized that any other country, plus they have a high abortion rate. Can this tragedy bring about a movement for Christ in France?

Pray for Not only the Victims but Our Enemies

I know that ISIS members are the most hated individuals on the face of the earth. "Bomb them all into oblivion!" and "May they all rot in hell!" and "Stop them now!" are totally understanable rallying cries especially when coming from those who do not know God. These people would just as soon kill us as look at us; they thrive on killing and bloodshed and are killing machines. But we who are believers need to try to see these ISIS members as Chris sees them. He sees them as sinful pesons who desperately need to be saved and transformed. These ISIS members are people for whom Christ died, just as we are. Every one of them was once aa baby and then a young child, and most were indoctrinated and radicalized very early in life or at other times when they were vvulnerable, as in feeling alienated or without any purpose. We Christians, as followers of Jesus, have a mandate to pray for our enemies. And ISIS members certainly ARE our enemies in every sense of the world. They hate us. But we are to pray for those who hate us, even want to kill us! Yes, that is tough. It seems unfair.

Realize That We All Have Sin

The call to pray for our enemies makes sense only when we realize one thing. We must never forget that once, in God's eyes, all of us were His enemies, criminals, and evil. He sees us all the same. Our sinful natures just express themselves in different ways but He sees us all the same. He sees us all as sinners, lost and enemies until He, by His grace, saves us. Only in this context does it make any sense to pray for people like ISIS members who thrive on shedding innocent blood especially of followers of Jesus in ISIS strongholds, who are suffering even worse than everyone else. Over and over, they testify that they pray for their persecutors, and often God transforms these persecutors.

Most of all, let us keep hope alive, because ISIS does not have the last word. Almighty does. Praise Him!

Christians & President Obama

I'm disturbed at what I'm seeing.

I'm seeing a lot of vitriol, malice and hate being direct toward President Obama. It is Christians, "religious right" Christians who are leading the smear campaign.
If you feel mad at the President, I sympathize, up to a point. It seems that President Obama is on the defensive when it comes to identifying the nature of the war we are in and is unwilling to denounce Islam and identify its radical element. He seems to be in the dark about what ISIS actually is (Islamic State).

I did not hear his presentation at the National Prayer breakfast, but the President's comments about ISIS being the moral equivalent of the Crusades caused a firestorm of anger directed at him by many "religious right" Christians. While I don't consider myself, in a strict sense, religious right, I was offended by the comments.

The Problem

I did not hear President Obama's full speech. I did hear sound bytes of that speech when a family member had on this family member's favorite political channel. Along with many of you, I think his comments are out of line. Calling us to "Come off our high horse and realize that Christians have done terrible things in the Name of Christ" and that "The Crusades show horrific things done in the Name of Christ that compare with modern day Jihad." Months ago, I had been watching parts of a program that discussed the history of the Crusades from an impartial, historical point of view. The Crusades actually were a response the prior atrocities of militant Muslims against Christians. I will provide sources at the end of this post. Now I don't condone revenge and we are commanded to to return evil for evil. That is what Christians or more specifically, Catholics, were doing. Jihad is wholly different, for the most part. These militant Muslims are not return evil for evil, or reacting to wrongs done to them. In Most cases, radical Islamists commit atrocities against innocent people who are doing nothing to them and have done nothing to provoke them. I think much of the knee-jerk reaction to the President is that many in the Christian community believe that the President is a closet Muslim and even a sympathizer to Muslim jihad. President Obama has professed a faith in Jesus as his Savior and Lord, and God alone knows the authenticity of his profession, just as God alone knows the genuineness of our professions of faith and the secrets of our hearts. Yes, President Obama has made statements that indicate that he believes that "All roads lead to the same God" and that "No matter what religion we are, we are all children of God." Now I don't know if these statements show that the President is just Biblically ignorant or is just trying to be non-offensive. I know that it cannot be easy to be President Obama, leading a deeply divided country full of people who are diverse in race, religion and ethnicity. We know that Jesus alone is the only way to God, and that only those who are linked to Him by faith are children of God. Whatever the President's real beliefs are, I'm with many of you on this: It was un-called for of him to call on us to "not judge" radical Islamists and liken revengeful acts of our forefathers with modern terrorists, especially ISIS. His actions indicate that he is more concerned with not giving any offense than in taking a stand for his convictions and that he is more influenced by the demands of our culture than he is to Christ's claim on his policies and life.

The Cause(s)?

The profound division in America is perplexing, in a sense. I have heard it said that in war time, we as a country had historically pulled together and stood behind each other. I know that this was not the case during the Vietnam War, though we were much more united during the first Gulf War. But I wonder if much of the vitriol and hate directed against this President is rooted in unconscious racism, not only against the Black community but against even peaceful, nominal Muslims. Weeks ago, I was saddened and rather angry, to go to a Christian website that is popular. One of its top articles of the day was titled, "Is it Okay for A Christian to Hate President Obama?"! I read the writer's response to this question. The writer seemed to be almost sympathetic with the person's question and the tone of his response was one of "I know how frustrated you feel with a bad leader." I still am reeling from the sorry fact that a person who claimed Christ would even ask such a question. But it was asked, and since then, I have seen much hate directed against this President. I have learned that a family member has recently declared, "I hate President Obama." Do we really think that trashing a political leader we don't like is going to make our society one bit better? Saddest of all is that this hate and trash-talking is coming mostly from the Christian community, though we know better. Yes, the President should do more to reach out to the Christian community and show more leadership on serious matters like global religious persecution, which he has begun to do at that prayer breakfast, where he made those controversial remarks. But is it a stretch to call President Obama things like "Hitler," "The Anti-Christ," a "Traitor" and a "Sympathizer with Terrorists?" Isn't it a stretch to call the President a criminal and call for his impeachment and arrest? I know that many in leadership have abused their power and positions through fraud, corruption and sexual offenses and crimes. None of our leaders are perfect because they come from imperfect people like us. The Bible would have us respond the President Obama (and every other leader we may dislike) in God's way.

Solutions

I know that many in the Christian community cannot wait until President Obama leaves office for good. Maybe you are one who feels that way. But all of us have to endure the leadership of those we don't like or agree with. That is true on all levels, whether we are talking about in the government, in the workplace or in our local churches. But how are we asked to respond to these leaders, including those we don't like? We are asked to honor their offices, which is tough to do if we don't agree with them or don't like them. We are also asked to pray for them. So, instead of ranting about this President or his policies, do something counter-cultural: Pray for him.

Actual History of the Crusades

Crusades vs, Jihad--A Slideshow

The Ever-Present Threat of Terrorism: How Should We Respond?

There is a scary, threatening scourge among us. It has been entrenched all over much of the world and now threatens us in the West.

We have heard of journalists, aid workers and others being beheaded from these threats among us.

According to the media, even young girls and moms are being recruited into this depraved movement in the name of "finding meaning for their lives."

Attacks by those in this depraved movement are happening and causing much fear.

A country has been named as a haven for members of this depraved and dangerous movement and are threatening to kill US nationals.

Now, Japan is under threat of attack. Where will it end?

As Christians, how should we respond to terrorists and their threats? How should we respond to their activity that has long been taking place in other parts of the world, even against our own brothers and sisters in Jesus?

I am seeing online comments that "Islam is the cult of death" and "Islam is evil and Islamists must be stopped" and so on. Here at home, I have heard comments like,"We will not hesitate to take them on" and "I do not know if there are any good Muslims." This phobia and hatred of a religious people group is ever-growing. In fact, the bombing of the 12 people in Paris, France, was triggered by comments allegedly insulting Islam. This had enraged Islamists. Now I have not read the article in question and while I believe in free speech, I think that insulting anyone's religion should be off-limits. Yet those 12 people did not deserve to die over offensive speech! While this isolated attack on France was going on, Nigeria was suffering an attack that murdered up to 2000 people. Yet the media have given far more coverage to the attack on France, though it was isolated and involved 12 people, not 2000 people. (Yes, I know that one murder is one murder too many!). We saw the sea of humanity, the countless numbers of protesters in the streets of France. However, the attack on Nigeria has involved many more people who were murdered and it is by no means isolated. It is only one in many attacks that Northern Nigeria has suffered. The terrorist attacks that are starting to take place in the West and in isolated areas and on isolated people, have been taking place for awhile in much of the world. I think that it is too bad that we are growing more concerned about terrorism because terrorism has come to affect us personally and now we see that even females, in the name of "equality," are becoming involved in it! I have seen the sad sight of women in black burkas and with long guns, including a young mom who had left her husband and taken her son to "join the beheaders"! Recently, two girls, near my daughter's age, had been arrested by the FBI and extradited from Syria where they had joined ISIS to fight against the West. Their plea was "We did not know what we were getting into."

For awhile now, Rev. Franklin Graham, the son of the aging Rev. Billy Graham, has been openly angry at the praying of a Muslim prayer at a well-known University. He had been successful in getting the University in question to reverse its decision on this prayer. But there are other signs that Islam seems to be trying to take over the US in the name of "inclusiveness" and "tolerance." Malala, a 17-year-old girl, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize as the youngest person ever to receive that award. Yes, we can admire Malala for her bravery in surviving an attack on her life when she was trying to go to school, and we can commend her advocacy in calling for education for all women throughout the world. In an earthly sense, Malala, a Muslim, deserves this award. She has written a book and she is open about her Muslim faith. I'm not suggesting that there is anything wrong with giving this girl this award, and she has promised that the funds from her award will go to the education of girls. Yet I notice a strange trend and it isn't making the news. Weeks ago, a public school was calling for Muslim prayer, and other campuses have done the same. Currently, a Christian nurse was "sacked" for praying with a Muslim person and helping this person with needs. Our politicians have been said to introducing Muslim prayer, garb and body poses, in the corridors of power. At the same time that Muslim rituals are allowed and encouraged, Biblical Christianity (I'm not talking about the watered-down, cultural version), is firmly discouraged. Are we really surprised?

We Christians in the West are beginning to experience, in mild forms, the harassment and persecution that many of our brothers and sisters in Jesus experience in much more severe forms. They often suffer beatings, crime, losses of loved ones, imprisonment and even death. Of course, none of us wants persecution for ourselves or our families. But it is a fact that persecution weeds out the true converts from the false coverts ad the committed from those who are using using God as a hobby. Persecution purifies us as a Church and as individuals. So how should we respond to all this terrorist panic? From my understanding of the Bible, we should do some things in response:

1). Pray. Pray for the terrorists and pray for their victims, especially our brothers and sisters in Jesus.

2). Reach out to the Muslims among us; the more of them that come to Christ the more we defeat Islamization.

3). If you can, donate to causes that make Christ know to unreached Muslim people groups. I began a fund-raising campaign that I would ask you to consider supporting. You can check it out here. Thank you!

Military Action or Changed Hearts?

It is early in the year when those whom we elected in last year's mid-term elections, have been officially taking their new positions of power. One party, which has not dominated many states or the Senate, has taken over after many years. In the Senate, little time has been wasted in pushing this party's agenda, especially with a controversial piece of legislation which supposedly is a major job creator. Since we have a President who is against many of this dominating party's policies, we can be assured of much deadlock and much not getting done at a legislative level. But not all needs to be lost.

I know that at this time, terrorists are unleashing their evil in the world. Most of us are aware of the terrible attack in Paris by Islamists, though we don't yet know whether they are ISIS militants or from some other terrorist group. It is clear that these Islamists are not playing with us; they mean business. They truly believe that they are doing a good thing! Just as we believers hold that the ultimate expression of our faith in Christ is shown by death for Him or His people, Islamists truly believe that their ultimate expression of faith is shown in killing for what they believe in. Thus, when their religion was attacked by satirists, Islamist militants did what they "believed" was "right": They killed to show their displeasure. It seems that we have not seen the last of these attacks, either. So what should we conclude about Islam and about something called "Islamophobia" that could flare up as a result?

At the same time, we are hearing about Boko Haram militants killing people in an entire village in Nigeria, numbering as many as possibly 2000. Hundreds of those Nigerian schoolgirls, kidnapped earlier last year, remain in the hands of their kidnappers, supposedly "converted to Islam." Daily, grisly accounts of the bloody handiwork of Islamist militants stream across my Newsfeed. It's overwhelming. It is said that the persecution of Christians in Iraq has reached "Biblical proportions." Some had said that "Islam is a religion of peace" and that what we hear about by Islamists, are the actions of a tiny minority who are not representative of the followers of Islam. Yes, most Muslims may be peace-loving people, whether they speak out against these atrocities or fear to do so for repercussions.

The government, no matter what party takes over, can do only so much about radical Islam. They can authorize military might against our enemies but they cannot change these people's hearts against us. The government, whose tool is force, can do only so much.

Many books have been written, from a Christian perspective, about Islam and terrorists. Many of them are written from a prophetic viewpoint, predicting that a major meltdown in the Middle East, especially between Arabs and Jews, and an invasion of Israel by Iran and so forth. On the other hand, missionaries to the Muslim world are countering what they see as "Islamophobia," by writing books telling stories about God's work among Muslims in the most hostile and violent hot spots throughout the world. According to these missionaries to the Muslim world, Muslims are very much on "God's front burner." God is responding to the fears engendered by Islamists and resulting in "Islamophobia," by revealing Himself to Muslims in often supernatural ways and transforming their lives so that they become exceptional followers of Jesus Christ who follow Him no matter what the price. They often endure being disowned by their families, ostracized by their communities, jailed and even die for the Name of Jesus. So what should be our response to the fear brought about by extreme Islam?
The government can't change one heart. Only God can do that. How does this pertain to Muslims or anyone? Well, if we know Muslims in our communities we can take a chance to befriend them and share Jesus with them. Yes, it is easier said than done and I am preaching also to myself. It seems that most Muslim movements to Christ are taking place outside the West. But many Muslims live in the West. They need Jesus too. We can pray for the many Muslims, in and outside of the West, who are enslaved and deceived by their religion. Between military actions and our prayers and outreach, we can win the war on terror. Agree?

How Should We Christians Respond to ISIS & to Terrorists In General?

Over a week ago, the US President had said of them, in an effort to appease all who want action taken against them: "We are devising a strategy to neutralize and degrade our enemies. We will stop them. The US Vice President was even more direct: "We will pursue them to the gates of Hell if needed. Hell is where these people will spend eternity!" Many people have railed against them, setting up petitions, "Stop This Enemy!" And others have remained totally silent on this enemy, fearful that denouncing them would tar peace-loving fellow religious adherents with the same broad brush.

Yes. I'm talking about ISIS.

In my network, many bothers and sisters in Jesus are speaking out about ISIS and the horrible atrocities that they have been committing. It's clear that they want to expand their atrocities beyond the Middle East, using the Internet to lure future victims. According to even mainstream media, ISIS is even recruiting small children into their "cause" of terrorism!

Sociopathy or psychopathy alone do not explain those who get involved in radical terrorism, including ISIS. Have you ever wondered what goes into the makings of most terrorists, including ISIS members? According to studies, many of these terrorists in Muslim or other regimes are recruited into terrorism as small children! They are typically taught to hate us in the West and are brainwashed into believing that we are the Enemy who are actually out to destroy THEM. They are recruited not knowing any other way to believe or act. They become unthinking, unfeeling robots who, with their brainwashed minds, actually believe that they are "doing their God" a favor by "killing His enemies and traitors." Home-grown terrorists, on the other hand and on Western soil, are often recruited by terrorists; this may happen when they travel or network online with terrorists. These terrorists seem like roaches in that we struggle to get rid of them. They give their all to their "cause," evil as it is. Isn't this something we can learn from them, to give our all to the Cause of Christ?

We know that the governments' role in combating terrorism is to use force to eliminate it, even if military force is needed to make it happen. But what is our role, as Christians, in combating terrorism and in how we view terrorists, including members of ISIS?

We know that we Christians operate under the invisible Kingdom of God that reigns in our hearts and lives. That means that yes, we are to speak out against the evil of ISIS and other terrorists. It also means that we are to pray for the Christian conversions of terrorists, much like "Saul to Paul," modern-day Damascus road conversions. After all, the ancient Saul, who became Paul, was an ancient terrorist and violent persecutor of Christians. His mission was to rid the world of Christians! When he was radically converted to Christ, his extreme zeal against Christians turned to extreme zeal for their Lord. God aims to get rid of terrorism, not by eliminating terrorists but by eliminating their wickedness.

Can't God do with ISIS members and terrorists what He did with Paul?

To learn how to help persecuted Christians and bring the Gospel to hostile nations, visit Voice of the Martyrs, Inc.. This photo was originally found here.