Preparing Yourself to Share the Gospel with Muslims
I always enjoy speaking with Muslims. I enjoy it, in part, because I have yet to meet a Muslim who is offended when I bring up spiritual matters or who is uninterested in discussing them. I’m quite sure I have had more cordial conversations about the gospel with Muslims than with anyone else. I suspect many others would say the same.
As I have spoken with Muslims, I always find myself wanting to better understand their faith so I can more effectively present the gospel to them. There are many resources that can help with this, but I am especially thankful for the collection written by Ayman Ibrahim. Ibrahim is a Professor of Islamic Studies at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and Director of Jenkins Center for the Christian Understanding of Islam. Having been born and raised in Egypt, he has first-hand experience with Islam and access to the Arabic language. This makes him especially qualified and his books especially effective. There are four I recommend to you.
Reaching Your Muslim Neighbor with the Gospel was published by Crossway in 2002 and provides lots of insights and practical counsel on sharing the gospel with Muslims. In the first half of the book, he explains the different strands of Islam and their key beliefs to ensure the reader understands the sheer diversity of the Muslim world. In the second half, he offers advice on actually connecting with Muslims and sharing the gospel with them. That makes this book a very good place to begin before conversing with Muslims.
Apart from this book and a number of academic works that may be more appropriate for a scholarly audience, Ibrahim has written a three-part series titled “Introducing Islam” that provides a relatively concise understanding of three different aspects of Islam. These are ideal for those who wish to go a little deeper and perhaps be more prepared for in-depth conversations.
A Concise Guide to the Quran: Answering Thirty Critical Questions. If you want to understand Islam, you’ll need to under the Quran, and that is the heart of this book. Ibrahim asks and answers thirty questions that help explain the origins of the Quran, its central message, and what Muslims believe about it. What is the Quran and what does “Quran” mean? What do Shiite and Sunni Muslims believe about it and in what ways do they differ? What does the Quran say about Jews and Christians? What does it say about Jesus and the Bible? He answers all these questions and many more.
A Concise Guide to the Life of Muhammad: Answering Thirty Key Questions. The focus of this book is, of course, the prophet Muhammad. Ibrahim answers thirty questions that together offer a guide to Muhammad’s life and significance within Islam and the world. Because the book is written specifically for Christians, he asks the kind of questions Christians may be wondering: Who was Muhammad and was he a true historical figure? What do we know about his wives? What was the central message of what he taught and what did he believe about Jesus?
A Concise Guide to Islam: Defining Key Concepts and Terms. The third volume in this series, which will be published in just a few weeks, takes a different approach. Instead of asking and answering questions, it focuses on specific terms that appear within Islam and are commonly used by Muslims. So, for example, Ibrahim begins with terms related to the Islamic scriptures and defines the following: Quran, hadith, sira, sunna, each of which is likely to be familiar to those who have engaged with Muslims. The book can be read from cover to cover or treated more like a reference work where the inquisitive reader simply turns to the term that interests him.
Together, these four books provide a strong foundation for understanding what may soon be the world’s most dominant religion. With Muslims present in every country in the world, including yours and mine, it may be wise for us to be well prepared to share the gospel with them. These books will go a long way to doing just that.
-
Weekend A La Carte (July 30)
May you know the Lord’s blessings this weekend!
My gratitude goes to Getty Music this week for sponsoring the blog this week. Be sure to download your free Family Summer Hymnal filled with sheet music and MP3s for 20 Getty Music songs!
Today’s Kindle deals include a biography along with a few other picks.
(Yesterday on the blog: A Mid-Summer Family Update)
Does God Ever Tempt Us to Sin?
John Piper draws some important distinctions in his answer.
If God Knows Everything, do we have free Choice?
“If God knows everything, you basically have five types of explanations when it comes to free choice in saving faith…” Wyatt Graham outlines them.
The Value of Knowing Both Sides
“This skill—the skill of articulating both sides of an issue—is one that is in short supply in American culture. Most debates that we observe on television consist of two people trying to outshout and demonize each other. This is because it is much easier to dismiss opposing arguments than it is to understand them.”
Comedy Pet Photo
This is just for fun—the finalists from the 2022 Comedy Pet Photo competition.
Raiding Monticello
Janie Cheaney: “To make everything about one thing—whether racism, class warfare, democracy, or socialism—is to diminish all things. Only one idea is big enough to be about everything, and we worship Him so we don’t have to worship earthly heroes.”
Jesus is Not Ashamed of Subjects of Church Discipline
“Jesus instituted church discipline both to maintain the holiness of the church and to remind his people that he forgives them as they repent of their sins and submit to his lordship. We often focus on the first aspect—admonishment over sin that could end in excommunication. While this should get our attention and produce holy sobriety within us, it’s not the whole story. ”
Flashback: Foster Your Friendships
You need friends to temper your weakness, to challenge your sinfulness, to comfort your sorrows, to speak truth into your tragedies.Let’s admit that we are not enough, and turn to the God who is. —Jen Oshman
-
A La Carte (April 25)
Blessings to you today.
We once again have a good number of Kindle deals to look through.
Yesterday on the blog: Ask Me Anything (Habitual Sin, Women Taking the Initiative, Drag Shows, Escaping Laziness)
How J. K. Rowling Played, then Lost, the Polarization Game
Samuel James: “Rowling, more so than almost any other author, leveraged the expressive individualism intrinsic to the social media age to craft, and sell, a narrative about herself and her stories. In an age in which activists will cancel and decry pop culture artifacts for being insufficiently political, Rowling’s history illustrates the danger of pandering to this phenomenon and the way both art and political discourse suffer accordingly.”
God Wants Us to Serve the Undeserving
Dave tries to address a common misunderstanding among Christians: That “while the Bible teaches that we are to serve and help the weak and poor, we should only serve and help those who deserve it.”
Join John MacArthur, Costi Hinn, Aubrey Sequeira, and Others @ TRC23 *EARLYBIRD DISCOUNT ENDS APRIL 3OTH*
CLEAR GOSPEL. TRUE GOSPEL. Clear Gospel Proclamation is Necessary for True Gospel Understanding. June 28-29, 2023 @ Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, CA. (Sponsored Link)
When I Was Losing My Marriage, Jesus Taught Me to Forgive
“Seven months pregnant with our second son, I sat at the desk in our living room, devastated by the letter I had just read. My husband didn’t want to be married anymore.” Sheila Dougal tells how she learned to forgive, even in such a difficult circumstance.
Caring for Families with Cross-Dressing Children
John Piper takes on a very urgent question. “We have a young couple in our local church congregation that lets their small son wear dresses. They seem to let him choose most of what he wants to do. We, of course, see a lot of danger in this parenting method. They were asked to leave a previous church over this issue. What would be your approach to helping these parents with Scripture on this issue?”
Exalted above all things
“In this climate of deconstruction, deconversion, and apostasy I can be tempted to downplay the importance of God’s word. Am I elevating God’s word too much? I can feel my heart desiring the praise of men, and I can elevate the wisdom of men as a replacement for the wisdom that comes from the mouth of God.”
Were the Apostles converted before the Holy Spirit came at Pentecost?
Sinclair Ferguson and Derek Thomas provide good answers.
Flashback: Why Do Billionaires Want to Live Forever?
Why is it that billionaires always seem to want to live forever? I am convinced it isn’t because their lives are so satisfying but because their lives are so very dissatisfying. I am convinced it isn’t because their hearts are so full but because their hearts are so very empty.No one spoke about hell more than Jesus . . . because he, more than anyone, saw the true frightfulness of it. —Dane Ortlund
-
A La Carte (October 13)
May the Lord bless and keep you today.
There are lots of good titles related to counseling for sale at Westminster Books.
Today’s Kindle deals include a few good titles.
Dear Pastor . . . Your Shepherd Doesn’t Care How Big Your Church Is
“I never forgot those days in the foyer of the church plant, begging God to send just one or two more our way. I had learned a valuable lesson in the hard days of lack that helped me tremendously in the joyful days of gain—namely, that Christ isn’t really interested in how big my church is.”
Did the Heretics Outnumber the Orthodox in Early Christianity?
Michael Kruger: “One of the most common arguments about early Christianity—made popular by Walter Bauer’s 1934 book Orthodoxy and Heresy in Earliest Christianity—is that the earliest centuries had such enormous doctrinal diversity that the “heretics” were as prevalent, if not even more numerous, than the ‘orthodox.’ It was not until the 4th century, it is argued, that the orthodox began to turn the tide.”
God Tells Us How to Know Him
God created people for relationship with him (Gen. 1:26–31). This relationship depends on our knowing him. God has a mind, a will, and emotions. He communicates, revealing himself. This revelation comes in two basic forms: general revelation and special revelation. Without them, we cannot know God. God’s revelation is trustworthy, for God is trustworthy. (Sponsored Link)
Selina Hastings, Countess of Huntington
This is a good, short bio of one of my favorite historical figures.
You’re Never “Just” A Church Member
“‘I’m just a church member.’ Over the years, I’ve heard people say this when introducing themselves. There are many reasons why someone might say this (they may want to clarify that they aren’t in full-time ministry). But I cringe inside when I hear it. And if I’m able, I offer a gentle correction because there’s no such thing as “just” a church member.”
Why Is it Important for Christians To Affirm “Sola Scriptura”?
Stephen Nichols answers an important question.
The Horocruxes of Sexual Sin
“Sexual temptation suggests that fidelity won’t satisfy. If one sexual partner is good, more partners will be better. Why not experience pleasure with multiple partners? Think of what you are missing out on. Consider what that one partner doesn’t give you. Or, if you’re not married, how do you know you ever will be married? What does it hurt to fast forward that pleasure to now?”
Flashback: 7 Things Your Church Needs From You
Find the place you can serve your church, and serve there without fail, without excuse, without requiring praise and accolades. Do it for the good of others and the glory of God.Our infirmities become the black velvet on which the diamond of God’s love glitters all the more brightly. —Charles Spurgeon
