Why Women Live Longer Than Men ~ #1

25 Photos That Show Reasons Why Women Live Longer Than Men.  

Women have longer life expectancies than men. Even in countries where the longevity rates are higher for men, women always average 2-4 years longer. No one really knows for sure why…

#1.

Joe Ritchie ~ I have a Testimony!

Ed's Note:

• Joe Ritchie was born November 22nd 1974 of the flesh and born again of the Spirit October 1996. 

• From the "wrong side of the tracks" to "riding the train bound for glory", Joe has experienced much of life's ups and downs. A motor vehicle accident on May 27th 1990 left him physically paralyzed for life, but not to be undone he has found his place and purpose in Christ. Through his journey he has been blessed with miraculous healing and a call to ministry. Married in 2000 to his beautiful wife Michelle and blessed with their three wonderful children Braeden, Olivia and Amelia, the Ritchie family serves in the ministry of the Gospel of Christ. Joe has been a pastor in the Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada since 2001 and continues forward in his call, sharing his story, preaching the word and leading worship.

Here is Joe's story:

25 years ago, I died! 

It was in the early morning hours of May 27^th 1990 that it happened and I was 15 years old. A friend and I, who always took turns stealing our parent’s cars, took another wrong turn in life. It was his opportunity this time to take his mom’s car. We didn’t make it home. On Charron Line in Belle River, Ontario he lost control in the gravel shoulder at about 120 km/h. It was possible the car clipped a guard wire for a telephone pole as 

...the car flipped front to rear 3 or 4 times, bounced out of a ditch and landed on all four tires in a farmer’s field.  

The car was totaled and so was I. 

My friend was able to run to a house and call for help. I laid lifeless between the front bucket seats with broken ribs on each side, a punctured lung while the other lung filled with blood and a broken neck at C5,6,7 vertebrae. 

The Rochester fire department were the first on the scene.

They began to use the Jaws of Life to extract me from the rear window area. 

Once the paramedics arrived they said it was taking too long and they were losing me. At that point a firefighter jumped up on the roof and began to peel the roof back like a tin can. The others stood for a moment in awe like they were watching an act of God. The paramedics were able to then secure me to a body board and pull me out, but as they did I died.   

I was dead as they put me in the ambulance and drove away... doing everything they could to bring me back. They said it took approximately 7 minutes. However once I arrived at Metropolitan Hospital in Windsor and was received into the ER, I died again. This time it was clocked for 6 minutes.  Revived once more and in critical condition, the phone call was made to mom and dad. Terrible news and I cannot imagine the pain they felt. 

After a few days of traction, where they put screws in my scull that were tied to weights to keep my head and neck straight, the decision was made for surgery. A fusion was done on my vertebrae and the wait began for me to come back to a conscious state. It took 2 weeks. I remember that day as I opened my eyes I had no idea what happened. Where was I? Why was more than half my body unable to move? On life support, unable to feel from chest down, unable to move my arms, hands and fingers and unable to speak from a tracheotomy I was told what happened and tears rushed in like rain. 

Then it happened again, I was moved from my bed in ICU to a lazy boy recliner; why I don’t know, but I died again. This time I was able to experience it. Three minutes of no heart beat and clinically dead. Everything was black, but I could hear all that was happening. I had no idea in that moment that my heart stopped for three minutes and I was clinically dead. Not until it was all over and they told me what happened. 

After a couple more days they filled me in on what my life expectancy should be. A low functioning quadriplegic who will never walk again and will always need medical care and nursing aid. 

I get it. They gave me the worst case scenario. Thoughts of a life being treated like that were horrible. The pain in my heart was unbearable. Oh it took a long time to adjust with 6 years of depression and many wrong choices. 

The incredible suffering I endured physically was no match for the pain I felt in my heart, mind and soul. I turned to alcohol, drugs and promiscuity attempting anything to create joy in my life to mask the pain. Nothing worked. 

The truth is I had to die one last time.

I had to die to myself ! 

In October 1996 something happened that I never could have imagined or made up.  One night after another party of drugs and alcohol when all were gone except my best friend, my kid brother and my drug dealer, I met Jesus Christ. My personal drug dealer pretended to be Jesus Christ dead on a cross as a joke.

However, Jesus Christ showed Himself to me in that moment and in that moment I believed for the first time. 

I had no belief up until this point in God other than a Catholic upbringing that I never followed. I can’t explain it anymore than Jesus showed up in my kitchen and revealed Himself to me just for a moment; just enough for me to believe. 

I died to myself that day and began to live for Him. I have never looked back. 

Love, hope, joy, peace, forgiveness flooded and filled my life. I had never known this was possible before that day. I had no idea in the past that such a life existed. 

Many miracles have happened since then, but the greatest of them all is my changed heart!

I am so incredibly thankful. 

Further to the miracle of a changed heart God gave me more. It was August of 1998 at a Christian festival called Kingdom Bound” in Darien Lake New York 6 flags amusement park.“Kingdom Bound” in Darien Lake New York 6 flags amusement park.  It was the providence of God that I was there. You see by 1998 it had been 8 years after my accident. Eight years of being physically disabled in many ways. That included my limbs, my hands, my fingers, and my body from chest down. It also included things like the function of my bladder and bowels. I needed medical devices and medication in order to make them work. My bladder in particular was sadly a painful experience as I needed to insert a catheter every time I needed to empty it. Every time! That was about 6 times a day every day for 8 years! If you can imagine a plastic tube slightly lubricated and the word “friction” maybe you’ll understand it didn’t always work right. It would get stuck and bleed and get infected. I was even hospitalized because of it a couple years before. So there I was in my tent at Darien Lake New York needing to empty a full bladder and the catheter got stuck and I began to bleed. All I could think of was that I needed to go to the hospital again. I became very afraid of how that would have worked in another country not my own. So, instead of dwelling in that fear I decided to turn to God. In tears I asked the Lord to heal my bladder and enable me to “pee” without the use of a catheter. I got up out of my tent and went to the washroom and I peed for the first time in 8 years without one! It was not exactly normal but I could do it and I have been “peeing” on my own ever since! I have never used a catheter again! Hallelujah God gave me a physical miracle! When I got back home I immediately went to my family Doctor and told him the news. All he could say was, “that’s great Joe.”

If you have read this far I thank you so much for taking interest. My life now is more than I could have ever dreamed and it’s all because of God. My wife, my children, my family & friends, there are so many blessings too many to count. 

If you do not known Jesus yet please soften your heart to His voice. Cultivate a relationship with God in Christ and you’ll never be sorry you did, only sorry you didn’t. 

It was 25 years ago for me on May 27^th 2015 that I died, but it was only physical death. Spiritual death would have been much worse. I am so thankful that I lived that day in order that I would die again. 

I would die to myself and live for Jesus Christ; a death worth dying and a life worth living!

The Perception of DAD

JACK HAYFORD Explains What Holiness Really Is

 JACK HAYFORD

Jack Hayford

As often as the word holy is used by Christians, you'd think that we could all agree on a uniform understanding of its meaning. We read our "Holy" Bibles. We receive "Holy" Communion. We sing the hymn "Holy, Holy, Holy" and acknowledge the "Holy" Spirit, the third person of the Godhead. We understand the word generally to mean "divine" or "of God."

But when Christians start to discuss holiness, they discover that the implications of the word vary widely.

It seems that holiness can mean anything from a name for the pope to teetotalism and not wearing makeup.

What do you think it means? What does the word holy (or the closely related words sanctify or sanctification) suggest to you? The word in some form—holy, holiness, holiest, allow, hallowed—occurs nearly 700 times in the English Bible. Certainly, it's an important word. The average believer seems to feel threatened by the idea of holiness. He tends to see it as something unapproachable, a demanding standard of life that seems to be well beyond him. Believers tend to define it by "feel" more than by fact, and the feeling seems to be, "Boy, that's way beyond me (although I sure want to try my best!)."

The Holy Spirit desires to bring each of us to complete personhood. This practical pursuit—our partnering with Him as He comes to help—is geared to make us whole or holy. That's what "holiness" is really about—wholeness. 

What the Holy Spirit is up to is bringing the whole life of Jesus Christ into the whole of our personalities so that the whole love of God can be relayed to the whole world.

The word holy is derived from the medieval English hal, an 11th century word that is the root to such contemporary words as health, hale, whole and holy. Obviously, holiness is more than an esoteric spiritual attribute, and it relates to more than merely the invisible. Holiness involves the completion in all parts of the human being. As the Holy Spirit rebuilds you to the depths of your being ...

*Your spirit can be revived to life in God (made holy).
*Your soul can be restored in mind and emotions (made whole).
*Your physical body, habits and conditions can become disciplined, recovering to well-being (kept healthy).

Now, doesn't holiness look like a far more desirable goal, even a practical, attainable reality? 

God wants to make us holy—just as He is.

Because both terms—holiness and sanctification—have become smothered in religious verbiage, we must uncover the truth about holiness if holiness is God's goal for us. If full sanctification is something each of us should truly desire, and if you and I are not likely to hunger or thirst for something that we don't understand or feel intimidated by or have a distorted idea about, then we need to explore the real meaning of holy some more.

In 1 Thessalonians 5:23, Paul prays for the believers in Thessalonica: "Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ" (NKJV). 

His words reveal three aspects of sanctification or holiness, which is the same as full recovery of the three-part nature of man (spirit, soul and body).  

1. Holiness/sanctification is for now.

2. Holiness/sanctification is something God Himself will do in you.

3. Holiness/sanctification involves your peace, completeness and wholeness.

In short, God is ready to do everything He can to put you fully together, starting today! Paul's prayer holds a tremendous promise: "May the God of peace ... sanctify you." The essential idea of the word eirene (peace) is unity, of fragments or separated parts being brought together. This is a wonderful promise, relevant to our own broken hearts. 

Holy as He Is Holy
The phrase "be holy as He is holy," far from being a prohibitive summons or unattainable goal, actually gives us a glimpse into the Father's heart and desire for us. The phrase is used first in Leviticus: "For I am the Lord your God. You shall therefore consecrate [sanctify] yourselves, and you shall be holy; for I am holy" (Lev. 11:44). 

It's used again, in essence, in Jesus' words, recorded in Matthew's Gospel: "Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect" (5:48). 

Here are both an Old Testament and a New Testament summons calling you and me to be perfect. How can this be? How can we possibly measure up?

A divine call that was intended to beget hope instead produces fear and condemnation. We will never really gain ground until our sense of being "failures before we start" gets broken. If the walls of our personalities are going to be rebuilt, we must come to a place of comfort and confidence about both the goal and the process.

Nothing hinders the pursuit of holiness more than a sense of condemnation, which always includes guilt, unworthiness and the sense of impossibility about ever being able to truly measure up to God's standards. We must fully "own" the truth that our holiness has been secured before God by virtue of our position in Jesus Christ. Jesus' sinless record was credited to your account. The epistle to the Romans often uses the word  justified, a word indicating that God has made a positive legal judgment about you. 

By the standards of the highest court in the universe, He regards you as holy when you put your trust in Jesus Christ. 

God's Word also gets specific about holiness in practice. God wants us to get on with lives that are lived "holy," lives in which we practice holiness in thought and conduct. This implies growth. It's as if we grow up into the holiness that Jesus has provided for us. Once we grasp this, we are on the way to understanding "be holy as He is holy" in a new way.

What is the Lord Jesus really saying here, "Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect"? I used to think this was solely a commandment, but I have come to see it as more of a promise. Here's what it really means: "Because your Father is holy, you are assured already that you are en route to holiness."

We come to understand two important points: (1) holiness in God's changeless nature, and (2) His promise about our new nature. These understandings bring us to a settled confidence about our future.

Holiness is that attribute of God by which He preserves the integrity of His own being. This means God never needs to be reminded to be good, loving, wise or wonderful. He doesn't labor to accomplish what most of us define as "being holy." Instead, because God's very nature is holy, He will never be less than what He is already. His holiness guarantees the changeless integrity of His own being.

What does that mean for you? It means He'll never be without love for you. He'll never be less than merciful. He'll never be anything other than just. And He'll remake you so you can reflect His integrity of being in your own personality and actions.

I don't need to tell you that the human personality falls far short of God's integrity of character. Our integrity has been shattered, smashed and damaged, reduced to far less than it was made to be. The good news is that we don't have to remain that way. Here comes our Savior! He comes not only to forgive us but also to restore us. His plan is to give birth to each of us all over again and, through this new birth, to place in us a new seed. 

It's like a new genetic principle: We are to be "born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever" (1 Pet. 1:23).

First John 3:6, 9 says: "Whoever abides in Him does not sin. Whoever sins has neither seen Him nor known Him. Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he [is] born of God."

I used to read those verses and want to give up. I would say: "Well, I think I'm born of God, but this says that if you are, you don't sin. But sometimes I still do. I don't want to, but I do. I love the Lord, and I'm trying to become more holy, but I sin."

Then the words of verse 8 would haunt me: "He who sins is of the devil." Doubt and futility would grip me: "Since I'm not sinless yet, am I really saved? So in reality, I must be 'of the devil'?" Years went by, and no one ever told me differently. Like many people, repeated trips to the altar and the prayer room seemed to be the only way I knew to assure God's acceptance. But one day I learned that the same verses that had confused me held a mighty truth.

My misunderstanding was overcome simply by discovering the tense of the Greek verb. In this verse, the original language actually says, "Whoever is born of God does not keep on sinning." In fact, the chapter immediately preceding already establishes the idea that it's only by the help of the Spirit of Jesus that we can grow in our ability to resist sin: "My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world" (1 John 2:1-2).

So what the Bible is really saying is this: "Whoever is born of God does not keep on sinning." Those of us who have been reborn just don't make good sinners anymore. The more we grow, the harder it gets to keep at it the same way we did before. The message is also this: The seed of His new life in me assures me that my destiny is to conquer sinning. 

How often, before you knew Christ, did you sin and feel justified in doing so? Remember feeling free to retaliate, to let your temper flare or to serve yourself selfishly? Have you noticed since your rebirth that an inner sense of wanting to please God has begun to predominate? Are you more sensitive toward doing His will? 

Here's why: What is born of God doesn't want to keep on sinning because He has planted His seed in you. God's seed is in you! He says, "I birthed you into My life, and therefore, the attributes of My personality will be forthcoming in you."

As any photograph of me reveals, I have a receded hairline. I didn't plan to be balding. In my early 20s I didn't make a decision: "I think I'll start losing hair." But I did begin losing it, and anyone could've predicted that it would happen. Both of my grandfathers and my dad had precisely the same hairline, and the same genetic principle that caused them to be balding was transmitted to me. My brother and I have patterns of baldness similar to our forebears. The biological genetic "seed" transmitted to us.

This rather silly illustration points out how God is saying to you and me: "My seed is in you, and since I am holy, increasingly you are going to be holy too." We shall be holy for He is holy. We shall become perfected just as He is perfect.

Holiness—His holy nature—is progressively going to fill my broken, weak and damaged parts. The character and constancy of my Father will grow in me. 

Why the Holy Spirit Won't Rest
The Holy Spirit is after that growth and rebuilding in each of us, no matter how long it takes.   We see this exemplified early in the story of Nehemiah, who oversaw the rebuilding of Jerusalem's walls. 

Nehemiah was the cupbearer (i.e., a respected adviser) for King Artaxerxes, who ruled the 127 provinces of the massive Persian Empire. When the king asked about Nehemiah's sad countenance, the Israelite explained his desire to complete reconstruction of the city walls and gates. 

The king replied, "How long will your journey be?"

"And I set him a time." Nehemiah registered his request (Neh. 2:5-6). How long a time did he ask for? As we learn later in the account, Nehemiah asked the king for 12 years! I can imagine a man asking, "May I have a two-month leave of absence?" or "Well, King, Sire, I would like the opportunity to be there. Could I possibly have a year?" But 12 years?

Amazingly, the king agreed to Nehemiah's request. From his reaction at the time he first received Hanani's report of the dire condition of the Jews in Jerusalem, through his willingness to risk his life asking for the king's permission to leave his position, and now to his request for an incredibly long leave of absence—more than a decade—Nehemiah exemplifies the character and heart of the Spirit of God. Nehemiah could not be content until his people were taken care of.

In this way, the Holy Spirit will not rest until you and I are taken care of.   He comes to work in us and with us to rebuild the walls of our God-ordained personalities, and He will not be deterred by the probable length of the task. As the king agreed, so it is today: "The Lord will perfect that which concerns me; Your mercy, O Lord, endures forever" (Ps. 138:8).

Whatever time it takes, He is committed to your completion, and that completed work will be a work of holiness unto the Lord—worked in you by the Holy Spirit of God. He will complete the job of restoring your personality. He will "reprogram" you.

The Gospel of Matthew reports that as many as touched Jesus were made whole—thoroughly whole (14:36). John indicates that a well of the water of new life will bubble up inside you (John 4:14). 

By the direct action of the Holy Spirit, God will cause that well to burst open so that rivers of the Spirit will flow out of your inner being.  That flowing is designed to work a full restoration of the real you.

Jack Hayford is the founding pastor of The Church On The Way in Van Nuys, Calif. A prolific writer, he has authored almost four-dozen books and composed more than 600 hymns, songs and choruses, most noted of which is the classic "Majesty," written in 1978. Hayford is also founder and president of The King's University, an accredited, Spirit-filled interdenominational institution in Los Angeles.

By Chance?

Warning Message! ...Gimme Some Sugar! ~ by Steve Hill

Ed's note:   WE NEED REVIVAL in our hearts, in our homes AND IN OUR CHURCH !  REVIVE YOUR CHURCH O LORD!  Pentecostal preacher Steve Hill tells it like it is.

Gimme Some Sugar ~ Pastor Steve Hill

This is a Warning Message from Evangelist Steve Hill; to all Ministers of God. 

• "No-one was ever saved by a movie clip"  ~ Steve Hill
• "No-one was ever saved by trying to sing cool songs on Sunday morning!" ~ Steve Hill

Steve Hill is best known as the evangelist who preached in what became known as the Brownsville Revival.  Hill was a former drug addict and then graduate of Teen Challenge.  Hill was involved in a series of meetings at Brownsville Assembly of God in Pensacola, Florida that began on Father's Day, 1995 and continued for five years. In 2000, Steve Hill moved to the Dallas/Fort Worth area in Texas to resume traveling evangelism. In 2003, he founded Heartland World Ministries Church in the Las Colinas section of Irving, Texas, a suburb of Dallas.

Hill graduated from a two-year ministry training school run by Teen Challenge founder David Wilkerson. From there, he served on the staff with Outreach Ministries of Alabama, then as a youth pastor at several churches in Florida. In the mid-1980s, he and his wife became missionaries, holding crusades and planting churches in Argentina, Spain, and Belarus. Early in 1995, Hill went to London, England where a revival was happening at Holy Trinity Brompton Anglican Church. The pastor, Sandy Miller, prayed for Hill. A few months later, Hill stopped at Brownsville Assembly on Father's Day to preach one service before heading off to minister in Russia.

As word spread of the revival at Brownsville, Hill canceled all plans to go to Russia, and preached several revival services each week for the next five years.

Steve Hill died on March 9, 2014. A posting on his Facebook page read "Today, March 9 Steve crossed the finish line. Steve lived every day with eternity in view, today he finally saw it with his own eyes. The Church has lost a general in the faith, heaven has gained a saint. Please remember Jeri, Ryan, Shelby, Kelsey and the family in your prayers."

For more information about Steve Hill and his life works of God, visit http://www.stevehill.org.

Sins of the Flesh ~ Allon Hornby

Related Post: 7 QUESTIONS FOR: CARLENE HORNBY ALLEN (Allon Hornby's daughter)

Ed's Note:  The 1980's found me living in Vancouver, BC, getting in some amazing skiing, flying Twin Otter aircraft both on wheels and floats and attending Broadway Tabernacle, a vibrant community of believers some 1,200 strong & mentored by Pastor Allon Hornby.  If you weren't very sharp and came to church late, you'd likely be standing in the halls near the entrance for lack of space. Even the "nose-bleed section" would be full of people.  It was a 'happening place' like few other churches and 'the place to be!' (specifically I mean Sunday morning or the Sunday night evangelistic service).

I have nothing but fond memories of my friendship with him and how he impacted my life at just the time the rubber was starting to hit the road in my formidable years. You know that time in your life....when you just needed a bit of help in your thinking...just needed to bounce a few ideas off of someone....know what I mean?  ...and he knew exactly how to 'say it just right', ....simply and to the point with maximum effectiveness.  I remember how the "prayer-room"  (many of you don't have a clue of what I mean by the "prayer-room") was full on Sunday evenings with scores of young people seeking God for their lives and I remember Pastor Hornby many times coming over to pray with me as a young man as I sought God's direction for my life. As well I enjoyed his fellowship when he invited me into his home for a family meal, saying "...bring a date if you'd like to"....and I did. A genuinely warm minister of the gospel.

Long after I'd left Canada...perhaps a year since gone and working for Mission Aviation Fellowship in Ethiopia (East Africa) as a missions pilot, I received a 5 or 6 page personal hand-written letter from this spiritual-giant-gentleman. This was a time in our history when email and the internet was unheard of, when faxes hadn't been invented quite yet and snail-mail was the "in-thing".  What a big deal it was to receive a letter when far from home.  I remember sitting in that far off country and reading and re-reading each line and page.  It struck me then what an unusual warm friend he made himself to me.  What a treat it was to get that letter (I still have it), and I couldn't help but marvel how he'd even remembered me (me?) and had found the time to write me all the while being the busy senior pastor of a 1,200 member church in a busy west coast city.

In his book, "People in the Presence of God: Models and Directions for Worship (Pg 76)- (see Link)(Zondervan/Amazon.ca)  author Barry Wayne Liesch writes about a worship service model developed by Pastor Hornby at Broadway Tabernacle.  This was a unique feature of Pastor Hornby's church and the prayer teams he had organized.

Liesch writes...
"The dynamics of maximum participation can also be incorporated into larger worship assemblies of several hundred people. Some churches are achieving this through a segment in their morning worship called "ministry time".  During the period of congregational praise, an announcement invites anyone with a need - mental, emotional, physical, financial, or spiritual - to come forward.  People may also come to intercede for someone else they know is hurting.  There is no great emotional appeal, no coaxing, pleading, or hype of any kind.  When the announcement is completed, the ministry team goes to the front and faces the pulpit.  As the congregation continues its worship in song, people from the congregation are free to come forward, stand with the team, and then share their need with a team member.  Everyone is prayed for.  After several minutes, a time of general congregational prayer takes place, followed by more praise, during which those who have come forward can take their seats.  Pastor Allon Hornby of Broadway Tabernacle in Vancouver, British Columbia adopted the ministry-time concept in his worship service.  He strongly endorses the idea."

In this above-mentioned book,  he quotes Pastor Hornby as follows:

"Apart from the sermon, it is the single most significant thing that happens in our morning worship service.  We have seen people saved and God answer prayer!  People have been healed.  Ministry time is different fron an "altar-call".  There is a process that goes on.  

There is a sharing of the need - a finding out of the need, before the praying and laying on of hands by the team member(s).  The ministry team becomes involved.  There are other benefits to our service from "ministry-time." 

On the pastor's side, it breaks down the "Thou-I" distinction between the pulpit and the people.  It allows for a body-feeling in the service.  On the people's side it allows an opportunity for a one-on-one encounter.  Most importantly, it has strengthened the faith of our entire congregation as our people have seen God work in answer to prayer." ~Pastor Allon Hornby


After Pastor Hornby had been on staff for probably 15 years, he decided on his own to hold a vote of confidence in his leadership role as Senior pastor as he personally mapped out his senior working years.  He was wanting to find out whether the church wanted him to "stay-on" or should he take an available opportunity to teach in a bible school.  Well when the vote came in, few people were surprised....it was nearly 100% in his favour (my February 1987 journal entry says it was 99% ~ 365 members for and only 4 against) of this large congregation who didn't want him to slip away.  So he stayed as pastor until his death.  He was a gifted communicator, teacher and highly relational....and my friend!  Well ...that was Allon Hornby....one of the people who have impacted my life deeply.

Ed's Note:  To enlarge the following pages to large print:

• Right Click on the page and select "Open Image in a new tab")

Evangelicals are un-Canadian: ~ NDP leader Thomas Mulcair

SUN Link : Thomas Mulcair says ...
BY DANIEL PROUSSALIDIS, NATIONAL BUREAU

OTTAWA - NDP Leader Thomas Mulcair lashed out at evangelical Christian groups Monday, accusing them of going "completely against" Canadian values and law with their beliefs about homosexuality.

Mulcair's anger spilled over when reporters asked about Crossroads Relief and Development - a group that's received $389,000 from the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) to build wells and provide clean water to 11,000 people Uganda.

Crossroads has called homosexuality a sin, a belief the NDP connects to anti-gay violence in Uganda and a stalled Ugandan bill to prohibit gay rights promotion.

"We don't understand how the Conservatives can ... subsidize a group in Uganda whose views are identical to those of the Ugandan government," Mulcair said.

It's not clear how Mulcair drew that conclusion.

Crossroads' water project partner group in Africa, Victory Outreach Ministries, states on its website that while homosexuality is sinful, gays are "created in God's image, and we condemn the activities of those who are violent towards gays."

Don Hutchinson, with the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada, said Mulcair should know the Supreme Court has ruled religious beliefs don't disqualify Canadians from engagement with government.

He adds that Canadian evangelicals have spent more than $535 million on development work overseas.

"When you work with organizations that function on the 'love your neighbour' principle, you get a better return on your dollar," he said.

CIDA has frozen another $156,000 in Crossroads funding until it can review the organization's work.

A government source told QMI Agency the review is to ensure Crossroads isn't denying aid to Ugandans based on sexual orientation.

Talking to the Cults ~ Witnessing to a Muslim

Islam’s View of God and His Revelation

Reaching Muslims, Part 1

by Rich Wendling and Daniel Shayesteh 

 
 
 

How hard is it to share the gospel with a Muslim? By observing a few basic pointers, any believer can begin effectively sharing the good news of his Creator God.

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Encountering a Muslim is no longer limited to a handful of Western tourists who happen to visit Egypt, Turkey, or some other popular Middle Eastern destination. Nearly 2.5 million Muslims now call the United States home, another 3 million reside in the United Kingdom, and similar numbers inhabit every other major English-speaking country.

So more than ever, Christians in the West need to understand the unique challenges of sharing the gospel with Muslims. Every believer’s heartbeat should be to lovingly share Christ’s gracious work in a way that any precious soul can understand—regardless of his or her religion.

This task may sound intimidating, but if you have already studied the basics of defending your faith, you are well on your way. In fact, apologetics (a well-reasoned, Bible-based explanation of your Christian beliefs) is a powerful tool in any kind of evangelism. Whenever you bring up deep topics, such as the purpose of life and eternity, people are easily drawn into fruitful conversations that they find very relevant to their lives.

With an apologetics approach, you are able not only to defend your faith but also to lovingly challenge them to reconsider their own beliefs.

The Fundamental Issue in Every Conversation

Before you begin a conversation with Muslims, remember that each person evaluates all “evidence” in light of presuppositions. Presuppositions are those underlying beliefs that drive how we think and interpret the world around us. A Muslim’s presuppositions, usually ingrained in him since childhood, will color the way he interprets everything you say.

This article will examine the Islamic presuppositions about God and His revelation. By bringing these presuppositions to the surface, you can demonstrate the fundamental flaws in Islam and then graciously point to the truth of the Bible. As the Holy Spirit pulls down “spiritual strongholds” (2 Corinthians 10:4–5), He can also open the heart and mind of the Muslim to hear the gospel.

The next article in this series will examine two other critical issues: the Muslim view of man’s sinful nature and salvation. By the time you finish both articles, you should be ready to converse profitably with any Muslim.

Islam’s View of God and the Christian Response

The Quran’s description of Allah, Islam’s supreme being, creates two insoluble contradictions: he is unknowable but we can know him; and he is merciful, but he has no just cause for his mercy. The Bible, in contrast, gives logical reasons we can know God and find consolation in His mercy.

We will examine each in turn.

An unknowable, impersonal god. Absolute monotheism is the core presupposition of Islam. The doctrine of tawhid(oneness) in Islam states that Allah is utterly transcendent (Quran 112:1–4). In other words, He is not just monotheistic but a wholly distinct, unique, indivisible, and completely separate (impersonal) being who is unknowable by “personal” beings like us. Allah exists without a place, independent of creation, with no resemblance to his creations. Nothing in all of creation can be compared to Allah.

This central doctrine of tawhid creates an interesting logical challenge. How can one know anything about something that is unknowable?

The Hadith, or tradition attributed to Muhammad, also teaches that Allah has ninety-nine names that describe various aspects of Allah’s nature and personalities. If Allah is unknowable, then how can we attribute ninety-nine names to him and make him known?

The Bible, in contrast, reveals that God is personal, and He has revealed Himself in the Bible so that He can be known. In fact, the Bible teaches that God created mankind for the express purpose of knowing Him personally.

A just but merciful god. Islam calls Allah just (Quran 4:40), and to be perfectly just, Allah must punish all sin. Yet the Quran also teaches that Allah is merciful, forgiving those whom he chooses to forgive (Quran 4:110; 73:20). This creates a logical contradiction, which prevents Allah from being either just or merciful.

If he is truly merciful, why isn’t he saving people during their life on earth rather than leaving their destiny uncertain until the afterlife, as the Quran teaches? To withhold salvation until the afterlife means that Allah ignores people’s daily cry for freedom from sin and Satan. In other words, he is uninterested in establishing heavenly justice while his followers live on earth, thus liberating them from Satan’s present dominion.

UNLIKE ISLAM, CHRISTIANITY OFFERS AN ANSWER TO THE APPARENT DILEMMA OF A JUST BUT MERCIFUL GOD: THE SUBSTITUTIONARY SACRIFICE OF CHRIST.

Unlike Islam, Christianity offers an answer to the apparent dilemma of a just but merciful God: the substitutionary sacrifice of Christ satisfied God’s justice while enabling Him to show mercy. Unlike Allah, the God of the Bible extends His justice to people while they live here on earth, allowing them to trust Him and be saved now (Matthew 12:18–21; Isaiah 42:1–4). So God’s approach to people, as revealed in the Bible, is both just and merciful.

Islam’s View of the Bible and the Christian Response

Islam teaches that the Torah was Allah’s first revelation and the gospel was second. But both became corrupted, so Allah gave the Quran to Muhammad to put people back on the right path. Muslims believe the Quran is Allah’s third and final revelation, his perfect, unchanged words.

This brings up another contradiction in the Quran. The Quran teaches that Allah’s words cannot be changed (Quran 6:115; 18:27), yet it also teaches that the Torah and Gospels were changed and became corrupted.

In contrast, the Bible recognizes no other writings as Scripture, and in fact it warns against adding to or taking away from its teachings (Proverbs 30:6; Deuteronomy 4:2, 12:32; Revelation 22:18–19). There is no evidence from Bible manuscripts or history that the Bible was ever changed. (Indeed, all the surviving manuscript evidence points to the opposite conclusion.)

But the Quran itself teaches that Muhammad changed some of its verses and that his followers shredded the Quran (Quran 2:106; 16:101; 15:90–91). For this reason, it will be eye-opening for Muslims if you encourage them to compare the Quran and the Bible and they discover that the Bible is absolutely trustworthy while the Quran is not. Since Islam teaches that the Bible—especially the first five books of the Old Testament and the Gospels—is God’s Word, it is extremely appropriate to refer to the Bible when you show how Christian and Islamic beliefs differ.

Islamic Belief in the Bible’s Corruption and the Christian Response

Muhammad claimed that the Bible predicted his name and that he would come after Jesus to complete His unfinished mission. After the death of Muhammad, his followers searched the Bible but did not find the name Muhammad. So they announced that the Bible was corrupted. The Christian should challenge the Muslim to consider the possibility that Muhammad was wrong and the Bible is correct.

Muhammad gave a second reason that the Bible must be corrupted: Christians and Jews believe that God has children but God does not have sexual desires and cannot have children. Muhammad did not know that God is called a spiritual Father of His people (John 4:23–24) but He was never a “father” of any human as a result of a sexual relationship. The Christian should show the Gospel passages that describe Jesus’s conception and show that no sexual relation was involved (Matthew 1:18; Luke 1:29–38; John 1:12–13).

The third reason for claiming the Bible’s corruption is the trinity.

The Quran incorrectly teaches that the Christian doctrine of the trinity is that there are three gods: God the father, Mary his wife, and Jesus their son (Quran 5:116). Muhammad taught his followers that Christians called Jesus God and made Mary equal to God, so they believe in three gods.

He did not know that the Gospels never call Mary God and that Jesus was the personal revelation of the One true God who, in His desire to build a personal relationship with His people, took on human form (John 1:14) to die for their sins (Matthew 20:28). It is important to correct these mistaken views, which are among the main reasons Muslims have rejected Christianity for centuries.

Islam’s View of Christ and the Christian Response

The doctrine of the Trinity deserves special care when you talk to Muslims. Since the oneness of God is central to their thinking, the trinity is a very difficult concept and must be introduced with care. It is usually wise to delay this discussion until the appropriate time, such as when you are explaining Christ’s loving role as Savior.

Allah is described as a god of love (Quran 11:90; 85:14). But this is problematic for tawhid, which describes him as impersonal. Love requires a personal nature that searches for another personal object on which to express love. (In other words, love exists only between two persons.) Love cannot be attributed to an impersonal being.

Also, since Allah is impersonal, he is without multiple persons in his own being on which to show love before creating the world and teaching love to his creatures. If Allah did not have the attribute of love before creation, how could he create beings with this attribute? A nonloving God cannot create loving creatures.

Unlike in Allah, the very nature of the triune God of the Bible is love (1 John 4:8). Each person of the Trinity— Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—has loved each of the others from eternity. The triune God has always had an object for His love.

Indeed, God’s desire to reveal His loving nature in each Person is the very reason He expressed His love to humanity. As the Father, He loved to save people; as the Son, He put that love into practice; and as the Holy Spirit, He carries His love through to the end. We will examine this important topic in more detail in the next part of this series.

Reaching Muslims Series, Part 2

Islam’s View of Sin and Salvation

God Made Us to Overcome Barriers

God created all human beings, including Muslims, with freedom of choice and the capacity to listen, read, and understand. By God’s grace the barriers that separate anyone from Him can be overcome. Unless the barriers and misconceptions are pointed out and corrected, they cannot be removed. The Christians’ challenge is to understand the basic presuppositions, practices, and shortcomings of Islam so that they can give well-reasoned arguments for the Bible’s truth, which God can use to reach the Muslim.

The Quran vs. the Bible

Though the Quran claims to confirm the Torah and the Gospels, it actually contradicts them in many key areas. For example,

• The Torah states that God created man in His own image and good (Genesis 1:26); the Quran states that Allah created man in toil and trouble (Quran 90:4).
• The Torah states that people have a right to inquire about the prophet’s words and deeds (Deuteronomy 18:20–21); the Quran states that people have no right to question the prophet and his successors at all (Quran 33:36; 59:7).
• The Gospels state that lies come from the devil in whom is no truth (John 8:44); the Quran states that lying is legitimate under certain circumstances (Quran 2:225; 3:28; 16:106).
• The Gospels state that Jesus died, was buried, and rose on the third day; the Quran states that Jesus did not die but was raised alive into heaven (Quran 4:157–158).
• The Gospels declare Jesus to be the Son of God; the Quran declares Jesus to be a mere man—albeit a prophet—but not the Son of God (Quran 9:30).
• Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6); Islam rejects this concept and teaches that Jesus was a prophet but Muhammad was a greater prophet.

The Quran contradicts the Torah and Gospels in hundreds of other ways, too. The Quran cannot be true if it confirms the Torah and Gospels and yet contradicts most of their key doctrines.

Rich Wendling, an Answers in Genesis–USA employee, is currently earning his masters degree in theological studies from Liberty University (Virginia). For thirteen years, he taught science, social studies, and math in public schools.

Daniel Shayesteh, a former radical Muslim, travels wherever possible through his ministry Exodus from Darkness to provide insight into the Quran’s teachings regarding salvation, Adam and Eve, and Christians. He has written numerous books including Islam and the Son of God.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4