Responding to Muslim Violence To the Pope

Most of us are amazed at the way so many Muslims have reacted to the Pope's statements about the necessity of any religion to reject violence as a way to evangelize. One would think that Muslim leaders would consider just how awful it would look to audiences around the world if they did exactly what the Pope was criticizing. Yet, many Muslim leaders went immediately to their marketing departments and organized large, violent protests stating that the Pope and other Christians should be immediately killed.

Why would a marketing department demand such an irrational course of action?You might ask why I state that the Muslims were guided by their paid marketers. It is simple.

1. The Muslim marchers are mostly illiterate and yet they had signs in well painted English.
2. Who knows English? Paid marketers?
3. Why English? So CNN and The New York Times and other western media can read it and show it to Americans.
4. So the signs are for our American consumption not the locals. They really want the left wing liberal media to react and they did. The Times actually criticized the Pope not the Mulims! I suppose they are afraid of being bombed.
5. Local Muslims can not read or understand what the Pope said so someone paid by them developed the slogans, painted the signs and told them what to say.
6. Western marketing moguls are behind the protests. That may be why they were so dumb and counter productive.

How do we respond?By rejecting violence but realizing how REACTIVE and out of control many Muslims are to any perceived slight. Reactive people do not think things through or make decisions on rational reasons.

They are at the mercy of their own emotional problems and inner discussions.We need to pray for them to know Jesus Christ.

Take a look at John Piper's blog on this topic.Resource Library / Taste & See Articles / By Date / 2006 / How Christians Should Respond to Muslim Outrage at the Pope's Regensburg


The Process of Change in Coming to Christ

A few posts ago I showed some photos of the Greater Cincinnati Baptist Association Pastors who gather weekly at the Life Way Counseling center Offices in Blue Ash to discuss leadership, influence and change.

As a person with deep Baptist roots I am happy to say that these men are deeply commited to Christ and to growing the church in healthy ways.We are discussing ways to influence people as God brings changes in their lives and I am promoting the idea that all change is incremental, step by step and usually slow over a period of time.

The problem lies in an instant mashed potato society that expects change to be quick and easy.I have developed a way of showing what I think is a biblical way to describe the stages of change from being against God, called scoffers in the Bible, to being sold out to Jesus.

The above article notes how reactive many Muslims are to anything that is contrary to its teachings. However, many Muslims are coming to faith in jesus Christ through visions, dreams, seeing Jesus and through the lives of missionaries. It is rarely a sudden and dramatic change. Most of the time conversion comes over many years and many witnesses.

More later on this point.