Is Haiti Cursed?

haiti earthquakeIn the aftermath of the devastation in Haiti, Pat Robertson made international headlines by claiming that the country is cursed.  Robertson stated that the troubles in Haiti can be traced back to the time they “swore a pact with the devil” while fighting for their independence from France. World leaders and news outlets immediately denounced Robertson’s comments as inaccurate and insensitive in this time of tragedy.

Knee jerk reactions seem to abound on both sides. Perhaps a more reasoned analysis is needed.

Jesus in the Qur'an

My good friend Dr. Bud Colegrove sent a paper to me this week and we decided to share portions of it for your review. We have split the material into three posts and redacted the original paper to conform to the space limitations of this blog. You can download the entire paper at this link.

Jesus in the Qur'an – Answering Islam

The Qur’an discusses some relatively superficial incidents in the life of Jesus. However, in spite of the fact that the Qur’an, and some Muslims, holds Jesus in high regard as a Prophet, the Qur’an says virtually nothing about the teachings of Jesus. For that, we must turn to the Bible and the New Testament where those who were witnesses to His life, works, and teachings established a record. Muhammad lived 600 years after Jesus and had a poor understanding of the New Testament and a poorer understanding of the teachings of Jesus.

Jesus in the Qur'an – Pt 2

Surah 2:87 For, indeed, We vouchsafed unto Moses the divine writ and caused apostle after apostle to follow him; and We vouchsafed unto Jesus, the son of Mary, all evidence of the truth, and strengthened him with holy inspiration. [Yet] is it not so that every time an apostle came unto you with something that was not to your liking, you gloried in your arrogance, and to some of them you gave the lie, while others you would slay?

Surah 2:136 Say: “We believe in God, and in that which has been bestowed from on high upon us, and that which has been bestowed upon Abraham and Ishmael and Isaac and Jacob and, their descendants, and that which has been vouchsafed to Moses and Jesus; and that which has been vouchsafed to all the [other] prophets by their Sustainer: we make no distinction between any of them. And it is unto Him that we surrender ourselves.”

Surah 2:253 Some of these apostles have We endowed more highly than others: among them were such as.were spoken to by God [Himself], and some He has raised yet higher.’ And We vouchsafed unto Jesus, the son of Mary, all evidence of the truth, and strengthened him with holy inspiration. And if God had so willed, they who succeeded those [apostles] would not have contended with one another after all evidence of the truth had come to them; but [as it was,] they did take to divergent views, and some of them attained to faith, while some of them came to deny the truth. Yet if God had so willed, they would not have contended with one another: but God does whatever He wills.

Surah 3:42-55 AND LO! The angels said: “O Mary! Behold, God has elected thee and made thee pure, and raised thee above all the women of the world. O Mary! Remain thou truly devout unto thy Sustainer, and prostrate thyself in worship, and bow down with those who bow down [before Him].” This account of something that was beyond the reach of thy perception We [now] reveal unto thee: for thou wert not with them when they drew lots as to which of them should be Mary’s guardian, and thou wert not with them when they contended [about it] with one another. Lo! The angels said: “O Mary! Behold, God sends thee the glad tiding, through a word from Him, [of a son] who shall become known as the Christ Jesus, son of Mary, of great honour in this world and in the life to come, and [shall be] of those who are drawn near unto God. And he shall speak unto men in his cradle, and as a grown man, and shall be of the righteous.” Said she: “O my Sustainer! How can I have a son when no man has ever touched me?” [The angel] answered: “Thus it is: God creates what He wills when He wills a thing to be, He but says unto it, ‘Be’ – and it is. And he will impart unto thy son revelation, and wisdom, and the Torah, and the Gospel, and [will make him] an apostle unto the children of Israel.” “I HAVE COME unto you with a message from your Sustainer. I shall create for you out of clay, as it were, the shape of [your] destiny, and then breathe into it, so that it might become [your] destiny by God’s leave; and I shall heal the blind and the leper, and bring the dead back to life by God’s leave; and I shall let you know what you may eat and what you should store up in your houses. Behold, in all this there is indeed a message for you, if you are [truly] believers. “And [I have come] to confirm the truth of whatever there still remains of the Torah, and to make lawful unto you some of the things which [aforetime] were forbidden to you. And I have come unto you with a message from your Sustainer; remain, then, conscious of God, and pay heed unto me. “Verily, God is my Sustainer as well as your Sustainer; so worship Him [alone]: this is a straight way.” And when Jesus became aware of their refusal to acknowledge the truth, he asked: “Who will be my helpers in God’s cause?” The white-garbed ones replied: “We shall be [thy] helpers [in the cause] of God! We believe in God: and bear thou witness that we have surrendered ourselves unto Him! O our Sustainer! We believe in what Thou hast bestowed from on high, and we follow this Apostle; make us one, then, with all who bear witness [to the truth]!” And the unbelievers schemed [against Jesus]; but God brought their scheming to nought: for God is above all schemers. Lo! God said: “O Jesus! Verily, I shall cause thee to die, and shall exalt thee unto Me, and cleanse thee of [the presence of] those who are bent on denying the truth; and I shall place those who follow thee [far] above those who are bent on denying the truth, unto the Day of Resurrection. In the end, unto Me you all must return, and I shall judge between you with regard to all on which you were wont to differ.

Popularity: 1% [?]

Mere Christianity – Reading It Together

cslewis Mere Christianity   Reading It TogetherI have just joined a group of believers from across the country in reading and discussing Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis. The moderator of the group is Tim Challies and you can follow the discussion if you would like. My blogging friend, David, is prolific writer on these community reviews and has already started his first installment of his evaluation of the book which I encourage you to take a look at.

Reading classic Christian literature is a wonderful discipline. I hope my journey will assist you in your journey toward the Savior.

Praying for Obama

obama grand 300x175 Praying for Obama

Madelyn Payne Dunham, Barack Obama’s grandmother, died today, she was was 86 and had been battling cancer. She died peacefully in her sleep.

The prayers of our family are with Mr. Obama and his family.

Psalm 27:1 – The LORD is my light and my salvation— whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life— of whom shall I be afraid?

Popularity: 1% [?]

Faith Intersecting Culture

Here are some places that personal faith and public life collide.

A good quote to start the day -

A Christian is not his own master, since all his time belongs to God.

– St. Ignatius of Antioch

New ESV Study Bible

Many in the Christian community have been eagerly awaiting the new ESV Study Bible. Demand has already been a bit overwhelming for Crossway. Pre-publication demand exceeded 100,000 copies. This is a true study Bible combining dozens, even hundreds, of resource materials for in-depth examination of the Word of God. Personally, I have enjoyed the ESV translation immensly. My friend David Porter had a review up on his website within 24 hours of receiving his copy.

The Language Of Prayer

prayer 300x225 The Language Of PrayerMy friend David has been writing some wonderful stuff lately. He may be a Boomer in the Pew, but he captures a deep truth about the helplessness of prayer.

Many recognize that there are times of great stress and strain when speech fails us as we seek God’s counsel. Our vocabulary is impotent to frame the words to express our love, faith, doubts, pain, and joy.

In like manner, when the sky is blue and the clouds are wispy white, one does not barge into the presence of the Eternal King. Appearing before the throne of Grace is a privilege purchased by the shed blood of our Savior Jesus Christ. It should leave you speechless on occasions.

McCain Talks About Personal Faith

I have read several stories over the years about John McCain’s Christian faith.  He is of a generation of men that were taught to let their actions do the talking. I am pleased he is beginning to verbalize his faith in Jesus Christ and how that faith helped him as a POW.

faith 150x112 McCain Talks About Personal FaithJohn McCain has finally begun to talk his walk with Jesus. Until recently, the details about the Republican presidential nominee’s Christian convictions were missing in action. Starting this summer, McCain and some of his closest Vietnam War-era buddies began pulling back the narrative curtain.