Ep.955: Did Jesus Die for Muslims?
Examining where Muslims fit in God's plan of salvation
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CHAPTERS
Theme Scripture: Romans 5:18
As Christians, we pin all of our hopes on the belief that Jesus was crucified and died for our sins. This is the bottom line core reason for our coming to Christ for it speaks of him doing something for us out of pure love that we in no way could do for ourselves. To us, the sacrifice of Jesus represents the ultimate gift. Those outside of Christianity often look at this belief with disdain and even sarcasm. To them, it is foolishness and evidence of a blood-thirsty god. One question not talked about much is about the breadth of Jesus’ sacrifice – who did it cover and how do we know? In the present conditions of our world, the Muslim faith is often thought about and referenced. Muslims and Christianity - what do Muslims think of Jesus? While they do believe in him, they don’t see him as a redeemer. Does this mean that they are not covered by his sacrifice?
Some ground rules
This is obviously a touchy subject. Like it or not, discussing Islam even in the brightest and most positive way can easily lead a variety of emotional responses ranging from upbeat and accepting, right down to angry and condemning. To try and avoid the emotional rollercoaster, we laid this foundation right away on the podcast:
- Our representations of Islam would only be done through the words of Muslims themselves or from third party reporting we deemed objective.
- We would view Islam in a positive light. There was no room made to entertain the interpretations of the minority radical and hateful sects that seem to get all of the attention.
- We have no plan or desire to attempt to translate the meaning of the Quran. We leave that to those who have studied it and believe in it.
- Our beliefs regarding Islam are straightforward. We believe it is not an accurate representation of the God of the Universe or His plans and purposes. But we do not discount the positive examples of moral living and principles shown to us by so many upstanding, moral and peaceful Muslims.
Muslims and Christianity
With this foundation in place, our objective was to compare how Muslims view God, Jesus and the Scriptures of the Bible with our own take on these matters, as those who believe in that the Bible is the inspired word of God. As we approached the similarities and differences, we began to be able to clearly view not only perceptions of Jesus’ role, but also the scripturally-explicit guidelines of his role. One glaring reality we discussed was the absolute inability to have both perspectives be correct. In the case of these two belief systems, one really does have to choose which perspective (if any) they see worthy of following.
In short, we attempted to have a frank conversation about differing beliefs without condemning or insulting. We would encourage you to check out our January 30, 2017 podcast, “Did Jesus Die for Muslims?” See for yourself why we gave an answer some may consider surprising to that question. Listen and tell us what you think!
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Ep.954: Elijah (Part I) The Power of Courage
Applying the extraordinary courage of Elijah to our lives
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CHAPTERS
Theme Scripture: 1 Kings 18:21
Courage is perhaps the most underrated, under-appreciated and invisible virtue of our time. We are so busy complying with the status quo, with watching our words and with following what others say and do on social media that we seem to have forgotten the simple yet powerful virtue of courage. Courage is stepping up, stepping out and standing against the tide of darkness. Courage is being what you know you should be when it is unpopular with others. Courage is having the guts to listen when others only want to argue; it is reaching out to give when others are focused on taking and courage is leading by example when following in anonymity would be so much easier. Such fearlessness, when observed, incites others to stand, it provokes others to act and it plants hope where there is none. Yes, we need it, but how do we find it and how do we learn to truly be courageous?
Learning courage – that seems like an odd combination of thoughts. Can you go to a class at your local community college, take “Courage 101” and walk out of there all powerful and courageous? Of course not! What you CAN do is look at the lives of those who had it – not just the ability to perform one mighty feat, but those who had the courage that permeated their being – you can look at those lives and learn an incredible amount about how it all works. That’s what we did. We looked at a three-year span in the life of Elijah the prophet to see if we could figure out what made him so amazingly brave. What we found was enlightening!
First of all, let’s understand that courage is almost never achieved in the absence of fear and is almost always discovered while acting in the very face of fear. This simple realization can be personally freeing as most of us do not see ourselves as courageous because we feel afraid. Once we understand that fear is part of our fortitude, we can begin to see ourselves in a different light and perhaps allow ourselves to begin to think courageously. A really simple definition of courage we found was “walking towards something you would rather walk away from.” With all of this in mind, let’s begin to look at this prophet Elijah with an all important initial question – why did he need to have courage?
In Elijah’s Israel, idol worship had completely overtaken the nation. King Ahab had married Jezebel, a heathen woman who was heartless and horrible in her treatment of others. Between the two of them they reigned over Israel with terror and tyranny. Elijah was called upon to challenge and end this era and he was called upon to do it pretty much by himself. Interestingly Elijah’s name actually means “My God is Jehovah.” So our first lesson on courage is this – courage is summoned when there is a great need. For Elijah’s Israel, their very existence as God’s people had been lost and Elijah was sent to once again stand for the God of all things.
Check out part 1 in this series for a boatload of other practical lessons to learn on how to live your life courageously not to mention the incredible and inspiring drama of Elijah’s personal story. Don’t miss this episode! Then follow the rest of Elijah's story in Episode #956 "Elijah (Part II) The Power of Submission" and Episode #958 "Elijah (Part III) The Power of Legacy."
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Ep.953: Was Jesus Politically Correct?
Comparing the teachings of Jesus to our politically correct society
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CHAPTERS
Theme Scripture: John 18:36
George Orwell’s 1949 book, 1984, was about the future. It was a scary and suggestive look at what could happen to society if we didn’t protect our freedoms from totalitarianism. The idea that “Big Brother is watching” was a fearful one, as this fictional story gave the feeling that what we say and think are monitored and forcefully used to keep us in line. So, here it is, 2017, and the year 1984 passed 33 years ago without Big Brother watching. But wait a minute – the sexist and alarming thought of Big Brother watching would invade safe spaces and be recognized as a potential trigger for some. We need to be gender and social status-free in our policing of the masses. Instead of Big Brother watching, we should say, “Thought interpreting humans are guiding the collective.” The point is, we have entered a time in history where the policing of thoughts and words has overtaken us in a unique and disturbing way. What would Jesus do in this environment? Would he stand in support of it or against it? Would Jesus be politically correct?
The short answer to that last question is an emphatic NO! Jesus never did nor ever will fit into the mold of political anything. Besides, understanding how to define political correctness is like trying to hit a moving target. If you look at the history of the phrase, you find that in the early to mid 20th century it was attached to Stalinism and Communism and described a position of holding to the party line regardless of its morality. Basically, it said that to be politically correct you check your brain at the door and unequivocally comply. Scary!
Fast forward to political correctness today and the question arises, are we still being asked to check our brains at the door and just comply? Are we being pressed to accept only those things which certain groups have proclaimed "acceptable?" What if you are offended by specific behaviors labeled as “must accept” behaviors? Now by being offended, I don’t mean you just don’t like something. For some reason, not liking something seems to have become a trigger for emotional breakdown. I guess I never got the memo on that, because I was taught not liking something meant that you let others have their opinions, you respectfully stand up for your beliefs and you move on. Being offended has to do with being crossed, regarding your deeply-held firm and timeless beliefs that are way bigger than you.
Jesus had a fascinating way to address all of these things. There are many important areas of life that Jesus didn’t talk much about, such as children and marriage, but what he did say was extraordinarily powerful and relevant. The key is putting his words in their proper context on these things and then trying to stand for what he stood for, which was spiritual correctness and not political correctness.
Jesus also talked about social tolerance, and he did address politics as well. What did he say and whose side was he on? Take some time and listen to our January 16, 2017 podcast, “Was Jesus Politically Correct?” It may help you gain perspective and insight into how and why Jesus stood for certain principles, and how we can do the same while living in a society that has lost its way.
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Ep.952: How Much Should Christians Compromise?
When and how to make winning compromises
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CHAPTERS
Theme Scripture: Philippians 2:3-4
The ability to compromise is a lost art. We have become so diverse in our thinking, so polarized in our viewpoints and so set in our conclusions as unequivocally right, that the mere idea of compromise is in some cases viewed as a repulsive evil. Now look – there are times when compromise should be off the table. There are times when that which is right and sound should not be approached with the idea of watering it down for the sake of making someone or some group or some sect happy. But when? When do we stand as an immovable force? When do we bend and acquiesce to include the preferences of others? Fortunately for us, these very issues existed in biblical times so we actually do have a pretty clear set of guidelines to follow. Is compromise good? Yes! Is compromise bad? Yes! Let’s figure this out!
We often make simple assumptions about those who lived in biblical times. For instance, when we think of New Testament Christians we think – Jesus’ influence of love and kindness was clear and they all loved, cared for and respected each other. What a great and harmonious environment to live in! Now, they did love each other, but what we don’t often realize is that in many cases and for many years, mutual respect was sometimes lacking - and tenuous at best - and had to be learned. It was a hard and arduous lesson to say the least! We might wonder why that would be. After all, the apostles were there and they would certainly be able to guide everyone to the higher ground of mutual respect in Christ, right? Right?
Yes and no. The unconsidered factors here are culture and human weakness. For some reason, we don’t like to think of the founders of Christianity as having to wrestle with these things as we do, but the happy truth is they did. They wrestled hard with different cultures colliding under the grace of Christianity. They had to do some pretty bold things to make it all work. I say this is a happy truth, because their struggles have become our guidelines. One of those bold things they struggled with was being willing to compromise. Here again, we don’t often think of compromise as a bold move; rather, we think of it as a wimpy and spineless one. In many circumstances, compromise is simply an exit door for the weak. In other cases, such as with the apostles and elders in Acts 15, compromise is a bold and defining decision that can be a primary tool in building a firm and lasting legacy.
What did the apostles and elders do in their meeting recorded in Acts? They absorbed the tensions of two opposite sides of a major issue. They listened, considered, discussed and found a mutually-acceptable path to move forward. How did they do that? Check out our January 9, 2017 podcast, “How Much Should Christians Compromise?” and follow along with us as we lay out the steps they took, how they took them and how we can do the same thing. Compromise, in the right place and circumstance, is a bold and powerful answer!
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Ep.951: So, What Should I Be Doing Differently?
Building blocks of understanding for a better life
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CHAPTERS
Theme Scripture: 1 Corinthians 9:25
How is it that life seems to go by so fast? How is it that we more often than not look back on our life - the things we did and what we became - with a measure of regret, knowing that we could have been more or contributed more? Have you ever stopped to think of what makes life happen? It is actually a pretty simple equation: TIME + EXPERIENCES = LIFE. Now I know that is an oversimplification, but stay with me. If we can accept that life is the combination of time and experiences, then wouldn’t solving the issue of making one’s life fuller and more meaningful be easier to understand? Time is measurable and predictable and we all have the same amount each and every day. Experiences, be they physical, observational or thoughts, are essentially the sum total of what we do with the time given to us each day. So, what can we do to make our time and experiences produce a rich, fruitful and contented life?
Many of the thoughts we based this important conversation on were derived from the book, “The Power of Consistency” written by Weldon Long. Throughout the book, Mr. Long shares pieces of his amazing personal story that chronicle his journey from being a prison inmate to being a terrific dad and an amazingly successful business entrepreneur. As you might guess, he made this journey by applying specific principles to his life with undying consistency.
Consistency. If you want to know what you should do differently to change your life, consistency will always show up as a primary and necessary ingredient. This you can count on. The opposite is also true - consistency will always be "MIA" – missing in action - when failure to change occurs. This is one of those unwritten life rules that is always true and that no one likes because it takes discipline. Ugh! Discipline is another one of those nasty words that upsets our comfort zone. Face it, if we are going to talk about making our lives better then we need to accept consistency and discipline as parts of our better life vocabulary.
Okay, we want to make our lives better, so where do we start? Simply stated, we need to start by honestly looking at where we are in our lives right now. It’s kinda like being in one of those huge malls and trying to get our bearings. We look at the big mall map that has the red arrow pointing to a specific spot with the message “You are here,” and we can now figure out how to get to where we what to go. In real life, finding where we are so we know how to get to our destination is obviously a bit more challenging. To do it we actually need to observe what we daily do and think to keep our equilibrium – to keep ourselves on what we feel is an even keel. Once we begin to understand what makes us feel even and comfortable we can then truly begin to grasp what our individual next step might be.
What might that next step be? Check out our January 2, 2017 podcast, “So What Should I Be Doing Differently?” and find out. Listening just might be the beginning of something great!
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