Missions and Heresy: A Short Video on the Insider Movement

This is a video which explains the challenge facing Christian missions in the Islamic world today. Many evangelicals have been captivated by a missions heresy which teaches Muslims to stay in the mosque and that Mohammed is a prophet of God. Several MAJOR evangelical organizations have bought into this.

Church Takes Stand on IM & JIQ from Mark Stephan on Vimeo.

Oslo, Norway 2011 - What a Difference a Savior Makes

In keeping with the principle that early reports of tragedies are almost always riddled with inaccuracies, the Oslo terror attack and the massacre of youth at the island retreat in Norway continue to get stranger and more horrific. It turns out, to the shock even of Muslims, that the bombing and massacre are probably NOT the work of a Islamic terrorist organization, but instead the work of a lone non-Muslim, Anders Behring Breivik. Breivik seems not only to not be a Muslim, but a right-wing anti-islamist radical who MIGHT consider himself a Christian.

First, the qualifiers before the commentary.

It is telling that even Muslims thought that this was the work of Islamic terrorists. Muslims have been planning and plotting to attack Norway since the publication of the "Mo-toons" in accordance with Sharia (which affords Mohammed more honor than Allah). So jubilant criticisms of anti-jihadists are pretty empty, like this tool on JihadWatch.

JihadWatch has reported that this guy tried to join a huge Facebook group "Stop the Islamisation of Europe" but was rejected because he had neo-Nazi material on his FB page. Do you think that ANY prominent Muslim group is as scrupulous as that? Not a chance. That apparently hasn't stopped the media from trying to blame the same anti-jihadists who rejected the guy.

There's some reported that Breivik is a Christian, but Pamela Geller at Atlas Shrugs (love that woman!) has found evidence that the identifiers "Christian" and "Conservative" were added AFTER THE ATTACKS. I wonder why someone would do that?

There is no mainstream Christian group or group of any size which advocates violence. There is no conservative group connected with the anti-jihad movement which advocates violence, even obliquely.

Here's the commentary.

When Muslims commit acts of violence, Islamo-apologists always turn the conversation to "intolerance" of Muslims or "offenses" against Islam as the cause. Islam is the most blame-shifting religion on the planet. Every time a Muslim commits an act of violence, it is someone else's fault, the Christians, the Jews, Israel, poverty, name-calling, ANYTHING but the offender and Islam.

Breivik is SOLELY responsible for his actions. It doesn't matter if a Muslim blew up his church or raped his sister, NOTHING excuses or causes his actions. He is to blame and anyone who directly helped or encouraged him is to blame as well. This is NOT the Muslims' or the Liberals' fault. I do not blame them, none of us do. You will not hear Robert Spencer or Wafa Sultan blaming this on anyone except the perpetrator. Christianity and Judaism (and the worldviews they spin off) are religions of personal responsibility and accountability.

If this killer actually calls himself a Christian, and he probably doesn't, he is an apostate from Christ and destined for hell and eternal punishment after he receives justice from Norway. Breivik cannot be a Christian and an unrepentant murderer or terrorist. There is no place for offensive violence in Christianity. Christians are not allowed to commit murder because of offenses against their religion. When Jesus said, "Love your neighbor," he meant everyone, not just Christians or fellow conservatives. Unlike Islam, I might add.

Christians, even Christians who believe that violence is appropriate in defending live, do not believe that anyone can act as judge, jury and executioner. Only a lawful government can wage war, and even then it must be a just war. Only a court can convict, and then only after a lawful proceeding. Only a magistrate can bring punishment after a lawful proceeding. And even then, it is outside of the responsibility of the magistrates to compel people to adhere to religious tenets. The magistrate can jail someone for burning a church, but not for criticizing Christianity or Jesus.

But even all of this leaves a question. If Breivik really was a Neo-Nazi who hated Muslims, why did he attack a government building? And if he hated the government, why did he attack a bunch of teens at a retreat, even if the retreat was sponsored by a Liberal government? The answer is that hate destroys reason. Whether the hate is in the heart of a jihadist or a neo-Nazi, it has a corrupting and terrible influence on the mind and heart. If the root of bitterness grows it hardens the heart and represses what makes us human, an innate sense of righteousness which restrains us from evil. In the guise of "battling evil," a person can himself become evil.

Does this mean that we should not expose Islam because it might "radicalize" a non-Muslim to violence? If so, then we should also not report on the Norway massacres because it might "radicalize" a liberal or a Muslim. Denial may be the way of the modern world, but it never works. The only ultimate escape is to condemn the violence and transcend the hate. This is what the "Truth and Reconciliation Commission" has discovered in South Africa. And while I know that there are plenty of Christians who are able to reject hate, it is the common grace of God which enables. When Ghandi said, "Hate the sin but love the sinner," he was quoting Augustine.

It isn't denial of the evil of Islam that will save us, but a recognition of sin and compassion for the sinner. Muslims need the same thing that the Oslo terrorist does, the forgiveness and renewal of Christ.

New Tobacco Shipment

Here's my latest shipment of pipeweed. All four of these are untried by my inexperienced palate. I wonder if there are any smokers out there with opinions or recollections about these blends. Comments?

Video Confirms Islam's Civilizing Influence

Not really, it actually confirms that Islam makes people angry, vulgar (in the pejorative sense of the world), aggressive and dishonest. This is a video of an apparently Muslim Background Believer (MBB) preaching at an "Arab festival" in Dearborn, Michigan. The crowd becomes more aggressive throughout the video, increasingly trying to shout the preacher down with tones that sound like they're trying to start a fight. There is quite a bit of screaming and f-bombing and the Muslim bystanders are stealing from the preacher's backpack as he's trying to engage them.

A few thoughts:

This preacher is an amazing guy. He loves Jesus and it shows. He doesn't love his life so much as to shrink back from death (Rev. 12:11). He also loves these people who are hating him, never responding in kind to their anger and abuse.

The foul language (with all of the rest of the abuse) is telling, not because he's getting abused in that way (which happens to street preachers all of the time), but because he's being abused in that way IN THE NAME OF ISLAM. This is obscene religious abuse. In Islam there is no real holiness; don't let the burkha thing fool you - it's not about holiness, it's about power. Remember that bin Laden was killed with porn under his bed. Mohammed was a vulgar and profane man who lived to satisfy and justify his urges. This is real Islam. This is why Jihad Watch can publish a piece where a prominent Imam can tell his followers that it is more important that they be strong and aggressive than holy.

They are openly stealing from him because it is not stealing to steal from an infidel. Mohammed was a thief and a brigand who justified his thievery with religion. This is part of a Muslim worldview. There is no love of neighbor in Islam. There is no real equivalent to the Golden Rule.

Kudos to the young Muslim who did his best to protect the preacher. He proves the rule, There are moderate Muslims, just no moderate Islam. He wasn't being a good Muslim, but thankfully he was being a good man.

Huge hat tip to Robert Spencer and Jihad Watch for posting this. Credits to David Wood at AnsweringMuslims.com for the video itself.

And today I smoked a vanilla mixture called "Moontrance" just because it isn't that bad and I just can't give ALL my tobacco to my good friend Bob, which is where half of it ends up when I can't smoke it. And I can smoke Moontrance, it's just embarrassing and not terribly good.