The following is a quotation from a letter from Abou-Elia.
I remember as a child sensing the eerie calm as a storm approached. Gaza is in the midst of a violent storm… though for you who live far from that patch of real estate bordering Egypt to the south and the Mediterranean Sea to the west, it may appear to be a storm that impacts only that local vicinity. This will probably not be the case.
There are good guys and bad guys on both sides of the issue, as well as a lot of spiritual blindness. I’m not a Muslim and am strongly opposed to extremist ideas, forcing others to accept Islam or Islamic law or harming people who want to further understand spiritual truth that conflicts with Islam. The Islamic side is so focused on honor and gaining better world positioning that they’d sacrifice every Gaza resident. Additionally they would never, EVER admit to fault as they cannot bear the possibility of not being right. But then I look at the Jewish side and am appalled at their dullness, spiritually speaking. The Jews are living with a faith system that they put into the shredder two thousand years ago. To put it in the English vernacular… they are a morally dysfunctional society… they have no foundation. They too must repent… and soon, or the repercussions will be greater than their ability to cope. Jesus wept over Jerusalem saying, “If you had known in this day, even you, the things which make for peace! But now they have been hidden from your eyes.” (Luke 19:42)
The price of unbelief is very high. I want things to be different… but they aren’t… yet.
Something you ought to know is that there are many Muslims in Gaza who are not fanatical followers of Islam. They don’t want this fighting… and furthermore, they are eagerly waiting for someone who will tell them about Jesus Christ. Yes, it’s true. There are probably more Muslims in Gaza hoping to know the story of salvation in Jesus Christ than there are citizens in your city ready to do the same!
We have found that Middle Easterners are most often genuinely delightful. Venturing beyond one’s own prejudices and faulty ideas, it is easy to establish lifelong relationships. Of course, our objective isn’t simply a good visit… our goal as ambassadors for Christ is to show the same sort of compassion that our Savior and King, Jesus Christ had when He proclaimed the kingdom of God.
Advice: Please don’t quickly take political sides. They’re both wrong. We can help most by praying fervently that our LORD will awaken the dead conscience present on both sides. We can pray that both sides will acknowledge their sins. We can pray that both sides come to know the One who gave His life a ransom for many and this necessitates repentance.
I remember as a child sensing the eerie calm as a storm approached. Gaza is in the midst of a violent storm… though for you who live far from that patch of real estate bordering Egypt to the south and the Mediterranean Sea to the west, it may appear to be a storm that impacts only that local vicinity. This will probably not be the case.
There are good guys and bad guys on both sides of the issue, as well as a lot of spiritual blindness. I’m not a Muslim and am strongly opposed to extremist ideas, forcing others to accept Islam or Islamic law or harming people who want to further understand spiritual truth that conflicts with Islam. The Islamic side is so focused on honor and gaining better world positioning that they’d sacrifice every Gaza resident. Additionally they would never, EVER admit to fault as they cannot bear the possibility of not being right. But then I look at the Jewish side and am appalled at their dullness, spiritually speaking. The Jews are living with a faith system that they put into the shredder two thousand years ago. To put it in the English vernacular… they are a morally dysfunctional society… they have no foundation. They too must repent… and soon, or the repercussions will be greater than their ability to cope. Jesus wept over Jerusalem saying, “If you had known in this day, even you, the things which make for peace! But now they have been hidden from your eyes.” (Luke 19:42)
The price of unbelief is very high. I want things to be different… but they aren’t… yet.
Something you ought to know is that there are many Muslims in Gaza who are not fanatical followers of Islam. They don’t want this fighting… and furthermore, they are eagerly waiting for someone who will tell them about Jesus Christ. Yes, it’s true. There are probably more Muslims in Gaza hoping to know the story of salvation in Jesus Christ than there are citizens in your city ready to do the same!
We have found that Middle Easterners are most often genuinely delightful. Venturing beyond one’s own prejudices and faulty ideas, it is easy to establish lifelong relationships. Of course, our objective isn’t simply a good visit… our goal as ambassadors for Christ is to show the same sort of compassion that our Savior and King, Jesus Christ had when He proclaimed the kingdom of God.
Advice: Please don’t quickly take political sides. They’re both wrong. We can help most by praying fervently that our LORD will awaken the dead conscience present on both sides. We can pray that both sides will acknowledge their sins. We can pray that both sides come to know the One who gave His life a ransom for many and this necessitates repentance.
Comments
What a wonderfully simple explanation of what makes many Muslims so radically violent. I also love how you think we ought to view Muslims of a quiet temperament. It is so easy to put them all into the same group, but you are right - we must see them as needing Christ just as much as anyone else.