Okay, I'm weighing in on this issue.
I've seen several FaceBook friends post about it. It's an emotional issue. I think it needs to be handled carefully.
First...it has been said that taxpayer money will be spent on this project. I don't believe this is accurate. I'm sure taxes are being used to prepare the area for buildings...but not on the buildings themselves. This is common practice. It's how we revitalize areas of blight.
I understand that radical Muslim terrorists see the building of a Mosque on the sacred ground of the World Trade Center as being a victory. However, just because THEY see it that way doesn't mean that it is so.
Muslim people died in the towers, too. According to the best data I could find, about 60 Muslim men and women died in those towers. Jews died there, too. So did Christians. I'm sure there were some agnostics and atheists also. This was an act of terrorism by extremists against America--Radical Jihadists against the "Great Satan".
As Christians, we need to remember that Christ loves us all. He doesn't see the color of our skin, hear our accents, care where we were born, or count our sins. Nowhere in the Bible is hate condoned...except for God's hate of sin. Jesus never forced anyone to believe in him or accept him as their Savior. We are not called on to judge others but to plant the seeds of the truth of Christ in others so that the Holy Spirit can work on their souls. God gave us free will. Do we really think we should have the power to take it away?
One friend recently said, "It's just not necessary. It's provocative." This is a good point...but it should've been made sooner by the administration of the city of New York. If we wanted this to be seen as "Sacred Ground" it should have been zoned as a park or memorial and left alone. It wasn't. All the rules were followed, permits were secured, and obstacles cleared...except for the emotional ones. Actually, the mosque won't be located on ground zero--but near it. How close is too close?
One friend recently said, "It's just not necessary. It's provocative." This is a good point...but it should've been made sooner by the administration of the city of New York. If we wanted this to be seen as "Sacred Ground" it should have been zoned as a park or memorial and left alone. It wasn't. All the rules were followed, permits were secured, and obstacles cleared...except for the emotional ones. Actually, the mosque won't be located on ground zero--but near it. How close is too close?
I believe that we need to be very, very consistent in upholding both clauses of the freedom of religion...otherwise, someday, we could lose OUR rights to practice Christianity. I'm glad that this country supports our ability to exercise the free will that God gave us. We are lucky to be American. I love this country and the freedoms that have been won through hard battles by people of all religions that serve in our military.
The politically correct answer is the emotional answer. It will get votes in upcoming elections. It says..."These murders were done in the name of Allah. No mosque should be built near Ground Zero!"
No. People...these murders were done in the name of jealousy. There is no Allah. We should be praying for their souls.
Very well said Gina, thank you for always being brave enough to say something! I enjoy all of your posts. God bless you.
ReplyDeleteGina,once again your heartfelt thoughts are informative and challenging. I appreciate and respect your feelings and opinion.
ReplyDeleteI also agree with you in your facebook post on Todd's profile about the Muslim "Allah" being distorted, etc.
I've always wondered if "Allah" was originally the same as "Jehovah" (or YAHWEH) because of the blood link between Isaac and Ishmael through Abraham. I could be wrong, I'm no expert-but Hagar had a personal encounter with the Living God in the desert when she and Ishmael were saved. (Genesis 20:18-21) Then the next reference that I can find of Ishmael is at the buriel of Abraham. (Genesis 25:7-18) I'm not a historian nor an expert in Biblical Geneology but I think that most of the Middle East conflict is linked back to the decendents of Ishmael and Isaac. Then of course there are the "Crusades", etc and all of the horrible acts of genecide and war that have been perpetuated in the name of Jehovah/Christ and Christianity.
I know that you have been reading Joel Rosenberg and have viewed his Epicenter website, etc. There is so much at play here, that it is overwhelming for me and my small brain to comprehend! I do know beyond a shadow of a doubt that God is in control and that there is a power that we possess that is "Uncontainable" and that power is PRAYER. There are forces at work that we cannot overcome through human reasoning or brut strength. Prayer is the greatest resource that we have, that's why Jesus said that he had to leave-so that he could give us the Holy Spirit. (“Believe me, woman, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the father in spirit and truth, for they are the worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and truth.”) (John 4:21-24)
Unfortunately, We don't utilize the power that we have been given in Jesus Christ. This Mosque matter as well as other huge world matters must be fought on our knees. I cannot emphasize this enough. The Lord addressed this to his people...way back when while they were in captivity in II Chronicles 7:14. This is his answer to them. He needs to know that we are willing to humble ourselves and seek his face and pray. I know it sounds simplistic and passive, but in the Old Testament, when the Children of Israel were allowed to be taken off into captivity, there was always a "Remnant" that was faithful to the Lord, and that "Remnant" would stay faithful in Worship by rejecting the worship of idols and the lifestyle of the culture that they lived in, etc. They would call out to God and pray...God always honored the cries of the "Remnant" of the Children of Israel. Now, there was a time when God would finally combine spiritual strength and physical strength and there would be a physical battle, but the victory was always rooted in a spiritual battle through prayer.
Cont.from above
ReplyDeleteDo we have a "Remnant"? Is the modern Church raising up a "Remnant"? Are we "making disciples" of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you"??? Notice Jesus said "making disciples" and "teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you." I do not believe that "making disciples and teaching them" means to just get people to church on Sunday for an hour. I believe it means that the Church is to actively nurture and teach "all the nations" "all that I have commanded you". This involves teaching new believers about the Holy Spirit and moving them from the "baby food" of the Word of God and the Christian Life to the "meat" of the Word of God and the "meat" of the Christian Life which causes us to grow into "Disciples" of Christ.
I have often wondered if the 2nd coming of Christ is directly linked to the lack of a "Remenant". We often talk about how we are living in the last days, etc. I truly wonder if that is true. The world events seem to coincide with some signs given in Scripture. This Mosque incident is a piece of that puzzle as we see the gov't of the United States change right before our eyes. Again, I will state that I am confident that we are in God's hands! However, he has shown throughout scripture that he is willing to listen to us and willing to hear our cries and that he does intercede.
Where is the "Remnant" of the modern church? Are we teaching the next generation of believers about "all that Jesus commanded us and are we making disciples"? Are we teaching believers about the Holy Spirit? Are we equipping them to govern themselves and influence history in the name of Christ for HIS Glory? I believe that this Mosque thing is just one small indication of where our country is headed as well as where the modern church is headed. I for one, have decided that I will do my best to infuence my very small part of the world by challenging, training and discipling within my family unit and where my church will allow-my church family unit.
If the Modern Church will assume the role of "Remnant" and practice such spiritual disciplines of Prayer, Worship, Teaching, Fellowship, Fasting, Giving and Servanthood, etc, then we will see the DIVINE Intercession of the Lord of Hosts! "The God of the Angel Armies"! ("Does it not seem possible to you that if I make request to my Father he will even now send me an army of angels?" Matt. 26:53) I contend that if Jesus had the right to call out to the Father for 12 Legions of Angels...then he has passed that right on to us!
At it's very root-this is a Spiritual matter...a Spiritual Warfare matter. We can be misled and deceived into thinking that we have no power and no say in matters of politics and world events. I contend that we do. However, are we teaching, training and making DISCIPLES to understand and practice this most magnificent spiritual principle!
Cont. from above-
ReplyDeleteHere is an example: There is a related story to the building of the Mosque near "Ground Zero". A Greek Orthodox Church was destroyed when one of the Towers collapsed on it. See this link:
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/08/17/ground-zero-church-archdiocese-says-officials-forgot/
As I said before-there is more going on here than just politics. Our entire form of gov't is being threatened. Smooth words and gifted orators will not succeed in exposing the truth on their own. WE MUST PRAY, We must ask God to raise up a "Remnant", we may even find ourselves being called by the Holy Spirit to be a part of "The Remnant"! Will we "have ears to hear?" God will first call us into obedience, he will need to cleanse us, and he will need to purify us...we will need to be WILLING to "humble ourselves and seek his face." Then he will be able to "heal our land". (II Chronicles 7:14)
You are brave and couragous, Gina. The attacks and insults that are hurled at those who disagree and speak out against such things as the building of this Mosque using politically charged "catch phrases" Racism, Bigotry, Isolationist, and narrow minded "right winger" are the very effective tools of the enemy. Yes, we must always check our motives and our "fleshly tendencies" and make sure that our opinions are not rooted in such things. However, not all opposition is rooted in the tendancies of our selfish "flesh". There are times when the Spirit cries out for the TRUTH to be spoken.
I'm proud of you for speaking out. I do not believe your motives are rooted in "the flesh" and I know that you are not a Racist and a Bigot. So, stand firm, Sister! Speak as the Spirit leads you and trust God that his "word will not return Void"!
P.S. I posted this under Anonymous because I don't know how to do this blog thing!
Your Sister In Christ,
Sherry
Thanks Sherry. You're thoughts are always insightful and I appreciate you sharing them. I wish the whole incident would've been handled differently...and I agree that this one fact makes me fearful of where we as a country are headed.
ReplyDeleteI will continue to pray that God's will be done. I often wish that we were established as a Christian nation...but that is just not the case. In my studies I've found that even some of our founders who called themselves Christians, were not. (Another blog soon to come...) American's fought hard to allow us to use our free will and I never want that taken away. This was a right originally given us by God. One cannot be forced to accept Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior. And you are right, we (as Christians--the body of Christ) need to get off our haunches and become "fisher's of men" in His name. We have way too people who call themselves Christians who are Biblically illiterate. I, myself, have a long way to go.
On Allah being the same as YAHWEH...I posted my thoughts on Todd's post but thought I would also share them here. I think there are many people who were most challenged by my statement that there is no Allah.
I've been reading the Quran to try to get a grip on Islam and my stance is that even if they are talking about Yahweh when they say Allah, the quotes that they attribute to him through the mouth of Muhammad are imaginary. My God is only called Yahweh in the Bible. I've found no other name.
Charlie Brown can say that he met my parent's third daughter, Lucy who is married to Todd Tyler and had 4 children. And he can say that according to Lucy all cats are really aliens from the planet Goober.
First of all, I've never called myself Lucy. Second of all, if Lucy exists she is a liar. Third...Charlie Brown could just be a psycho who made the whole thing up. (And this is my opinion about Muhammad.)
In any case, Gina and Lucy are NOT the same person.
Couldn't have said it better and couldn't agree more! "Charlie Brown could just be a psycho who made the whole thing up. Priceless!
ReplyDeleteAgain-don't know how to get my URL-so I'm posting under anonymous again. ;)
Sherry