Monthly Archives: March 2023

You are blessed, lucky and privileged, aren’t you? If for no other reason (And there are many!), you have email! Now getting the Muslim Connect email might feel unlucky and the number of unread emails in your inbox might make you feel cursed! Even so, I stand by my statement: You are privileged. Me, too.

Our privilege allows, among others, this perk: We can squawk about people and institutions more powerful than ourselves. We could share the situation of our sisters and brothers on the planet who choose to keep their mouths shut and their heads down in hopes they might fill and not lose them tomorrow. But for whatever reason God has blessed us with the freedom to say with the bold humility of Jesus, “No more, not now, and you’re wrong.”

As Paul admonished, “All things are permissible, but all things are not profitable.” 

Might it, however, be profitable for some of us to sometimes poke the bear of apathy, anxiety and antagonism regarding Muslims? Spoiler alert: Oh yeah, big time.

I want to encourage you to bring Jesus’s love for Muslims before your church and your tribe. 

Ramadan (March 22 to April 20) provides a timely excuse for asking! Would your church show this beautiful four minute video? Or maybe this shorter, but far less beautiful one? Would they do it on Easter, our biggest Sunday of the year? Saying to all the visitors, “In this room, we think the Resurrection goes for those guys too!”

After the Easter service, many of us will gather for a feast with family and friends. If you get appointed to give the blessing and you’re feeling feisty, slip in a little prayer for fasting Muslims. Maybe volunteer ahead time to bring dessert and bless your people with baklava! (Arguably, baklava is less like poking the bear and more like scratching his back right up between the shoulders where it feels soooo good!)

And remember, the trick with all bear poking, which I clearly have not mastered, is to not fancy yourself superior to the bear you’re poking! 

Wanna give it a go? Watch this video for five bear poking ideas (and a bonus) with varying degrees of difficulty and consequences!

Ramadan began yesterday and my friend, colleague and hero penned this from his city in Europe where he and his family live and reach out to Muslim immigrants:

“Last night I was meeting with my students from North Africa and was asking them what the best and worst part of their week was. All four of them said the best part was that Ramadan was starting today! Here’s a question to ponder for a moment: Why is it that Muslims love and look forward to the month-long period of fasting? 

It’s inspiring to me, particularly here: These kids, currently in high school, won’t be able to eat OR DRINK anything between 5am and 8pm (more or less). Many of their classmates think it’s weird and it’s hard to fast here when life continues and bakeries produce delicious smells all day long. Two of the students have extra strenuous activities at school today, including a hike up a nearby mountain. They’re dreading the inevitable feeling of thirst they’ll have, yet it’s the best part of their week. Wow.”

Today I sent a greeting [Feel free to borrow it above.] to my Muslim friends and included these precious words of Jesus from the book of Matthew, ‘Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.’

Would you ask God to use Ramadan around the world to draw Muslims to himself? If you are up for it, I’d strongly recommend the resources on this website. 

Also, please pray for us! [and other workers among Muslims] We will do some extra fasting during Ramadan and, Lord willing, also share some meals with Muslim families as they break fast in the evenings. These are wonderful opportunities to talk about spiritual things (and enjoy great food!).”

Check out the new Muslim Connect video. It’s a 2 1/2 minute answer to “what’s the deal with Ramadan?” I think it might be great to show this at your church this Sunday!

Is there anything you could do that would cause your family to say, “Yeah, don’t come back here anymore.” It would have to be pretty gruesome, wouldn’t it? Most of our families and friends are relatively tolerant of a wide range of divergent behavior. In anthropologist speak: We live in rather elastic networks. 

Many cultures though, have a long list of “kick out-able” offenses and the impact of an individual’s behavior on their family is much heavier. Group think tends to carry more weight than personal preference. 

When making decisions, members of such cultures must weigh the potential honor or shame their decision will bring on their family and community. 

If Khadijah pursues an engineering degree, will her mom and her mom’s friends be pleased? 

If Muhammad comes out to his family, will their desire to avoid shame result in his death?

If Yusuf and Fatima share about their new found devotion to Jesus, will their village listen or force them to move away?

Can you imagine setting the course for your week, or your life, based largely on what it will mean to your family? It’s challenging, isn’t it? But most of our Muslim friends factor that in. 

Thinking about how to reach out to people in honor-shame cultures, Jayson Georges, the founder of HonorShame.com says the best thing to do is, “Eat with them! When Jesus wanted to honor people he ate with them (Lk. 15:1). In honor-shame cultures, the people you eat with define both your community and identity. Table fellowship confers honor.”

Ramadan begins next Wednesday, March 22nd. While it is a month of fasting, it also involves a ton of eating. Look for an opportunity to step into the honor-shame world by sharing some food (after dark!) with a Muslim.

Please take a look at the new video that dropped yesterday on the Muslim Connect YouTube Channel: “Divorce, My Greatest Shame.” As the channel gains some traction, I’d appreciate you subscribing and helping get the word out that Jesus loves Muslims.

Do you wonder if Islamophobia might be in the same category of polarizing and perceived-to-be over-hyped terms like “systemic racism,” “social justice,” and “women’s rights?” One way to find out would be to try to listen to people who may have experienced it. Another would be to show up to your family Easter gathering wearing a BLM shirt and say, “I’m wearing this for Black Muslims.” (I’m not suggesting this, of course. Just dreaming a bit!)

What is Islamophobia? According to the Bridge Initiative, a multi-year research project on Islamophobia housed in Georgetown University, it is “an extreme fear of and hostility toward Islam and Muslims which often leads to hate speech, hate crimes, as well as social and political discrimination.” 

Read this poignant account from the Bridge associate director, Mobashra Tazamal, regarding an anti-Muslim speaker invited to Georgetown to get a feel for what it’s like on the receiving end. Take a dive into Tazamal’s Twitter feed for current examples of Islamophobia around the world. (On second thought, if you’re hoping for a fun weekend, skip her Twitter.)

The UN has declared March 15th (that’s next Wednesday) to be International Day To Combat Islamophobia. This falls on March 15Thanks to commemorate the Christchurch massacre of 2019 that killed 51 people.

What can we do to observe this event?

1. Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal any Islamophobia in our hearts and promptly repent of it. 
2. Watch the UN talk on Saturday, March 10th at 10am Eastern time.
3. Buy a Muslim a cup of coffee and a donut. Or simply reach out on Facebook and say hi. 

Muslim Connect exists to help me, you and others get past our Islamophobia and invite Muslims to consider the loving claims of Jesus. Thank you for reading and share this. 

Two special requests:

1. Please take a gander at a brand new website I’m helping some buds launch. It’s in beta now, so you get a chance to find typos and be among the first to try the cool stuff there. It’s all aimed toward getting the first workers among the remaining unengaged peoples. 
2. Please check out the latest video on the Muslim Connect YouTube channel. If you’re feeling tribal, go ahead and subscribe!

Around where I live, when a Muslim makes the news, it’s usually bad news. To be fair, almost all of the news is bad news, so maybe it’s not a specifically Muslim deal. 

At any rate, two news stories involving Muslims popped onto my radar this week. One troubled me and the other made me cry. 

The first involved a Byzantine Catholic priest who converted to Islam. The details as shared here bring two questions to mind: Is it wise for Muslims to celebrate, as they are, given the last station on his peace train might not be Islam? I’ve seen this happen with people who embrace Christianity, then move along to other spiritual tracks. 

It also makes me question celebrations around conversion. Jesus says in Luke 15.7 that there will be rejoicing in Heaven over sinners who repent, so there’s precedent, and I certainly want to celebrate what Heaven does. But as much as I want all people to find life in Jesus, I think maybe humility is called for and touchdown celebrations, at least publicly, should be muted. 

In happier news, although there is no silver lining to the continuing devastation in Turkey and Syria, a recent outpouring of love and empathy warmed my heart. Several years ago while spending the summer in Turkey, I somewhat randomly chose Besiktas as my Turkish soccer team. At a February 26th home game, they collected teddy bears for children suffering as a result of the earthquakes. Seeing a waterfall of stuffies flowing onto the pitch brought tears to my eyes. (This drone footage is stunning, but might give you motion sickness!)

We know too well, don’t we, that teddy bears won’t solve much. But by God’s grace may they give a bit of comfort when all the foundations have crumbled, and may they be harbingers of God’s further relief, hope and life. 

Please check out my short, new video, sharing a story of when my self-esteem took a shot. I’m new to Youtube and welcome your creative input and critique.