Monthly Archives: March 2025

Got a second for a fun story?

I was in Minnesota earlier this week to see family and found an Arab bakery just around the corner from our Airbnb. When you live in a place like I do, you gotta take opportunities to hang with Muslims when you can. (My part of southern Colorado is a “Muslim-desert!”) Plus, with Eid (the celebration at the end of Ramadan) coming up this weekend, I thought things might be bustling there. 

I popped in on our way out of town for road snacks and a look around. A staff member made eye contact, but I had to look at the hummus display for an abnormally long time while he wrapped up a phone call. 

When he came up, I asked for a hummus recommendation. He advised the basil version and he was not wrong! Of course I was not primarily interested in hummus, but rather him! 

I asked a couple questions and discovered he was from Palestine and had been in the US for forty years. I told him I wasn’t a Muslim, but wondered it if was ok to give a Muslim an Eid greeting. He said of course, just say “Eid Mubarak!”

So we’ve got emphatic permission from a great guy. Let’s do it. Give whatever Muslims God guides across your path in the next couple of days a hearty, “Eid Mubarak!” (Basically, Happy Eid!)

Since you might not see any Muslims in person (Odds are not good where I am in rural Indiana!), grab the image at the top of this email and splash it on your socials. I’m going to break my low key Lenten Facebook/Instagram fast to post it. I expect it will go viral! 

And to wrap up the story with my new friend, I left the grocery with twice as much yummy stuff as I actually purchased and his card. Guess who’s gonna get an Eid Mubarak email this weekend! 

If you’re reading this Muslim Connect when it drops and you’re in the northern hemisphere, welcome Spring! Here in Colorado, Spring is more of a promise today than a reality, but we greet it, like Abraham, from afar! The Earth is reborn, dead things come to life, we’re reminded of the nature of God, bringing life and renewal from death and destruction. 

In Iran and regions thereabouts the spring celebration is called Nowruz. With ancient roots in Zoroastrianism, Nowruz predates Islam, but is celebrated by Persian Muslims, Christians and others. Here are five cool things to know about Nowruz and one way to pray today. 

1. Nowruz, meaning “new day” in Persian, embodies themes of renewal, rebirth and the triumph of light over darkness.
2. Nowruz involves a blend of spiritual, cultural and practical activities. As with Easter, Christians in Iran and beyond pick and choose the aspects of Nowruz they participate in. 
3. Similar to an American Christmas tree, the centerpiece of Nowruz celebrations is a Haft-Seen table, adorned with seven symbolic items starting with the letter “S” in Persian — apples, garlic, sumac, vinegar, wheat or barley sprouts, sweet pudding and dried fruit. (And sometimes a goldfish!)
4. Nowruz is preceded by a time of spring cleaning called Khāne-takānī (literally: Shake the house!) that involves “washing carpets, painting the house, and cleaning the yard and attic.”
5. According to Chai and Conversation, “It’s extremely important to get in touch with everyone you know after Nowruz to wish them a happy new year. You can use the phrase nowruz mobarak to say happy new year, or nowruz pirouz, meaning may it be a victorious new year. . .”

Pray with me on this Nowruz that Persian Muslims would experience a spiritual spring and Persian Christians would sense the Holy Spirit’s leading as they celebrate. And that as the two groups gather and intermingle, words of wisdom would be whispered and shouts of joy raised as the life that is truly life continues and increasingly comes to Persians in Tehran, the rest of Iran, and throughout the world. Amen

Tomorrow the Hindu festival called Holi will be celebrated in India and to varying degrees throughout the world. You probably recognize the colored powered that celebrants throw on each other. 

Holi is one of those originally religious festivals that have now grown beyond, like Thailand’s national water fight called Songkran and Christmas pretty much everywhere. 

So why am I focusing on Holi in Muslim Connect? It’s a Hindu festival and “Muslim” is literally in the name of the email! 

Well, some Muslims do participate. Maybe in the way you, as a Christian, might participate in Halloween or do yoga! Holidays and religious practices can be tricky. Muslims who’ve grown up with and socialize with Hindus may want to wish them well and I can imagine throwing colored powder on someone might be fun and not feel very religious. 

However, the day will not be fun for many Muslims, particularly as Holi falls during Friday prayers this year. Imagine how you usually feel about April Fool’s Day, but if the pranksters legit wished you were dead! Or if you were non-Irish and St. Patrick’s Day celebrants turned your water supply green and pelted your house with empty beer bottles! 

In one Indian city in particular, and perhaps many more I don’t know about, police are heading off sectarian violence by pre-arresting a ton of people and planning to be out in force. They’ve even tarped several mosques along the two routes of popular Holi parades to protect them from the colorful revelry. 

It’s tough to be a minority anywhere. May God extend mercy and grace to our Muslim cousins this Holi-day and shine a light of hope and invitation to follow Jesus to Hindus all over as well. 

I heard a stat last night that sounded a little sketchy. You know that sense, “This is probably made up, likely not documented, but certainly punchy.” It was something along the lines of, “More money is embezzled from Christian churches each year than is given to missions.” 

Trouble is, it seems to be true: 

“Applying findings on fraud from the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE), it is plausible that in 2023, approximately USD 62 billion, or 6.6% of all funds given by Christians globally (USD 945 billion), was lost to fraud and embezzlement. This is, unrelatedly, USD 7 billion more than the total income (USD 55 billion) of global foreign missions.” 

This was written by my friend, Muslim Connect reader and possibly the smartest human I know, Todd Johnson. He co-directs the Center for the Study of Global Christianity at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary and is as reliable as the moon. If Todd says it, I believe it. 

Sorry to drop a bummer on your day, but that’s depressing, isn’t it? I’m thinking of launching a fund raising campaign under the theme of, “This Year, Let’s Give More Than We Steal!”

Two take aways from this little tidbit of information: 

1. Ramadan is not just a time of fasting and feasting for many Muslims, but also giving. It’s also sadly a time for increased fraud associated with that giving. Let’s pray that the money Muslims give to zakat this month would neither be stolen nor used for nefarious purposes, but would put food in the mouths of hungry kids. 
2. If you’re in leadership of a church, this is my gentle encouragement, sisters and brothers, to check your systems and processes. If you need more “snake smarts” in how your money is handled, get it. Dr. Johnson has some starting points at the end of this article. Find additional ideas here.