Author Archives: shanedar

In our youth group’s valiant journey through the book of Acts, we arrived at chapter 15 last night. This is where the early gang gets together in Jerusalem to decide if those crazy Gentiles need to be circumcised in order to get Jesus. Since I have an unhealthy fear of middle schoolers and am regrettably still part middle schooler myself, I was big time wary about the hand that was sure to go up with the question, “Shane, what is circumcision?”

As my wife wisely predicted, it didn’t happen. But the traumatic anticipation has me thinking today about the practice, particularly why Christians would or wouldn’t circumcise their baby boys and why Muslims tend to do so. [To be clear: We’re discussing male circumcision, not female. I find no reason to not consider FGM wrong in all its forms.]

While Jews still circumcise their boys, they do so for ostensibly religious reasons. Christians, at least in the U.S., snip at a fairly high percentage, even though the Bible in general, and Acts 15 specifically, indicates it’s not a command from God. Interestingly, circumcision is not mentioned in the Quran, but Muslims (after Jews) practice it at the highest rate. 

So what’s your guess why we do this? 

I can hear some of you saying emphatically, “We don’t!” Fair enough. But many Christians and Muslims do, and do so outside of any religious conviction. 

My hunch: We don’t want our sons to be different from most in a fairly sensitive, even taboo, part of their bodies. Under the cover of sketchy medical reasoning and pretty heavy family and cultural pressure, we go with the flow. 

Muslims additionally see circumcision as indicative of membership in the global ummah or community of Islam. 

While I’m sure I don’t understand the full meaning of Paul’s challenge to “circumcision of the heart” in Romans 2.29, that internal, spiritual surgery is certainly a more significant snip and one from which we could all benefit. 

Have you ever shown great courage? Maybe you killed a spider for a girl you really liked, stared down cancer or gave birth to another human (Shout out to the moms!!).

Life these days (like all of them before) calls for courage. Sometimes a little, other times more than we suspect we have. 

In Acts 5.29, Luke writes that Peter and the apostles told the Sanhedrin, “We must obey God, rather than any human authority!” They said this to the very authority that had both the means and motivation to kill them.

I’ve never decided to obey God at the direct risk of my life. Although I did get 186 vaccinations two years ago so I could travel to Ivory Coast!

Seriously, though, my heart goes out to sisters and brothers who will choose today to stand for Jesus against the advice or demand of the powers-that-be who threaten their lives and livelihood.

I think of the fear Christians confront in Modi’s India, the feistiness of believers in Iran and particularly the courage of Muslims who’ve decided Jesus really is who he claims to be and have chosen to stick to it. 

People like a guy I’ve been reading about whose notoriety seems to have gotten a whole nation asking for his head and those of his family. I admire the bravery of the people who attended this conference for Muslim Background Believers. 

I also think of the young wives who are standing today against their husband’s demands to deny Christ, the men who are telling beloved uncles they are following Jesus, the husbands and fathers who are trading good jobs for the kingdom of God. The aunties and grandmas who are working two jobs to feed the kids and pastoring their church. 

May they see their captain and savior Jesus today in a fresh, powerful and sustaining way. 

Something is happening all across the U.S. right now: Perspectives classes are reaching the end of their 15 week run and participants are either figuring out how to get back to normal life (a few) or how to integrate an epic experience into the rest of their one wild and precious life (most). 

I love teaching Lesson 15: Talking about how to find a spouse if you’re going to be a missionary (really), what it takes to collaborate with others to do huge Great Commission tasks and how to take the next steps in the specific roles God has in mind for you. 

You’re probably familiar with the World Christian roles the class talks about: Intercessor, Sender, Goer, Welcomer and Mobilizer. 

They’re all great roles, essential it seems to the global work of God and super fun to kick around with people. 

Due to chronic time management issues with the first three roles, I almost always rush through Welcomer so I can end with my role (and my favorite) Mobilizer. This is regrettable. 

To all those living the welcomer life, I apologize. 

God in his kindness has seen fit in our day to open the door for many Muslims to come and live in the U.S. This is a gift in many ways. Not the least that it’s way cheaper to have an Afghan family over to your house for dinner (even if you pay more for halal!), than it is to go to Kabul! 

While it’s less expensive to welcome refugees, asylum seekers, international students and migrants, it’s still hard work. 

And vital. 

Welcoming honors the giver of the gift by receiving newcomers with joy and kindness. It honors the biblical value of hospitality that has sometimes faded almost to invisibility in our day and culture. And it honors soon-to-be participants in the joyous kingdom of God, for these are those Jesus spoke of, “. . . many will come from east and west, and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven.”

Join me in lifting a glass to our welcomer colleagues. May Muslims from far and wide drink deeply of your kindness and hospitality and may God give you kingdom success beyond your wildest dreams.

What’s your earliest memory of something smelling good? I mean really good? Mine is the now long departed Colonial Bakery in Muncie, Indiana. We took a field trip there in early elementary school, but even driving by, the aroma of plain, soft white bread baking was intoxicating for a pudgy young boy like me! It ministered to my senses and my soul. 

The Colonial smell has never been topped, but it has been challenged. As I’ve traveled and lived in various parts of the Muslim world, food in general and bread in particular, has been a consistent component of the joy a place and its people bring. 

In northern Jordan, I discovered that fresh baked pita delights whether it holds shawarma or boiled eggs. During a summer in Izmir, Turkey, one of our breakfast chores involved a two minute walk to the local bakery where I traded 50 cents for a loaf so fresh it was nearly too hot to hold! 

A short bike ride from our home in Holland, an immigrant bakery introduced me to the rest of the tasty corpus of Turkish bread. 

Though I found it in Fresno and it’s at the edge of what many of us might call “bread,” Ethiopian Injera is wonderfully sour and spongy. 

Chapatis baked on the inside wall of a tandoor in Pune, India cheered my team after a two hour train ride went pear-shaped and lasted until midnight! 

High on the very long list of things that make Malaysia wonderful, Roti Canai is bread at another level and a favorite of my friends who love that land and people fiercely. 

Since Jesus called himself the Bread of Life and Paul says his followers are the aroma of Christ, with bread on your mind, I have a two fold challenge today: 

1. Bake one of the breads. Smell the smells and pray for the people. (I’m planning for this one. Feel free to join me.) Send me pics so I can pray with you! 

2. Go buy one of the breads, smell the smells, share the bread and THE Bread with Muslims in a neighborhood nearby or city far away. (I’m dreaming of a roti spree in a downtown KL street market with the aforementioned!)

This Muslim Connect email is emerging as I sit in a Q & A session at a big church with Larry Osborn. Do you know of him? The guy’s pastored a cool church for decades and has the scars to show it. He also seems to have the sort of humility (with an amusing dose of cynicism) you love to see in long-term followers of Jesus. I’d encourage you to buy one of his books and watch some talks on YouTube.

Fascinating and Heartbreaking Migration Data Points

Increased numbers
According to the UNHCR, as of April 14, 2024, a total of 48,618 refugees arrived in Europe via one of the Mediterranean routes. Of these, 46,629 used one of the three main sea routes and 1,379 came overland. An estimated 473 died or went missing trying to reach Europe.

Increased deaths
According to international media outlet Deutsche Welle, a total of 8,565 migrants died in 2023, 20% more than in 2022 and the highest total since 2014. The Mediterranean remains the deadliest route with more than 3,100 deaths. A little more than fifty percent of the deaths worldwide resulted from drownings.

Who’s Hosting Syrian Refugees?
Statista reports the top three nations hosting Syrian refugees in 2022 are in the Middle East: Turkey, Lebanon, and Jordan which collectively hosted over 5 million Syrians. In Europe in 2022, Germany, Sweden, and Austria hosted the largest number of Syrians with a combined total of nearly 708,000 people. 

Beautiful Image
Violins, violas, and cellos made from the wood of boats used by refugees to reach Italy were premiered at Milan’s La Scala opera house in a concert performed as a tribute to those who perished trying to reach Europe. The violins used in the performance were made by inmates at one of Italy’s high-security prisons. The performers at La Scala hope to perform at other concert halls across Europe.

Thank you once again to the good folks at Dimitrov Research Center for the Crescent Reading email from which these points were drawn. 

I just returned with the family from 50 hours on the road for two precious days with my mom in Indiana and an amazing four minutes of total solar eclipse. 

A trip such as this, like a microcosm for life, doesn’t happen without some offense, resulting in a need for forbearance or even forgiveness. I need it for sub-par attitude and driving decisions. Similarly I need to forgive the parade float driver who gave my son a light up whistle! 

Forgiveness, both asking for it and extending it, is a big part of Ramadan, which has just finished. Abeda Ahmedsays, “Throughout Ramadan, the dua (prayer) that we make the most is, “O Allah, you are Forgiving and love forgiveness, so forgive me. . . .”

The Quran also encourages Muslims to pardon those who’ve wronged them and to endure patiently and forgive, saying, “surely this is a resolve to aspire to.”

While Muslims are taught to pursue the forgiveness of God through diligent and timely prayer, the Bible tells us we’re freely forgiven through the sufficiency of Jesus’s death. At the very center of our faith is the conviction that a person can’t earn the forgiveness of God. We can only appropriate what is graciously offered. 

That said, Jesus taught and taught us to pray, in a way that links our willingness and capacity to forgive with our saving faith. John Piper comments on this, “What destroys us is the settled position that we are not going to forgive, and we have no intention to forgive, and we intend to cherish the grudge. . . . It feels good. . . . because he legitimately wronged me.”

As I was writing this, I was convicted of the need to forgive a brother. Maybe someone comes to mind you need to forgive as well. Please take a minute to post your desire to forgive them on this google doc. Be as discreet as is prudent. As others visit the page, they’ll be invited to pray with you for grace to forgive. 

Who’s your favorite person in the Bible? (After Jesus, of course!) One of mine is Cornelius. Luke makes quite a deal of him in Acts as the head of the household through which the good news bounced out into the non-Jewish world. 

You know the story: An angel appears to Cornelius saying, “Your prayers have been heard. Go get a dude named Peter. Here’s his address.” At about the same time, a sheet full of squirmies shows up to peckish Peter. He gets the point, answers a knock at the door and heads off to Caesarea. After a wonderfully awkward introduction, Cornelius says “Lay it on us, brother.” Peter barely begins his talk when the Holy Spirit shows up and all heaven breaks loose! And then, way down the road, you and I get saved! 

Why Cornelius? We can only speculate really, but Luke does give some interesting background on him. He tells us twice that Cornelius prayed and gave to the poor. He adds amazingly, that those things “have come up as a memorial offering before God.” 

God receives an offering from a soldier of the empire oppressing the children of God? Stunning. 

Here’s why this is rolling around in my head today: Ramadan, which wraps up next week, is known for fasting and feasting. It’s also an increased time of praying and giving for Muslims. 

Could there be some Cornelius’s out there named Siddiq, Fatima, or Rasheed who are praying and giving with sincere hearts? Is it possible God might receive their efforts as an offering and send them an angel to say, “Go get this person and listen to what they have to say?”

There are Peters out there. I know it. Women and men, full of grace, love and the Holy Spirit, ready to answer a knock on their door. Please join me in praying that will happen as many times over as God gives you faith for. 

We’ve come to the Mitford party about 20 years late. My wife and I recently started reading the super popular series, Mitford Years, and at three chapters in, I’m wondering to what degree I should be a pastor like Father Tim. (I’ve got the portly part down pat.)

If you remember the very start of the series, Father Tim was blessed by his fasting on Good Friday. Perhaps you’re blessed to be fasting today as we commemorate Jesus’s death. 

Having most of us grown up knowing the “rest of the story,” it’s impossible for all but those with the best imaginations, to put ourselves the disciples’ shoes or in the mind of Mary on that fateful day. 

The great experiment has reached it’s tragic and for some foregone conclusion: He was a fine, if too feisty, rabbi. As the Muslims would say down the road, a prophet worth reading and emulating, but no Messiah. 

But even more difficult to comprehend is the magnitude, the pervasiveness of the difference that death was making. I don’t have space here to describe that impact. (I sometimes say that when I don’t really know how to describe something!) Paul’s words in Colossians 1.19-20 richly suffice, “For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.”

Ah, how I want our Muslim cousins around the planet to know this. Peace has been made. Reconciliation accomplished. Fast and feast during Ramadan out of joyous devotion to God, but you need not offset your sin nor earn his favor. 

The death the holy one died, he died for you, too. 

PS: As Rev. Lockridge reminds us, Sunday is coming! I’d appreciate your prayers as I preach on Easter this Sunday for the first time ever! 

As I write it’s Mother’s Day throughout the Arab world, which means it’s Mother’s Day in Gaza. I can’t even imagine the sorrow of tens of thousands of Muslim moms who’ve lost children, husbands, parents and precious nieces and nephews since the travesty of Oct. 7th. 

Surely the loss of life and livelihood devastates hope. It’s one thing to persist in pursuing a light at the end of the tunnel, but when the light has been all but snuffed out, how do you keep going?

There was another holiday in the Middle East this week: Nowruz, or Persian New Year. Although it predates Islam, with origins in Zoroastrianism, tons of Muslims enjoy this celebration of Spring. Of course this is a problem in “our way is the only way” cleric-run Iran! The Taliban frowns on it in Afghanistan too. 

In case you’ve not been reading Muslim Connect for over a year, a goldfish is one of the traditional symbols of Nowruz. I encourage you to buy one (If you buy a feeder fish, you’ll give it a longer life than it might otherwise have had!), name it Nowruz and each time you feed it, pray for Persians to find the abundant life Jesus died for them to enjoy.

Finally, as you probably know, we’re almost half way through Ramadan. Rather, Muslims worldwide are. This time of daily fasting and nightly feasting means so much to our Muslim cousins. 

In I Kings 8, Solomon prayed, as he dedicated the temple, that God would hear and answer the prayers of non-Jews directed toward that place. As Muslims up their prayer game during Ramadan, please join me in asking God to hear and answer their prayers for forgiveness and deliverance that “all the people of the earth will come to know and fear him.”

Can you indulge me a little trip down memory land for this edition of Muslim Connect? 

Many years ago, during a three month stint in Bangkok, I got a crazy fun opportunity to hop over to Indonesia with my boss, mentor and hero, Steve Hawthorne. We were scouting locations for future “Joshua Project” research teams in Medan and Banda Aceh. 

I remember chatting in our local host’s home our first evening in the country. The TV had been burbling along in the background, when suddenly it had our host’s full attention: His eyes were glued to the set where a sheik of some sort was making an announcement. He finished his speech and our host turned to us, “Now we eat!” The end of the day’s fast had been proclaimed. 

He took some tea and a bit of food, offered us the same, and I experienced my first ever iftar, the ceremonial fast breaking at the end of each day of Ramadan. It is, if I’m honest with you, one of my favorite parts of the whole event! 

A few years later while kicking around Frankfurt, Germany learning about Muslim immigrants there, some guys at a mosque invited us back in the evening for iftar. That’s an invitation I’ll very rarely pass on! 

We showed up, sat down and awaited the time when evening, and therefore fast breaking, would officially arrive. When it did, our hosts, channeling their ancient Beduin forebears, insisted we take the tea and dates first. So I, the dude with a half-drunk water bottle in my backpack, ate before the guys who’d not sipped since a long ago sunrise. Hospitality worth emulating. 

My favorite iftar so far occurred not long ago when some buds and I hosted a meal for our young, asylum-seeking friends in Catania, Sicily. With no money in their pockets and their moms, mosques and favorite Ramadan munchies far away over the sea, those guys could use some blessings. 

We borrowed tables and chairs, commandeered a little piazza, made soup, and bought fresh baked bread. We invited all our new friends and together we thanked God for the simple joys of good food, multi-colored friends and the hope of better times to come.