Category Archives: Uncategorized

Dang COVID! I think I’ve turned a corner toward recovery, but still sort of feel like I got rolled over by a giant panda. . .while he was sumo wrestling a hippo!

Even so, I wanted to get a quick word out to you. Laylat al-Qadr, the Night of Power, will be observed by Muslims around the world this Saturday, May 8th. I wrote brieflyabout it last week and asked that we consider fasting at least one meal that day.

As this goes out, 57 of us have signed up, expressing our intention to fast. I’d love to hit 100, so if you’re thinking about it, please click here, then click the little blue-ish plus 1 sign. Super simple.

Brian B, Muslim Connect reader and all around amazing guy, has invited us to join an online prayer gathering Saturday from 8am-8pm est that will meet here. I hope to tune in for part of it. Join me?

Finally, if you’re inclined, I’d be grateful for prayers for recovery. Thank you.

I once asked my young daughter, “Sweetheart, what is all over your face?” She paused, pondered and asked in return, “Hmmm, I don’t know. What color is it?”

With the possible exception of her, and then only for a very short time in her early life, most of us want to be clean, don’t we? Not just our faces. Our lives, our very souls. We want to be forgiven, free of blame, we want to hear Jesus’s words to the paralytic spoken directly to our faces, “Friend, your sins are forgiven.”

One way to be clean is to decide that nothing makes you dirty. If there are no rules to break, then there is no guilt to be carried. Alternatively, some religions have developed elaborate rituals, pilgrimages, even literal bathings in this pursuit. For instance, 3.5 million Hindu pilgrims participated in this year’s Khumb Mela pilgrimage. They gathered through out the past month in spite of, and contributing to, the devastating second covid wave that is bringing India to its knees today. The purpose? A sin-cleansing dip in the Ganges.

In a Muslim worldview, the best chance for forgiveness comes on Laylat al-Qadr, the Night of Power, which occurs next week toward the end of Ramadan. It commemorates the beginning of the quranic revelation from God to Muhammad. Many believe that the destiny of your coming year is determined on this night, that sins are forgiven and good deeds are multiplied. (Read more here and determine what your contribution should be based on your net worth!)

My friend Isa challenged me to fast one day during this year’s Ramadan. Since Laylat al-Qadr is such a spiritually active night, I’m planning to fast next Saturday, May 8th. Would you care to join me? You could focus prayers on your Muslim friends, my friend Isa or the Islamic world in general.

I’d like to tell Isa that 100 of my friends are fasting (even one meal would be cool) and praying for him and his brothers and sisters. If you’re willing, please count yourself in here.

There’s a good chance you’ve fasted more than I have, but there’s a better chance the average Muslim has fasted more than both of us combined!

Ramadan, the Islamic month of fasting, begins on April 12th or 13th (depending on where you live). While eating and celebrating do occur at night during Ramadan, the fasting activities during the day are arduous: No eating, no drinking, no smoking, no swallowing saliva and no sex.

Ramadan is a time of self-denial in order to honor God. Muslims talk of going without to show thanks to God for what he has done, both good and bad. It is a time of purifying oneself and asking God for forgiveness.

If you’re in close, daily contact with Muslims, I can imagine God might nudge you to fast along with them. Since I’m not planning to do that this year (or likely any other year, to be honest), I’m not advocating for it.

I am planning to do these three things and invite you to join me.

1. Pray. Spiritual activity intensifies during Ramadan, both for Muslims and those reaching out to them. Get prayer help with the pdf version of the gold standard “30 Days of Prayer.” You can also sign up for a daily prayer email. Gather some people together to pray and find ways to encourage your networks to pray for Muslims this month.

2. Learn. Join me in registering for this helpful webinar next Tuesday evening. Ask Muslim friends questions. Maybe start with, “Do you mind if I ask you something about Ramadan?” Sensitive, but curious is a good approach. I was just trying this with a North African friend this morning. I honestly want to know what Ramadan is like for him.

3. Share. Post a brief prayer for your friends and other Muslims during Ramadan on this prayer wall. While you’re there, take a moment to lift up the other requests.

May God multiply our small efforts to his great glory and much abundant life for many Muslims this Ramadan.

Ah, but Spring is blooming in my neighborhood and in my heart! Easter is just around the corner and new things are popping up all over. Seems like a good time to bring some newness to bear on this weekly missive.

In an effort to re-fresh and remain relevant to our culture, I’m pleased to announce a new name and new direction for this email. Please join me in welcoming Muslim Correct!

Muslim Correct will now focus on three driving imperatives:

1. Things that I think are wrong with Muslims.
   For instance, why do they name so many of their boy babies Muhammad? We don’t do that. (Apologies to Latinx readers.) They’re probably trying to dominate baby name popularity lists. Which reminds me, we’ll be focusing more energy on what I believe motivates Muslims, than on what most of them actually do.
2. Things that readers like you think I am wrong about.
   Come on, I know you’ve been thinking about it! “Who does this guy think he is and what can he really say in 300 words? Plus, I got a newsletter from a guy who quoted another speaker sharing how a Muslim convert thought what most missiologists said and did was rubbish.”
3. A broader look at things that are wrong with the world and can be made better by sitting on the couch watching Jeopardy and grousing about them. This aspect will hopefully be anchored by guest authors who have a proven track record of calling out Muslims. (Can anyone put me in contact with Jerry Falwell Jr.?)

The outgoing motto for Muslim Connect, you may remember was, “Thinking about Muslims the way God does. Loving Muslims the way Jesus does.”

Get ready, our new motto is: “Thinking about Muslims in ways that make us feel good about ourselves. Loving Muslims from a nice, safe distance.”

Whether you endorse or oppose these new changes, please take a moment to watch this 59 second video. Thank you.

I’m serious about the “connect” part of Muslim Connect. It’s easier to knowabout Muslims than it is to actually befriend and engage with them. Safer, too but, Gospel love has risky feet and hands. Because of my bias toward action over knowledge (and perhaps due to my sophomoric knowledge!), I prefer talking about what Muslims and Christians have in common that can lead to connection, rather than our differences.

Can’t always do that, though. And with Easter looming gorgeous and sunny on the horizon, I’d like to consider how Muslims deal with a Jesus whom the Gospels say died all the way and 100% rose from that death.

Islam has chosen to see Jesus as one of the best prophets, but giving him anything like co-equality, or same substance, with God is anathema. Having established that, dealing with the Gospel accounts of the resurrection is tricky.

For starters, since Jesus was a beloved prophet of God, surely he would not be allowed to suffer the shame of a forsaken death on a cross. For many Muslims, it’s unthinkable. Something else must have happened.

One possible solution is a switch. God sent someone else to the cross, an imposter made to look like Jesus.

Some Muslims will say Jesus died like any other person, others that God raised him to Heaven. These assume the crucifixion did not happen at all! That makes things tidier, but is a tough sell, given the Gospel accounts.

Ahmadiyya Muslims, who are considered unorthodox by many others, contend that Jesus didn’t die, maybe fainted or something, then went to India to preach there and later died in Kashmir!

These ideas sound crazy to our Easter-loving ears, but our Muslim friends believe them sincerely. The first step to sharing a bigger, better story is understanding current convictions.

Ask your friends what they believe happened to Jesus.  

More Info: For a solid, yet quick read, check out my friend Fouad Masri’s articleand book.

Dig into Gregory Lanier’s article for a thorough, slightly more academic, but accessible and well documented look 

I’d encourage listening to Matt Maher’s song, Christ is Risen on 11 while you read!

We tend to keep track of what we love, right? You know pretty much where your kids are. At a moment’s notice, you could put your hands on your military medals and important documents. I have a pretty good idea what chips and cereal are in the pantry. The cat, on the other hand, could be anywhere!

As people who value Muslims and strive to love them as God does, it’s good to know where they are. 

Of course, you are likely familiar with the counter-intuitive reality that most Muslims are not Arab, don’t live in the Middle East nor speak Arabic. And while I feel far more comfortable paddling around in ethnographic, rather than demographic data, it’s good for us to grow in our understanding of where Muslims are and aren’t.

In that pursuit, the good people at Dimitrov Research Center shared a website with fascinating graphs showing the percentage of Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists and Christians in a given country.

I was particularly struck by the dearth of countries having either a hefty minority or a slight majority of Muslim citizens. There are only five countries with Muslim populations between 18 and 87%! Buddhists and Hindupopulations follow a similar pattern. Christians, on the other hand, seem more evenly spread between none and 100%.

I wonder how this came about and what it might mean. How is the global political and religious situation affected by the reality that most Muslims live where they’re either a tiny minority or an overwhelming majority? How does that shape the broader narrative about Muslims? How does this influence how your Muslim friend sees herself or his world?

One thing it makes me think: The next time someone asks me, “How do I find God’s will for my life?” I’m going to say, “Look at this chart!”

Global research hall-of-famer and Muslim Connect reader, Dr. Todd Johnsonhas said that eight or nine out of every ten Muslims, Hindus and Buddhists don’t have a friend who follows Jesus. May our lives shift that reality.