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Muslim Connect is celebrating it’s third anniversary this week. If this happens to be your first time to read the email, “Welcome!” (I’m looking at you, West Jordan friends!) If you’ve been reading for a while, can I just say, “Thank you.” It’s a source of hope and joy to me that a couple thousand folks get Muslim Connect. May God use it as a small part of his effort to bring life, the abundant life Jesus lived and died for, to Muslims all over.

Two reader comments this past week illustrate what Muslim Connect is all about.

“At a training event I attended, the leader brilliantly answered this excuse, ‘But, I wouldn’t know how to begin a conversation with a Muslim.’ The trainer’s answer, ‘Well, you might begin with [pause] ‘Hi,’’” brought the house down! He went on to explain how many Muslims are so accustomed to white Americans treating them as invisible (or worse), that “hi” can actually be very powerful. I use the “hi” in the marketplace constantly with everybody. It’s amazing the doors it opens up.”

I love that! Start with the easiest, most accessible tools: A smile and a “hi.” Acknowledge there’s often a barrier, but call down Heaven, screw up your courage and take a run at it! 

Sometimes faithfulness to smile and say “hi” will lead to opportunities like this:

“I just started working with a group of Somali high school girls through an after school program for refugee kids. They are dear, but they never stop talking!!”

Ah, to get close enough to experience the happy frustration of endless chatter! To have your teaching plans thwarted by new friends who trust you enough to want you to know how they are, to hear what they’re experiencing, to get a detailed report of everything they’ve seen, heard and thought in the preceding week! #blessed indeed! 

If it’s not too cheesy to quote Henry V, this is my heart and joy: “We happy few,” we’re children of God, partners with him in his eternal purposes to love all peoples, including Muslims near and far.

Thank you for reading. If you find value in Muslim Connect, please join me in helping us grow from 2000 subscribers to 5000 by forwarding this email to a friend. Grazie!

Imagine this hypothetical church in your home town: They only use the King James Bible. Everyone gathers for Sunday morning church, but also Sunday and Wednesday evenings. The women all wear long skirts and choose not to cut their hair. They enforce a strict code of no drinking, dancing or TV watching. They are doubtful and judgmental about most other Christians. Yet to their credit, they sincerely try to practice the faith of the New Testament church.

Got the picture in mind? Now change the base faith from Christianity to Islam, add the will to enforce their views on others by educational, political and violent means and you have a picture of Wahhabism.

The enduring alliance between founder, Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhaband the House of Saud has made Wahhabism the de facto official approach to Islam in Saudi Arabia. The power of petrodollars has propelled its impact throughout the world. And several high-profile acts of terror, with resulting media coverage and political use, has made it appear to be the “real Islam.”

This is no more true than Bible Baptist Church, Farmland, Indiana (KJV only)claiming to be “real Christianity.”

Wahhabis, also know as Salafis or Muwahhidun, are few in number relative to their power and influence. Most Muslims disagree with Wahhabis and even see them as a corrupt sect.

Where does this leave us? I think of Paul, arguably a fine “Wahhabi” of his day. Jesus got him and as a result, you and I know about Jesus! I also remember one of the coolest missionaries I ever knew. He would pursue relationships with the most religious Turks he could find saying, “If someone doesn’t care about their own God, why would they care about the one I’m sharing?”

Watch this beautiful and moving prayer for Wahhabis. May God accomplish all he has in mind for and through them.

If you’ve read Muslim Connect for even a short time, you’re probably aware that I don’t know a whole lot more than I know. Today’s edition is a good example. I’d like to share a couple of interesting points with you. But from the outset, you need to know I feel very clumsy talking about racial issues involving African Americans. I am very white and nearly clueless.

Pew Research reports these numbers:

1. African Americans make up about 20% of Muslims in America or nearly 700,000.
2. Almost 50% of Black Muslims in the U.S. are converts to Islam.
3. Nearly 80% of Black Americans are Christian and 2% are Muslim.
4. Between 20,000 and 50,000 African American Muslims are members of the Nation of Islam, led by Louis Farrakhan.

True confession: A week ago, I would have guessed that Black Islam in American pretty much equaled the Nation of Islam. Clearly that’s not the case. At the high end, NOI represents 20%. Most Black Muslims in the US are simply Sunni or Muslim in general without specific affiliation.

What that reality does for me is lessen my sense of “otherness” toward Black American Muslims. It makes me wonder in a deeper way what makes up the draw toward conversion. I question how the American church (including me!) may have faltered since statistically those who convert do so away from Christianity.

Surely there are dozens of other relative questions. What comes to your mind? (Please comment below.)

Along with the questions, I’m reminded of this quote from Bob Goff, “Find someone. . . who isn’t like you at all and decide to love that person the way you want Jesus to love you. We need to love everybody, always. Jesus never said doing these things would be easy. He just said it would work.” (Tweet this.)

Drum roll please. . . For the first time in American history, “Muhammad” is in the top ten of the 100 most popular baby names in the US! (Tweet this.)

I’m curious how this makes you feel and what you think about it.

Maybe. . . 

“I knew it! They really are taking over!”

“I’d better learn how to spell it!”

“More Muslims to love!”

“It’s time to move to the mountains.”

If you tend to be a little skeptical, you might be thinking, “Hmmm, I wonder if that’s really true.” I wouldn’t blame you. I’m skeptical of a lot of things. The data for this comes from “nearly 600,000 BabyCenter parents who shared their baby’s name with (the site) in 2019.”

While this benchmark reflects the growth of Islam in the U.S. due to immigration, birth and conversion, it might not be as big a deal as it appears.

The #10 spot on BabyCenter.com’s list was reached by aggregating the various spellings of Muhammad. On the Social Security Administration’s site, the highest spot for any specific spelling is #345.

There’s also the reality that while a relatively high percentage of Muslim parents name their son Muhammad, for the non-Muslim population there is an increase in the diversity of baby boy names.

Finally, for comparison’s sake (and maybe a little comfort!), fifteen of the top thirty names on the Social Security Administration’s site are either overtly biblical or at least Christian-ish!

What do I think about this data point? More Muslims to love and talk about Jesus with. And, as my Facebook friend says, a growing likelihood that a Mediterranean restaurant will open near me!

What I don’t feel is fear or resentment. God’s got this. More than “got it,” he’s using this for the expansion of his Kingdom. That might not look just as we’d imagined (It never does for me!), but, ah, will it be good.

How about you? Please comment below.

Please see the special note at the end of this post.

There’s a guy in my small community who spends many of his waking hours walking up and down the highway. This isn’t so much a “hit my fitbit steps goal,” as maybe walking out his demons. His face is set, grim and shows the wear of countless hours of Colorado sun and wind.

A friend at church asked me Sunday morning if I would be inclined to engage this guy in conversation. In a rare burst of honesty, I said probably not. When she asked why, I gave it some thought and replied, “I have no idea what’s going on in that guy’s world.” My spidey sense (Which may often be contrary to the Holy Spirit.) says it’s best to stay back. Play it safe. It could get weird if I get too close.

This realization, of which I’m not too proud, made me wonder how many Christians experience something similar when it comes to Muslims. It’s not anger or apathy that keeps us keeping our distance, but more a sense of not knowing anything about their world, having no way to guess what’s on the other side of a “hello.”

Does this ring true with you? Do you suspect it in friends, family, fellow Christians? Given some of the popular narratives about Muslims these days, suspicion and discretion are not a big surprise, are they?

This matters because I hope Muslim Connect helps fill in that knowledge and experience gap.

If this dynamic is real, what else can you imagine that would help counter it?

How can we build a prevailing sense that the other side of “hello” looks like this: On the one hand, lots of relational work, cross-cultural awkwardness and probably some theological challenges. But on the other hand, yummy food, interesting conversations and maybe a fresh episode of the abundant life Jesus said he came to bring.

Please share your ideas below.

Thank you for this, the last Muslim Connect of 2019. I’m honored and grateful. If you’ve found value in Muslim Connect, can I ask you to consider two things? 1. Hit the forward button and share it with a friend. Or a bunch of friends! 2. Ask God if he would lead you to give a year-end financial gift to keep it going. You can do so here. Thank you.

Please see the special note at the end of this post. 

My friend Ali is Saudi Arabian and a great guy. We met when his wife pursued a masters at my alma mater, so I’ve known him a long time. We’re not super close, but we stay in touch.

I can name only two other Saudi Arabians, both celebrites: Muhammad bin Salmon, the crown prince. And, of course, Osama bin Laden. 33 million people and I only know one of them?! Is it any wonder I have a hard time wrapping my head around my country’s relationship with Saudi Arabia? “It’s complicated!” Yeah, pretty much!

An American friend (Believe or not, I have more than one of those!), David Weston wrote this past week about that relationship in his More Than Meets the Eye weekly update. I encourage you to subscribe to it.

David stresses four things:

1. Saudi individuals have been guilty of violence against Americans.
2. As one of America’s best allies in the war on terror, we’re not soon going to abandon our relationship with the nation.
3. There are significant, important world view difference between most Americans and most Saudis.
4. One of the best things people like you and I can do is get to know some of them.

David says, “Tearing down walls and building bridges is where we can impact this global phenomenon of the movement of peoples. Let’s not put it all on everybody else to try and figure us out. Let’s take the first step and see if we can understand them better. When that happens, respect will begin to grow. When respect happens at an individual level, it will soon be followed by mutual respect at the national level.”

I so want that to be true. I’m going to send a message to my bud Ali today. Join me? If you don’t know any Saudi’s, take a peek at this map to see if there are any clubs near you.

Thank you for reading Muslim Connect. I’m honored and grateful that you do. If you’ve found value in it, can I ask you to consider two things? 1. Share it with a friend. Or a bunch of friends! 2. Ask God if he would lead you to give a year-end financial gift to keep it going. You can do so here. Thank you.

Since I clearly feel freedom to complain when the U.S. government does things I disagree with, I thought it might also be fair to highlight something that looks very good.

A few weeks ago, Muslim Connect consisted of a brief lament for Uyghur Muslims who are suffering massive internment at the hands of the Chinese government. Theories on why vary from the official line of containing terrorism and separatism to paving the way for a massive economic project.

Earlier this week the US House passed a bill called the Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act of 2019. It is expected to easily pass the Senate, but it’s not yet clear if President Trump will sign it into law. The bill calls for increased monitoring of Chinese treatment of Uyghurs, as well as sanctions on the Communist Party leader of Xinjiang, Chen Quanguo.

This seems wise, bold and probably costly. Like the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act of a couple of weeks ago, this legislation was met with anger and caustic warnings from Chinese officials.

I don’t for a moment claim that my country’s hands are clean. Heck, my own are so dirty as to be almost un-washable. But even the guilty need to do the right thing, no? I’m happy when we take a stand against injustice on a such a gut-wrenching scale.

I tend to think grassroots is better, a million small acts having more power than a single large one. But this seems like a situation in which the legislative power of a super power might be the right tool. Coupled with our prayers, may God use this to bring about deliverance and justice for the Uyghurs.