Saturday, February 13, 2010

Interview with Tamer of DAM on Democracy Now



I'll admit it, I'm being a lazy blogger. The truth is, the last couple of days have been overwhelming and I don't know what to say about them. But Tamer has some good comments, as per usual.

7 comments:

Gosia said...

great blog and great post,
Gosia, Poland

Austin said...

Hi, i tried to leave a comment here, but it does not seem to have reached you?

j_in_palestine said...

no, I'm sorry to say that it hasn't. Could you re-send it?

Austin said...

Hi, I was just reading an article about Muslim Palestinians coming to faith in Jesus, and thought you would be interestd in it. I found it inspiring. I have copies small bits of it below.

... M2 stressed the Bible was the
most important factor in his coming to Christ. Its truth was particularly important to him, as was Jesus’ person and message, and the assurance of his salvation. He also emphasized the sense of honor he experienced in being saved, as Jesus took the shame of his sin on the cross. As a result,his whole way of thinking changed. When a believer from a nearby university saw the material he received from the radio station, he arranged a personal meeting for him with a mature Arab Christian,
Believer B. M2 was already a believer by this time and the meeting with Believer B essentially confirmed that he should follow the way of
Christ. After this encouraging meeting, he began associating with a group of believers two or three times a week in a large center. He continued studying the Bible and grew in the conviction it was both true and alive. With his conversion, his life was positively transformed. Problems
had a solution, and he had a love in his heart for other people. Quite simply, God miraculously changed his life.

M4 pointed to several other factors influencing his conversion as well. These were reading the Bible, reading Christian literature, the truth of Jesus’ message, God’s honor, and rejection of Islam. However,
he was careful to stress that attacking Islam and Muhammad was
not the way to win Muslims to Christ. In his case, the person of Jesus was the most important reason for his conversion.
Jesus changed his life miraculously and he became a lot less aggressive in the wake of his conversion. However, after he trusted Christ his parents and uncles asked a Muslim religious leader to deter him from
his decision. Once there was a shouting match, but he resisted the
temptation of throwing water in the man’s face. His parents also expelled him from the house on one occasion. While he was shivering
outside he had a vision of Jesus, who covered him with a kind of poncho and told him not to be afraid as he would never leave him. He had also experienced several answers to prayer. His parents would not allow
him to attend church, so he prayed for them and now they allowed
him to go, most of the time.


Many women in her community told her about the “Jesus place”, a
new home-based ministry in her neighborhood, devoted to Jesus. She
knew about Jesus from the Qur’ān and wanted to know more. So she
went there with others, learned about Jesus, and was moved by the
positive life of a believer (Believer A) and answered prayer. She thus came to Christ through preliminary curiosity, but was drawn to him by love and faith. She also experienced a dream and stressed the importance
of Jesus’ person, the truth of his message, the role of media (such
as tapes), and God’s honor in her conversion. Jesus had miraculously changed her life and she spoke of experiencing love and faith in her heart. She felt accepted at the Jesus place and had not been persecuted. Although some did not approve, her extended
family was fully aware of her faith, and for about a year she had hosted meetings in her home for twenty or so women who believed in or were seeking Jesus.

j_in_palestine said...

Hi Austin,

As I said, everything except threats and extreme prejudice is welcome on this blog, but I think I need to be clear - converting people to Christianity is *not* apart of my work in Palestine. I love and respect my Muslim partners as they are. I'm really sorry if this disappoints you, but it's actually very, very important to my work and to me personally that I'm clear about this.

Austin said...

Hi Joy,
yes, I am disappointed/puzzled. Why would you not wish to share the most wonderful news in your life with your friends? God came to earth and suffered and died for us, this is fantastic news for all, especially those who suffer. I am obviously not talking about forcing your views on another, but of simply sharing the joy, peace and delight that Jesus is to you. How could you bottle that up, not share it?? Did those stories of Palestinians having their lives transformed by Jesus not thrill you? Didn't you want that same peace and joy for those you know? Or is the fact that God sent Jesus to die for them because he loves them so much a non-issue for you, something not worth mentioning?
Again, truely puzzled,
Austin

Austin said...

I guess this conversation is of no interest to you. I am sorry.