Islam

Muslim paradise versus Christian heaven

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In the Koran, Allah describes the Muslim paradise as follows: “They (those who are close to God) lie opposite one another on couches with a gold thread, while eternally young boys make the rounds among them with tankards and jugs (full of wine?) And a mug (full) of spring water (to be mixed in?), from which they neither get a headache nor get drunk and (with all kinds of) fruits, whatever (always) they want, and meat from poultry whatever they want. And wide-eyed Huris (they have them at their disposal) to compare (in their beauty) well-kept pearls”(Sura 56: 15-23). Sura 52.20 describes what is meant by Huris: “We give them wide-eyed Huris as wives”

The Muslim paradise seems to be a land of milk and honey, in which the man is served by boys and can take of several women.

According to tradition, Allah is in seventh heaven behind the lotus tree and not even the angel Gabriel is allowed to go to him. Allah lives for himself.

Christian heaven

Jesus, on the other hand, speaks of preparing homes for his followers (John 14: 2-3). One serves another in his kingdom (John 13: 14-15; 15: 12). Relationship with God is the focus (Revelation 21: 3). Earthly needs will no longer exist (for examples sexuality: Matthew 22:30). A newly shaped joy will fill people which we know little here, and which cannot be passed over into earthly life. Paul calls these “indescribable words” (2 Corinthians 12: 4). God himself will wipe away the tears of his children (Revelation 21: 4). Jesus taught that all who receive him into their lives (open the door for him, Revelation 3: 20) and walk with him, become children of God (John 1: 12) so that they may be where he is (John 14:3). Christian heaven is not about a place, it is about fellowship with God. Whoever accepts the offer of forgiveness from God through Jesus comes as a prerequisite, already here God’s presence through the Holy Spirit and he changes him. In order to reach heaven, we have to want God and Jesus and spend time with him already here. Christian longing is not a place, but a person: Jesus.

The main differences are: Christian heaven is about fellowship with God. In the Muslim paradise, Allah seems to be absent. In the Christian heaven one helps each other. In the Muslim paradise there are servants and masters. It seems that the women lie on the couches only when the man asks for them. It is also not clear who the young men and the wives are. Are these other Muslims?

When Muslims and Christians are saved on their own terms, they will not be in the same place.

Islam

The secret of Islam’s success

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Mouhanad Khorchide* analyses in his book “God’s False Lawyers”:

“If you follow Muslim tradition, the Prophet Mohammed began preaching Islam in 610.” “The main medium was the poetic form. The suras were not read aloud, they were recited, their aesthetic sound was supposed to make the voice of God (which is the content of the Quran) an emotional event” (page 21).

“The poetic form of the lecture was supposed to exude a certain sublimity and authority, the instructions could not simply be read out, they had to be recited ceremonially. This form of communication served in the first place the fortress of unconditional obedience”.

“It was precisely the poetic form of communication that tried to get in the way of critical thinking. Because it aimed to move people’s emotions. There was no need to think about it, on the contrary. This allowed the creeping consolidation of authoritarian structures in society to proceed unhindered” (page 35).

Actually, it is a countermovement to what, according to Khorchide, the basic intention was to make independent subjects out of externally determined objects. Because obedience to the rulers was equated with obedience to God, as far as Khorchide. Continue reading The secret of Islam’s success →

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Manipulated Islam

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Mouhanad Khorchide, head of the Center for Islamic Theology at the University of Münster, writes:

Islam, as it is presented to most Muslims as well as non-Muslims today and as it is practiced by many believers, is a manipulated version of this religion. We are confronted with a manipulation that goes back to the Muslims themselves and whose roots go deep into the early history of Islam shortly after the death of Muhammad.

The main intention of Islam, however, was to free people from their status as externally determined objects and to offer them the way to self-determined subjects.

However, the political power struggles led to a reversal movement shortly after the death of Muhammad. Again man became the object of submission, again he was forced to unconditional obedience to despotic rulers. Continue reading Manipulated Islam →

Jesus

God loves me even when I’m not perfect

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Roman wanted to prove his faith to Allah. He loved to disturb Christians with questions in order to unsettle them. He planned to disrupt a Baptist church service in Kazakhstan during Ramadan. For him, Christians with a Muslim background were “betrayers of the real faith”.

But things turned out differently. “For the first time I heard about a God who loved me,” he says. “I never knew the Almighty God loved me even though I am not perfect.” 

“For the first time I heard of a God who loves me,” he says. “I hadn’t known an almighty God who loves me even though I’m not perfect.” “That thought [of being loved even though I’m not perfect] seriously never entered my mind. I always felt guilty. I felt that I had to earn His attention.”

And then something happened he never expected: tears, prayers to Jesus, repentance and joy. Sitting in that church service in a Baptist church, the man who had devoted his life to persecuting Christians became a follower of Jesus.

And today he says: “I never want to go back to the Muslim faith.”

 more information

news

Christians leave southern Iraq

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Christians in southern Iraq continue to suffer badly from attacks by radical Muslims and are fleeing. Even the Pope’s visit in March could not change the lack of religious freedom, explain human rights activists.

Most Christians have since left the region for fear of being killed or kidnapped. The observer sees the interference by the neighboring states of Iran and Turkey as the biggest problem for Iraq.

On Wednesday, May 26th, there were again anti-Iran demonstrations in Baghdad. Update on https://www.obrist-impulse.net/christen-verlassen-den-suedirak

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The promise of Jesus was kept

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Pentecost – The promise of Jesus was kept: “I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you” (John 14:16-17).

In Jerusalem the presence of God came to the people, however not frightening like at Sinai, but arousing curiosity.

The Holy Spirit moves, he cheers, he fills all creation.

He is breathtaking. Wherever he picks up speed, develops strength or breaks out in the Bible – there is the Holy Spirit involved.

At Pentecost, God’s spirit came visibly to people. The disciples of Jesus suddenly understood God’s work and told of the great works of God (Acts 2). To everyone who accepts God’s offer in Jesus, God’s spirit opens a new dimension of life.

Pfingsten – Gottes Realität begegnen

Jesus

Ascension Day

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On this day, the disciples are very much looking forward to Jesus establishing the kingdom. Jesus opens a new chapter. He is now sitting on the father’s right hand. God’s presence is re-experienced through the Holy Spirit.

After Jesus died on the cross on Good Friday and rose from the dead on Easter Sunday, he met over 500 people (1 Corinthians 15: 5). These included the women at the grave (John 20), the two hikers to Emmaus (Luke 24) and the disciples of Jesus. These encounters were encouraging, but nothing earth-shattering happened.

Ten days before the Jewish festival of Pentecost, Jesus met with them on a normal Thursday. The disciples had great expectations that Jesus would now establish the kingdom. But Jesus did not want to set a time for it and promised them divine power through the Holy Spirit, who will lead them into the whole world (Acts 1: 6-8).

When Jesus ascended towards heaven before their eyes on the Mount of Olives and disappeared from their eyes through a cloud, Jesus opened a new chapter. Suddenly there were two angels who declared that Jesus was now in heaven and that one day he would come back to earth from there. But first of all, the disciples in Jerusalem waited for the promised power from above, which came to them after 10 days on Pentecost and fulfilled them and changed everything.

In John 18:36, Jesus said to Pilate: My kingdom is not like one of this world.

read on → https://www.obrist-impulse.net/auffahrt-ausfahrt-himmelfahrtsfest

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The suffering of the ex-Muslims

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Muslims who have converted to Christianity lead a shadowy existence in France in the name of Christ. They are threatened by former co-religionists, in some cases persecuted, and in any case expelled. Hardly anyone reports about their suffering.

For most of them, their presence in a church is unthinkable. The French magazine “L’Incorrect” states that we “witnessing a real witch hunt in the context of the Islamic community”.

The motives for the conversion are quite different. In most cases, the newly baptized somehow stumbled upon the Bible, read the New Testament with growing amazement, and were enthusiastic about a God of love. Dreams also play a role for many.

But who can these new Christians turn to? Some church people are suspicious and suspect a trap by Islamists, others feared the revenge of Islamist relatives even without a trap.

read more https://www.obrist-impulse.net/das-leiden-der-ex-muslime

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Growing number of conversions from Muslims to Christianity

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According to the study published in February by the “Arab Barometer”, the religious awareness of Muslims is clearly declining.

The survey of 25,000 people in ten Arab countries shows that the proportion of atheists is increasing sharply – in Tunisia it even exceeds the 45 percent mark among 18 to 29-year-olds.

At the same time, a growing number of Muslims converting to Christianity is observed, which is not surprising to some. For example, for the American Jesuit priest Mitch Pacwa. “We are currently seeing the first mass conversions of Muslims to Christianity,” he confirms. For the Middle East expert, “the violence of Islam in its most widespread form – among the Islamists – is the reason of the increasing number of individual withdrawals.” Of the 4,468 adults who, according to Figaro, were baptized Catholics in France in 2020, which corresponds to an increase of 43 percent within ten years, the French Catholic Bishops’ Conference estimates that six percent came from Muslim families. Ten years ago this proportion was still four percent – even though the newly baptized adults were fewer at the time.

Father Gérard de Martigues from the Diocese of Nice comments: “The new converts come mostly from North Africa, to a small extent from Sub-Saharan Africa and not at all from Asia Minor”. Unfortunately, however, the Catholic Church is “often helpless, even half-hearted” towards these people. According to the priest, most of the new converts would join Protestant churches, the accessibility of which would attract the Muslims concerned. With 35 new churches opened annually in France (according to the Conseil national des évangéliques de France), mainly in problematic neighborhoods, they sometimes exceed the number of newly opened mosques.

The “conversion scenarios” observed were often similar: They begin with a “rejection of Islam, followed by an atheistic phase that ultimately ends in a gradual discovery of the Christian faith”.

Not only the “bloodthirsty Islam of jihadist movements” shakes the convictions of some Muslims, but also “the contradictions of the Koranic narrative: the massacre of the Jewish tribe Banu Quraiza or the marriage of Muhammad to the six-year-old Aisha weaken the ‘beautiful example’ of the Prophet, like him been hammered since childhood ”.  https://www.obrist-impulse.net/wachsende-nummer-von-konversionen-von-muslimen-zum-christentum

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