World Impact Ministries / Peter Youngren

Thanks for the reminder Peter.
God has given us the ministry of reconciliation and sometimes we forget that it takes us to go a little bit out of the way to share the Good News of Jesus.Like the Samaritan did to the man who was robbed and beaten.
We don’t always have to do different things but we can do things a little different.That can speak volumes to the one who is looking for the love of God.

Jeff

Dear Peter Karl,

People who believe that Jesus is the Messiah eventually seem to meet up with persecution from unbelievers.

I have experienced this in my own life, and seen it the lives of many other believers.

TICC is opening my eyes to the wisdom of the Old Testament (OT), encouraging me to prove to myself that the Jesus of the New Testament (NT) is the Messiah of all of the hundreds of prophesies found in the OT.

On my own initiative, I went hunting for references to the Messiah in the Quran. I found that the story of Jesus appears in the Muslim codex as well.

My question is this - what should I make of such discoveries? Did I find Jesus there too?

Do the Muslims already believe in Jesus? Is this the real reason for their ongoing persecution?

I know TICC has great outreach to Muslims here in Toronto. Do these experiences support our Jesus also being found in Islam?

It’s an easy question to ask. If it has no answer, I apologize for asking it.

Subject: The Gospel Himself

My previous post left me with the familiar feeling that I need to answer my own question by looking to fellow believers and of course the Gospel Himself.

My question was - why do references to Jesus appear in sources other than the bible? (eg. the Quran)

Brother Clive Staples Lewis seems to have wrestled with this:

‘I am trying here to prevent anyone from saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him [Jesus Christ]:

‘I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept his claim to be God.‘

That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher.

He would either be a lunatic—on a level with a man who says he is a poached egg—or else he would be the Devil of Hell.

You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is,the Son of God,: or else a madman or something worse ....

You can shut him up for fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon; or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God.

But let us not come up with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that option open to us. He did not intend to.‘

In the Passion of the Christ, when Jesus knelt to draw ‘something’ on the ground, the director had him draw (rather dramatically) a line in the sand.

Once again, the answer is Jesus Himself. Salvation comes from believing in who He IS, not in who He WAS.

As Jesus always says:

Luke 12:51
‘Suppose ye that I am come to give peace on earth? I tell you, Nay; but rather division: For from henceforth there shall be five in one house divided, three against two, and two against three. The father shall be divided against the son, and the son against the father; the mother against the daughter, and the daughter against the mother; the mother in law against her daughter in law, and the daughter in law against her mother in law.‘

Wow!, Pastor Peter…did you hit the nail on the head in this tibet of teaching! After I came home from out west /79, and had to deal with my sisters after our dad, then mom went home to be with our eternal Father, I thought I was going to go bananas, with the deception and confusion that my sisters brought to the table of family get togethers. It was not until the passing over to eternal peace, of our older brother (who was our meditor/buffer/peacekeeper of holding me back from killing those two), I swear I would have never entered their homes again! I think they found it necessary to pick up where my parents left off, in speaking their minds and correcting my ‘negative anti-Christian behavor…even though mom and dad did a fine job with all of us. I stayed away from family reunions, and resisted calling them for updates of other family members, as they would speak things to me that made me very angry/crazy…and it was usual on my quarter! The only time they called me, was to inform me of another funeral, shower, or wedding. Once I began to gain ground and stand up to their bullying comments, as I was labelled a liar, even when my ‘Evangelical Blessing’ had convinced me that I didn’t imagine everything that they said and did to me in childhood (and everything was not my fault alone!) sometimes I would leave there more hurt and bewildered then I did before the visit as I always prayed before visiting. I wanted to have some closure on various misunderstands/miscommuncations, as after my ‘Father’s Blessing’ in 1984, I truly thought I had a handle on things, believing it was my right to tie up loose ends of the pain we inflictd on each other in our youth. Some visits would result in us not communicating with each other (Abba knows best!) and sometimes these rifts would keep us distant from one another for years. After various visits to spend time alone with family, it would take Henry a number of days to de-program me from my well meaning sisters comments, and reassure me again that Jesus did love me, and I wasn’t going to hell in a handbasket, while being a stumbling block to others and causing them to be lead down the path of life that satan and his followers have pathed for many this planet earth. Gee I missed my brother’s shoulder to cry on, when I came home from work to hear Henry tell me that he had dropped that day, while out washing his car. I didn’t know if I could get through his funeral without saying something to someone, that I would regret in future days.
I rejoice in this day, as over time, and prayers from many…Jesus has intervened in our disagreements/arguements, and we finally agreed to disagree, and avoid conversation that might stir up or trigger hurts that might not have been dealt with or resolved with, nor would we want to at that given time. Like we still might have a few issues to deal with, and we were taught very young on how to have fair fights…whether verbal or physical. What wonderful parents God blessed us with, while neighbours complained about those out of control Greenaway brats. My mom was a discipliner I feared at times (sure knew how to break branches of that plum and cherry tree, that I use to pray would die…could hide the flyswatter and other weapons that she used when her hand could not reach us to get the message across that we were wrong in our talk or action), and dad only had to speak and I would ask him ‘How high daddy’...lol! Has it ever been neat, to see how the enemy had to loose his grip on our lives, this past number of years, because my family now knows that all ‘Power and Glory’ belongs to Christ Jesus…and He alone is worthy of being praised, no matter where we choose to be spiritual fed! Yup!, that was basic subject of conversation in most of our visits…Religion, and serving Jesus in our communities would be put on the back burner to simmer!, until we finished chewing the raw fat and not satisfying our hunger for the cooked results! I have stood firm with them over the past years since I sufferred a tragic lost (and sometimes I know they didn’t appreciate what I said, or my temper tantrum, then again…oh well!, I’ll let them be that problem for a change. Having spent several years in the court rooms, battling for the safety of my granddaughter that my daughter left behind…when she went to grave, I was in no mood to listen to opinions that threw me off of keeping focused on Jesus, and what He completed/finished at the cross. As my Doctor suggested to me to ask them….‘Are you here to help me, or cause me problems…because I’m very busy serving our Lord Jesus…and I don’t dwell in the past, or waste precious time He has given me to argue you in defending myself!!!! I then tell them that they can talk about me as much as they please, as I will talk about them down on my knees, and Abba is listening!! None of us are worthy to put their hands to the share-plough, and move forward into the Kingdom of God, until we bury the past under the blood that Jesus shed at Calvary…while still maintaining that we are serving Him in faith, ‘love, and service/work onto our physical death. His Glory, not ours! That was Elder Bruce’s message yesterday, and I loved it! When I’m out and about this wacky world of choas, I continue to focus on the horizon, and daydream while I work, as I anxiously dream of the day when we will see Him ‘face to face’ and knee before His throne of Grace and Mercy. The scene of Him and all His saints storming in from Heaven (after the Trumpet blast), to put an end to the evil on this earth, I will bend down on my knees and kiss the ground that Our Heavenly Father created and where so many of our fore-fathers & sisters laid down their lives to fight for our freedom today. The war is won!, it’s just the daily challenges and test that urk me now…then again, God’s children are not to be offended by those who are reluctant to be drawn to His light of re-birth, and coming clean in His love and forgiveness. Too many are still viewing us with carnal eyes, and blinded spiritually. Hope the wake-up call reaches them soon, as harvest time is coming to an end, as we have awaited the arrival of our ‘Eternal Groom’. The bride (church) is ready to receive, and the future is a signed deal in the Heaven’s, with the trinity of Father God, Beloved Son, and the Comforter. Karl…it is always a pleasure to hear your messages and read your take on the scripture that God has directed you to! Peter and Roxanne must glow with pride, when they think of how far you have come in being a sokesperson for our Lord and Master, Christ Jesus of Nazareth! Merry Christmas to you and your loved ones, and God’s speed, safe keeping and good health to you all, in 2008.
Brandi & Henry too!

Ps Peter- But how we can bring Muslim ppl to Jesus & make them understand that Jesus Christ is the son of living God?

Hina