All the Same God? - From His Heart - Week of November 10, 2016

Dear Reader:   

Please note that this week's email encouragement is different from most.  I felt impressed by the Holy Spirit to share a message regarding Christianity, Islam, and false religion.  As always, my goal is NOT to be inflammatory in any way.  I desire to speak the truth in love and provide clarity lest people be deceived. 

In Christ, 
Pastor Jeff Schreve

On Tuesday, October 31, another deadly terrorist attack took place in America.  Lower Manhattan was the scene of unspeakable evil as twenty-nine year old Sayfullo Saipov brutally murdered eight people and wounded eleven others as he mowed down the unsuspecting victims with a rented pickup truck.  By his own admission, Saipov committed the murders in the name of Allah, the god of Islam, shouting, “Allahu Akbar” (Allah is great).    
 
To be sure, radicalized and murderous Islam practiced by ISIS, the Taliban, Boko Haram and others does not represent the majority of the 1.8 billion Muslims in the world.  However, terrorism in the name of Allah is all too common an occurrence in our world today.  When numerous verses in the Qur’an can be used to justify murder, something is seriously amiss.  In addition, the documented atrocities of Mohammad, the founder of Islam, should cause one to step back and honestly assess the evidence.  As the old saying goes, “The proof of the pudding is in the tasting.”     
 
THE TRUE GOD vs. THE FALSE GODS
 
Uninformed people like to say that all religions are basically the same.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  As Christian apologist Ravi Zacharias likes to say, “All religions are superficially similar and fundamentally different.”  All religions are not the same because all gods are not God.  There is only One God, and His name is YHWH, not Allah or Vishnu or Baal.   
 
The true God, YHWH, created heaven and earth.  He reveals Himself as a God of love and redemption.  He told Moses He is “compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth” (Exodus 34:5).  His grace is truly amazing as He willingly paid the price for our salvation by sending His own Son to die for our sins.  Because of the cross and the empty tomb, humanity can have a personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ.  We can know Him and know we have eternal life. 
 
Other religions offer no Savior and no assurance of salvation.  Everything is based on human merit.  Often the god of these false religions is cruel and bloodthirsty, requiring human sacrifices to appease his wrath and defend his honor.  Such was the case in the Old Testament with the false gods of Moab, Molech and Chemosh.  Such is the case today with the false god of Islam.   
 
CHECK THE PUDDING
 
During the ministry of Jesus, He dealt with Jewish religious leaders who wanted to kill Him.  One day He said to them, “You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him.  Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies” (John 8:44). 
 
The devil is a bloodthirsty, murderous creature.  He is evil personified.  He comes only to steal, kill, and destroy.  Any religion or religious sect that traffics in murder, brutality, and barbarity has the fingerprints of Satan all over it.  The god who sanctions these actions is definitely not the true God known as YHWH.           
 
The founder of Christianity was nailed to a tree for speaking the truth in love.  His disciples were all persecuted and martyred (save John) for their unwavering faith in the resurrected Jesus.  They preached the exclusiveness of Christianity as the only way to heaven because Jesus surely is “the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through [Him]” (John 14:6).           
 
WHAT IS THE ANSWER?
 
People are not the enemy.  They are those for whom Christ died.  But many people are deceived into believing lies about God, life, and the life to come.  Our job as believers in Jesus is to shine for Christ and share His story.  We are to speak the truth in love, regardless of the cost—and it may cost our very lives.  May we as citizens of heaven be faithful to the Lord as we expose the prince of darkness and say to those caught in his grip, “There is salvation in Jesus!”

P.S.  I would love to hear your thoughts on this.  Direct questions and comments to pastorjeff@fromhisheart.org.