Evidence For Christianity

Does God care about Muslims?

Is Jesus actively reaching out to the Islamic world?

What if all of those Muslims never hear about Jesus?

What if they never heard the truth?

What an outstanding question!

What about all those who have never heard the gospel of Jesus Christ?

Or for that matter, what about children who die at birth?

What about someone who is severely mentally impaired from birth and can't even communicate?

What is their standing before God?

Well, for starters, we know God is a God of perfect love AND of perfect justice.The scriptures tell us that God only holds us responsible for what we know:

"If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin. Now, however, they have no excuse for their sin."
-John 15:22

God also tells us that it is apparent from what has been made that He exists:

Romans 1:18-22

The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse. For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools

So that tells us a couple things.

Firstly, you don't have to worry about the 2 year old baby who dies.

God is perfectly just and we don't have to worry that he is going to be unjust in any way.

In addition, if you are reading this, you are without excuse.

The reality of God is completely apparent to you.

You need to make a decision about Christ.

The truth is that if people are truly reaching out for God, then God will find a way to reach them.

In some of the least Christian areas of the world, it has almost become commonplace for Christ to appear in dreams and visions to those who are truly seeking him.

Here are some amazing stories from some Muslims who have come to Christ in extraordinary ways:

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Original Source: http://prorege-forum.com/messages/407.html

Muslims Tell ... "Why I chose Jesus"

I had a Dream...

For someone who has not had extended exposure to Muslim-background believers in Christ, probably the most striking surprise is the powerful role that dreams and visions have played in drawing people to Jesus. Though dreams may play an insignificant role in the conversion decisions of most Westerners, over one-fourth of those surveyed state quite emphatically that dreams and visions were key in drawing them to Christ and sustaining them through difficult times. Rick Love, International Director of Frontiers, has recognized the pattern as well. He writes that, "Just as God used a vision to convert Paul, in like manner He reveals Himself to Muslims through dreams and visions. Just as God prepared Cornelius to hear the Gospel through a vision, so God is preparing a multitude of Muslims to respond to His good news."

One believer from Guinea recounts the dream of a figure whom he later believed to be Christ. The figure was in a white robe, calling the man to come to Him. In a related dream, he recalls that the same figure's arms were extended, beckoning him. Dreams of this type have become recognized as a pattern of work among Muslims. Though there are variations, Christ appearing in a white robe is a recurring image among those who have had dreams and visions. Similarly, a Muslim Malay woman was drawn by a vision she had of her Christian parents who had died. She saw them rejoicing with others in heaven. Jesus, appearing in a white robe, said, "If you want to come to me, just come." Feeling that she had tried her entire life to reach God without success, she now saw God initiating the effort to reach her through Jesus.

A convert from the Middle East who had been afflicted with severe headaches was lying on his bed after having prayed for his sick son. A man with a beautiful, peaceful face appeared. Dressed in white, the figure walked to the head of the man's bed and touched him three times on the head. The next morning his headaches were gone. His son, too, was fully healed. Understandably, he now recounts with confidence, "I believe in prayer in the name of the Christ."

The great majority of dreams seem to fall into one of two broad categories. The first could be considered the preparatory dream. Like Christ appearing in a white robe, the vision confirms thoughts or conversations one has been having about Christ or the Christian faith. The second could be called the empowering dream. Here the dream or vision commonly gives the believer strength in the face of persecution. Short of persecution, it may embolden believers, strengthening the nature of their witness.

Preparatory

One Sunni woman from the Arabian Peninsula had a figure appear to her in a dream, telling her to visit a Christian woman she knew. The figure, who she was later convinced was Christ, told her this woman would teach her.

In a fascinating twist on God's use of dreams and sleep, one Algerian recounted how she heard her sleeping Muslim grandmother say, "Jesus is not dead. I want to tell you He is here."

A West African man recounts a succinct, yet powerful vision he had prior to conversion. He saw a devout Muslim in hell and a poor Christian who couldn't afford to give alms in heaven. A voice explained to him that the difference was belief in Jesus.

Empowering Dreams

A North African believer found the needed strength to face his imprisonment from a dream he had while imprisoned for his faith. In it, he saw thousands of believers pouring through the streets of his city, openly proclaiming their faith in his restricted country. While in prison, he was tortured, suspended upside-down naked for hours, beaten with electrified rods and repeatedly threatened with execution. His vision of a day when people of his country would openly proclaim their faith in the streets gave him great strength to persevere through this most difficult time.

Encounter

Though not strictly a dream or a vision, a number of Muslim-background believers have had a significant supernatural encounter that was instrumental in drawing them to Jesus. One Egyptian Muslim was reading the Injil (Gospel), when he came to Luke 3, where the Holy Spirit descended on Jesus in the form of a dove. God said, "This is my son, in whom I am well pleased." As he read those words, a stormy wind broke into his room. A voice spoke to him saying, "I am Jesus Christ, whom you hate. I am the Lord whom you are looking for." He recalls that he "wept and wept, accepting Jesus from that time."

Whatever personal perspective one has on dreams and visions and the Christian walk of faith, it is difficult to consider engaging in ministry to Muslims without a recognition of and an openness for God to continue drawing people to Himself through what may be viewed as unconventional means.

Are you aware of the open challenges that Oprah Winfrey is making to the foundations of the Christian faith on her shows?

For years Oprah has promoted New Age religion on her television show, but in the past few months she has taken her promotion of false religion to an entirely new level.

Oprah is now holding weekly internet "lessons" for the whole world with her new spiritual superstar Eckhart Tolle.

These are some of the things Tolle has written:

"All religions are equally false and equally true, depending on how you use them."

"Man made God in his own image."

Did you know that Oprah is openly denying Jesus Christ to the whole world?

Oprah said on her television show that there could not possibly be one way to God.

Oprah recently said that she does not believe that Jesus came to die on the cross, but rather that the purpose for Jesus coming was to teach us "Christ consciousness".

Oprah is also promoting the teaching of New Age guru Marianne Williamson, and she has given Williamson a radio show on her own radio network to promote such beliefs as:

"There is no sin."

A "slain Christ has no meaning."

"Do not make the pathetic error of 'clinging to the old rugged cross.'"

"The recognition of God is the recognition of yourself."

These are the things that Oprah REALLY believes and has been promoting over television and radio.

So welcome to the church of Oprah where there is no sin, no need for salvation, no heaven, no hell and where you are God:

How do you explain the high degree of design and order in the universe if there is no God?

How do you account for the vast archaeological documentation of Biblical stories, places, and people?

Since absolutely no Bible prophecy has ever failed (and there are hundreds), how can one realistically remain unconvinced that the Bible is of Divine origin?

How do you explain David's graphic portrayal of Jesus' death by crucifixion (Psalm 22) 1000 years before Christ lived?

How do you explain that the prophet Daniel prophesied the exact YEAR when the Christ would be presented as Messiah and prophesied that the temple would be destroyed afterward over 500 years in advance (Daniel 9:24-27)?

How could any mere human pinpoint the birth town of the Messiah seven full centuries before the fact, as did the prophet Micah?

Account for the odds (1 in 10 to the 157th power) that even just 48 (of 300) Old Testament prophecies were fulfilled in one person, i.e Jesus.

How was it possible for the Old Testament prophet Isaiah to have predicted the virgin birth of Jesus (Isaiah 7:14) 700 years before it occurred?

How can anyone doubt the reliability of Scripture considering the number and proximity to originals of its many copied manuscripts?

In what sense was Jesus a 'Good Man' if He was lying in His claim to be God?

Do you think that Jesus was misguided in affirming the truthfulness of Scripture, i.e. John 10:35, Matthew 24, Luke 24:44?

If the Bible is not true, why is it so universally regarded as the 'Good Book'?

Are you aware that the Old Testament alone claims to be God's inspired word at least 2600 times?

Did you know that the Bible has been the number one best-seller every year since the 1436 invention of the Gutenberg printing press?

From whence comes humanity's universal moral sense?

If man is nothing but the random arrangement of molecules, what motivates you to care and to live honorably in the world?

Explain how personality could have ever evolved from the impersonal, or how order could have ever resulted from chaos.

If Jesus' resurrection was faked, why would twelve intelligent men (Jesus' disciples) have died for what they knew to be a lie?

How do you explain the fact that a single, relatively uneducated and virtually untraveled man, dead at age 33, radically changed lives and society to this day?

Why have so many of history's greatest thinkers been believers?

Have you ever wondered why thousands of intelligent scientists, living and dead, have been men and women of great faith?

Isn't it somewhat arrogant to suggest that countless churches and people (including men like Abraham Lincoln) are all radically in error in their view of the Bible?

How do you account for the origin of life considering the irreducible complexity of its essential components?

How can the Second Law of Thermodynamics be reconciled with progressive, naturalistic evolutionary theory?

How do you reconcile the existence of human intelligence with naturalism and the Law of Entropy?

Why does the Bible alone, of all of the world's 'holy' books, contain such detailed prophecies of future events?

Is it absolutely true that "truth is not absolute" or only relatively true that "all things are relative?"

Is it possible that your unbelief in God is actually an unwillingness to submit to Him?

Does your present worldview provide you with an adequate sense of meaning and purpose?

How do you explain the radically changed lives of so many Christian believers down through history?

Are you aware that every alleged Bible contradiction has been answered in an intelligible and credible manner?

What do you say about the hundreds of scholarly books that carefully document the veracity and reliability of the Bible?

Why and how has the Bible survived and even flourished in spite of centuries of worldwide attempts to destroy and ban its message?

Have you ever considered the fact that Christianity is the only religion whose leader is said to have risen from the dead?

How do you explain the empty tomb of Jesus in light of all the evidence that has now proven essentially irrefutable for twenty centuries?

If Jesus did not actually die and rise from the dead, how could He (in His condition) have circumvented all of the security measures in place at His tomb?

If the authorities stole Jesus' body, why?

Why would they have perpetrated the very scenario that they most wanted to prevent?

If Jesus merely resuscitated in the tomb, how did He deal with the Roman guard posted just outside its entrance?

How can one realistically discount the testimony of over 500 witnesses to a living Jesus following His crucifixion (see 1 Corinthians 15:6)?

If all of Jesus' claims to be God were the result of His own self-delusion, why didn't He evidence lunacy in any other areas of His life?

Is your unbelief in a perfect God possibly the result of a bad experience with an imperfect Church or a misunderstanding of the facts, and therefore an unfair rejection of God Himself?

How did 35-40 men, spanning 1500 years and living on three separate continents, ever manage to author one unified message, i.e. the Bible?

Would you charge the Declaration of Independence with error in affirming that "all men are endowed by their Creator..."?

Because life origins are not observable, verifiable, or falsifiable, how does the theory of "evolution" amount to anything more than just another faith system?

What do you make of all the anthropological studies indicating that even the most remote tribes show some sort of theological awareness?

If every effect has a cause, and if God Himself is the universe (i.e. is one with the universe, as some non-Christians suggest), what or who then caused the universe?

How do you explain the thousands of people who have experienced heaven or hell and have come back to tell us about it?

How do you explain the countless people who have received miracles from God?

Is there any evidence that would satisfy you and persuade you to become a believer, or are you just going to believe what you WANT to believe?

As I have visited various forums around the internet, I have noticed thread after thread where people talk about what they "think" God is like or where people talk about what they "feel" God should be like.

It seems that Americans want God to be some sort of impersonal cosmic Santa Claus:

-They want God to be "everywhere" or "in everything" so that He will not be personal so they don't have to deal with Him.

-If God does exist, they want Him to make their lives always super happy and they want Him to give them whatever they want whenever they want it.

-And at the same time they want God to approve every single thing they do and to never, ever hold them accountable for anything.

A lot of people are talking about what they think or want God to be like, but nobody is talking about the evidence.

Well, let's talk about what the evidence does show:

-God DOES exist:

http://www.leestrobel.com/Creator.htm

-Jesus Christ really did come to the earth:

http://www.grantjeffrey.com/article/historicalev.htm

-Jesus Christ really did rise from the dead:

http://shatteredparadigm.blogspot.com/2008/05/resurrection-of-jesus-is-real.html

-All of this was foretold by God in the Bible with specificity:

http://www.xenos.org/teachings/topical/objections/daniel9.htm
(Click "Watch" to view the presentation)

-Jesus is alive and doing miracles in our day:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2575536377261580026&q=Raised+from+the+dead&hl=en

-Jesus is appearing to people all over the globe:

http://prorege-forum.com/messages/407.html

and

http://www.amightywind.com/fastfood/dreams/040723muslimdreams.htm

-Jesus is coming again and the signs that were foretold in the Bible are coming to pass right in front of our eyes:

http://shatteredparadigm.blogspot.com/2008/05/did-you-know-that-there-are-ancient.html

If you are interested in becoming a Christian, here is a website that will show you what to do:

http://www.fourspirituallaws.org/laws/english/flash/