Mohammed, Jesus and Me ~ Hazem Farraj

I realize that Mr. Farraj came to our church many months ago, but I have just gotten around to reading his book.

I must say I really enjoyed his presentation.  He was very eloquent and informative about the Koran and some misconceptions that the Muslim community utilizes to manipulate and exploit the unsuspecting Western Christian world.  Farraj went into detail with Koran verses and broke them apart for us.

His book, has one chapter, "Why I'm Not a Muslim" that contains some examples of how the Koran is just simply wrong in it's facts.  Facts that can be historically proven incorrect.  I totally enjoyed this chapter of his book.

I will, recommend Farraj's book, for this chapter alone.  The rest of the book, came across, sporadic, and at times rushed.  As if Farraj were grasping words to fill the page, to meet a quota, or word limit.
Farraj does have a great message, and enlightens us on things we have no way of understanding without help.  So I do intend on checking out his show Reflections, in order to gain more information.

Shalom!

"I am a Christian!" ???

I am a Christian...

Are you? Really?

Acts 11:26 "...The disciples were called Christians first at Antioch."

They were called.... NOT they called themselves Christians.  Other people looked on in observance of their actions and of their words, and called them Christians, because they were indeed Christ-like.  

What do your actions and words say that you are?  What would others say about you?  Does it matter what others think? Or say about you?

I have maintained for many years, that I do not care what my neighbor thinks of me.  AND I will stand firm on this subject.

However, IF my neighbors were observing my actions and words, what would they say? Cause this is what God would say, and He is the one that matters.  His opinion is the one that counts in the end.  So from an outsider looking at you, what would they say?  

It's not that the one or any of my neighbor's opinion matters, it's the overall image that counts.  The image that you are Godly, or filled with Satan.  It comes out in the way you walk, the way you talk, the way that you hold yourself.  The things that you deem important, tell a whole lot about you and who truly resides in you. 

Do you leave your trashcan on the street for all to see all week long even though the trash man emptied it Monday?

Do you pick up the trash from the yard that fell out of your car when you brought the kids home from school?

Those limbs that fell out of the tree last Winter... are they still laying there?

Is your music loud enough to hear three doors down?

Do you wait for all of the leaves to fall, before you rake them up? What about your neighbors, do they?

I'm sure you know what the answers to these questions should be? But can you answer them truthfully in a Christ-like fashion?

When I hear others declaring, "I am a Christian" I tend to cringe, because I can't think of a time when I have had to declare this to the world.  Now don't get me wrong, if the circumstance warranted I would not hesitate to stand up for my Christianity... but I would much rather be judged by my actions, and have YOU call me a Christian.  

So... Who resides in you?

The Book of Mormon

Just a quick note to let everyone know that I added a page for the Book of Mormon.  The best information I could find at this time.  Very informative.

Christianity vs. Islam

I've heard a lot of things lately, that I want to take the time to address at this point.  I have heard that many sources are trying to "merge" Christianity and Islam into a Chrislam religion.  I have heard that Yitz'chak (Isaac) and Yishma'el (Ishmael) are brothers born of Abraham, and that Ishmael is the father of Islam, Isaac is the father of Judaism, and thus these religions are two branches of the same religion following the same God.  I have heard it said that Allah is just Arabic for God.  I have heard many other things along this line but I just have to straighten this out.

How do we know God?

We know God by his name.... and his attributes.  These are the only two ways that we know God.

So let's look at his name:  

In the Jewish/Christian Bible:  YHWH (in the original Hebrew it's much prettier to look at.  Yud-Hay-Vav-Hay are the letters.  This is God's name.  There are many titles that we see used to refer to him, Elohim, God, Lord, Majesty, Father, Lord on High, Jehovah, just to name a few, but his name is YHWH (Yahweh).  He tells us this in the bible.

In Islam:  his name is Allah.  Only Allah.

Islam uses the bible of the Jewish/Christian religions, but they ignore the YHWH, and say that it "should" have said Allah instead.

So let us continue on to look at the attributes:

The god of Islam glorifies death.		The God of the Bible glorifies life.
The god of Islam says that Muslims are to win converts to Islam by means of the sword.		The God of the Bible says that His believers are to win converts by means of love and faith.
The god of Islam says that a Muslim’s behavior determines his eternal future.		The God of the Bible says the condition of one’s heart determines his eternal future.
The god of Islam has no Messiah for salvation.		The God of the Bible says there must be salvation by means of a Messiah.
The god of Islam is a war god.		The God of the Bible is a shalom God.

So in my opinion here, these two are simply NOT the same.  

Some additional information:

(the following dates and times are approximate dates, not exact dates, but are really close)

Islam did not come into existence until Muhammad formed it.  Muhammad was born 600 years AFTER Jesus Christ.  

The last book of the OT was written one thousand years before Muhammad was born.  

The last book of the NT was written 500 years before Muhammad was born.  

Ishmael had nothing to do whatsoever with the forming of Islam, this was something Muhammad did on his own.  He took The Bible and rewrote it to read what he wanted it too.  And then tells us that "over the years the translations of The Bible have been corrupted" the bible should have read Ishmael was the chosen one, Ishmael received the Covenant of Abraham from God, Isaac was rewritten to "inherit" erroneously by the Jews.  Now, they may have been able to say this, until the Dead Sea Scrolls were unearthed.  These were buried around 100 BC,  and we can see from these that there has been no change in the "structure" and stories from what we have today. 

So, to sum this up, we know God, by His name YHWH, (Yahweh), and we know God by His attributes, which are totally different from Allah's.  These two religions are not two different branches of the same God, they are two different trees.  

I am instructed to remind you now of a time when the Israelites worshipped both Yahweh and the gods of other nations.  At a point in history it was said that Yahweh and Ba'al were one and the same god.  What happened to them?  They were scattered across the world, millions of them killed and destroyed.  Don't let this happen to you, and those you love.  

Christianity

I feel I need to clarify something.  I am very much a follower of Jesus (Yeshua), he is my Lord and savior, he died on the cross for me.  I believe this with my whole being.  I am on a journey through the bible, and the written documents of old and new that I come across, and a lot of stuff online.  I do attend a Methodist Church, and believe as the Apostle's Creed states.   I also know that there has been a separation of religion, just like the languages of man, the religions of man have been fractured and scattered.  I believe that for one to have a full picture, one must pull together the WORD as it was meant, and for that an understanding of the fractions is necessary.  All branches of my faith began with Judaism.  That is going to be the main of my starting point on my journey.  I will then explore through Catholicism, Protestant Revolution, do other offspring as necessary.   I hope you join along.  And thanks for reading.  Would love some feedback from you.

jrpodgurski27@gmail.com