What an insult!

The Lord is gracious to us.  He goes above and beyond to show us His love.  There was an excellent devotional this morning by Jordan. 

After that, we learned more about folk Islam.  Muhammad was posessed by a demon, and so are other muslims.  For many, it is second nature for them to acknowledge that.  What darkness!  Even when Muhammad received that command from the Angel Gabriel (so he thought) he acknowledged that he believed it was a demon, until his wife told him otherwise. 

Pierre Housney helped us to role play in speaking to Muslims.  I went today.  It went pretty well, and it was cool to use what we've been learning.  It is so complex.  Their world view is so different from ours.  We have to trust the Holy Spirit in those situations for the words, and for Him to move in the heart of whomever we speak to. 

I was able to use the illustration about the spit in the cup.  If someone spit into a cup of coffee and offered it to you, would you drink it?  Really, you wouldn't?  What if I added some sugar and cream (o leche si tu quiere)?  No you wouldn't, because it would be an insult to drink that.  Well, our sin is an insult to God.  We cannot expect God to accept our lives with sin in it.  We can't expect to just add good works to cover it either.  Only Jesus can do that. 

We learned more about how we can witness to them, and stories to illustrate different things, because they love stories.  It would be complicated to explain through writing, so just take my word for it.  In Islam, Allah is the source of all evil.  Can you believe that?  Scary thought.  Muslims even believe that they cannot control their sin or lusts, therefore women need to be veiled, or they can have multiple wives in order to not have to control themselves.  What a contrast from one of the fruits of the spirit of self control. 

One thought that stuck out to me today was that in the Old Testament, God was very specific with the sacrifices that needed to be made to atone for sin.  The animal had to be of a certiain age, and without spot or blemish.  He determined the terms, and He determined whether the sacrifice was acceptable or not.  In Jesus, God has offered a sacrifice to us for our sin.  He was spotless and without blemish.  Yet now, God wants us to accept the sacrifice that He is providing to us for our own sin.  What an insult to deny His sacrifice. 

Anyway, we are going to have dinner and then off to Pearl Street.  Please pray for us.