An open letter to the Iranian mullahs: Your god is too small.

The situation regarding Pastor Youcef Nadarkhan demonstrates conclusively the bankruptcy of the Muslim religion. If their god has to rely on the power of the state to enforce belief, if their god cannot draw people to himself on the basis of ideas, but people have to be compelled on pain of execution by the "religious" authorities, then their god is too small. If they have to issue fatwas against "infidels" and cajole their followers into pursuing and killing anyone who dares question their authority then their god is too small. If, because of this post, they should now say that I deserve to be killed, then their god is too small. If they do not allow any freedom of conscience and freedom of religion, then their god is too small.


If the Muslims believe that their god is truly the God who is everything they claim with the many names ascribed to Him, then they would acknowledge that God can and will defend His honor. He does not need people to commit murder in His name. He does not need men and women to strap on bombs and blow themselves up in crowds, murdering people indiscriminately. They would not believe that they should teach the hatred of others, teaching, for example, that some descendants of Abraham are "pigs" and "apes" while ignoring that they also claim to be descendants of Abraham (What does that make them one might ask.). They deny that we are all descendants of Adam and Eve through Noah"s family. We were all, in Adam, created in the image and likeness of God. Because we were in Adam, we also bear that image Therefore, none of those descendants can possibly be a "descendant of pigs and apes" because we are all related.


They claim to be submissive to God but they serve a god that bears only superficial resemblance to the God of Adam, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of the prophets. They claim to believe that Jesus, whom they call Isa is a prophet, but they refuse to believe His words. They have accepted the words of a false prophet instead. How do I know this? Because Paul said that even if an angel from heaven came and preached any other gospel than that which was revealed through the teachings of Jesus and the apostles, then let him be accursed. Is the message of Mohammad the same message given through Jesus and the apostles? Judge for yourselves. Read both the Bible and the Koran. Compare them in detail. Tell me that the message of Mohammad is that same gospel spoken of by Paul. You can't because it isn't. Mohammad is a false prophet, and is therefore accursed.

My God is big enough to have taken on the sin of the world, nailing it to the cross in the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. He conquered death when He arose the third day. He ascended to Heaven and sent His Holy Spirit to be with His church. He will come again to judge the living and the dead. At His name, not the name of the false gods every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is LORD to the glory of God the Father. This will not be optional. They will not be bowing at the name of Mohammad. They will not be bowing down toward a stone. They will bow before the living God. There is only one name by which people must be saved. That name is Jesus.

Instead of murdering yet another follower of God who happens to not accept your form of religion, why not begin a dialogue? Instead of continuing the hatred and the pursuit of violent imposition of your religion, why not finally undertake your own reformation? Instead of continuing to provoke violence, why not seek peace? Why not truly submit to the True God, the one who said that He was the way, the truth, and the life, and that no one could come to the Father except through Him. That one was not Mohammad, but Jesus. One with a sword can compel conformity to a certain outward standard, but the gospel of Jesus Christ can change the heart. 


This will not be received well by the radical Islamist who might read it. It might generate thoughts of hatred and murder. Some cleric might issue a fatwa against me. If so, then my point will have been proved. Their god is too small. My God is big enough to let me say that I pray that they will give up their hatred and turn to the One True God, that they will find forgiveness for their sins, not in a bomb, but in the sacrifice of Christ on the cross. May God grant them ears to hear and eyes to see.

Not as advertised

We recently made a change in cell providers. I purchased a smart phone for me and a semi-smart phone for my wife. I had listened to the various advertisements, thought I had researched the various models adequately, and then made the commitment to execute the purchase and activation of the new service and phones.

Little did I now that for all of the hype, my new smart phone lacks a basic feature that my two previous phones had--the ability to initiate a telephone call using voice recognition from a Bluetooth headset. This little bit of information was not available in the material I viewed. Although it has many capabilities, this is a basic feature that should be present, especially since so many states either have, or are shortly going to have restrictions against hand-held phones being used while driving.

This is much like so many things that we see. Beer and other alcoholic beverages are advertised, showing the "good times" that one may have. What is not shown are the consequences of its use. We see the glamor, not the hangover. We see personal body sprays advertised to young men showing that if they use them, beautiful young women will be irresistibly attracted to them. We do not see the consequences of casual sex with multiple partners--venereal disease, emotional wreckage, skyrocketing out-of-wedlock births, etc.

The biggest failure to disclose the truth happened in Eden. The serpent said that there would be no negative effects if Eve took and ate the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Adam watched, and when he did not see anything bad happen to Eve immediately, also ate. It was only afterward that he understood.

In the case of the phone, I did find that the media system in our automobile had the capability of supplying what the phone lacked so I am able to dial hands-free and stay within the laws of the various states through which we will be driving this summer. Our lives have a similar problem. In Adam, we all sinned and are separate from God. The Bible says that we are ". . . dead in our trespasses . . . " (Ephesians 2:5). We think we can reform ourselves--make ourselves good enough so that God will have to accept us. We deceive ourselves, because Paul, quoting Psalm 14, said, "None is righteous, no, not one . . . " (Romans 3:10ff) We, like the phone, require someone outside of ourselves to save us.

That one is Jesus Christ. "God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him" (1 John 4:9b, see also v. 10). So, if we repent (which means to turn away from sin and to Jesus Christ) and place our faith in Him, we can have eternal life.