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Sharing with Muslims with Fouad Masri
188 Plays1 year ago
The podcast episode features an interview with Fouad Masri, the founder of Crescent Project, an organization focused on building transformational relationships between Muslims and Christians. Fouad shares insights about sharing the Christian faith with Muslims, breaking misconceptions, and practicing effective contextualization. The discussion delves into the importance of understanding cultural differences and the diverse backgrounds within the Muslim community.
Fouad emphasizes that Muslims are not a monolithic group, with differences in ethnicities, beliefs, and levels of religiosity. He dispels the misconception that Muslims are uninterested in Christianity, citing that more Muslims have become believers in the past two decades than in the previous 1,400 years. Dreams, visions, and relationships with practicing believers are catalysts for this transformation.
The concept of contextualization is explored, highlighting the need to adapt the gospel message while keeping its core intact. Fouad suggests that contextualization is not a formula but a process that requires sensitivity to individuals' backgrounds and cultures. He shares practical tips for initiating conversations, focusing on the message of Jesus, and emphasizing the fruit of changed lives.
The podcast also discusses Fouad's recent book, "Sharing Jesus with Muslims: A Step-by-Step Guide," which offers practical advice for engaging with Muslims in meaningful conversations. The book encourages believers to focus on the message rather than specific cultural differences.
Throughout the episode, the importance of building relationships and following the guidance of the Holy Spirit is underscored. Stories of individuals encountering Jesus through dreams and visions are shared as examples of God's work in the lives of Muslims. The conversation concludes by affirming the need for more messengers—Christians willing to engage with Muslims and share the transformative message of Jesus.
Resources:
Fouad's Books and other resources
Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus: A Devout Muslim Encounters Christianity by Nabeel Qureshi
Hope Conference (Sept 13, 2023)
Recommended
Transcript
Sharing Christian Faith Post 9/11
00:00:06
Speaker
Welcome, welcome back to Let's Talk Diaspora. We're excited because we've been talking about that uncomfortable middle. And today we're focusing in and talking about sharing our faith with Muslims, which I believe is a very uncomfortable middle for many because of the tension
00:00:25
Speaker
particularly that happened after 9-11 in North America and that tension creating a lot of fear, fear from the enemy and relationships between Christians and Muslims have been defined, are defined still by fear.
Building Muslim-Christian Relationships
00:00:46
Speaker
That's so true, Rebecca. That's why today we have a special guest on the podcast to help us think through this. Fwad Masri is joining us. Fwad is the founder of Crescent Project, which is a ministry with the goal of building transformational relationships between Muslims and Christians. Crescent Project amazingly has equipped over 400,000 Christ followers.
00:01:08
Speaker
Fwad has authored many helpful resources that we're going to link in the notes because they are super helpful in building bridges between Christians and Muslims. Fwad, so honored, brother, to welcome you to the podcast. Thank you. Great to be with you guys. It's such a great time of history where we can shine the light in darkness.
Fwad Masri's Upbringing and Faith Journey
00:01:29
Speaker
Fwad, can you tell us some about yourself? Maybe you could tell us first what your favorite joke is or do you have any good joke to share with us this morning?
00:01:37
Speaker
Sure, I grew up in Beirut, Lebanon. I grew up during the civil war. And the Lebanese people to cope with the war, we became a kind of culture that always has to tell joke or make fun of another culture. It's very sad. I married a sweet American and she'd tell me, honey, these jokes are not good. But that's how we dealt with the war.
00:02:01
Speaker
You know, when we hear the news in the US and in countries where they haven't had civil war, it doesn't come across really with the same impact. Like a car bomb would read like, oh, there was two car bombs. Well, car bombs are very dangerous because they parked them in front of the school or the mosque.
00:02:18
Speaker
or the church and sometimes they go off at seven in the morning noon and then after the aftermath is you'll be walking maybe a mile away and you'd see a head or an arm or a half a body and this is very much like a horror movie and I grew up in that situation
00:02:37
Speaker
A common joke you'd hear and you can tell to any Lebanese, they'll get it, that two Lebanese young men were talking at the street corner and one of them had a hand grenade that he was playing with. And his friend said to him, hey, be careful, this grenade might explode. So his friend said, oh, it's okay, I have other grenades at home.
00:02:59
Speaker
So the concept is too many weapons in the country. And I just returned from Lebanon about not even 10 days ago. Sadly, the war started in 1975. I was not even a teenager.
00:03:16
Speaker
when the war started, and now coming back seeing that nothing has changed, we still have the same factions, same conversations, Sunni, Shia, Catholic, you know, Druze, Iran, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, we still have the same conversations. And the country is the size of Connecticut, so if our audience live in the United States, you can tell that our country is so small,
00:03:43
Speaker
In an hour and a half, I can go from Beirut, Lebanon to Damascus, Syria in one hour and a half. I remember driving 20 hours in Texas and I was still in the same state. And I said, how big is this country? So moving here in 93, our burden, our heart was to share the good news because I got saved during the war in Lebanon. I had heard about Jesus, but Jesus was just an idea, was just a person in history.
00:04:12
Speaker
But during the war, I took Christ as my savior and he gave me love for my enemies, for my neighbors. I started praying for the Iranians, for the Shia, for the Sunnis, for the Palestinians. The Palestinians killed my friend Walid at age 18. I started praying for the Jewish people because when you become a follower of Christ, you don't see people by race. You don't see people by education. You don't even see how they voted last time, you know? When you are the follower of Christ, you see them as God's creation.
00:04:42
Speaker
and our savior Jesus said something beautiful he said I have come that they might have life they is everybody everybody it's not just the ones I like or you like or the ones that you know think the same no no Jesus came for all people and that's why I love what you talk about the this uncomfortable middle because the Great Commission was given to go to all it didn't say just those who you know like to eat the same food or speak the same language it's all
00:05:12
Speaker
And I did spend time on the Greek in the book sharing Jesus or Muslims on purpose because today in the church we miss out on what is the Great Commission. It's to all people who love Jesus and it's going to all ethnic groups. The Greek word is Pantate-Ethne. Ethne is where we get ethnic groups.
00:05:30
Speaker
So when I see an Afghan, whether they're Hazara or Pashtun, both of them God loves. They can't stand each other. God loves them both. And that's the beauty of becoming a follower of Jesus, a true Christian, a committed believer. Whatever name you want to give us, Bible believers, the Bible changes the way we think of others.
Challenges in Sharing the Gospel
00:05:54
Speaker
Well, you said so much in just a short period of time. That's so great. And you're actually just setting up our transition because what we want to talk about is sharing the gospel with Muslims. And so for our listeners, some of them are regularly doing it. And perhaps there's things that they can learn to be more bold, perhaps, more effective, if I don't want to necessarily use that word, because I think you're effective when you do it.
00:06:22
Speaker
Yes, but thinking through bridges and ways to connect we can always grow in that sort of thing So the question I want to ask what is uh, what what do you believe is the biggest barrier for christians sharing more often with more muslims? Couple of things one is the vision just imagine with me right now if one percent of all christ followers Start sharing the gospel muslim
00:06:48
Speaker
Just imagine, just one person, we're not asking everybody, just one person from every church around the world, let's focus even here in United States. If one out of every hundred says I want to go reach out to a Muslim, today on this planet we have 1.8 billion. Now some say it's 1.9, they're saying now they're
00:07:08
Speaker
surpass other religions. Regardless, there's 1.8 billion who have never seen a page of the Bible. So our biggest issue today is they don't know. The reason they act this way is they don't know. Even we have people in countries like America who know the word of God and they turn their back on God. So how much worse Muslims are because they have never heard. So their information is not there.
00:07:35
Speaker
And on top of that, if they heard something about Christians, it's usually negative. A window on America, a window on Europe, a window on what we call Christianity, is television. I mean, I'm in a train ride in Morocco, and the guy said to me, where do you live? I said, I live in the United States of America. He goes, America is a bad country. They're illiterate, ignorant, uneducated, and a bunch of cow herders. I think he meant cowboys.
00:08:01
Speaker
I asked him, have you been to America? No. I said, how do you get your information? He goes, I watch television. I mean, imagine. So I respond, I said, there are more than 3000 mosques in America. And his response was, oh, America allows freedom of religion. We're not allowed to become Christians in this nation. It's illegal for a Muslim to become a Christian. In some countries, we execute it. So they don't know. And if they know anything, it's negative. Two days ago, I was in
00:08:28
Speaker
Ohio, Columbus, Ohio, in a coffee shop owned by Yemeni. We had a blast. He's been in America 20 years. He loves this country. He said to me, I'm retired and I wanted to get a coffee shop. And we're talking and he said to me, why there are different religions. I said to him, there are different religions because people don't read. If people read, they'll get to a similar conclusion. He looked at me, he goes, you're right. I said, you know, every Christian should read the Quran, every Muslim should read the Bible.
00:08:54
Speaker
and you should see his demeanor so there is an openness but they don't know the other thing why we're not sharing is partly fear but i think partly anger
00:09:04
Speaker
Like when I watched the attacks of September 11, I was mad. I was angry because I had heard about something like that way back in 1978 when I was in high school. There were classmates who were talking about hijacking plane and they had a map with the World Trade Center on it and all that. So the reason I'm sharing with you is yes, we get angry, but the Bible is clear. Be angry and not sin.
00:09:27
Speaker
Yes, it angers me that Masa Amini, 22-year-old, younger than my daughter, gets killed not for not wearing the hijab, for not wearing it correctly. What? It was like telling your wife, you know, I'm gonna beat you up because you don't put the lipstick correct. I mean, come on. So, yes, we are to be angry. It's anger. Yes, how can they burn a church? For what reason? But the Bible is clear. The angry are not sin.
00:09:51
Speaker
You cannot hate. Our Heavenly Father says we cannot hate. So how we get that? Not by teaching, but by coming Christ say, Lord, give me love for my neighbor. Give me love for my enemies. Lord, let me see Muslims through your eyes. That's the only way that we can break this fear and this anger and start sharing, taking the initiative. You know, 30 seconds of courage will change someone's life.
00:10:20
Speaker
Faud, you mentioned TV and also this fear that we have, our anger that we have, maybe I should say. So what do you think some of the greatest or the biggest misconceptions are that we're getting from TV and the anger that we have?
Misconceptions and Openness Among Muslims
00:10:37
Speaker
Well, the first one is that most Muslims are Arab, and that's not true. Most Muslims are not Arab, which adds to the problem is many Muslims are nominal. They can't extend the Quran, the holy book of Islam. They can read Arabic. So they might recite some prayers in Arabic, but they have no idea what they're doing. So Indonesia, Malaysia, you know, India, Pakistan has millions.
00:10:59
Speaker
you know, you go down south to, you know, like Africa, like Niger or Nigeria. And so the first misconception is they're not all the same. They're not the same ethnic group and they're different groups. They're Sunni, Shia, Ahmadiyya, Baha'is, you know, Wahhabis, different sects. So the person you're talking to could have different ideas or different exposures. So we lump some everybody, you know, she has the hijab on, so we don't want to talk to her. Why?
00:11:26
Speaker
She might be put in the hijab because her father told her or her husband. Maybe it's not her choice or maybe it is her choice. Ask her why you were in the hijab. It's okay. It's like, hey, tell me about Islam. Everybody wants to tell you. So taking the initiative and asking questions is good. The second misconception is that
00:11:43
Speaker
Muslims are not interested. Since September 11, the increase of people becoming believers has outpaced the last 1,400 years. More Muslims become believers in the last 20 years than the previous 1,400 years. Number one reason is they met a practicing believer. Number two, they read the Bible in their language. Number three, they had a vision or dream of Jesus.
00:12:06
Speaker
less sunday like two days ago i was driving and i get a call from the uk and iranian who just got baptized she's been a believer for two years telling me her story she had a vision and dream of jesus which made her seek to know more about christ so yeah this is happening and we don't know we don't hear about it and we think well once you meet a muslim she's iranian or something it's like oh they're not interested that's not true there's so much interest even
00:12:34
Speaker
Those who are becoming fanatic, they start growing their beer, the men, you know. No, no, this is a sign that they are seeking. See, if I'm thirsty this morning and you give me a cup of salt water, and I drink the salt water, I get thirstier.
00:12:49
Speaker
See, the millions are thirsty for this concept of salvation, forgiveness, and what's offered to them is not working. They've taken it, but it's not working. So this is where we come in with Jesus, the living water, who said to the Samaritan woman, I love this, the water I give you will gush from you. It's just amazing. You become giving water to others. That's the
Strategies for Engaging Muslims
00:13:12
Speaker
faith. That's the Christian faith. I think a couple of things I just want to pull out that you said is
00:13:20
Speaker
Three things you said was a relationship with a practicing believer, reading the Bible in their language, dreams and visions, and those things seem so accessible.
00:13:31
Speaker
to people who are just going to a church, they're loving Jesus, they're following Jesus, they want to obey Him. To think through, if you are in a city that has Muslims, and I would say if you're listening, the likelihood is every city, there are some exceptions, but if your city has more than probably 2,000 people, there's probably a Muslim in your city. Developing a relationship with them, you can go online, you can find Bibles in their language.
00:13:57
Speaker
If you have trouble finding that contact, contact us through the podcast or our FWAD through Crescent Project. We can point you to resources. And so just to tell a brief story, just last week I had an intern in town and we were going out and sharing with Muslims. And she had never done this before, but it was such a great experience because we just started to ask questions. I heard you say that.
00:14:23
Speaker
learn where they were from. And then we just said, hey, have you ever read the Injil? I know. Would you want to? Of course I would. Like, you have one? And then we're able to give it to. And then just trusting that third piece that Jesus will give that third piece of the dream and vision and continue to seek. And if nothing else, she has the Bible. She will read it. She knows how to get in touch with us. So just want to share that story. That's how we approach it. And it's very, very accessible to every person.
00:14:52
Speaker
So the point of our second season is we're talking about this uncomfortable middle, which means there's this tension that we hold and we've talked about the tension of fear and anger and the love of Christ.
00:15:06
Speaker
But even within Christian circles, there's a variety of understanding, and we've talked about this a couple times on the podcast, is contextualizing the gospel for Muslims. And so we've talked about some of the nuance in that, but how would you encourage someone to think biblically about the idea of contextualization?
00:15:26
Speaker
Yes, thank you. That's a very important question. And, you know, one of my dear friends, Nabil Qureshi, you know, he was born and raised in America. So his culture was, yeah, influenced by Ahmadiyya, but he was American. When his friend becomes a believer, David, and then David shares with him,
00:15:46
Speaker
And the culture, the gospel was being contextualized as they were sharing because that person's culture and appeal, you know, and he wanted to write this new book with me and he didn't have a chance. He's with the Lord, his faith is now sight. But the idea is we wanted to show that how the contextualization of the gospel happens different to each person.
00:16:11
Speaker
You know, if anybody has read the book, Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus, you find His process is similar to others, but it's also different. So the danger for us, especially in the United States, is we like the cookie cutter. We've all driven in these neighborhoods where all the houses look alike. We like this idea like, oh, you know, it worked with fog, it must work with me. No, no. Every person is different. Every story is different. Every testimony is different.
00:16:37
Speaker
Yes, the code of the gospel is the same, absolutely. You know, that's why I wrote the book, Adhan N'Jil, five points. You know, God's love, God is holy, God is just, God is merciful, He sent us Jesus, God is forgiving. Today you can receive forgiveness. So the gospel is the same.
00:16:55
Speaker
but sometimes the context is different. So if I'm talking to somebody who's from Saudi Arabia, her family is very devout, she's wearing the hijab, she doesn't go anywhere without putting it on. It's a different conversation when I'm talking to somebody, let's say, who is a PhD student and she's
00:17:14
Speaker
She doesn't wear the hijab and, you know, she's maybe have done some more interviews with television or pass. So you have to understand that contextualization is a process. Most people think contextualization is a formula. No, no, no, it's not a formula. It's a process. So it depends like this Yemeni guy I'm talking to, been in America 20 years.
00:17:36
Speaker
He's raising his kids here. His son was growing a beard and I could tell the father was not happy that his son is becoming fanatic because he's seen the civil war in Yemen.
00:17:46
Speaker
You know, and so I'm trying to understand more as the person in Sunni Shia. So when I saw the son talking to me, my contextualization was different. It's the guy grew up in America. So, oh, you're American here. Oh, great. Yeah, you have Yemeni background, but you're American, like my kids, you know, Lebanese background, but they're American. And so the conversation is contextualized to that person.
00:18:06
Speaker
Now absolutely there are 12 keys to understand a culture which we won't go through now but in our training Sahara challenge we give 12 keys to understand a culture and I did that when I went to Morocco when I did to Egypt I sat down with my Christian friends and said these are the 12 keys I needed to help me so when I'm talking to people from this country I can communicate so yes there are keys but at the end of the day each story each situation is different that is why
00:18:34
Speaker
We encourage Christ followers to take some training. It doesn't have to be PhD in Islam, but take some training and then take the initiative. Like our Savior said to the Samaritan woman, give me water. But he didn't say anything about theology. He just said, give me water. Or when Jesus passed it to Zacchaeus, I'm coming to your home for dinner.
00:18:54
Speaker
I mean, what is that? There's no theology that says, hey, I'm coming. But being there with them, and 90% of ministry is showing up, really, just being there. And things happen. Because one, God is with you. Two, you're not there by chance. God is orchestrating these things. So you have to think that you are working with the Lord.
00:19:16
Speaker
I just spoke on Philip and the Ethiopian treasurer. What hit me in that story is that there's nothing common between the Ethiopian treasurer and Philip. Here's a fisherman, smells of fish. The guy is a nice man, rich person sitting with guards around him. But it showed that the Holy Spirit told Philip, approach the carriage. And this is a powerful thing.
00:19:44
Speaker
We need to be listening to our Heavenly Father. We have to listen to the Holy Spirit. The Great Commission is not happening because you have a podcast and I started a ministry and, you know, it sounds good at, you know, whatever, Dallas Theological Seminary to talk about missions. No, no, no, this is God's heart. God's heart is that every nation, every nation hear the gospel and this is the age of the Holy Spirit. So the Holy Spirit
00:20:08
Speaker
might be speaking to you as you listen to this podcast. My brother, my sister, maybe God is calling to change certain things or take a step. Yes, we need you in the harvest. God's heart is for every nation, every tribe to hear. So instead of focusing on contextualization, Philip listened to the Holy Spirit, approached the carriage, asked the guy, do you understand? And then the text says, and he started from the book and told him, see,
00:20:36
Speaker
the good news of Jesus. It's powerful. My professor of New Testament, Dr. Kenneth Bailey, used to say, don't read the Bible too fast. Everywhere. And I love the text. He started with Isaiah and it says it ended with the good news of Jesus the Messiah. This is what we're bringing. So, sure, contextualization might help, but it's a process that is different, different culture, different family, different people.
00:21:05
Speaker
I love, love what I hear you saying because I hear you saying that we've got to first start with our relationship with the Lord and the Holy Spirit and listening to the Holy Spirit, but then also the relationship then with others. And it takes me back to those two commands that he gives us at the very beginning or those greatest commands of loving him first and then loving others. But it takes a process of the Holy Spirit really directing us in that relationship that we're building with those. Thank you for that.
00:21:34
Speaker
That is just very encouraging because I think a lot of people get nervous about sharing with Muslims, but I keep hearing, you know, learn a little and then just get out and do it and the Holy Spirit guides and directs us through it. Can you tell us a story about what God's doing in the Muslim world today?
Divine Encounters in Faith Conversions
00:21:57
Speaker
A good story.
00:21:58
Speaker
Yes, I just got back. So I was in London, I was in Geneva, I was in Amsterdam, and then Beirut 12 days. And the exciting part is you'd see people come and say, you know, I had a dream, I had a vision. Or somebody would say I was reading the Bible. This lady said, you know, it doesn't make sense for God to have a son. God should not have sexual relation with
00:22:27
Speaker
with Mary. Well, that's not what we believe. That's an insult to 2 billion Christians to say there was a sexual act. And so she started, somebody told her that we believe in the virgin birth and they gave her a Bible. She was like, maybe I should read it or not. So she went
00:22:43
Speaker
She was, she dreamt of that she was in a meadow, and a lot of sheep around, and this beautiful meadow, and the person who's guiding her was Jesus the son of Mary. She knew the Jesus son of Mary. I asked her, she said, how do you know? She said, no, in the dream it was Jesus the son of the Virgin Mary, but he was wearing royal clothes with gold buttons, and he had his staff, shepherd's staff.
00:23:10
Speaker
Now, how does she know this stuff? She hasn't read the Bible. So she wakes up, she says, I need to read the Bible. I just had a dream of Jesus. So starts reading John, in John chapter 10, where Jesus says, I am the good shepherd. And she's like, oh, he is called the King of Kings, but he's also a shepherd. And you know, the reason I like the story is the dreams come, they don't know. They don't know the text. Another testimony of a gentleman who had a dream and vision that he was walking in a cave.
00:23:38
Speaker
with his best friend. And in the dream he says to his friend, I'm looking for Jesus, the son of Mary, Aesop and Umariah. And his friend in the dream says to him, look to your right, you will see the Messiah push the stone and get out of the cave.
00:23:56
Speaker
Okay, and I'm thinking to myself, I'm listening to the man like, I said to him, have you read the Bible? He goes, no, I had this dream 10 years ago. I'm looking for a Bible. Can you get me one? So sometimes, you know, it's my pride. I think, you know, oh, I'm an evangelist. I've been doing this for so many years. I should be the first one. And you never, I never talked to a person about Jesus where Christ had not already beat me there.
00:24:22
Speaker
You know, it doesn't matter. Maybe a situation, maybe a dream, maybe somebody gave a Bible. And the beautiful thing, I mean, I've done the stories to share, but for the sake of time, what my joy is when God
00:24:36
Speaker
uses me to draw people closer to Him. That's a joy. My joy also is that I am just enjoying the journey. I'm just part of the, you know, part of this trip. The Holy Spirit is the guy. Jesus is the guy. He's the one fulfilling the Great Commission. So I'm just part of the journey and I think sometimes as Christians we forget
00:24:57
Speaker
that the joy of the Lord is our strength so enjoy the journey you know you're talking to Muhammad and he's not reading the bible okay he doesn't worry the bible it's okay let's enjoy the journey be friends you know it's Fatima reading the bible great pray for Fatima you know many times we create these strife and and unbox me when denominations fight
00:25:16
Speaker
Because at the end of the day, we are here to Jesus in John 17 says, let them be one. We are to work together. Yes, maybe we not exactly agree on everything. But as a ministry, this is what we did when I started. I said, let's major on the majors. The major things Jesus saves, people need to know about
00:25:38
Speaker
the basic foundational Christians but you know you want to pray standing up or sitting down they want to pray facing Jerusalem or you know these are you know these are nominal things or minor things that can change as people get deeper in the word. This is my heart is to see more believers know the Bible because that will change our character.
00:25:58
Speaker
One person became a believer and their grandfather looked at her eyes and said, I see God in your eyes. Would you take me to church? The grandfather hasn't become a believer, but he can see there is a change in their granddaughter. And so this is our power as believers, is the fruit that comes through us because of the power of Christ in us. I was talking with
00:26:29
Speaker
a gentleman Ali from India and he said to me I was raised in America I'm not very devout but I always asked my mom she's very devout how do we know true religion I said to him oh the Messiah Jesus told us and he looked at me goes the Messiah Jesus told us I said yeah 2,000 years ago
00:26:49
Speaker
messiah says from the fruit you shall know them you can't get figs from foreigners so he had his mask he's a med student so he has this mask he was he's afraid of corona or covid so when i said that he pulled his mask down he goes with his eyes open he goes oh this is so good you're right
00:27:10
Speaker
Do you know people bite their fruit? I said, yeah, if somebody loves God, he acts like God loves everybody. And he took in the gospel of John in Arabic and English. But the reason I share these stories many times when we shine the light, the light speaks for itself. Our message is powerful. Our message draws people. It's a beautiful message. The need today is more messengers. That's what the need is. The message doesn't need help. The message is beautiful. We are the messenger. We need more messengers.
00:27:39
Speaker
Amen.
Encouragement to Share the Gospel
00:27:40
Speaker
I tell many churches and believers I talk to, and I'm convinced of this truth, that there are more Muslims who want to talk about Jesus than there are Christians willing to talk about Jesus with their Muslim friends. So we just need more laborers, more harvesters.
00:27:55
Speaker
So one of the things we like to do on the podcast is give some very practical resources of what you wrote a book recently sharing Jesus with Muslims a step by step guide. I read this book a couple months ago and I said, Hey, I need to call for and have him on the podcast because
00:28:10
Speaker
I was just so impressed of how accessible it was, how equipping it was, and encouraging. I love the short, actionable chapters. I didn't like reading growing up, so short chapters are like, that's my jam. Flod, who did you have in mind when you wrote this book?
00:28:26
Speaker
Well, first was believers, especially now Gen Z and Gen X. I know from my children, they read, but they're not going to sit there and read a book when I was a teenager. Sit down and read the whole book. We didn't have any distractions called Instagram and Twitter and TikTok. So we don't have any way for Christians who
00:28:48
Speaker
are in this generation and we wanted to kind of start with the role of the Great Commission. What does that mean? Because people think this is given to some, not to all. The second thing we wanted to create is step-by-step guide. Why step-by-step? Because many times when you talk about witnessing in general,
00:29:05
Speaker
People think you should be like some great evangelist like maybe like Billy Graham and we'll try to say no, no Evangelism sharing is a step thing. It's a baby step things not a big thing You don't need you don't need to even act like someone else every person has their own background And then we wanted to make it more practical So for example how to respond to questions in a way that keeps the conversation So one was what is success?
00:29:35
Speaker
So there's a whole thing about success and witnessing is sharing and leaving the results to God. So for me, if a Muslim wants to talk more about Jesus or does not want to talk about Jesus, it's okay. My success is that I was kind to them, I was loving and I shared with them the gospel. So there was more of that. The other thing that was important for us to write the book is today, even when people start the conversation, they do not know how to focus the conversation.
Focusing on Salvation in Conversations
00:30:04
Speaker
So many times we start and we start talking about something like election or, you know, do you eat pork? I'm like, okay, I get it, fine. But, you know, really, is that the whole issue? Am I going to spend more than even one minute on do you eat pork or not? So we wanted to bring the conversation very focused. So there's a couple of chapters there on that.
00:30:24
Speaker
especially on knowing that the message of the gospel is that Jesus saves. That's the message. The message is not changing your diet. Although, yes, definitely the Lord has some guidelines for us. But the message is an internal thing. It's a change of the heart of the mind.
00:30:43
Speaker
So that's who we had in mind and then what I wanted to do is give some ideas for discipleship because we believe every person God can use to win another person and we ended with the chapter which was a conversation that always happens in ministry
00:31:00
Speaker
so just not to what you call get the cat out of the bag is that an english statement but the question that we end with is is salvation is something that you reason with someone to faith do you reason with people to bring them faith or is this a revelation from god because a lot of people say oh we have to reason we have to
00:31:24
Speaker
you know, prove to them, you know, polemics and apologetics and other people say, no, if God wants them to be saved, he will reveal himself. So we try to answer that question as a conclusion so that we can bring it back to the idea of the need of the hour, the need of today, what's going on today. And we're excited about the book because
00:31:47
Speaker
It's like you said, short chapters. It took some time and in Nabi Qurayshi who wrote Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus, we kind of came up with the outline, but sadly he wasn't able to help with the writing. But it's a beautiful way because his first book was Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus. So when you seek, you find. Okay, well when you find, you share.
00:32:12
Speaker
That's why, seeing Allah fighting Jesus, now sharing Jesus with Muslims, because when you find a treasure, when you find a meal, when you find something nice, like you go hiking and you find a place that's beautiful, you gotta tell people, you're gonna say, hey, come with me to this place, or try this meal, or, you know, I found this treasure, let me share it with you. So we believe that every believer can share the good news with the Muslim.
00:32:38
Speaker
Well, as you've mentioned about the book, you've really told us a lot about what the book's about, but there's been a lot of books written about this very topic. What makes this book really unique?
Practical Advice from Fwad's Book
00:32:51
Speaker
It's very practical. I tell a lot of testimonies on purpose. There is a tell a story because that's many times easy way to remember. So I tell stories not so people do it necessarily exactly the same, but to see how to respond. So for example, it's two in the morning. I'm in Minnesota talking to a Khalid from Jordan.
00:33:12
Speaker
You know, we had Turkish coffee at midnight So nobody's sleeping and we're watching World Cup and he asked me what did Jesus bring that's new? Okay, that's the response. So I you know, he has a smartphone I you know, he downloaded the Bible on the smartphone. He has the Quran. I have the Quran my smartphone So we started the conversation. What did Jesus bring new?
00:33:35
Speaker
So we read, you know, love your enemies. And he had a struggle with that because it's not logical to love you anyways. I say, oh, you're right, but everybody tells you, kill your enemy. That's common.
00:33:47
Speaker
And I said, look at our history, it didn't change anything. I mean, look at us. We haven't changed anything. We're still war after war. Right now we're talking about Ukraine and Russia. So the solution of Jesus the best is to forgive and move on. That's the only way. I mean, how do you fix even couples marriage? How do you fix a marriage? They have to forgive each other because, you know, no marriage is perfect, number one, number two. Like even if you say 50% at fault, how are you gonna fix it?
00:34:15
Speaker
you fix it by forgiving, it has to come to forgiveness. So the reason we share these stories on purpose, so the reader will kind of learn through a story. The second thing is very practical because we took most common questions and how to respond in a biblical way.
00:34:33
Speaker
and keep the conversation moving because the biggest thing today is once we talk to muslims it always ends up with a wall or with a boxing match and we don't want that if you look at the samaritan woman's story christ kept the conversation going even when you could tell it was getting tense or even with the
00:34:53
Speaker
Good Samaritan parable. Most people read the Good Samaritan. They don't understand the context. The Good Samaritan was not given because he said, who is my neighbor? You have to go before. The question, the original question was, how do I inherit the kingdom of God? So the parable was given on that.
00:35:14
Speaker
not on who's my neighbor that was the smoke screen that the rich person was doing it's called what is it the rich young man whatever they call it in scripture but the whole idea that was the second thing the third thing that we wanted to make sure that this book is very practical step by step to also take some of the muslims objections so we highlight a little bit Sharia law what is Sharia law what is Islamic law
00:35:41
Speaker
where are the deficiencies in it and how to use that to bring it to Jesus. Whether it's polygamy, whether it's stoning, whether it's jihad. So this is how the book is different than other books, is we bring some of the Islamic objections on the Christian faith and saying, oh you know Islam has Sharia, Islam has a perfect law. So we say, we show these weaknesses or
00:36:06
Speaker
or they are not biblical concepts and bring it back to Christ. So most people, most Muslims say polygamy solves the problem of adultery. Well, that's not true. Polygamy solves adultery. You know, you just gave yourself a name that, you know, she's my second wife. You know what I'm saying? So you bring the gospel to where it is
00:36:28
Speaker
effective. Now one of the ways we share the good news about being grace, about salvation sometimes needs to be linked to God changing our heart. As evangelicals we're always afraid from work salvation.
00:36:43
Speaker
Well, that's true. We believe it's by grace. However, grace changes our character, changes our values, changes our actions. So it's okay to share with your Muslim friends a story how God changed your character. So I always say how God changed me from hating Jewish people, hating Palestinians, hating Iranians, to stop praying for these people, to look at them as humans.
00:37:08
Speaker
So I pray for a Jewish person, I pray for a Palestinian, I pray for an Iranian, not because somebody told me to do so, because you can tell me, it's because God changed my heart. See, the power is from him. So that's, it's also like you said, but short chapters, so I think it'd be fun. And it ends with, each chapter ends with 55 seconds for change. It's not a minute, I called it 55 seconds for change. Awesome.
00:37:39
Speaker
Brother, if someone wants to find the resources that you've written, find this book, where would you
Resources for Engaging Muslim Communities
00:37:47
Speaker
point them to? They can go to CPHope.org.
00:37:52
Speaker
That's our Crescent Project website, cphope.org. Or they can go to the author's site, foadmasri.com. They're both places. We have a upcoming conference called The Hope Conference. It's online. We'd love people to attend, bring people from your church. You can do a watch party, but you're gonna hear from different speakers and different testimonies. And our keynote speaker is Dr. David Garrison.
00:38:19
Speaker
who wrote the book Wind in the House of Islam. So he's our keynote speaker this year and it'll be on September 13th. So go to cphope.org, sign up so you can get the link to watch it. It'll be great if you can do a watch party at your home or at church.
00:38:40
Speaker
Thank you for joining us, Fwad. So in the show notes, if you're listening and you didn't catch all that, we're gonna put links for Fwad's website, the author's site, CPEhope, the conference, and then other things that's been mentioned, because again, we want you to go from not doing something to doing something. And I know a lot of people have created a lot of resources to assist in that. But if you heard what Fwad was saying, it's not just a resource that's gonna do that, it's gonna be as the Lord changes your heart,
00:39:09
Speaker
to love all people, to embrace the Great Commission. Ultimately, until we can say that all have heard and that we see a representation of every nation, language, tongue, and tribe at the throne of Jesus, worshipping Him. And until that day, Fwad, let's keep pressing on. Amen. The joy of the Lord
00:39:29
Speaker
Haradi Jews are some of the most unreached people in the world. But God is moving in this community and we sense that the time is ripe to increase our efforts to reach them with the good news. The key to this outreach is prayer. We invite you to journey with us into the world of the Haradium.
00:39:45
Speaker
and to meet Haradi men and women as well as the believers who serve them and to join us in the critical work of prayerful intercession. Start learning and praying with us today with a free digital download or you can request a free copy at upgnorthamerica.com forward slash resources.