conversation with a man hungry for reality
In this blog, we seek to portray miraculous encounters between people and God. But the greatest miracle is still when a person gets a revelation of who God really is.
Six days ago I did a very risky thing - I gave away an Arabic New Testament to someone in my care, right in my office. Today he tells me that he and his wife have already finished reading it! (I know he got to the end because he told me about the part where it says that curses will come to the one who adds words to or removes words from this book). He had never laid hands on this book before, and he could barely put it down. He had so many comments and questions for me today, such as:
“If this book describes what it truly means to be a Christian, then there are very few Christians in the world today.” (Ouch!)
“Why are there differences in some stories between how the Quran tells it and how the Bible tells it?” (e.g. events surrounding the birth of Jesus, and how the Quran says that Jesus could speak even as a baby). I said “You yourself have read that the Bible does not allow even one word to be added or removed. We believe the Bible to be authentic. It was written at least 600 years before the Quran.” He said “Then logically the older book would be more trustworthy!”
He asked “What is a Christian service like? What does one wear, how does one have to wash, can one wear perfume, how long does it last, how does one sit?” (“Come to our meeting next Friday and see”, I said.) He said “I will come alone the first time, and if I like it, then I will bring my wife the next time.”
“How can one know which religion is right (Christianity, Judaism, or Islam)? It is as though you are in a room with no windows, and there are three people in there with you, and you ask each one what time it is, and they all give you a different answer. You need to know because you have a plane to catch. You only have a 33% chance of guessing the right one.” (I said that I would pray that God would speak to him directly so that he would know.)
“Why did Jesus come to earth?” (I explained about the ancient system of recurring sacrifices for sin, and how Jesus was the perfect and final sacrifice for sin.)
“Who was this Paul who wrote so much?” (I explained he started out as being one who hated anything to do with Jesus – until he had an encounter with Jesus that changed him!)
He is so impressed with Jesus. He saw the movie 'The Passion of the Christ' when it played in theatres here a few years ago, and recalled how Jesus loved and prayed for his enemies. “Christianity must be the religion of love” he said.
“What if a very bad person asks for forgiveness – will he be forgiven?” (“Yes”, I said.) “But that is not fair. He does not deserve to be forgiven – he should not go to the same paradise as a good man."(I said “Suppose there is a very nice house for sale, for one million riyals. Perhaps you have one hundred riyals, but I only have ten riyals. You are much richer than I – ten times richer – yet neither of us can buy that house without help. So it is with us – we may see one person as being much better than another – but as God sees us, no one is good enough to reach heaven by his own goodness.”) “Oh, I see now” he said.
“When I read the Quran, it is hard for me to understand it unless I ask an expert to explain it to me. But this Bible – the Arabic is so good! – it is easy for me to read it!” (Thank you, Holy Spirit!)
“Some day I may become a Christian.”
Six days ago I did a very risky thing - I gave away an Arabic New Testament to someone in my care, right in my office. Today he tells me that he and his wife have already finished reading it! (I know he got to the end because he told me about the part where it says that curses will come to the one who adds words to or removes words from this book). He had never laid hands on this book before, and he could barely put it down. He had so many comments and questions for me today, such as:
“If this book describes what it truly means to be a Christian, then there are very few Christians in the world today.” (Ouch!)
“Why are there differences in some stories between how the Quran tells it and how the Bible tells it?” (e.g. events surrounding the birth of Jesus, and how the Quran says that Jesus could speak even as a baby). I said “You yourself have read that the Bible does not allow even one word to be added or removed. We believe the Bible to be authentic. It was written at least 600 years before the Quran.” He said “Then logically the older book would be more trustworthy!”
He asked “What is a Christian service like? What does one wear, how does one have to wash, can one wear perfume, how long does it last, how does one sit?” (“Come to our meeting next Friday and see”, I said.) He said “I will come alone the first time, and if I like it, then I will bring my wife the next time.”
“How can one know which religion is right (Christianity, Judaism, or Islam)? It is as though you are in a room with no windows, and there are three people in there with you, and you ask each one what time it is, and they all give you a different answer. You need to know because you have a plane to catch. You only have a 33% chance of guessing the right one.” (I said that I would pray that God would speak to him directly so that he would know.)
“Why did Jesus come to earth?” (I explained about the ancient system of recurring sacrifices for sin, and how Jesus was the perfect and final sacrifice for sin.)
“Who was this Paul who wrote so much?” (I explained he started out as being one who hated anything to do with Jesus – until he had an encounter with Jesus that changed him!)
He is so impressed with Jesus. He saw the movie 'The Passion of the Christ' when it played in theatres here a few years ago, and recalled how Jesus loved and prayed for his enemies. “Christianity must be the religion of love” he said.
“What if a very bad person asks for forgiveness – will he be forgiven?” (“Yes”, I said.) “But that is not fair. He does not deserve to be forgiven – he should not go to the same paradise as a good man."(I said “Suppose there is a very nice house for sale, for one million riyals. Perhaps you have one hundred riyals, but I only have ten riyals. You are much richer than I – ten times richer – yet neither of us can buy that house without help. So it is with us – we may see one person as being much better than another – but as God sees us, no one is good enough to reach heaven by his own goodness.”) “Oh, I see now” he said.
“When I read the Quran, it is hard for me to understand it unless I ask an expert to explain it to me. But this Bible – the Arabic is so good! – it is easy for me to read it!” (Thank you, Holy Spirit!)
“Some day I may become a Christian.”
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