Gospel

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" These acts of violence against innocents violate the fundamental tenets of the Islamic faith. And it's important for my fellow Americans to understand that. The English translation is not as eloquent as the original Arabic, but let me quote from the Koran, itself: In the long run, evil in the extreme will be the end of those who do evil. For that they rejected the signs of Allah and held them up to ridicule. The face of terror is not the true faith of Islam. That's not what Islam is all about. Islam is peace. These terrorists don't represent peace. They represent evil and war. " -- U.S. President George Bush, at the Islamic Center of Washington D.C. 2001

There is a myth that circulates about in the media and obviously, the White House. The above statement, had it been made by anyone else might not have been as perplexing; but, it was made by the president of the most powerful country on earth; the highest authority figure God has permitted to reign. Unpopular as he may be, nonetheless, when he speaks the entire world is his audience. And what he said just six days after the Twin Towers collapsed into a heap is still today what the rest of the world is saying about Islam--that there two categories: true Muslims and false Muslims. I do agree with that, however, that isn't where the myth lies. There are true and false Muslims, except, that everybody has it backwards. The media propagates the myth that those deemed "moderate" Muslims are the true Muslims while those called "radical" Muslims are the fakes.

I'm not a Muslim scholar but I have read enough of the Koran to know that anyone called a "radical" Muslim is called that because he interprets the Koran literally and correctly. This conclusion is not held by merely a few, and is not as a result of a selective cherry-picking of the texts. In its entirety, the mission given to all Muslims by Mohammed according to the Koran is to bring the rest of the unbelieving world into submission to Allah by brute force. During Islam's early years, this is precisely how this religion spread and nothing has changed now. A radical Muslim, although very deceived, is not actually radical at all; he is simply remaining obedient and faithful to his religion. You can call him just about anything but a hypocrite. He is the true Muslim and true Islam is not peace. When a man detonates explosives strapped to his chest in a crowded market in Bagdad, it's because the Koran told him the only sure means of obtaining salvation was to be a martyr.

The "moderate" Muslim is one who understands what the Koran says, but decides to interpret it another way, or use a selective method of textual exposition, so they can avoid having to obey the terrifying commands of Mohammed, and continue proclaiming what a peaceful faith they have and be accepted into western culture. And since few ever read the Koran, everybody warms up to the moderates because they don't know they aren't living their faith, nor would they care anyhow as long as peace is maintained. A moderate Muslim is a false Muslim. Put this to the test: get a copy of the Koran, read as much as you can, and then ask yourself who is interpreting Islam correctly: the moderate who says peace and acceptance are the path to utopia; or Osama Bin Laden. If there is a peaceful Muslim anywhere, it's because they don't truly live up to Islam, and praise God, I'm very glad that they don't. I'm grateful they have rejected that insanity.

Now let's get to the point. As there is a great misconception between how everybody defines who the true and false Muslims are, there is also an equally distorted view in popular of true Christians and false Christians. It is believed that there are "Christians" and then there are "Fundamentalist Christians". The fundamentalist Christians are those who believe every word the bible says including the literal six day creation account that everybody laughs at; and who are voraciously zealous in the preaching of the gospel, both publically and privately. They do not budge when pressured by secular society to adopt or conform, and accept no other belief system other then Christianity. They keep separate from the world's vices and influences; living a life according to the commands of their savior Jesus Christ. An ounce of compromise is found nowhere in their being--they are immovable and unshakable, just as the early church was. They are as Peter stated in his first epistle; very different:

9But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light; 1 Peter 2:9

The "fundamentalist" Christians are those who stand out; they appear strange to the world and live exactly the opposite to the secular population. Everybody hates them because indeed they are peculiar.

Whom the media dubs "Christians" are actually the fakes. They carry the name of Christ but no visible evidence of their professed faith is really striking to you when you examine their behavior, attitudes, and their daily routines. They use the bible(if they use it at all) like a burglar rummaging through a dresser drawer, selecting the passages that conform to their lifestyles and attitudes. Most of them though don't even read the bible, but only carry it as an accessory for Sunday morning, if they even attend church at all. They might obey some biblical precepts, but those take a back seat to the direction and education of secular culture in which they are willfully infested with. The media sometimes calls them "liberal" Christians, or "Moderate" Christians, which inherently means they aren't true Christians, they just apply that title to themselves. Their Christianity is purely cosmetic; nominal at best. If you have to stick a title like "liberal" or "moderate" in front of "Christian", then obviously you've compromised biblical Christianity with the world's ideologies because true Christianity isn't for you. To claim you are a "liberal" Christian is to say that your political or social views shape your Christianity, when in fact the bible says that it's the opposite: your Christianity is supposed to shape your views. It isn't bold I don't think to say that a lot of people who proclaim to be Christians are really imposters, because Jesus said in Matthew 7:21-23 that there would be a ton of them. "Many" is the word he used.

Jesus Christ gave us a rather transparent definition of true Christianity--either your for me or against me(Luke 11:23). Either you live for God or you live for the world. No one can do both and be faithful to God. There's no middle--we're on the side of God or the side of the devil. So whom society deems as "fundamentalists" are really God's children living the genuine Christian life. They are indeed, the true Christians.

As our culture has categorized true Islam as evil, it is also doing the same thing to true Christianity. Remember when Rosie O'Donnell said that fundamentalist Christianity was just as dangerous as fundamentalist Islam? She only echoed the attitude of an entire culture, and the more they equate us with true Islam, the worse for us we can expect it to get. They've defined two types of Christians now-- one they can accept, and one they want out. Take a guess at which one society going to try and eradicate. If you are Christian who cherishes the words of holy scripture; who believes in them 100%; who refuses to let mainstream culture dictate your life through peer pressure and slander; who will not under any circumstances renounce the name of your Lord; and who lives to inform those cut off from God about how they can be saved; then you have been marked--you are a fundamentalist; the enemy.

This ought to certainly come as no surprise because Christ himself made it plain that if you intend to follow him then expect the world to single you out for defamation, mockery, and persecution:

18 “If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. 19 If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. John 15:18-19

He said this because the same things happened to him. Everything he spoke and did was so radically contrary to the then societal and religious institutions that he was eventually murdered for it. I have zero doubt that if Christ were preaching today he would be labeled the very worst of "fundamentalist" Christians. So if someone calls you a fundamentalist, then accept it as a compliment, because we're in some awesome company.

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