ISIS, FORGIVENESS, MUSLIMS AND CHRISTIANS

Twelve seconds of silence is an awkward eternity on television. Amr Adeeb, perhaps the most prominent talk show host in Egypt, leaned forward as he searched for a response.

Moments earlier, Adeeb was watching a colleague speak with the widow of Naseem Faheem, the guard killed by a suicide bomber at St. Mark’s Cathedral in Alexandria, Egypt on Palm Sunday.

Across the Middle East and around the world Muslims and Christians are observing in reverent awe an exceptional grace displayed in the face of evil.

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Forgiveness: Christians Do The Unimaginable

Naseem Faheem, the guard at St Mark’s Cathedral in Alexandria, Egypt had redirected a suicide bomber through the perimeter metal detector, where the terrorist detonated. Likely the first to die in the blast, Faheem saved the lives of dozens inside the church.

Days later his widow, children by her side, was interviewed on TV and said,  “I’m not angry at the one who did this. I’m telling him, ‘May God forgive you, and we also forgive you. Believe me, we forgive you.’”

Read the full story here…Forgiveness: Muslims Moved As Christians Do The Unimaginable

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ISIS Flies Flag In Asia’s Most Christian Country

More than a hundred people were killed and hundreds more taken hostage in the span of a week on the island of Mindanao, in the Philippines home to a Muslim minority in the majority-Catholic archipelago. Experts believe the Islamic State is poised to create a caliphate in Southeast Asia.

There have also been reports of acts of solidarity by Muslims toward Christians, with Muslims reportedly giving Christians hijabs, hiding them in their homes, and teaching them Muslim prayers.

The Islamist militant network in the area, the Maute Group, has pledged allegiance to ISIS. The Philippine Council of Evangelical Churches called on its members “not to view the actions of the Maute Group as normative to Islam.”

Read the full story here…ISIS Flag Flies In Asia’s Most Christian Country

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26 Christians Killed And The Response is Forgiveness

Ramez Atallah, head of the Bible Society of Egypt, says, “The terrorists want to infuriate the Christians enough that they forget their principles and go out on a rampage. And the normal reaction of normal Middle Easterners in a shame-based society is to retaliate.

“What is countercultural is that the leadership of the church has been so insistent that Christians do not retaliate. So by the grace of God, there has not been a reaction.”

As an example, Bishop Angaelos of the Coptic Orthodox Church in the United Kingdom issued a statement to the terrorists.

“You are loved. The violent and deadly crimes you perpetrate are abhorrent and detestable, but YOU are loved,” he wrote. “You are loved by me and millions like me because I, and we, believe in transformation.”

Read the full story here…Terrorists Kill 26 Christians Enroute To A Monastery

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People of the Cross

There they were, for all the world to see – twenty-one orange clad men  – paraded to a beach. Most were Egyptians, working in Libya, trying to make some money and a future, just like the rest of us. They were captured by ISIS, tortured and threatened with death.

Their crime?

They were “people of the cross.”

Each one was given the chance to save their life by renouncing Christianity and embracing Islam. Each one chose to say, “No.”

Read the full story here…21 Martyrs

APPLICATION: Muslims are not terrorists. ISIS are terrorists. Please leave a comment below. Thank you.

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