Where it is!

Is it grammatically correct to end a sentence with a preposition?  My pet peeve is people who end a sentence with the preposition at!  Now even college professors speak this way. 

In 1961 Chris Kenner wrote a song called, “I like it like that.”  Apparently he needed a word to rhyme with that.  He took poetic license to end a sentence with at, which is acceptable in a song, but not in speech.  Since then ending a sentence with at has been accepted more and more. 

Will we ever recover?

Come on (Come on, let me show you where it's at)

Come on (Come on, let me show you where it's at)

Come on (Come on, let me show you where it's at)

The name of the place is (I like it like that).

What the song says is let me show you where it is.  The word at is not necessary.  Therefore it is not needed at the end of the sentence. 

I am not bothered by a split infinitive however.  “Boldly going where no man has gone before” is fine with me!

Sharia Law and Christianity

What should Christians know in order to be able to witness to those of the Islam faith? Why should we be prepared?  Well, it seems that Muslims from all over the world are leaving their war torn countries and coming to the United States.  In the past missionaries were not allowed to enter the Muslim countries to spread the Gospel.  So God arranged for Muslims to come to our country where we have freedom of religion.  The opportunity is ripe.  How do we prepare?

I remember several years ago I was lost on the way going home from somebodies house and I drove by a mosque that I had never seen before.  As I recall it was on a Sunday afternoon.  A large number of people were milling around.  The women were dressed in long dresses with scarves over their hair.  I remember feeling alarmed, as I didn’t know if they were violent or not.  I decided I needed to do some research.

I read Ed Decker’s website called saintsalive.com.  He listed the 5 pillars of Islam.

Confession of Faith. “There is no God but Allah and Mohammed is the prophet of God.”

• Pray. Muslims are supposed to pray five times a day: shortly before sunrise, mid‐morning, noon, mid‐afternoon, and after sunset.

• Give alms. Muslims are to give about 2.5 percent of their wealth. Zacat or Tacat.

• Fast during Ramadan. For one lunar month, from sunrise to sunset, Muslims are not to allow anything to pass down their throat. (Theoretically, a good Muslim would even spit out his or her saliva.) Then from sunset to sunrise, they are permitted to eat as little or as much as they want.

This is their way of developing discipline and relating to the poor. (Travelers, young children and pregnant or nursing mothers do not need to keep the fast.)

• Make a pilgrimage to Mecca. Every Muslim who is financially able is supposed to travel to the birthplace of Islam once in his or her lifetime.

Next I listened to YouTube videos of Nonie Darwish talking about her life in Egypt and then her life here.  She said that in 1920 the women threw off their headscarves and were liberated until the 1970’s when women in Egypt and in this country were radicalized and convinced to wear the burka again.  She said the American Muslim women are misguided and not helping women.  They are being set back to second-class citizens.  Consider these statistics from the book "Cruel and Usual Punishment" by Nonie Darwish:

"There are 35,213 Qur'an verses, hadiths, Sharia laws, and various Muslim scriptures commanding and encouraging killing, violence, war, annihilation, corporal punishment, hatred, boycott, humiliation and subjugation aimed mainly against non-Muslims. The majority population of non-Muslims in democratic nations must be concerned about such scriptures, and they must be protected from those who will act upon such commandments."

Then a book was given to me about women in the Muslim world called "Daughters of Hope."  It was written by Kay Strom and Michelle Rickett.  The book tells heart-wrenching stories of women being abused and treated worse than animals in Muslim countries. 

What I will do is to begin to pray that Christians will have wisdom and courage to lovingly witness, when given an opportunity, to Muslims.  Jesus is the only way to eternal life, and to living the abundant life.  Many will be lost if we don’t speak out.  Below is a 7-minute video of Nonie Darwish speaking in 2010.

Investing

This year we had two friends, (one in her 90's, and one in his 80's), and a family member in her 90's pass away.  When I look at their lives it is not for me to judge; but I can discern how they invested in this life.  I had many discussions with them about the Gospel.  In the end hearts were softened toward Jesus.  I thought the questions Joel Rosenberg, in a recent blog, asked his readers were interesting.  He writes,  “Please blog and Facebook and email and tweet about the importance of discipleship. Let’s share with each other our answers to these questions: 1) Who is investing in you? 2) Who are you investing in? 3) Are you living the invested life? 4) How are you living in the invested life? 5) What works and what doesn’t?”  

In other words are we storing up treasures in Heaven?

As I was meditating and thinking about discipleship I remembered a Sunday school paper given out in my parent’s Sunday school class, many years ago.  My mom mailed it to me.  It related the story of a woman who loved to study the Bible.  I told the Lord that I wanted to be like her and suddenly, without any effort on my part, I loved to study the Bible. I drank scripture in like cool, clear, refreshing water.  I have studied with Bible Study Fellowship, Community Bible study, various Bible studies at church, and now I’m studying with Precepts Ministries.  Every time I spend time in the Word I am instructed, convicted, comforted, and or encouraged.  It’s a joy to be reminded how much God loves us.

Because of my chronic illness I’ve had to limit my activities.  Years ago I was praying and asking God what I could do for His Kingdom.  He impressed on my heart that I could pray.  In the past I have never felt comfortable praying aloud.  But at a Sunday school teacher workshop, which I attended when I was in my 30’s, led by Evelyn Christianson, Evelyn tricked me in to praying out loud.  She had us gather in small groups and then each of us was to pray a one sentence prayer.  Because of the short prayers by each of us I was actually able to pray aloud.  I have always been succinct with my words and so now I could be succinct in prayer. This was doable for me.

As a result of learning how to pray simple prayers, and believing God wanted me to pray, I wanted to join a prayer group.  An article about Mom’s in Prayer (previously Moms in Touch) mistakenly, was placed in a PTA newsletter. (Mom’s in Prayer doesn’t want any advertisement in secular newsletters.  Information through churches, para church organizations, and word of mouth are desired.) The article told about Moms in Prayer and gave a contact name. I thought that I could at least pray one sentence so I called the contact and joined the group.  I learned that no one is expected to pray aloud in Moms in Prayer.  If we wish we can pray silently in our hearts.  I picture God saving our prayers up in a golden bowl, and showering us with every good and perfect gift.  What a comfort to have the support of other moms.

So what is the path to discipleship? I would say it centers on Bible study and prayer.  Through these activities God will lead us in spreading the Gospel and making disciples. We will be so full of the knowledge of the Lord Jesus, and His love, that it will flow over.  Investing in others will be interwoven into our lives.