Islam

Christians – Part 1

I heard the series CHRISTIAN from Andy Stanley two years ago, and it changed my view of Christianity. It was radical for me. It left me with two options: either to embrace Christianity as it stands now, or to think outside the box I was in. Was I a Christian? Yes, I was. Was it comfortable to be one? Yes, it was. Very comfortable. Did Jesus want me to be a Christian? No, He did not. 

The word Christian or Christianity is not defined in the Bible. It was never used by Jesus himself. Actually, the word Christian [from the Greek Χριστιανός Christianos] appears only three times in the New Testament, and it was used by outsiders as a derogatory term. This whole movement Jesus started was named after His title: the Christ [Messiah in Hebrew].

But now a Christian can be anything you want it to be. You can be a Christian and do or believe just about anything. Think about it this way. In just about any political argument, any war, any lawsuit, any issue… there are always Christians on both sides. People have killed other people in the name of Christianity. There are so many cults, so many denominations, and for the most part, it seems we cannot agree with each other.

This sadly happens everywhere. It also happens in Islam. Sunni Muslims think that Shia Muslims are not real Muslims. I don’t get why. They believe in Allah and the final messenger, Muhammad. But apparently, the reasons are not something that can be explained in a line, a paragraph, a page, or even an article. I will do my research and will let you know. Reading this kind of stuff, and drinking coffee in the morning while my children watch T.V. is my thing nowadays. I tell you, when it comes to religion, Christianity and Islam are not that different. 

Personally, I have hated Christianity at times. There ar dozens of people in my own peripheral world that hate Christians, and everything that has the word Christian in it. And here’s why:

Christians are judgmental, homophobic, moralists who think they are the only ones going to heaven and that secretly relish the fact that everyone else is going to hell.

– Andy Stanley

When I was far, far away from God, this was my first objection to God or Jesus or anything Christian. I don’t think the problem is God. People want God in their lives – at least most people. I think the problem is us. And when I say us, I mean all the Christians. Sure, nobody is perfect. But we were never called to be Christians. We were called to be Jesus’ disciples.

I have a friend whom I love with all my heart, and I want to share her story…

She has never believed in anything. But hey, she is in a relationship, and she is in love. The woman that she is dating wants them to go to church for whatever reason. My friend doesn’t know what to do. She hates church, but off she goes to please the girlfriend. She figures something good might come out of it. Therapy is working, but maybe God has His own way of helping her. Once they get to church, she sees wonderful things. But she also gets spotted as a lesbian. She is even asked if she had issues with her mom while growing up. You know, probably these Christians were also therapists trying to shoo her homosexuality away [sarcasm]. Then she’s told God dislikes homosexuals and that as women, we should marry a man, and obey that man. Because when we obey the man, then we are obeying God.

That’s not all. Heck, no… but I’ll stop there. When she told me all this – which I’m glad she did – I felt ashamed. I felt angry. I seriously think that regardless her sexual orientation, the questions these Christians were asking her are none of their business! That is just to start with; second, it is NONE of their business!

My friends are not going to church anymore. At least not in the near future. I wouldn’t want to go to church, either. I pleaded with them for not quitting on God. Quit church, but not God.

Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the door of the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to.

– Jesus. First Woe

Matthew 23:13

The Teachers of the Law were very likely Levites. They were given the duty of instructing the people in the Law of Moses. They made sure the people worshipped God and fulfilled their obligations as God had instructed. The Pharisees competed with Jesus and with other groups for the influence of the people. Jewish Oral Tradition describes them as “destroyers of the world” and “Pharisaic plagues”.

In Matthew 23:1-12, Jesus goes hard at them. Jesus tells the people to do as Pharisees say, but not as they do, because they do not practice what they preach. All they want is for people to applaud them and honor them. They want to be noticed for how good they are, and how other people are not. These teachers were supposed to bring the people close to God, but instead they drove them away!

Today I was reminded that I have been these Pharisees. I have been judgmental, I have been moralistic. I have felt better than thou. What makes these Christians believe they had the right to treat my friends like this? What gave us the right? Nothing. Who gave us the right? No one. Not God. Not Jesus. But our own sin of self-righteousness.

God took me as I was eight years ago: multiple sexual partners, an abortion, an addiction, and plenty of psychological issues. I wonder about the Christians who drove my friends away from God. Who were they when they found the love of God? Have they actually found it? I have passed judgment on these Pharisees and Teachers of the Law every time I study my Bible. But I sadly realize that we, Christians, have become the Pharisees of Christianity.

TO BE CONTINUED…

The Muslims who changed my life

It was a hot and humid afternoon at the playground when I finally decided to approach her. It had been at least a month since I had seen her everyday taking care of her son. And she was always alone. I was always alone.

As much as I tried, there was something not clicking with the moms at my daughter’s school. I don’t know what it was. Maybe it was that I didn’t speak Tamil. They spoke English, but they were not very chatty with me. They were chatty among themselves, but not with me and of course I felt left out. I wanted to hang out with people. I had recently moved from Houston to Chennai, and I was eager to experience the world of preschool with my daughter. But so far, it wasn’t looking very good.

However, I was not the only unsuccessful mom at the playground. And, please, do not read between the lines. I know success as a mom doesn’t come from having random conversations with other moms at the playground. I only mean that I actually wanted to make friends, but it seemed more difficult than I thought it would be. So I finally took the courage to approach this other woman.

She was always wearing sunglasses. Who is she anyway? A Bollywood star? I don’t really remember what was the very first thing I said. But I do remember she took her sunglasses off, and for the very first time, I saw those darn big black circles under her eyes.

We began chit chatting, and she told me she was from Pakistan. During the conversation I came to tell her that I was Mexican, and that my husband’s work was what had brought us to India. I found out she had lived in Dubai before. And then, I opened my mouth too much…

Dubai? I’ve been in Dubai. Well, only at the airport. Man, I was impressed with those women… They are so beautiful, and their eyes are so dark, so deep. That’s the only thing I saw. They were all covered with a robe-like dress. They are Muslims. I like your necklace. What does it say?

The necklace said Allah… 

Over the next couple of weeks we continued having random conversations – probably about the weather. Somehow I invited her to my apartment to have tea or something, but she never came. She would always give me an excuse. Her husband went to the office later in the afternoon since he owned his own business, and she mentioned they had breakfast together every morning. So I understood that maybe she just wanted to hang out with her husband.

But one day she actually decided to meet me at Tryst Café and she brought her husband along. No offense to all the Muslims who are reading this (if there are any), but this man looked really Muslim. No topi, no beard like your prophet… just his face. It was like looking at Islam right in the eye.

She introduced us, and for the most part, we were having a really nice breakfast. My son was being such a good boy. No crying, no drama. No interruptions. She mentioned to her husband that I was very interested in different religions. That I had been reading a lot about Hinduism and even Islam. A little. We probably talked about school a little bit more, and the conversation changed little by little to friendship. They were interested in the fact that I was not really hanging out with the expatriates in India. It wasn’t that I didn’t know any, I just felt like I wanted to mingle with the locals. I wanted to experience India and the people. I didn’t want to be isolated in my own world, where everything was like I knew it, and with people who looked like me. He said I was a different kind of Westerner. I took that as a compliment.

We also talked about their diet. It finally made sense what Kosher and Halal meant. They were very easy to talk to. The husband intimidated me a little bit, but I guess it was because I had just met him. Both of them spoiled my son so much that day, that was very sweet. She asked me if all Westerners dated many people before getting married. She had always intrigued by that.

Oh, boy, where to begin?, I said.  She was laughing so hard.

He asked me many questions about America. They have heard so many things in the media. We cleared up many misconceptions they had about them. It is natural to assume that most Americans are awful after you watch the news. I am not American, but I feel like one. Except for the last year, I have lived there for the past eight years – my whole married life. My children were born there, and most of my best friends are Americans.

The conversation was relaxed and he was very calm. To make a point about the media, I asked him if he was carrying a bomb under his shirt.

If you are carrying one, I would really appreciate if you waited until I finish my croissant before blowing the whole place up… He got my point, and he smiled. You see? Not all Americans are awful. I guess not all Muslims are terrorists.

To be very frank, I don’t know if it was him or if it was me, but somehow the conversation turned to religion. They asked me about my faith. I told them I was a Christian, but that I was kind of not wanting telling people I was one. I didn’t want to call myself that anymore. I told them it was a long story, and that eventually I would explain it to them. But yes, technically, I was a Christian. I was a follower of Jesus. He was my Lord and Savior.

Then he said something that would change the course of my life forever. But not only my life. Also their lives. Their whole family life, and my whole family life. As a very good Muslim (I should have known), this man looked at me right in the eye, and told me something I had never, EVER, heard before in my entire life.

You know your Bible has been corrupted, right? 

I had no idea what the heck he was talking about. The Bible – corrupted? What nonsense was this? This man told me something that in the Muslim wold is accepted as a universal truth. My Bible has to be corrupted because if it is not, then Islam and everything is built upon is false. This was a very bold approach on his part, but I’m thankful that he did that. Without knowing, he introduced me to the world of Christian Apologetics.

This conversation was a little bit over six months ago. And since then, my life changed. I spent almost all my free time with them, and they became my best friends in Chennai. Our families have spent so much time together over dinner, over tea, over boat rides and water slides. They are great people.

In this part of the world, nobody dislikes Jesus. They dislike the Christians. I think a lot of people feel that way…  I should start by dissecting Christianity.

My Jewish husband – Part 1

I want to talk about the Passover Celebration. If you are not very familiar with what that celebration is, it will help you to know that the Israelites had been slaves for 400 years in Egypt and Passover was the night when Pharaoh let them go free. I’m sure everybody has watched the movie The Ten Commandments (which in reality should be called The 613 Commandments).

When God is giving the plagues to the Egyptians, the last one is the death of the firstborn. The people who want their firstborn to live have to sacrifice a lamb, and put the blood of that lamb on the doorposts of their house. If they do it, in faith, then the angel of the Lord would spare the firstborn son of that particular house. The angel would passover them. Passover. Got it?

Doing a thorough research of some Orthodox Jewish websites, I’ve found some great information on how they celebrate the Passover Seder Service. They have very specific ways to do it, and even something called Laws of the Four Cups of Wine [Read the section on the Cups, third paragraph].

The meaning behind these four cups of wine is associated with the promise of deliverance God gave them in Exodus 6:6-8.

Therefore, say to the Israelites: ‘I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians [First cup]. I will free you from being slaves to them [Second cup], and I will redeem you [Third cup] with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment. I will take you as my own people, and I will be your God. And I will bring you to the land [Fourth cup] I swore with uplifted hand to give to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob. I will give it to you as a possession. I am the Lord.

– Exodus 6:6-8

I won’t go right now on whether alcohol is a great thing to consume or not. In Christianity, it is a big taboo depending on the denomination you were raised in. In Islam, drinking alcohol is considered haraam (prohibited). Whether you believe in any of these faiths or not, we cannot deny the fact that wine is a very special drink. A royal drink, these websites said. It is very appropriate for special occasions such as Passover because they are celebrating freedom. And I’m going to tell you why…

Wine represents blood. According to these websites, the wine represents the blood shed by Pharaoh. That spilled blood brought them freedom from slavery, as Pharaoh told them to leave Egypt. But the blood of the lamb also brought them life, as the angel of the Lord spared them if He saw it on the doorposts.

When the Lord goes through the land to strike down the Egyptians, He will see the blood on the top and sides of the door frame and will pass over that doorway, and he will not permit the destroyer to enter your houses and strike you down.

– Exodus 12:23

The Blood of the Lamb is a very Christian concept. Christians believe that Jesus is the Passover Lamb whose blood on the cross rescued people from death – spiritual death. It’s no coincidence then that Christians celebrate Easter as the Jews are celebrating Passover.

I am not being biased. This information I am finding it in very serious Orthodox Jewish Websites. I mean what can be more Jewish than this?

Can a Jew believe in Jesus?

Of course a Jew can believe in Jesus. Just like a vegetarian can enjoy a rump steak, a peace activist can join a violent demonstration, and a dictator who preaches martyrdom can surrender himself to his enemies. As long as logic and clear thinking are suspended, anything makes sense!

– Aron Moss

They don’t hesitate in telling you to buzz off if you are a missionary. Even if you call yourself a Messianic Jew, you are no longer a Jew. You are an apostate. They also have counter-missionary handbooks. There’s a lot of hate going on in the religion world right now, people, I’m telling you. Maybe it has always been like that. I was just never aware…

Jews against Christians. Catholic Church telling Jews they are cursed because the rejected their Messiah. Then Muslims saying that is exactly why their Prophet Mohammad came. He came to clear up all the mess we [Jews and Christians] made. Then you have arguments about the Oral Torah, The Written Torah, the New Testament manuscripts in Aramaic, Hebrew and Greek… but then God decided to reveal His word in Classic Arabic.

A lot of Muslims around the world don’t even speak regular Arabic, let alone the Arabic in the Quran. And I also read about Muslims versus Muslims on the net telling each other they are not real Muslims because they don’t speak the language of the Prophet.

Enough religion already! This is what upsets me. Why would anybody want to get closer to God when they see this?Are you telling me I have to understand Arabic, Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek – become a freaking scholar – to understand God? I am a mother of two young children who watch Peppa Pig as I try to find a way to write and ponder about the spiritual issues in my life. I believe God can and will meet you where you are. No matter what language you speak.

God has to show me His power in my life. A God worthy of all my praise and all my submission has to have a better excuse of why I couldn’t find Him other than a language barrier. God has to become personal in my life. He has to sweep me away in HIs arms, and meet me in my every day struggles. The God of Israel has done that. And I met the God of Israel through the teachings of Jesus.

I’m just trying to sincerely follow God here. And I don’t understand a lot of things lately. Am I gonna jump ship on God right now just because I don’t understand everything that I am going through? Believe me that right now jumping ship would be the easiest thing to do. But I cannot jump ship on my God.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart

and lean not on your own understanding;

in all your ways submit to him,

and he will direct your paths.

– Proverbs 3:5-6

But I’m telling you, as I do my research on Judaism and Passover, I keep on stumbling upon the same concepts of blood, sacrifice, redemption, joy and celebration, all related to wine.

Guess what? A new concept has just popped up. And it changes things drastically for me.

Wine is also symbolic of MARRIAGE itself.

Meet the dissector…

I have to believe that there are people around the world who are actually looking for God with all their hearts. I don’t know exactly why they are looking for Him, but the reasons might be many: they need answers to their questions, they need help… I don’t know. Probably there is something that prompts them to believe in the superiority of that divine being.

I was NOT one of those people. I surrendered my life to Christ, saw the light, accepted Jesus in my heart (or whatever you wanna call it) without actively looking for it. All the phrases I mentioned are ways a Christian describe the moment they are born again. So yes, I am a born-again person. I guess as the blog progresses, I will have more opportunities to explain what that means personally in my life – as a woman, wife and mother.

I do not like calling myself a Christian, though. The reasons behind that are too many. Eventually I’ll talk about it, too. But technically I am a Christian. Around eight years ago I believed for the first time in my life that God loved me for who I was. I heard a message of hope, and the message was clear: You are exhausted of trying to figure life out on your own. Come to me, and I will help you. 

Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.

– Matthew 11:28-30 

I always heard about Jesus. Always. I was raised in a Mexican Catholic family. But I only bore the name Christian. That’s as far as I went. I never went to church. I prayed, but rarely. Then in college, as I was doing my BSc in Chemistry and Biology, I just refused to believe in the existence of a God who created everything around me. Science was my god. It didn’t solve my pain, but it was amazing to research life, analyze theories, and read papers trying to explain many academic affairs.

I like asking questions. I like wondering about the what ifs of situations. I am an over thinker. That’s who I am. And using my brain can be counterproductive many times because then I have a difficult time sleeping, but I actually enjoy doing it – thinking. At times I build up so many spider webs in my head regarding different issues that I literally get headaches. And so, I guess that is the reason I write.

Writing has become a way of letting go of the built up pressure. When I write, it feels like I channel the energy from my brain to my words. If I am able to get people to understand what I try to convey, then I have de-tangled the spider webs. I have clarity. Communicating my thoughts effectively, whether people agree or not with what I said, is a battle I have won. I have won because the pressure in my head is gone.

So let me be perfectly loud and clear: Eight years ago I accepted de deity of Christ on FAITH ALONE. I believed that I could have a relationship with God in heaven – the God of Israel, the God of the Jewish Nation – if only I repented from my sin, asked for His forgiveness and asked Him to come into my life. He had come to rescue me. This God loved me so much He had died for me. He himself had paid the price for my sin.

He was a Holy God. I was separated from Him. I felt separated from Him. I won’t go right now into heaven and hell and what Christians believe (of course I will go there later). But whatever I heard about heaven and hell did not really matter to me. Islam has eternal hell for non-Muslims. Judaism has temporary Sheol for the unrighteous – pretty much everybody. Christianity has its concept, too. But I didn’t care about hell. I was probably going to go there anyway, and I knew it.

Fear of hell was not my motivation for following the God of Israel. It was the love that the God of Israel had for me what made me love him back. He loved me first. And that kind of unconditional love was only understood by me when I heard about Jesus.

I was desolate. But if the Kingdom of God that Jesus taught was real, I wanted in. I wanted that kind of love. I was in desperate need of that unconditional love.

The hope that I was given in Jesus was better than all the hopes I had heard of. But to say that now seems unfair because the truth is that I had never been given any other kind of hope. Nor I had heard other possible explanations to the TRUTH – whatever the truth was. I had never heard of Islam or what it teaches, or Hinduism, or whatever else were options for having God answering my prayers or make sense of my life.

But things are different now. Things have changed… I am not in the Christian bubble I was before, and I have befriended Muslims and Hindus. They are awesome people. All the people I have met are basically good people. I talk about these things, not with everybody, but I do talk. And I think a lot. I think about whether the Bible is corrupted, or if the apostle Paul made up the divinity of Jesus. I wonder whether Jesus was only a man, a great prophet – but not God – like Islam portrays him. Or maybe he was actually a false prophet since he didn’t fulfill all the Messianic prophesies the Jews were expecting – like Judaism portrays him.

Did Jesus existed at all? There are Jews who claim he never existed. Other Jewish sources claimed he was actually hung. The Quran denies all this. The Bible warns against false prophets who come after Jesus. Islam proclaims Muhammad as the ultimate Prophet and proclaims God’s rejection of the Jews and the Christians.

And here I am reading all this and saying, “Whaaat the heck is happening, people?!”

These are the things that my brain drools over. I cannot deny the fact that Jesus is  a very touchy subject among people, and for the past six months I have read a lot. And I have spent hours researching websites, watching YouTube debates, gathering a lot of information… But seriously, my brain wants a break. I only think, and think, and think, but I haven’t written about it.

I am questioning Jesus lately, like, a lot. I guess this blog is my way of sharing with the world what I have been studying. Seriously, not all the people care about spiritual issues, but I believe that the people who might care deserve an organized version of my thoughts. My friends might want to know what I’ve been learning, and one day I would like to go back and read this again.

There are people looking actively for God. I remember a guy who came to church one day as we were leading an Alpha Course that explained the basics of Christianity. He said he knew he needed God in his life. He was exploring different faiths, and was willing to commit to one. He wanted to hear the Christians out. I tell you, there are people actively looking for answers.

I consider this a trial in my life. I enjoy thinking. I also dread it. Thinking constantly about my faith and other faiths is making me question my own beliefs. But I know who God is. I have experienced His love. I have experienced freedom. I have experienced fellowship with God. And that might sound like a very Christian thing to say, and maybe it is, but it is real. It has changed my life. God is my ALL.

Some people think that faith is believing something that you know is not true. But I think that faith means believing in something that has a lot of evidence to back it up even tough you cannot prove it scientifically.

– Jeff Wilcox

In eight years, I had never questioned Christianity. I had never questioned the deity of Jesus. I had faith – blind faith. But now I need evidence to back it up. I want to be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks me to give them the reason for the hope that I have.

That’s why I’m dissecting Jesus.