Monday, January 28, 2008

Fatalism

There is a new game show on Television these days. It's called Var misin, Yok Musun. It's a lot like Deal or No Deal in the U.S. While watching this program you will hear the contestant and everyone else who they talk to say Insallah (inshallah) about 1000 times. The word means if God wills or pleases. One of the fundamental beliefs that Muslims are supposed to adhere is Fate. They are to believe that God is the source of both evil and good. So whatever happens basically comes from God whether good or evil. What strikes me is that in this game show you can tell most people don't really believe it. I know we say things out of habit just as people here say Insallah out of habit. For a Muslim though this is supposed to be one of their major beliefs. For instance a lady took the offer from the bank for 40,000YTL instead of continuing the game. Well of course they open her box to find that she had the box which would have given her 250,000YTL. Oh, the drama! She was crying. Family members were crying. I could hardly bear it. The point is if you believe in this extreme fatalism as Muslims are supposed to, why does it matter what amount the other box had? This view spills over to every part of a Muslims life. Life is so cheap here. Could you imagine resigning yourself to the fact that you were going to spend some time in Hell? Unless of course you die as a martyr or convert someone to Islam. Friends that I have talked to have no problem with the fact, as they believe, everyone will spend some time in Hell. Why? Because Allah wills it. God loved the world so much that He sent the perfect sacrifice, Jesus Christ, to pay the penalty for sin. I know this, God wants to save people from every 'kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation' Rev. 5:9 This includes Muslim nations. That is what God wills and pleases.

Monday, January 21, 2008

Another Year of Life

Well I turned 27 last Friday, Jan 18th. My twin brother also turned 27. Go figure! I'm thankful that God has allowed me to live this long. I have been having a problem with Blogger on my computer. I can't get to the site. So I'm sorry it's been a while since you have heard from us. Looking back over my 27 years God has given me some great opportunities. One of the biggest privileges he gave me was allowing me to be born in the United States of America. It's a land filled with opportunities to hear and read the Gospel of Christ. God saved me. I was born again at the age of 10. I have two birthdays. I didn't have to worry about being alienated from my family. I didn't have to worry about people telling me I wasn't American because I believed in Christ. I didn't have to fear for my life because I became a Christian. What a privilege. Yet everyday in this country, this is exactly what believers in Christ face. I would like everyone to please pray for my language helper. He is a believer and has been through everything that I mentioned above. At this time, he can't find a job. Although perfectly qualified, no one wants to hire him. Pray that through this he and his wife's faith would remain and that God would supply a job for him. Whether it is here or in another country. He and his wife have been a great blessing to us. We are praying that through my language helper's life God would give the other Turkish believers courage to serve Him.

Wednesday, January 9, 2008

One Year ago...


Exactly one year ago today Angie and I left the United States headed for Turkey. Ohio State also lost the National Championship Game to an SEC team before we left. Somethings never change! For Angie and I much has changed. We have a new home and baby, and are learning Turkish. We thank God for the past year that He has given us in Turkey. He has touched and worked in our lives and I believe He is working in the lives of some of our friends. It appears that the friends that we have made here in Turkey are becoming more comfortable with us. We can talk about anything with them, including Jesus. In fact, most of the time people bring up Jesus and we're able to explain what we believe. I thank God for this. When we arrived many of the people we met had a lot of questions and they still do, but now it seems that our friendships our growing. I was asked again if I was going to become a Muslim yesterday. Some guys I met when I first arrived asked me. We've been through this before, but they had a new guy with them. One of the guys told me that to become a Christian I believed I needed to be baptized. I said no I... but before I could spit it out another young man standing by me said, "No he believes Jesus paid for his sins on the cross, and he's going directly to heaven." I'm glad someone's been listening. This led to a big discussion. It was fantastic and great practice for my Turkish. We are wanting God to use us to do impossible things this year. We know without faith it's impossible to please God. Pray with us that God would continually increase our faith as we seek to do His will.