Playdough Scripture Acts 2:38

"Peter replied, "Repeat this prayer after me:

"Heavenly Father, I know that I have sinned against you and that my sins separate me from you. I am truly sorry. I now want to turn away from my sinful past and turn to you for forgiveness. Please forgive me, and help me avoid sinning again. I believe that your Son, Jesus Christ, died for my sins, that He was raised from the dead, is alive, and hears my prayer. I invite Jesus to become my Savior and the Lord of my life, to rule and reign in my heart from this day forward. Please send your Holy Spirit to help me obey You and to convict me when I sin. I pledge to grow in grace and knowledge of you. My greatest purpose in life is to follow your example and do Your will for the rest of my life. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen."

and you will be saved. Repent and Then after you've taken baptism classes be baptized, every one some of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit."

Acts 2:38 (Playdough Version)

Graham Cooke part 2

Part 1 of this video here.

"Everything always comes back to the nature of God, always. What is God like for me, what is my experience with Him, what am I enjoying about Him and that's where your passion comes from, and you should live in your passion about God... you know... it's supposed to be a joy, a pleasure, and a delight to be with God, because He has a joy, a pleasure, delight with being with us."

"Whatever God wants from us He intends to give us. So if He wants us to be faithful, He's gonna be faithful, because He is the model, He's the example. And in fact it takes God to love God. Only God can love God. So what does that mean? It means that for me to love God properly I have to be loved wonderfully by Him. So the chief role of a Christian therefore I think is to allow themselves to be wonderfully loved. So when God touches you, who He is comes into you, sets you free and that's what you manifest."

"I am so passionate about church, I think church is such a brilliant idea. But you know the problem is we've taken God's whole idea of church and we've made it in our own image... we've put it in a box... you know this is what church is. The only time God put himself in a box He said you touch this thing and I'll kill you. But the whole idea of God is for freedom that Christ has set us free."

"So church really should be a community of dream seeking permission giving people. The best leaders are leaders who can facilitate the growth and the development, not only of the individual, but the corporate. So they are permission giving, they don't mind if people make mistakes because sometimes when you do something for the first time you learn how not to do it. So they're real fathers, but they're dream givers. The Pharisees are the dream thieves of their day. They stole peoples dreams."

"One of the discrepancies in Evangelicalism, speaking as an Evangelical, is that we have put the great commission ahead of the first commandment. The first commandment is love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. That is the real role of the church in the earth. The great commission actually is the second commandment. Love your neighbor as you love yourself. And so our prime role in the world is to know God, love God, encounter God, and then be part of the release of that understanding and that experience into the world."

"... it is His deep joy in you that captures your heart. And you realize that, for me it was... OMG, He's the happiest person I've ever met, and also He's the kindest person I know, and you get totally awestruck by the nature of God, and what He's like... and then it's like my hearts swept, it's not like you can't go back... you can't find your way back"

80% Muslim

I just thought I'd do some research to explore what common ground I share with Muslims, so the next time I chat with a Muslim I have a better idea of what they believe.

Literally, the word Muslim means "one who submits (to God)".

Check - I have the same desire. In this sense I could call myself Muslim.

They believe God has sent many prophets all over the world. These are their top 5 prophets:

1. Nuh (Noah)
2. Ibrahim (Abraham)
3. Musa (Moses)
4. Isa (Jesus)
5. Muhammad

I'll score myself a 3.5/5 on this one

Most Muslims believe that Jesus ascended into heaven, but not the death and resurrection part.

I'll score myself a 1/3 on this one

Muslim 6 articles of faith:

• One God
• Angels - messengers of God
• Prophets (already mentioned above)
  
• Scriptures - They are the Suhuf Ibrahim (commonly the Scrolls of Abraham), the Taurat (Torah), the Zabur (commonly the Psalms), the Injil (commonly the Gospel), and the Qur'an.
  
• The Day of Judgment and the Akhirah or afterlife
• Predestination- "Allah has knowledge of everything in his creation. Nothing occurs except by his will. Human beings are given free will, and it must be made clear that destiny does not have a cause-and-effect influence of the choices humans make. The choices that humans make are all within Allah's knowledge."

I have a slightly different Scriptures and Prophets list. I'm not Calvinist, but I'm good with this description of Predestination. I'd give myself a 5/6 on this one.

Virgin Birth of Jesus

Check

"Not one of you is a believer until he loves for his brother what he loves for himself."

Check

Once they reach puberty, his/her account of deeds is opened in Paradise. To attain paradise, at death, their good deeds (helping others, testifying to the truth of God, leading a virtuous life)... must outweigh their evil deeds.

Nope

"There is no other god beside God." (Qur'an 47:19)

Check

"My Lord, make this a peaceful land, and protect me and my children from worshiping idols." (Qur'an 14:35)

Check

"And make not Allah's (name) an excuse in your oaths against doing good, or acting rightly, or making peace between persons; for Allah is One Who heareth and knoweth all things." (Qur'an 2:224)
Check

"O you who believe, when the Congregational Prayer (Salat Al-Jumu`ah) is announced on Friday, you shall hasten to the commemoration of GOD, and drop all business." (Qur'an 62:9)

(most of us don't keep the Saturday Sabbath either - I'll ask for an exemption on this point)

"....and your parents shall be honoured. As long as one or both of them live, you shall never (even) say to them, "Uff" (the slightest gesture of annoyance), nor shall you shout at them; you shall treat them amicably." (Qur'an 17:23)
Check

"....anyone who murders any person who had not committed murder or horrendous crimes, it shall be as if he murdered all the people." (Qur'an 5:32)

Check

"You shall not commit adultery; it is a gross sin, and an evil behaviour." (Qur'an 17:32)

Check

"They shall not steal." (Al-Mumtahanah 60: 12)

Check

"Do not withhold any testimony by concealing what you had witnessed. Anyone who withholds a testimony is sinful at heart." (Qur'an 2:283)
Check

"And do not covet what we bestowed upon any other people. Such are temporary ornaments of this life, whereby we put them to the test. What your Lord provides for you is far better, and everlasting."

Check

OK, my belief system is different than most Muslim's on some key points, but very similar on other key points. A quick tally says I'm in agreement with 80% of these beliefs. I know this is a brief overview, but this percentage may be close. I imagine most conservative Christians share more ethical positions with Muslims than they do with our secular culture.

I've also recently discovered I am not 100% Protestant or Catholic either... I wonder what percent of shared beliefs is required to qualify.

Oh well... I found this quick study informative... if anyone is reading I hope you find some value in recognizing some shared beliefs as well. And may we encourage those we meet to seek God to direct us all to understand whatever percent of truth He wants us to understand.


Sources:
http://www.religioustolerance.org/comp_isl_chr.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islam

Playdough Scripture Luke 11:28

He replied, "Blessed rather are those who hear read the word of God and obey it."

Luke 11:28 (Playdough Version)

Graham Cooke - Do you know God's voice?

I love hearing how God first reached out to Graham Cooke. The first few minutes are a great story of God's desire to restore a messed up life. Worth the watch...

And then Graham goes on sharing these challenging words:

It's really interesting that people say that they are 'Bible believing', but they don't know how to hear the voice of God. It's not like God wrote the book and stopped talking... I mean what is that?... that just makes me giggle. I think God is always talking. And the promise of Jesus is 'my sheep know my voice'.

Do you know God's voice?

(Part 2 of this video here.)

Playdough Scripture 2 Thessalonians 1:8-9

"He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will be punished with everlasting destruction torment and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of his power... but they won't be destroyed.

2 Thessalonians 1:8-9 (Playdough Version)