500 Reminders That Islam Is 'Peaceful'

It was only a few weeks ago when we provided you with a story about how Pakistan was discussing banning the name 'Jesus' from being texted in a blatant form of religious discrimination.

Today, we bring you the latest from the so-called 'Religion of Peace' (Islam as the 'Religion of Peace' is an oxymoron if I've ever heard one) courtesy of Saudi Arabia.

Saudi Court Sentences Australian To 500 Lashes

An Australian man has been sentenced to 500 lashes and a year in prison in Saudi Arabia for breaking the country's strict blasphemy laws during a Haj pilgrimage last month.

Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs said it was very concerned about the well-being of the man, named in media reports as Mansor Almaribe, a 45-year-old father of five.

[Additional reporting on this story can be found here]

The man's son is fearful for his father's safety, and rightfully so...

"Five hundred lashes on his back, and he has back problems. I wouldn't think he'd survive 50."

The man also suffers from diabetes and heart disease. If he survives all 500 lashes then he will have to serve 1 year in jail too; a sentence that was reduced from 2 years.

To summarize, that's 500 reminders that Islam is 'peaceful' so please make sure you understand that by now. Come on already, are you kidding me? Where's the politically correct crowd now? This is absurd!

I think it's safe to say that at this point in world history the only reason why you can't see what's staring you in the face is due to the presence of sin in your life and it having corrupted your mind (Romans 3:11; Proverbs 6:18; Matthew 16:23; Ecclesiastes 7:25).

I just find it quite telling how the Atheists can't wait to pounce on Christianity whenever it exhibits true tenets of the faith, but their silence is deafening whenever Islam exhibits the true tenets of that faith.

I mean, any time a Christian or a congregation exhibits true Biblical Christianity by merely pointing out what the holy Scriptures have to say, and that God expressly describes how sin is to be dealt with in our lives (let alone why), the response is always a cacophony of jeers and sneers about something from Deuteronomy or Leviticus.

The saddest part of all is how they fail to grasp the fact that Christianity doesn't call for physical punishment upon the guilty from the hands of a believer. No, it calls for us to simply (and lovingly) chastise, correct, edify, encourage, strengthen, and teach the offender why they need to feel sorry for what they've done, and why God demands that they repent of their sins, turn from their sins, place their faith in Him, and accept His free gift of salvation. Yet, somehow, we're the enemy, huh?

Folks, there is nothing 'peaceful' about Islam. Nothing. Those Muslims who proclaim peace with people of other faiths are the apostates of their religion because Islam teaches that ALL NON-MUSLIMS are to be treated as 'infidels' and killed. If you don't believe me, then I would suggest that you kindly research the Koran for yourself.

The irony of ironies here is that it was OTHER CHRISTIANS -- not other Muslims -- who were protesting the punishment of this Australian father of 5 who was found guilty of blasphemy while in Saudi Arabia on pilgrimage to Mecca. You'd think the faithful from the so-called 'Religion of Peace' would've spoken up the loudest against such barbaric treatment, wouldn't you?

The good news? Yes, as sad and revealing as this news is, there's still good news to share. The 'good news' is that it's all just another sign of the times, my friends. It's all just further proof that God is real, that Jesus Christ is who He said He was, and that God's Word can be trusted because it's true and being fulfilled all around us.

Pray for our brothers and sisters in Christ in the Islamic world. Pray that they will be led by the Spirit to preach the Gospel to a nation and a people that desperately needs to hear it.

Look, I understand that we're talking about a different country, with a different culture, a different predominant religion, and a different set of laws on the books so this shouldn't come as too much of a surprise to us, but still.

Truth is, proponents of Islam cannot continue to stress that theirs is a 'Religion of Peace' when we constantly receive hard evidence to the contrary.

Yes, there are rules in society that must be followed. Yes, there are consequences when we break the law. Let's go a step further. The Lord hates sin. What is sin? The violation of God's Laws. When we fail to keep His Law, we sin. When we sin, we offend God. This offense against God results in a judgment. Laws are laws because they have penalties. There is no law without a penalty. Therefore, breaking God's law brings judgment which is separation from God.

Isaiah 59:2 But your sins have made a separation between you and your God

And, "the wages of sin is death...", right? (Romans 6:23). So, to sin, to break God's Law, results in judgment. The judgment is known as damnation, which is the righteous judgment of God upon the sinner. If God did not judge the sinner, then He is not upholding His holiness and he would be allowing sinners to go unpunished.

Of course, Jesus Christ came to take our place and die for our sins (1 Peter 2:24). This means that Jesus bore our sin in His body on the cross and paid for them. He took the judgment upon Himself. This also means that anyone who trusts in what Jesus did on the cross will have his sins removed; he will be saved from God's future judgment.

Need more clarity? Please keep reading this from Charles Spurgeon...

"You must understand that there is only one door to salvation, and that is Christ; there is one way, and that is Christ; one truth, and that is Christ; one life, and that is Christ. Salvation lies in Jesus only; it does not lie in you, in your doings, or your feelings, or your knowings, or your resolutions. In Him all life and light for the sons of men are stored up by the mercy of God the Father. This may be one reason why you have not found the light; because you have sought it in the wrong place. Though the Lord has placed it on record in His Word, in the plainest language, that ‘it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy’ (Rom. 9:16) yet most men in their hearts imagine that everlasting life is tied to duties and earned by service. You must abandon such vainglorious notions; you must come before God as a humble petitioner, pleading the promises of mercy, abhorring all idea of merit, confessing that if the Lord condemns you He has a right to do it, and if He saves you, it will be an act of pure gratuitous mercy, a deed of sovereign grace. Oh, too many of you hold your heads too high; to enter the lowly gate of light you must stoop. On the bended knee is the penitent’s true place. ‘God be merciful to me, a sinner’, is the penitent’s true place. If God should condemn you, you could never complain of injustice, for you could not accuse the Lord, for you have no right to be heard. He could righteously withhold an answer of peace if He so willed. Confess that you are an undeserving, ill-deserving, hell-deserving sinner and begin to pray as you have never prayed before. Cry out of the depth of self-abasement if you want to be heard. Come as a beggar, not as a creditor. Come to crave, not to demand. Use only this argument, ‘Lord, hear me, for you are gracious, and Jesus died; I cry to you as a condemned criminal who seeks pardon. Deliver me from going down into the pit, that I may praise your name.’ This harboring of a proud spirit, I fear, has been a great source of mischief with many, and if it has been so with you, amend it and go now with humble and contrite hearts, in lowliness and brokenness of spirit, to your Father whom you have offended, for he will surely accept you as his children. Your salvation does not depend upon what you do, but upon what Christ did when he offered Himself as a sacrifice for sin. All your salvation takes root in the death throes of Calvary; the great Substitute bore your sin and suffered its penalty. Your sin shall never destroy you if upon that bloody tree the Lord’s chosen High Priest made a full expiation for your sins; they shall not be laid against you any more forever. What you have to do is simply accept what Jesus has finished. I know your idea is that you are to bring something to him; but that vainglorious idea has ruined many, and will ruin many more. When you are brought empty-handed, made willing to accept a free and full salvation from the hand of the Crucified, then, and then only, will you will be saved."

Amen!

Keep looking up!

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