The panel of experts included Georges Houssney, author of the book Engaging Islam.
Born and raised in Lebanon, he has more than forty years of experience in evangelism and church planting among Muslims around the world.
Here is a summary of the book described by a viewer on Amazon;
“Houssney catches us all in the headlights, revealing that we're all hung up by fear, with images the blazing Twin Towersand cold-blooded beheadings; by fury over Islamic aggression against the West; or by fascination by Islam's complexity and "otherness." Or maybe we're so fatigued by their relentless shouting and complaining that we just want to forget them altogether. This book will release us from whatever keeps us at arm's length from our Muslim neighbors and release us to be who God has called us to be and to complete the mission he has entrusted to us.”
On the 10th anniversary of 9/11, the panel of experts cut to the heart of the matter and explained the core values and beliefs of Islam as well as how to reach them with the gospel of Christ, both intellectually and lovingly.
Christ Is The Key
According to the expert panel, Islam believes a lot of things about Christ, like he never sinned, he was born of a virgin, he performed many miracles and even raised the dead.
One of the most interesting things I learned is that Islam basically points to the gospels, by acknowledging so much of the miraculous life of Christ and the bible as the primary source of the life of Christ.
The catch is that Islam does not believe that Jesus died on the cross or that Christ is God or that he was resurrected from the dead.
The panel of experts explained how historical evidence led each of them to believe that Jesus must have died on the cross, must have been resurrected and unlike any other claimed to be God, as recorded in scripture in which they also found to be authentic.
In fact the reason Jesus was killed was because of his claim to be God. But even if you show someone that Jesus claimed to be God in the scriptures, Islam argues that the bible is not accurate and therefore cannot be trusted because it was translated into many languages before it's English version today, unlike the Koran which remains in its original language.
But the panel of Christian converts went on to explain how this argument does not hold up against the historical evidence.
There are hundreds of authentic books of testimonies of people that saw Jesus alive after he was resurrected, that no credible historical scholar could deny. Christ must have appeared alive after his death.
And there are thousands of manuscripts (here is a website listing some of them) such as the "Dead Sea Scrolls" that have been found written in the original language that have proven that the scriptures have been translated accurately.
Therefore the bible translations today are authentic and have not been corrupted in any way. Today’s bibles are indeed the truest form of the original that the English language can translate into.
These experts have taken an honest look at the evidence and have comes to the same conclusion; 1) the scriptures are indeed credible, 2) Christ claimed to be God and 3) He was crucified and resurrected from the dead proving his deity.
Amazingly, these things are required for salvation.
“That if you confess with your mouth,"Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” - Romans 10:8
The Best Lie
Someone once told me that the best lie is one that is the closest to the truth. That way if the lie contains most of the truth, they can get you to believe in the part that is not true.
If the devil is the father of lies (John 8:44), then he is good at creating the best lies. And the best lie in the world would be one that acknowledges everything about Christ except what is necessary for salvation.
I’m not saying the Islam is the devil’s religion, but that it is one of many that have kept millions from knowing the truth about who Jesus Christ really is.
The people of the Islam religion are important and valuable. We cannot let the memory of 9/11 keep us from telling them about Jesus.
The reviewer for Georges Houssney book said;
“unless we learn to engage in love, without rage or accommodation, nearly a quarter of the earth's population will never hear the Gospel of the Kingdom of God.”
Let us be bold, reach out to Muslims and share the gospel of Christ with them.