Muslims Don’t Get Into Heaven

When I say Muslim's don’t go to Heaven, here is what I do not mean:

1. I do not mean that Muslims are ALL Jihadist 

2. I do not mean that Muslims are bad people

3. I do not mean that Muslims deserve to die.  

I do not make that statement to be flippant or to demonize Muslims. Muslims are not worse people than Christians. They do not deserve to die more than the rest of sinful humanity. I honestly believe that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. I believe that I personally deserve to die every day, because I do not love God with all my heart, soul, mind, and I do not love my neighbor as myself (Matthew 22:37-39). I believe that salvation comes through Jesus (who is God) dying on the cross for our sins, in our place, and then being resurrected. That is the gospel. 

Jesus said in Matthew 5:44, “But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,” Christians are called to love the Muslim, serve the Muslim, and if need be, die for the Muslim. If we don't have enough food to feed them and ourselves, we need to be the ones that go hungry. This is the type of radical love that Jesus demonstrated on the cross for those in the world that did not yet know or love Him. The only thing that makes Christians different than Muslims is the blood-stained cross of Christ. 

I can't even begin to imagine how disgusted God is when He hears some of the things that Christians say about Muslims. The lack of compassion, the lack of love, and the lack of grace we show that people group is appalling. Have you not read Ezekiel 18:23 “Do I take any pleasure in the death of the wicked? declares the Sovereign LORD. Rather, am I not pleased when they turn from their ways and live?” We ruin our testimony when we support politicians who have said openly that they have no regard for innocent Muslim life in their military campaign against ISIS. 

So when I say that Muslims don’t go to Heaven, here is what I mean: 

1. Muslims need Jesus. 

2. Military Operations should attempt to minimize civilian casualties. 

I believe that because these people don’t go to heaven when they die, we should be very careful when dropping bombs. Drones have proved to be extremely ineffective at killing ISIS military targets, with an estimated 90% of those killed by drones being innocent civilians. At this rate America is creating enemies faster than she can kill them, and most, if not all of those killed go to Hell. 

At the end of the day I do not control US domestic or foreign policy. I do not command armies of soldiers or weapons of war. For you reading this I would bet money that you don’t have that control either. What I can do is control my feelings towards Muslims. I can choose to remind myself of the gospel, and remind myself that Jesus loves these people. I can choose to love and serve these people. I have to ask, what would it look like if Christians would open up their homes to refugees fleeing ISIS in Syria? What would it look like if when our republican politicians said they plan on indiscriminately bombing Muslims with no regard to civilian causalities we tell them they will not receive our votes ever again? 

With all that said, here are some things you can do: 

1. Repent of any Anti-Muslim feelings you have in your heart.  

2. Prayerfully consider ways to serve and witness to the Muslims that cross your path. 

3. If our next President attempts to round up Muslims, engage in civil disobedience to subvert the Government’s actions. 

Response to comments from my previous post

I want to address 2 comments that I received after my previous post:

“This is inaccurate. They developed from the Syrian civil war and have been taking over parts of Iraq to create their own Caliphate. This is what happens if you have the tribes separate. One would try to dominate and take over the others by killing. The truth is not ignorance.”

ISIS stands for the “Islamic State of Iraq and Syria.” The founder and leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, was born in Iraq outside the town of Samarra. He was imprisoned in the US detention facility Camp Bucca. After his detention, al-Baghdadi joined the group al-Qaeda in Iraq that also went by the name the “Islamic State of Iraq (ISI).” ISI was founded in 2006.

ISI carried at different terrorist acts against US troops as well as the newly formed Iraqi government. In 2013, after the Syrian Civil War began, al-Qaeda in Iraq merged with the Syrian terrorist group Jabhat al-Nusra. ISI changed its name to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). It is worth noting that Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was radicalized during his detention in Camp Bucca. He went in as a moderate who avoided violence and came out an extremist.

“When I read your post I was really shocked that you would say those things. You sounded arrogant and like you hated America. You didn’t sound like the Jeff Diego I know.”

Firstly, I want to say thank you for reading my previous post. Secondly, I want to say thank you for your courage to come talk to me in person in the spirit of Matthew 18; I really respect that. Thirdly, I want to say that I can love Jesus and love America, and at the same time denounce the evils that America has committed.

I wanted to remind my fellow Americans that in the past we have gone to war after being lied to by our elected officials. This is huge because that war resulted in a destabilized climate in the Middle East where extremism would eventually flourish. We lost the moral high ground when we tortured people. That war has caused over 100,000 civilian casualties and led to the rise of the most brutal and barbaric group of people in modern times. I was motivated to write those things because I believe that if we don’t learn from our mistakes, we are doomed to repeat them. Christians need to learn from those mistakes and be vocal when we hear politicians echoing the same policies implemented by the Bush Administration.

Operation Iraqi Freedom

In March of 2002, we went to war with Iraq, overthrew its dictator, found no Weapons of Mass Destruction, and destabilized the whole region. The average American doesn't have the mental capacity to look at our intervention in the region and see how it led to a social and economic atmosphere that would eventually give birth to extremism. We need to understand that the United States, by invading Iraq, set forth events that eventually created ISIS. Many Americans have not made that connection and, if they have, they have not been vocal about it. Well, it's time for me to be vocal now. 

After invading Iraq, we captured and executed its dictator Saddam Hussein and set up a democracy. It didn't take long until that democracy started to fall apart. If you study history and look at that region, Iraq would never have been its own country had it not been for the British and French. After World War I they took three totally different people groups, the Kurds, the Sunnis, and the Shiites, all of whom hate each other, and made them into a country they called Iraq. With the ethnic and religious diversity from those three it would be impossible for a democracy to function; and, thus, it has not function. 

Saddam Hussein was a monster, he was a murderer, and a dictator. He was a horrible person that most likely deserved to be brought to justice. In fact, there are many world leaders that have the blood of innocents on their hands who also should be brought to justice, but we don't because it's not in America's best interest to do so. With Iraq being a country invented by Europeans after WWI, one of the only ways for her to have a functioning government is to have the caliber of monster that was Saddam Hussein. Only a dictator could keep those three people groups in check (I personally feel like Iraq should be broken into 3 countries as to not require a dictator). Removing Saddam from the equation has caused more deaths and more damage to the region in the last 10 years of him not being in power than did the previous 24 years of him being in power. 

In the coming days and weeks, I hope to build a case against the war in Iraq to help us better understand the situation in which we currently find ourselves. If you have tracked what has happened and seek to be unbiased, you can see that we are not simply the respondents to the problem of ISIS, but we were ultimately the unwitting creator of ISIS. This is something we need to admit and own up to. When we have politicians wanting to go to war against Iran and wanting to have boots on the ground in Syria with a large scale re-invasion of that region, we need to be reminded of what we have done; we need to learn from our mistakes so that we don't repeat it. We have raped the Middle East and it has given birth to a demon.

"Christian" Music, Movies, and Credibility

Sometimes I listen to Christian music and I think to myself “this sounds just like secular music but it’s seriously lacking talent.” It’s no secret that it’s easier to get into the Christian entertainment industry than it is getting into the secular entertainment industry. Here are some cases where “Christian” Musicians and Actors have shown themselves to be frauds:

 Katie Perry who kissed a girl and liked it started off as a Christian singer under the name Katie Hudson. She dyed her hair black and restarted her career where she would become a spokesperson for the LGBT community. The band Quiet Company started off as a Christian Band, but now releases songs that attack the existence of God and faith in Jesus. They played at the Christian Music Festival Cornerstone.

 Underoath lead singer Spencer Chamberlain said in an interview “If there is a God I hope we didn't piss him off to much.” What type of assurance does that person have in the word of God or in the gospel? I’m sure he’s a great guy but a Christian should have bold assurance that not only is there a God but his name is Jesus. And if you think that is disturbing you should check out what Ray Boltz has been up to these last couple years.

 Christian movies can be lame. From a dialogue standpoint they are horrible. The best Christian movie to date is “Chariots of Fire” which was produced by Dodi Fayed a Muslim. I’m not expecting computer generated images in movies, I’m not expecting explosions, but please have characters that are convincing, develop those characters, and tell a story that is believable. Be artistic.

 Several years ago I went to a youth pastors conference called the Youth Pastors Summit. This is a great conference where there are a lot of great resources provided to youth pastors for free. I’ve learned so much from the speakers at the Youth Pastors Summit. With that said several years ago they heavily pushed the movie “To Save A Life” (2009). I’ve watched this movie and it’s okay; they brought up some good things, but again it lacked convincing characters.

 Here is what is disturbing about this movie: the lead actor is Randy Wayne. He also starred in the Dukes of Hazzard (2007) where the unrated version contains topless women. In 2009 he also starred in a American Pie styled movie called Frat Party that is essentially soft core pornography. In my research for writing this post I discovered something that made me lose my mind. There was another Christian movie called Hard Flip (2012) that stars Randy Wayne as well. So this guy was in a movie with nudity, then a Christian movie, then a movie with nudity, then another Christian movie. WHAT THE HECK PEOPLE?!?!

 If you believe thats okay I seriously doubt your judgement, and I have some swampland I’d like to sell you (don’t worry it’s Christian swampland). We as Christians are not to be blind consumers. We are to think, analyze, and seek the truth out in our lives. For instances some of the most damaging foods today are marketed as being “Heart Healthy.” Many Americans are ignorant. They cannot think for themselves and are blind sheep. Consequently many Christians are ignorant as well. In my opinion Christians lose credibility when they blindly buy and endorse music and movies regardless of their quality. I love Christians and I want us to be able to question things in church culture just as much as we do secular culture to make sure that we are as the Apostle Paul would say "in the Faith."

Protect Yourself

Gospel Meme, Zondervan NIV2011

So I personally think that the "ESV" translation of the bible is literally the best translation of modern times. With that said I am not emotionally tied to the "NIV(New International Version)" or Zondervan Publishing. I do teach from the "NIV" in my youth group and in bible classes at the Christian private school I teach at. So many people already own the "NIV" so it's easier for me to adjust to their translation of choice and focus on other issues. I prefer the ESV but I chose my battles carefully.

So the "TNIV" has been known as being the gender-neutral translation of the bible for some time. This means that every time Jesus or the Apostle Paul writes "brothers" or "men" in the Greek the TNIV translates those verses into "brothers and sisters" or "men and women." I understand the arguments of having bibles gender-neutral and non-gender-neutral and I am not upset about how the TNIV does that. But here is what upsets me:

The "NIV1984"(which we've all used for the last 20 years) has been known by the abbreviation "NIV." Zondervan in 2011 changed the name of the "TNIV" to the "NIV." That means that if you own a bible that says NIV on the spine of the book from 3 years ago, and your friend owns a NIV they bought last week, you are using 2 different translations of the bible. Most people do not realize this and they are being misled. So for that Zondervan you are silly and I don't like that you did that. I do prefer Crossway as a publisher because they publish less fluff, but you are still a legitimate publisher that God has used in my life to discipline me. If you are interested in voicing your opinion you can go to zondervan.com and click on the feedback button and tell them you don't like that the TNIV is now called the NIV because it is confusing.

Scumbag Youth Pastor Steve Gospel Meme

Don't put together a youth event and then not mention Jesus. That's stupid. As a Youth Pastor you are a minister of the Gospel, not the coordinator of happy-fun-time-chucky-cheese youth events. If you do something cutesy or fun fine, but make sure there is some spiritual lesson behind it.