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Use the Quran to share Christ with Muslim, veteran missionary suggests
The Baptist Standard ^ | December 31, 2009 | George Henson

Posted on 01/04/2010 5:29:24 AM PST by Between the Lines

ANGLETON—Winning Muslim converts to Christianity is difficult, but veteran missionary Kevin Greeson knows a way—start with the Quran.

Greeson, who has served 16 years with the Southern Baptist International Mission Board working to start Christian movements among Muslims in Bangladesh, Pakistan and Nepal, stressed the importance of spreading the good news of Christ with Muslims.

“The best way to fight terrorism is to share the gospel. And I believe that not because I want to fight terrorism, but because there are lost people,” he explained.

Debating religious tenets with Muslims is a waste of time, Greeson added. Muslims are taught to memorize the Quran in Arabic, not analyze it, he said.

“Even in Pakistan, where they speak Urdu, boys memorize the Quran in Arabic. They are not allowed to ask what anything means. They are told the words are too holy for them. Just memorize,” Greeson said.

Still, Christians must attempt to share the gospel with Muslims, Greeson insisted. But his goal focuses less on individual conversions and more on starting spiritual movements that will result in thousands of Muslims becoming followers of Christ.

“Our generation can’t afford to be satisfied or happy with winning one lost person to Christ. There are so many lost people, we can’t be happy with that,” he said.

And the tide is turning, Greeson said. “Almost every missionary serving now is seeing fruit among Muslims. Something is cooking out there. Something big is happening.”

Many thousands of Muslims are converting to Christianity on the Arab Peninsula and in Iran, Pakistan, India, Bangladesh and Indonesia, he said.

“Don’t think it’s limited to the other side of the world,” Gresson cautioned. “It can happen here. It’s got to happen here.”

But making it happen depends on finding a few key Muslims who can become the catalyst for a spiritual movement, he stressed.

“With a Muslim, you are always an outsider. Find that insider. You can’t get to all his relatives. You are an outsider. He has access,” he continued.

Greeson offered another word of caution. “When you find a person of peace, don’t make him join your church, comb his hair different and make him like you. Disciple him, but don’t make him go through an eight-month discipleship program. Messy people start movements. Don’t try to clean them up.”

Greeson’s first two years working with Muslims largely was unsuccessful, he admits. “Everything was thrown back at me.” They didn’t believe Jesus was the Son of God or that he died and rose again. They did not accept the Bible as authoritative, so quoting Scripture was useless. Greeson had to learn how to communicate with Muslims in ways that would not cause them immediately to shut down the conversation.

“Salaam-Alaikum” or “peace be to you” is a greeting that often lowers defenses, he suggested. Greeson then follows that up with the invitation: “Let’s read the Quran together about Jesus.”

Greeson discovered a Christian movement in a village where there were many conversions from Islam, and he asked about the catalyst for the transformation. The approach Greeson now teaches— “The Camel Method”—stems from that encounter.

The name of the method comes from an Arabic saying: Every good Muslim knows 99 names for Allah, but only the camel knows the 100th name. “We tell them we know the 100th name. It’s Jesus,” Greeson explained.

The Camel Method uses the Quran to establish three main points: ’Isa, or Jesus, is holy; ’Isa has power over death; and ’Isa knows the way to heaven.

Using selected verses from the Quran, the Camel Method doesn’t teach or lecture, but asks questions.

The 45th verse of Imran addresses Jesus as Masih ’Isa. “Ask them what does Masih ’Isa mean? Muslims know the meanings of their names. Names are important to them, but most won’t know this one,” Greeson said. “Then you can tell them that it means messiah or anointed one.”

Next, ask if any other of the 124,000 prophets the Muslims revere was given that designation, he instructed. None were. This demonstrates the uniqueness of Christ.

In the 47th verse of Imran, Mary the mother of Jesus testifies she never had been touched by a man. Ask if any other prophet was born without a father, and Muslims typically will answer, “Adam.” Let them tell the story of the Garden of Eden until the point where Adam is forced to leave paradise because of his sin.

Note all of Adam’s and Eve’s descendents likewise have been sinful, but Jesus wasn’t included in that line.

The 49th verse of Imran says ’Isa, or Jesus, has can “bring dead to life.”

“At this point, I say, ‘My greatest fear is death, and I’m grateful there is one who has power over it,” Greeson suggested.

Verse 54 of Imran says God has a plan, and verse 55 describes that plan. It says that Allah will cause ’Isa to die and then will exalt him. It goes on to say that those who deny the truth that ’Isa proclaims will be far below those who follow his truth.

Greeson suggests asking if any of the 124,000 can help a person get to heaven.

“I’ve never gotten any answer other than ’Isa,” he said.

At that time, a Muslim is prepared to hear the plan of salvation using verses 54 and 55—Korbani Plan of Salvation.

“Korbani” means sacrifice. The Quran points out a blood sacrifice is needed to cover sins, and Muslims go through a ritual every year where they slaughter an animal to cover their sins. That gives an opening to talk about Christ’s sacrifice, Greeson said.

Let them know Allah’s plan was for one perfect person to be sacrificed who would take all sin for all time.

Next, a Christian witness can talk about accepting Christ’s sacrifice. Greeson said to ask if a judge let a guilty man go if that would be justice, which will bring a negative answer, because a judge has to give punishment for wrongs.

“But ’Isa came and said, I have clean hands, put their judgment on me. That was God’s plan,” Greeson explains.

He acknowledged that the process takes time, and many fall away due to pressures from their society. But, he said, Christians must be diligent in telling the good news to Muslims because God already is preparing hearts to hear the gospel.


TOPICS: Current Events; Evangelical Christian; Islam; Ministry/Outreach
KEYWORDS: baptist; camelmethod; southernbaptist
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1 posted on 01/04/2010 5:29:26 AM PST by Between the Lines
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To: Between the Lines

Bookmark.


2 posted on 01/04/2010 5:47:55 AM PST by Blood of Tyrants (The Second Amendment. Don't MAKE me use it.)
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To: Between the Lines

Bookmarked


3 posted on 01/04/2010 5:47:58 AM PST by Pontiac
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To: Between the Lines

Great article. Ergun Caner speaks of simular conversations.


4 posted on 01/04/2010 5:48:55 AM PST by pop-aye (For every journey, The Way, is the HigherPath)
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To: Between the Lines

I’ll bear this in mind. Surrounded by Muslims here in the DC area. Praise God, there is a beautiful and very bright young Muslim girl in my RCIA wanna-be-a-Catholic class, just got baptized.


5 posted on 01/04/2010 5:52:34 AM PST by ottbmare (I could agree wth you, but then we'd both be wrong.)
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To: Between the Lines

Thanks for this article. I work amongst Muslims and will soon be relocating to a predominately Muslim country. This should be helpful.


6 posted on 01/04/2010 5:56:20 AM PST by Titanites
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To: Between the Lines

Thanks.


7 posted on 01/04/2010 5:58:04 AM PST by Mad Dawg (Oh Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee.)
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To: Between the Lines

I’d have to disagree. While the Qur’an does say some things about Jesus that are true, it obviously also says quite a bit about him that is untrue - some of it nonsensically so (e.g. the story of the toddler Jesus bringing clay birds to life). Trying to use the Qur’an to turn Muslims onto Jesus is going to seem to them like you’re just picking and choosing, and I doubt that any serious Muslim would find it convincing.

How to reach Muslims? Use the Bible. The Gospel is the power of God unto salvation, to ALL who believe. The Bible is quick and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword. God has promised that His Word would not return void. Just use God’s Word and let IT do its work, instead of trying to rely on gimmicky little “evangelism tricks” like this article suggests.


8 posted on 01/04/2010 5:59:00 AM PST by Titus Quinctius Cincinnatus (Conservatives unite behind conservative Republicans in the primaries!)
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To: Titanites; All
You may want to pick up a copy of his book:The Camel: How Muslims Are Coming to Faith in Christ!

My prayers for a safe journey and for your ministry.

9 posted on 01/04/2010 6:09:46 AM PST by Between the Lines (For their sins of 50 million abortions God gave them over to be an ObamaNation {Romans 1:24-32})
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To: Titus Quinctius Cincinnatus
Paul used a similar gimmicky little "evangelism trick" in Athens, when he proclaimed the identity of their "unknown god" on Mars Hill.

Trying to use the Qur’an to turn Muslims onto Jesus is going to seem to them like you're just picking and choosing, and I doubt that any serious Muslim would find it convincing.

Not every Athenian believed Paul either.

Every good Muslim knows 99 names for Allah, but only the camel knows the 100th name.

Tell me what is the difference between Paul's use of the unknown god and using the 100th name today?

10 posted on 01/04/2010 6:34:46 AM PST by Between the Lines (For their sins of 50 million abortions God gave them over to be an ObamaNation {Romans 1:24-32})
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To: Between the Lines

Sorry guys, but youre wrong. The false prophet and Satans army are already here, and you are trying to convert them? LMAO! This would only work if Islam was a religion of peace. Instead, it gets its power from evil, death, destruction, and hate.


11 posted on 01/04/2010 6:46:51 AM PST by scoobysnak71 (Just a national security threat, trying to get a nut.)
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To: Between the Lines
Let them know Allah’s plan was for one perfect person to be sacrificed who would take all sin for all time

..big problem

Trying to present the Gospel cannot include equating an Arabic moon god with the God of Abraham...

12 posted on 01/04/2010 6:47:25 AM PST by WalterSkinner ( In Memory of My Father--WWII Vet and Patriot 1926-2007)
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To: Between the Lines
Not every Athenian believed Paul either.

True....but the difference is that Paul preached to the Athenians the true God, without trying to syncretise Him with the conception that the Athenians already had. the reason the philosophers laughed was because Paul was presenting to them a radically different conception of deity from what they were used to. He didn't try to "weave" the God of Israel into the ideas that they already had about God - he clearly contradicted what they believed, and did so by presenting the Biblical view of God, and His promises concerning His Messiah and what the Messiah did.

Tell me what is the difference between Paul's use of the unknown god and using the 100th name today?

Well, one obvious difference would be that Allah and God are not the same being. Allah is a pre-Islamic moon god who was subsequently monotheised as Islam developed from its pagan Arabian origins. Per this development, Allah is also an apersonal deity that is quite conceptual different from the God of the Bible. Focusing on the simple idea of monotheism while ignoring the vast differences is misleading, at best, and damning at worst.

13 posted on 01/04/2010 6:49:47 AM PST by Titus Quinctius Cincinnatus (Conservatives unite behind conservative Republicans in the primaries!)
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To: WalterSkinner; Titus Quinctius Cincinnatus

14 posted on 01/04/2010 7:07:08 AM PST by Between the Lines (For their sins of 50 million abortions God gave them over to be an ObamaNation {Romans 1:24-32})
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To: scoobysnak71
The false prophet and Satans army are already here, and you are trying to convert them? LMAO! This would only work if Islam was a religion of peace

Do you believe that the false prophet and Satan's army is more powerful that God or the Holy Spirit? With God all things are possible.

15 posted on 01/04/2010 7:10:05 AM PST by Between the Lines (For their sins of 50 million abortions God gave them over to be an ObamaNation {Romans 1:24-32})
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To: WKB; StarCMC; AZ .44 MAG; prairiebreeze; Beloved Levinite; TwelveOfTwenty; arderkrag; dixiebelle; ..

Baptist Ping


16 posted on 01/04/2010 7:19:26 AM PST by Between the Lines (For their sins of 50 million abortions God gave them over to be an ObamaNation {Romans 1:24-32})
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To: Between the Lines

Yeah, I’ll use the quran alright....


17 posted on 01/04/2010 7:59:35 AM PST by onedoug
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To: Between the Lines; Admin Moderator
duplicates this thread
18 posted on 01/04/2010 8:06:48 AM PST by PapaBear3625 (Public healthcare looks like it will work as well as public housing did.)
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To: Between the Lines

Sorry, but this is unconvincing. Unknowledgeable people perpetuating error doesn’t substantiate that error.


19 posted on 01/04/2010 8:20:14 AM PST by Titus Quinctius Cincinnatus (Conservatives unite behind conservative Republicans in the primaries!)
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To: Between the Lines

I understand the argument. I don’t believe it is as effective as one might think.

It’s like treating cancer with poison...one guy seemed to cure his cancer by eating highly toxic peach seeds, but I wouldn’t do it. Too many people died hoping for the same cure that never comes because toxic seeds only add to their health problems.

Beyond the limitations of what verses can be used, it lends credibility to a demonic text. How will you convince them to ween away from it when it was used to bring them to a decision for Christ?

Imagine how shaken your faith would be if you were led to Christ through the Romans’ Road, and then someone brought proof that it was not really part of the legit Bible books, and was written by William Shakespeare. (It’s not, just using it as an example. It’s truly part of the Word of God.)

I have heard missionaries and evangelists advocating the use of the books a Mormn, the satnic bible, and Hindi holy verses to lead people to Christ. This will tend to create people, rather than accepting Christ as the one way to heaven, they instead accept Christianity along side whatever religion they had before.

The way to deal with them is to get them to be seekers of the truth. Once they genuinely desire the truth, show how their religious ideals and holy write are flawed. As the vacuum of truth is created, fill that vacuum with the infallibility of the Bible.


20 posted on 01/04/2010 9:22:53 AM PST by Sensei Ern (http://www.myspace.com/reconcomedy)
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