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My dear Muslim friends, That Allah does not love the sinner is abundantly clear in the Quran. Note just a few of the many passages in the Quran addressing this topic: “God loves not transgressors.” (2:190) “He loves not creatures ungrateful or wicked.” (2:276) “God loves not those who do wrong.” (3:57, 140) “God loves not the arrogant the vainglorious.” (4:36) Who is a sinner? Certainly the Quran regards anyone who rejects God as a sinner. But there is another person the Quran regards as a sinner. The person who once obeyed God, but turned away. “Say: ‘Obey God and His Apostle; but if they turn back God loves not those who reject Faith.” (3:32) The Quran has dozens of passages like this. It is a fact, nowhere in the Quran is God ever reported to love someone who does not love Him first, nor is Godi´s love ever used as the primary motivation to draw someone close to Him. In contrast, both the Torah and Injeel record that God loves everyone regardless of their sin. “But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ.” (Ephesians 2:3-5) Note the contrast between this passage and the Quran in 2:190 “God loves not transgressors.” In both passages, people who have not yet turned to God are in focus. What a contrast! In the Quran, God simply does not love them. But if they turn, then God will love them. Whereas in the Injeel, God loves them and it is because of His love that He pursues a relationship with them. In the Prophets, God’s love for man is illustrated by His willingness to endure our sin as He waits for us to come to our senses about His character. “Then the Lord said to me, ‘Go again and love Gomer, who is loved by her husband [Hosea], yet an adulteress, even as the Lord loves the sons of Israel, though they turn to other gods….” (Hosea 3:1) It is interesting that such a huge variance in the character of God’s love should exist between the two books? Mohammed claimed He was revealing the will of God, who also sent the Prophets and Isa. Both Moses and Isa characterized God as loving the unrighteous and desiring to draw the unrighteous to Himself by means of His love. This is something the Quran does not do. Take your own normal relationships as an example. Certainly your ability to love and express your love is imperfect, being that you are only human. Yet the Quran ascribes a lesser ability to love, on the part of God, than even normal human beings who have rejected Him. Consider this: The vast majority of parents love their children unconditionally. Even when their children do wrong, their parents still love them and express their love to them in some fashion. There are many parents whose children have turned to gross immorality, or violence as a lifestyle. Some even turn against their parents more directly. Yet in the majority of cases, though those parents know their children have filled their lives with evil, they still love them and hope that their expressions of love will eventually turn their children back from the brink of destruction. Nowhere in the Quran is God ever described in this manner. In fact, the opposite is true. He only loves those who obey or love Him first. The God of the Injeel loves deeply and unconditionally.

Can you protect your child? As parents we often want what’s best for our children – I love what Psychologist Jonathon Haidt suggest about hardships and how they shape us ~ he gives this hypothetical exercise: Imagine that you have a child, and for five minutes you’re given a script of what will be that child’s life. You get an eraser. You can edit it. You can take out whatever you want. You read that your child will have a learning disability in grade school. Reading, which comes easily for some kids, will be laborious for yours. In high school, your kid will make a great circle of friends; then one of them will die of cancer. After high school this child will actually get into the college they wanted to attend. While there, there will be a car crash, and your child will lose a leg and go through a difficult depression. A few years later, your child will get a great job—then lose that job in an economic downturn. Your child will get married, but then go through the grief of separation. You get this script for your child’s life and have five minutes to edit it. What would you erase? Wouldn’t you want to take out all the stuff that would cause them pain? If you could wave a wand, if you could erase every failure, setback, suffering, and pain—are you sure it would be a good idea? Would it cause your child to grow up to be a better, stronger, more generous person? Is it possible that in some way people actually need adversity, setbacks, maybe even something like trauma to reach the fullest level of development & growth? *Condensed from Leadership Journal, © 2009 Christianity Today International. (article author: John Ortberg) So, may you and I be reminded of God’s proximity in the midst of our moments of calamity. May you open yourself to what those moments can produce within you, how they can sweeten you and how it can increase your trust in him! 1 Peter 3:7; James 1:2-4 ~Jack (I’ll leave you with this thought)… “Christianity does not so much offer solutions to the problems of suffering, but rather provides the promise of a God who is completely present with us in suffering. Only Christians believe in a God who says, “Here I am alongside you. I have experienced the same suffering you have. I know what it is like.” No other religion even begins to offer that assurance.” ~Timothy Keller, author & pastor

Sometimes we don’t realize how “far down” Jesus had to go to save sinful man. I guess it’s because we really can’t get a handle on the holiness of God. A story I read really gave me a picture of what Jesus sacrificed to come from heaven’s glory to “earth’s dungeon” and be born a tiny, helpless infant. On June 5, 1978, a seven-year old boy named Martin Turgeon slipped off a wharf and fell into the Prairie River in Canada. At least a dozen adults saw him struggle for a few moments before he sank & drowned. Why didn’t anyone dive in to save him? Just upstream, a plant used to dump raw sewage right into the river. The water was dirty—dangerous to your health. So, nobody jumped in to save Martin Turgeon. SomeONE did jump in for YOU! God thought you were worth jumping in after…that’s what the Nativity proves…unwrap the wonder of that again. John 3:16 / Ephesians 2 Frederick Buechner said “Those who believe in God can never in a way be sure of Him again. Once they have seen him in a stable, they can never be sure where he will appear or to what lengths he will go or to what ludicrous depths of self-humiliation he will descend in his wild pursuit of man… And, this means that we are not safe, that there is no place where we can hide from God, no place where we are safe from his power to break into and recreate the human heart because it is where he seems most helpless that he is most strong and just where we least expect Him that he comes most fully.” The Nativity – is the profound picture of God – the ONE that notices & responds. As you see a Nativity this CHRISTmas season – PAUSE… Take a moment to thank God for being willing to ‘jump in’ for you. Take a moment to pray & ask Him to show up unexpectedly again into your life. Take a moment to make sure you’re not missing His already unannounced entrances… What did Jesus jump in & save you from? What might he be wanting to save you from now?… ~ Jack

Wise Men followed the star. They jumped for joy, and they came bringing gifts. Mary and Joseph needed a miracle and it was provided by someone that God sent from 1,000 miles away. Your gift is someone else’s miracle. Step out in faith. Be obedient to God’s vision. Celebrate more and give all you have to God and others. Preached at National Community Church. Used by permission.

Kneel in pursuit of God’s presence. Don’t   bow down to something else. Kneel in repentance. Jesus never turns away from a sinner with a repentant heart. Kneel in submission. You can kneel now or you can kneel later. Surrender! Preached at LifeChurch.tv . Used by permission of lifechurch.tv/open .

Pastor Francis Chan deals with the moral failure of a church leader in a wise, compassionate, godly fashion. Sin must be dealt with, but our focus in facing the issue of compromised morality in the church should be godly fear and self-examination rather than condemnation and arrogance.

Anger is a legitimate God-created emotion. God expressed His righteous anger toward sin and injustice. Our Heavenly Father’s love and forgiveness is only understood in the context of His holiness and justice. We can be angry, but we must process our ire in a healthy way.

King Solomon was the consummate diplomat. His valuable advice on assuaging anger is both practical and profound. Eight proverbs give us insight on how to subdue antagonistic people, how to diffuse volatile situations, how to heal dissension, and how to develop patience.

King David, Solomon’s father, gave us a powerful model for handling anger. Because the shepherd-king was called the “man after God’s own heart,” he had profound insight into God’s character. As a result, he responded to life-situations in a healthy, mature way. We can do the same.

Anger is healed by a repentant heart. The dedicatory prayer King Solomon prayed on the Temple mount reveals the king’s clear understanding of the nature of man and the ways of the Divine. Genuine repentance is discussed as we begin to appreciate the greatness of our sin and the infinite grace of God.

Jesus, the Master-Teacher, taught us how to handle anger and proffer forgiveness from His beatitudes, His parables and His example. Forgiveness must come from a grateful heart. Paul teaches us that we should replace our anger with kindness, compassion, humility, gentleness, and patience.