False Prophets Continue to Seek<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />
 "Common Ground" About allah
 
"How much more severely do you think a man deserves to be punished,
 who has trampled the Son of God under foot" (Heb 10:29a).
 
"It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God" (Heb 10:31).
 
The efforts of many prominent Christian and so-called "Christian" spokesmen to make "Common Ground" with some Muslim leaders are ricocheting around Christendom.  As you will learn from the excerpts below, many truly Biblical and orthodox believers are denouncing the signatories and demanding they withdraw. 
 
As you will see, these people (including myself) believe that signing the statement, although well-intentioned, is heresy and a betrayal of true Christianity and especially the divinity of Jesus Himself.  Remember: JESUS IS LORD!
 
CitizenLink, an offshoot of Focus on the Family, wrote in January:
"An attempt by leaders of the National Association of Evangelicals (NAE) to win friends and influence Muslims is alienating another group - evangelical Christians."
"Reactions have been negative and strong. Islam expert Dr. Patrick Sookhdeo has called it a 'betrayal' and a 'sellout'.  Dr. Albert Mohler, president of Southern Seminary (Southern Baptist), termed it 'naiveté that borders on dishonesty.'"
"It appeared to leave the fundamentals of Christianity - especially the deity of Christ - open for discussion."
"It even seemed to acknowledge allah as the God of the Bible."
"The very name of the Muslim communiqué - A Common Word between Us and You - is from a verse in the Quran that condemns 'people of the Scripture' (Christians) for alleged polytheism (the doctrine of the Trinity)."
"Mohler said the agreement 'sends the wrong signal'  and contains basic theological problems, especially in 'marginalizing' Jesus Christ."
 "'I just have to wonder how intellectually honest this is,' he said. 'Are these people suggesting that they wish the military conflict with Islam had ended differently - that Islam had conquered <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />Europe?'"
"Gary Bauer, president of the Campaign for Working Families, told CitizenLink the NAE leaders 'have left the (card) table without their pants - that is, they've been taken and may not even realize they've been taken.'"
 "'I find it difficult to understand how senior evangelical leaders in the West can join hands with other Christians who actually are betraying the Christian faith (and) their Christian brothers and sisters in the Muslim world' [Sookhdeo] said." (emphases mine)
(Entire article here: CitizenLink: Evangelical Leaders Pledge Common Cause with Islam)
 
As reactions to "Common Ground" have grown, so have the defections.  A CitizenLink article wrote (on February 11):
"The president and two other administrators of prestigious Wheaton College have asked that their names be removed from a controversial statement staking out so-called common ground between Christians and Muslims."
"President Duane Litfin made the announcement in Friday's edition of The Record student newspaper, saying he'd 'moved too quickly' in endorsing the flawed document. Provost Stanton Jones and Chaplain Stephen Kellough followed suit in having their names removed."
"Litfin said he found the statement was 'not carefully enough crafted to avoid encouraging that basic premise of civil religion, i.e., that we are all worshiping the same God.'"
 "To speak unqualifiedly of 'our common love for God,' as if the Quran's allah and the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ are one and the same, and as if what it means to 'love God' in these two faiths means the same thing, is to say more than I am willing to grant." (emphases mine)
(Entire article here: CitizenLink: Support Weakens for Christian-Muslim Accord)
 
To me, the original support for "Common Ground" (318 prominent leaders) is dismaying.  Here is a short list of some of their names:
 
Leith Anderson, President, National Association of Evangelicals ¨ Harold W. Attridge, Dean of Yale Divinity School ¨ John M. Buchanan, Editor/Publisher, The Christian Century. ¨ David Yonggi Cho, Founder and Senior Pastor of Yoido Full Gospel Church, Seoul, Korea ¨ Rev. Richard Cizik, National Association of Evangelicals ¨ Harvey Cox, Harvard Divinity School ¨ Fuller Theological Seminary, Pasadena, CA ¨ Timothy George, Dean, Beeson Divinity School ¨ Kim B. Gustafson, President, Common Ground Consultants, Inc. ¨ Heidi Hadsell, President, Hartford Seminary ¨ Joseph Hough, President, Union Theological Seminary in New York ¨ Bill Hybels, Founder and Senior Pastor, Willow Creek Community Church ¨ Rev. John A. Koski, Assemblies of God, Dearborn, MI ¨ Sharon Kugler, University Chaplain, Yale University ¨ Rt. Rev. Peter J. Lee, Bishop, Episcopal Diocese of Virginia ¨ Rick Love, International Director, Frontiers ¨ Brian D. McLaren, a leader of  the "Emerging Church" ¨ Mennonite Central Committee ¨ Richard Mouw, President, Fuller Theological Seminary ¨ David Neff, Editor in Chief,  Christianity Today Media Group ¨ Doug Pennoyer, Dean, Biola University ¨ Steve Robbins, Pastor and Director, Vineyard Leadership Institute ¨ Rev. Dr. Robert Schuller, Founder, Crystal Cathedral and Hour of Power ¨ Elizabeth Schüssler Fiorenza, feminist Professor, Harvard Divinity School ¨ C. L. Seow, Princeton Theological Seminary ¨ Mark Siljander, Member of the U.S. Congress (r) ¨  John G. Stackhouse, Jr., Regent College, Vancouver, Canada ¨ Rev. Dr. John Stott ¨ Jim Wallis, President, Sojourners ¨ Rick Warren, Founder and Senior Pastor, Saddleback Church, and The Purpose Driven Life, Lake Forest, CA
 
[Please note that this is only a partial list of hundreds who signed originally and more who are joining everyday.]
 
It is also very upsetting that NO JEWS have been invited to participate in this dialogue.  It is alleged that this was purposefully designed by anti-Israel Christians who helped the 138 Muslims write their original statement.  (see Christian Newswire: Inter-Faith Dialogue or Propaganda Tool? )
 
It is very obvious that people who teach, speak and write about Christianity do not seem to treasure the core essentials of our Faith, and are therefore willing to throw the Trinity under the bus for the sake of an illusory peace which will never happen.
 
Also, it is clear that they have not studied Islam to see how radically it differs from Christianity in its understandings about God, Jesus, His Crucifixion and Resurrection, Heaven, Salvation, God's Love, Forgiveness, etc.  These people should be ashamed!
 
So, here we have some possible Prayer Targets:
 
1.      Again, Lord, we have to REPENT for misrepresenting You and leading millions of people astray;  
2.      Please FORGIVE us Lord, for not being Bereans; for not LOVING and OBEYING Your Word! We do not seem to know who You are, so we collaborate with people who worship IDOLS;  
3.      These Muslims and Christian-oriented people are DECEIVED!  Please deliver us and ESTABLISH YOUR TRUTH!
 
 

P.S.:
In case you have not yet seen it, here is a link to John Piper's very important analysis of this topic:
John Piper on "A Common Word Between Us"