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Do you pray for Osama Bin Laden?
I thought the meat of this article by the famous Brother Andrew was quite good, so I thought I would share it.
Look at the highlighted portions, please.
Going takes away our fear
Brother Andrew is a Dutch pioneer evangelist (and I'd say also a prophet) who boldly goes to places where most people wouldn't be eager to go. In an interview with Christianity Today he challenges Christians to pray for bin Laden. "That question shocks a lot of us. Of course we haven't prayed for him! That is why he is what he is. We have an evangelical black list of people we don't want to see in heaven and put bin Laden on top. Saddam Hussein is probably second. In my 50 years of ministry, my biggest meetings have been always in the Muslim world. Why are we so timid? Why are we so afraid? They barely let me speak at my own evangelical church in Holland! I'm being sarcastic, but it is the truth. I find it easier to get speaking engagements with the Taliban than with my own evangelical church."
Addressing Western militaristic policy: "We in the West are following or believing in the God of revenge as much as every Muslim does. We have to come down to the foot of the Cross and learn from Jesus. He came to forgive, and he came to die. I have seen this attitude in many Christians in Gaza. It gives me hope for the future. We should be flocking to Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, and seek the Christians and help them. And then, please, for God's sake, listen to what they say. They have something to say. This should be the driving force in our lives. It's not solving political or economic problems. It's being Christian."
The Muslim world is not closed, but needs to be challenged on the right issues: "You can still go to any place in the Muslim world and preach Christ. Any place. I want to challenge the whole world with that statement. And if that is true, then why are we resorting to other weapons that, according to the Bible, are not weapons of our warfare? When are we going to be people of the Book?
They claim to be people of the book. I challenge them at the Hamas university on dialogue - and I hate the word dialogue - I'm a proclaimer, a Calvinist at heart. I believe that faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. I told them openly, 'I'm not interested in dialogue with you guys. But I'm always willing any place, any time, with any group of you, to have a dialogue on this one question: What kind of person does the book produce - your book, my Book?' You come back to Jesus' words: You must be born again. And they appreciate that. Because I want to challenge them on that issue."
We need to move from a defensive to an offensive approach: "I'm an evangelist. I'm a missionary. If I'm saying things that are politically not correct, I know the Lord will forgive me. We have a message that God changes people. Going takes away our fear. We are fearful because we stay home and prepare for the worst to come, because we think that's what they are planning. That may be true, but it's because of our inactivity. The moment we take the offensive and plan to go there, we lose our fear. That's very Scriptural. I'm not a bit afraid of them. I feel completely at home."
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