I am a Christian follower of Jesus who loves the people of the Middle East. The basic premise of this blog is that we cannot love those we do not know. So I am hopeful that this blog is one way Muslims and Christians get to know each other.
I thank God for my wonderful wife and three beautiful children. I enjoy people of other cultures, telling Arabic jokes, eating shawarma and falafel, and studying US presidential history.
Thanks for the blogroll link, undeserved though it may be. (Perhaps there’s a special place in your heart for the slothful. It’s next to godliness, you know. Or so I hope…
)
And thanks for reaching out. Truer words are rarely said, and as much about Muslims as Christians. If only this approach weren’t so rare on the Blogosphere, with all its opinionated overnight experts on everyone else’s problems!
In a similar vein to your premise, two of the Quranic verses I as a Muslim cherish most are
“O people! Behold, we have created you from a male and a female and have made you into nations and tribes to that you might come to know one another. Verily, the noblest of you in the sight of God is the one who is most deeply conscious of Him. Behold, God is all-knowing, all-aware.” [Qur'an 49:13]
“For had God so willed, He could surely have made you all one single community; however, He lets go astray that wills [to go astray], and guides aright him that wills [to be guided]; and you will surely be called to account for all that you ever did!” [Qur'an 16:93]
That’s a message I wish more Muslims would take to heart, frankly, so we all have our work cut out for us.
Peace/salaam.
Svend
Thank you for the authentic and honest expresions from your heart. Ifully agree with you. I am an African American. During my childhood, I experienced horrific abuse by racist in both the social and educational sphere.
Healing has come by the grace of God. God used the lives of those from many cultures to bring wholistic healin and understanding and a new perspective to my life. There are moment whne I yet weep. However, I find that my weeping is related more to the ignorance of men(persons) than the act of the violence itself. Unfortunately, there are many who profess to be Christians today- African American, Whites and those of other races, who openly and continually practice racism. The event of oppression via racisim has helped me to personally understand just how much I/we do not know each other culturally, and that biblical love is based upon knowing Christ of scripture and intensionally acting upon it in obedience to the Holy Spirit by accepting God’s invitation to the much needed experiencial encounter’s with others different from ourselves that are eyes may be open and our hearts warmed and stimulated by the truth that only the Holy Spirit can provide. As a teacher, I have been priveleged to have had countless encounters with persons of other cultures, religious beliefs, and background.s. The experience – which I believe is a gift of God, has indeed kept me on my knees, increased my prayer life, and has broadened and enriched my understanding of the Cross of Christ and God’s gracious act of redemption expresssed in Ephesians.
LarScenia, Thank you for sharing from your heart. Praise God for how he is working to heal your horrific experiences.
Svend,
Salaam ‘Alaykoum. Thanks for your encouragement. I’ve loved being involved as a cross cultural peacemaker with Muslims and Christians. It is exciting to meet people with vastly different upbringings and yet still have so much in common.
Blessings,
Dustin
Thanks for the link! Looking forward to see more from your blog!
z
I arrived from Justin Taylor’s recommendation. Quite an informative blog you have here Dustin. Keep up the insightful posts. By the way, who’s your favorite U.S. president from the history you’ve studied?
Erik,
That is such a hard question! So many of the greats had great flaws and so many of the disappointments had great redeeming moments. I guess I will go with many others and say Abraham Lincoln. His character matched his accomplishments in ways that is rare for others. But I also really like “Give ‘em hell, Harry.” Truman seems like the kind of guy you would just want to sit down with, play cards and hear stories.
I definitely hope to weave in presidential history as we talk about peace between Muslims and Christians!
Dustin,
I’m curious what your thoughts are on the anti-Lincoln crowd, led by critics such as Thomas DiLorenzo. I came across this article this afternoon, after encountering your blog this morning and thought I’d send it your way, since you expressed an admiration of Lincoln.
http://www.lewrockwell.com/dilorenzo/dilorenzo174.html
DiLorenzo makes Lincoln sound like a terrible man, not to mention President. Have you encountered these criticisms in your study of Lincoln? What do you make of them?
Indeed His peace be upon you brother! If you’ll recall, we knew each other in 2002. Nice blog, I’m glad to see a glimpse of what you are doing. I’ll check in on you here from time to time.
You may be interested to have a look at this link: http://tube4arabs.com/. The site is run by a Moroccan friend of mine.
May God bless your family,
Zach
Zach,
It’s great to hear from you. I see you have a family. Congratulations. Thanks for the link.
Hey man, looks like we have a lot in common. I am looking forward to following your posts. Can you point me to some other people who blog on the same topics we do?
Here is my blog: http://muslimministry.blogspot.com/
“So that the glorious Messiah would be continually visable before Muslims”
Circumpolar is a series of short readings related to muslim ministry intended to equip and resource followers of Jesus to advance the gospel among Muslims.
Warrick,
I don’t really know of many others who are actively and lovingly engaging Muslims through blogging. I don’t really know of many Muslim blogs whose purpose is to actively and lovingly engage Christians either. Perhaps both will increase!
Dustin,
Thanks for this blog. I’m excited to see you interact with culture and Muslims in general.
God bless,
Javier
Dustin,
Found your blog via Justin Taylor’s recommendation. Spent some time in Kuwait while in the Army and developed an appreciation and respect for the culture. Now I’m a pastor in Columbus, GA. Looking forward to keeping up with your thoughts. Love your spirit! Blessings to you friend!
Brad Evangelista
It’s taken me a long time to finally arrive here and check out your blog – but I’m touched. I’ve only read a little and it just reminds me of college days (which I miss often). Thank you for your heart and for following the call that God has laid upon you. And thanks for writing – your words are blessing to me.
Jen Duey
I want to add my thanks for this blog. Boy! We need more honest and loving discussion of this sort, which I know to exist between many Christians and Muslims. Grateful for your work, friend.
T-
Hey congrats on getting a recommendation from John Piper!!
Ditto the congrats! It brought alot of us here.
Recommended by John Piper. We live in UAE and have 3 sets of Muslim friends that we love and dearly. We have had numerous discussions about our religions without it spinning out of control, because we all know that we come from a place of love and respect. I will definately be back to check your blog.
Kate, good for you in reaching out in love to your friends in the Emirates. Imagine what would happen if we all loved our neighbors as ourselves!
My family comes from Lebanon, and we moved to Australia when I was 2. By God’s grace I’m a 2nd generation Christian (my parents are Christians as well).
It’s wonderful to see a blog like this that’s reaching out in a very gospel-oriented way to Muslims. Keep up the good work, and God bless!
By the way, you may find Spurgeon’s Catechism in Arabic useful: http://scia.wordpress.com/
I just found your blog by accident on the list of “WordPress” top blogs. Said to myself that I should check this out, clicked and was very, very pleasantly surprised.
As a Bahá’í, you are well aware that we believe that all religions are from one source and that the key to universal peace is the realization that all humankind is one and that we must understand the principle of unity in diversity if we are going to move beyond mere coexistence and get to the heart of the matter as you say here, world peace…
Good job…
Warmest regards and keep up the good work,
Chris
Chris,
I’m happy you found my blog and that you were “pleasantly surprised.” We are called to love our neighbors as ourselves and that certainly includes our Baha’i neighbors.
The peace of God through Jesus the Messiah is offered to all people who are created in the image of God. So even though I focus on Christians and Muslims (because that’s what and who I know) I would be thrilled to have you join the conversation.
Blessings.
Dustin -
I found your blog as it was recommend by John Piper. What a great idea for a blog. I’m pretty clueless like most Americans when it comes to the Muslim faith. But I do know that as a follower of Jesus that I need to know more.
“we cannot love those we do not know” Amen brother.
Grace and peace.
Thank you for the link
And thank you for the blog.
Dustin,
Keep up the great work… there are precious few of us who are speaking out for ‘peace’. As a fellow worker in the Middle East, I fully appreciate the sentiments of a dialouge that is free from the baggage of naivete.
I’m working on my own book/blog http://www.outercourtbook.com calling the church to make room for the sons of Ishmael. May God fulfill his promises to bless the descendants of Ishmael. Keep up the good work!
Hi Dustin,
I arrived at your blog by clicking through @JohnPiper and proceeded to read the shame/honor series. Yes, I am one who knows all of the “sin” verses, but missed the “shame” theme completely.
Thank you for your excellent work. You are helping me to see beyond the walls of my western view.
Blessings from the Most High God,
@SteveLoosley
Hello, I followed the link via John Piper’s tweet and landed here. I am a Christian expat living in Cairo and just moved here early this year. I am still learning about the people, which is predominantly Muslim, and the culture. Thanks for your post. I would be visiting often.
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السلام عليكم
Learning about other cultures and religions can be a great way of advancing your spiritual journey.
Thank you fro the great ministry.
I was born in an Arab Moslem country and was found by the Lord lost and stained. Thanks to his grace and mercy he made me anew.
I for one appreciate and can appreciate the richness of the Arab and Moslem culture. I commend you for your desire to step in the gap and bring the water of life to souls that are athirst for life and security in God through Issa our savior
together in Christ for His glory and our joy
John,
Tough question. I had not heard of Thomas DiLorenzo before this and only skimmed his article. I’m not a Lincoln scholar so I don’t have an answer. Sorry!