This past Christmas my brother-in-law gave me Destiny of the Republic: A Tale of Madness, Medicine and the Murder of a President. It is a fascinating book. Last night as I was reading I came across this quote from Garfield, “I have sometimes thought that we cannot know any man thoroughly well while he is in perfect health. As the ebb-tide discloses the real lines of the shore and the bed of the sea, so feebleness, sickness, and pain bring out the real character of a man.”

Today we are celebrating the resurrection of Jesus the Messiah. Of course most of my Muslim friends don’t believe he died (though some do and even see it taught in the Qur’an, but we can get to that another time), but his death and resurrection are central to my faith. Honestly, if there is no death and resurrection of the Messiah, I believe there is no hope that we could ever be forgiven and cleansed from our sins.

Garfield’s quote got me thinking about when the Messiah was crucified. The Injeel says, “For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps. He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly” (1 Peter 2:21-23).

While he was suffering terrible pain on the cross he was able to look past his pain and prayed for those who were killing him, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34).

His death matters because 1) he was a perfect sacrifice, a man with a clean heart who was full of love as seen in his dying hours and 2) he didn’t stay dead but was raised by God to show the world that his sacrifice for sinners was sufficient.

Happy Resurrection Day.

It is true that Pope Francis is the first non-European pope of the modern era, but do you know which country has supplied the most non-European popes? My beloved Syria. There have been six popes from Syria.

(It seems that all news somehow leads me back to Syria these days. I pray that Pope Francis will be a genuine peacemaker especially in the Middle East.)

HT: Middle East Experience

But I will sing of your strength;
I will sing aloud of your steadfast love in the morning.
For you have been to me  a fortress
and  a refuge in  the day of my distress.
Psalm 59:16 (Zabur)

This morning I was encouraged and inspired by this poem written by Musa Burki. It is a poem about the early morning prayer, fajr (it happens before sunrise). It makes me want to start my day focused on God, full of gratitude and praise. I hope you’re encouraged as well.

As we rise in the morning
Our souls possess a yearning
To fill our hearts with spiritual light
Kneeling as a humble servant in His sight

The dawn rings out a peaceful solitude
Rising from our slumber to show gratitude
Revealed words which emanate from the heart
A beautiful ritual for our day to start

Standing before Him in all His glory
While He encompasses our entire life store
Pleading and begging for a measure of grace
As we wipe the tears from our face

Prostrating and bowing in complete humility
Desiring to feel the mercy and tranquility
Releasing our fears and anxiety
Increasing us in our level of piety

We feel the trembling of our soul as it’s shaken
As the wind and the sun begin to awaken
Completing our spiritual practice at the start of day
Asking for our Lord to light the way

A wonderful contentment rests in our spirit
Obeying the call to prayer as we hear it
Our day can now begin with clarity and peace
Hoping that our love for Him will increase.

Protestants have a hard time listening to and learning from Catholics. Both are Christians, but we all like to find enough of a difference with others to justify not learning from them. Think of how much more true this is with people from a completely different religion? When was the last time you truly learned something significant in your life from someone of a different religion?

Yasmin Mogahed has written a helpful piece on marriage. We can all learn something from it. What so impressed me though, was that what she shared she had learned from a Christian author. She references Love & Respect: The Love She Most Desires; The Respect He Desperately Needs by Emerson Eggerichs. In this book he lays out research that says that men most need respect from their wives while woman most need love from their husbands. The problem, then, is that when a husband isn’t loving to his wife, she often responds with disrespect, which leads to unloving behavior from the husband and on and on. It is a cycle that can only be broken when the husband determines to love his wife whether she is respectful or not. Or when the wife determines to respect her husband whether he shows love or not. This idea about love and respect comes right out of the Bible, “However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband” (Ephesians 5:33).

I love that this Muslim woman is setting such a good example for the rest of us. She knows that she has a lot to learn from Christians. I have seen this first hand in my own life. It was my Syrian Muslim neighbors in Damascus who taught me what it means to be a good neighbor. This was especially good for me to learn since Jesus the Messiah commands us to love our neighbor as we love ourselves (Matthew 22:39). I have always been so grateful for what they taught me about being a good neighbor through hospitality and genuine concern and love for a neighbor.

When was the last time you learned something from someone from a different religion? If you haven’t, why not?

HT: Tia

Throughout the law we see that no one could make another clean. Only God makes clean. When Jesus was on earth he was so pure that he could touch those who were unclean and instead of becoming unclean himself, they were cleansed. He made them clean. No priest ever made one clean; priests merely pronounced one was clean after God had made them clean.1 What was different about Jesus? He was and is the God who is clean. He does not pronounce others clean, he makes them clean.

This, in part, is why he became man. He became man to cleanse us. Light drives out darkness simply by entering into a dark place. God drives out defilement of our flesh by taking on flesh himself.

___________________________

1. We repeatedly read the phrase, “the priest shall pronounce him clean” in Leviticus 13 (vv. 6, 13, 23, 28, 34, 37 and also 14:7).

Other posts in this series

Cleansing from Defilement, Part 1: Introduction
Cleansing from Defilement, Part 2: The Danger of Defilement
Cleansing from Defilement, Part 3: Distinguishing between the Clean and Unclean
Cleansing from Defilement, Part 4: What Makes One Unclean?
Cleansing from Defilement, Part 5: Uncleanness is Contagious and Defiles the Camp
Cleansing from Defilement, Part 6: Defilement and Purity in the New Testament
Cleansing from Defilement, Part 7a: Jesus Christ Makes Us Clean
Cleansing from Defilement, Part 7b: Jesus Christ Makes Us Clean by His Baptism
Cleansing from Defilement, Part 7c: Jesus Christ Makes Us Clean by His Death and Resurrection
Cleansing from Defilement, Part 8: The Incarnation Was Necessary for Our Cleansing

I fully agree with his lists of ten traits of a real man (read his piece for a full explanation). They are not only Islamic traits, but biblical traits. Here are his ten traits and my biblical support for each.

1. A Real Man Reads
In the Injil the Messiah said we are to love the Lord God will all our heart, soul, mind and strength (Mark 12:30). In the Zabur (the Psalms) we read, “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night” (Psalm 1:1-2).

2. A Real Man Is a Focused Man
“But the Lord GOD helps me; therefore I have not been disgraced; therefore I have set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be put to shame” (Isaiah 50:7).

3. A Real Man Is Gentle but Firm
The Messiah said this about himself, “Take my yoke upon you, and  learn from me, for I am  gentle and lowly in heart, and  you will find rest for your souls” (Matthew 11:29) and an elder (a leader within the church) must be “not a drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money” (1 Timothy 3:3).

4. A Real Man Is a Family Man
Husbands are called to “love their wives like Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her” (Ephesians 5:25) and leaders in the church “must manage his own household well, with all dignity  keeping his children submissive” (1 Timothy 3:4).

5. A Real Man doesn’t Slander/Backbite/Cuss/Gossip
“But now  you must put them all away:  anger, wrath, malice,  slander, and obscene talk from your mouth” (Colossians 3:8).

6. A Real Man Keeps His Promises
“This is how one should regard us, as servants of Christ and  stewards of the mysteries of God. Moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found faithful” (1 Corinthians 4:1-2).

7. A Real Man Respects All Women
“There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave  nor free,  there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:28).

8. A Real Man Keeps His House in Order
This trait is about helping with chores and not merely saying it isn’t a man’s job. The first verse that came to mind here is “Love your neighbor as you love yourself” (Matthew 22:39). Those in a man’s family are his closest neighbors.

9. A Real Man Handles His Own Money
“But if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever” (1 Timothy 5:8).

10. A Real Man Knows He’s Being Tested
“Count it all joy, my brothers,  when you meet trials  of various kinds,  3 for you know that  the testing of your faith  produces steadfastness.  4 And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be  perfect and complete, lacking in nothing” (James 1:2-4).

1. Mockery is equivalent to ignorance.
2. Ignore the ignorant (i.e. the foolish), but engage and even debate the reasonable.
3. Allah will take care of the mocker, so you don’t need to.
4. Respect other faith symbols, even idols, lest others disrespect Islam.

Please read the whole thing in order to see the Qur’anic reasoning behind his points.