Jesus once said: “No good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit; for each tree is known by its own fruit. For figs are not gathered from thorns, nor are grapes picked from a bramble bush. The good man out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil man out of his evil treasure produces evil; for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.” [Luke 6:43-45]
In August, the world witnessed further horrendous atrocities and crimes perpetrated by Muslims on Christians. In Pakistan, Egypt, Nigeria, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Uganda, The Philippines and Indonesia, the toll in dead, wounded, kidnapped, raped and enslaved was around one thousand.
But it is not only the living who suffer the outrageous and despicable crimes of the Muslims. When it comes to Christians, even their dead are permitted no rest.
In Pakistian: On August 17, dozens of armed Muslim men occupied a 70-year-old Christian cemetery. While there, and “according to eyewitnesses,” they “desecrated graves, Christian crosses, and Biblical verses written on walls and tombstones. The men then constructed a wall dividing the graveyard in half.” A local Christian explained their motivation:
“Over 100 Christian families reside in the village. We have remains of our forefathers in this graveyard. However, influential Muslims have grabbed a big portion of the graveyard. They have grabbed the land to use for their cattle…. The Christians had no courage to stop the armed men as they were ready to open fire if the Christians resisted… Very soon the land grabbers will occupy the remaining part of the graveyard. We cannot fight as we are the poor segment of the society.”
As of the last report, local authorities had not responded to the Christians’ pleas, and the land remains occupied by the grave desecraters.
In Egypt: Local officials forced Christians to exhume and remove the corpse of a young Christian boy from his resting place behind his church to somewhere else “far from Muslims.” According to the August 21 report,
“The child, Samer Mark Maher, was buried on a piece of land behind Mary Mina Church as per usual practice. The governor, however, claimed that there were no permits and ordered that the Christians remove the body to a place far from Muslims.”
Local authorities and council members are now talking about exhuming all Christian corpses at the church and moving them elsewhere, even though, as one Christian lawyer explained, “The Copts (Christians) there don’t have an official place [other than their church] to bury their bodies. Usually, they were burying the bodies in land behind their church. The nearest village which contains Coptic burials is far, around 100 kilometres [more than 60 miles] from the dead child’s village,” where few of its Christian residents have vehicular access.
This behaviour of predatory violence and oppression goes on month by month, year by year. The pattern is consistent: violent Muslim gangs attack defenceless peaceful Christians. If Christians die, the world ignores the injustice. If, in the absence of justice from the authorities, they assert their right to life and defend themselves, they are criticised for ‘continuing the cycle of violence’.
The problem is that evil actions are presented as good ones in the Muslim world, as though murder, desecration, rape, enslavement and theft are inherent goods, if perpetrated by Muslims against Christians.
Why do they think this?
Jesus said on another occasion: “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thorns, or figs from thistles? So, every sound tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears evil fruit. A sound tree cannot bear evil fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus you will know them by their fruits.” [Matthew 7:15-20]
These Muslims do the things they do because Mohammed did similar things and encouraged his followers to imitate his actions.
But, weighed against the words of Jesus, Mohammed’s oppressive actions as well as those of his modern-day followers are not good, they are evil. Whatever they might say about Islam being a religion of peace, their actions loudly proclaim their guilt.
One day each one of us will die, and when we do, we will each stand before judgment seat of God and we will be judged for what we have done ‘in the flesh’. Who will be our judge? Mohammed? No. Jesus Christ. The outcome of that judgement will either be heaven with Christ or hell and its everlasting fire.
What do you think? Will murders, rapes, enslavement and desecrations stand a Muslim in good stead when giving account of his life to Christ?
The time has come for the Muslim world to repent of its sins and come to Christ on its knees and plead for forgiveness. The Gospel’s good news is that is exactly what Jesus offers – forgiveness of sins. Those who repent find peace with God and life everlasting. Those who reject His kindness and continue on their path of wickedness will ultimately receive the wrath of the Almighty. God is both strong and loving. God wants Muslims to turn to Christ and be saved, for He loves you all. But do not be deceived: God is righteous and is looking for the fruit of righteousness in all His children.
The blessings of Our Lord be with you all,
Graham Ford
President – Jesus Christ for Muslims