Miriam
Appearances
The E.A.R. Podcast
Crossing Cultures: Compassion and Conflict in Muslim Outreach
Yeah. So I'm going to ask you a question before we move on to the next one. What would you say to the listeners if they were a group of Christians that visited a mosque? How are they to behave or feel or, you know, interact with Muslim people?
The E.A.R. Podcast
Crossing Cultures: Compassion and Conflict in Muslim Outreach
Amen. I love it. I love it. Now, last week we did and I like the format so much better than what I've been doing. We we pull three stories and we talked about those three stories. I want to repeat that this week because the three stories that I read are good and I think they should be shared in detail.
The E.A.R. Podcast
Crossing Cultures: Compassion and Conflict in Muslim Outreach
Hey, man, that's beautiful. That is beautiful. I love that. I want to I want to visit a Muslim mosque now. But but, you know, right now, Tim, I just want to hit you. OK, I don't. That is the title of Chapter 31 in your book.
The E.A.R. Podcast
Crossing Cultures: Compassion and Conflict in Muslim Outreach
Can you please tell me about that?
The E.A.R. Podcast
Crossing Cultures: Compassion and Conflict in Muslim Outreach
Yeah. But you see, that's what I'm talking about. Like, I see Christians do – and I don't mean to cut you off, but I see Christians do this a lot. And I'm talking –
The E.A.R. Podcast
Crossing Cultures: Compassion and Conflict in Muslim Outreach
hostile christians not hospitable christians but hostile christians where you know they're they're preaching the gospel or trying to preach the gospel and their witness doesn't line up with what they're preaching you know because in that comes anger when somebody doesn't get it when they come across an atheist and they just get angry with that atheist and they want to you know try to show them who's intellectually smarter but as i remember you
The E.A.R. Podcast
Crossing Cultures: Compassion and Conflict in Muslim Outreach
And I'm no Bible scholar, but Proverbs 15.1 literally talks about that. It talks about us giving a soft answer and that soft answer turns away wrath.
The E.A.R. Podcast
Crossing Cultures: Compassion and Conflict in Muslim Outreach
So if you are a book owner and you have a copy of Loving Your Muslim Neighbor, I'm going to be starting on page 145, which is chapter twenty nine. And the title of that chapter is Helping Desperate Syrian Muslim Refugees. So thank you to my listeners for listening to the pain of these Muslim brothers and sisters. So without further ado, Timothy, can you tell us about this particular chapter?
The E.A.R. Podcast
Crossing Cultures: Compassion and Conflict in Muslim Outreach
But I want to go further and I want to say showing love makes people laugh. You know, it's I don't know. It's just me. I think if you're going to be a witness for Christ and if you're going to be that sidewalk preacher. Pray to God that he that he takes the hostility away from you and gives you more of a heart of hospitable meaning.
The E.A.R. Podcast
Crossing Cultures: Compassion and Conflict in Muslim Outreach
Yeah. I mean, just think of a hot tempered person, you know, angry all the time. And look, if I could be so bold to say that Muslim guy did the Muslim faith of this of this credit.
The E.A.R. Podcast
Crossing Cultures: Compassion and Conflict in Muslim Outreach
But, you know, in in anger, a lot of people say, you know, anger releases, you know, different types of stresses, hormones or whatever, what have you. All that physiological physiological stuff that they talk about.
The E.A.R. Podcast
Crossing Cultures: Compassion and Conflict in Muslim Outreach
But if you and what I love about these three stories, and that's why I kind of went with this format again for this episode, is that these three stories are different, yet they're distinctively the same.
The E.A.R. Podcast
Crossing Cultures: Compassion and Conflict in Muslim Outreach
And you got one where a group is saying thank you for listening to our pain to one guy that wants to punch you in the face to another guy that's, you know, I'm not ready yet, but thank you for being there for me. And that's what I want this entire series to be about. You know, I am on this heavy, heavy kick of Revelation 7-9. You can call me a nut job when it comes to me being
The E.A.R. Podcast
Crossing Cultures: Compassion and Conflict in Muslim Outreach
feeling and being optimistic and hoping for that future of not just the United States, but the world. Because our goal, just like Matthew 28, 29 tells us to do, that we're to go and teach, I'm sorry, Matthew 28, 19, we're to go and preach the gospel to all nations. We're to baptize them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, but we're also to love them as our brothers and sisters, okay?
The E.A.R. Podcast
Crossing Cultures: Compassion and Conflict in Muslim Outreach
So when we get that out of the way, Then we get to James chapter two, where he points out favoritism in the church and how we shouldn't show favoritism. And what I mean by that is we shouldn't hate our Muslim brothers and sisters because of 9-11 or because they quote unquote hate us.
The E.A.R. Podcast
Crossing Cultures: Compassion and Conflict in Muslim Outreach
Because at the end of the age, Revelation 7-9, and this is just a part of the end of the age, we will literally be before the father.
The E.A.R. Podcast
Crossing Cultures: Compassion and Conflict in Muslim Outreach
Yeah, and trust me, this is something that, you know, ever since I've been on our Revelation 7-9 task force and I got to hear Rufus Smith read this verse with so much vigor and so much passion. You know, and, you know, we're looking at it simply as a five to seven mile radius where we're reaching people in our community first.
The E.A.R. Podcast
Crossing Cultures: Compassion and Conflict in Muslim Outreach
But boy, if we can get that right, what is it going to take for us to get back into church? God forbid another 9-11. Like, come on, let's think about that for a minute. You know, so I say I'm not a missionary person and I'm not one called to go overseas and preach the gospel. But if that's where God is leading me, then let it be so.
The E.A.R. Podcast
Crossing Cultures: Compassion and Conflict in Muslim Outreach
Well, look, that is all I have for this episode. I do have to run, unfortunately. This has been great, Tim. I absolutely love this. I don't know. I might do this again later on in the season. But that is all I have. And to my listeners, it is still not too late to get a copy of this book. And you can catch up on the previous episodes at your own free will.
The E.A.R. Podcast
Crossing Cultures: Compassion and Conflict in Muslim Outreach
But you can get a copy of this book at lovingyourmuslimneighbor.com. Go check it out and go see God at work through Timothy and Miriam Harris. Thank you again. God bless you all. And I look forward to speaking with you next week. God bless.
The E.A.R. Podcast
Crossing Cultures: Compassion and Conflict in Muslim Outreach
You can find my podcast and other podcasts similar to mine on the Christian Podcast Community at podcast.strivingforeternity.org.
The E.A.R. Podcast
Crossing Cultures: Compassion and Conflict in Muslim Outreach
That is pretty crazy. I mean, oh, man, I don't know. I think I would have wanted to see his face so I could be with him. You know?
The E.A.R. Podcast
Crossing Cultures: Compassion and Conflict in Muslim Outreach
That's awesome. And, you know, God doesn't usually like I look at Job, like hearing this story, I look at Job. Yeah, his wife told him to curse God and die. But in the end, she was still faithful. Like, does that make sense?
The E.A.R. Podcast
Crossing Cultures: Compassion and Conflict in Muslim Outreach
Like, so here we have this, this Muslim wife of this Muslim husband that became Christian and she somehow, or in a way despises what her husband has become, but then she becomes the very thing she despised him for becoming.
The E.A.R. Podcast
Crossing Cultures: Compassion and Conflict in Muslim Outreach
Good morning, podcast world, and welcome back to yet another vibrant, excellent, cool episode from my new season, Loving Your Muslim Neighbor. This season is based on a book written by Timothy and Miriam Harris. Now, what I love about this book is it is actual stories that are tangible, that actually happened in my lifetime, if you will. And now we're able to take these stories and
The E.A.R. Podcast
Crossing Cultures: Compassion and Conflict in Muslim Outreach
And you know, is it listening to their pain or is it joining them in that pain?
The E.A.R. Podcast
Crossing Cultures: Compassion and Conflict in Muslim Outreach
And Christ calls us to join our Christian brothers and sisters in their pain. Look, I've been saying this for a while since I've been podcasting. No one has ever been called to walk alone in his or her own faith. We walk together. That also means we walk in pain together. We walk in stress together. We become one another's burdens. And by God's grace, he sees us through that.
The E.A.R. Podcast
Crossing Cultures: Compassion and Conflict in Muslim Outreach
And through that, we see God at work.
The E.A.R. Podcast
Crossing Cultures: Compassion and Conflict in Muslim Outreach
Right. Now, I kind of want to shift into the next story. And I find this one slightly funny, at least the title. It says going into Yemeni mosque, you have insulted my holy Koran.
The E.A.R. Podcast
Crossing Cultures: Compassion and Conflict in Muslim Outreach
Before we get into it, you know, God's word can be offensive and it can insult and it does insult the wicked. So let's talk about that.
The E.A.R. Podcast
Crossing Cultures: Compassion and Conflict in Muslim Outreach
and put them in a podcast form so that our listeners can hear why we should love our Muslim neighbors, why we're ordered or called by God to love our Muslim neighbors, and why these stories can help us when we encounter Muslim people as Christians following Jesus Christ. Without further ado, welcome back to the podcast, Mr. Timothy. How are you doing today?
The E.A.R. Podcast
Crossing Cultures: Compassion and Conflict in Muslim Outreach
Always good to be with you, brother. Awesome. As I always say, I am really, really enjoying this season. We are, I think, six or seven episodes into the season and it is going pretty well.
The E.A.R. Podcast
We Need to Deliver the Gospel!
Um, so what was your, your overall goal in Jordan?
The E.A.R. Podcast
We Need to Deliver the Gospel!
That's awesome. That's amazing. And let me ask, so you probably have to think about it for a minute, but what Bible scripture, for example, did you see come to light? while you were in Jordan doing God's work?
The E.A.R. Podcast
We Need to Deliver the Gospel!
That's awesome. That's awesome, man. I tell you what, um, I want to go to Israel. I do know that. I want to make a trip to Israel, visit the Holy Land, possibly visit some of these other countries that surround it just to see how vibrant God's word is, just to see how he's moving on that side of the world, if you will. Because, like, I'm over here in America. I don't know.
The E.A.R. Podcast
We Need to Deliver the Gospel!
You know, I hear stories of people converting, people coming to Christ. You know, we just witnessed Andrew Brunson, one of our brothers in the faith, basically be in prison for no reason over in Turkey.
The E.A.R. Podcast
We Need to Deliver the Gospel!
You know, there we saw God's hand at work. You know, there's a saying, you said it earlier in Arabic, but it says, God willing. You know, I've come to dislike that phrase. And here's why. Because when a person says, you know, I'll bring you so-and-so if God's willing. Well... because we're human and we have doubt, we, we say that, I mean, let's be honest, that phrase comes out of doubt. Okay.
The E.A.R. Podcast
We Need to Deliver the Gospel!
Because God is always willing. The question is, are we willing to submit to his will?
The E.A.R. Podcast
We Need to Deliver the Gospel!
Wow. So that's powerful. So going, going to another country and having to learn their culture and, you know, uh, I don't want to say adhere to it, but definitely learn their culture is it's something that that shocks a lot of people. You know, for example, let's say I've actually this is a true story.
The E.A.R. Podcast
We Need to Deliver the Gospel!
When I was heavily involved with Boy Scouts, a couple been about 10 years now, I used to I was put on a special team that traveled the northern hemisphere to. advocate to bring the world jamboree to the United States.
The E.A.R. Podcast
We Need to Deliver the Gospel!
So the team consisted of, I can't remember how many Americans, I'm going to say like seven Americans, four Mexican people, literally from Mexico, and I think like four or five Canadians. Okay. So this team assembled and, you know, we built a very strong bond over our four to five years of working together. But America in and of itself is diverse, right?
The E.A.R. Podcast
We Need to Deliver the Gospel!
So on that team, we had an Asian American, I think she was more Vietnamese, that lived in California. So we went to California. That was one of our places we went to have one of our meetings. And we got to meet her parents. And we got to meet the folks from her venturing crew. Well, they have a special dish that they have called balut. Balut. It's basically eating a chicken embryo.
The E.A.R. Podcast
We Need to Deliver the Gospel!
Nice. That is awesome. So, well, let me kind of get a lay out of the land for a second. How did it feel or how did it look in the Middle East?
The E.A.R. Podcast
We Need to Deliver the Gospel!
And they were like, oh, Brady, you want to try it? I'm like, I mean, I like chicken, but I don't know. But I ate it and it was actually pretty good. I'm not going to lie. It was pretty good. But I was willing to.
The E.A.R. Podcast
We Need to Deliver the Gospel!
accept their culture and and partake in their culture at the same time still showing my christian belief my belief in god per se you know so uh that that shocks people that you know that that's a for me that is a form of love for me amen brother yeah you're that's that's beautiful and it is so important to try to learn some cultural things
The E.A.R. Podcast
We Need to Deliver the Gospel!
Amen. And that's the goal of this entire podcast as a whole. is to reach people with the gospel. You know, I do it in seasons and I do different topics and stories or, you know, groups or whatever, but it's all to share the gospel because the gospel, the word of God has to go forth. It has to, you know, and God is using us to do that. And that's a beautiful thing.
The E.A.R. Podcast
We Need to Deliver the Gospel!
And we need to embrace that and we need to do it with vigor and we need to do it with the Holy Spirit at our backs.
The E.A.R. Podcast
We Need to Deliver the Gospel!
Oh, that day to sit at the table with Christ. I can't wait. I cannot wait.
The E.A.R. Podcast
We Need to Deliver the Gospel!
Well, that is all I have for this episode. Thank you for sharing your thoughts and experiences on your last mission trip, Mr. Tim. I appreciate that a lot. To my listeners, you can get a copy of this book at lovingyourmuslimneighbor.com. You can also find a link to this podcast on that website as well. But again, I want to thank you guys for tuning in for this episode.
The E.A.R. Podcast
We Need to Deliver the Gospel!
And I want to look forward to giving you more content from this book with weeks to come. God bless you all. And remember, keep the Holy Spirit at your backside to compel you to bring the gospel forward. Thank you and stay blessed.
The E.A.R. Podcast
We Need to Deliver the Gospel!
You can find my podcast and other podcasts similar to mine on the Christian Podcast Community
The E.A.R. Podcast
We Need to Deliver the Gospel!
Man, that's awesome. So you said Jordan has a king?
The E.A.R. Podcast
We Need to Deliver the Gospel!
Awesome. And it's predominantly Muslim country there, right?
The E.A.R. Podcast
We Need to Deliver the Gospel!
Hmm. That's interesting. So, uh, so part of your work is basically, um, what we would call here in America, disaster relief or, uh, not disaster relief. That's if something catastrophic happened. Uh, so ours is more like, um, you know, assistance work, if you will, we step in and help and fill in the gaps where needed.
The E.A.R. Podcast
We Need to Deliver the Gospel!
Awesome. And then being able to share the gospel, um, it's pretty cool. So like, let's say, let's say if I decided to move to Jordan, uh, as a Christian, it would be okay for me to be Christian, right?
The E.A.R. Podcast
We Need to Deliver the Gospel!
Well, good morning podcast world and welcome back to yet another fantastic, super awesome, blessed podcast episode from this season, Loving Your Muslim Neighbor. Now, we've been talking about this over the past couple of weeks on, you know, why we should love our Muslim neighbor. We've also hinted on why we need to go forth and preach God's word.
The E.A.R. Podcast
We Need to Deliver the Gospel!
Yeah, that's very true. That is very, very true. I'm saying it now, but that's not something I think I can do at this point in my life. You know, but it would be fun. Now, the people there, do they speak English?
The E.A.R. Podcast
We Need to Deliver the Gospel!
Yeah, that would make sense. I should have known that. So while you were in Jordan and, you know, doing all this work and helping people out, can you tell us how God moved while you were there?
The E.A.R. Podcast
We Need to Deliver the Gospel!
Now, we are privileged to have the author of this book with us, Loving Your Muslim Neighbor, Mr. Timothy Harris. Now, with that being said, we're just going to go ahead and dive right on in. Now, if I'm not mistaken, you went to the Middle East recently, did you?
The E.A.R. Podcast
We Need to Deliver the Gospel!
Wow. I want to read Revelation 3.20 for the listeners. Revelation 3.20 states, Behold, I stand at the door and knock. And if anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him and he with me. And then verse 21 goes on to say, and then the one who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne as I also conquered and sat down with my father on his throne. Wow.
The E.A.R. Podcast
We Need to Deliver the Gospel!
Nice. I don't want to get too detailed because I know, you know, mission work is very... uh, secretive, but not secretive. If you know what I mean, it's kind of like, it's kind of like a CIA mission, but, uh, uh, Christians in action, by the way, is what CIA means.