(All of my posts from Renov8 can be found here)

We just heard a devastating talk by Pastor Wagdi Iskander about his conversion from Islam to Christianity. You can read his story here.

Being a convert, he was able to say things that, were any of us to say them, might bring accusations of intolerance or worse. He pleaded with us to pray for the conversion of Muslims to Christianity. He told us that only the church and Christians can help the Muslims – not the government or political programs. We need people who will actively pursue the conversion of Muslims to Christianity.

Being in close proximity to a Christian leader who is a convert from Islam, I took the opportunity to get his take on three things:

1. Joint Statements of Faith Between Muslims and Christians
I asked him in particular about statements like A Common Word, and he also mentioned another statement put out by the Vatican. In essence, these statements seek common ground between Muslims and Christians by claiming that the God that Muslims worship is the same God that Christians worship.

Wagdi was clear that he and the other Muslim convert leaders are saddened by these statements. Muslim converts do not believe that Muslims and Christians worship the same God.

So why are we trying so hard to say that we are? Unfortunately, a number of prominent Christian pastors have signed the document.

2. Christians Participating in Ramadan
I was curious about this since I have been following Brian McLaren’s initiative to participate in Ramadan this year and wondering if this was something I could also engage in as a missional activity.

Wagdi was very quick to say that this is compromise since, as stated in point 1 above, Christians and Muslims do not in fact worship the same God. We should fast for them, he said, and we should pray for them, but to participate with them in Ramadan is to engage in the worship of another God. Ramadan is an act of worship, a confirmation that one believes the Koran to be the holy word of God.

3. Is Isa a Valid Name For Jesus?
As we have explored extensively in another post at The Ascent to Truth, Rick Warren used the name Isa to refer to Jesus and was almost hung for it by other Christians (and some watchbloggers too). Wagdi also used the name Isa for Jesus during his talk and affirmed (again) that this is an entirely appropriate name to use for Jesus.

So there you have it: answers to Muslim-related issues from a Holy Spirit-filled Muslim convert.

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Michael Krahn (michael.krahn@gmail.com) is a husband, father, Pastor, writer, and recording artist who enjoys books, theology, technology and the Ottawa Senators.
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