The blessed joy of friendship

 "Friendship is born at the moment when one person says to another, What! You too? I thought I was the only one."  C.S. Lewis


It has been an incredible adventure having Avianne Asyiah Khalil as my co-author to write together the book, "Tears in a Bottle; Seeing through their eyes." Both of us are very excited to be writing the first ever Islamic/Christian fiction historical novel. In the process we have become good friends and as a result our novel is an exciting, dramatic journey that is changing and shaping us as well. One of the most important themes of our novel is the unconditional love friendship between a Muslim and a Christian lady. Esther is a Muslim woman struggling with an abusive husband and Ariel is trying to put back together the pieces of her life after her husband dies in Afghanistan.
Their individual unique circumstances results in a very close bond between them. Esther's visit to central park becomes a life transforming event when she meets Ariel painting at the Bethesda Fountains. What made this such a great friendship? Both of them had a void in their life at that time. Both of them listened to each other from the heart. Most importantly, both of them respected each other. There was no pressure to convert. They accepted each other from the heart. Ariel became the shoulder for Esther to lean on through her abuse. They agreed to disagree respectfully and instead focused their energies on exploring life together.

Amazingly this is much the same situation with Avianne and me. We text each other almost everyday and laugh and cry together. We enjoy our friendship and have a healthy respect for each other's beliefs. The result is a friendship that will last forever. It is truly a humbling and honorable thing to write a book together. The incredible thing is to watch us become like the very characters that we are writing about. 
The point Im trying to make is that friendship is a gift from God. When you pour your life, love and respect into that friendship, it is a treasure that can last forever. C. S. Lewis was not only a great author but also a great friend. He was kind, unselfish and a lot of fun to hang out with. We can learn a lot about life from reading his books. I know I have. I hope you will too.

The dark world of spousal abuse

"Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out."
                         (1 Corinthians 13:4-5 NLT )
It is truly a pleasure to have Avianne Asyiah Khalil to help me write my new book, "Tears in a bottle: Seeing through their eyes." Avianne brings a lot of knowledge and experience to the book and is very skilled in shaping and molding the character of Esther into an authentic Muslim woman. Being a Muslim woman herself, Avianne is a tremendous help in describing the customs, habits and rituals of what its like to be a Muslim woman. One of the main themes that we address together in this upcoming book is the dark and violent world of spousal abuse. It is far too common of a problem that emotional and physically devastates a woman and makes her feel hopeless and trapped. Esther is treated like a possession and a doormat. She becomes the slave of Mustafa and willingly does so because she has confused love with blind obedience. At one point in the book, after they have moved to New York City, Esther meets a wonderful Christian friend named Ariel one day in Central Park. They become very strong friends and Ariel is able to reach out with love and compassion to bring healing to her darkened world of abuse. However, once Mustafa finds out, He becomes enraged and locks Esther in the closet.

Are you locked and trapped in a closet and feel there's no way out? Are you looking for true love and have instead accepted abuse because of a lack of self-esteem?  I urge you to break free and tell a close friend your story.There are many "Ariels" in the world that want to reach out to you and give you hope and healing. If you have settled for a "love" that ridicules and controls your life, than you have embraced a cheap counterfeit. Jesus wants to give you His unconditional love of forgiveness and healing. When Esther meets Ariel in Central park, she finds a woman of compassion and love that treats her with kindness and gives her the dignity that she was missing. God wants to unlock the door of your closet today and set you free. His love is not a cheap counterfeit of control and abuse. It is an unconditional love that will set you free and bring healing to your scars.

A Circle Of Love

"There is no greater love than to lay down one's life for one's friends." (Jesus)
 (John Chapter 15, verse 13)
 When we love and lay down our lives for our friends we are pleasing and glorifying God in the ultimate way. This is exactly what Jesus did for us. He loved us so much he was willing to give away his life for his friends.
 Recently, there was a beautiful example of this sacrificial love in the streets of Egypt. As protesters and angry crowds collided with each other in outrage over the dictatorship of Mubarak, a group of Egyptian Coptic Christians peacefully displayed a beautiful circle of love. They joined hands with each other and formed a circle of protection around Muslims so they could perform their Friday prayers. This was one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen. Amidst the violence, anger and outrage, a group of Christians were willing to lay down their lives so that their Muslim friends could be protected.
 This is a perfect picture, a beautiful image of what Jesus wants us to do here in America. In my upcoming book, "Tears in a bottle: Seeing through their eyes," Esther travels from Tehran to New York City for a new life of freedom and prosperity. Instead she faces hatred and discrimination during a bitter controversy over the building of a mosque near the site of where the World trade center once stood.
One day while walking in Central Park, Esther meets Ariel, who is busy painting next to the Bethesda fountains. Ariel is a wealthy widow who recently lost her husband in Afghanistan. She is also a Christian who loves life and enjoys being outdoors flying kites and painting. That day, Esther and Ariel become friends and its the beginning of a sacrificial-love relationship. Ariel is there to comfort and protect Esther from an abusive relationship with her husband by providing her with a circle of love and protection.
Like Ariel, are we willing as Christians to stand up for our Muslim friends? Are we willing to stand between them and the angry, hateful people who constantly criticize and ridicule them with the terrorist label?

I am praying that we do exactly like our Egyptian brothers and sisters did in Tahrir Square. They formed a circle of love and protection around their Muslims friends. Will we do the same?

A wise person is one who listens

Proverbs 12:15 instructs us: "Fools think their own way is right, but the wise listens to others."
How many times have you and me been so anxious to say something to someone that we don't hear a word that they are saying to us. I've been guilty of that many times. Or, how many times in a conversation do we nod our head to our friend in agreement but yet we really haven't been listening at all?
Proverbs is instructing us here that if we are wise, we will listen. We need to practice listening. That means we need to take an interest in what others are saying if we are to communicate effectively with each other.
There is a powerful scene in my upcoming book, "Tears in a bottle: Seeing through their eyes," in which Esther finds herself in the midst of a heated demonstration near the world trade center memorial in New York City. Hundreds of people carrying signs and shouting thru megaphones are engaging with Muslims, denouncing the recent plan to build a mosque near the site of where the world trade center once stood. After confronting the hatred and discrimination from the protesters, Esther fights her way past the crowd and finds herself all alone near the memorial. Esther spots a woman standing by herself with her head bowed to her chest and crying. You have to picture this like a movie. The chaotic sounds of the protesters fade in the background and all you see is Esther and this woman together by themselves. This woman's name is Amanda. Amanda is a Christian. She stands all alone mourning the death of her husband who was trapped on the 102nd floor of the WTC on September 11 and killed. Here at the site where the world changed forever on September 11, is a Muslim and a Christian, all alone by themselves and standing together.When Amanda looks up she sees Esther. She recognizes she is a Muslim because she is wearing a hijab.Amanda gives Esther a look of hatred and bitterness. "How dare you come here? Your people murdered my husband!"
Esther allows Amanda to speak her mind and tell her story. After Amanda finishes venting her emotions, Esther explains the heartache in her life and how she lost two close friends in recent tragedies.Suddenly, the hatred and bitterness begins to melt away. Esther and Amanda have found a way to connect with each other. They have listened to each other with their hearts and shared the pain and grief in their lives. Then Esther, in tears, looks at Amanda with compassion and love in her eyes.
"Just a few minutes ago, Amanda, there was hatred and tension here. But now there is hope. Where we are both standing on a quiet Tuesday morning the world changed forever. Since then, there has been hatred, war and discrimination. But now today, Amanda, there is hope instead of hatred and peace instead of violence. The crowd over there is shouting and insulting each other. They won't stop and listen to each other. Yet here we are, a Muslim and a Christian, all alone together. We have shared our stories of pain together and listened to each other from the heart. There is hope and healing for us, Amanda. Right here on the site of one of the world's greatest tragedies, there is healing for the scars, because we stopped and took the time to listen to each other."

  Proverbs 12:15 is absolutely right, "The wise listen."  There is healing for the scars between Muslims and Christians when we stop and listen to each other. I cannot wait to write this book. There is hope for healing and it begins with one person and that person is you and me.

God keeps our tears in a bottle

You keep track of all my sorrow
You have collected all my tears in your bottle
You have recorded each one in your book
               (Psalm 56: verse 8)

It has been a very busy week for me! My new Book, "Shining Star: a light in the darkness of Iran, " has just been released and I am preparing for my book signing on February 19. I have also been back and forth to the post office sending the book out to all my Muslim friends around the world. In the midst of it all, I have also been working on the outline for the new book, "Tears in a bottle: seeing through their eyes." It was then that I noticed that it was time to update my blog. But what to write on? Hmmmmm. Then it dawned on me. What not preview the upcoming book?
.The title of the book, "Tears in a bottle" is drawn from a psalm that David wrote. David poured out his heart to God in both praise and tears. So he knew what he was talking about. David teaches us that our hurts, fears, laments and tears really matter to God. He knows about them and doesn't brush them aside or forget about them. He's not too busy running the universe to take time out and recognize our hurts and pains. This little verse says so much about God. It says God keeps track of our sorrows and is intimately concerned about them. In short, God knows when we hurt and doesn't forget about our pain.

 In the upcoming book, A Shite Muslim woman named Esther uproots her family and leaves Tehran bound for New York to begin a brand new life here in America. What she experiences and see with her own eyes is the cause for many tears. It's open season on Muslims because a group wants to erect a mosque near the site of where the world trade center once stood. Esther thought she was coming to America for a new life of freedom and prosperity and instead she encounters hatred, discrimination and a lot of sorrow and tears.Thus the reason for the subtitle of the book: Seeing through their eyes. In my upcoming book, we will begin to see and experience through the eyes of Esther, what it feels like to be hated, stereotyped and discriminated against. God will collect many tears in a bottle for Esther. Enough said, You'll have to wait until November to find out more. In the meantime, think about what I've just wrote and keep in mind this. God really does care about our hurts and sorrows. He is not a distant, faraway God. He's a God of love and compassion and remembrance.

Jesus saves us from the Judgment

The two predominant themes found in the Koran are Prophets and judgment. Allah has sent prophets to guide us on the way and.prepare us for Judgment Day. That means every Muslim that reads the Koran is paying close attention to the message of the Prophets in order to shape their lives in preparation to meet Allah.
What is the prophetic message of the Bible? What is it saying to every curious seeker?
Isaiah 40:3 says, "A voice cries in the wilderness, prepare the way of the Lord: make straight in the desert a highway for our Lord!"
This is the very message John The Baptist proclaimed to the people. The Bible's prophetic message to us is to prepare our hearts for the coming Messiah.
And The Messiah came over 2,000 years ago. The Koran declares that Jesus is the Messiah, but teaches that He was only a prophet. Yet The Bible teaches that we need more than a prophet, more than a message of warning. We need a Savior to save us from God's Judgment.
And That Savior came!
The Angels joyfully proclaimed to the weary band of Shepherds that first Christmas night, "Fear not, for behold I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord."
This Savior was Jesus Christ. He came to bring us life and hope and healing and forgiveness. He came to save us from God's judgment and his message to all of us, including Muslims is one of love and forgiveness. He boldly declared, "Whoever hears my Word and believes Him who sent me has eternal life and does not come into the Judgment but has passed out of death into life." (John 5:24)
This Christmas, God has a special message of Hope to all Muslims. He has sent a Savior from heaven that all of the Biblical prophets prophesied about. This Savior bore our judgment and invites us to His banquet table for a feast. He has the words of eternal life and His words are worthy of paying close attention to.

The sacrifice

Muslims worldwide participate in The eid-al-adha celebration which takes place after the hajj, which is the annual pilgrimage to Mecca. The celebration of Eid is based on Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his son Ishmael. God however intervenes and provides a ram for the sacrifice and thus spares Ishmael's life. The story of the sacrifice is found in the Quran, chapter 37, verse 107, "Then when (the son) reached (the age of) (serious) work with him, he said, "O my son son! I see in vision that I offer thee in sacrifice: Now see what is thy view (the son) said: O my father! Do as thou art commanded: thou wilt find me If Allah so wills one practicing patience and constancy.
          So when they had both submitted their wills (to Allah) and he had laid him prostrate on his forehead (for sacrifice) We called out to him, O Abraham! Thou hast already fulfilled the vision! thus indeed do we reward those who do right. For this was obviously a trial and we ransomed him with a momentous sacrifice.
It is worth noting that the Quran uses the words sacrifice and ransom in this story. Ironically, the Bible uses the very same words to explain the atonement of Christ: For example, "The Son of man did not come to be served but to serve and give his life as a ransom for many (Matthew 20:28)  Christ our passover lamb, has been sacrificed (1 Corinthians 5:7) The point is the words that the Quran uses to describe God providing a sacrifice for Ishmael, are the same words used to describe Christ's death on the cross.
God has provided the ultimate sacrifice by sending Jesus from heaven to ransom us from spiritual death and lay down his life as a holy sacrifice .Christ's sacrifice on the cross removes all of our guilt and cleanses us from all sin. If God can intervene by providing a sacrifice and sparing the life of Ishmael, one person, what then would prevent him from providing a sacrifice to save the entire human race.
            This is exactly what God did in sending Jesus from heaven. "This is real love-not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.
                                                                                                      (1 John 4:10)