Tom Doyle (2)

I managed to get halfway through the audio of this but was not impressed. The audio narration was irritating as the male tried to manipulate his voice to cover female characters which sounded ridiculous.

The stories themselves seemed unlikely but I was expecting that as I know that this type of persecution is going on around the world. The problem I had really was that almost all of the stories involved visions and dreams of Jesus. Apparently Jesus appeared in person to most of these non-believing Muslims resulting in their eventual conversions to Christianity. The author documents this as if the Muslims began expecting Jesus to appear to them--as if it was a regular event. In these visions and dreams Jesus communicates with the Muslims, instructs them and tells them what to do......

Whilst I obviously accept that God can do anything He wants and is more than capable of sending dreams and visions to people. I don't believe that He chooses to work like this today. He has chosen the method of preaching and evangelism in order for people to be saved. If we believe that Islamic countries have become too dangerous for missionaries to operate (one of the reasons given for these dreams/visions being necessary) then what does that say about God's power in these situations? The rise of Islam hasn't come as a surprise to God, He was aware of what would happen when He inspired Scripture and ordained His methods.

The below articles explain the theological premise for rejecting such phenomenon

http://www.challies.com/interviews/john-macarthur-responds-to-his-strange-fire-c...

http://www.svchapel.org/resources/articles/22-contemporary-issues/57-dont-you-be...

https://hipandthigh.wordpress.com/2013/11/01/muslim-dreams-and-visions-of-jesus/

I gave up on the book for that reason. I don't recommend it for Christian readers as I believe it will confuse people and lead to a further lack of spiritual discernment. Let's instead pray for missionaries to be willing to go to these countries. Also for the Bible to be widely available and for internet access to be possible so that the truth can be known and the people set free.
… (plus d'informations)

Reports of Muslims coming to Jesus through the initial agency of dreams and visions of angels or Jesus has been so widespread across the last few decades it is hard to be a sceptic. In fact, such reports give many Christians hope that Islamic peoples now have opportunities to hear about Christ that they have never had in all their history.

This book makes it clear that in the pattern of the New Testament, these visions send the receiver to find a faithful Christian who will explain the Jesus they have encountered and call them to discipleship. A small appendix gives Doyle's criteria for an authentic dream in light of the biblical material.

I was impressed with the dedication of the new converts whose stories he tells, and their willingness to boldly proclaim Christ in circumstances where suffering and death are real and imminent prospects. When Doyle at certain points asks us to pray for particular people, I felt moved to do so.

This is a very quick read for a number of reasons - it's written that way, it's predominantly stories of people, and primarily it's exciting to hear about people coming to Jesus, particularly under dramatic circumstances.

But Doyle wants us to be more than interested. He encourages Christians to pray for and reach out to Muslims, whether internationally or locally, and to set aside the fear and hatred of many centuries of Western interaction with Muslims.

With many Western Christians fearful or at least suspicious, and with many of our countries caught up in conflict in Islamic countries, this book is a timely corrective and worth reading.… (plus d'informations)