Was the Apostle Paul a Terrorist?
Read Ephesians 3:1-19
The title of today’s devotion may really grab our attention. But the question may not be as strange as it seems in light of today’s news headlines. Paul believed that it was his God-given responsibility to kill Christians. (Acts 7:58-8:3) but Christ, in His grace and mercy brought Paul to a knowledge of the truth and sent him to spread the Gospel to the Gentiles. (Acts 22:3 – 21)
Would it surprise you to know that there are modern day Paul’s in the world. God is working in miraculous ways to bring unlikely people to faith. Consider for instance, the story of Mosab Hassan Yousef. Two years ago (2008) his story came to the public’s attention first through an article in the Israeli news paper, Haaretz, and then in an interview by Fox News. He was born the son of one of the most influential leaders of the militant Hamas organization (Sheik Hassan Yousef) in the West Bank and grew up in strict Islamic family.
Imprisoned in an Israeli jail, at the age of 18, newspaper accounts say that he became disillusioned with Hamas leaders. But some early unconfirmed accounts reported that Jesus appeared to him at that time. He later accepted an invitation to attend a lecture on Christianity and was given a Bible. It was then he said that he began to see the Bible as God’s word. Four years later he converted to Christianity and kept his faith secret from his family for another four years.
While the news media focused on his political statements about Hamas and Islam, Mosab is strong in his statement of his faith. Take a look at a portion of the Fox News report:
JONATHAN HUNT (FOX NEWS): Aren’t you terrified that somebody is going to try to kill you for saying these things – which would be approved of according to parts of the Koran?
MOSAB HASSAN YOUSEF: They got to kill my ideas first, (and) that’s it, they’re already out. So how are they going to kill my idea? How are they going to kill the opinions that I have? … They can kill my body, but they can’t kill my soul.
JONATHAN HUNT: You’re not afraid?
MOSAB HASSAN YOUSEF: As a human, you know, I can be very brave now, I’m not thinking about it at this moment and I feel that God is on my side. But if this will be the challenge, I ask God to give me enough strength.
JONATHAN HUNT: Have you been threatened?
MOSAB HASSAN YOUSEF: No, not really. Honestly, most Muslims and Muslim leaders here in the U.S. community, European communities, they are trying to get a hold of me. They are calling my family, my mother, and asking for my contacts. They are telling her, ‘We want to help him.’
JONATHAN HUNT: They think you need help?
MOSAB HASSAN YOUSEF: Yeah, they think that Christians took advantage of me, and this is completely wrong. I’ve been a Christian for a long time before they knew, or anyone knew. I love Jesus, I followed him for many years now. It wasn’t a secret for most of the time, and this time I just did it to glorify the name of God and praise him.
They’re not dealing with a regular Muslim. They know that I’m educated, they know that I studied, they know that I studied Islam and Christianity. When I made my decision, I didn’t make it because someone did magic on me or convinced me. It was completely my decision.
If you would like to read the entire interview and see a portion of the broadcast go to: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,402483,00.html