The Great Rock Of Islam

My grandfather was a very famous and respected Koran teacher, and the people of his city always obeyed his words. My father learned all about the Koran from him, and he grew to love it very much.

After he got married, my father joined the army and taught the Koran to other soldiers. But when he left the army, he changed. He began to hang around with bad people, and he behaved very wickedly. He'd leave my mother and us children alone for months at a time, and when he came home he'd beat my mother. When I was 12 years old, mother finally divorced him and left. We stayed with father, who continued all his drinking and bad habits.

Two years later my father met a real Christian named John. He'd never met anyone like this before, and they became good friends. John told him about Jesus and gave him a Bible, but father thought, “The Koran didn't save me. How can the Bible which has been changed over the years save me?” But he still started reading the New Testament, and liked how it talked of love and the washing from sins.

For the next year they studied and compared the Bible and the Koran together, and at last father believed. He told John that he wanted to ask forgiveness and obey Jesus, so he asked Jesus into his heart to be his Lord. Jesus really changed my father's life and he stopped all his bad habits! He even started taking us to church. He shared Jesus with all his relatives, and gave his testimony to everyone.

But all his relatives became his enemies, and my mother came and took us children to live with her. Many people knew my father was a Christian and no one would give him a job. One day he was teaching the Bible and giving out tracts in the market place. As he told the people how he was saved by Jesus, they attacked him and the police came and arrested him. At the police station my father was beaten again until the Police Chief came. He explained to the Chief about the Bible, and the Chief liked what he said, so he let him go free. He was taken to the hospital to recover from the beatings. My relatives threatened to kill my father if he continued to teach about Jesus, but he said he must continue to walk with Jesus and teach His Word.

While I was living with my mother and going to school, I sold hashish and swore at everyone, including God. I used the money I earned to buy drugs or go to prostitutes, and I went gambling every night. Soon we were very poor because I had spent all our money on sex and gambling.

When I finished school I was drafted into the army, and I met a strong Muslim man. I began to pray to God to help me change my bad habits. I wanted God to show me the right way. I believed that Islam was the true religion, and my Muslim friend and I began to teach other soldiers about the Koran.

When I left the army after three years of service I got a construction job, and spent time studying the Koran, alone and with teachers. Then one day my father came to visit and asked me to come with him to see a friend. He didn't tell me, but we were really going to a Christian fellowship meeting. I had never been to one before. He introduced me to an Irish Christian named Matthew, who told me I could visit him anytime. He was my first Christian friend. Matthew was an interesting man and a very good friend. He was very honest and hospitable. Many times I invited him to go to sex films, or come drinking or gambling with me, but he said God didn't want us to do those things.

Matthew always set a good example and gave me advice. He encouraged me with his life, and I really liked him. One day he invited me to his house for lunch and I asked him why he had good habits and what influenced him. He said it was because of Jesus Christ. I asked him to explain about Jesus and the Bible. He gave me a New Testament, and he taught me about sin, and how Jesus died on the cross for me. I told him very strongly that Islam was the one true religion, but I still began to read the New Testament for myself. Some verses were hard to understand, so I asked Matthew to explain them. We studied the Bible together, and in about six months we finished the whole New Testament. I was still an unbeliever.

I didn't understand how Jesus and God could be one. The idea of God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit seemed very complicated, and I got really angry with Matthew. But he was very patient with me as he explained the Trinity, and that Jesus is God's Word which became flesh. I compared the Bible and the Koran. The Bible teaches you to love everyone, but the Koran teaches you to love only Muslims. I had always believed that the Bible had been changed over the years, but my studies showed no proof of this, and I couldn't find any sin in Jesus.

One night I was reading John 18 and 19, and as I read how Jesus died on the cross I felt so upset, but I didn't know why. I read how they beat Him and He was in pain. For the first time in my life I realized I was a sinner, and I cried. I read these chapters three times. I knew my Irish friend's life was very good, and if Jesus could influence him like that, I wondered if He could do the same for me. I wanted to check Jesus out, and even though I didn't believe, I prayed to find out. I said, “Jesus, if You are really the Savior, change my life.” I told Him I didn't want to smoke or gamble or go to bad movies or bad women. I wanted to live honestly and support my family. I told Jesus I would give Him two months in which I would obey the Bible. If He would change me in the two months, I would obey Him all my life from that night on.

I stopped smoking, I didn't go to bad movies, and all my bad habits ended. God really changed my life! I had tried to stop smoking the whole time I was in the army but never could. My heart was now filled with joy and I knew it was a miracle how my life had changed! I then prayed to Jesus to be my Savior and I thanked Him for giving me love in my life and dying on the cross for me.

When my old friends came to take me out with them, I told them my Father didn't give me permission to go. They asked me who my Father was and I said Jesus Christ. I told them I didn't want to smoke or drink or go to bad places and they thought I was crazy.

I went to see my father and told him I was sorry I hadn't obeyed him for so many years. I explained how I became a Christian, and told him I was asking his forgiveness because Jesus had forgiven me. My father didn't answer me but grabbed me and hugged me and cried. He gave thanks to God saying, “Fifteen years I prayed for my lost son and now he has come home!”

After I came to Jesus I had many problems. My family was cold, and my other relatives didn't talk to me. I couldn't even earn enough money to support my family, and twice I was attacked. One night while was jogging, a man pulled out a knife and stabbed me three times in the chest. I tried to stop him but his knife was big and he escaped. Because it was dark on the street I didn't see his face. I was bleeding a lot and there was nobody to help me. I was weak and couldn't walk so I stayed on my knees waiting for someone to come. A taxi came along and saw me and took me to the hospital.

On our way to the hospital I began to pray, “Lord, I don't want to die. What will my family, who is poor, do if I'm not helping them? Jesus, hear me and save me for them.” When we got to the hospital the doctor said that the stab was very close to my heart and I might die, and told the taxi driver to go get my family. One day later I woke up, and I saw that I was alive. The doctor came to look at me and said it was a miracle that I lived. I thanked Jesus and I prayed, “Thank You Lord! You saved me from my sin and now You have saved my life. Thank You very much.” So, I told Him, “Lord, I will walk for You all my life. I will teach Your Bible to Muslim people and I will give my testimony to everyone. Please help me and please give me wisdom to understand Your Bible.”

One day I went to visit an old friend that I hadn't seen for six years. We rejoiced to see each other even though our lives weren't going in the same direction. While visiting I learned that his wife had been very sick for three years. He had taken her to 20 doctors all over the country but they couldn't help her. Then he took her to a teacher who read the Koran over her, but she still didn't get well. I asked what kind of sickness she had, and he said she was demon possessed. She would attack him and the children, trying to hurt or kill them, and would destroy things in the house. Then she would sit down, and after a few hours she would ask what she had done.

He asked me what I had been doing since we last saw each other and I explained to him about giving my life to Jesus. He was very confused because it was the first time he had heard about Jesus and the Bible. I told him that Jesus performed many miracles of healing. He healed the blind, lame, and paralyzed, and even ordered demons out of many people. I said that Jesus would even help his wife if we prayed together and if he would trust Jesus to do it. He said he loved me very much, but he could not trust this Jesus. He believed the Koran to be the best book and Mohammed to be the Prophet. If the Koran teachers could not help, how could Jesus of the Bible do anything for his wife? So I gave him a copy of the New Testament and asked him to read it, because all of the things Jesus did were written there.

A month later I went to visit him again. He had read the New Testament, but he couldn't understand how it speaks of God, the Son of God, and the Holy Spirit. He said, “I don't understand how God became Jesus.” I explained why and how Jesus came into the world, and why He died on the cross. For five weeks we studied the Bible and compared the Koran with it.

I returned home and I prayed, “Jesus, I will visit my friend one more time, and if he doesn't want You, I will go to other friends to tell them about You.” When I went back to see him, I asked him to ask Jesus to heal his wife and to have Him change his life. I told him to tell Jesus his sins, and if he didn't know how to pray, to open his heart and just ask Jesus to help him and his wife. Jesus would know if his heart was open or not. When I left him his wife was still very sick.

A month later I went to visit some relatives, and I remembered my friend. So I went to see him on Sunday and they welcomed me and were very happy and rejoicing together. At first I thought there was a wedding, and I asked what was happening. He said that the night I left he told Jesus that he didn't have the faith to believe, but if He was God, to heal his wife and change his life.

A week later his wife was cooking and cleaning and taking care of the baby! His parents were confused because he hadn't taken her to the doctor and she was acting normal. He wanted to pray with me and confess his sins to Jesus, so we prayed together and he was born again! Praise the Lord!

His neighbors didn't understand how his wife got well, and when they asked he said, “Jesus healed my wife.” He began to fellowship and study the Bible. Now he teaches and witnesses about Jesus in his neighborhood. He has been a follower of Jesus for two years now.

Dear friends, you have read my family's and friend's testimonies. If they have blessed you, then praise the Lord. Jesus has changed my father's life and has saved him from his bad ways. He has healed my friend's wife and has changed his life, and the same Lord has changed my life too. Isn't He able to change your life if you pray to Him? Of course! Because He has come into the world to save all nations and all peoples. He has died on the cross for our sins. He has suffered in His body to make peace with God for us. We must come to Jesus, confess our sins to Him, and walk in His ways. Jesus says, “Come to me all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your soul. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” (Matt. 11:28-30)

Dear friends, come to Jesus because He loves you very much. He died on the cross for your sins. If you want to stop smoking, gambling, going to bad places, to sex-movies, or to bad women, come to Jesus. If you want your heart and life to be clean before God, pray and confess your sins to Him. He is ready to hear you and give you eternal life. “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.” (Heb. 13:8) God be with you. Jesus is always waiting for you.

Are You Searching?

If you've been feeling like there's something missing in your life, or if you've just given your life to Christ, we'd like to share some things with you to help you better understand what it means to follow Jesus. There are no strings attached. We just want you to know the wonderful gift of God's love. We've put together some information that we'd like for you to read.  We call it:  “Walking With Jesus.”