Former Muslims Pay Price for Christian Faith

CWNews.org -- Violence is nothing new for Muslims who convert to Christianity. Indeed, in the Islamic world, leaving Islam and living for Christ can mean a death sentence.

Emir Caner is a former Muslim who now teaches at a Baptist seminary. He has written a book about some of these brave converts. Recently he came to our studio to tell us about it.

WENDY GRIFFITH: Dr. Caner, welcome to Christian World News.

EMIR CANER: Thank you for having me on the program.

WENDY GRIFFITH: Let's talk about your new book "The Costly Call." You say the Christian converts from Islam face a lot of struggles-a three-fold struggle, actually. What are some of the struggles they face?

EMIR CANER: These 19 men and women from 18 different countries all have three things in common: [First] they always sacrifice when they become Christians. They lose their family, they risk their lives, they lose their jobs; they're ostracized from their culture. They sacrifice so much that we in America don't have to.

Secondly, they still learn how to unconditionally love those who reject them and repudiate them and cause them so much persecution. And finally, their struggle is that they love these people so much-their kinsmen in the flesh-that they wish they would hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The converts share that Jesus Christ is God and the Redeemer of the world. And so they really risk their lives not just in being saved, but in sharing Jesus Christ with others every day of their life.

WENDY GRIFFITH: And some of the consequences that these people face, some of these former Muslims are high government officials or business people. What are some of the consequences that they face?

EMIR CANER: There's one young man in the book that had to watch his mother being beaten in the bed, and his father shot to death and he had to become exiled from his country. You just watch so many suffering and you're in awe of the sacrifice. As a former Muslim myself I was disowned by my father, but that's no sacrifice, the true heroes of this generation are these men and women who have given so much, and continue to give, because they are all living today.

WENDY GRIFFITH: In many of these conversion stories, people relate that they've had dreams about Jesus. And there seems to be a consistent theme among some of these dreams, aren't there?

EMIR CANER: The dreams and visions they have, of course are of Jesus Christ. He sits by their bedside or He speaks to them and says, "I am the Savior of the world," and inevitably they're drawn to the written Word of God and they read John 3:16 and other sweet words of Scripture and they're saved. And they're so radically saved that they would witness to a stump if it had a soul. They're so sold out to Jesus.

WENDY GRIFFITH: Amazing, and in other instances, it might have been a Westerner or even an American who quietly shared the Gospel with them?

EMIR CANER: A businessman or woman who came to their country or a pen-pal on the Internet. It's amazing how Jesus Christ is reaching out across all these nations that somehow people think are closed and restricted. Yet nothing is closed or restricted to God.

WENDY GRIFFITH: Would you say we're seeing a revival among Muslim converts in America or around the world?

EMIR CANER: I would say more so around the world. There are places around the world in a Middle Eastern context where tens of thousands of Muslims are coming to faith in Jesus Christ every year-and indeed, in some contexts, hundreds of thousands. It's amazing to see what the Spirit of God is doing as He is roaming across this world.

WENDY GRIFFITH: And a lot of them, like yourself, once they do get saved they've got to tell everyone?

EMIR CANER: They have to! I don't know how you keep it to yourself. It's such a joy! And no matter what happens to you in life, the greatest joy is to be in the center of God's Will.

WENDY GRIFFITH: Well, how can our viewers pray for these former Muslims that are now Christians?

EMIR CANER: You know, so many of your viewers will pray for their protection, and understandably so. But pray more for their boldness. They're not looking to be protected; they're not looking to live a long life of 75 or 80 years. They're looking to please Jesus Christ no matter what the sacrifice and to live as the Apostle Paul said, "For me to live is Christ and to die is gain."

WENDY GRIFFITH: Alright. Dr. Emir Caner, "The Costly Call"-this is going to be a great book for so many people. Thank you for being with us on Christian World News.

EMIR CANER: Thank you so much for having me.

Caner: God of Christianity not the same as Allah

By Lauri Arnold


Muslims matter
Emir Caner, a former Muslim and now dean of The College at Southwestern in Fort Worth, Texas, exhorts students to boldly and unapologetically share their faith with Muslims. by Jonathan Blair/SWBTS
FORT WORTH, Texas (BP)--Christians should never attempt to witness to Muslims by saying the God of Christianity and Allah are one and the same, Emir Caner said in chapel at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas, Sept. 20. Caner is dean of The College at Southwestern.

“I have heard over the years now that somehow and in some way, Allah and Jehovah are the same god. That, my friends, is heresy,” Caner said. “When I got saved I didn’t have a better picture of God. I went from worshipping a false god with a false hope, from a false prophet who gave a false word, to worshipping the one, true, living God whose name is Jesus Christ. It’s His name that is the name which is above every name, and at that name every knee shall bow and at that name every tongue shall confess.”

Born into a Muslim family and raised in Ohio in an observant household by a father who was mosque leader, Caner became a follower of Jesus Christ as a teenager through the witness of a Baptist youth group. His father then disowned him. Following Christ is costly, he said.

“It’s not your job to appease the will of man. It is your job to do the will of God.... It is not your job to have a minimalist Christianity. It is our job, wherever we go, whether in the United States or across the seas, to stand up for the name of Jesus Christ no matter the cost,” Caner said.

Caner challenged students, faculty and staff to take a direct and unapologetic approach when they witness to Muslims, rather than a subtle or nuanced approach. He disagreed with those who advocate exclusively “friendship evangelism” and condone allowing years to pass before sharing the Gospel.

“We are Americanizing missions,” Caner said. “The rest of the world has no problem speaking of religion. Only Americans have that problem.”

Caner outlined ways to be a distinctive Christian in a troublesome society, based on the account of Elijah’s challenge to the prophets of Baal in 1 Kings 18:20-40. Caner said that Elijah’s method was unashamedly confrontational.

His methods were also unrelentingly confident, Caner said. Elijah challenged the prophets of Baal to call on their god to light a fire on the altar. Elijah would then call on his God, and then they would know that the one who answered by fire was God.

“They were overly confident,” Caner said of the prophets of Baal. “They thought they had outnumbered Elijah 450 to one. Elijah knew he had outnumbered them, one God to zero.”

Not only did Elijah challenge the prophets of Baal, but he mocked them as well. “‘Shout louder!’” Elijah said. “‘Surely he is a god! Perhaps he is deep in thought, or busy, or traveling. Maybe he is sleeping and must be awakened.’”

“Shouldn’t you be confident?” Caner asked. “The very fact of history rises or falls on the resurrection of Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”

Caner said that Elijah eliminated potential objections by asking the prophets of Baal to pour three loads of water on the altar and sacrifice. He did this, Caner said, so that the prophets could not blame the fire on a trick.

“The difference between cockiness and confidence is very simple,” Caner said. “Cockiness points to you; confidence always points to the Lord.”

Elijah’s ministry was also unashamedly costly, Caner said, asking those in attendance if their faith is confident enough that they are willing to risk anything in order to share Jesus Christ.

“How much are you willing to risk to go to the Hindus, to the Buddhists, to the Secularists, to the Muslims? How much are you willing to risk? How much are you willing to emulate the life of the prophet Elijah?”

Caner related the story of a man he knows who grew up in a prominent Muslim family in Malaysia. When he was a boy, the man’s parents accepted Jesus Christ. He watched as his mother was persecuted for her faith and beaten to death. Later, as he and his father attempted to escape, he watched as his father was shot to death.

The boy grew up an orphan in exile. Years later, he returned to Malaysia to share Christ with the man who executed his father.

“Why would he do such a thing?” Caner asked his friend. “Answer: there’s only one true living God in this world and His name is Jesus Christ, and when we speak of the doctrine of God and the doctrine of missions they must be blended into a perfect theology in evangelism.”

Caner said God is not just the greatest, wisest or strongest but the One and Only.

“He’s the One that the apostle said that for you to come to Him you must believe that He is. He is what? He doesn’t need an object to His character. He just is,” Caner said.
--30--

© Copyright 2008 Baptist Press
Original copy of this story can be found at http://www.bpnews.net/bpnews.asp?ID=21715

The Muslim Next Door

How to better understand and befriend women who follow Allah
The following article is located at: http://www.christianitytoday.com/tcw/2004/marapr/6.44.html


Since the terrorist attacks of September 11 and President Bush's declaration of war on Iraq a year ago this March, curiosity and confusion among Americans about the religion of Islam has reached an all-time high.

Yet for Muslim-turned-Christian brothers Ergun and Emir Caner, this challenging period comes with treasured opportunities. Throughout the past three years, these American-raised Turkish brothers, who teach at separate Baptist seminaries and have coauthored two books on Islam, have spoken at churches, conferences, and universities nationwide about their Muslim upbringing and conversion to Christianity. Their hope is to win Muslims to Christ and to share how Christians can lovingly yet courageously present the gospel to their Muslim coworkers, neighbors, and friends.

"We've seen Muslims reconsider their faith in ways we've never experienced before," Emir says. "They're confused with what the Qur'an says about jihad, and how they're supposed to interpret it. Because of this, I truly believe this is the most open opportunity we've had to share Christ with Muslims in the past century."

According to Emir, more than 34,000 Americans convert to Islam each year. "Because many are marrying Muslim men, 80 percent of these converts are women."

… more than 34,000 Americans convert to Islam each year. "Because many are marrying Muslim men, 80 percent of these converts are women."Yet because traditional Muslim beliefs about the separation of men and women still influence many Muslim families, the Caners believe Christian women hold the exclusive opportunity of reaching Muslim women with the gospel.

TCW recently spoke with Emir and Ergun to find out how we can reach out to the growing number of Muslim women in our communities.

What misconceptions do wehave about Muslim women?

Emir: One is that a Muslim woman isn't approachable. A Christian sees a Muslim woman wearing her traditional attire and thinks, I can't speak to her; she's too different. Some Christians also believe that since Islam traditionally is a male-dominated religion, a woman either won't want to speak about her religion or isn't knowledgeable about Islam. But the reality is, a Muslim may be quite open to sharing what her faith means to her.

Ergun: Muslim women also can have misconceptions about American women. Some feel Americans hate them or believe all Muslims desire war. They're cautious of Christianity because they associate it closely with Western culture. They see women on television wearing revealing clothes or sleeping around, and believe all Christians act this way. It's important for Christian women to establish friendships to break down these stereotypes.

How do American Muslims differ from those in the Middle East?

Emir: Many Muslim women come to America not only to run away from political oppression, but from spiritual oppression. They don't want to follow the traditional ways of Islam. They see America as a place where they can keep the core of their faith and modify what they perceive as unnecessary legalism. That's why many American Muslim women don't wear the burqa, veil, or headscarf, or why some talk to men directly. They're arguing for a feminist interpretation of the Qur'an.

What's the best way to approach someone who seems to have modified her faith?

Emir: Still assume a few basic things—that she doesn't drink alcohol or eat pork—so you won't offend her. And approach her as a devout Muslim. It's better to hear from her later that she doesn't follow a particular practice than to offend her immediately and shut down an opportunity to begin a relationship.

Some American Muslim women still dress traditionally. Why?

Emir: A traditional Muslim woman views the headscarf as a sign she's under the protection of her husband. If she doesn't wear it, she believes she's sinning by creating lust within a man. So she also wears it as a sign of virtue. For an American Muslim woman who wears a veil or headpiece with modern dress, her covering still represents her devotion to Islam.

Ergun: If she's single, it also represents her desire to live in humility before her family.

How can we effectively build relationships with Muslim women?

Ergun: By taking the initiative and extending simple acts of hospitality. Many Muslim women feel isolated in America. They're hungry for fellowship. And Christian women share the same interests and pains Muslim women have—they're both working to raise children, or they both may be far from their families.

Emir: This kind of outreach is key, especially if a Muslim woman recently moved to the U.S. She doesn't know where to get a driver's license or how to apply for a job. A Christian woman can establish a friendship with her by showing her the ropes in a new community.

Ergun: Prayer also is important. Pray that God will give you opportunities to extend acts of kindness and eventually initiate a conversation about your faith.

What's important to remember when the discussion turns to faith?

Emir: Foremost, a Christian needs to be able to explain God's grace and unconditional love. Islam is a works-based religion, as its five pillars (or requirements) of faith demonstrate. As a Muslim, I knew the Qur'an said, "Allah loves those who do righteous deeds." But when I became a Christian, I was stunned to discover the Scripture, "While we were still sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8). I didn't have a clue what grace was until I became a believer!

A Christian also needs to know how to defend who Jesus is. The Qur'an says Jesus was only a messenger, that he wasn't crucified, and that he's not divine. There are Bible passages that clearly demonstrate Jesus is God, such as Matthew 9:2, in which Jesus forgives sin, or John 8:23, where Jesus says he is God.

Believe in the sanctifying power of God's Word. Encourage your Muslim neighbor or coworker to read the Bible for herself. We've seen Muslims read through the New Testament, and by the time they got to Revelation, they'd turned their lives over to Christ.

Ergun: I encourage Christians to use the question-and-answer method when talking with a Muslim about her faith. When you feel comfortable enough, ask sensitively, "Why do you wear a veil?" or "Which foods aren't acceptable for you to eat?" By consistently asking questions, you'll find she becomes inquisitive about your faith, too. Then you can begin to share the basis of your beliefs.

Any encouragement for Christians who fear such conversations will be offensive?

Emir: Many Americans don't realize that in Muslim culture, friendly confrontation and debate are enjoyable. Discussing your faith compassionately with a Muslim while remaining friends shows her your faith is reasonable and defendable. It also signifies that you're as passionate about your beliefs as she is about her own. The "politically correct" idea that all religions are equal isn't a message that leads Muslims to Christ. There needs to be open debate and friendly interaction based on unconditional love.

How can we be sensitive to the Muslim woman considering converting to Christianity?

Emir: Recognize how serious this is for a Muslim woman. A decision to follow Christ is often a decision to leave your family, because Islam strictly forbids conversion. I speak weekly to American Muslims who say they realize Islam isn't the way to heaven, but they can't bear to lose their families. Christians need to be prepared to encourage Muslims with some important facts from the Bible: Jesus promises he will never leave us or forsake us (Hebrews 13:5); he will never let anyone snatch us out of his hand (John 10:28); and he who saved us will keep us and glorify us (Jude 1:24). To a Muslim woman, this beautiful doctrine of eternal security can be comforting.

What if our efforts seem to go nowhere?

Ergun: Just because you aren't seeing the end result doesn't mean nothing's happening. For years we rarely saw Muslims come to Christ. Only recently have we seen a consistent response to the gospel. I recently gave my testimony at a church and saw a 20-year-old Muslim woman become a Christian. It was very difficult for her—she'd been weighing the consequences of her decision for months. But the church she was attending literally loved her all the way to the Cross. I was crying when she made her decision. We've rarely seen that kind of harvest.

Emir: Christ reminds us that some things don't come together except by fasting and prayer. Because Islam is 1,300 years old and its traditions are largely untouched by modernization, reaching someone usually takes a great amount of time. The young man who led Ergun and me to Christ years ago didn't do so through a strategy; he did it through persistence. He knew Jesus died for us, and he was determined not to give up on us.

God may work in a Muslim's life when we least expect it. Often, before a Muslim becomes a Christian, she'll become devout in following the pillars of Islam. That kind of strong resistance and struggle usually means she's on the verge of making a decision. What may seem like a wasted conversation to us may end up being the most precious time we've spent with someone.

Corrie Cutrer is a TCW regular contributor. Ergun and Emir Caner's latest book is Out of the Crescent Shadows: Leading Muslim Women into the Light of Christ (New Hope Publishers).



© 2008 Christianity Today International

Dr. Emir Caner (Ph.D., University of Texas at Arlington) became one of the youngest deans in the history of Evangelicalism.

Biography

At the age of 34, Dr. Emir Caner (Ph.D., University of Texas at Arlington) became one of the youngest deans in the history of Evangelicalism. Known throughout much of the media world, Dr. Caner has been featured by secular outlets including CBS, NBC, ABC radio, and PAX. In addition, he is known throughout the Evangelical world appearing on CBN, Inspiration Networks, American Family Radio, Janet Parshall's America, Billy Graham's Decision Today, and Moody Open Line, just to name a few. He has been endorsed by major figures such as Beth Moore and Ann Coulter.

Dr. Caner travels the world defending the faith and persuading audiences of the truth of Jesus Christ. Currently, he is dean of The College at Southwestern (TCS) on the campus of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, the largest seminary in the world. Yet, he has come a long way from his roots. He was raised the son of an Islamic leader until he converted to Christ in 1982. Due to his decision, he was disowned by his father.

Today, his ministry has reached millions through his speaking as well as his books. Along with his brother, Dr. Ergun Caner (Dean of Liberty Seminary) he is the author of 11 books which have been translated into six different languages and sold more than 200,000 copies. Unveiling Islam won the Gold Medallion Award from the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association while More Than a Prophet was finalist for Book of the Year by Outreach magazine.

He and his wife, Hana, reside in Fort Worth with their two children.

Ex-Muslim Appointed New President of Baptist College

Ex-Muslim Appointed New President of Baptist College

A former Sunni Muslim has been elected as the new president of Truett-McConnell College in Georgia. Dr. Emir Caner was voted to become the school's eighth president, making him the first former Muslim to be elected as president of a Southern Baptist college.

Sat, Aug. 16, 2008 Posted: 02:15 PM EDT


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A former Sunni Muslim has been elected as the new president of Truett-McConnell College in Georgia.

Dr. Emir Caner, who was the founding dean of the College at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas, was voted by Truett-McConnell’s board of trustees to become its eighth president on Aug. 8, according to the Cleveland, Ga.-based college.

His new appointment makes him the first former Muslim to be elected as president of a Southern Baptist college or university.

He will officially begin his duties on Aug. 18.

“It’s a great day in the life of Truett-McConnell College and Georgia Baptists! The TMC Board of Trustees is extremely excited about the future of our school under the leadership of Dr. Emir Caner,” said Terrell J. Williams, chairman of the Truett-McConnell Board of Trustees, in a statement.

Truett-McConnell is financially supported by the Georgia Baptist Convention, which also elects its trustees.

Caner, 37, is the son of a devout Islamic leader and most of his family, including his father, has disowned him. He converted to Christianity in 1982 with the help of a Christian friend who invited him to a prayer meeting at a Southern Baptist church.

After accepting Christ as his savior, he attended Criswell College in Dallas and earned a bachelor’s degree in biblical studies. He went on to earn a master of divinity from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, N.C., and a doctor of philosophy degree from the University of Texas.

Caner has written and contributed to a total of 16 books, including Unveiling Islam, which won the Gold Medallion Award by the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association.

“Dr. Caner is a scholar, a professor, a writer, a preacher and an experienced administrator - a powerful combination of gifts,” said Dr. J. Robert White, executive director/CEO of the Georgia Baptist Convention, in a statement. “At the same time, he has a vibrant personality and is easy to know. He has a contagious warmth, is enjoyable to be with and is an excellent conversationalist.”

He is the youngest president to ever lead Truett-McConnell.

His brother, Ergun Caner, who also converted to Christianity, is president and dean of Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary in Lynchburg, Va. Ergun Caner was the first former Muslim to be elected president of a seminary.

Michelle A. Vu
Christian Post Reporter


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Muslim Mindset: 'The hatred is in Muhammad himself'

http://www.faithfreedom.org/

Jun. 19, 2008
Sam Ser , THE JERUSALEM POST
To Westerners and moderate Muslims shocked by the radical form of Islam now topping nightly newscasts, the efforts of liberal-minded Muslims like Tawfik Hamid, Italian Sheikh Abdul Hadi Palazzi and a handful of others may seem like the perfect solution. Not so for Ali Sina, who has a different suggestion: destroy Islam.

Sina, who runs Faith Freedom International - an Internet forum dedicated to debunking Islam - calls himself "probably the biggest anti-Islam person alive." The publication of his latest book, Understanding Muhammad: A Psychobiography of Allah's Prophet, will likely cement that position. In it, Sina suggests that Islam's central figure suffered from a series of mental disorders, including narcissistic personality disorder, temporal lobe epilepsy and obsessive compulsive disorder.

"These disorders," he says via telephone, "can explain the phenomenon known as Islam... which is nothing but one man's insanity."

Sina grew up a non-practicing Muslim. Raised in Iran, educated in Pakistan and Italy and now living in Canada, he began jousting with believers in the 1990s. What bothered him, he tells The Jerusalem Post, was not the penchant for jihad and intolerance that certain fanatical Muslims displayed, but the foundation for such ills in the Koran and core Islamic texts.

(Through the Faith Freedom Web site, Sina lists canonical references to Muhammad's actions and offers $50,000 to anyone who can disprove Sina's charge that Islam's prophet was "a narcissist, a misogynist, a rapist, a pedophile, a lecher, a torturer, a mass murderer, a cult leader, an assassin, a terrorist, a mad man and a looter." Respondents relentlessly attack Sina's motives, but none has won the prize.)

With violent conquest and contempt for non-believers central to the tenets of the faith, Sina argues, attempts to forge a moderate form of Islam are doomed.

"The idea that Islam can be reformed is a fallacy," he scoffs. "It's like saying we can reform Nazism and it will be a wonderful party."

No, says Sina, "The only way to reform Islam is to throw away the Koran; 90 percent of it should be thrown away. You also have to throw away the history of Islam, and you have to completely disregard the Sira" - the Arabic term used for the various traditional Muslim biographies of Muhammad, from which most historical information about his life and the early period of Islam is derived.

For this reason, Sina says, Western suggestions that extremism in Islam can be eradicated if certain imams are quieted, or if Muslims are encouraged to embrace the universalist elements of their faith - but without addressing the extremism inherent in the religion's texts - are based on a mistaken comparison of Islam to Christianity.

"In the West, people ask whether Islam can undergo a reformation like the one that Christianity underwent. That's a poor parallel," he says. "In Christianity, it wasn't the religion that needed to be reformed, but the church; what Jesus preached was good."

On the other hand, Sina continues, "In Islam, it's not the community that is bad, but the religion. Islam has nothing like 'Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.' Islam is full of hatred, and the hatred is in Muhammad himself. I argue in my book that Muhammad was insane - and that Muslims, by emulating him and by emulating his ways, his insanity is bequeathed to them."

BY NOW, CRITICS of Islam are fairly common in the West. And there are more than a few former Muslims who have rejected Islam in favor of Christianity, citing the difference between their former religion's overwhelming focus on hatred and their newfound faith's central teaching of love and forgiveness. But, like Wafa Sultan, Ibn Warraq, Ayaan Hirsi Ali and the handful of other apostate Muslims demanding that Muslims reject the negative aspects of their religion, Sina's critiques are especially problematic.

"People have to dismiss me some way, they have to put me down in one way or another. I'm a Jew, I'm a Christian, I'm a Hindu. I'm whatever people want to say in order to discredit me," says Sina, who closely guards his true identity because of the death threats he receives. "But they can't ignore my questions."

Sina has little patience for those who believe they can temper Islam with reason and mutual respect, or for those who remain cowed by the masses of Muslim devotees around the world.

"Islam is the biggest hoax, the biggest lie," he says. "Yes, a billion people believe it. But truth is truth. People will eventually see it. Believe me, there is no other answer. We will pay a great price until we realize that this is the solution - to undermine Islam itself, to show Muslims that this religion is not from God, that Muhammad was a charlatan and a liar."

Sina knows that his blunt, outspoken approach can be "problematic." But he is confident nonetheless that the force of his arguments will ultimately prevail.

"I am sure that, with time, I will convince millions and millions of Muslims, and the foundations of Islam will collapse," he says.

Already, he continues, Faith Freedom has attracted an impressive amount of attention.

"In Iran, my site is banned. In many parts of Pakistan, it is banned. The list goes on," he says. "Despite this, I have over 10 million readers in just over two and a half years. And I have received letters from Muslims from all over the world. Muslims everywhere are paying attention. I believe that Muslims everywhere are realizing that something is amiss.

"If I didn't have so much success in convincing people, then I would not be so confident. But I see that truth works. So many people who are now writing for me and putting things up on Youtube; seven or eight years ago, we were having fierce debates. Now, they are my greatest allies. There are many people who have seen the light after reading FFI and many of them are now working on my side, trying to help others to see the truth.

"This is the way to fight evil. I do not want to kill the enemy. I want to win them as friends and allies. That is the real victory. In this way, we win because we eliminate our enemy, and our enemy wins by eliminating his ignorance and hate. That is why I believe in my cause. That is why I think I am an instrument of peace."

This article can also be read at http://www.jpost.com /servlet/Satellite?cid=1213794275742&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
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Copyright 1995- 2008 The Jerusalem Post - http://www.jpost.com/

McCain, Obama to face off with popular pastor

Story Highlights
The Rev. Rick Warren to interview McCain, Obama in a forum Saturday
Each candidate will face questions on faith, leadership, world views
Warren: I'm not going to play "gotcha" with McCain, Obama
Bush received support of 78 percent of evangelical voters in 2004 election
From Ed Hornick
CNN

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The political spotlight will shine on Sens. John McCain and Barack Obama Obama on Saturday night, when the two candidates will face tough questions focused on personal values, presidential leadership and international affairs.

The Rev. Rick Warren, author of the best-selling book "The Purpose-Driven Life," will spend an hour interviewing each candidate at his 20,000-member Saddleback mega-church in southern California.

On Thursday's "Situation Room," Warren said he won't play the role of a political pundit, or ask "gotcha" questions, but rather tackle four areas of interest: the role of the presidency in government, leadership, the candidates' world view and America's role internationally.

Warren said he's focused on asking both presumptive nominees questions that "don't have a lot wiggle room."

"But I do want to know how they handle a crisis, because a lot of the things in the presidency often deal with things you don't know are going to happen, that we don't know will happen in the next four years. ... There are a lot of different things you can deal with in the life of a leader that will tell us more about the candidate than some of the typical questions," he said. Watch Warren discuss his plans for the forum »

Warren said he won't endorse either candidate and will let his followers make up their own minds.

The stakes will be especially high for McCain, who has made a strong appeal this year to social conservatives and evangelical Christians.

A CNN/Opinion Research Corp. poll, taken July 27-29, showed that among white, born-again or evangelical voters, 67 percent are for McCain, with 24 percent for Obama.

Although it's a strong showing for McCain, he's lagging 11 points behind President Bush's showing in 2004. Exit polls show that Bush beat Sen. John Kerry 78 percent to 21 percent among these voters.

Asked whether McCain has an advantage with evangelicals, Warren said he's not going to predict how the influential religious group will vote. Watch more on the evangelical vote »

He added, "I can tell you this: They're not a monolithic bloc, as the press frequently tries to make them out to be. I think that for many evangelicals, they're not convinced that either of these men is an evangelical. They may be believers in Christ, they may be Christian, but they want to know, for instance, their world view. And they want to hear it out."

But even as former GOP presidential candidate and Baptist minister Mike Huckabee -- who was thought to have locked up the evangelical vote given his background as a minister -- made a strong showing in the GOP primaries this year, McCain was pulling in a substantial number of evangelical votes.

McCain, who was raised an Episcopalian and now identifies himself as Baptist, rarely discusses his faith.

"I'm unashamed and unembarrassed about my deep faith in God. But I do not obviously try to impose my views on others," McCain said April 11.

Since then, the Arizona senator has met with many of the evangelical leaders who did not support his candidacy during the primary season. At a private meeting this summer, dozens of the movement's most prominent figures voted to support his campaign.

But by some accounts, their grass-roots efforts to rally the conservative Christian base have lagged recently.

Obama's positions in favor of abortion rights and same-sex civil unions, meanwhile, have also created some tension among evangelical voters otherwise drawn to his candidacy.

But the Democrat, who is Christian, has made it a point to discuss his religion on the trail this year and launched an ambitious outreach effort targeting these voters, including private summits with pastors and a major campaign aimed at young evangelicals.

And Obama's evangelical supporters, including members of the new Matthew 25 political action committee, rallied around the Democrat in late June when Christian conservative James Dobson accused him of "deliberately distorting the traditional understanding of the Bible."
False rumors that Obama is a Muslim threaten to undermine support from key voting blocs like evangelicals and Catholics.

CNN's Dana Bash, Tom Foreman, Ed Henry, Ed Hornick and Rebecca Sinderbrand contributed to this report.

Obama through Muslim eyes

Aug. 25, 2008
Daniel Pipes , THE JERUSALEM POST
How do Muslims see Barack Obama? They have three choices: either as he presents himself, as one who has "never been a Muslim" and has "always been a Christian"; or as a fellow Muslim; or as an apostate from Islam.

Reports suggests that while Americans generally view the Democratic candidate having had no religion before converting at Rev. Jeremiah Wrights's hands at 27, Muslims the world over rarely see him as Christian but usually as either Muslim or ex-Muslim.

Lee Smith of the Hudson Institute explains why: "Barack Obama's father was Muslim and therefore, according to Islamic law, so is the candidate. In spite of the Koranic verses explaining that there is no compulsion in religion, a Muslim child takes the religion of his or her father... For Muslims around the world, non-American Muslims at any rate, they can only ever see Barack Hussein Obama as a Muslim."

In addition, his school record from Indonesia lists him as a Muslim. Thus, an Egyptian newspaper, Al-Masri al-Youm, refers to his "Muslim origins." Libyan ruler Muammar Gaddafi referred to Obama as "a Muslim" and a person with an "African and Islamic identity." One Al-Jazeera analysis calls him a "non-Christian man," a second refers to his "Muslim Kenyan" father, and a third, by Naseem Jamali, notes that "Obama may not want to be counted as a Muslim, but Muslims are eager to count him as one of their own."

A conversation in Beirut, quoted in the Christian Science Monitor, captures the puzzlement. "He has to be good for Arabs because he is a Muslim," observed a grocer. "He's not a Muslim, he's a Christian," replied a customer. Retorted the grocer: "He can't be a Christian. His middle name is Hussein." Arabic discussions of Obama sometimes mention his middle name as a code, with no further comment needed.

"The symbolism of a major American presidential candidate with the middle name of Hussein, who went to elementary school in Indonesia," reports Tamara Cofman Wittes of the Brookings Institution from a US-Muslim conference in Qatar, "that certainly speaks to Muslims abroad."

Thomas L. Friedman of The New York Times found that Egyptians "don't really understand Obama's family tree, but what they do know is that if America - despite being attacked by Muslim militants on 9/11 - were to elect as its president some guy with the middle name 'Hussein,' it would mark a sea change in America-Muslim world relations."

Some American Muslim leaders also perceive Obama as Muslim. The president of the Islamic Society of North America, Sayyid M. Syeed, told Muslims at a conference in Houston that whether Obama wins or loses, his candidacy will reinforce the idea that Muslim children can "become the presidents of this country." The Nation of Islam's Louis Farrakhan called Obama "the hope of the entire world" and compared him to his religion's founder, Fard Muhammad.

BUT THIS excitement also has a dark side - suspicions that Obama is a traitor to his birth religion, an apostate (murtadd) from Islam. Al-Qaida has prominently featured Obama's statement "I am not a Muslim" and one analyst, Shireen K. Burki of the University of Mary Washington, sees Obama as "bin Laden's dream candidate." Should he become US commander-in-chief, she believes, Al-Qaida would likely "exploit his background to argue that an apostate is leading the global war on terror... to galvanize sympathizers into action."

Mainstream Muslims tend to tiptoe around this topic. An Egyptian supporter of Obama, Yasser Khalil, reports that many Muslims react "with bewilderment and curiosity" when Obama is described as a Muslim apostate; Josie Delap and Robert Lane Greene of the Economist even claim that the Obama-as-apostate theme "has been notably absent" among Arabic-language columnists and editorialists.

That latter claim is inaccurate, for the topic is indeed discussed. At least one Arabic-language newspaper published Burki's article. Kuwait's Al-Watan referred to Obama as "a born Muslim, an apostate, a convert to Christianity." Writing in the Arab Times, Syrian liberal Nidal Na'isa repeatedly called Obama an "apostate Muslim."

In sum, Muslims puzzle over Obama's present religious status. They resist his self-identification as a Christian, while they assume a baby born to a Muslim father and named "Hussein" began life a Muslim.

The writer is director of the Middle East Forum and Taube distinguished visiting fellow at the Hoover Institution of Stanford University.

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INDONESIA: Demonstrations turn violent at theological school

For a second consecutive night some 580 students from the Arastamar Evangelical School of Theology (SETIA) in East Jakarta slept in the lobby of Indonesia's parliament following demonstrations against the school that left at least 17 students injured. Urged on by announcements from a mosque loudspeaker to “drive out the unwanted neighbour,” hundreds of protestors shouting “Allahu-Akbar [“God is greater]” and brandishing machetes, sharpened bamboo and acid continued to attack 1,400 students and school staff members even as they were evacuated over the weekend (26-27 July). Besides the students in the parliamentary building, hundreds of others were evacuated to area denominational and medical facilities. The violence took place in spite of the efforts of 400 police officers summoned after tensions erupted on Friday (25 July). Students and school staff taking refuge in the parliament building lobby asked government officials to return them to the college and guarantee their safety there. Key among motives for the attack was that area Muslims felt “disturbed” by the presence of the Christian college. They want it to be moved to another area.


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Evangelical Leaders to Support McCain

More than 90 evangelical leaders met in Denver Tuesday, July 1, and decided to support Sen. John McCain as the presidential candidate who most shares their values.

Attendees agreed that they are concerned about issues like immigration and gun rights, but determined that opposing abortion and gay marriage are so central that they have no choice but to support McCain.

"He would advance those values in a much more significant way than Sen. Barack Obama who, in our view, would decimate those values," said Mathew Staver, dean of Liberty University's law school, who spearheaded the meeting.

Those in attendance also reached a consensus that they would send a letter to McCain, R-Ariz., encouraging him to consider former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee as his choice for vice president.

"It's not a demand; it's a request," said Staver, who couldn't say when McCain would be contacted about Huckabee, a former Southern Baptist pastor who resonated with some evangelical voters during the Republican primaries.

The meeting featured conservative Christians from various sectors of evangelicalism, including African-Americans, Hispanics and younger evangelicals. Tim and Beverly LaHaye, the couple known respectively for their roles in the Left Behind book series and Concerned Women for America, were there, as were Eagle Forum founder Phyllis Schlafly, former Christian Coalition president Don Hodel, and Phil Burress, president of Citizens for Community Values, an Ohio organization affiliated with Focus on the Family.

But one person who was not invited was one of the movement's most prominent voices, Focus on the Family founder James Dobson, who recently blasted Obama's politics and his theology, and has previously said he would not vote for McCain.

"I didn't want this meeting to be centered on a personality," said Staver, who added that Dobson was working on a book.

Burress said there was agreement to support McCain, but there were differing views about strategy. "There's no question, everybody was on the same page that Obama was not an option," he said.

Burress, whose Ohio group is preparing two million bulletin inserts for 10,000 churches about the two candidates' stances, predicted Obama's efforts to reach evangelicals will fall flat.

"The only evangelicals that he's going to win over are those who have never read the Bible," said Burress, who was one of a handful of conservative leaders who met with McCain on June 26 in Cincinnati.

McCain, who met with evangelists Billy and Franklin Graham on Sunday, has been urged by some evangelical leaders to increase his outreach to them. But the sentiment at the meeting was that evangelicals must speak up for him.

Staver said the gathering did not create a new organization but he expects there will be follow-up meetings and conference calls.

Staver said evangelicals are trying to unify after a "fractious primary season" during which no consensus candidate emerged as an evangelical favorite. He was also concerned by Obama's recent meeting with Christian leaders and his plans to expand President Bush's faith-based office.

"We will not allow our values to be hijacked by any political party, and we will not allow politics to divide us," said Staver, founder of the Florida-based Liberty Counsel, a conservative law firm.

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Our full coverage of the presidential race, including the June cover story on "How to Pick a President" and a quiz on candidates' statements about faith, is in our special section on election 2008.

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Republic of Turkey

OFFICIAL NAME:
Republic of Turkey
Geography
Area: 780,580 sq. km.
Cities: Capital--Ankara (pop. 3.9 million). Other cities--Istanbul (11.3 million), Izmir (2.6 million), Bursa (1.5 million), Adana (1.5 million), Gaziantep (1.2 million).
Terrain: Narrow coastal plain surrounds Anatolia, an inland plateau becomes increasingly rugged as it progresses eastward. Turkey includes one of the more earthquake-prone areas of the world.
Climate: Moderate in coastal areas, harsher temperatures inland.

People
Nationality: Noun--Turk(s). Adjective--Turkish.
Population (2007): 70.5 million.
Annual population growth rate (2004 est.): 1.33%.
Ethnic groups: Turkish, Kurdish, other.
Religions: Muslim 99%, Christian, Bahai, and Jewish.
Languages: Turkish (official), Kurdish, Zaza, Arabic, Armenian, Greek.
Education: Years compulsory--8. Attendance--97.6%. Literacy--86.5%.
Health: Infant mortality rate--39.4/1,000. Life expectancy--68.5 yrs.
Work force (23 million): Agriculture--35.6%; industry--17.5%; services--47.2%.

Government
Type: Republic.
Independence: October 29, 1923.
Constitution: November 7, 1982.
Branches: Executive--president (chief of state), prime minister (head of government), Council of Ministers (cabinet--appointed by the president on the nomination of the prime minister). Legislative--Grand National Assembly (550 members) chosen by national elections at least every 4 years. Judicial--Constitutional Court, Court of Cassation, Council of State, and other courts.
Political parties with representatives in Parliament: Justice and Development Party (AKP) (340 seats), Republican People's Party (CHP) (97 seats), Nationalist Action Party (MHP) (70 seats), Democratic Society Party (DTP) (21 seats), Democratic Left Party (DSP) (13 seats), Freedom and Democracy Party (ODP) (1 seat), Grand Unity Party (BBP) (1 seat), and five independents.
Suffrage: Universal, 18 and older.
National holiday: Republic Day, October 29.

Economy
GDP: (2005) $361.5 billion; (2006) $390.4 billion; (2007) $490 billion.
Annual real GDP growth rate: (2005) 7.4%; (2006) 6.0%; (2007) 4.6%.
GDP per capita: (2005) $5,016; (2006) $5,349; (2007) $6,830.
Annual inflation rate /CPI: (2005) 7.7%; (2006) 9.7%; (2007) 8.4%.
Natural resources: Coal, chromium, mercury, copper, boron, oil, gold.
Agriculture (10.5% of GNP): Major cash crops--cotton, sugar beets, hazelnuts, wheat, barley, and tobacco. Provides about 26% of jobs and 4% of exports.
Industry (25.4% of GNP): Major growth sector, types--automotive, electronics, food processing, textiles, basic metals, chemicals, and petrochemicals. Provides about 20% of jobs.
Trade: Exports (merchandise)--(2005) $73.1 billion; (2006) $83.5 billion; (2007) $106 billion: textiles and apparel, industrial machinery, iron and steel, electronics, petroleum products, and motor vehicles. Imports (merchandise)--(2005) $116 billion; (2006) $135.5 billion; (2007) $167 billion: petroleum, machinery, motor vehicles, electronics, iron, steel, plastics precious metals. Major partners--Germany, U.S., Italy, France, Russia, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, U.K.

PEOPLE
Modern Turkey encompasses bustling cosmopolitan centers, pastoral farming villages, barren wastelands, peaceful Aegean coastlines, and steep mountain regions. More than 70% of Turkey's population lives in urban areas that juxtapose Western lifestyles with more traditional ways of life.

The Turkish state has been officially secular since 1924. Approximately 99% of the population is Muslim. Most Turkish Muslims follow the Sunni traditions of Islam, although a significant number follow Alevi and Shiite traditions. Questions regarding role of religion in society and government, the role of linguistic and ethnic identity, and the public's expectation to live in security dominate public discourse. Turkish citizens who assert a Kurdish identity constitute an ethnic and linguistic group that is estimated approximately 12 million in number.

HISTORY
Mustafa Kemal, celebrated by the Turkish State as a Turkish World War I hero and later known as "Ataturk" or "father of the Turks," led the founding of the Republic of Turkey in 1923 after the collapse of the 600-year-old Ottoman Empire and a three-year war of independence. The empire, which at its peak controlled vast stretches of northern Africa, southeastern Europe, and western Asia, had failed to keep pace with European social and technological developments. The rise of national consciousness impelled several national groups within the Empire to seek independence as nation-states, leading to the empire's fragmentation. This process culminated in the disastrous Ottoman participation in World War I as a German ally. Defeated, shorn of much of its former territory, and partly occupied by forces of the victorious European states, the Ottoman structure was repudiated by Turkish nationalists brought together under the leadership of Mustafa Kemal. The nationalists expelled invading Greek, Russian, French and Italian forces from Anatolia in a bitter war. After the proclamation of the Republic of Turkey the temporal and religious ruling institutions of the old empire (the sultanate and caliphate) were abolished.

The leaders of the new republic concentrated on consolidating their power and modernizing and Westernizing what had been the empire's core--Asian Anatolia and a part of European Thrace. Social, political, linguistic, and economic reforms and attitudes decreed by Ataturk from 1924-1934 continue to be referred to as the ideological base of modern Turkey. In the post-Ataturk era, and especially after the military coup of 1960, this ideology came to be known as "Kemalism" and his reforms began to be referred to as "revolutions." Kemalism comprises a Turkish form of secularism, strong nationalism, statism, and to a degree a western orientation. The continued validity and applicability of Kemalism are the subject of lively debate in Turkey's political life. The current ruling AK Party comes from a tradition that challenges many of the Kemalist precepts and is driven in its reform efforts by a desire to achieve European Union (EU) accession.

Turkey entered World War II on the Allied side until shortly before the war ended, becoming a charter member of the United Nations. Difficulties faced by Greece after World War II in quelling a communist rebellion and demands by the Soviet Union for military bases in the Turkish Straits prompted the United States to declare the Truman Doctrine in 1947. The doctrine enunciated American intentions to guarantee the security of Turkey and Greece and resulted in large scale U.S. military and economic aid under the Marshall Plan. After participating with United Nations forces in the Korean conflict, Turkey in 1952 joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). Turkey is currently a European Union candidate.

GOVERNMENT AND POLITICAL CONDITIONS
The 1982 Constitution, drafted by the military in the wake of a 1980 military coup, proclaims Turkey's system of government as democratic, secular, and parliamentary. The presidency's powers are not precisely defined in practice, and the president's influence depends on his personality and political weight. The president and the Council of Ministers led by the prime minister share executive powers. The current president, who has broad powers of appointment and supervision, was elected by Parliament in August 2007 for a seven-year term. Pursuant to a constitutional amendment package approved by voters in an October 2007 referendum, the president is directly elected by the voters for a term of 5 years and can serve for a maximum of two terms. The prime minister administers the government. The prime minister and the Council of Ministers are responsible to Parliament.

The 550-member Parliament carries out legislative functions. Election is by the D'Hondt system of party-list proportional representation. To participate in the distribution of seats, a party must obtain at least 10% of the votes cast at the national level as well as a percentage of votes in the contested district according to a complex formula. The president enacts laws passed by Parliament within 15 days. With the exception of budgetary laws, the president may return a law to the Parliament for reconsideration. If Parliament reenacts the law, it is binding, although the president may then apply to the Constitutional Court for a reversal of the law. Constitutional amendments pass with a 60% vote, but require a popular referendum unless passed with a two-thirds majority; the president may also submit amendments passed with a two-thirds majority to a popular referendum.

The judiciary is declared to be independent, but the need for judicial reform and confirmation of its independence are subjects of open debate. Internationally recognized human rights, including freedom of thought, expression, assembly, and travel, are officially enshrined in the Constitution but have at times been narrowly interpreted, can be limited in times of emergency and cannot be used to violate what the Constitution and the courts consider the integrity of the state or to impose a system of government based on religion, ethnicity, or the domination of one social class. The Constitution prohibits torture or ill treatment; the current government has focused on ensuring that practice matches principle. Labor rights, including the right to strike, are recognized in the Constitution but can be restricted.

The high court system includes a Constitutional Court responsible for judicial review of legislation, a Court of Cassation (or Supreme Court of Appeals), a Council of State serving as the high administrative and appeals court, a Court of Accounts, and a Military Court of Appeals. The High Council of Judges and Prosecutors, appointed by the president, supervises the judiciary.

In the November 2002 election of Turkey's 58th government, the Justice and Development Party (AKP) captured 34.3% of the total votes, making Abdullah Gul Prime Minister, followed by the Republican People's Party (CHP) with 19.39% of the vote, led by Deniz Baykal. A special General Election was held again in the province of Siirt in March 2003, resulting in the election of AKP's chairman Recep Tayyip Erdogan to a seat in Parliament, allowing him to become prime minister. AKP and CHP were the only parties to surpass the 10% threshold required to hold seats in Parliament. The elections resulted in 363 of the 550 seats going to AKP, 178 seats to CHP, and 9 as independent. Due to a reshuffle in party affiliation and resignations, by 2007, AKP held 353 seats, CHP held 151 seats, Anavatan Party held 20 seats, independents held 10 seats, and five joined the True Path Party (DYP). In March 2004 nationwide local elections, AKP won 57 of 81 provincial capital municipalities and, with 41.8% of the votes for provincial council seats, consolidated its hold on power.

The Turkish Grand National Assembly was to have elected in May 2007 a new president to succeed President Sezer, whose term ended on May 16. Opposition parties led a Constitutional Court challenge to the electoral procedures, which resulted in a series of proposed constitutional amendments and early general elections on July 22. AKP won 46.6% of the vote, followed by CHP (20.9%), MHP (14.3%) and independents (5.2%). The new Parliament, which was sworn in on August 4, 2007 included 341 AKP members, 97 CHP members, 71 Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) members, 20 Democratic Society Party (DTP) members, 13 Democratic Left Party (DSP) members, one Freedom and Democracy Party (ODP) member, one Grand Unity Party (BBP) member, and five independents. Following the election, Sezer reappointed Erdogan as Prime Minister and then-Foreign Minister Gul again declared his presidential candidacy. The Parliament elected Gul in the third round of voting on August 28, 2007. Following Gul's move to the presidency, AKP seats in Parliament total 340; an MHP deputy died in August 2007, bringing the number of MHP members to 70; and the ban on a DTP deputy expired in July 2008, raising the number of DTP members to 21. President Gul approved Erdogan's proposed cabinet on August 29, 2007, and the new government received a vote of confidence on September 5. Nationwide local elections for municipal assembly and mayoral positions are scheduled for March 2009.

In March 2008 the Constitutional Court agreed to hear a case to close down the AKP because of alleged "anti-secular" activities that contravene the Turkish Constitution. Seventy-one AKP members, including President Gul and Prime Minister Erdogan, were named in the case and could have been barred from politics for five years. On July 30, 2008 the court voted six in favor and five against closing down AKP; seven votes were required to close down the party. The court decided to cut the party's state funding, worth about $58 million, in half. None of the AKP members were banned.

Principal Government Officials
President of the Republic--Abdullah Gul
Prime Minister--Recep Tayyip Erdogan
Minister of Foreign Affairs--Ali Babacan
Ambassador to the United States--Nabi Sensoy
Ambassador to the United Nations--Baki Ilkin

Turkey maintains an embassy in the United States at 2525 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008, tel. (202) 612-6700. Consulates general in Chicago (360 N. Michigan Ave., Suite 1405, Chicago, IL 60601, tel: 312-263-0644, ext. 28); Los Angeles (4801 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 310, Los Angeles, CA 90010, tel: 323-937-0118); New York (821 United Nations Plaza, New York, NY 10017, tel: 212-949-0160); and Houston (1990 Post Oak Blvd., Suite 1300, Houston, TX 77056, tel: 713-622-5849). The Permanent Representative of Turkey to the United Nations is located on 821 United Nations Plaza, 10th floor, New York, NY 10017, tel: 212-949-0150.

ECONOMY
Turkey is a large, middle-income country with relatively few natural resources. Its economy is currently in transition from a high degree of reliance on agriculture and heavy industrial economy to a more diversified economy with an increasingly large and globalized services sector. Coming out of a tradition of a state-directed economy that was relatively closed to the outside world, Prime Minister and then President Turgut Ozal began to open up the economy in the 1980s, leading to the signing of a Customs Union with the European Union in 1995. In the 1990s, Turkey's economy suffered from a series of coalition governments with weak economic policies, leading to high-inflation boom-and-bust cycles that culminated in a severe banking and economic crisis in 2001 and a deep economic downturn (GNP fell 9.5% in 2001) and increase in unemployment.

Turkey's economy has recovered strongly from the 2001 recession thanks to good monetary and fiscal policies and structural economic reforms made with the support of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. The independence of the Central Bank has been firmly established, a floating exchange rate system has been put in place, and the government's overall budget deficit has been substantially reduced. In addition, there have been substantial reforms in the financial, energy, and telecommunications sectors that have included the privatization of several large state-owned institutions.

Turkey's economy grew an average of 6.0% per year from 2002 through 2007--one of the highest sustained rates of growth in the world. It is expected to grow about 5.5% in 2008. Inflation and interest rates have fallen significantly, the currency has stabilized, government debt has declined to more supportable levels, and business and consumer confidence have returned. At the same time, booming economic growth has contributed to a growing current account deficit. Though Turkey's vulnerabilities have been greatly reduced, the economy could still face problems in the event there is a sudden change in investor sentiment. Continued implementation of reforms, including tight fiscal policy; securing independent Central Bank monetary policies, is essential to sustain growth and stability.

After years of low levels of foreign direct investment (FDI), in January-November 2007, Turkey succeeded in attracting $16.6 billion in foreign direct investment (FDI) and is expected to attract a similar level in 2008. A series of large privatizations, the stability fostered by the start of Turkey's EU accession negotiations, strong and stable growth, and structural changes in the banking, retail, and telecommunications sectors have all contributed to the rise in foreign investment. Turkey has taken steps to improve its investment climate through administrative streamlining, an end to foreign investment screening, and strengthened intellectual property legislation. However, a number of disputes involving foreign investors in Turkey and certain policies, such as high taxation and continuing gaps in the intellectual property regime, inhibit investment. Turkey has a number of bilateral investment and tax treaties, including with the United States, which guarantee free repatriation of capital in convertible currencies and eliminate double taxation.

EU Accession. Turkey's principal ongoing economic challenge is providing for the needs of a fast-growing, young population. Raising living standards to those prevalent in Europe will require high rates of GDP growth and a well functioning market economy. This will entail continued structural reforms that encourage both domestic and foreign investment. Principal areas for reform identified by international financial institutions include increasing flexibility in the labor market, making the educational sector more responsive to the needs of the economy and ensuring faster and more predictable operation of the judicial system. As an aspirant to membership in the European Union, Turkey aims to adopt the EU's basic system of national law and regulation (the acquis communataire) by 2014. While implementing some elements of the acquis will be costly and difficult (for example in the areas of environmental protection and agriculture), its adoption will make a significant contribution to modernizing the economy.

Energy. Installed electricity generation capacity in Turkey reached 40,000 megawatts (MW) as of 2007. Fossil fuels account for 68% of the total installed capacity and hydro, geothermal, and wind account for the remaining 32%. Electricity demand in Turkey has been above the average rate of GNP growth over the last few years. This, combined with the lack of investment in the sector, mainly due to the Government of Turkey's (GOT) control over prices and slow progress in market liberalization, increased concerns regarding electricity shortages. According to official data, Turkey will face electricity shortages as of 2009, while market experts expect the shortages as early as summer 2008. The GOT is working on new legislation to encourage investments in the sector, which is expected to introduce incentives for companies bringing their facilities online by 2012. Turkey also plans to privatize its electricity generation and distribution facilities in 2008.

Oil provides about 43% of Turkey's total energy requirements; around 90% is imported. Domestic production is mostly from small fields in the southeast. New exploration is taking place in the eastern Black Sea. In 2004, the Parliament approved a petroleum market reform bill that liberalized consumer prices and would lead to the privatization of the state refining company TUPRAS, which was privatized in 2005. Turkey has a refining capacity of 714,275 barrels per day (b/d).

Turkey acts as an important link in the East-West Southern Energy Corridor bringing Caspian, Central Asian, and Middle Eastern energy to Europe and world markets. The Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline, which came online in July 2006, delivers 1 million barrels/day of petroleum, and in 2007, the South Caucasus Pipeline (from Shah Deniz) started bringing natural gas from Azerbaijan to Turkey. Turkey's interconnector pipeline to Greece, an important step in bringing Caspian natural gas to Europe via Turkey, came online in November 2007.

Telecommunications. Parliament enacted legislation separating telecommunications policy and regulatory functions in January 2000, by establishing an independent regulatory body, the Telecommunication Authority. The Authority is responsible for issuing licenses, supervising operators, and taking necessary technical measures against violations of the rules. Most regulatory functions of the Transport Ministry were transferred to the Authority, and the regulator is slowly gaining competence and independence. The long-expected privatization of the state-owned telecommunications company was accomplished by the sale of 55% of Turk Telekom to the Saudi-owned Oger Group in November 2005. With liberalization and growth in the economy, there is growing competition for Internet provision, but Turk Telekom remains the sole provider of ADSL wide band Internet.

Environment. With the establishment of the Environment Ministry in 1991, Turkey began to make significant progress addressing its most pressing environmental problems. The most dramatic improvements were significant reductions of air pollution in Istanbul and Ankara. However, progress has been slow on the remaining--and serious--environmental challenges facing Turkey.

In 2003, the Ministry of Environment was merged with the Forestry Ministry. With its goal to join the EU, Turkey has made commendable progress in updating and modernizing its environmental legislation. However, environmental concerns are not fully integrated into public decision-making and enforcement can be weak. Turkey faces a backlog of environmental problems, requiring enormous outlays for infrastructure. The most pressing needs are for water treatment plants, wastewater treatment facilities, solid waste management, and conservation of biodiversity. The discovery of a number of chemical waste sites in 2006 has highlighted weakness in environmental law and oversight.

After long years of silence, Turkey's becoming a signatory of the Kyoto Protocol was back on the agenda in 2007, and a focus of Prime Minister Erdogan's speech at the UN General Assembly. Despite the positive approach, Turkey would still like to keep its reservation to get developing country treatment with regard to the emission levels set by the protocol.

Transport. The Turkish Government gives special priority to major infrastructure projects, especially in the transport sector. The government is in the process of building new airports and highways, thanks to an increased public investment budget. The government will realize many of these projects by utilizing the build-operate-transfer (BOT) model.

FOREIGN RELATIONS
Turkey's primary political, economic, and security ties are with the West, although some voices call for a more "Eurasian" orientation.

Turkey entered NATO in 1952 and serves as the organization's vital eastern anchor, controlling the straits leading from the Black Sea to the Mediterranean and sharing a border with Syria, Iraq, and Iran. A NATO headquarters is located in Izmir. Besides its relationships with NATO and the EU, Turkey is a member of the OECD, the Council of Europe, and OSCE. Turkey also is a member of the UN and the Islamic Conference Organization (OIC). In December 1999, Turkey became a candidate for EU membership. On December 17, 2004, the EU decided to begin formal accession negotiations with Turkey in October 2005.

Turkey and the EU formed a customs union beginning January 1, 1996. The agreement covers industrial and processed agricultural goods. Turkey is harmonizing its laws and regulations with EU standards. Turkey adopted the EU's Common External Tariff regime, effectively lowering Turkey's tariffs for third countries, including the United States.

On October 3, 2005, Turkey and the EU reached agreement for Turkey to begin negotiations on accession to the European Union. Turkey and EU officials have begun the process of screening Turkey's laws and policies in order to begin negotiating the individual chapters required for ultimate EU accession.

Turkey opened and provisionally closed in 2006 one EU negotiating chapter on science and technology. Another chapter on statistics was opened in February 2007, and two more were opened in June 2007. Eight chapters, mostly related to trade, were suspended by the European Council in December 2006 after Turkey declined to open its ports and airports to Cypriot vessels--a commitment Turkey made as part of the Ankara Protocol and its EU Customs Union membership. Two new chapters were opened in December 2007 under the Portuguese Presidency, and the Slovenian Presidency opened two additional chapters in June 2008.

Turkey is a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO). It has signed free trade agreements with the European Free Trade Association (EFTA), Israel, and many other countries. In 1992 Turkey and 10 other regional nations formed the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC) Council to expand regional trade and economic cooperation. Turkey chaired BSEC in 2007 and hosted in Istanbul the 15th BSEC Summit in June 2007.

U.S.-TURKEY RELATIONS
U.S.-Turkish friendship dates to the late 18th century and was officially sealed by a treaty in 1830. The present close relationship began with the agreement of July 12, 1947, which implemented the Truman Doctrine. As part of the cooperative effort to further Turkish economic and military self-reliance, the United States has loaned and granted Turkey more than $12.5 billion in economic aid and more than $14 billion in military assistance.

U.S.-Turkish relations focus on areas such as strategic energy cooperation, trade and investment, security ties, regional stability, the global war on terrorism, and human rights progress. Relations were strained when Turkey refused in March 2003 to allow U.S. troops to deploy through its territory to Iraq in Operation Iraqi Freedom, but regained momentum steadily thereafter and mutual interests remain strong across a wide spectrum of issues. On July 5, 2006, Secretary Rice and then-Foreign Minister Gul signed a Shared Vision Statement to highlight the common values and goals between our two countries and to lay out a framework for increased strategic dialogue. U.S. President Bush welcomed Prime Minister Erdogan to Washington for a White House visit on November 5, 2007, during which he committed to provide greater assistance to Turkey in its fight against terrorism from the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK or Kongra Gel), which he characterized as a "common enemy" of Turkey, Iraq, and the United States. He reiterated this commitment during President Gul's January 8, 2008, White House visit.

The U.S. and Turkey for several years have had a Trade and Investment Framework Agreement, which last met in Washington in April 2007. In 2002, the two countries indicated their joint intent to upgrade bilateral economic relations by launching an Economic Partnership Commission, which last convened in Washington in April 2008. In 2006, Turkish exports to the U.S. totaled about $5.4 billion, and U.S. exports to Turkey totaled $5.7 billion.

Jesus in Turkey

After 550 years of decline, a bloodied church is being reborn.
Tony Carnes in Istanbul

For the first time in 550 years, Christianity inside Turkey is growing in numbers and influence. But its recent growth comes at a high price: since February 2006, radicalized Muslims have killed five Christians—the kind of cold-blooded martyrdom not seen in decades.

Modern-day Turkey's 73 million citizens, 98 percent of whom are Muslims, are experiencing social and political upheaval. The country is attempting to improve its economic and human-rights record in order to join the European Union. Turkey's relations with the United States are strained as an ally in the war in Iraq, and because of Congress's aborted effort to pass the Armenian genocide resolution. Also, Turkey's border disputes with Greece over land around the Aegean Sea, as well as violent skirmishes with Kurdish rebels on its southern border, keep this nation's formidable military on highest alert.

This is the context in which a handful of Islamic radicals targeted Christians as "enemies of the state" because of their association with Western groups and their alleged support of Kurdish rebels. The five killed within the last two years were:

• Andrea Santoro, a Catholic priest killed in February 2006. A 16-year-old youth shot Santoro as he was praying in the Santa Maria Church in Trabzon, Turkey.

• Hrant Dink, a Turkish-Armenian newspaper editor. In January 2007, a teenager gunned down Dink, who had been convicted of "insulting Turkishness" two years prior.

• The three Malatya martyrs: Necati Aydin, a Turkish pastor; Tilmann Geske, a missions worker from Germany; and Ugur Yuksel, a new Christian convert from Islam. In April 2007, young radicals feigning curiosity about Christianity killed the three men by slitting their throats at a Christian publishing house in southeastern Turkey. Their survivors include five children, two widows, and a fiancée.

In November, a Turkish court set a trial date for the five suspects involved in the Malatya killings for early January. Police are calling for life imprisonment and said all five suspects have confessed to the murders. The suspects accused the Christians of "forcing local girls into prostitution" and of praising the violence of rebel Kurds. (About 30,000 people have died since the 1980s in rebel-related violence.) Meanwhile, the Alliance of Protestant Churches in Turkey is calling Turkish congregations to pray and fast every Thursday for the next several weeks in preparation for the trial.

Isa Karatas of the Alliance of Protestant Churches in Turkey told Compass Direct News, "It is clear from these statements of the suspects that there is some group of powerful influence behind them. These people want to portray Turkey's Protestants as enemies of the nation."

"At the same time," he added, "because honor is such an important concept in our culture, they are trying to accuse us of having weak morals, so that they can find a justification for their murders."

Few nations have as rich a Christian history as Turkey. This is where Paul founded some of the earliest churches, including the church at Ephesus. Seven churches in this region were addressed in the Book of Revelation. Those in the early monastic movement found the caves of Cappadocia a near-perfect place to live out lives of prayer. Constantinople, now the city of Istanbul, became the capital of the Roman Empire just as it was being Christianized, and the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople has been the leader of worldwide Orthodoxy for centuries.

But Christianity came under Islamic rule in Turkey in 1453 and steadily declined for centuries; the last 100 years have been the worst. In 1900, the Christian population was 22 percent. Now most experts estimate that there are fewer than 200,000 Christians nationwide, comprising less than 0.3 percent of the population.

Protestant missions work began around 1820. There are now more than 30 Protestant organizations operating nationwide. In 1999, the Izmit earthquake, which killed 17,000 and left 800,000 homeless, led Christian agencies to start new relief work, and they eventually began working alongside independent Christian fellowships. These fellowships, along with new growth in traditional Orthodox congregations, have created a 3 percent annual growth in the country's Christian population, about three times Turkey's overall population growth rate. Following the Malatya murders, Christianity Today traveled to Turkey, meeting church leaders from throughout the region.
Tasting Forbidden Fruit

In so many ways, the story of Turgay Ucal, a pastor of an independent church in Istanbul, embodies the promise and peril of Turkish Christianity. On a weekday afternoon, Ucal sat down with CT to describe his journey to faith in Jesus Christ.

Ucal (pronounced u-CHAAL) grew up in Old Town, Istanbul. He told CT that as a high school student he took a leap of faith, almost literally, out of his comfort zone. In Turkish life, generations of families live together with unlocked doors and few secrets. One day, he strolled down a cobblestone street, past some decaying buildings. He walked back and forth to make sure no one he knew was around—and slipped into a Catholic church.

At the time, Ucal was deeply curious about what had happened to Jesus when, as the Koran says, he left this earth still alive. "The Koran said Jesus didn't die," Ucal recalls, "and I asked, 'Why? What is in the Bible?'—I wondered."

Turkey's religious landscape is not simple: sharply partisan politics, strident nationalism, and disputed history make it a complex scene. Secular nationalists who are Muslim in private practice fiercely oppose public religiosity. They see Christian converts as tools of Western powers that want to undermine Turkey's sovereignty.

In the 1960s, the era in which Ucal grew up, Turks in Istanbul were exploring many forbidden fruits. Coca-Cola and Pepsi factories opened up. Turkish kids tasted hot dogs for the first time, despite the warning that hot dogs might contain donkey meat.

Others, like Ucal, drew close to Christ.

Thirty years later, the church started by new believers has achieved new maturity and public acceptance. The independent Turkish church now comprises almost 100 congregations and more than 100 house fellowships.

Turkish Christians of Muslim backgrounds have anchored the leadership of the church around their own new identity—and by portraying Jesus Christ as a Turk. This helps resolve a crucial conflict in Turkish minds, that only Muslims can be truly "Turkish."

Leaders have discovered that by the time a Turk of Muslim background enters a church, he or she is often ready to convert and is looking for reassurance. Ucal told CT that when he went to university to study Islamic literature, he even belonged to an Islamic youth group. But his ultimate purpose was to learn more about Jesus. "At the university, I saw the biblical background to what I was studying," he said. "The Bible became my fate."

He said Christianity offered a new balance of freedom in a disciplined context, transcending the stringent legalism of his upbringing. As a young man, Ucal had tried to be a good Muslim. "My family was Muslim. I prostrated myself to Mecca five times a day. I participated in 'The Light' [Nurcu], a Muslim youth group. I had a very structured Muslim mind."
Changed Identity

New Christian believers find it very difficult to become openly active in Turkey's traditional churches—Armenian Orthodox, Catholic, Eastern Rite Catholic, and Greek Orthodox. The handful of Protestant-affiliated congregations operate in the open, but they mainly meet the needs of ethnic minority groups or Westerners living in Turkey.

So new Christians coming from Muslim families are often isolated and ostracized. Ucal realized there was more to Christian living than an individualized faith. He wanted to create a Turkish church for Islamic-background Turks like himself.

Shortly after becoming a believer, Ucal had not told anyone what had happened to him spiritually. But he quietly opened a court case to change his religious identity registration.

His father, a military officer responsible for defending Istanbul's harbor, saw his son's name on the list of people changing their religious affiliation. Even today there is a common belief that the Greeks use Turkish converts to Christianity as spies. Ucal says, "Buddhism is okay, but not Christianity. There was a history."

When Ucal's father saw his son's name included on the list, he went ballistic. He stormed home, screaming to his wife, "They are turning our son into a spy!"

At first, Ucal's father became more Muslim in reaction to his son's faith. Later, he took a closer look. His son hadn't changed friends and seemed more at ease. What most people saw was that the young Christian hadn't changed his identity as a Turk. One individual told CT, "He still seemed to be a real Turk."

Ucal kept living within the Turkish Muslim community. There was also a growing sense among his generation that they were reshaping Turkey into a nation that respected freedom and religious diversity. "We have created a new world for us—for me—in my own country," Ucal says.
Engaging Islamic Society

In 1986, Ucal finally started a church. His tiny congregation was allowed to worship for 60 minutes every 15 days inside the Swedish Consulate in Istanbul.

But Turkish newspapers immediately made a big deal out of a Muslim-background pastor starting a Christian church for Muslim-background Turks. His parents hadn't become used to Ucal being a Christian and had no idea he was going to start a church. They were startled when they opened their morning newspaper. "Those years were terrible," Ucal recalls. His parents were frightened for their son. Campus Crusade staff members who were helping Ucal warned, "Turgay, you will die." Yet they stayed with him. Within a year, Ucal had 20 Muslim-background Turks in his church, and stability was emerging.

Ucal's congregation moved toward a charismatic, Vineyard-style form of Christianity. Meanwhile, Ucal served in the army for eight months and received training in ministry in the Philippines and South Korea. After that, Ucal decided to plant a different kind of church based on systematic theological teaching. While in South Korea, he had noticed the parallels between systematic theology and the disciplined Islamic lifestyle and mindset. He wondered if other Muslim-background Turks might respond to a more structured approach than the informal evangelicalism of which he was a part. Ucal found that his Muslim neighbors are attracted to systematic approaches to religious instruction, and are also easily touched emotionally. So Ucal began approaching them with an "emotional Calvinism."

Ucal started arguing that Christianity was "authentically Turkish" and "socially natural." This became a huge breakthrough for believers. Today, Ucal's Istanbul Presbyterian Church is one of the largest churches nationally. And something else happened beyond Ucal's wildest imagination: His parents began visiting his church.

Other like-minded leaders have begun new churches, but for different reasons. The Ankara Church, in Turkey's capital, has grown with an emphasis on the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Four other churches (Izmit Protestant, Eskisehir Protestant; and in Istanbul, Altintepe Church and Besiktas Protestant) have grown through effective mentoring from a culturally savvy Spaniard, Carlos Madrigal.

Anadolu Turk Protestant Church, located in the same neighborhood as Ucal's church, has greatly benefited from inquirers from a Bible Correspondence course that Operation Mobilization began 30 years ago.

In the strife-torn eastern part of Turkey, pastor Ahmet Guvener has created a much-admired evangelistic strategy that has resulted in a multiethnic church of Turks and Kurds. Guvener has launched youth teams that stay within their Islamic social networks and form long-term relations with neighborhood families. The strategy reflects a theme of many of the successful evangelistic efforts: direct engagement with the cultural milieu of Muslim-majority society.

Another common practice among these Christians is teaching morality in the public square. Pastor Kaan Koryurek of Besiktas Protestant makes a point of showing how the Bible inveighs against public corruption, a problem Turks are deeply motivated to fight. Koryurek says, "Today I preached on the fig tree that had no fruit. Jesus used it as a warning and then went to throw out the traders and moneychangers in the temple." After the service, several people shared how they were standing up against corruption in their workplaces.
Not Honor, But Jesus

The Church – the greatest force on Earth by Rick Warren

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The Church is everywhere in the world.
There are villages that have little else,
but they do have a church.
Rick Warren--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Church is the most magnificent concept ever created. It has survived persistent abuse, horrifying persecution, and widespread neglect. Yet despite its faults (due to our sinfulness), it is still God’s chosen instrument of blessing and has been for 2,000 years.

The Church will last for eternity, and because it is God’s instrument for ministry here on Earth, it is truly the greatest force on the face of the Earth. That’s why I believe tackling the world’s biggest problems – the giants of spiritual lostness, egocentric leadership, poverty, disease, and ignorance – can only be done through the Church.

The Church has eight distinct advantages over the efforts of business and government:

1. The Church provides for the largest participation.
Most people have no idea how many Christians there are in the world: More than 2 billion people claim to be followers of Jesus Christ. That’s one third of the world’s population! The Church has about a billion more people than the entire nation of China.

For example, about 100 million people in the United States went to church this past weekend. That’s more people than will attend sporting events in the United States throughout this year. The Church is the largest force for good in the world. Nothing else even comes close.

2. The Church provides for the widest distribution.
The Church is everywhere in the world. There are villages that have little else, but they do have a church. You could visit millions of village around the world that don’t have a school, a clinic, a hospital, a fire department, or a post office. They don’t have any businesses. But they do have a church. The Church is more widely spread – more widely distributed – than any business franchise in the world.

Consider this: The Red Cross noted that 90 percent of the meals they served to victims of Hurricane Katrina were actually cooked by Southern Baptist churches. Many churches were able to jump into action faster than the government agencies or the Red Cross. Why? The Church is literally everywhere, and Christians who could provide help to the Gulf Coast communicated with Christians in need of help so relief could be sent immediately.

3. The Church provides the longest continuation.
The Church has been around for 2,000 years. We’re not a fly-by-night operation. The Church has a track record that spans centuries: Malicious leaders have tried to destroy it, hostile groups have persecuted it, and skeptics have scoffed at it. Nevertheless, God’s Church is bigger now than ever before in history.

Why? Because it’s the Church that Jesus established, and it is indestructible. The Bible calls the Church an unshakable kingdom. In Matthew 16, Jesus says, “I will build my Church and all the powers of hell will not conquer it.” All the powers of hell – in other words, no hurricane, no earthquake, no tsunami, no famine, no pandemic, no army will ever conquer the Church established by Jesus Christ.

4. The Church provides the fastest expansion.
Did you know that every day 60,000 new people come to believe in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior? By the end of today, thousands of new churches will be started throughout the world, and that will happen tomorrow and the next day and the next.

In one country that is closed to traditional Christian missions, more than 60,000 house churches have been started in one province by the work of lay people, no different from the people who fill your church sanctuary every weekend.


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If you’ve got a problem that’s growing at
a rapid rate, then you need a solution
that will grow even more rapidly. For
instance, HIV/AIDS is growing at an
incredibly fast rate in the world. Yet
thank God, the Church is outgrowing
the disease,so more and more believers
can help minister to those with HIV/AIDS.
Rick Warren
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Why is fast expansion important? If you’ve got a problem that’s growing at a rapid rate, then you need a solution that will grow even more rapidly. For instance, HIV/AIDS is growing at an incredibly fast rate in the world. Yet thank God the Church is outgrowing the disease, so more and more believers can help minister to those with HIV/AIDS.

If we’re going to tackle global giants like poverty, disease, or illiteracy, then we must be part of something that’s growing faster than the problem. The Church is doing just that!

5. The Church provides the highest motivation.
Why do any of us do what we do in ministry? It’s not to make money, not to make a name for ourselves and not for duty to our nation. We do it out of love. Jesus stated it as the Great Commandment: “Love God with all your heart and love your neighbor as yourself.” We wouldn’t do the hard work required to tackle these global giants for money, for fame, or for anything else. It just wouldn’t be worth it; we’d quit before the end.

We’re motivated to keep at the hard work of ministry because we love God, and our love for God compels us to love other people. It is love that never gives up; it is love that keeps moving forward despite the appearance of impossible odds; and it is love that outlasts any problem.

6. The Church provides the strongest authorization.
God authorized the Church to take on global giants, such as spiritual lostness, egocentric leadership, poverty, disease, and ignorance. With God’s authorization, the outcome is guaranteed to be successful.

When you know that God has authorized you to do something, you don’t worry about failure because God doesn’t sponsor flops. If God says we’re going to do it, it’s going to happen. It is inevitable. In fact, the Bible teaches that God will give us his power to complete the task. This is God’s way - ordinary people empowered by his Spirit.

7. The Church provides the simplest administration.
The Church is organized in such a way that we can network faster and with less bureaucracy than most governmental agencies or even well-meaning charities. For instance, the organizational structure at Saddleback, which is based on the New Testament model, holds that every member is a minister. Each person in our church family is encouraged to use his or her own S.H.A.P.E. (Spiritual gifts, Heart, Abilities, Personality, Experiences) to do what God has called him or her to do. There is no bureaucracy or hierarchy. There isn’t a single committee, and the process doesn’t require a long list of approvals.

The old wineskin of command and control won’t work well in the 21st century. The organization of the future is the “network.” And there’s no better worldwide network than the Church, where every member is a minister and empowered to do what God wants done.

The P.E.A.C.E. Plan
Want to learn more about Rick Warren’s historic plan to tackle the global giants of spiritual lostness, egocentric leadership, poverty, disease, and ignorance? Check out Purpose Driven Ministries’ P.E.A.C.E. Plan Web site.
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Consider it this way – tens of millions of Christians in millions of small groups that are part of churches around the world can take on the global giants with no other authority than that given from Jesus Christ. In other words, we have God’s permission and we have God’s command to do it. There is no need to seek permission from anyone else.

8. The Church provides for God’s conclusion.
Since we believe the Bible is God’s Word, we already know the end of history. Jesus said in Matthew 24: “The good news about God’s Kingdom will be preached in all the world to every nation, and then the end will come.” It is inevitable and unavoidable.

When you consider these eight advantages, think about the exponential explosion of ministry when millions upon millions of small groups in millions upon millions of churches organize in such a way that each person can do their part in attacking the five global giants.

What do you think could happen if God’s people prayed against these global giants, prepared for action against these giants, and then moved through faith to tackle these giants?

We may look at these problems and think, “These are too big! How could we possibly solve them?”

But with God, nothing is impossible – and if we all work together as his Church, we’ll see these giants falls just as Goliath fell when faced with David’s obedience to God.

Pastor, it is a great privilege and an awesome responsibility to lead a local church. God wouldn’t have placed you where you are if he didn’t believe you could handle the task before you. You play a vital role in tackling these global giants. It is my privilege to co-labor with you.

Your Pastor Is Only Human!

Your Pastor Is Only Human!
by Tim Franklin
http://www.charismamag.com/cms/spiritual-growth/080408.html

I just want to go to a place where nobody knows us!" my wife, Kelly, lamented. As I looked into her tender eyes, I identified with her frustration. A myriad of interruptions had sidetracked us from the date we had planned.
First we had to extinguish a rumor that our marriage was in trouble. Then we discovered that the new Igloo cooler we had loaned to a friend from church the week before would not be coming back. Next we had to explain to our two boys why they had gotten in trouble for playing on the church platform when other children hadn't.

And just when we were about to leave on our night out, the phone rang. Expecting a family member, I picked it up--only to find a talkative saint instead. Not just any saint, but a needy one who could not be put off.

After all these distractions I found myself struggling to get back into a romantic mood. Though I was eager to spend time with my wife, I felt drained by the demands of ministry. For the most part, life as a pastor is very rewarding. But there are some things we pastors wish our sheep knew about their shepherds.

Living life in a "fishbowl" puts tremendous pressure on a pastor and his family. Pastors and their families live under a massive cloud of intrusiveness. They feel as if they are constantly being watched, evaluated and scrutinized. Though integrity may guard their footsteps, it cannot protect their emotions from the pressure of constant surveillance.

Some church folk seem to have an endless curiosity about the pastor and his family. Known as Christian paparazzi, these people doggedly pursue sensational stories about them.

"Do you know that the pastor lets his children watch Power Rangers on TV?"

"Do you know that his wife bought a two-piece swimsuit from Victoria's Secret?"

"I hadn't heard that, but I did overhear their 6-year-old talking about the horrible argument her parents had!"

This lack of privacy is oppressive. It makes ministry heavy, and if imposed long enough, can lead to burnout.

Small-town pastors have absolutely no anonymity. Pastors who live in a church parsonage suffer even more because their home is not theirs, but public domain.

Most Christians can empathize with celebrities or those who hold public office. They criticize the paparazzi for meddling in the private lives of public people. But they do not understand that their pastors often experience the same pressure.

As a pastor, I can handle it. I signed up for this job. On the other hand, my family didn't, and they do not always know how to handle the pressure of life in a fishbowl.

As one goldfish said: "Living in the fishbowl is fine. It's all those cats watching that make me nervous!"

Pastors have to say no to some of the activity in their lives. Saying "no" does not mean we don't care. It simply means we care about our families and our health also. Pastors love their families and need to spend time with them.

My wife is the joy of my life, and my boys are the apple of my eye. When I have time away from work I can think of no place I would rather be than with them. My greatest joy and fulfillment is being refreshed by their presence and being able to add value to their lives.

Most sheep do not understand the incredible demands or expectations that are upon ministers to perform, provide and produce. We normally speak at least two times a week, and we want our messages to be inspiring and life-giving. But it takes quality time alone with God and periods of study to make them that way.

In addition, we are expected to counsel; lead a corporation; heal family relationships; build marriages; attend prayer meetings, fellowship groups, graduations, parties and baby dedications; raise money; build buildings; be involved in community events; oversee ministries; do hospital visitation; provide a 24-hour hot line service at home; and be model spouses and parents.

These are just a sample of the "expectations" placed on ministers! And all of them are important, all of them require time, and all of them take the minister away from his or her family.

Recently I was invited to address the graduating class of a school in another nation. The date of the event conflicted with my son's sixth-grade graduation. I told my son, "You know how much I love the nations, preaching and encouraging others, and you know how much I love you. I want you to know I am willing to skip this trip to be at your graduation. Would you like that?"

With tears filling his eyes he said, "I'd like that, Dad." In this case, it was easy to decide what to say no to!

It hurts pastors to see their children suffer at the hands of the sheep. In addition to feeling as if they are constantly being watched, pastors' kids (PKs) suffer from the pressure of the expectations that are placed on them by members of the pastors' congregations. This is one reason they often go bad. It's an easy way to avoid having to fulfill the expectations--or having to face the failure of falling short.

Part of the frustration of PKs is that they are constantly confronted by people who think they know them because they know who their parents are. "Are you going to preach like your daddy or teach like your mama?" the people ask. The kids are treated like property of the local church that is boxed, tagged and filed away in a closet!

The end result is that no one takes time to get to know them. They are not seen as individuals having worth on their own but as extensions of their parents. This creates a tremendous identity crisis as well as much confusion and loneliness.

PKs also suffer when people try to use them to get to the pastors. Some sheep will slide a piece of candy into a PK's hand and then begin to ask probing questions, seeking information about their idol--or their target--like a stalker.

Children and teens do not have the social skills to deal with this kind of pressure from adults. They should not be put into the position of being either a spokesperson for, or a defender of, their parents.

It is hard for PKs to be themselves. Because they are children of pastors, they are expected to behave properly, be spiritual and correctly answer all the Bible questions that are asked of them. Yet when they excel in these areas, people attribute their success to their parents!

"You got all that from your parents," they say, or, "You're the pastor's kid." Rather than recognizing that the children worked hard to do well, sheep, with such comments, strip away the personal identity that PKs have tried to develop.

The end result is that PKs begin to feel like actors on a stage. They aren't real people, just characters trying to please a demanding audience. And inside, they begin to rebel against the hypocrisy and religiosity of those around them.

It hurts pastors to see their children lose their sense of identity and begin to "perform." It hurts to watch them, when they finally tire of this game, turn away from all their parents hold dear--because they believe the church is responsible for their unhappiness.

Like most kids, PKs don't want to be actors. They don't want to hide behind masks that are not them. They want to be "real." You can
help them--and your pastor--by loving and accepting them as they are and encouraging them to become all God intends for them to be.

Unrealistic expectations on the pastor's spouse hinder the church from advancing. Contrary to popular belief, not every pastor's spouse is called to co-pastor, play piano, sing in the choir, teach Sunday school, counsel and organize church dinners. Some spouses have their own careers that they enjoy. Others are content to be at home with the kids. Still others enjoy being actively involved in ministry.

But we must realize that each person has his own unique spiritual gift, and to force our expectations of what a pastor's spouse--male or female--should do or be upon him is wrong. Confusion results when spouses try to be something they are not. They take on false guilt when they do not perform to the standards of others. And often they burn out when they are unable to minister out of their gifts and are forced to perform something that is not in their hearts to do.

A pastor's spouse has a life, just like every other member of the congregation, and many times it involves juggling a career, home and church--a difficult feat. Yet often the pastor's sheep have such high expectations that a spouse cannot miss church for any reason without creating an uproar in the congregation.

These kinds of expectations are unreasonable and can lead to depression and burnout. Many pastors have been forced to step out of ministry altogether because of the stress it places on their spouses.

Not every pastor is a gifted leader. Recently I was talking with a pastor who was ready to throw in the towel. With each word he spoke, I could feel his pain. "I can't do this anymore. I am not gifted to lead. I can't be what they need."

Most pastors are not trained to lead churches. They are not taught how to assess their weaknesses and how to accommodate for them. They are trained to preach and accurately interpret the Scriptures.

If they are not born leaders, their weakness shines brightly for all to see when they come out of Bible school or seminary and take on the responsibility of heading up a church. They begin to feel like failures and see themselves as an embarrassment to the kingdom of God. Pastors need help in learning to lead, and they need faithful sheep to support them in the areas in which they are weak.

Some pastors who are genuinely called by God have a great mercy gift. Others are gifted evangelists, teachers, healers and so on. Not every senior pastor is gifted to lead.

In fact, leadership may not be his strength at all. If this is the case, he must be allowed to lead by letting others help determine vision, lead meetings and manage ministries. In God's kingdom, we must allow others' strengths to shine brightly where we are weak. This is how living stones fit together and how we become one body.

Pastors sometimes get lonely, and they enjoy fellowship with no expectations and sheep who express sincere appreciation. The Scriptures are full of illustrations of leaders who found themselves in this lonely place. Under the weight of incredible responsibility, Solomon cried out to God, "Give me wisdom to lead this people" (see 1 Kin. 3:9). Under the weight of physical stress, beatings, hunger and thirst Paul said, "Besides the other things, what comes upon me daily: my deep concern for all the churches" (2 Cor. 11:28, NKJV). Under the weight of the cross, Jesus cried out, "'My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?'" (Matt. 27:46).

Leadership can be lonely because of the responsibility it entails. Pastors know that the "buck stops with the man at the helm of the ship" and that they must give an account to God for the souls they have pastored. They also know that the church's success or failure will ultimately fall back on them.

This is all the more reason for sheep to be aware of the things that are important to pastors and to become powerful supporters and encouragers of the grace that is at work in them and defenders of the values they hold dear.

What do pastors want most from their sheep? The writer of the book of Hebrews says it best: "But do not forget to do good and to share, for with such sacrifices God is well pleased. Obey those who rule over you, and be submissive, for they watch out for your souls, as those who must give account. Let them do so with joy and not with grief, for that would be unprofitable for you" (Heb. 13:16-17).

We all want to "watch out for your souls...with joy." Remembering that we are only human and doing your part to reduce the pressure will help a lot.

Tim Franklin is pastor of Freedom Christian Center in Melbourne, Florida. He and his wife, Kelly, and their two sons have endured life in the ministry fishbowl for 16 years.