EWI News: Christian - Muslim Interactions from Shane's Muslim Connect Ramadan began this week, and my friend, colleague, and hero penned this from his city in Europe where he and his family live and reach out to Muslim immigrants: “Last night I was meeting with my students from North Africa and was asking them what the best and worst part of their week was. All four of them said the best part was that Ramadan was starting today! Here’s a question to ponder for a moment: Why is it that Muslims love and look forward to the month-long period of fasting?  It's inspiring to me ..read more

EWI News: Christian - Muslim Interactions from Shane's Muslim Connect I learned something really cool recently: Senegal is known as the country of teranga. While difficult to translate, teranga communicates a sense of hospitality, respect, inclusion, and looking out for the other. It captures an essence of Senegalese culture and describes a common purpose of both the people and the nation.  As is often true, this cultural reality can be readily seen around the table, or, in the case of Senegal, the bowl. Meals are frequently eaten from a common bowl, and there’s always room for an ex ..read more

EWI News: Christian - Muslim Interactions from Shane's Muslim Connect Philippians is a densely rich and bright little letter, isn’t it? I was just reading it to prep for a vlog with a pastor friend. (Want to do something fun? Click here to blow up the views on a recent Luke series we did together.) Going through Philippians, I was reminded again of Paul’s emphasis on partnership.  Steve Hawthorne, a huge mentor for me, talks about Philippians essentially being Paul’s jail-bound emotive, missionary prayer letter to a supporting church. He says when Paul claims in 1.7 “it is right ..read more

EWI News: Christian - Muslim Interactions from Shane's Muslim Connect Do you ever ask yourself, “What, ultimately, is God trying to do?” The fundamentals for my answer to that question come from the front and the back of the Book: Genesis 12.3 where God says he’ll bless Abraham so Abraham can be a blessing to all the peoples of the earth. And Rev. 7.9 where John sees the result of that pledge.  Someone from somewhere must take the beautiful blessing into the people groups who’ve yet to have it. Until that happens, John’s vision of some from all peoples worshiping God is not realized ..read more

EWI News: Christian - Muslim Interactions from Shane's Muslim Connect Do you ever get this feeling like I do that Joe Christian and Malik Muslim tend to initially approach each other like a couple of roosters, puffing out, itching for a fight, confident the other guy needs put in his place?  Of course this is almost always theoretical, played out in our minds, but why even there?   •  Maybe we’re taking up our position in the global war on terror.  •  Maybe we’re defending, or not cheating on, Jesus.  •  Maybe we hope Muslims will bow to Jesus before it ..read more

EWI News: Christian - Muslim Interactions from Shane's Muslim Connect If you’re new to Muslim Connect or just a little curious, here’s a < 2 min. intro to me that I shot today. Just a little peek behind the curtain. Around our little part of southern Colorado, new houses are popping up like dandelions in springtime. You can’t blame builders: People want to buy homes and move here. And I can’t blame people for wanting to move here: I did and it is gorgeous.  But can we handle the influx? The limiting factor in our equation is water. Will there be enough for everyone to sip, fl ..read more

EWI News: Christian - Muslim Interactions from Shane's Muslim Connect My kiddos took off for their first day of school today. If yours did too, I celebrate with you! You survived the summer! You’re a rock star!  Most of our kids will encounter one of the two following scenarios when they return to school: They’ll be the new kid (if so, the love of Jesus to them and you!) Or they’ll discover new students have arrived in their classroom.  I haven’t heard yet what the “new kid” situation is for my guys, but, since I really want them to learn to act like Jesus, here’s what I’m ..read more

EWI News: Muslims Today from Shane's Muslim Connect My dentist asked me yesterday if I was looking forward to the kids going back to school. “A little bit,” I confessed. When she said she was sad, I told her, “You’re a better mom than I am!”  While August is a “look forward” month for me, the 15% of Muslims who are Shia are “looking back.” The first month of the Islamic calendar, Muharram, roughly overlaps with August this year. While it means different things for different Muslims, for Shi'a it is a time of intense commemoration of Husayn, the martyred grandson of Muhammad and ..read more

EWI News: Christian - Muslim Interactions from Shane's Muslim Connect When’s the last time you heard a sermon on Hagar or Ishmael? True confession: I don’t think I’ve ever preached one. But my good friend Deborah is going to, should Covid let her out of the house! Her thoughts on that dynamic duo have encouraged me this morning, and I’d like to share a couple of them with you. (The majority of the following thoughts are from Deborah, unless they sound goofy. In that case, they’re from me!) Similar to the way Christians are linked to Abraham by heritage, rather than blood, Muslims fee ..read more

EWI News: Muslims Today from Shane's Muslim Connect Do you like Malcolm Gladwell? I do. A lot. How could you not? Cheeky, Canadian, Mennonite, and a journalist who makes you think. I’m a big fan of his podcast Revisionist History. This season he’s proposing an interesting question: If you had a magic wand and could create an experiment without regard to cost, time, ethics, etc, what would you do?  I love these sorts of questions: If someone offered to pay for a five-week, five-figure vacation for you and your people, what would you do and where?  And more pointedly for Musl ..read more