How a Muslim found peace

"I grew up in a Muslim family. I became a very, very strict Muslim, because of the thirst and hunger I had for the Creator. I used to think that His name was Allah. In my wildest imagination, I couldn't imagine that that's not true."

This is the remarkable testimony of a young Muslim.

"I always had a love for God. I really wanted to get to know Him. They told me if you read Koran over and over and over again, you get extra credit. If you wake up early in the morning and read Koran over and over, that really will give you extra credit. That never made me closer to God. I was always so hungry and thirsty and desperate to know God.

"For 12 years I was pursuing God, but I couldn't have a close relationship with Him. I gave up. I was so angry.

"I went to this hotel in Cyprus. I saw a Bible. I said 'Can I read it?' He said 'You can have it.' I began to read the Bible. Jesus was popping out of the Bible. Jesus, Jesus, Jesus. I think it was the third night I was reading the Bible. I read that Jesus was the Son of God. That made me so angry. I threw the book at the wall. 

"I didn't touch the Bible for three years.

"I went to this school and my teacher started to talk to me about Jesus. I couldn't believe that God is love because I never received love from God. I was a slave of God.

"I felt that I need to pray to Jesus. I asked a friend of the teacher's how can I pray. She said 'I receive you as Lord of my life. I accept your forgiveness. I accept you as the Son of God.'

"I said 'Jesus, I don't believe that you are the Son of God. I really don't. But if you are the Son of God I want you to come to my life. I don't believe your blood has any power to forgive my sin at all, but if your blood has any power to forgive my sin, I accept it.'

"I went to church. I went to church as a Muslim, but as a Muslim who was so disappointed. The pastor was preaching. I couldn't understand his preaching because I didn't have any knowledge of Bible.

"I saw a man standing behind pastor. I asked myself 'Who is this?' A voice inside of me said 'Jesus.' He walked inside me physically. Fire came all over me. My whole body was on fire. This hand came and touched my heart.

"She said 'Do you believe Jesus is the Son of God?' I said 'No, I don't. Now I believe that Jesus lives and He came to me personally. But Son of God? You need to convince me.' And I saw Jesus in heaven and He was standing on the right hand of the throne.

"He started to pour His Spirit all over me. He convinced me without saying anything. My heart knew He was the Son of God. I ran to the hotel and got to my knees. It was the most wonderful, the most beautiful moment of my life. I never had peace before. It was like I was swimming inside peace.

"If you don't have peace, if you have never received love from God, try Jesus. He will give you love. He will give you joy. He will give you peace.

"If I die today I know He is waiting there for me. I am going to jump into His arms. I am going to dance with Him. He is my closest friend. If you don't have peace, let Jesus come and turn your world upside down, and introduce Himself to you - as Love."

You can see the full testimony on video here.
   

Israel: The real peace process

So the Israel-Palestinian peace negotiations have come to an end, which is no surprise.

Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah organisation, with whom Israel was negotiating, made an agreement with Hamas, the terrorist organisation which rules in Gaza. Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he wasn't going to negotiate with a Palestinian government backed by a terrorist organisation sworn to Israel's destruction. (Hamas is recognised as a terrorist organisation by both the United States and the European Union.)

The Palestinians said their agreement had nothing to do with peace negotiations and blamed Israel for ending the talks.

The Americans seemed surprised that the Palestinians refused to accept Israel as a Jewish state. To do so would have given Israel some legitimacy, and the Palestinians will not compromise. They will now return their energies to their current strategy of seeking international standing in the hope of delegitimising Israel and forcing them, if nothing else, to make further concessions for nothing in return.

Attitudes appear to have hardened. Palestinian rockets continue to fall on southern Israel. Palestinian children are still being taught to shoot Jews.

But good things are happening. In Israel, Arab Christians and Jewish believers in Jesus are coming together to demonstrate the unity created by the Jewish Messiah. Typical was this month's At the Crossroads conference, held at Christ Church, Jerusalem, just inside the walls of the Old City.

Arab Christians came from all over the Middle East. One delegate said the worship - in Arabic, Turkish, Kurdish, Hebrew and English - was a foretaste of heaven. This, said an archbishop, is the true peace process.

One of the speakers at this year's At the Crossroads conference (not to be confused with the Christ at the Checkpoint conference, which is largely a vehicle for Palestinian propaganda) was Canon Andrew White, Vicar of Baghdad, who has worked for years for reconciliation and has a congregation of several thousand in the war-torn city. Some 1,200 of his congregation have died as victims of violence.