Ministers Say Threat of Radical Islam Worse Than on 9/11

Two Christian ministers say the threat of radical Islam is worse today than it was eight years ago when terrorists attacked the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

Pointing particularly to Iran, which is seeking to build nuclear weapons and has called for the annihilation of Israel and the U.S., author Joel C. Rosenberg and Oklahoma pastor Reza Safa hope to educate Christians about the ongoing danger of Muslim extremism through events being broadcast tonight online.

“The leaders of racial Islam no longer simply want to terrorize us, they want to annihilate us, and they’re trying to obtain the weapons to do it,” said Rosenberg, author of the New York Times best-seller Inside the Islamic Revolution, which was adapted into a documentary that released today.

Rosenberg will lead a webcast town hall tonight at 7 p.m. Eastern that is to be broadcast into more than 600 churches from Calvary Chapel Philadelphia. Speakers include retired Lt. Gen. Jerry Boykin, former deputy undersecretary of defense for intelligence, and Christian revivalist Hormoz Shariat, a former radical Shia Muslim.

Meanwhile, Safa is hosting a free conference at River of Life Assembly of God in Estero, Fla., that is aimed at reversing the ideology that birthed 9/11, which Safa says is still alive and well. The Reversing Jihad Conference begins tonight at 6:30 p.m. Eastern and will be broadcast live online at Lifestream.tv.

The event, which runs through Saturday afternoon, features such speakers as evangelist Sam Shamoun; Tom Trento, president of the Florida Security Council, a terrorist watchdog group; and pastor Jeremiah Cummings, a former member of the Nation of Islam.

Safa, a former Muslim from Iran who is now pastor of Fisherman’s House Church in Tulsa, says 9/11 helped advance the spread of Islam in America because government leaders tagged it as a peaceful religion that did not support terrorism.

“What’s been happening since 9/11, our government and the media has been telling us Islam is a peaceful religion, but I say that’s misleading,” Safa said. “Islam is not a religion; it’s a political system. That political system, just like communism, is a threat to our existence. … [Unless the church realizes] this religion is evil in its core beliefs [and], the American public realizes this, we will continue to have problems with radicalism.”

Although the political implications of radical Islam will be discussed at both events, the ministers say Christians must respond to Islam with fasting, prayer and evangelism.

Safa, president of the 24-hour Christian satellite network Nejat TV, which broadcasts the gospel into the Middle East, says he has seen millions of Muslims come to Christ in recent years. “They sit there and weep because of the hunger that is in their hearts,” Safa said.

He believes even more Muslims would come to salvation if the church will reach out to them in love. “Love says no matter what they do, I need to reach them,” Safa said, who offers resources about Islam on his Web site. “Love says I’m not afraid of what they do. Love says I have to reach this segment of society that doesn’t know anything about Christ.”

Because of Christians’ silence, Muslims have become bold, Safa said, describing a large-scale Muslim prayer gathering on Capitol Hill later this month as a “slap in the face of Christianity.”

“It is a mockery of the Christian faith,” Safa said. “It’s a mockery of all of it. In a sense, I’m happy for it because the church needs to wake up before it’s too late.”

Rosenberg, who also provides evangelistic resources at his Web site, InsidetheRevolution.org, said Islam on Capitol Hill can be an opportunity for evangelism.

“My prayer is that people go out and just start handing out copies of the New Testament in Arabic to those who are there,” he said. “To share the gospel. That they show love and mercy to those who are there who are Muslims. That they don’t get into arguments. You’re not going to persuade Muslims by arguing with them.”

Despite the threat of Muslim extremism, God can supernaturally protect His people, Rosenberg said, pointing to the biblical story of Esther.

“I think if God can save the entire Jewish people from annihilation by Persians through two faithful followers, maybe if we had a million evangelicals praying faithfully and fasting for the peace of Jerusalem and the salvation of everyone in the region, we would see the hand of God move so powerfully,” Rosenberg said. “And that is what the town hall meeting is all about.”