My Reply:

A lot of people may think that because both the Bible and the Quran claim the name of God, that they're very much the same. But there are really a lot of differences between the two. Some of these differences between the Bible and the Quran are:

-The Bible was written by evangelists and scribes inspired by God.
-The Quran was written by generals inspired by greed, power, and conflict.

-The Bible was written 500 years before the Quran, and speaks of the Truth.
-The Quran was written later, supposedly based upon the Bible, yet contradicts the Bible, even claiming the Bible to be corrupt.

-The Bible tells of Jesus being the Messiah who died on the cross, was resurrected 3 days later, and ascended into Heaven.
-The Quran tells of Jesus falsifying his death on the cross, walking around 3 days later claiming to have died, and of Him ascending into Heaven.

-The Bible's books are categorized in chapter and verse.
-The Quran is categorized only by verse (or is it only by chapter? Or maybe it’s every 10 verses.)

-The Bible has many styles in its writings (letters, prophesy, prayers, history, songs, wisdom, laws, Gospel, etc.)
-The Quran is basically written in the form of the Bible's Proverbs (wisdom), and instructions (do this, not this, accept these people, not those people, trust these people, hate and don’t trust these people, etc.)

-The Bible is the Word of God, telling of God’s history with and among His people.

-The Quran is a word of humans, meant to persuade, advise, and tell of Muhammad’s history among his people.

-Muslims don't consider translations of the Quran holy. Only the original language to them is holy.

-The Bible is Holy regardless of the language it's in (you've also got to figure, God created all languages).

-The Bible is Truth-based.

-The Quran is more opinion/advise-based.

-In the Bible, Jesus says not to trust anyone who comes after Him claiming to be the Messiah, for such will only be false prophets.
-The Quran says to believe Jesus and to trust the Gospels.

…just to name a few.

---Pastor Andy

Why Didn't Jesus Prevent His Own Crucifixion?

(Copyright Gospel Communications International, Inc - www.reverendfun.com)

Question:

Jesus turned water into wine and raised Lazarus from the dead. Wouldn't common sense dictate that he turn the crucifix into a horse that he could ride away on and escape or turn the crown of thorns into a more comfortable hat (or at least something along these lines)?
I’m not very learned when it comes to the Bible (I haven’t read it, but I did see Mel Gibson’s movie and have heard several recounts from friends). But I DO know that whenever Jesus encountered a problem (no wine at his friend’s party, he turned water into wine AND when his friend died he raised him from the dead)…my friend told me that Jesus solves all problems, but it seems that his biggest gaffe was not solving the problem of his own murder!

My Reply:

Although Jesus could have prevented His crucifixion, He didn't because it was the whole reason He came in the first place.
In His crucifixion, He took upon Him the sins of the world (yours, mine, everybody's!). But most of all, He had to be crucified (the worst way of dying in that time, also the most cursed way according to the Hebrew Law) in order to be resurrected, which is His main purpose. It was the only way we could be with Him for all eternity.
So today, people see His crucifixion as weakness, but it was actually Jesus' great strength, for He LET Himself be crucified. Jesus loves us enough and wants us to be with Him so badly that He paid the price that we couldn't pay...it's the power of genuine love. All we have to do now to actually be with Him is to accept His invitation whole (or broken) -heartedly.

---Pastor Andy

Canaanite Reclaim Israel?

Question:
If I told the U.N. that I was a Canaanite and wanted my land back, do you think Israel would fork it over?

My Reply:
Well, according to the Bible, God told Abraham, Isaac, Jacob (A.K.A. "Israel"), Moses, and Joshua that the land that He was giving them was that of the Canaanites, and that they first needed to wipe out all the inhabitants in order for them to fully own it. Although, instead of wiping them all out, the Israelites did to the remaining Canaanite natives what Egypt did to them...forced them to slave labor).
So to answer your question, if there is such a thing today as a Canaanite (and it is very well possible for you to be Canaanite), then you may want to keep low instead..

Picture courtesy of: http://www.katapi.org.uk/Maps/Canaan12t.htm