Islam Rising: Book One

Author: Jim Murk

Never Ending Jihad Against Christianity

This first book, in a two part series, covers many topics. Who was Muhammad and what are the core teachings of Islam? How does Islam differ from Christianity? Is Allah the same as the God of the Bible? What is Holy Jihad? Who are the terrorists, and what do they want from us? Is Islam a religion of peace, justice and tolerance as has been claimed? Comparisons are made between Jesus and Muhammad, the Bible and the Qur’an, Allah and the God of the Bible, and other basics in the teachings of Christianity and Islam. Also what is our responsibility as Christians toward our Muslim neighbors? Finally what does the influx of 4 million immigrants from Islamic nations mean for our American society? To what extent are we in danger from terrorism in America? What is being taught in their mosques concerning Israel, Christianity, Western culture and America? What does the Bible say about Islam and the Last Days? What does the revival of Islam mean for America, for Israel, and for the world?

America and other western nations are in the midst of a worldwide conflict with this militant form of Islam, which claims that it is only being faithful to the truth of the Qur’an and to the teachings of Muhammad. Some are calling this struggle World War IV--the Cold War having been WWIII. This is more than simply a War on Terror. In all honesty, it is a war of Western civilization against a resurgent, militant, orthodox Islam called Islamism, whose followers and sympathizers are found within all the Muslim nations. Can this be true? Many have tried to assure us, including Muslims themselves, that Islam is a peaceful and tolerant religion and that Islamism is an aberration.

US SRP: $ 12.99 US
Binding: Paperback
Features: Bibliography, Index, Table of Contents
Physical Info: 0.52" H x 8.52" L x 5.24" W (0.65 lbs) 256 pages
Publisher: 21st Century Press
Pub Date: July 2005

About the Author

Dr. Jim Murk was trained as an academician. He was a senior in high school at age 15, and by the age of 19 he entered graduate school at the University of Chicago by examination where he earned a Master’s degree in the history of the Middle Ages, Renaissance, and Reformation. After two years in Bible College and Seminary, he earned another Master’s degree from the University of Minnesota in Cultural Anthropology as a missions project, and another Master’s in Theology from Bob Jones University where he was also chairman of the history department. His Ph.D. from Louisiana Baptist University bridges all of his major fields of study.

He also taught linguistics for the Wycliffe Bible Translators’ Summer Institute of Linguistics, served briefly in Mexico, and then joined the staff of the Navigators. He and his wife Donna opened the Navigator home and ministered with the Missionary Internship Training Program in the Chicago area. He was next invited on the faculty at Wheaton College where he taught for 8 years and was briefly the chairman of the Anthropology Department.

He received a Danforth Teachers Grant and was candidate for the Ph.D. at the University of Chicago.

While teaching Dr. Murk won the national championship of the Ted Mack Original Amateur Hour on CBSTV in 1963 as a lyric tenor, which opened a call to a national and international ministry in music evangelism, preaching and teaching. He felt called out of the academic world and has been pursuing this public ministry with his wife and family members for 40 years having over 6,000 meetings in all 50 states and 25 foreign mission fields.
Dr. Murk had studied Islam at the University of Minnesota Graduate School of Anthropology and developed a course called The Islamic Culture Sphere for the Summer Institute of Missions and anthropology majors at Wheaton College. Now since the recent resurgence of a militant Islam in the world, he has been conducting seminars around the country on “What Christians Need to Know About Islam!” This book is Part One of a two-part publication. Part Two, soon to be released, is called Islam Rising: The Never Ending Jihad Against Jews and Israel. This study will also cover Islam in America and Islam in Biblical prophecy.

Dr. Murk and his wife Donna are the parents of five children, all of whom are serving the Lord. They have 15 grandchildren, all being brought up as the Scriptures command “in the nurture and admonition of the Lord,” many of whom are serving with their parents in ministry in many parts of the world.

Read the first chapter

When historians look back on this day, they will have to conclude that the most empowering, dynamic, and influential happenings have been (1) the surging rise of militant Islam, (2) the incredible resurrection of Israel as a nation, and (3) the escalating expansion of grassroots Christianity all over the world. Israel and Christianity are presently in grave conflict with the rise of Islam, and, as the world looks on, one wonders who will endure.

Since 1914, Nazis, Communists and now Islamic fundamentalists (Islamo-fascists) have been inspired with the goal of world conquest and control. These systems are evil, but they can project a kind of reasonableness, a moral purpose, and even a “form of godliness.” Nazis and Communists and Islamists have all claimed the moral high road. They have similarly justified any means to promote and impose their doctrines and social systems on others, seeking to extend their power and influence on the entire world. In the Bible this desire of men for global domination has always been presented as a goal in opposition to God.

All three of these movements have used the same techniques, employed similar practices, and followed many of the same principles: (1) They have practiced mass killing or murder of millions of inconvenient and innocent human beings; (2) They have cultivated the motivating force of hatred as a part of their philosophy and arsenal of weapons; (3) They have used propaganda, a euphemism for the “big lie,” to excuse, confuse, persuade, and deceive their followers and their opponents; (4) They are all totalitarian systems seeking to impose their will on the world.

All extremists have a sense that they are the custodians of the moral right with the best answers to human problems. They seek therefore to forcibly impose their values on the rest of us. These include those on the extreme left in the Western world. These “secular fundamentalists” possess a totalitarian spirit. This is certainly true among leftists in America. They are guilty of promoting mass murder in the guise of abortion and euthanasia. They are also unabashed in their use of hatred and flagrant lying to advance their causes. Altogether these groups are part of an “evil cabal,” and don't even realize it. They also support each other and have cooperated from time to time in their goals and tactics. (See David Horowitz, Unholy Alliance: Radical Islam and the American Left, Regnery Publishing, 2004)

The Bible identifies Satan as a real person, a fallen angel, who is the “ruler of the darkness” of this world. He is also called the “ruler of the kingdom of the air.” The Apostle Paul says that it is this satanic spirit that dwells in the “children of disobedience” or in those human beings who choose to go their own way rather than the way of God the Creator. (Letter to the Ephesians 2:1-3) The Creator's will has been revealed to us through the prophets, apostles and Jesus Christ Himself. This was recorded and passed on to us in what we call His Word, the Sacred Scriptures. Later on in this Introduction we will expound further on this worldview and the premise of this book.

Satan's people—“the children of disobedience”—can appear to be rational and even good, but their plans are ultimately exposed in the light of day to be destructive because Satan is a hater, the “father of lies” and not a lover of truth or of mankind. By definition what is “destructive” we call “immoral”. That which we call “moral” is what is “constructive.” The true Creator God is “constructive” and therefore “good” by definition. He created everything and determines right and wrong with reference to Himself and to His will. Whereas the Creator God is “The Builder,” Satan is called “The Destroyer.”

Enthusiastic Christians want to evangelize, or win by persuasion, individuals in the world to the lordship of Christ who will someday return to cleanse the Earth and set up His Kingdom. Contrariwise, dedicated Islamists envision a military type takeover of all the nations of world and the restoration of a united Islamic super state called the Caliphate. This would be a theocracy with all men in subjection to Allah and his shari'ah law. It is the primary goal and motivating force behind fundamentalist Islam. Terrorism is just one of the tools they are using to try to achieve this goal.

Islam is a “johnny come lately” to the world of religion. In its infancy in the 7th and 8th centuries--632-732—Muslim armies coming out of Arabia conquered a huge area of the Middle East, swept across all of North Africa and up into Spain and even France. This expansion of Islam was later continued by the Ottoman Turks who defeated the Byzantine or Eastern Roman Empire taking Constantinople in 1453. All of these lands had been predominantly Christian. Four of the Christian patriarchates--Jerusalem, Antioch, Alexandria in Egypt, and Constantinople—came under Muslim control leaving Rome in the West as the only remaining major Christian metropolis.

Islam continued its expansion into Central Asia and Western China, down into India and eventually into Malaysia and Indonesia as far as the southern Philippine Islands. This was all achieved primarily by military conquest, the forcible conversion of millions, and the slaughter of other millions of resistant pagans. Today Islam is the second largest world religion numbering over 1.3 billion adherents.

Islam, after her initial phenomenal expansion, gradually became dormant losing supremacy and was surpassed in power, world influence, and commercial success by Christian Europe and America. Since the First World War, however, Islam has experienced a significant revival driven by the orthodox or fundamentalist sects such as the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, Wahhabism in Saudi Arabia, and the Shiite Ayatollahs of Iran who wish to continue this conquest of all the world's nations begun almost 14 centuries ago. They are encouraged in this by the discovery of the great reservoirs of oil, which they have called Allah's treasure, and the resource for military power that it brings. What does this mean for today's world? How best can we understand it? What do we need to know about Islam and its potential threat for the future?

America and other western nations are in the midst of a worldwide conflict with this militant form of Islam, which claims that it is only being faithful to the truth of the Qur'an and to the teachings of Muhammad. Some are calling this struggle World War IV--the Cold War having been WWIII. This is more than simply a War on Terror. In all honesty, it is a war of Western civilization against a resurgent, militant, orthodox Islam called Islamism, whose followers and sympathizers are found within all the Muslim nations. Can this be true? Many have tried to assure us, including Muslims themselves, that Islam is a peaceful and tolerant religion and that Islamism is an aberration. So-called moderate Muslims, such as King Abdullah of Jordan, decry the outrageous behavior of their militant brothers.

Let us take a journey from the present into the past and then back to the present. Then let us also think about the future. With the availability of weapons of mass destruction, we have entered an age that has before this been pictured only in science fiction. Events portend gloom and doom, but the Bible suggests a happy ending for those who dedicate themselves to the Creator God. It is called “The Blessed Hope.” I hope that all of our readers discover it.

Islam Rising: Book One Author: Jim Murk
	Item#	Binding	isbn - 10	Price
	9780976624394	Paperback	0976624397	9.95
This first book, in a two part series, covers many topics. Who was Muhammad and what are the core teachings of Islam? How does Islam differ from Christianity? Is Allah the same as the God of the Bible? What is Holy Jihad?

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