with missionary Jonathan Doub

Best-selling author, speaker, and advocate for Christian apologetics, Dr. Alex McFarland.

Best-selling author and apologist, Dylan Burrows. Together, bringing you truth for a new generation, this is TNG Radio. Very famously, the Word of God tells the Church to go into all the world and make disciples of all nations.

That's Matthew 28, 18, 19, and 20. Mark 16, 15, Christ said, go and preach the gospel to every creature throughout the world. And with that, we welcome you to today's edition of Truth for a New Generation Radio. Alex McFarland here with my co-host Dylan Burrows, and we're talking about the Great Commission, the mandate to go into all the world and share the news of salvation through Jesus Christ.

Dylan, I am so excited about today's program, not only because of the guest that we're going to speak with, but the topic that we're going to kind of hone in on. And we're going to be talking with a very innovative missionary from Cyprus. I feel like we're talking about not only the Bible's Great Commission, but the lands of the Bible, lands mentioned in the Bible. But Dylan, throughout the last 2,000 years, the Great Commission is something God told us to do that, at times, has been taken very seriously with great commitment, and sadly, at other times, not really emphasized as much as it should. Yeah, so it's easy to focus on ourselves and what's going on in our own lives, but very clearly Jesus left His final words in Matthew 28, therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. So that is the emphasis we're talking about here today with Jonathan, and looking forward to hearing from him.

So let's dive right in as we talk today about the Great Commission as it applies to reaching people in Cyprus and around the world. Well, yes, I'm always excited to meet people that are committed to win souls to Christ, especially the Muslim world. And so before Christmas, I was at an event and I met Jonathan and Katie, and was just so interested in the work they're doing. And we were talking about sharing Jesus with Muslim people, and I wanted to have him on the program, and so Jonathan, thanks for taking time. I know you're in the States for a little while, and you're going to go back to the mission field, but thank you, and welcome to Truth for a New Generation.

Yeah, thank you, Alex, it really is a blessing to be able to spend all the time with you guys. Well, give us a little backdrop on yourself and your family. Um, well, I was raised in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. I went to a Christian school here in town, and my wife is not from here at all. She's from England, and in an amazing way, as we were both growing up, God called us both to the mission field through a couple short-term trips that we went on, and we actually met in Ukraine. When I was over for a summer, I was playing basketball here during college and took a summer trip over for just a couple months and met my wife there, and that really was the beginning of just my heart being burdened for missions as well, and so came back to the States from Ukraine and just felt like God would have me to put college and some sports I was involved in on hold and pursue just serving Him on the mission field, so that's, you know, that's briefly how it happened.

Sure. How did the Lord lead you all to Cyprus? Once I moved on the mission field, the first place that my wife and I actually lived was a place called Kyrgyzstan, and it was in Central Asia. It's another Muslim part of the world, and we worked with two other families to plant a Calvary Chapel Church there, and we lived there for about four or five years, and I think during that time really is when all of us, you know, we were all young, we were in our early 20s, but we started to realize how much openness there really was amongst Muslim people. Not all, but a lot of the Muslim world is more open than we in the West sometimes would assume it to be, and with that new kind of understanding, we left Kyrgyzstan and left the church with a local pastor there, the three families that were living there we all pulled out as God established that work, and we all left with a heart for other Muslim nations, and as I was reading about other places the Lord brought Cyprus to my attention and just found out about this Turkish half of the island where there was really not any missionaries going to, and yet it seemed to be very open for the gospel, and so the Lord gave me a vision for the place. As I was praying one day, I gave my wife a word of scripture, and he called us to go out there and to plant a Bible-teaching church there. That's amazing, Jonathan, and as we look further at this idea of reaching Muslims with the gospel, what is it that is helpful in connecting with people of a Muslim background and starting to talk about the things of scripture, about the teachings of Jesus, and helping guide people toward this understanding of Jesus as God's Son?

Right, that is a great question. For the most part, faith is a legitimate part of who they are. It's very much tied to their nationality, and so to ask them questions very openly and honestly about their faith, what they believe, why they believe it, that's not a strange thing for them. You always have to exercise wisdom and depend on the Spirit to lead you as you interact with them, but for the most part, it's very normal for them to receive a question like that because it's something that is a part of who they are as well.

I'm just going to dive in and start getting to know people. They're very friendly. The church are very friendly, very warm, hospitable people, outwardly, and so it's really easy to just engage in conversations about significant, eternal things with them. How much do the Muslims in Cyprus know about Jesus or Christianity or how to have a relationship with Christ? Yeah, well, they know of Jesus. Pretty much every religion in the world has some kind of mention of Jesus, especially Islam. He's mentioned many times in their book, the Qur'an. However, the big difference between us as Christians and them as Muslims is that they don't really have an understanding that, number one, Jesus is God. They don't acknowledge him as God.

That's a big obstacle hurdle to kind of get through. Really, their relationship with God is all based around just doing the things, really based on the five pillars of Islam that we read about in the Qur'an. They believe if they do well enough that they will, at the end of life, be rewarded with a place in paradise. But really, here and now, they don't—all their relationship with God is based around really just trying not to make him angry, right?

Just try to stay on good terms with him. But there's not that personal intimacy that you and I would describe our relationship with Jesus to be. Well, Jonathan, we look forward to talking more in just a moment on Truth for a New Generation. We'll be right back.

Stick with us. We're in a battle for the future of our nation, and I want to see you at Truth for a New Generation as we pray and get equipped to defend the faith, asking God to save our nation. First Peter 3.15 tells us to be ready always to give an answer for the hope we have.

We're instructed to be prepared to defend our faith. This is Alex McFarland for the Life Answers Teams, students we train at North Greenville University, a leading Christian college in South Carolina. The Life Answers Teams are made up of students who will inspire and equip your congregation. These apologetics teams we train speak in churches to youth groups and train Christians of all ages to address key issues of our times from a biblical perspective. Like, is there a God?

Is the Bible true? What about gender and moral issues? Call me at 864-977-2008 and we will arrange for the Life Answers Team to come to your church and give a presentation that will benefit your people for years to come. 864-977-2008 and always be ready. Hey, we're going to resume our talk about missions and the Great Commission, but I do want to remind everybody that coming up very, very soon is Truth for a New Generation, our big national conference on apologetics and worldview. Okay, listen up, folks. This is March 23-24.

Greensboro, North Carolina, we're coming back to central North Carolina, first TNG event there in about 15 years. This is going to be amazing, folks. Todd Starnes from Fox News, Lauren Green from Fox News, Jay Warner Wallace, renowned apologist, cold case Christianity, an amazing speaker. If you've got a skeptical friend or an agnostic, because Wallace himself was an agnostic for much of his adult life and used his skills as an LA homicide detective and he became convinced Christianity is true. He's an amazing scholar and speaker. Josh McDowell, one of the world's renowned apologists and much, much more. We've got incredible music from North Greenville University, two bands that they're bringing.

This is great for youth, it's great for adults, it's great for all ages. It's an opportunity really to bring an unsaved friend under the sound of the gospel. The website, listen up, truthforanewgeneration.com.

If you live locally, you'll be able to drive. We have deals with several hotels because I know there are people coming in from out of state. So I encourage you, register and attend soon. It's coming up March 23-24, Truth for New Generation. You can not only help us with our theme, Save a Nation. We're going to join together, we're going to pray for this country, but we're also going to help you get equipped to share your faith confidently in any situation. I hope to see you there. And I'm very excited for Jonathan and Katie Daub, who are missionaries in Cyprus.

They're in the States for a while. And I just thought it would be really beneficial to get an expert from the front lines of ministry on the program to talk about reaching out to those precious souls. The Lord loves the Muslim people, but they need Jesus. And so Jonathan is telling us about how we can share the gospel.

And Dylan, I happen to think this might be the church's main assignment at this hour. The church in every generation has things God hands us to do, but really, taking Christ to the Muslim world, that's got to be very high on the priority list. Well certainly, and I tell people that God's love does not stop at the border, and neither should ours.

We should have a heart for those who are far from Christ and those who are far from where we live. And as we talk, Jonathan, I want to ask you a little bit about what are some of the differences between the view of Jesus from those of a Muslim background versus the view of Jesus we see in the Bible? Because this is really one of the key sticking points we see in sharing the gospel. What do Muslims think of who Jesus is, and what do you do to talk with them about the real biblical message of the gospel?

Right. You know, the first thing usually always that happens when you share the gospel with a Muslim person, whether they're very committed to their faith or just kind of a nominal Muslim, is that they have some kind of response that directly will—their belief system contradicts ours as far as who the person of Jesus Christ is. And that's a big deal, because the gospel hinges on Jesus's claims of who he said he was, and so one of the big ones that people will say to you is that, well, Jesus never died on the cross, right? There's a verse in the Qur'an that mentions that it only appeared that Jesus died, and so consequently he wasn't raised from the dead as well because he never died. As you get to know a person more and more and you may have the freedom to challenge and push those things, you can go with them through the historical accuracy of the Bible and perhaps open up an elongated conversation over weeks and months of just the accuracy of the Qur'an and the Bible together, that can be helpful. Yeah, I mean, it takes time.

There's not any kind of a quick fix. I mean, these people have been taught these things since birth. As much as we've been taught in church that Jesus died and rose again, they've been taught that he didn't die and rose again. So it takes time, and I would also just add to that that I think more than any kind of proof, historical proof, or opening up books and showing them that Christianity's belief about Jesus is accurate over what they believe as Muslims, is the long-term opportunity for a Muslim person to watch your life and witness it as being radically different in the way that you love and care for people over theirs, because it's something that their faith can never do. It can never change their heart, and I've found that it's just a process, right? I mean, that's not something that happens overnight. It just takes time for a person to be able to see that in your life. I'm so glad you bring that up because, you know, really, we need the Word of God.

We need good, like you say, historical proof, and it's there. I mean, one of the great things about apologetics is historically, logically, we can definitely defend the faith. But I think it's really without prayer, without the work of the Holy Spirit, and without a long-term relationship that shows we have an authentic message, and we ourselves are to be authentic messengers. It's all of those things the Lord uses in concert together that really makes the impact on the heart, isn't it?

Not just raw data, but relationship. Absolutely, and I think that's why sometimes we find it so challenging in the West when we think about reaching Muslims with the gospel, because, man, I mean, we like to get things done, right? In the West, we like to see things happen quickly, and you can't manipulate, one, the Spirit of God, right? It's done in His time and in His way, but, you know, it's just take time, right? Cultures in the Middle East, you know, it's a slower process than what we're used to, and it takes time for people to really see that there's a genuine change in your life. I'm so glad you mentioned that, Jonathan, because for many of us, it's not just the message that we need to communicate, but also the method in which we use to communicate the gospel.

Like you mentioned, it's a slower process, it's a relational process, and it's a process where people need to see your life on a day-to-day basis in order to make that decision to follow the Jesus that you serve. We're excited about this conversation. Look forward to continuing after the break here at Truth For A New Generation Radio, so stick with us.

We'll be right back. Attention all Christians who believe that America needs a spiritual revival, an awakening, a message of the gospel for our times. This is Alex McFarland encouraging you to attend the 2018 edition of Truth For A New Generation, the Conference on Apologetics, Worldview and Evidence for the Christian Faith, Greensboro, North Carolina, March 23 and 24. Hear an amazing lineup that includes Josh McDowell, apologist J. Warner Wallace, Lauren Green and Todd Starnes, both from Fox News, attorney Abe Hamilton III of the American Family Association, music by the bands and orchestra from North Greenville University, and much, much more.

Sessions for all ages, equipping you to share your faith confidently in any situation. Visit truthforanewgeneration.com, that's truthforanewgeneration.com, TNG 2018, to save a nation, March 23 and 24, brought to you by North Greenville University, where Christ makes the difference. Our country is falling apart. Political unrest, social upheaval, the breakdown of the family, the rise of atheism, the rise of Islam. Our religious freedoms are under attack.

There's gender fluidity, gender identity is making a mess, a freedom of expression. So we need to put some skin in the game and love this nation. As Christians, we are to stand strong.

There has to be some personal investment in the living out and the preservation of America. Stand Strong America will help you take the fear that you face and the bleakness that you face, but help you become a champion, a bold champion for Christ. In Stand Strong America, Jason Jimenez and I lay out the facts about our nation, the current condition, and how you, yes you, your family, your church, your community, can be involved in keeping this great republic. Stand Strong America is a guide to bring courage and hope for you, the Christian.

Wherever Christian books are sold. Until the whole world hears, Lord, we are calling out. Lifting up your name for all to hear the sound. Like voices in the wilderness, we're crying out. And as the day draws near, we'll sing until the whole world hears.

Welcome back to the program. We're talking about world missions. We're talking with Jonathan Dow, the missionary to Cyprus, and Dylan Burrows, Alex McFarland here. Hey Jonathan, before we go too much farther, I don't want to forget this, but how many people communicate with you? If someone wants to reach out to you, how can people pray with you?

How can people follow what you're doing? Yeah, thanks for asking. My wife and I, we do a quarterly newsletter that people could write me at my email address and just request that they be added to that. Email address is JonathanDowb1 at yahoo.com. And so any or anyone that's interested, you're more than welcome to write and just request to be added to the newsletter. Dowb is spelled D-O-U-B, correct? Yes sir.

JonathanDowb1 at yahoo.com. Let's talk a little bit about salvation, the specifics. Compare, contrast the Christian message of forgiveness and salvation with what the Muslims you minister to believe. Great question.

It's completely different. Really our salvation is one that's unearned, right? I mean, it's a free gift of God and it's just because of the grace of God.

He chose to save us and then he gives us this wonderful gift of eternal life. But for the Muslim, I think the saddest part about it is that there is an uncertainty that there really is a hopelessness. I mean, in the sense that we talk about hope, I mean, they don't have any assurance ever that they have attained or reached enough good deeds to be rewarded with eternal life and paradise when they die. There's always that uncertainty that's striving to please God and to earn his favor and his love. And so that creates quite an interesting dynamic practically when it's laid out because in real life you see people doing good deeds, you see them striving to be seen as kind and generous and compassionate, but you always have to understand it and see it through the filter of, well, it's not really motivated by love, it's motivated because they want to attain eternal life and paradise and please Allah. But for us, obviously, we're loving the world because Christ has already loved us, and so it's kind of the reverse there.

Let me ask you this, and sadly we're out of time, what a joy to have you on, my friend. But we talk about missions, we talk about going to the uttermost parts of the earth. Well, you and your family have done that. What do you say to people out there that are feeling a stirring in their heart and they're thinking, wow, how could I be involved in Christ's great commission?

I mean, give us a challenge, follow us. I would probably say to people, whether they be young as I was at 19 or older at 79, I don't think it matters your age or your life experience or your qualifications. Biblically, we don't see that as a mandate for God to use any person in a powerful way to reach people. I would encourage anyone who has a heart for missions, don't let anyone tell you that you can't or you shouldn't if God's calling you to do it.

Seek wise counsel and follow his call and do it. We all know he used 12 fishermen, 12 men, to turn the world upside down, as we're told in Acts. There's just something neat. I'm so thankful for the people, the guys around me in that early stage of my life when I was still on call that just encouraged me, that never said, you can't, you shouldn't, you need to go get more education, but just to follow the Spirit's lead in your life. And really, sky is the limit of what God can do through a person's life that's just simply faithfully yielded to the leading of his Spirit.

And I think that's key. We always want to be connected to the Holy Spirit, and when he says go, you go. So I guess that would be my encouragement, Alex, is to yield yourself to the Holy Spirit and go when he says go.

Well, that's very well said. I wanted to jump in here and just encourage you and encourage our listeners as well. You know, 1 Timothy 4.12 is very clear, do not let anyone look down on you because you're young, but set an example for the believer. So those of you out there listening who may be younger, wondering about God's calling in your life, don't let anyone look down on you because you're young, just like Jonathan's talking about. Seek God's will, seek God's wisdom. Perhaps he has a calling for you in a similar way to minister to people in another part of the world to bring the gospel to a new group of individuals who are looking for eternal life. And I know, Alex, you had a powerful story you wanted to wrap up with here as we close out our time today.

Well, thanks, Dylan, and thanks, Jonathan. You know, in Hawaii, they had a false alarm where they thought a nuclear missile was coming to hit the Hawaiian Islands from North Korea. Fortunately, thank the Lord, it was a false alarm.

But apparently a worker hit a button and the word went out, this is not a drill. And I was reading in the news and I was hearing some testimonies from people that knew people. All over, people were beginning to do business with God. They thought they had 38 minutes to live, and in 38 minutes they were going to be dead. And so people in airports were crying out to God, some people were sharing the gospel. And you know, Jonathan said that the Muslim people in Cyprus, they are thinking about their soul, they're thinking about eternity. Many of them just need to be shown how to find Jesus.

And Dylan, as we wrap up, I mean, I think about that. I suspect more people are walking around thinking about the state of their soul than we might realize. And it takes an emergency like the thought of death or a ballistic missile to cause people to really finally stop procrastinating and do business with God. But the fact is, we are all going to die. We are all going to leave this world one day. We who have found Christ need to help those who need Christ. And that is our daily, not only our calling, our mandate, it's really our privilege, isn't it?

It really is. And as we conclude, I want to leave our listeners with that thought that what if today was your final day? What if you only had 30 minutes to live? Are you prepared to meet God in the afterlife? Are you satisfied that when you meet Him, He will say, Well done, good and faithful servant? Well, perhaps today is the day you need to evaluate and prepare yourself in a special way as we look forward to that final day when we will be with Jesus face to face. Thank you so much for being with us today at Truth For A New Generation Radio.

We look forward to being with you next time. God bless. Truth For A New Generation, in association with Alex McFarland Evangelistic Ministries, exists to equip Christians with a biblical worldview through conferences and camps. For information about upcoming events, visit truthforanewgeneration.com or give us a call at 877-YES-GOD-1. That's 877-YES-GOD and the number one. TNG radio is made possible by the friends of Alex McFarland Evangelistic Ministries, P.O. Box 485, Pleasant Garden, North Carolina, 27313. That's P.O. Box 485, Pleasant Garden, North Carolina, 27313. Or give online at alexmcfarland.com or truthforanewgeneration.com. Thanks for listening and join us again next time as we bring you more truth for a new generation on TNG radio.