The Alex McFarland Show-97-Reaching Muslims with the Gospel of Jesus Christ with guest Kamal Saleem

The spiritual condition of America, politics, culture, and current events, analyzed through the lens of scripture.

Welcome to the Alex McFarland Show. Isaac, Ishmael, those are two very famous Bible names, aren't they? We're going to talk about the gospel. We're going to talk about Abraham, Isaac, Sarah, Hagar, Ishmael, and how to understand what's going on in the world today. Alex McFarland here, and I'm very honored to have with me now a brother, colleague, and friend of just at 20 years I have known this dear evangelist for the gospel.

His name is Kamal Saleem. In my opinion, he is the world expert on how Christians can reach Muslims with the gospel of Jesus Christ, and what a blessing. I'm on the road as we record this, and I arrived in Colorado to teach for a week at Karras Bible College. Many of you know, in addition to speaking and broadcasting, I'm here at Karras teaching apologetics, biblical worldview, and Andrew Womack has graciously allowed me to be a part of the curriculum development for this school. But I got into the lodge where faculty stays, didn't know anybody would be here, and who do I see but one of my greatest friends in the world, just a man of God, if there ever was a Holy Spirit-led man of God, it is Kamal Saleem.

And I can't meet Kamal and not record him for radio. So first of all, I want to say what a joy to see you, my dear brother, and thanks for making time to be with us on the program. I really have, you know, many friends in the world, but I have very few brothers. And you are a brother that I love, a brother from the same father. You know, I lost all my families, but God gave me Alex McFarland to be my brother, and I'm so thankful that I keep running into you because it makes my day brighter. Well, you're very gracious. You have spoken for us in our Truth for a New Generation conferences. You've published books. I want to talk about Israel and what's going on in the world. There's so much. But briefly, your story, you were raised in a, was it a Sunni Muslim family?

I was. I was born in Beirut, Lebanon to Muslim Sunni family. You know, Sunni is different than Shia. So when we say Sunni, it's like Saudi Arabia kind. You know, and when we say Shia, we say, you know, like Iran kind. You know, the difference between the two, both of them are the sons of Abraham, you know, the Shia and the Sunnis, but they came from different batch.

You know, so Ishmael where the Sunni came from and, you know, the sons of Keturah, the six of them, that's where the Shia came from. So you became a Christian. If you don't mind me asking, how old were you when you became a believer in Christ? I was about 25 years, 25 years old, somewhere in there. I'm the kind of guy who have issue with dates, with time and names. So I'm always remember situation, but I don't remember dates.

So I'm assuming I was about 25, 26, 27, somewhere in there, in that area. And this was a radical change of life for you. I mean, you had given your life previously to the spread of Islam and now meeting Jesus Christ. Now your whole life has done a completely different direction. The beauty about all this, it's so poetic because the greatest victory is when somebody is destined to die for the glory of Allah, meaning to exalt the name of Allah.

Because in Islam, the only way that you can exalt Allah is to kill and be killed, you know, in martyrism. I was saved in many battles. You know, this man in white clothing will appear to me and save me, you know, time after time.

And I didn't know who he was. And then one day, you know, after, you know, I had a car wreck and I broke my neck in two places, my collarbone, my, you know, my ribs, my, you know, my breast cage, you know, all of it, you know, three Christian men rose and started helping me. And then these Christian men belong to a group called, you know, Christian Businessmen Association, something like this. And they came from different group of Christians and they came together and prayed together. But the beauty about all this, these people were thinking about how are they going to save me and how they're going to give me out of their need, financial need, to set me free, you know, financially.

And I'm thinking in their middle of the circle is how I'm going to burn the house and kill everyone that nobody would know who I was. Because so I was thinking from my perspective, from my belief as a Muslim, and they were thinking from their belief as Christians. But the amazing thing is the amazing love of God pierced the darkness. There is nothing more powerful than the love of God. You know, there is the blood of Jesus that has been offered by love, you know, so therefore the love is what led him to do it all. So, you know, and so when we look at all this, I was being changed because I saw those Christian are genuine because everything we studied about Christian is fake as Muslims, you know, because it's a hearsay.

And here I am in the midst of these people and I start falling in love with people that love me unconditionally because I never understood what unconditional love before that. Before becoming a Christian, while you were a Muslim, what had you been taught about Christians? Oh, Christians worship three gods, Father, Son, and Holy Mary.

You know, I mean, they have the statue to prove it. And Christians are, you know, they're so hypocrites because their Christianity is about this, that, and the other, and they kept it to themselves. They didn't share it with the Muslims or anybody else because they don't want the whole world to be saved. They just want to save their self. So Christians are outliers.

They are demon-possessed. They have a heart of a pig. Allah said there are pigs and monkeys. The Jews and the Christians, there are pigs and monkeys. So we didn't think that you are human. You know, and we see that this perspective, when Hitler got, you know, in a war, you know, during his war, the Muslim, the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, Hajil Emile Hosseini, traveled over to him to tell him, these people are not human. These are animals. So Hitler bought into theology of Islam, and he killed 6 million Jews because they think they were animals. They're not human beings. So this is where we came from, to the point that killing them is okay. So how quickly did the Spirit of God, once you became a believer, how quickly, and what was the process of God reordering your mind and changing your thoughts?

Here's something. So I was seven years old, you know, and I want to have a relationship with Allah. I used to climb up the rooftop of the building where there's no brothers or sisters, take my clothes off in cold Beirut night, roll in icy cold water, and I cried to my Allah, my Lord, my King, if you are not for me, he will be for me.

I want to have a relationship. At the age of seven, you know, my father kicked me out of school because I was not smart. I didn't have the understanding like my other brothers, you know, and there's a lot of stories. So there's a big story over there, but nevertheless, he said, I'm going to take you out of school and you have to work right now.

Seven years old. And here I am, I lost my father at seven years old, you know, and I came to know that, you know, I'm an orphan, that I have a father, I have a mother, my mother turned my back on me just like Hagar did to Ishmael and Abraham, how he turned against his son, he kicked him out, you know, whatever. So I felt like I'm an orphan and my life is worth nothing. Now the only thing I could do is to fight for Allah and make a name for all this. But then when a car wreck happened, you know, and these people were ministering to me and now I'm seeing, you know, that, you know, the God of Christian and Jews and the God of the Muslim is the same, it's not the same God. It's two different God. One of them has to be a liar.

Who is telling the truth? But the fruit that they were producing, the Christians, I was watching their fruit, how the husband treated his wife and his children, how they gave out of their goodness to help others, how they're helping one another. And the other things that was really above my understanding, they said God spoke to them.

They heard the voice of God and go like, these people are losing their mind. But I was seeing something, you know, it's amazing. The process has, you know, amazing grace, you know, I was blind, but now I see, you know, and so freely. God is so, so gracious that he is trying to give me a little bite at a time so he will not freak me out because I came for something that I have no understanding of.

We have to take a break. This is Alex McFarland with my longtime friend, colleague in ministry, Kamal Saleem. Stay tuned. We're going to come back and we're going to talk about Israel and Gaza and what's going on in the Middle East and more of his story, a trophy of God's life-changing grace after this.

Stay tuned. Fox News and CNN call Alex McFarland a religion and culture expert. Stay tuned for more of his teaching and commentary after this. Christian author and speaker, Alex McFarland is an advocate for Christian apologetics. Teaching in more than 2,200 churches around the world, schools and college campuses, Alex is driven by a desire to help people grow in relationship with God. He arms his audiences with the tools they need to defend their faith while also empowering the unchurched to find out the truth for themselves. In the midst of a culture obsessed with relativism, Alex is a sound voice who speaks timeless truths of Christianity in a timely way. With 18 published books to his name, it's no surprise that CNN, Fox, the Wall Street Journal and other media outlets have described Alex as a religion and culture expert. To learn more about Alex and to book him as a speaker at your next event, visit alexmcfarland.com or you can contact us directly by emailing booking at alexmcfarland.com.

He's been called trusted, truthful and timely. Welcome back to the Alex McFarland Show. Welcome back to the program. You know it's a blessing. One of the great things about being a Christian is the fellowship we have because our heart and our soul and our priorities are the same. And nowhere do I have as sweet a fellowship as whenever Kamal, Salim and I sit around and we talk about the great things of God. We share what God is doing. Now before the break you were talking about that amazing grace. God loves you. God speaks to you.

Continue if you would. They gave me a key to their house because I was nana Kamal. I was babysitting their children and I could not work and what have you. They paid my debts in full and they bought me a brand new car to replace my old car. And these people, they said here's the keys to the house.

You can come anytime you want to. And the trust that they have, you know I would not trust my enemy. And these people trusted me without knowing who I was. And so when I came home I felt really that this is the end of my life because I felt defeated. I don't want to leave their home. I want to stay there.

I felt safe for the first time. And now I fell on my knees toward the east and I cried out to my Allah and I said Allah my Lord, my God, my King, my Maker, why have you done such a thing to me? You put me among Christians.

These Christians are crazy. But they speak to their God and their God speak to them and they ask Him for wives, for husbands. They ask for finances breakthrough. They ask for homes. They ask, ask, ask and He gives it to them. One week they come and pray about it. The second week says look what God done for me.

I'm going like why don't we have this? Why aren't you doing this to me, Lord? All I want to know if you are real, speak to me. Tell me that you are God. Allah didn't say anything. That day I thought okay this is going nowhere and the joke, I told the joke and the joke on me because I was the best joker there is. So I was going to put the gun in my mouth and finish my story. So I said to Allah, I said if I die today and I see your face and you say come on Salim you're going to go to hell because you killed yourself, I'm going to say to you I'd rather live in hell than live with you because you are a liar and a father of lies you are.

With this I thought He will kill me and nothing happened. I was losing my mind that day and I went to grab my gun and I put it in my mouth to finish the story and I heard the first miracle in my life that it was a tangible to my ears and the voice declared, he said I am, he said Kamal my son. He declared that he is a father and I'm his son. He said I am the God of father Abraham and Isaac and Jacob.

He told me he has a family that he belongs to. They're Jewish you know and so therefore he said, he said it three times, he said I am, he said Kamal my son I am, you know so the third time he said call on me. I fell on my knees and I cried out with a loud voice God of father Abraham and Isaac and Jacob if you are real speak to me God of father Abraham if you are real I want to know you.

Well the father voice dissipated and the room was filled with the glory of the living God and there he stood and he had holes in his hand and his feet and he has a tallit on his shoulders which is a Jewish shawl for the rabbis and he stood there and I knew right away that this is Jesus. You know he said every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. I said who are you my Lord? He said he spoke in Aramaic. I never learned Aramaic and I understood what he said. He said I am he. What is that supposed to mean?

I have no clue. He said I am the aleph and the tav. I am the beginning and the end.

I have known you before I formed the foundation of the earth so I have known you in eternity and I have loved you before I formed you in your mother womb. Qum come out arise. That is why I named my ministry Qum you know arise and when I rose up my bones were intact but my mind and my heart and that demon that rode my shoulder for years was there no more. I was set free and now I am operating in the liberty of the living God. You know Kamal talking about miraculous works of God, talking about miraculous interventions of the Holy Spirit. You know let's be honest there are a lot of American Christians that have never been taught about these things and I believe this is one of my core passions and folks as I say what I am about to say please remember and I give God the glory. I have spoken in 2200 American churches and our nation desperately needs to re-encounter the miraculous God of the book of Acts. A couple of years ago I was in Cincinnati I had the great honor to speak at a conference called the call of love. There were nearly a thousand former Muslims, now Christians and Kamal these were engineers, these were doctors, these were computer programmers, this was a very white collar crowd of highly highly educated Arabic people and they invited me based on one of my books. I wrote a book about the basics of Christianity called stand core truth you must know for an uncheckable faith. I wrote it when you and I worked for Dr. Dobson and anyway that book they came they said we want you to come three days teach us Christian theology but we had testimonies and here's my point about the supernatural. These ex-Muslims now born again believers they were telling me stories about they would have a dream they were faithful going to the mosque and yet Jesus would appear in a dream and said I am Jesus follow me.

I heard testimony after testimony after testimony. One woman said that she was driving in her car and Jesus said you are a woman of worth and value you're not property you're a woman and I want to be your savior. And so speak if you would about I know this is your own story but God is miraculously reaching Muslims for the gospel and I think we in the American church once again we must be open to the reality of the supernatural. Yes so we need to understand brother Alex is number one that Jesus Christ in the book Ephesians he said I came to create them myself one new humanity to abolish the hostility between the two you know and create them myself one new kind of people. So this is what he came for but number two you know he coded the book of Jewel you know in the book of Acts you know he said in the last days I will pour out my spirit on all flesh that you know people will have dreams and visions and will prophesy and he said even on your maidservant I will pour out my spirit. Now we have to look at God when he speak to this he spoke and he speak to humanity you know a lot of people thinking it's the Jewish people but it is beyond the Jewish people because who is the maidservant it was Hagar and her son Ishmael and what so have you. So God is pouring his you know and and then he turned around Jesus and he said I will build the church and the power of hell will not prevail.

These are you know anytime God when he said the word is a covenant within himself when it's not covenant with a human being but he does it on our behalf. So he was doing all this and God mentioned in the book of Genesis and also in the book of Isaiah that he will bring the Ishmaelite to the brothers the Israelite in the last days and they will celebrate at the altar of the Lord with the glory of God. So they will bring their finances and they will help to build Israel and there will be a blessing to the body of Christ. That's what the book of Isaiah said. So God is fulfilling his purpose because he when he said we need to understand that two thousand years ago this is when the end of time begun but now we are at the end of the age of the end of time where things he said things will be glorious you know will be you know you will do greater things than I because what you've begun he said you will do greater things you do with an eye at that time. So we are in that double portion age where the Holy Spirit must manifest in the outpouring and the miracle age must continue on because that's the only way you're gonna bring two billion Muslim which is the biggest body of Gentiles left behind.

You know in the New Testament it says God in these last days has spoken by his son Jesus Christ and if that was so two thousand years ago here in twenty twenty four we must be in the last of the last days. Folks stay tuned we're gonna come back continue our conversation with Kamal Saleem and we're going to talk about Israel so don't go away. Fox News and CNN call Alex McFarland a religion and culture expert.

Stay tuned for more of his teaching and commentary after this. Over the last several decades it's been my joy to travel the world talking with children teens adults people of all ages about the questions they have related to God the Bible Christianity and how to know Jesus personally. Hi Alex McFarland I want to make you aware of my book The 21 Toughest Questions Your Kids Will Ask About Christianity. You know we interviewed hundreds of children and parents and families to find out the questions that children and people of all ages are longing to find answers for. In the book we've got practical biblical real-life answers that they have about how to be a Christian in this modern world.

My book The 21 Toughest Questions Your Kids Will Ask you can find it where ever you buy books or at resources.afa.net. He's been called trusted truthful and timely welcome back to the Alex McFarland show. Welcome back to the program before we resume our conversation with Kamal Saleem.

I want to thank everybody. I was at the stand firm conference in Orlando Florida just days ago and we had people come and I think about this Orlando Florida in February Christian conference it was sold out for three days I got to talk about biblical world view and defending the faith. People came from Ohio Virginia Georgia Idaho. Idaho to Orlando is a long way I give God the glory for what he's doing. I do ask everybody to pray our summer camps are coming. The website is equipretreat.org. Equipretreat.org will be with over a thousand young people in seven camps this summer and we're going to talk about God and country.

We're trying to woke proof America's youth. By the way I do want to say we still need to raise we need to see God provide about fifty thousand dollars for these camps so if you would feel so led to give you can mail a contribution your tax deductible contribution will be used to evangelize the lost and stand up for truth in this era. You can mail a check if you would to TNG that's truth for a new generation just TNG to P.O.

Box 10231 Greensboro North Carolina zip code 27404 or you can give securely online at alexmcfarland.com. Well with the time remaining Kamal I want to talk about the fact that by the way I want you to give your website you're an incredible speaker you've spoken for us many many times you travel the world courageously faithfully on behalf of the gospel I've known you just a few months shy of twenty years you're one of the finest evangelist the hand of God is on your life pastors churches you need to bring this man to your city tell us about your website and how people can find you. Our website it's called coomministries.com it's k o o m e k o o m e next word ministries plural dot com and over there you know you will learn about how God is reaching the Muslims in the last days I wrote a new book it's called Ishmael redeemed call to the kingdom and why is God is bringing the billions of millions of Muslim in the last days and for what purpose you got to read the book. You know I was on the Al Jazeera news page and they call it Israel's war on Gaza now October 7 2023 the whole world reacted as Hamas attacked Israel and surprisingly even though Israel was defending itself people around the world and certainly American liberals and American Democrats were standing against Israel and for terrorists how do you react when you see a headline like that on the Islamic news service saying Israel's war on Gaza. Well the word of God says people will call good bad you know bad and bad good light dark dark light you know we are an upside down world and Jesus referred to it he said see that you are not deceived it's deceptive word you know so the deception you know if you look at Syria down the street from what happened in Israel we see that Bashar al-Assad killed over 600 nearly 700,000 Syrian in one city that's in one city and you go like why in the world is not losing their mind and say look what he's doing but for some reason when it come to Israel everything changes we know that the things that we are dealing with they are not physical they're spiritual so and there's a spiritual war taking place in heaven and you know God is fighting Satan on our behalf and there's a war is happening over the Muslim world God is calling the Muslim he's appearing to them like you said in dreams and visions and there's a careless moment is happening over their world which is it's a time that is destined in eternity to open up it's a portal over the Muslim people to have an encounter with Jesus Christ and Jesus is encountering the Muslims just like he encountering Saul you know who became Paul so he was sold a terrorist and he encountered you know him and all the sudden their eyes are open but the Muslim people are waiting on the Ananias to come and lay a hand on their eyes to remove the scale from their eyes and their Muslim people are still waiting to see where's the Christian that Jesus told them about you know and so they are still waiting in the valley for the invitation and we hold the invitation as Christians. So what do you recommend to churches because no doubt in every city in a way this is such a blessing the mission field has come to heartland America and we know Dearborn Michigan and you and I are just a few miles south of Denver Colorado Denver has an intensely Islamic population all over the country and let me just say in all of my travels some of the friendliest people my heart just goes out I meet Muslim people in restaurants driving trucks I've shared the gospel you can't help but love these people these are dear dear people they need Jesus Kamal how do you recommend churches go about beginning to build a bridge to share Jesus with their Islamic neighbor since December of last year 23 I have done so far about six seven conferences you know and just you know because with this book Ishmael Redeem call to the kingdom there are seen you know how the millions of Muslim you know statistically you know that's recorded by the Islamic census six million Muslim coming to Christ every year but I'm here to tell you more than six million coming you know it's it's you know the gates are breaking open and the flood is moving but here's the thing so there's rules of engagement we need to know that this is not that just something we jump into we need our heart need to be broken for what we believe in if our heart yet if our son is on drugs or daughter is in homosexuality or whatever we cry for them before God and so it's called supplication so we need to know fasting fasting is something number one is not to twist the hand of God to convert Muslims fasting is to say to God I don't know how to lead the Muslim to Christ help me to help them you know and God is waiting on those he's saying everyday whom shall I send you know who you who will go before me you know and so the second one we need to really start doing not prayers but we need to do supplication supplication which we cry you know anytime we cry before God God hears and so this is the second the third one is we need to start having relationships with them God works in ships you know relationships friendships you know stewardships you know all these ships God work in all this the other thing is we need to break bread with them don't bring bacon or don't bring pork bring you know fish bring chicken chicken is always safe beef is always safe and bring something sweet honor them because they're honorable people they believe in honor they believe in good shame and honor so honor them and let them know who you are what is Christianity is all about that God told us to be hospitable to you to love you because you are the sons of Abraham and honor them in that perspective and put a table before them you know and God said in the book of Psalms 23 he said and he will make a table for us in the presence of our enemy you know I think it's always beneficial to converse over a meal is it okay so let's say we're having a meal and building a friendship and say to a Muslim may I have permission may I tell you what Jesus Christ means to me and may I tell you how wonderful Jesus is is that how you would steer the conversation it's good but that's not the first meeting that will come in a second meeting you know because you know when you come to him in a second meeting you tell him Jesus loves you so much that he put his love for you in my heart so now I have nothing but love for you because Jesus loves you enough and I walk in the footsteps of Jesus Christ so I have to honor him and honor you you know because he said you are his friend and and so when you when you talk like this Muslim don't understand unconditional love and now you bring into them unconditional love you're breaking through the barriers never you know at the beginning show them hospitality they are generous people they're hospitable and very you know they will give their life for you if they become your friend but here's the thing they have no idea you know what Christianity is Christianity has to be modeled to them not told to them it's something that you how you live your life because they are looking for for example and then the other things are Christianity is is tangible what is that supposed to mean so if they have if they have if they need to go to the supermarket take them supermarket shop with them a lot of Muslims are eating dogs and cats food because they don't know how to read English they see a fish on it and they eat it they think they think you know help them they need job help them find job they need to buy a car help them buy a car but more than anything else tell them my God is a healer and my God is a God of miracles and he will change your life today if you have anything that you need to be healed with or an issue that you're dealing with I will pray for you and my God will show up to show to you God answered those miracles I've seen them happening before me time and time and time again so what happened is they will have an instant miracle healing from disease from cancer from you know marrow you know bone marrow issue blindness deafness you know and just they go like what kind of God that is now they have an aha moment what is that aha moment God opened their heart to his spirit to come in and you God is using you to be that vessel to you know so you are no longer an acquaintance now you are a family and they're gonna try to to really tell you about Islam and tell them I'm Christian I'm in love with my God and not just that my God is this to me let me tell you my testimony testify and so they will listen to this and so you shut down the door to turn you to a Muslim well we're out of time we're gonna visit again with Kamal very soon and he is the author of a number of works but I believe most recently Ishmael redeemed called to the kingdom a book that I would urge you to read and folks let me remind you and this as I'm sure you probably know this is the driving passion of my heart and Angie and our ministry the Bible says that in Mark 16 15 we are to preach the gospel to every creature my dear Christian friend you can be used by God to proclaim salvation to your neighbor whether it be a Muslim a Jewish person a Gentile but understand the time is short Christ is coming the world needs to hear the Arabic world needs to hear so I want to challenge you to be equipped we're here to help you be equipped Kamal is here to help you be equipped pray intercede and then get out there and be a witness I assure you there's nothing more thrilling like the thrill of knowing that God worked through you to bring a soul to salvation this is Alex McFarland thanks for listening keep us in prayer stay bold stand strong for truth and we'll continue very soon on our next broadcast Alex McFarland ministries are made possible through the prayers and financial support of partners like you for over 20 years this ministry has been bringing individuals into a personal relationship with Christ and has been equipping people to stand strong for truth learn more and donate 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Box 10231 Greensboro North Carolina 27404 or by calling 1-877-YES-GOD and the number 1 that's 1-877-YES-GOD-1 thanks for joining us we'll see you again on the next edition of the Alex McFarland show and look for the section that says ask Alex online