Gentrification with Justice

Gentrification With Justice
BOB LUPTON, ISSUE NUMBER 9, JUNE 2006
http://byfaithonline.com/page/in-the-world/gentrification-with-justice

Building a new home in a run-down neighborhood in Atlanta was a decision that neither of our parents supported. It was a bad financial move, they counseled us, not to mention the danger. But my wife Peggy and I were not relocating into the inner-city for economic reasons. We had finally come to the conclusion that our ministry would be more effective if we lived among the people we felt called to serve than continue to commute from the suburbs. And so we graciously thanked our parents for their love and concern and went ahead with our construction plans.

New construction in the neighborhood was unheard of – at least for the past 50 years – and so the activity attracted much local attention. And some unexpected attention from outside real estate developers, as well. Within a few months of moving into our new home we were delighted to see four new homes go up just two blocks from us, as well as a good number of renovations beginning throughout the neighborhood. Our property value was going to increase after all!

But during prayer and sharing times at our neighborhood church we began to hear prayer requests for housing needs. "Please pray for us – our rents have just doubled." "Please pray for us – we've just gotten an eviction notice." It wasn't until Opal, a church member who lived within sight of the church, came in weeping one morning that I first made a disturbing connection. She had just received an eviction notice from the home she had lived in for many years – the city told the landlord to fix it up or board it up, and he had decided to board it up until property values made it attractive to sell. For the first time it dawned on me that as my property value was nicely increasing, so was the value of the surrounding affordable homes. As my wealth was accumulating, Opal's poverty was deepening. It was my investment that was the catalyst for her displacement. I could no longer sit in the circle and pray with integrity. I was the problem.

There was a name for this dilemma, I soon learned: gentrification. It comes from the old English word gentry, the land-rich ruling class of the 16th century who controlled the economy by virtue of their land holdings. They were literally "landlords," the rulers of all who lived as serfs on their vast estates. They eventually disappeared from the social landscape with the emergence of the industrial revolution as wealth shifted away from the land and to the factories in burgeoning cities. The term gentry has been resurrected in our generation to describe the return of landowners to the city. I discovered that I was one of them. And it was not a complement.

Gentrification by contemporary definition is "the restoration and upgrading of deteriorated urban property by the middle classes, often resulting in displacement of lower-income people." It is a new national norm. Over the past 50 years American cities have declined as the suburbs blossomed. This pattern is quite different from most of the large cities of the world where wealth and power are concentrated at the center and poverty spreads outward toward the outlying and less developed outskirts. In developing nations, people migrate from the rural areas, settle in poorer edge cities (or sometimes shantytowns outside the city) and try to work their way toward the prosperous center.

U.S cities, on the other hand, are like donuts with a hole in the middle and the dough around the outside. Our center cities are where our poverty is concentrated. But all this is changing. A massive demographic shift has begun, a great reversal as wealth returns to the inner core, and poverty is pushed to the periphery. U.S. cities are beginning to conform to the pattern of most world cities, and in the process a diaspora – an uprooting and scattering – of the poor has begun.

Devastating Impact, Absolute Need

I have now seen firsthand (yes, inadvertently participated in) the devastating impact that gentrification can have on the poor of an urban community. I have faced panicking families at my front door who had just been evicted from their homes, their meager belongings set out on the curb. I have helped them in their frantic search to find scarce affordable apartments and have collected donations to assist with rent and utility deposits.

But I have also seen what happens to the poor when the "gentry" do not return to the city. The effects of isolation are equally severe. A pathology creeps into a community when achieving neighbors depart - a disease born of isolation that depletes a work ethic, lowers aspirations and saps human initiative. I have seen courageous welfare mothers struggle in vain to save their children from the powerful undertow of the streets. I have witnessed the sinister forces of a drug culture as it ravages unchecked the lives of those who have few options for escape. Without the presence of strong, connected neighbor-leaders who have the best interests of the community at heart, a neglected neighborhood becomes a desperate dead-end place.

The romantic notion that the culture of a dependent, poverty community must somehow be protected from the imposition of outside values is as naive as it is destructive. Neighborhoods that have hemorrhaged for decades from the "up and out" migration of their best and brightest need far more than government grants, human services and urban ministries to restore their health. More than anything else, they need the return of the very kinds of home-owning, goal-driven, faith-motivated neighbors that once gave their community vitality. In a word, they need the gentry.

This leaves us in a bit of a quandary. The poor need the gentry in order to revive their deteriorated neighborhoods. But the gentry will inevitably displace the poor from these neighborhoods. The poor seem to get the short end of the stick either way.

Reclaiming With the Poor

But must gentrification always spell displacement for the poor? To some degree, yes. Yet displacement is not entirely bad. There are drug dealers and other rogues who need to be dislodged from a community if it is going to become a healthy place to raise children. Over-crowded tenements and flop houses should be thinned out or cleaned up, and this inevitably means displacement of some of the vulnerable along with their predators. Bringing responsible property management back into a neglected community does spell disruption for those who have chosen or been forced by necessity to endure slumlord economics. But what may be disruptive for the moment can become a blessing for those who yearn for a better way of life if - and this is a big if - the poor are included in the reclamation process by the returning gentry.

Opal forced me to look squarely into face this big if. Housing had not been on my radar screen when I moved into the city. It was not part of my ministry game plan. But neither could I sit passively in a prayer circle asking God to help my sister Opal knowing that my well-intentioned move was working to her detriment, knowing too that the same thing was about to happen over and over again to more of my church members and neighbors. And so I reordered my priorities.

In addition to my church planting and mercy ministry strategy, I ventured into the arena of justice. I rallied suburban church partners to come to Opal's aid, bought and restored her house and structured a loan that enabled her to become a homeowner. Then as my property value went up, so did hers. She became vested. Opal's house became for me a modern day parable of "good news to the poor." Many of those who volunteered their time and skills to transform her home were deeply moved as they cared for a widow in this personal and practical way. They asked if there were other Opals in our church. Indeed there were. The end result was the creation of a housing division within our ministry that has mobilized thousands of volunteers and enabled hundreds of Opals to become homeowners in our community.

"Gentrification with justice" - that's what is needed to restore health to our urban neighborhoods. Needed are gentry with vision who have compassionate hearts as well as real estate acumen. We need gentry whose understanding of community includes the less-advantaged, who will use their competencies and connections to ensure that their lower-income neighbors share a stake in their revitalizing neighborhood. The city needs land-owning residents who are also faith-motivated, who yield to the tenets of their faith in the inevitable tension between value of neighbor over value of property. That is why gentrification needs a theology to guide it.

A Theology of Gentrification

The people of the kingdom have a unique mandate to care for the needs of the vulnerable and the voiceless. Our scriptures are quite clear about this. It has been from antiquity both our birthright and our responsibility. We cannot rightly take joy in the rebirth of the city if no provision is being made to include the poor as co-participants. It will not be enough to offer food baskets at Christmas to migrating masses of needy people who are being driven by market forces away from the vital services of the city. Nor will our well-intentioned programs and ministries suffice for those being scattered to unwelcoming edge cities. We must be more intelligent than this. More strategic.

While we remain committed to fulfilling the Great Commission, there is a prior command the followers of Christ are called to – the Great Command. Loving God and its inseparable companion – loving neighbor – form the bedrock of our faith. All the Law and Prophets are built upon this foundation. The prophet Micah captured its essence: "He has told you, oh man, what is good and what the Lord requires of you, that you do justice and love mercy and walk humbly with your God" (Micah 6:8).

The body of Christ is amply resourced with the very talents needed to bring about both mercy and justice in our changing cities. In addition to those more spiritual-sounding gifts – those we have heard sermons about – there is a vast untapped reservoir of giftedness ready to channel into the work of the kingdom – secular-sounding gifts like deal-making, lending, insuring, lawyering, marketing, architecture, and real estate developing, to name a few. Under Christ's lordship, these become spiritual gifts ideally designed for the work of biblical justice.

Christians who believe that their highest calling is to love God and love their neighbor are the very ones equipped to infuse into our culture both values and actions that will have redemptive outcomes. We can buy crack houses and renovate them for residences for mission-minded couples. We can structure deals to develop mixed-income housing. We can create innovative housing policies that will induce developers to include lower-income residents in their plans. We can pass ordinances that that will give tax relief to seniors on fixed incomes so they can remain in their homes. We can establish loan funds to give down payment assistance to lower-income home buyers. If we are both caring and thinking people, we can use our influence and resources to develop the means by which "the least of these" can share in the benefits of a reviving city - and foster healthy growth at the same time. We can harness the growing tide of gentrification so that it becomes a redemptive force in our cities. In a word, we can bring about gentrification with justice.

A Market With a Conscience

Resisting gentrification is like trying to hold back the rising ocean tide. It is surely coming – relentlessly – with power and growing momentum. Young professionals as well as empty nesters are flooding into our cities, buying up lofts and condos and dilapidated historic residences, opening avant-garde artist studios and gourmet eateries. If market forces alone are allowed to rule the day, the poor will be gradually, silently displaced, for the market has no conscience. But those who understand God's heart for the poor have a historic challenge to infuse the values of compassion and justice into the process. But it will require altogether new paradigms of ministry.

The urban church that seeks to minister in disadvantaged areas faces the eventual disappearance of lower-income renters from their communities. Such urban ministries are approaching an inevitable fork in the road. If they remain committed to the poor, they must decide to either follow the migration streams as they gravitate to the periphery of the city, or get involved in real estate to capture affordable property in their neighborhood to ensure that their low-income neighbors retain a permanent place. "Migrant ministries" move with the people, establish ministry centers in the affordable suburban apartments, and remain flexible. "Community development ministries," on the other hand, remain rooted in the parish, purchase housing and land, form partnerships with builders and developers that enable their members (neighbors) to remain in a reviving community that has a healthy mix of incomes. Either strategy is legitimate. Both require significant retooling.

Gentrification brings to the suburban church an altogether different challenge. The poor are now showing up in the classrooms and bus stops and grocery stores of homogenous neighborhoods once thought to be safely beyond the reach of inner-city troubles. Mission-minded churches that for years have been journeying down to the ghetto to serve those in need now find these needs at their own doorstep. The new hues, the unfamiliar languages, the unintelligible signs on new businesses in the strip malls – these are the sure indicators that gentrification is affecting the suburbs. They also signal a new era of opportunity for the suburban church. It is a divine invitation to the church to extend a welcoming hand, to start new congregations, to share facilities, to hire new workers, to teach ESL classes, to acquire and manage housing that insures a hospitable environment. It is a unique time in history to "let your light so shine before others [in your neighborhood] that when they see your good works they will glorify your Father who is in heaven."

Harnessing Gentrification for the Sake of the Kingdom

Definitive works have yet to be written on how to harness gentrification for the purposes of the kingdom. However, a few guiding principles are rising to the surface from some of the best practices around the country. Here are just a few:

Gentrification is here to stay. Some rail against it; others laud its arrival. For good or ill, it is our new reality. And it will only increase in the years to come. It means welcoming new economic and social life for our cities and, with the proactive involvement of the saints, can introduce a whole new era of hopefulness for the poor. Our mantra must be "gentrification with justice."

Diversity is a gift. Communities that are economically and racially mixed can be the richest of environments for families as well as singles and older adults. Diverse community is God's plan, the final destination toward which all the righteous are heading – the city of our God where people of every tribe, every nation, every tongue will take up eternal residence.

Community doesn't just happen. This is especially true in a diverse community. It must be built. Focused and sustained effort must be invested in getting to know neighbors, organizing community activities, modeling neighborliness and communicating good news. Love of neighbor must be practical and visible over time.

Indigenous neighbors are a treasure. It is easy to ignore seniors, easy to push on past less-communicative neighbors, easy to exclude those who don't show up at community functions. But the rich history of the neighborhood is imbedded in the lives and family albums of long-term residents. The effort to extract and honor this history is well worth the time and effort. And everyone, no matter how unlikely, has some valuable talent to contribute to the life of the community.

Economic viability is essential. A community will not be healthy unless it has ample neighbors with discretionary income to attract and sustain businesses. The gentry are essential. However, justice demands that we ensure that the poor are embraced and included as beneficiaries in a healthy community.

God's shalom must be worked at. The roles of peacemakers, communicators, gatherers, organizers, and connectors are some of the most vital talents needed for the establishment of "peace and prosperity" and a prevailing sense of well-being that God desires for His creation. Shalom is not merely the absence of crime on the street, it is the prevailing presence of peace and goodness in the relationships of God's diverse family. It is achieved only by intentional effort.

Bob Lupton is founder and president of FCS Urban Ministries in Atlanta, Ga., a community development organization that revitalizes urban neighborhoods. He has lived and served in the inner-city for the past 35 years. He holds a Ph.D. in psychology, has authored four books on urban ministry, and consults and lectures internationally on urban issues.

Why New Year’s Resolutions Don't Work

Justin Holcomb

Willpower Is Weak

There’s an assumption about human nature that is important to have in place as we think about New Year’s Resolutions: people do what they want to do. The Reformation theologian Thomas Cranmerheld this view of human nature (as summarized by Anglican historian Ashley Null):

What the heart loves, the will chooses, and the mind justifies. The mind doesn’t direct the will. The mind is actually captive to what the will wants, and the will itself, in turn, is captive to what the heart wants.

An article in the New York Times only confirms that the will is weak when it shows that the overwhelming majority of New Year’s resolutions are doomed to failure. According to research, 80 percent of those who make resolutions on January 1 have given up by Valentine’s Day. Nutrition experts say that two-thirds of dieters regain any weight lost within a year, and more than 70 percent of people who undergo coronary bypass surgery fall back into unhealthy habits within two years of their surgery.

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Confront the reality that your resolution is likely needed because you are not loving God with your entire being and not loving your neighbor as yourself.

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“Most of us think that we can change our lives if we just summon the willpower and try even harder this time around,” said Alan Deutschman, the former executive director of Unboundary, a firm that counsels corporations on how to navigate change. “It’s exceptionally hard to make life changes, and our efforts are usually doomed to failure when we try to do it on our own.” If you’re going to make a New Year’s resolution, here are a few things to keep in mind.

1. Not All Resolutions Are Good

Try to determine if the resolution is actually good. Are you planning on working out more? If so, is it because you want to be a good steward of the body God gave you or is it vanity? In reality, it is probably both. But what is the driving desire? Self-improvement or to glorify God?

2. Just Do It…

If your resolution is actually a good one, just do it. Go ahead and work out more, smoke or drink less, read your Bible more, pay down your debt and save more for retirement, focus on your marriage, spend more time with your children. Every once in a while, people start a New Year’s resolution and it sticks. But most don't. That’s because (1) you are sinner and (2) your heart is anidol factory.

3. Grace Actually Works

Confront the reality that your resolution is likely needed because you are not loving God with your entire being and not loving your neighbor as yourself. These two failures lead to havoc, discord, pain, and destruction. Jesus gave us the basic requirement: “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets” (Matt. 22:40).

That basic failure is why we need the gospel: Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection deal with the guilt and the stain of sin. Jesus is our propitiation and our expiation.

Jesus also gave us the Holy Spirit, who can change our desires and empower us to love God and neighbor. As Paul tells us, “it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure” (Phil. 2:13).

4. God Gives Grace to Change

As Cranmer realized, our wills are captive to what our hearts love, and we are powerless to change ourselves without the work of God’s Spirit changing our desires. When you think through New Year’s resolutions, here’s a prayer as you ask God to work on your heart:  

Almighty God, you alone can bring into order the unruly wills and affections of sinners: Grant your people grace to love what you command and desire what you promise; that, among the swift and varied changes of the world, our hearts may surely there be fixed where true joys are to be found; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen (Book of Common Prayer).

REGRETS OF THE DYING

REGRETS OF THE DYING

For many years I worked in palliative care. My patients were those who had gone home to die. Some incredibly special times were shared. I was with them for the last three to twelve weeks of their lives.

People grow a lot when they are faced with their own mortality. I learnt never to underestimate someone's capacity for growth. Some changes were phenomenal. Each experienced a variety of emotions, as expected, denial, fear, anger, remorse, more denial and eventually acceptance. Every single patient found their peace before they departed though, every one of them.

When questioned about any regrets they had or anything they would do differently, common themes surfaced again and again. Here are the most common five:

1. I wish I'd had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me. 

This was the most common regret of all. When people realise that their life is almost over and look back clearly on it, it is easy to see how many dreams have gone unfulfilled. Most people had not honoured even a half of their dreams and had to die knowing that it was due to choices they had made, or not made.

It is very important to try and honour at least some of your dreams along the way. From the moment that you lose your health, it is too late. Health brings a freedom very few realise, until they no longer have it.


2. I wish I didn't work so hard.

This came from every male patient that I nursed. They missed their children's youth and their partner's companionship. Women also spoke of this regret. But as most were from an older generation, many of the female patients had not been breadwinners. All of the men I nursed deeply regretted spending so much of their lives on the treadmill of a work existence.

By simplifying your lifestyle and making conscious choices along the way, it is possible to not need the income that you think you do. And by creating more space in your life, you become happier and more open to new opportunities, ones more suited to your new lifestyle.


3. I wish I'd had the courage to express my feelings.

Many people suppressed their feelings in order to keep peace with others. As a result, they settled for a mediocre existence and never became who they were truly capable of becoming. Many developed illnesses relating to the bitterness and resentment they carried as a result.

We cannot control the reactions of others. However, although people may initially react when you change the way you are by speaking honestly, in the end it raises the relationship to a whole new and healthier level. Either that or it releases the unhealthy relationship from your life. Either way, you win.


4. I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends.

Often they would not truly realise the full benefits of old friends until their dying weeks and it was not always possible to track them down. Many had become so caught up in their own lives that they had let golden friendships slip by over the years. There were many deep regrets about not giving friendships the time and effort that they deserved. Everyone misses their friends when they are dying.

It is common for anyone in a busy lifestyle to let friendships slip. But when you are faced with your approaching death, the physical details of life fall away. People do want to get their financial affairs in order if possible. But it is not money or status that holds the true importance for them. They want to get things in order more for the benefit of those they love. Usually though, they are too ill and weary to ever manage this task. It is all comes down to love and relationships in the end. That is all that remains in the final weeks, love and relationships.


5. I wish that I had let myself be happier.

This is a surprisingly common one. Many did not realise until the end that happiness is a choice. They had stayed stuck in old patterns and habits. The so-called 'comfort' of familiarity overflowed into their emotions, as well as their physical lives. Fear of change had them pretending to others, and to their selves, that they were content. When deep within, they longed to laugh properly and have silliness in their life again.

When you are on your deathbed, what others think of you is a long way from your mind. How wonderful to be able to let go and smile again, long before you are dying.


Life is a choice. It is YOUR life. Choose consciously, choose wisely, choose honestly. Choose happiness.

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Based on this article, Bronnie has now released a full-length book, titled The Top Five Regrets of the Dying. It is a memoir of her own life and how it was transformed by the regrets of dying people. It may be ordered through bookstores worldwide or from Balboa Press.
It is also available via the link on this page.
Details for wholesale orders may be found on Bronnie's official website. 

Brutal beheading: Afghan terror advances ahead of President Obama’s pullout plan

WEB EXTRA | June 22, 2011

Brutal beheading

AFGHANISTAN | Afghan terror advances ahead of President Obama’s pullout plan | Mindy Belz

SCREEN CAPTURE FROM VIDEO

Afghans are warning of dire consequences for the country’s tiny Christian population should American forces leave Afghanistan, as President Barack Obama prepares to announce his plans for a troop drawdown in a televised address to the nation scheduled for Wednesday evening.

“If U.S. troops are not in Afghanistan the Taliban will come to power,” said Obaid S. Christ, an Afghan Christian exiled to India who spoke to me Tuesday. “We will have the same situation we had in the 1990s when the Russians left Afghanistan, when we had civil war and millions killed.”

The exile, who changed his name and fled Afghanistan in 2007 after an Islamic court issued an arrest warrant following his conversion to Christianity, acknowledged that the U.S.-backed government headed by President Hamid Karzai has been no friend to Christian converts either. Earlier this year two civilian courts sentenced to death jailed Afghan Christians for changing their religion. After international pressure, including personal visits to one jail by U.S. and European diplomats, the two were released and allowed to leave the country. Both now reside in Europe.

But a more recent, gruesome incident makes clear that the danger for anyone turning from Islam in Afghanistan is not over. A video released in recent weeks, and made available to WORLD this week by two separate Afghan sources, shows four Afghan militants beheading a man believed to be a Christian in Herat Province.

The militants, who claim to be Taliban, captured the victim, a man in his 40s named Abdul Latif (according to Obaid Christ, who provided translation of the video), earlier this year from his village outside Enjeel, a town south of Herat.

In the two-minute video, the men, wearing explosive belts (or suicide vests) and kaffiya head scarves to cover their faces, recite verses from the Quran while forcing Latif to the ground and pinning him with their feet. “You who are joined with pagans . . . your sentence [is] to be beheaded,” read one of the militants in Farsi from what looked like a paper decree. “Whoever changes his religion should be executed.” The passages refer to Sura 8:12 (“I will instill terror into the hearts of the Unbelievers: smite ye above their necks . . .”) and the hadiths, or sayings of Mohammed.

As Latif fought his captors from the ground, one of the militants thrust a medium-sized blade into the side of his neck. With blood flowing onto the ground the militants shouted “Allahu Akhbar” or “God is great” over and over until Latif was fully beheaded and his head was placed on top of his chest.

The brutal killing followed a now-too-familiar pattern used in other beheadings captured on video, notably the killings of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl in Pakistan in 2002 and U.S. defense contractor Nick Berg in Iraq in 2004. It also likely coincided with a Taliban-incited mob attack on the UN compound in Mazar-e-Sharif in April that followed the March burning of Qurans in the United States by pastor Terry Jones’ church in Florida. After that incident an estimated 4,000 Afghans poured into the streets of Mazar and marched on the compound, killing 10 UN officials—and reportedly beheading two of them. That was followed by a May attack by the Taliban on the Provincial Reconstruction Team headquarters in Herat (at the time under Italian control), where they killed four and injured more than 38. Both cities until then were considered among Afghanistan’s safest, and slated to be the first areas turned over to all-Afghan control.

Despite the obvious uptick in violence in Afghanistan, President Obama is likely to tell the American people on Wednesday night that he will begin a drawdown of troops starting next month, with the final pullout possible next year or in 2013—earlier than a 2014 deadline agreement previously reached with Karzai.

Relations between the Obama team and the U.S.-backed Afghan government are plainly fraying in the lead-up to a drawdown. On Saturday Karzai made public that the United States had been negotiating with the Taliban. The next day, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates for the first time acknowledged “preliminary” U.S. talks with the militant movement that carried out a five-year reign of terror from 1996 until the U.S. invasion in October 2001.

Karzai also accused NATO forces of being in Afghanistan “for their own purposes, for their own goals, and they’re using our soil for that.” In an unusual retort, U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan Karl Eikenberry responded, “When Americans, who are serving in your country at great cost—in terms of life and treasure—hear themselves compared with occupiers, told that they are only here to advance their own interest and likened to the brutal enemies of the Afghan people . . . my people, in turn, are filled with confusion and grow weary of our effort here.”

Many Afghans, like Obaid Christ, criticize the Karzai regime, but more fear the return of Taliban influence and renewed fighting among tribal groups. “At least you cannot fight with each other now,” said Christ. “Now you have people from different tribes in the government, but we don’t know what will come after.”

The Challenge of Mubahalah and Tragic Deaths of Muhammad and His Family

The Challenge of Mubahalah and Tragic Deaths of Muhammad and His Family

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Muhammad challenged the Christians for curse prayers - mubahalah - after having theological disputes with them. As per Islamic scholars, those who support lie in mubahalah must die approximately within a year. Muhammad died approximately within a year once again raising serious questions on his claim to be a true prophet of true God, writes Jerry Thomas. For most of the Muslims, if not all, the challenge of mubahalah is one of the clearest of evidences that Islam is true. The challenge of mubahalah was given by Muhammad in A.D 631 (10 A.H.), when a Christian delegation from Najran visited Muhammad to discuss and debate with him about certain theological disputes. Muhammad’s responses to the questions were unsatisfactory to Christian delegation. As a result, Muhammad challenged Christians to participate in a curse prayer wherein the party which supports falsehood would die and their families would perish. It is interesting to note that time period for this curse to be effective is not mentioned in the Quran but scholars say it usually happens within a year. However, Christians refused to participate in such curse prayers. This incident for most Muslims is one of the clearest evidences that Islam is true. However, if one objectively looks at the challenge of Mubahalah, discussions preceding the challenge, the Biblical view of the challenge and disastrous incidents that happened to Muhammad and his family, one may have to conclude that the challenge of Mubahalah had disproved the veracity of Islam and its founder. The challenge of Mubahalah was issued in the year 10.A.H by Muhammad, the prophet of Islam, along with Fatima, Ali, Hasan and Husayn. In the year 11 A.H. both Muhammad and his daughter died. Later, Ali, Hasan and Husayn were murdered by other Muslims.  It was Muhammad who challenged the Christians for the curse prayers. Those who support lie must die approximately within a year, according to Muslim scholars. Muhammad died approximately within a year raising serious questions on his claim to be a true prophet of true God. His family, Fatima, Ali, Hasan and Husayn had terrible and tragic deaths. However, before we discuss about these incidents, let us begin by looking at the discussions  and examining effectiveness of Muhammad’s responses. One of the topics that were discussed between the Christian delegation and Muhammad was the divinity of Lord Jesus Christ. If ever there was a complete transcript of the discussion, it is not available to us today. However, the Quranic portion (Surah 3: 1-80) which discusses this event gives us a clue that Muhammad was greatly troubled by questions of the Christian delegation for the following reasons: 1) Muhammad himself had to retreat from his claim that Quran is clear (as claimed for example in Surah 16: 89) and had to admit that many verses of the Quran are unclear. Surah 3: 7 “He it is Who hath revealed unto thee (Muhammad) the Scripture wherein are clear revelations - they are the substance of the Book - and others (which are) allegorical. But those in whose hearts is doubt pursue, forsooth, that which is allegorical seeking (to cause) dissension by seeking to explain it. None knoweth its explanation save Allah. And those who are of sound instruction say: We believe therein; the whole is from our Lord; but only men of understanding really heed.” In other words, the Christian delegation made Muhammad and thereby the Quran contradict itself. Bro. Sam Shamoun of Answering Islam in his article ‘Muhammad's attempt of damage control: How Sura 3:7 suddenly makes sense’ has extensively discussed this. 2) Explanations which Muhammad gave were already rejected by the Holy Bible 600 years before. Muhammad’s responses were quite unsatisfactory and unimpressive to any Biblically educated person. For example, Muhammad tried to explain away the importance of the virgin birth of Lord Jesus Christ by saying: Surah 3:59 “Lo! the likeness of Jesus with Allah is as the likeness of Adam. He created him of dust, then He said unto him: Be! and he is.” However, the Holy Bible had explained the difference between Adam and Lord Jesus Christ. So, the Christians could not have accepted that argument though it may have impressed some Muslims who were not knowledgeable in the Holy Bible. The following verses from the Holy Bible clearly cite the difference between Adam and Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Corinthians 15:45-47 “And so it is written, "The first man Adam became a living being." The last Adam became a life-giving spirit. However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural, and afterward the spiritual. The first man was of the earth, made of dust; the second Man is the Lord from heaven.” So, the creation of Adam and incarnation of Lord Jesus Christ are very different. 3) The challenge of Mubahalah when the Holy Bible does not permit it After admitting that all of the Quran is not clear as he previously claimed, and giving an erroneous explanation for the virgin birth of Lord Jesus Christ, Muhammad challenged the Christian delegation forMubahalah (curse prayers) in the following Quranic verse: Surah 3: 61 “But whoever disputes with you in this matter after what has come to you of knowledge, then say: Come let us call our sons and your sons and our women and your women and our near people and your near people, then let us be earnest in prayer, and pray for the curse of Allah on the liars.” This is popularly known as the challenge to the Mubahalah. Islamic sources inform us that Christians refused to participate in Mubahalah. Islamic scholars assume the Christians were afraid to accept the challenge due to the realization that Muhammad was a true prophet. One of the Islamic versions can be found in Sahih Bukhari Volume 5, Book 59, Number 663.  However, anyone who has read the Holy Bible can understand that no true Christian can ever participate in a curse prayer like this. The Holy Bible does not allow such curse prayers and hence that could be the reason for their refusal.   BUT what Muslim scholars do not say is that Muhammad died approximately within a year after this challenge; Hasan, Husayn, Fātima and ‘Alī - four whom Muhammad identified as his family- had tragic deaths. In other words, the curse that Muhammad pronounced though the Christians never said amen to it, returned on him casting yet another doubt on his claim to be a true prophet of the one true God. Now, let me demonstrate all these from Islamic sources. 1. The Challenge of Mubahalah and Muhammad’s Death: It is to be noted that Quran does not give any specific timeframe for the curse to be effective. However, commenting on the Bukhari Hadiths, Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani in his voluminous Fath ul-Bari fi Sharh Sahih al-Bukhari writes: “Some of the benefits of this hadith is that one can do Mubahala with an opponent if he insists after losing the argument.... What is known by experience is that one who takes part in Mubahala to support falsehood will not survive its first anniversary.” Mubahalah happened in 10 AH: The Islamic website Al Islam writes: “This verse refers to the famous event of ' al-Mubahalah ' which took place in the year 10 A.H against the Christians of Najran. A deputation of 60 Christians of Najran headed by Abdul Masih their chief monk priest came and discussed with the Holy Prophet ( pbuh&f ) the personality of Hazrat Eesa ( as ).” Muhammad died in 11 AH with incurable pain: Muhammad died on 11 AH (or AD 9 June 632) with incurable pain. You can check this site to confirm the date http://www.itsislam.net/articles/life_of_Prophet_Muhammad.asp Not only that Muhammad died approximately in a year, he died a painful death. Read the following hadith. Sahih Bukhari Volume 5, Book 59, Number 713: “Narrated Ibn Abbas: 'Umar bin Al-Khattab used to let Ibn Abbas sit beside him, so 'AbdurRahman bin 'Auf said to 'Umar, "We have sons similar to him." 'Umar replied, "(I respect him) because of his status that you know." 'Umar then asked Ibn 'Abbas about the meaning of this Holy Verse:-- "When comes the help of Allah and the conquest of Mecca . . ." (110.1) Ibn 'Abbas replied, "That indicated the death of Allah's Apostle which Allah informed him of." 'Umar said, "I do not understand of it except what you understand." Narrated 'Aisha: The Prophet in his ailment in which he died, used to say, "O 'Aisha! I still feel the pain caused by the food I ate at Khaibar, and at this time, I feel as if my aorta is being cut from that poison." Point to be noted: According to Ibn Hajar “what is known by experience is that one who takes part in Mubahalah to support falsehood will not survive its first anniversary” and Muhammad who cursed the Christian delegation died approximately in a year. Does it not raise serious questions on Muhammad's claim be a true prophet even by Islamic criteria? Not only that Muhammad died in a year, the people he identified as his family also had tragic deaths. 2. The challenge of Mubahalah and tragic deaths of Muhammad’s Family It is to be noted that Muhammad did not include his surviving wives such as Aishah among his family when he issued the challenge of Mubahalah. Read the following Tafsir to know members who were identified as family of Muhammad. Al–Jalalayn in his Tafsir for Surah 3:61 writes: “And whoever, from among the Christians, disputes with you concerning him, after the knowledge, of his affair, that has come to you, say, to them: ‘Come! Let us call our sons and your sons, our wives and your wives, our selves and your selves, and gather them together, then let us humbly pray and invoke God’s curse upon those who lie’, by saying: ‘Lord, curse the one that tells lies concerning the affair of Jesus’. The Prophet (s) had called upon the Najrān delegation to do this when they disputed with him about Jesus. They said, ‘Let us think about it and we will come back to you’. The judicious one among them said, ‘You know that he is a prophet, and that every people that has ever challenged a prophet to a mutual imprecation has been destroyed’. They left him and departed. When they went to see the Prophet (s), who had set out with al-Hasan, al-Husayn, Fātima and ‘Alī, he said to them [the Najrān delegation], ‘When I supplicate, you say ‘Amen’; but they refrained from this mutual imprecation and made peace with the Prophet on the condition that they pay the jizya, as reported by Abū Nu‘aym. According to Ibn ‘Abbās [the Prophet] said, ‘Had they set out and performed the mutual cursing, they would have gone home and found neither possessions nor family’. It is also reported that had they set out with this intention, they would have been consumed by fire.” So, the family members whom Muhammad identified were: (a) Fātima, daughter of Muhammad (b) Ali, husband of Fatima (c) Hasan, son of Fatima and Ali (d) Husayn, son of Fatima and Ali (a) Fātima, daughter of Muhammad, too died in 11 AH Within six months after the death of Muhammad, Fatima too died. The reason for Fatima’s death are debated between Sunnis who have difficulty in accepting that the ‘second righteous caliph’ Umar caused the death and Shias who argue that it was Umar who violently entered the house of Fatima by breaking the door which fell upon her. This not only aborted her unborn child (she was carrying at that time) but also caused enough injuries which later led to her death. History of al-Tabari, Volume 9 page 187,  gives us circumstantial evidence that the Shia version is correct. Although the timing is not clear, it seems that Ali and his group came to know about Saqifa after what had happened there. At this point, his supporters gathered in Fatimah's house. Abu Bakr and Umar, fully aware of Ali's claims and fearing a serious threat from his supporters, summoned him to the mosque to swear the oath of allegiance. Ali refused, and so the house was surrounded by an armed band led by Abu Bakr and Umar, who threatened to set it on fire if Ali and his supporters refused to come out and swear allegiance to Abu Bakr. The scene grew violent and Fatimah was furious. For details see Ansab Ashraf, by al-Baladhuri in his, v1, pp 582-586; Tareekh Ya'qubi, v2, p116; al-Imamah wal-Siyasah, by Ibn Qutaybah, v1, pp 19-20. Such unruly behavior from two of the ‘righteously guided caliphs’ makes us think that there is more credibility to Shia version. Irrespective of the reason for Fatima’s death, the fact is that Fatima too died in 11 A.H- a year after the challenge of Mubahalah. Tragic that a young woman should have such a terrible death but we should not forget about the Mubahalah: “Come let us call our sons and your sons and our women and your women and our near people and your near people” Surah 3:61. Unfortunately Fatima was one of those whom Muhammad included in Mubahalah. (b) Ali was murdered with a poisonous sword Since the way in which Ali was killed is accepted by both Shias and Sunnis, I quote the following account from Letters to the Imam Blog: Abdur Rahman bin Muljam carefully worked out his plans to kill Ali. A few other trusted Kharjis also volunteered their services to him, and together they rehearsed the assassination. Abdur Rahman bin Muljam took one extra precaution – he put his sword in deadly poison, and let it soak in it for three days. On the morning of the 19th of Ramadan of the year 40 A.H., Ali came into the Great Mosque of Kufa, and called Adhan (the call to prayer). He took his place in the alcove, and moments later, the worshippers began to arrive. They stood behind him in serried ranks, and the prayer began. Standing in the front row, with other worshippers, were Abdur Rahman bin Muljam and his confederates. They were watching Ali's movements. In the folds of their cloaks, they were carrying swords burnished to a high sheen, and soaked in poison. Just when Ali touched the ground with his forehead for sajda, Abdur Rahman bin Muljam stepped out of his row, and crept into the alcove. And just when Ali lifted his head from the ground, ibn Muljam struck the fatal blow at his forehead with such deadly force that it split open. Blood squirted from Ali's forehead in several jets, and he exclaimed: "By the Lord of the Kaaba, I am successful!" The members of the congregation realized what had happened, and as soon as they concluded the prayer, they surrounded him. His sons, Hasan and Husain, carried him to his house. A physician came, and tried to dress the ghastly wound but could not stop the bleeding. The blow of the sword was fatal anyway, but the poison from its blade was also spreading rapidly in his body. As terrible as it was, we must remember the challenge of Mubahalah - “come let us call our sons and your sons and our women and your women and our near people and your near people” Surah 3:61. Unfortunately Ali was one of those four who stood with Muhammad in the challenge of Mubahalah. (c) Hasan was poisoned by his own wife Read the following story from the Islamic website www.hadith.net: “Mu'awiyah's malice against Imam Hasan led him to conspire with the Imam's wife Ja'dah, the daughter of Ash'ath. She was made to give the Imam some poison which affected his liver. Imam Hasan thus succumbed to Mu'awiyah's fatal mischief and attained his martyrdom on 28th Safar 50 AH. His funeral was attended by Imam Husayn and the members of the Hashimite family. His bier while being taken for burial to the Holy Prophet's tomb was shot at with arrows by his enemies, (under direct supervision and consent of 'A'ishah), and it had to be diverted for burial to the Jannatu 'I-Baq;' at Medina. His tomb was demolished along with others on 8th Shawwal 1344 (21st April 1926) by the Saudi rulers when they came to power in.” Note the Mubahalah - “come let us call our sons and your sons and our women and your women and our near people and your near people” Surah 3:61. Unfortunately Hasan was one of those four who stood with Muhammad. (d) Husayn was beheaded Read the following from Encyclopedia Britannica on how Husayn was beheaded: When Yazīd I succeeded his father, Muāwiyah I, to the caliphate in the spring of 680, the many partisans of Muhammad’s late cousin and son-in-law Alī ibn Abī Ṭālib—who collectively felt that leadership of the Muslim community rightly belonged to the descendants of Alī—rose in the city of Al-Kūfah, in what is now Iraq, and invited al-Ḥusayn to take refuge with them, promising to have him proclaimed caliph there. Meanwhile, Yazīd, having learned of the rebellious attitude of the Shītes in Al-Kūfah, sent Ubayd Allāh, governor of Al-Baṣrah, to restore order. The latter did so, summoning the chiefs of the tribes, making them responsible for the conduct of their people, and threatening reprisal. Al-Ḥusayn nevertheless set out from Mecca with all his family and retainers, expecting to be received with enthusiasm by the citizens of Al-Kūfah. However, on his arrival at Karbalā, west of the Euphrates River, on October 10, he was confronted by a large army of perhaps 4,000 men sent byUbayd Allāh and under the command of Umar ibn Sad, son of the founder of Al-Kūfah. Al-Ḥusayn, whose retinue mustered only 72 fighting men, gave battle, vainly relying on the promised aid from Al-Kūfah, and fell with almost all his family and followers. The bodies of the dead, including that of al-Ḥusayn, were then mutilated, only adding to the consternation of later generations of Shītes. Remember the challenge of Mubahalah - “come let us call our sons and your sons and our women and your women and our near people and your near people” Surah 3:61. Husayn was one of those four who stood with Muhammad in the challenge of Mubahalah. Summary and Conclusion: The challenge of Mubahalah was issued in the year 10.A.H by Muhammad, the prophet of Islam, along with Fatima, Ali, Hasan and Husayn. In the year 11 A.H. both Muhammad and his daughter died. Later, Ali, Hasan and Husayn were murdered by other Muslims.  It was Muhammad who challenged the Christians for the curse prayers. As per Islamic scholars, those who support lie must die approximately within a year, according to Muslim scholars. Muhammad died approximately within a year proving that he was not a true prophet of true God. His family, Fatima, Ali, Hasan and Husayn had terrible and tragic deaths. It is time for Muslims to seriously rethink on these issues.   Comments (4)  1  really i pity Written by ratnasunil, on 2010-11-17 00:42:29 Put your sword back in its place,” Jesus said to him, “for all who draw the sword will die by the sword. these are the words of jesus christ when he was surrounded by the betrayer Judas and a large crowd came to arrest HIM the night befor he was crucified. It means; those who use cunning tricks will be preished with that cunning tricks. those who use sword to spread their beliefs will be perished by swords. those who create violence to spread their faith they will end up in violence. thats why the curse came upon the prophet himself. not only the prophet but also his counted family. what a great tragedy is it. if we see the initial days of the islamic movement after mohammed death there is lot of violence,confusion. muslim brothers need to think instead of read and remember the suras from koran number of times. like brahmin "mantras" in INDIA they spell but they dont know what they are saying. muslims also do. really i pity. i pray the almighty that lord please give them to understand you through your beloved one and only SON JESUS CHRIST.  2  Mohammad\'s death Written by Sherry, on 2010-11-17 22:28:52 How did the "seal of all the prophets" die? (The Holy Prophet, peace be upon him, passed away Monday 12 Rabi-ul-Awwal 63 Years 11 AH 7 June 632 AD) Please quote only from authentic Islamic texts.  3  Good Work Written by Jeby, on 2010-12-29 07:29:34 Well Done Br. Jerry Thomas. Very Good Expository.  4  they never think that who is the TRUE GO Written by Anil kumar. V. Ayyappan, on 2011-01-25 10:19:27 they never think that who is the TRUE GOD and who was muhammad. according to Bible, we know that muhammad was a false prophet. once again you proved it with the help of their authentic texts. thanks Jerry uncle, and hearty congrads. may our GOD help you to continue these type of works...

Some Christians keep tithing even as they face foreclosure

Some Christians keep tithing even as they face foreclosure Updated 9/24/2008 9:42 AM |  Comments 453  |  Recommend 19 E-mail | Save | Print |

Enlarge Handout People put bills and coins and coins in a church collection plate. Five percent of U.S. adults tithed gave 10% of their income to the church in 2007.  YOU CLICKED: WEEK'S MOST POPULAR RELIGION STORIES 1: Catholic Church updates birth technology guidelines 2: Many beliefs, many paths to heaven? 3: Schuller's son leaves Crystal Cathedral 4: Where is Christ in Christmas? 5: 'The Shack' opens doors, but critics call book 'scripturally incorrect' 6: Saddleback founder Warren driven to expand his reach No. 7-10  Share Yahoo! Buzz  Add to Mixx  Facebook  Twitter More Subscribe  myYahoo  iGoogle More By Nick Carey, Reuters CHICAGO — While millions may lose their homes during the worst housing slump since the Great Depression, some devout Christians among them will do so in part because they will not give up tithing — a voluntary contribution to their churches amounting to 10% of their gross income. "I've had home owners who face foreclosure sitting in front of me saying, 'I'll do anything, anything to keep my home," said Ozell Brooklin, director of Acorn Housing in Atlanta, a nonprofit which offers foreclosure counseling. "But after we've gone through their monthly expenses and the only thing left to cut is their tithe, they say 'I guess this home is not for me' and they walk away," he said. IDEA CLUB: Is moral hazard looming in bailout? HOUSING: Affordability increasingly out of reach The idea of a tithe — from an Old English word meaning "a tenth" — derives from an Old Testament reference to a tax the Israelites paid from the produce of the land to support their priests, fund religious festivals and help the poor. The Barna Group, a California-based research firm, estimated in an April 2008 study that 5% of all American adults tithed in 2007. Evangelicals had the highest percentage (24%), and the study estimated that 12% of conservatives and 10% of registered Republicans tithed. Researcher George Barna said evangelical Christians are far more likely to tithe than other denominations. INTERACTIVE: How beliefs of evangelicals compare to other faiths' "As born-again Christians they believe they have been saved and that tithing is a way to express their gratitude to God," Barna said in an interview. "Evangelicals are interested in the economy, but they don't believe governments have been ordained by God to provide all the solutions." Dr. Roger Oldham, a member of the executive committee of the 16-million strong Southern Baptist Convention, the second- largest Christian grouping in the United States after the Roman Catholic Church, said tithing was a compelling personal commitment. "It's a simple fact that here, as in any Christian culture, you will find some people for whom obedience to God comes second to none," he said. "For those people, a contract with God is worth more than their home." Code of silence While nonprofits around the country say tithing is an issue in some foreclosure cases, little data exist on the phenomenon because many counselors are trained not to bring up the sensitive issue with struggling home owners. "You can suggest that maybe they can pay their tithe in kind, through volunteer work," said Bathsheba Wyatt-Draper, a counselor at nonprofit lender NHS Chicago. "But if they react badly, you have to let it go. Period." Barna said evangelicals tend to adhere to the Gospel according to Matthew, that teaches "when you do good works, do them in private." "In the case of tithing, evangelicals feel that 'this is something between me and God. I am not doing this to put myself on a pedestal and talk about the wonderful sacrifices I have made.' The whole idea is not to draw attention to yourself." Milton Sharp, a home ownership specialist at NeighborWorks, an umbrella group of 230 nonprofits, said for many borrowers tithing is "mandatory and not a discretionary item that can be cut." Debt counselors said the borrowers most likely to face a dilemma over tithing are people in lower income brackets. "Often it's the folks who can least afford it who tithe," said Regina Grant of the Atlanta Cooperative Development Corp. Linda Ingram of St Louis, Missouri-based nonprofit Beyond Housing said, "Tithing is a very sensitive subject and you have to be careful as to how you approach it." Ingram said one of her clients was a 68-year-old woman who obtained a $62,000 mortgage on behalf of her daughter. When her daughter stopped paying the mortgage this spring, the woman was stuck with payments since her name was on the loan contract. To stay current on the $500 monthly mortgage, she was faced with giving up a tithe to her local evangelical church of around $200 a month. Instead, she let the property go into foreclosure. "I made an agreement with the Lord 30 years ago and I have tithed ever since," said the woman, who declined to give her name in an interview. "Nothing could persuade me to give that up. My relationship with God comes first." Asked why she would not be named, the woman said, "I don't want people to think I'm crazy." Home owners in similar straits are just as reluctant to talk. John Tiemstra, a professor at Calvin College, a Christian college in Michigan, said that was no surprise. "There is a very prevalent attitude among conservative Christians that their personal finances are an intensely private matter," he said. "This gets in the way of what the church could do to help them when they are in trouble." READERS: How much do you give to religious groups? Will that change due to the economy? Copyright 2008 Reuters Limited.