Quite often, when people from Muslim backgrounds discover the İsa of the Bible, their pilgrimage begins with a vivid dream. A glowing man dressed in white addresses them by name, perhaps. Or, as this young Turkish student dreamed, a grave opened, a man arose from it. Three ladies came to the grave, and were told that the one they sought was no longer there.
Click HERE to hear the story for yourself.
Yuce takes issue with a popular misyoner tactic of telling folks, "God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life." In the context of his culture, those who embark upon the Jesus Way are very likely to lose their jobs. Their families. Their friends. And sometimes, their lives. And this is good news of a wonderful divine plan? [1]
Well, what makes it wonderful, Yuce said, is the person of İsa Mesih. The transcendent joy of knowing God in person transforms the attendant trials into part of something truly wonderful.
As German martyr Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote, true conversion, true grace, "is costly, as it costs us our lives. It is grace, in that it gives us the only lives worth living."
This blog is motivated by a sincere affection for Turkish people, language, and culture. The resurrection of Jesus meant new life, meaningful life for all who hear His invitation, and come to the party.
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[1] Our family just finished reading the marvelous novel Byzantium, by Stephen Lawhead. In the end, the narrator discovers the true power of the Christian message: not deliverance from suffering and death, but fellowship with a God who understands suffering and death, and has Himself suffered and died.
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