So here's the last one.
Last question.
Now this question could easily involve
a young man,
but it does happen to involve a young lady
and I actually think you'll see
by the nature of this question,
I really believe that this situation
probably impacts young ladies
in a tougher sense,
in a harder sense,
in a more difficult sense
than it does young men.
And you'll probably see why as I give it.
She doesn't even give her name.
She just comes across with this:
"God's girl."
She says, "Dear Pastor Tim,
I'm a 21 year old girl
who used to be a Muslim.
God had mercy on me
and opened my heart to His truth.
I currently live with my parents
who are strict Muslims.
I have no way to fellowship with other believers
since I have to practice my faith in secret.
I know that the Lord had geared me
towards biblical teaching
during the past few years..."
And I'm imagining that came over the Internet.
"...My heart's desire is to be able to move out
and not hold back as a Christian.
I hold back due to the strict environment I live in.
It is an extreme taboo
and I'm looked at as an evil person
by my parents for even questioning Islam.
I've tried to tell them,
but I was threatened with being disowned.
I just don't know what to do.
I get aggravated, because when they
talk about Islam,
they debase Christians and Christianity.
I feel angry a lot
because of their religion
and that they pressure me to practice it.
I resent their authority
because they pressure me to practice Islam.
Is my resentment unbiblical?
Should I act differently?
Thanks."
Tim: Look, you know one thing I realize,
when James puts stuff on I'll Be Honest,
I don't know - this girl doesn't say where she is,
but I know this,
I suspect that people in Muslim countries
that understand English are coming across
some of these.
And so I'll speak to those Muslim young people
that may be in Saudi Arabia.
They may be in places like Pakistan
or Indonesia or Turkey.
Many places.
Many Muslim countries.
Iran.
What do we say?
This girl's 21.
If she was in this country,
obviously, that scenario might look different
than if she was in Saudi Arabia, right?
I mean, I think this question
that she's asking -
I think just the scenario -
it's different if you're a boy
than if you're a girl.
I can tell you this,
boys are typically more high esteemed
in those countries than girls.
They'll tolerate more in boys
than they'll tolerate in girls.
Age has a lot to do with it.
Obviously, she's 21, but if you're 10 years old,
that's a different scenario, right?
The country you're in -
so the gender, the age,
the country,
obviously, the strictness of the parents,
if somebody is genuinely converted
in these families, all those factors
are going to come into play.
To simply give a blanket answer
is very difficult, but I would say this:
If there is any Muslim young person
that is likely to be disowned
and thrown out of a Muslim family
in the United States of America,
contact us.
We will see to it that you are given housing;
that you are taken care of entirely.
We will take care of you.
If you'll contact us, we will send somebody
to get you if that's the case.
If you're in Maine,
if you're in Washington,
if you're in Hawaii -
or if you're in another country,
and it's possible somehow for us
to even get you here,
but obviously there's visa issues
when that kind of thing takes place.
If somebody already had a visa,
somebody already had a passport,
they were able to get here,
we would harbor somebody like that.
We would do whatever is in our power
to help people.
To a young lady like this,
even if she's in Saudi Arabia,
the truth is this young lady
has access to the Internet.
In this day, if a young Muslim has that access
and they understand English
like this young lady obviously does,
then the sky is almost the limit
as far as the teaching you can get.
Obviously, that's restrictive as far as
meeting with other believers.
Brethren, I guess we just have to say this
to people like this:
There's several principles
that young folks in Muslim families
need to consider.
One is that as a follower of Jesus Christ
your commitment needs to be to Him
above all else.
Matthew 10:21, "Brother will deliver brother over to death,
a father his child,
and children will rise against parents
and have them put to death."
The truth is -
the truth is this:
we cannot tell Muslim young people
that they will not suffer
if they come public to their families
as being Christians.
We cannot offer you words
from our Lord Jesus Christ
or anywhere from the Bible
that would be words that would lead us
to believe that there won't be any suffering.
In fact, what Jesus said
is there is very likely going to be,
and in fact, they may even put you to death.
But I would say on that note
exactly what Jesus said.
"Blessed are you when others revile you."
He said this in Matthew 5:11.
"...And persecute you,
and utter all kinds of evil against you
falsely on My account,"
He says, "Rejoice and be glad
for your reward is great in Heaven,
for so persecuted they the prophets
who were before you."
And so I would say this,
to suffer even at the hands of your family
for the namesake of Jesus Christ,
He would tell you rejoice
and be exceedingly glad,
for your name is written in Heaven.
And I would say what Paul said.
Even though they might martyr you,
even though they persecute you
for the next ten years,
Paul called it momentary light affliction
in light of an eternal weight of glory.
But I would say this,
I would say this as well.
If you are a child of God,
He knows you.
He has promised never to leave or forsake you.
He promises that He will provide for you.
He promises to be with you.
He promises to take care of you.
He promises that.
If your family throws you out,
go to Him.
He will not abandon you.
Even if you were ten years old
and your family put you on the streets.
I just read last night, I think,
in devotions to my children
about a young Sicilian man
who was Roman Catholic.
And in the courtyard of his Roman Catholic school,
he found a Gospel of John.
The teachers were outraged.
And they took it.
And the priest there in his school
burned it in front of all the kids.
Well, you know what that did to him.
That made him all the more wondering what was in it.
Well, he came to faith,
and his family put him out.
And God provided him a cave to live in,
and then gave him a job
so that he was able to support himself.
Listen, isn't that what Hebrews says?
Some of them wandered about in this world.
Some of them lived in caves.
There's the true cave man, right?
We find it in Hebrews 11.
But you know what it says?
People of whom the world is not worthy.
And you know what Samuel Rutherford said?
He said that when they threw him
in the Anwoth Prison,
they meant to make it a living hell to him,
and God made it heaven.
If God can make a dungeon heaven,
if your parents throw you out on the street
and you have to live in a shack
or in a cave,
God can make it paradise.
And so, trust the Lord.
Listen, Jesus said very plainly
that we should not deny Him.
In Matthew 10, He says,
"Whoever denies Me before men,
I also will deny before My Father
who is in Heaven."
I call upon every young person,
if you're in a Muslim family,
do not deny Christ.
Stand for Christ though it cost you your life.
Do not deny Him.
Now, just like the women
that we just talked about
in the last question who sometimes live
before lost husbands,
who can win those husbands without a word
by their godly conduct,
that may be the way you testify to Christ
in the midst of a Muslim family.
You seek to honor and reverence
your father and your mother
every way possible
without dishonoring Christ.
Don't dishonor Christ.
Jesus Himself said you need to love Him
more than your parents
or you're not worthy of Him.
But I would seek to honor them
and reverence them every way possible
that by your holy conduct,
show them that Christianity
is radically different than Islam.
Show them that there is truly
a God who transforms sinners.
Show them by the joy in your life;
the joy in what Christ accomplished
for you on the cross.
Show by that that Christianity has so much more,
infinitely more to offer
than what Islam has to offer.
But don't be ashamed of Him.
I guess the other thing
that came to my mind
is pray.
Pray.
If you're a child of God,
you have His ear.
You may seem all alone
in the situation you're in,
but you're not alone.
And I would say pray.
Listen, if God did not hold back His Son for you,
but gave Him up for you,
pray.
Though you be in Iran;
though you be in Saudi Arabia,
there are other Christians there.
I doubt anybody could possibly,
even in a situation like North Korea,
very unlikely anybody would ever hear these,
but you never know with the Internet today
and with God all things are possible.
But whether it's Vietnam,
whether it's North Korea,
whatever country we might be talking about,
there are underground churches there.
Pray.
I mean, it is not impossible for God
to lead you though you be ten years old
in a Muslim country like Saudi Arabia,
that God leads you to cross the path
of other Christians that are right there
in the same city where you live.
Even in the same block where you live.
So pray.
You guys have anything else you'd say
to a person like that?
Those are the things that came to mind
that I would tell somebody
if I could get through that camera
through the Internet
and be able to put words of encouragement
in their ears.