First, before you do anything else, know that you need to take immediate action, if you have not already done so, to defend your church and your congregation from physical attack. Whether you hire uniformed or plainclothes police, or you have a number of armed and trained parishioners, that's up to you. Whichever you decide, do it, and do it now!
Christian Churches and Jewish Synagogues are eerily silent regarding the true nature of the Islamic ideology and the threat it poses to the practice of their faith and their freedoms. A search of the websites of the major Presbyterian, Methodist, Lutheran, Baptist and Catholic denominations shows not just an absence of understanding of the Islamic threat. Their understanding is a gross distortion based on Islamic propaganda. Instead, there is typically the simplistic injunction to “love your neighbor” and “embrace all believers in God or Allah – we are all God’s children.” A call for ecumenicalism – “discover what we hold in common” - is often the priority when churches refer to Islam. Jews simply succumb to the Stockholm syndrome and don’t say anything just to get along though their subliminal fears from their past. This is all based on gross ignorance of Islam.
Churches fail to understand and teach the diametrically opposite and potentially deadly doctrines of Islam. Christianity: Love and forgiveness; Islam: Intimidation and submission. Christianity: Tolerance; Islam: Intolerance. Christianity: Apolotical; Islam: Political. Our churches have not grasped the concept “that when tolerance becomes a one way street it leads to cultural suicide" as stated by Lt. Col. Allen West. Opposites even exist in the beliefs concerning end times: The Christian "savior" (Messiah) is the Islamic anti-Christ, and the Islamic savior (Mahdi) is the Christian anti-Christ. God and Allah are not the same. Their differences are striking for those who care to understand them.
When will the churches wake up? Sure, “the meek will inherit the earth." But the meek don’t need to remain ignorant. Their culturally diverse political correctness will corrupt their beliefs. At a minimum our churches need to be teaching the true nature of Islam in their Sunday School classes. Teaching commonalities is nice. We have things in common with Scorpions (we are all God’s creatures) but, really, the differences are very important. Differences are essential to convey to its members. There should be strong words from the pulpits concerning these differences. There are numerous sermon topics that can spring from defining such differences: God and Allah: Are they the same? Who is the anti-Christ: Christian and Islamic Interpretations. Love and forgiveness: Contrasting perspectives. And my favorite: Terror: Christian or Islamic? There are countless relevant sermon topics on this subject.
Churches devote significant time and energy warning about the so-called Christian “cults” (the “big three”: Jehovah's Witnesses, Mormons, and Christian Scientists) which in fact hold 95% in common and promote the same morality and culture as the orthodox. While they may have irreconcilable differences in signficant doctrine between them, they are not diametrically opposed and intolerant toward one another. These are the wrong boogie men. The same cannot be said of Islam. Islam's teaching is in absolute opposition to Christianity; intolerant of Christianity in both doctrine and practice and a real threat to the existence of Christianity and Christians - their very lives. They do not share the same morality or culture. The energy of the Church needs to be reprioritized from harranges about neo-Christians and devoted to revealing facts, motives, and dangers of Islam.
The churches don’t have to “preach hate” to get the truth across. Truth is not hate. The facts are not hate. The church really needs to get a spine and enhance awareness among their leadership and members of the critical distinctions between Islam and Christianity before they are subject to persecutions that make it even more difficult and painful to reveal the truth. There is something compelling about the expression “the truth shall set you free.” Once we are intimidated against revealing the truth we cease being free.
Information and training are essential. Sunday School classes, seminars, sermons, retreats, special events, special guests are all needed to help inform.
Church Teaching Curriculm:
One of the best sources of teaching aids to help Christians understand the Islamic threat is sponsored by the Center for the Study of Political Islam. They have a series of self-study materials that can be readily adapted to small group study. HERE is a list of them. The Center also produced a series of 13 excellent MP3 discussions on Islam that supplement the texts that can be purchased. Below is a link to a flyer that can be used to introducing a class on "Islam in the Light of Christianity" in your church.
Churches desparately need to educate their leaders, laymen, and congregations about Islam. Start with the materials above. Let me know what additional teaching materials are available that tell the truth about Islam and demonstrate the stark differences from Christianity.
Go to this page for a sample flyer that is designed to introduce your congregation or church leaders to a seminar or class on "Islam in the Light of Christianity".