Thurs. 08/21/2008: THE COST OF SPEAKING THE TRUTH

With the last 2 posts, I see that readership hit an all-time high. Thanks to those who drop by regularly. Thanks to those who have read loyally since day one, as well as to those who have only recently heard of this blog.

On Saturday 08/16/2008, I preached a 5PM service at an inner-city outreach ministry on Minneapolis’ south side. I came from 1 Timothy 4:1-8, and the title of the message was, “COMMUNICATING CHRISTIANITY TO AN ANTI-CHRISTIAN WORLD”.

There came a time when I was using my recent trip to Omaha, Nebraska to confront the Nation of Islam as a sermon illustration. All of a sudden someone jumped up in the audience and shouted in a Somali accent: “What have you done for your community?!”. He was an orthodox Muslim. Though my comments were about the Nation of Islam, he heard the words, “Islam” and “lie” in the same sentence and lost it.

I addressed his outburst by saying over the microphone just as publicly as he questioned me that what I have done for my community was to defend the name and honor of Jesus Christ on the streets, as well as refute the lies that seek to take people other directions than Christianity. I further went on to say that if he knew any Nation of Islam leader that would debate me on the subject publicly to find me and debate me. I said, “Tell him don’t sing it, just bring it.” This angered him as well as 2 other Muslims sitting next to him.

All 3 young Muslim men got up and walked out. One was an immigrant from Somalia, but two were American-born. They left the building, but not the property. They waited for me in the parking lot.

I went on and preached the truth boldly, unitimidated, without fear. At the conclusion of the sermon I shook hands with the pastor and another minister on the pulpit. I thanked them for the opportunity to speak there.

Then I went out into the parking lot, hoping to find the 3 Muslim men who had walked out. How backwards does it sound? I should have been running for my life. I’m 5-7, about 165 lbs. soaking wet. I am not a good candidate for being involved in a physical contest of violence. I am a guaranteed casualty. But the Spirit testified that I needed to find them. And they were out there.

The Somalian immigrant apologized for his behavior, saying that he now understood that my reference was to Farrakhanism and not orthodox Islam. I wanted to tell him what I thought of orthodox Islam, but figured this would be a bad time to do so. I talked to the two American-born Muslims.

I asked one, “Would you like to at least know where I am coming from?” His response was, “I really don’t care where you’re coming from”. Fair enough. No need to beat him on the head. The other one began telling me his life story, how he had come to Minneapolis from Chicago 11 years ago, and how it was hard to make it in this city and such. At least we were talking.

This whole scenario reminded me that there is a cost to speaking truth. Even though I did the text and taught what it was trying to say, I am going to pay for this message as the story gets around. First off, I may never be invited back to that church again to speak. Second, I may be branded as controversial or divisive by well-meaning Christians who don’t understand what I was trying to say. This may prejudice some folks to the point that their ability to hear and their willingness to comprehend the message of my ministry might be damaged.

If the situation had taken a turn for the worse in the parking lot following service, it may have costed me more. I may have been the victim of an assault or even a homicide.

So looking back with 5 days’ hindsight, I have asked myself: “If I could do that sermon over again, what would I change?”. Do you want to know what my conclusion was? I would change nothing! I would stand in front of them again and say it just like that all over again.

The cost to me personally does not matter. Why? Because the cost both to myself as well as my fellow man would be EVEN HIGHER if I failed to speak the truth, or if I watered down or sugar-coated the truth.

Here’s hoping something was said here that will inspire you. There is a cost for speaking the truth. But I challenge you to do so anyway!

Have a great week, all! God bless!

 

BJS

bjshanley@hotmail.com

612-867-0699

Triumphant, Victorious Journey

Fri. 08/15/2008

Greetings, all. I am back fresh from the road, having traveled to Omaha, Nebraska to appear on a local television show entitled, “Real Spit”. The show addresses the social, economical, and political issues that affect the “black” community. On this date, they wanted to deal with the spiritual issues that affect the community as well. It was to be sort of a change of pace, a special. I was humbled and honored to be a guest.

Originally it was going to be a debate, myself vs. Terry Muhammad. Mr. Muhammad is the head minister at a Nation of Islam mosque in that part of the country. I so believe that the Nation of Islam is false and destructive to the community that I was willing to drive there and confront him in his own backyard, on his own turf.

Evangelical Protestant Christianity vs. the Nation of Islam would have been a treat for many.

Mr. Muhammad suddenly received word from the highest authorities in the Nation of Islam headquarters that he is forbidden to debate me publicly. He therefore declined to be a part of the debate. So I appeared on the show without him.

We filmed 2 episodes and, while I was not able to debate an authority in the leadership of the Nation of Islam as originally planned, I was still able to interact with a panel of people who had a mixed bag of beliefs and ideas. The show was taken in a lot of directions and we got into a lot of areas.

I had a checklist of points I wanted to make. When the smoke cleared from the discussion, I think I was able to make about 55% of those points. The show is new, and is still in its infancy. Hence, it is going through both format and personnel evolution as it seeks to develop a system and style that works best for all involved. There were a lot of times that I was interrupted while I was trying to get a point across, or while I was on a roll. If I had been allowed to speak more, the viewing audience would not have been robbed of the other 45% of my presentation that I never got to give. I feel that it would have made for much more compelling television.

But the material that I actually DID get to present was still quite damning to the Nation of Islam position. I was able to make bold indictments of the predominately “white” Christian churches as well as the predominately “black” Christian churhces for their leaders’ cowardice and lack of desire to deal confrontationally with the Nation of Islam. I was able to answer questions and objections put forth by non-Christians on the panel. I was able to quote The Qur’an and the writings of Elijah Muhammad with ease. I know people will be informed when it actually airs.

One of the features of this television show normally is that it is unscripted, unedited, and raw. This is part of the host Sam Hunter’s vision. When unexpected good things happen, they are captured forever. When unexpected bad things happen, they are also preserved as part of the finished product. So unfortunately there are a few times where we chase a rabbit down a trail that has no logical relationship to the Nation of Islam whatsoever. The viewer will have to tolerate that for a few minutes. Sorry. I just could not allow a question about Christianity’s integrity to go unaddressed in front of the audience, even if a defense of Christianity was not supposed to be the subject of the show. I thought it would do more harm than good if I dismissed them as irrelevant topics.

It is my prayer that God was glorified and that the name and honor of Jesus Christ was properly defended before a watching world. I hope that someone’s faith in the Naiton of Islam was shaken up or even ripped apart. I hope that some evangelist out there was given new ammunition to go out and witness within the “black” community to those who have come under NOI infulence.

It is my plan to have these two episodes, with all of their imperfections and such, authored onto a DVD or Blu-Ray format. And for there to be bonus features, specifically my audio CD lecture series, “AN INTRODUCTION TO BLACK SEPARATIST CULTS”. The TV appearances and the audio speeches will combine for a 1-2 punch that will benefit anyone who seeks to have a greater knowledge of this subject.

But of all of that beauty on this trip, that was not the greatest thing that took place. The greatest thing that took place was my 10-year-old daughter, Gabrielle Shanley, asking me to baptise her. I was excited. She had traveled to stand behind and support her minister daddy. It feels great that even if the whole world hates and misunderstands your work, your little girl is right next to you to remind you that you are indeed doing the right thing. I questioned her faith, grilled her about the nature of God, the Trinity, salvation, etc. I needed to know what she believed and why. Baptism is for believers. Once it was clear that she was a born-again believer, I baptised her in the pool at the Best Western hotel in Omaha, NE on Thursday morning, August 14th. 2008. It was a beautiful moment, the kind that makes being a father the greatest thing in the world.

Now I am back in Minneapolis. I am thankful to God for having allowed myself and Gabrielle safe travel to and from Omaha.

I have a speaking engagement tomorrow, Sat. 08-16-2008. I don’t even know the exact name or location of the church I have been booked to speak at. I will have to check into it ASAP. All I know is that it is a COGIC church somewhere in South Minneapolis. So it will be old stomping grounds, more than likely.

Praised be the LORD.