Christian Ministry in the Shadow of the Mosque [with video]

Evidence of the vast changes that mark the American landscape come with a new report, The American Mosque 2011. The report was produced by a coalition of research centers and organizations under the direction of Ihsan Bagby of the University of Kentucky. The big finding is the explosive growth in the number of mosques in recent years. The report indicates that there were 2,106 mosques in America in 2011, up from 1,209 in the year 2000.

Other major findings:

• Most mosques are in urban areas, but some are in suburban settings.
• Over 75% of all American mosques were established since 1980.
• Islam in America is ethnically diverse, including large numbers of South Asians, Arabs, and Africans, as well as African-Americans.
• The largest number of mosques are found in California, New York, and Texas, but other states have surprising numbers — such as Alabama (31), Kentucky (27), and Mississippi (16).

Given the higher Muslim birthrate and continuing patterns of immigration, it is likely that the number of Muslims in America will continue to rise, along with the numbers of mosques. Continue at Al Mohler

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Patrick Soohkdeo on The Islamisation of the West

In an article on The Islamisation of the West Dr. Patrick Sookhdeo of the Barnabas Fund writes,

Governments and the public must be made aware of the danger of allowing Islamist activists to take over Muslim organisations and claim to represent all Muslims. The excessive demands of Islamists must be rejected, along with their blaming of host societies for all the difficulties faced by Muslims. It is important that democratic Western societies do not give up their hard-won heritage of equality before the law, freedom of expression and freedom of religion. It must also be made clear that tolerance must work both ways and that threats of violence are unacceptable. Muslim communities must try much harder to isolate and expose Islamists who reject integration and the violent radicals among them.

For Christians the growing Islamisation of the West can be seen as both a challenge and an opportunity to sharpen our thinking and renew our evangelism. As we Christians see Muslim zeal, commitment, and willingness to sacrifice, we should be driven to repent, to pray for revival and act boldly for God in this generation. We need to stand firm on our Biblical foundations, beware of compromises and reach out in love to Muslims, offering them the Gospel of salvation in Christ.

See here for the whole article (PDF).