Village Church Promotes Submission To Islam Although They Claim It's "Engaging" Them

Sara Long from Chandler's Village Church wrote an article about engaging Muslims. It's more like how to let the Muslims reach gullible Western Christians and they know this VERY well. 

Visit your local mosque.

Be sensitive to where the “Christian West” has failed to look like Jesus.

Ask questions about their families and their background.

Talk about Jesus, but carry no agenda. Human souls are not projects, and it takes time to build trust in any relationship.

Follow the Spirit’s lead, not your agenda. New relationships are not the place to debate in-depth theology. For example, God coming to us in the form of a man is essential to Christianity but very offensive to Muslims, and thus, not a good place to begin a relationship.

End quote.

First of all, don't visit a mosque. They are demonic strongholds. There's no reason to go inside Satan's domain. We aren't called to go in  and it's far wiser to stay out of such things. To enter is to willingly submit to Satan and his religion of Islam. 

We ARE in the West and real Christians in the West don't worry about the failures of Evangelicals who are frauds. Starting of in the apology mode is typical for liberals and Long is no exception. What she means by how the "Christian West has failed to look like Jesus", she doesn't say. What she considers "Christian" also is unknown (Muslims think Roman Catholics are Christians, but they are not).

The whole point is supposed to be reaching the Muslims for Christ, right? That's an agenda. She's being dishonest. Frankly that's a key to Islam: dishonesty. The false dichotomy of having an agenda to proclaim the Gospel to the Muslims and care about their souls is also dishonest: people share the gospel BECAUSE they care. Also, she's promoting "friendship evangelism" that is a failure especially using her "tips" because she's trying to not offend at all and do that over time (see below about where she says friendships are more important than being right). Basically this whole diatribe is about submitting to Muslims and their demonic religion, something the Christian isn't supposed to do. We serve Yahweh. Allah is satan. But she sure wants to silence Christians or at least try to remove the sharp double edged sword of the Word.

Long goes on:

Don’t criticize Muhammad, the Qur’an, or anything about the Islamic faith.

Respect their fasting during Ramadan by not eating or drinking around your Muslim friends during the holiday.

Don’t be afraid to visibly practice your faith and pray in the name of Jesus. It will not be a surprise that you and your Muslim friends disagree theologically, and they will appreciate your authenticity.

Treat God’s Word with respect by not placing your Bible on the ground. Muslims show a great deal of respect for the Qur’an.

We must be more committed to our relationships than to being right.

Again, more avoidance of offense even though she's talking to American "Christians". She would do well to remember that Muslims demand all respect, but they don't care about respecting Christians. In fact their quran says to kill us. So there's that.

One must tell the Muslim that their quran isn't true and that their view of Jesus is not according to Scripture nor fact ("Isa" is not a historical person--its a Muslimfied version of Jesus and they deny he was crucified). Their entire worldview is built upon the quran and hadiths, so it is impossible to preach the Truth without exposing their error.

She uses the Muslims as the standard of respect  and proper behavior which is unbiblical. More Sharia.

Worst of all she says relationships trump Truth. She doesn't care what is right in Yahweh's eyes. She cares about not offending Muslim "friends". Wasting time to build up a friendship and then never tell them the truth because it will offend, while submitting to their religion, is anti-biblical.

She also calls for submission to Sharia (but her ignorance has no idea this is what it is):
Don’t initiate a handshake with someone of the opposite sex. Women should approach women, and men should approach men.
If you have adequate time to prepare a meal for Muslims, research markets in your area that sell Halal meat. Don’t serve pork or alcohol.

A few things to note that Long didn't tell people:

Silence in Islam is agreement or permission:

Abu Hurayrah reported that the Prophet said: "A non-virgin woman may not be married without her command, and a virgin may not be married without her permission; and it is permission enough for her to remain silent (because of her natural shyness)." [Al-Bukhari:6455, Muslim & Others]

Even during Ramadan, their "holy" fast, they will break it for the sake of deceiving Westerners:

According to this verse a Muslim can pretend to befriend infidels (in violation of the teachings of Islam) and display adherence with their unbelief to prevent them from harming him.

Under the concept of Takeyya and short of killing another human being, if under the threat of force, it is legitimate for Muslims to act contrary to their faith. The following actions are acceptable:

Drink wine, abandon prayers, and skip fasting during Ramadan;Renounce belief in Allahl Kneel in homage to a deity other than Allah;Utter insincere oaths. 

~Clarion Project

Muslims are called to not take Christians or Jews as friends, but will in deception, for the sake of promoting Islam:

Surah 5:51: O ye who believe! Take not the Jews and the Christians for your friends.

Quran (53:29) - "Therefore shun those who turn away from Our Message and desire nothing but the life of this world."

Quran (3:85) - "And whoever desires a religion other than Islam, it shall not be accepted from him, and in the hereafter he shall be one of the losers."

Quran (5:80) - "You will see many of them befriending those who disbelieve; certainly evil is that which their souls have sent before for them, that Allah became displeased with them and in chastisement shall they abide." Befriending unbelievers is one sign that a Muslim is bound for Hell.

"Let not the believers Take for friends or helpers Unbelievers rather than believers: if any do that, in nothing will there be help from Allah: except by way of precaution (prevention), that ye may Guard yourselves from them (prevent them from harming you.) But Allah cautions you (To remember) Himself; for the final goal is to Allah." Surah 3: 28  (Al-Takeyya  - lying.)

Sahih Bukhari (49:857) - "He who makes peace between the people by inventing good information or saying good things, is not a liar." Lying is permitted when the end justifies the means.

~The Religion of Peace 

Even this shows they won't take Christians on as friends:

Surah 98.6 - Lo! those who disbelieve, among the People of the Scripture and the idolaters, will abide in fire of hell. They are the worst of created beings.

Gullible Westerners like Long should realize that Islam is a religion of violence and lies. It's father is the father of lies, a murderer from the beginning, so it's no surprise that Islam is built and promotes and has a culture of lies.

Different types of lies allowed by Islam:

Muslims are allowed to lie to unbelievers in order to defeat them. There are several forms:

• Taqiyya (Shia) or Muda'rat (Sunni):
tactical deceit for the purposes of spreading Islam.

• Kitman: deceit by omission.

• Tawriya: deceit by ambiguity.

• Taysir: deceit through facilitation
(not having to observe all the tenets of Sharia).

• Darura: deceit through necessity
(to engage in something "Haram" or forbidden).

• Muruna: the temporary suspension of Sharia in order that Muslim immigrants appear "moderate".

~The Religion of Peace

While the biblical Christian does live in this world, one must be very careful who his friends are. No friendship is worth the price of truth and the soul of another.

Psa 26:4  I do not sit with men of falsehood, nor do I consort with hypocrites.5  I hate the assembly of

evildoers, and I will not sit with the wicked. 

To submit to Sharia is to submit to demons. Jesus not only didn't care about offending the Pharisees, He deliberately did so in order to demonstrate how they were solidly opposed to Him and the Father.  If you preach the biblical Christ and His Gospel to a Muslim they will indeed be offended because their quran denies the Triune Godhead.  If they're not offended, you didn't preach the biblical Christ. 

We are to be honest, not underhanded. Don't pretend to not have an agenda if your goal is to preach the Gospel of the biblical Christ:
2Co 4:2  but we have renounced the things hidden because of shame, not walking in craftiness or adulterating the word of God, but by the manifestation of truth commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God.
When Paul was taken to Mars Hill to expand on the gospel he was preaching in the marketplace in Athens, he told the philosophers of the day they were ignoramuses even though they considered themselves quite learned. They were ignorant of the one thing that matters: the true and living God. He actually went on the offensive here:

Act 17:24  "The God who made the world and all things in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands; 

Act 17:25  neither is He served by human hands, as though He needed anything, since He Himself gives to all life and breath and all things;
Act 17:29  "Being then the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and thought of man.

Yes, he did offend them, but in order to show them their error of idolatry and who the true God is. We should do no less with Muslims, Roman Catholics, or any other religion.
While I've touched on some issues here, this isn't a full treatment--it's a brief overview.