‘If Mr. al-Baghdadi won't convert to faith in Christ, then he should have no problem calling on his god "allah" to answer by fire. It will be a great stage for the world to finally see whose God is the one true God…"Allah" worshipped by the world's 1.6 billion Muslims, or the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of the Bible!’
Yes,
you read that right; an Elijah has arisen in the United States and he is ready
for a Mount Carmel-type showdown! His name is William Keller and he runs
liveprayer.com, an internet-only church. In other words, what PUNCH’s Jide Ojo
was asking of Nigeria’s prophets; what I had myself always wondered about, is
set to take place if the other party thinks it fit to accept the challenge.
In
concluding a two-part serial, Descent
Into Darkness (June 29 & July 6, 2014), I alluded to the silence of
Nigeria’s many Christian leaders in the face of increasing tyranny in the land.
I wrote as follows:
“Please
note the emphasis above on the prophets’ silence. It reminds me of a brilliant
piece titled, “Where are the Nigerian prophets?” by PUNCH’s
Jide Ojo. He wrote in part: ‘Just imagine (Christian) clerics…jointly or
individually challenging Abubakar Shekau, the leader of Boko Haram, to a
spiritual duel like Elijah of old did. Just imagine what the defeat
of Boko Haram and other terrorist groups by Christian leaders will do to the
growth of Christianity and restoration of peace in Nigeria…Will our Christian
leaders seize the moment to demonstrate their much talked about God-given
spiritual prowess?’ I sometimes wonder too, but how can God use people who keep
quiet in the face of evil be used by God? How can servants of God who are
obeying the orders of the powers that be to “…See not… prophesy not unto us right
things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits” (Isaiah 30:10), operate as God’s agents?”
You
can therefore imagine how excited I was at receiving a bulletin in my inbox
recently. Here’s the news slightly edited by me to remove any potentially
offensive word:
“Liveprayer's
Rev. Bill Keller has sent a personal video message to the head of ISIS, Abu
Bakr al-Baghdadi, encouraging him to renounce Islam and inviting him to convert
to Christianity. In his video message, Keller goes on to tell al-Baghdadi that
if he refuses to renounce Islam, he is challenging him to a modern day
"whose God will answer by fire" showdown like the prophet Elijah
challenged the prophets of baal to on Mt. Carmel in the book of 1 Kings,
Chapter 18.
“Keller stated, ‘As an evangelist,
my life's work and desire is to lead lost souls to faith in Jesus Christ. The
Bible says it is God's desire ALL come to repentance, that none be lost. The
fact is Jesus died for the sins of ALL men, even Mr. al-Baghdadi’.
“When asked about his challenge to a
modern day Mt. Carmel showdown, Keller smiled, ‘What Elijah did on Mt. Carmel
was to expose the prophets of baal and their "god" as false prophets
who believed in a false god…
“Keller went on, ‘If Mr. al-Baghdadi
won't convert to faith in Christ, then he should have no problem calling on his
god "allah" to answer by fire. It will be a great stage for the world
to finally see whose God is the one true God…"Allah" worshipped by
the world's 1.6 billion Muslims, or the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the
God of the Bible!’
“When asked about fears for his
personal safety Keller said, ‘Jesus said don't worry about the man who can kill
your body, worry about the man who can kill your soul. You can only be killed
once, and I have no fear of dying since only God will say when my work is
finished. When He does, I will be ready to spend eternity in Heaven with Jesus.
I trust God to protect me and when He answers by fire, the world will see Him
in all of his glory and Islam will be exposed for the lie it is. This could start
a true worldwide revival.’
“Rev. Keller has given al-Baghdadi
until the end of July to either convert to Christianity or work out the details
for the showdown to see whose God will answer by fire.”
Concerned that it
might be a hoax, I, in line with journalism’s best practices, scoured the net
for the video and for a while couldn’t find it, so I sent Bill Keller an email
asking him to confirm the existence of the video and its supposed content. His
reply was: ”I am..I did..and it is still there..here is the link..if I can help you
answer any questions..be happy to..just email me..blessings” I checked the link
he provided and yes the video was live on youtube. I wrote to acknowledge the link and he followed
up with this: “Blessings my friend..please help get this to various media
sources in your country...it is time people stood up to a bully like this..like
Elijah stood up to the false prophets of baal on Mt. Carmel..of course..you
never know..al-Baghdadi might get saved..:)..
Is the stage set for a Mount Carmel type showdown somewhere
soon, then?
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