Dear Friend,

In the shadow of the recent tragedy, I am grieved and felt it was important to write about a heresy that I see happening.  First, I truly believe that the overwhelming number of people that follow the teachings of Muhammad are peaceful people.  As Christians we must not persecute or harm anyone of the Islam faith because of the atrocities of some that call themselves Muslims.

This said I also believe as Christians we must be careful in what we say when trying to show tolerance. I say this because I have heard leaders of Christian churches make statements like "Allah is God and Islam is just another way to God." or "Allah is another name for God."

We know that Jesus is the Son of God (John 3:16) and that He is the only way to God (John 14:6).  The Koran denies these truths and states, "It is not proper for God to have children" (19:93).  The first pillar of the Islam faith states that "There is no god but Allah and Muhammad is His Prophet."

Truly, at this time, we walk a difficult line when discussing our faith.  We also have an opportunity like no other in the recent past to tell people about Jesus.  So I am asking every Christian leader to be careful when speaking about Islam and not to raise Allah to be equal with Jehovah.  Islam is the fastest growing religion in the world and by telling people that Allah is God then people may be fooled to believe they do not need Jesus.

Please feel free to send the URL of this letter to anyone who may benefit from it.  I am interested to know your options on this issue. 

Your friend in Christ,

Rick F. Kohnenkamp