There is no God but Allah and other conversations

The other day, I received an email from one of my muslim friends that was intended with all sincerity and I took it that way. He said, Pastor Tim, I there is something that you must know and that is there is no God but Allah and Mohammed is his prophet! In this statement he cut the core of his beliefs and the fact that he communicated it - I took it as a compliment to our growing friendship. At about the same time I received an email from another muslim friend who asked me to do something about a doctor in Pakistan who has disapeared and she believed that this doctor was kidnapped by our armed forces. She went on to say that she respected me but I must know that George Bush caused the Twin towers to fall not terrorists. She believed that everyone in the world knew this to be true. I replied to both of my friends thanking them for stating their beliefs but then giving them the same privilege of knowing where I disagreed with them. I tried to point out areas where we agreed. Other areas that I have enormous respect for their faith (Just as they had expressed to me). I share these two conversations, there are many more that I could have shared because I believe that it is so important that we begin to communicate and build friendships with people for whom we disagree. Communication is not enough. War is communication at the lowest level. Clear statement or persuasive argument is not enough because there is no where to go when our beliefs differ so greatly. No there must be friendships and respect that run deeper even than our differing ideas. I do this because I am a follower of Jesus Christ. I believe that he died for everyone including muslims. So I must respect everyone and treat them with the same kind of love that he has for them. Not a love that enables injustice or covers up hard truths but a love that builds friendships where hard truths can be shared and injustice uncovered. They treat me with respect because Mohammed respected Jesus Christ. Yes, I am reading a biography (which my muslim friends recomended to me and while their view of Jesus is different from mine they respect him. Let us look to our leaders - to our highest ideals and do the work that they began.