Osama Bin Laden is dead. So is Fazul Abdullah Mohammed (Somoli who directed 1998 Kenyan & Tanzanian US embassy bombings). Drones took out Ilyas Kashmiri (Mumbai attack leader based in Pakistan) as well as Al-Qaeda's American-born Al-Awlaki in Yemen. In a matter of months four of the world's most notorious jihadists have been taken out of play.
But Al-Zawahiri was crowned OBL's heir. It's like frogger: take out one and another takes his place; men dedicated to the destruction of the west and Israel. Hate, a bloodlust stirred by religious zeal, and revenge drive them to inflict as much destruction and death as they possibly can.
While I realize these are professing Muslims, I do not think they have much in common with the world's Muslims--the vast majority who go to mosques, recite the Qur'an in Arabic, but have no plans to dress up as a bomb. The debate will not end about whether the many peaceful Muslims or the few jihadists are most faithful to Muhammad's words. But this much we know: they all need the good news, they all need to discover the God who--instead of shedding His enemies' blood, shed His own on their behalf.
What will it take to reach the planet earth's 1.52 million Muslims with the good news about Jesus? What technology will be required, what resources and plans? In addition to the willingness of growing numbers of gifted Christians to die, I think it will be love that leads to risk-taking. Will well-intentioned strategies or goals matter if none of us will take some risks for Jesus? Start a gutsy conversation with a Jordanian Arab on a plane or a woman wearing a Hijab at the supermarket. Set aside some time to pray with your spouse or children for Muslims (get "Operation World" to guide you). We--every person who claims to love Jesus Christ--could decide that lost Muslims are no longer acceptable. Think of it.
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