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Possible terrorism in Texas and jihad against Americans · The Daily Article

• 0:02
  [SPEAKER_00]: Greetings, it's Tuesday, March the 3rd, 2026, and this is The Innocent Forum's Daily article podcast.
• 0:08
  [SPEAKER_00]: Dr. Jim Denison, Cultural Theologian, author today's Daily article, I am Neurator, Chris Elkins.
• 0:16
  [SPEAKER_00]: The FBI is reporting that the mass shooting in Austin, Texas, last Sunday morning, may be related to terrorism.
• 0:23
  [SPEAKER_00]: A third victim has now died, more than a dozen others were injured, including some who remain in critical condition, police shot and killed the suspect as well.
• 0:33
  [SPEAKER_00]: The attack came on the weekend that the U.S. and Israel launched multiple strikes on Iran, killing Supreme Leader Al-Ikhamene.
• 0:41
  [SPEAKER_00]: The gunman in Austin was reportedly wearing a sweatshirt with the words, property of Aleppo.
• 0:47
  [SPEAKER_00]: And FBI agent also said there were indicators on the subject and in his vehicle that indicate potential nexus to terrorism.
• 0:55
  [SPEAKER_00]: In quote, the bureau's terror task force is now probing the mass shooting.
• 1:00
  [SPEAKER_00]: A very troubling aspect of this story is its possible connection to hard-line Muslim clerics in the U.S. who had been claiming that war between the U.S. and Iran is part of a prophetic destiny tied to the return of the body, their Messiah.
• 1:15
  [SPEAKER_00]: One of them closed his Friday prayer before war broke out saying, may Allah destroy all the non-believers, and he asked for this victory before the arrival of Imam Madi.
• 1:26
  [SPEAKER_00]: Add to that, senior clerics in Iran, who have now issued a Fattwan, a religious edict, against Americans stating that vengeance is a religious duty for all Muslims.
• 1:38
  [SPEAKER_00]: Some Muslims believe that a Muslim to die while carrying out such a g-hod is a guaranteed path to paradise.
• 1:46
  [SPEAKER_00]: All of this taken together could cause Americans to fear all Muslims in our midst and to hate radical Islamists who seem to hate us.
• 1:54
  [SPEAKER_00]: But while we should obviously take necessary steps with regard to the security of Americans at home and abroad, this visceral reaction is not the way God wants believers to respond.
• 2:05
  [SPEAKER_00]: The opposite is actually the case.
• 2:08
  [SPEAKER_00]: My longtime friend and Middle East missionary Tom Doyle has been documenting for many years the spiritual awakening going on in the Muslim world.
• 2:16
  [SPEAKER_00]: As he and others have been reporting, Muslims in remarkable numbers are seeing visions and dreams of Jesus and other spiritual messengers and turning to Christ as their Lord.
• 2:27
  [SPEAKER_00]: I shared just this one example.
• 2:29
  [SPEAKER_00]: I was privileged to speak in Bangladesh some years ago, where I met a woman who had recently come to faith in Christ.
• 2:35
  [SPEAKER_00]: Her story reads as though it were in the book of Acts, her father died, then appeared to her the next night in a dream.
• 2:43
  [SPEAKER_00]: He showed her the face of an American she had never met and told her that this man was speaking in a nearby house and that he had a message she needed to hear.
• 2:53
  [SPEAKER_00]: She went to his house the next morning and there before her was the American in her dream.
• 2:58
  [SPEAKER_00]: He had come to Bangladesh with a ministry team to conduct Bible studies and equipping sessions.
• 3:04
  [SPEAKER_00]: She walked up to him and said, what message do you have for me?
• 3:08
  [SPEAKER_00]: He had no idea what she meant.
• 3:11
  [SPEAKER_00]: She explained her dream.
• 3:12
  [SPEAKER_00]: He shared the gospel.
• 3:14
  [SPEAKER_00]: She trusted in Christ.
• 3:16
  [SPEAKER_00]: Then ran home and brought her children to the man.
• 3:18
  [SPEAKER_00]: He shared the gospel with them.
• 3:20
  [SPEAKER_00]: And they trusted in Christ as well.
• 3:23
  [SPEAKER_00]: Miracles like this are happening across the Muslim world, and especially in Iran, as our recent podcast linked in today's episode notes on the subject demonstrates.
• 3:33
  [SPEAKER_00]: There's already the fastest-rowing church in the world.
• 3:36
  [SPEAKER_00]: If barriers to freedom are lowered as a result of the present conflict, the Christian movement in Iran could explode in growth.
• 3:44
  [SPEAKER_00]: However, as Tom stated at a conference we led together, Satan hates what God loves.
• 3:50
  [SPEAKER_00]: Consequently, my friend believes that the rise of radicalized Islam beginning with Iran's Islamic Revolution in 1979 has been the enemy's response to the spiritual awakening sweeping the Muslim world.
• 4:03
  [SPEAKER_00]: In short, Satan wants us to hate and fear Muslims, while God wants us to love and pray for them.
• 4:10
  [SPEAKER_00]: We can view the threat of terror attacks at home and abroad in this light.
• 4:15
  [SPEAKER_00]: While our soldiers fight with weapons of physical war, we are called to fight with weapons of spiritual war, noted in Ephesians 6 verses 10 through 18.
• 4:23
  [SPEAKER_00]: Jesus commissioned us in Matthew 16 verse 18 to attack the gates of hell, secure in the knowledge that they will never withstand our assault.
• 4:33
  [SPEAKER_00]: So to this end, let us first,
• 4:36
  [SPEAKER_00]: Ask God to protect, encourage, and use persecuted believers in Iran and other Muslim lands interceding as though we were present with them referencing Hebrews 13 verse 3.
• 4:48
  [SPEAKER_00]: Then pray for Muslims in America and around the world to encounter Christ in supernatural ways and through the church's faithful declaration of the gospel, referenced in Acts 9 verses 1 through 18.
• 5:00
  [SPEAKER_00]: During Ramadan, any are especially fervent in their prayers and open to God's work in their lives.
• 5:06
  [SPEAKER_00]: And ultimately, look for ways to build relational bridges with Muslims in our community, earning the right noted in John chapter 4 to share God's love in ours.
• 5:17
  [SPEAKER_00]: We should be sensitive during Ramadan to the significance of these days and use them to engage Muslims by speaking the truth in love, taught in Ephesians 4 verse 15.
• 5:28
  [SPEAKER_00]: As we pray and share, we can know that we are joining God as he is working in truly miraculous ways.
• 5:35
  [SPEAKER_00]: Some scholars believe that we are seeing what one calls the greatest turning of Muslims to Christ in history.
• 5:42
  [SPEAKER_00]: We can know through Ephesians 3 1st 20 that our intercession and witness are being used by God's spirit far more abundantly than all we could ask or think.
• 5:51
  [SPEAKER_00]: As I write this morning, a blood moon, total lunar eclipse, is occurring in the skies overhead as the earth passes between the sun and the moon.
• 6:00
  [SPEAKER_00]: However, our skies are so cloudy where I live that I cannot see the phenomenon.
• 6:05
  [SPEAKER_00]: By contrast, my editor lives in a different part of the country where the eclipse is visible and tells me that it's beautiful.
• 6:12
  [SPEAKER_00]: I therefore know that it's happening because someone who knows what I do not has shared what she knows.
• 6:18
  [SPEAKER_00]: This is a rather mundane illustration of the privilege and urgency of evangelism.
• 6:24
  [SPEAKER_00]: Now, let's consider a more dramatic example.
• 6:27
  [SPEAKER_00]: Last Saturday, two people in East Texas became trapped
• 6:31
  [SPEAKER_00]: when their hot air balloon hit a cell phone tower at an estimated 920 feet in the air.
• 6:38
  [SPEAKER_00]: Images of the punctured balloon and its occupants dangling so high above the ground are frightening.
• 6:44
  [SPEAKER_00]: Firefighters climbed the cell towers, braving high winds at elevation.
• 6:48
  [SPEAKER_00]: Using multiple rope systems, they rescued both passengers.
• 6:52
  [SPEAKER_00]: The amazing story calls to mind Pastor David Platt's observation, quote, the cycle making is not a call for others to come to us to hear the gospel, but a command for us to go to others to share the gospel.
• 7:06
  [SPEAKER_00]: How will you obey this command today?