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For all the skepticism that abounds in our time, people still want to know what happens after death. Do you know with any certainty where your conscious, thinking, self–aware, communicative self will be? And does it matter, as long as you are in ’heaven’? But the importance of ’heaven’ does not consist only in it being the alternative to ’hell’. It is not just an abstract future state into which we will slip, it is a physical reality which can give us joy and hope even now as we look toward it. Our guest will examine how the Christian can and should think about heaven.
What fuels atrocity after atrocity in the Middle East? Today, our guest will provide the answers to that question as he explains what motivates extremist groups throughout the Middle East. A former Muslim and a onetime sniper with Yasser Arafat’s Fatah organization, our guest has lived it himself. At age 42, he steered his life in a radical new direction, committing it to Jesus. He will not only describe the motivations and aspirations of those who live in the Middle East, but he will also outline a peaceful solution. Join us to hear the real story behind the headlines.
Derek W.H. Thomas, a native of Wales, is the Chancellor’s Professor of Systematic and Pastoral Theology and also serves as Senior Minister at First Presbyterian Church (ARP) in Columbia, South Carolina. He previously served as the Chairman of the Theology Department at Reformed Theological Seminary (Jackson), the Minister of Teaching at First Presbyterian Church (PCA) in Jackson, Mississippi, and the Robert Strong Professor of Systematic and Pastoral Theology at Reformed Theological Seminary (Atlanta). He is also a Teaching Fellow with Ligonier Ministries and Dean of their D.Min. Program. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics from the University of Wales, a Masters of Divinity from Reformed Theological Seminary (Jackson), and a Doctor of Philosophy from the University of Wales (Lampeter). He was ordained in the Evangelical Church of Ireland, and served Stranmillis Evangelical Presbyterian Church in Belfast for 17 years before moving to the United States. He has published more than twenty books and contributed to many others.
Tass Saada is a former Muslim and the founder of Hope for Ishmael, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to reconcile Arabs and Jews. Born in 1951 in the Gaza Strip, Saada grew up in Saudi Arabia and Qatar. He worked under Yasser Arafat as a Fatah fighter and sniper. Years after immigrating to America, he became a Christian. He and his wife, Karen, now spend much of each year in the Middle East guiding a ministry to children.