Debra and the Cornerstone

I met with Debra this past week. She is a resident in our Cornerstone shelter. We first met when I went to the shelter two weeks ago to share an Advent devotional. Debra was the only one who really showed interest. She asked questions and encouraged other residents to sit and join in. I enjoyed Debra’s questions and her challenges to my faith. I like it when people question. Debra has a lot of questions. We decided to meet the following week to discuss them.
Debra is an African American who was raised as a “strict” Baptist, daughter of a pastor who has converted to Islam. I would guess that she is in her late 30’s early 40’s.
We met in a corner of the Central Presbyterian church. We are sharing the space with our Presbyterian friends till our new corps building is built.
Debra brought her books and I brought mine. She gave me a book to keep and I gave her book as well. ( Case for Christ by Lee Strobel) We talked and shared and then in the end we decided we both liked the questions the other was asking. We decided to meet again this week. We decided we would give each other homework. Hoping this would keep our points of discussion more focused. It was her idea.
Part of our discussion was on how she doesn’t believe anything Paul has written in the New Testament. Most of this, she has read in the book she gave me, “What did Jesus REALLY say?” by Misha’al ibn Abdullah.
According to this book she has learned that Paul manipulated the gospel of Jesus by going to the Gentiles. How as Saul, he was known for persecuting the believers and when he became Paul it was just another way to destroy the “believers” except this time from within and by watering down the gospel. According to Debra -They believe it is Paul who has confused people into thinking Jesus was God and God’s son. She also tells me our translations of the Bible are filled with so many mistakes…( the same book apparently proves this) and she asked me “how could anyone believe everything written there with so much human error over the years?” When I asked about the translation of The Qur’an she refers again to the book mentioned and it reads that the Qur’an has been protected from mistakes, from human error. (bit too convenient if you ask me!)
The homework assignment I gave her was:
Find out why going to the Gentiles is not considered part of God’s plan. Because in the Torah, God spoke directly to Hagar (Ishmael’s mother) she was a Gentile, an Egyptian by birth. Plus, God told Abraham He would bless all nations through him.
The homework assignment she gave me:
Prove that Jesus is God/the son of God.
I imagine I will have to “prove” this without using any of the Pauline writings.
Our talks have been very respectful and friendly. We are just getting to know each other. I feel like I will learn a lot with Debra.
When she speaks of her childhood growing up in the Baptist church and singing in the choir, she always uses words like “strict”.
I asked her if she found more freedom in Islam than she did in Christianity. She looked at me with a blank stare. “Freedom?” She asked with her nose scrunched up. “No, just rules I could live with.”
She also said she enjoys the discussions. Her parting comment to me on Thursday was “My goal is to get into Heaven.”
I wondered to myself when she said this, after sixteen years as an officer, when was the last time I led someone to Christ? One on one.

If anyone has any ideas on how to answer my homework assignment…please leave a comment!
Please say a prayer for me and for Debra. Only the Holy Spirit can convict someone or reveal the Truth to someone. I am just praying I don’t get in the way of God’s purpose for this encounter.
I am open to the idea that it may not be His plan for me to lead Debra to Christ.
Regardless of how this ends, I know He is teaching me through this….more about His Word, about His Son, about His people and about myself.
He usually gives me a hunger for His word through encountering challenging relationships with His people.

1 Peter 2:4-8 “As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him—  you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 
For in Scripture it says:
“See, I lay a stone in Zion,
a chosen and precious cornerstone,
and the one who trusts in him
will never be put to shame.”a
Now to you who believe, this stone is precious.
But to those who do not believe,
“The stone the builders rejected
has become the capstone,b”c
 and,
“A stone that causes men to stumble
and a rock that makes them fall.”d
They stumble because they disobey the message—which is also what they were destined for. "

a Isaiah 28:16
b Or cornerstone
c Psalm 118:22
d Isaiah 8:14
[1]The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984 . Zondervan: Grand Rapids