A Quick, Random Check-In

I just wanted to post a quick note so that this isn't completely stagnant. I've been reading my Quran a lot and am now at the 25th juz (out of 30) so I'm making progress. It's definitely not tedious reading and it seems to go pretty quickly but I've only been reading less than an hour every night. It's interesting that I mentioned in my Quran as Literature post that the structure of the Quran seems to repeat many stories over and over and last night, while reading, I came across an ayah that justified the repitition (39:23):

Allah has revealed (from time to time) the most beautiful Message in the form of a Book, consistent with itself, (yet) repeating (its teaching in various aspects)....

I've always been amazed at how topical and relevant the Bible will be; I'll pick it up and read and it will somehow always address whatever is weighing on me at the time. Apparently, the Quran can be just as good at answering questions.

I've used this to list things I've read and things I've not yet read. A friend pointed out the book A Muslim and a Christian in Dialogue by Badru D. Kateregga and David W. Shenk. I haven't looked at it yet but I'm hoping it'll be a more fair, unbiased version of Christian-Muslim Dialogue in which the "Christian" just asks questions, the Muslim answers, and the "Christian" eventually sees the light and converts to Islam. Like I always say, if you know of any other literature that might be useful or relevant, please make a suggestion. I've also recently been suggested Celebration of Discipline by Richard Foster and A Hidden Life by Kitty Crenshaw and Catherine Snapp.

Finally, I've had a new visitor recently who left a few comments and asked a few questions. One of the questions is a little too broad and for the answer to that, you'll just have to read this entire blog. However, I was also asked about my denomination so I suppose I can reveal that I'm Lutheran. However, as I've mentioned, I have had much exposure to some other facets of Christianity such as Roman Catholicism, Greek Orthodox, and some other Protestant churches.