In part one of this series I mentioned six historical reasons for the rise of ISIS. In part two I outlined six reasons for the expansion of ISIS. Today we'll look at three things you can do about ISIS.

In part one of this series we mentioned 6 historical reasons for the rise of ISIS. In short, ISIS came about due to a confluence of political instability brought on by war and human rights abuses and by a vision of a purified Islamic caliphate. Here we will look at 6 reasons for the expansion of ISIS.

For most people, it seems like ISIS literally exploded on the scene. But the birth of ISIS actually took a long, twisted road. This post and at least one other that I will write next week are based on two of the most well-researched books available on ISIS: ISIS: A History by Fawaz Gerges and ISIS: Inside the Army of Terror by Michael Weiss and Hassan Hassan.

I went to Washington DC the week after the Presidential election. I, along with 50 others, were there for the Evangelicals for Peace consultation, “Christians Engaging Global Conflict: ISIS and Syria.” So what kind of peace did this evangelical consultation bring to DC?

What can we, simple civilian followers of Jesus, do in response to ISIS? The fullness of ISIS's recruiting is complex, but one story they tell is that Westerners (and Christians, in particular) are at war with Muslims. So we must help those who are vulnerable to recruitment EXPERIENCE a story that contradicts the story ISIS is telling. 

Peace Catalyst International grieves with the people of Lebanon and France over these despicable terrorist attacks in Beirut and Paris. We urge followers of Jesus everywhere to love God with their mind in order to resist simplistic sound bites about Islam. Islam is radically diverse. The vast majority of Muslims are not our enemies. The tiny fraction of Muslim extremists like ISIS are.

One of the dinner guests asked the eleven of us sitting around a table, “What do you think followers of Jesus should do about ISIS?” After a moment of silence one woman responded, “To be honest with you, I feel like we should respond to ISIS like we should destroy them. I am not saying this is what I should do as a follower of Jesus, but that’s how I feel.”

Jeremy Courtney held the crowd in rapt attention as he shared about ISIS at a recent peacemaking event in Denver. Jeremy has lived in Iraq since 2006 so he spoke from painful experience.