He is a sixth-generation "PK," that's short of preacher's kid, coming from a long line of clergy ancestors, including a famous Scandinavian hymn writer-bishop. Of course he was raised in the good graces of mother church: baptized the first week of his life on Easter Sunday, attending worship services every Sunday and on special festivals with his parents, Sunday School, Confirmation on Pentecost Sunday, involvement in a youth group, choir, a special youth service trip building a school in a two-third world country, and loving, supportive parents. All of this, so his parents had hoped, would facilitate his faith-formation and maturity process.
Alas, then the shocking news came like a sharp knife to the heart. Jacob had written his parents a letter of farewell. Farewell not only to them, but also to everything they held near and dear, their rock-solid Christian faith and traditions. "What went wrong? What happened to our son that he'd do such a thing?! They had hoped he would enter seminary and go into parish ministry. What is Jacob doing?! How could he become a Muslim? Is this for real, or a terrible dream?!" they lamented, crying, agonizing over this most horrible news.
You see, Jacob had fallen in with "the wrong crowd" in college. In his religious studies class at the University of British Columbia, he'd met up with a few Muslims. They'd had their in-class debates and rivalries. Jacob was one of the strongest Christian debaters, and the Muslim students knew it. In fact, it took all of them to win a debate with only this one articulate and vigorous, Christian debater-infidel.
So what did they eventually do? Well, they decided the diplomatic tact. They befriended him. One day they invited him to attend an "information night" at their neighbourhood mosque. Jacob accepted the invitation, thinking he might have more opportunity to convince his classmates and other Muslims of the truth of his Christian faith.
When he arrived however, Jacob was in for a surprise. First, there was music and eating. Then he began to feel a bit drugged and passive. Had they doped up his food or drink? Then this strange looking imam entered the room and began his long 2 hour lecture. One point after another about how Christianity was inferior to Islam. Then the showing of three YouTube videos in a row. Followed by speeches by his Muslim classmates. The anti-Christian rhetoric exacerbated and Jacob's head was swimming now, being polluted with Islamic radical jihad ideology. This continued all night, until this Al-Qaeda cell had successfully brainwashed and recruited this infidel Christian, Jacob.
In the morning he wrote his letter to his parents, and the cell group recorded his renunciation on video, sending it to YouTube for the world to see.
Next, Jacob and these cell group members went to Afghanistan to be trained in an Al-Qaeda camp. A month later, Jacob and the other cell group members were ready to enter Syria and terrorize Christian communities there.
They entered a mountain top village where Christians had lived for centuries. Then without asking any questions they opened fire. Jacob fired his rocket launcher into a small house, demolishing it. He then went to see the damage. He saw a mother with three young children-all dead. The mother still had her Bible in one hand. The Bible was opened up to Matthew 5:43-48. Jacob began to read: "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbour and hate your enemy.' But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven..."
Jacob took a deep breath, swallowed hard, and immediately realised what he had done. So he began his prayer: "Father, forgive me, and..."
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