Answer:

Congratulations on your decision to accept the belief; "There is only one God worthy to be worshipped and Muhammad, peace be upon him, is His messenger."

We are most happy for you and for your new found faith. Actually, the concept of God being only One without partners is one insisted upon in the Holy Bible, yet not properly taught since the Roman Catholic Church took control of the Christians living in the Roman Empire [council of Nicea, 325 AD]. References to this subject throughout the Old and New Testaments are too numerous to mention.

Numerous priests, bishops and even nuns from the Catholic Church have come to Islam over the last 1,400 years. This also true of preachers, ministers and reverends from the Protestant religions have entered Islam.

Many Christians are surprised to learn:

There is no mention of the "Trinity" in the Bible (only one 'fabricated' verse in the First Epistle of John, chapter 5, verse 7 says anything about the nature of God as being "These three are one." But ancient documents and manuscripts do not contain this verse. Scholars today, such as F. F. Bruce, tell us this was actually an interpolation of the previous verse).

Jesus, peace be upon him, is not attributed anywhere throughout the four Gospels to have made any claim to Godhood or being even the "Son of God." These words are only used by the devil, demons and non-Jews who were then ordered by Jesus, peace be upon him, not to say this to others. Jesus, peace be upon him, did frequently refer to himself as the "son of man" and simply the "son"; ex: John 14:13.

There are actually different versions of the "Bible" not matching each other; to mention only a few: The Catholic Bible contains 73 books, while the "Protestant Bible" that was based on the Catholic Bible, dropped 7 of these books and then altered some of the verses and deleted and added others from certain other books.

The teachings preserved and attributed to Jesus, peace be upon him, match very close with Muslims today. A few examples of Jesus' teachings include: "God is One" (Mark 12:28); "Commandments of Old Testament are still in tact" (Matthew 5:17) and (John 14:21)

Another prophet (translated as comforter) to come after Jesus, peace be upon him, is clearly stated in the New Testament (Gospel of St. John, 14:26); (St. John, 16:7)

Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, is mentioned by one of his common names "As-Saddiq" (the Spirit of Truth) (St. John 16:13)

The first words revealed in Quran to Muhammad, peace be upon him from God, were "Recite!" (Proclaim!) and this comes to him while in the desert mountain of Jabal Nur. lsaiah in the Old Testament tells us of one who will speak or cry ('proclaim' is used in some translations) in the 'wilderness.' He will prepare the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. (Isaiah 40:3)

The Bible refers to many individuals as "sons of God." (Gen. 6:2); (Job 2:1)

David tells us of a decree that the Lord has declared on this day, namely that David is the 'begotten son of God.' (Psalms 2:7)

Adam is the "son of God" according to the New Testment. (Gospel of St. Luke 3:38)

Many Christians, especially Catholics are surprised to learn about the growing number of priests, bishops, ministers, pastors and preachers who are 'discovering' Islam and entering into the world's fastest growing religion.

Quran confirms the 'original' Bible did come from God. He allowed people to try to change and discard the message, but then he would send more prophets and revelations to the humans, who would try again to make changes to suit their own desires. That is, until the Last Revelation (Quran) comes down and Allah is going to preserve it until the End Times.

Read more about the Quran:

http://www.islamtomorrow.com/quran.htm and http://www.islamtomorrow.com/everything/quran.htm

Read about the Bible from the point of view of ex-preachers who have come to Islam:

http://www.islamtomorrow.com/bible.htm

You asked about what a person should do next after deciding Islam is the right way for them to follow. May we humbly suggest the following reads to get started:

http://www.islamtomorrow.com/word/ (understanding the actually meanings of the word "Islam" in the Arabic language)

http://www.islamtomorrow.com/islam/allah.htm (the word "Allah" explained)

http://www.islamtomorrow.com/9points.htm (understand how to "do" Islam)

Next, you might enjoy visiting our discussion pages at:

http://www.islamalways.com

And audio and video programs (you are welcome to download, copy and distribute our programs):

http://www.islamtomorrow.com/audio/

Please feel free to visit our chartroom online and listen to both live and prerecorded lectures and programs:

http://www.islamtomorrow.com/live/

Allah has All Knowledge. Any good is from Allah & the mistakes were from myself.
Please pray for me and ask Allah to Forgive me. May Allah guide all of us to His Truth, ameen.
Salam alaykum - Yusuf Estes
National Muslim Chaplain