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We discuss the Jesus Christ Joseph Smith DVD. This nationwide outreach was an amazing move of God to try and bring truth to the Mormon people. It is not Anti-LDS or Anti-Mormon, but simply the truth of the Bible correcting the wrong understanding of God in the Book of Mormon and teachings of Joesph Smith. You can view the DVD if you would like.
Amazing, I will say it again amazing! We were fortunate and blessed to be able to draw a huge crowd to hear the Gospel! We had a mannequin draped in a sheet laying on the ground, which gave passers-by a powerful visual of the ultimate statistic~ ten out of ten people die. This led to the perfect conversation starter – “What will happen to YOU when you die?” We were getting into many One 2 One conversations from the get go, and had many people stay for hours to discuss eternity. Cole, Terry and Becky’s small group came and also got into some amazing conversations. You would think by this point God had blessed us enough….and then the entire Logan team came down and they jumped right into the battle. Twenty-eight people sharing the Gospel on a busy Friday night at the Gateway ~it was amazing! We had people everywhere ~there were hundreds of people coming through hearing the Gospel and all the One 2 One’s going on. What a huge blessing. God was working and the battle was raging right there at the Gateway. We had a return heckler show up and had a few hard-hearted people verbally persecute us as well as our beloved Savior. One heckler was a Mormon named Chase who we spoke with for a long time. Please pray that the scales would come off of his eyes. We also got to meet Ricardo from
What an amazing time it was to go out on Sunday and blast an entire city with the Gospel. Our Church participated in this outreach event to distribute the DVD to as many Mormons as possible. It is a well done DVD that explains the differences between the lives of Jesus and Joseph Smith. Since the Mormon belief system relies almost completely on Joesph Smith and his first vision then it is important to look at him as a prophet and an individual to see if what he claims is true. There is a great review of the DVD here. The DVD distribution was a success because all the people who participated were being obedient. We did not look to worldly "results" for our reason. I say that and yet the feedback has been tremendous. There are the typical Mad Mormons. Then there are the relational Christians who don’t believe in telling Mormons that they are wrong. However those same Christians have no problem telling other Christians the way they do it is wrong….ironic why cant they be relational with us? Then there is a third category, several Mormons who are on the edge where this DVD has impacted them to the point of consideration. One lady in particular whose husband is Christian and she is a Mormon wrote about finding help to leave Mormonism. Could you imagine that God actually used this outreach as an answer to what likely was that man’s prayer? Please pray for all those Mormons who have been deceived for over 175 years. I thank God we are part of a Church who cares enough about their eternal fate, and enough about the Glory of God to tell them the TRUTH. Dr. Epps said it best on Sunday, “One of the reasons the Bible was written to help correct wrong theology.” Why would we stop correcting them now?
This episode has Leonard Curtis and God brining him out of Mormonism through people who were active in sharing their faith. It is very encouraging to listen to.
How do you handle correction? Recently I emailed a fellow "Christian" on some of the remarks that his local ministry said. I had called to question him initially and then in a response he denied much of our conversation. I thought it best to email him and make sure that we were clear, I did rebuke him for several things including some sin that I was aware of. Well the response I got was beyond anything I would have imagined. It was hostile, threatening and most of all arrogant. He resorted to calling me names, because that is what most people do who cannot attack an argument in itself. I have been corrected on numerous occasions by other Christian brothers, and really I am very thankful for it. If it is right biblical correction then we should rejoice and get sharpened. I know that many big time leaders today like Rick Warren have been corrected by the smaller Godly ministries. In fact some of these ministries pointed out inherent sin, yet the reply is an adamant defense of themselves. I believe that is what it comes down to, will you stand for God or just yourself. I have to examine myself on this issue all the time. We must always follow the model of scripture, sometimes that person who is correcting us might be God's tool for discipline.
Hebrews 12:5-11 - 5My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, Nor faint when you are reproved by Him; 6for those whom the Lord loves He disciplines, and He scourges every son whom He receives. 7It is for discipline that you endure; God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline? 8But if you are without discipline, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. 9Furthermore, we had earthly fathers to discipline us, and we respected them; shall we not much rather be subject to the Father of spirits, and live? 10For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but He disciplines us for our good, so that we may share His holiness. 11All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness. God's motive in disciplining us is His love for us (v6).
In looking through some of my old files I came across some information that I had from a year and a half old Pyromanaics Blog Site. It is worth noting since we deal with this issue here in Utah all the time. How do I witness to a Mormon? Well first you start in the natural, then swing to the spiritual. Once that conversation has begun you can then start taking them through the law.... it is important at this point to make sure that you define terms with Mormons since they have adapted Christian terminology as their own. Define for them repentance, Christianity see points below, faith, trust and most importantly who Jesus Christ is. The uncreated God in the Flesh Col 2:9. Here are some other points to draw distinction.
Mormonism is pseudo-Christianity. Here is an excerpt from http://phillipjohnson.blogspot.com/2005/09/peddling-mormonism-as-mainstream.html
In the eight years since his meeting with Dr. Millet, MacArthur has often summarized his concerns about Mormonism by pointing out four significant, unbridgeable chasms between Mormonism and authentic biblical Christianity. Here, in writing, is MacArthur's own list of four foundational truths where Mormons and evangelicals take perfectly incompatible positions. (This list is routinely sent to people who ask about MacArthur's stance on Mormonism).
1. The issue of authority. Christians believe the Bible is God's authoritative, inerrant, unchanging and complete self-revelation (Jude 3). Scripture is the touchstone to which all other truth-claims must be brought (Isaiah 8:20). The sole and sufficient authority by which all controversies in spiritual matters are to be determined is none other than God's Spirit speaking through Scripture.
By contrast, Mormons consider The Book of Mormon, The Pearl of Great Price, and Doctrine and Covenants as additional authoritative revelation, thereby undermining the true authority of Scripture and violating the principle of Revelation 22:18.
2. The doctrine of God. Christians believe there is one God who eternally exists in three co-equal Persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Mormons reject the doctrine of the Trinity, believing that there are many worlds controlled by different gods.
3. The supremacy of Christ. Christians believe Jesus Christ is pre-existent God who became a man in His incarnation while maintaining His full deity.
Mormons claim Jesus was a "spirit child" of Mary and Elohim (and the brother of Lucifer) who has now been elevated to the level of deity.
4. The means of justification. Christians believe justification is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone.
Mormons believe a person's works in this life will determine his or her status in the life to come, and that "salvation" is actually a progression toward godhood.
Once the distinction has been made and you take them through the Law and what Jesus did for them apart from anything they can do, then leave them with the "tiebreaker". It is a modified Pascal's wager that we use that simply says this. If Mormonism is right and Christianity is wrong then no big deal we get to go to the Terrestial Kingdom for Eternity, which Joesph Smith said you would kill yourself to go to. If the Bible is right and Mormonism is wrong the Bible says you will go to Hell for ever to be infinitely punished by an infinitely Holy and perfect God. I then tell them they need to make sure that their faith in Joesph Smith is sound and based on solid principles, not feelings.
Finally I love this excerpt on having a dialogue with Mormons from John Macarthur,
"When I met with Robert Millet I expressed my conviction as clearly as possible that the God of the Bible is a completely different God from the god of Mormonism, that the Christ of Scripture is a wholly different Christ from the christ of Mormonism, and the true gospel is a radically different gospel from the gospel of Mormonism.
I have maintained a cordial relationship with Dr. Millet for the sake of the truth, and am happy to provide him with as much of my material as he wishes to read. But my concern is for the truth; I'm not interested in artificial harmony between two contradictory faiths. For that reason I have consistently made clear in all my dialogue with Dr. Millet that there is no spiritual common ground between biblical Christianity and Mormonism.
I would never deliberately equivocate on the truth or do anything that might lend credence to Mormonism. I'm convinced (as are all who understand Scripture accurately) that Mormonism is a false religion, generated by Satan. It is a damnable heresy, and in the words of Paul, "a different gospel," under God's anathema."
Here is the original post
Do you think John was being too Politically Correct here? :)
Saturday morning at the abortion mill we were blessed to have a great turnout of faithful believers who came to pray, sidewalk counsel, and courageously stand and be a voice for the unborn. It is a powerful experience to show up at the devil's doorstep and in gentleness and respect offer these women information they won't get inside. They are told that they have a blob of tissue inside of them instead of a precious child - a gift from God. They are told abortion is an easy solution to their "problem", that it is "safer" than childbirth. We go to offer truth, compassion, love and concern for these women and their babies. We have gone out for the last few weeks not expecting to see "results", however the Lord in His mercy, gave us a glimpse of what our obedience brings forth. A young woman and her boyfriend pulled up to the abortion mill, walked over to us and accepted the literature we offered. When asked what brought them to the clinic, the woman responded that she was there for an abortion. It was apparent that she was probably starting the second trimester (already showing a belly). We were able to talk to them about why they thought abortion was their only option and offer them resources that they were unaware of, such as the Pregnancy Resource Center. After a Spirit-led conversation, they changed their mind and we watched as they got back in their car and drove away. Please pray for Vanessa, her unborn baby, her other two children, her boyfriend, and other people who will influence her life and decisions- that she would cherish the blessing of her baby, be encouraged and excited about the life growing in her, and most importantly, that she would put her trust in Christ. While this was an amazing experience for those of us there, we go out with the knowledge that God is Sovereign and will use us as He sees fit.
Update as of 5:30 pm
Julie just received a call from the PRC they told her that Vanessa called today and is coming in for an Ultrasound, and Free Maternity Clothes. Vanessa expressed excitement to have this baby!!!!!!!!! Wow praise our Holy wonderful Lord!
It was a beautiful day for a Parade and in celebration of a missionary St. Patrick, we went to the streets. Getting the Gospel to everyone we could. We handed out several thousand tract. Many heard and read the Gospel please pray that they would repent and put their trust in the Savior.
Context context context, I need to make sure that my communication is within the context of what I am trying to communicate? Make sense? Our discussion on Theology was in the context of getting the Gospel out or making a friend with an unsaved person. The priority should be a strategic emphasis on how one makes sure that individual hears the whole Gospel. This is even if it is painful. Dr. Epps makes a great point on the Part 1 of this post, making sure that as Evangelists we are focused on our Theology but that we are in relationships, or more importantly fellowship with other believers. We need accountability and we need to walk along other believers. Unfortunately there are many Evangelists out there without those things. I believe that part of that is many times we as Evangelists are so critical that we often tend to categorize those things that are minor with those that are major. I believe the discussion and my post (apologetically) should have focused more on the emphasis of Sola Scriptura or Scripture Alone and why the discussion was so concerning over those who rub past scripture in favor of Utilitarian or Pragmatic Christianity. (Meaning their application is more important that what Scripture says to do.) Wow am I grateful to have a friend (relationship) in Dr. Epps that will sharpen me and my communication.
An amazing time with Park City Baptist Church the Utah team and the region GNN leaders the Knapps. They did much of the filming and there is a lot of stuff going on. Note the relativist Post Moderns that I am talking to midway through the video. Relativists seem to be able to claim any and both sides. Many of the people who came out that day this was their first time witnessing. Praise God!
Last night we had our monthly fellowship it was an enjoyable time and the discussions were fantastic. At one point we started discussing the core nature of what is most important... Theology or Relationships. In this post modern world with many people talking about relationships the world would say relationships are the most important. Why? Well I think it is because through relationships there is a point of self-edification that can be garnished. If we use relationships in Evangelism then the credit that is due to God then can be misplaced on the person "creating" that relationship. I also think that relational only Evangelism is inherently deceitful. Now don't get me wrong there is nothing that should hinder us from having relationships and using them to further the spreading of God's fragrance. Aaron commented that "Relationships should be subordinate to Theology". I would agree that our Theology is the first and primary focal point and from there the speaking of the Gospel, and our motives and our hearts are exposed. Theology has to be primary, Sola Scriptura, Scripture must take PRECEDENCE over everything else we feel, we think, or even our relationships. That is our foundation on which we rest our hope and our faith. Our relationships should stem from a right understanding of who God is and what God expects. If we have a right relationship with God, we should then desire relationships with others, but never to the exclusivity that the relationship should replace the sharing of the Gospel or Scripture.
| And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Amen. (Matthew 28:18-20) The Great Commission - Its Significance for Christians The Great Commission is the end of a Gospel and the beginning of faith in action for all Christians. This command from Jesus is significant because it's a personal instruction for Christians to have a profound faith in Jesus Christ as indicated in verse 18. "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth." This is an incredibly powerful statement which demands faith in Jesus Christ, validating His power in the lives of Christians and their commitment to Him. This verse acts as a clear claim to Christ's omnipotence, and therefore His deity. If Christians do not believe this statement, complete faith does not exist. Jesus is very clear about His authority in the world -- it is complete and total from the beginning of time itself (John 1:1-3). | |
