“My heart was already full as John Piper began his message that would close the recent Together for the Gospel conference. I prayed that God would use his message to implant a passion within our hearts that would shape our lives and ministries for the length of our days.”
So wrote Christian theologian Al Mohler as he reflected on a gospel message preached by John Piper. As you watch this video of Dr. Piper “pleading with sinners, pointing to Christ, unashamed to plead with emotion and passion and agonized urgency,” I pray you will embrace the Holy Spirit as He softly and tenderly calls you to “come home.”
Sinner, Come Home from Desiring God on Vimeo.
Like John Piper shared about his father’s asking people ” won’t you come to Jesus ” for salvation , we also here are asking the Mormon people to come to Jesus . Salvation is in Jesus , a intimate relationship with the risen Savior who asks all today as He did 2000 years ago to ” Come unto Me ” ( Matt 11:28) to receive pardon of sin and eternal life . Jesus is alive and is waiting for sinners to petition Him , the Father draws all sinners to His Son and then accepts their worship . A new life begins , peace with God is experienced , sins burden are lifted , and a personal fellowship with the Father and Jesus is a daily reality Rom 5:8,9 ; 8: 1 ; 1Cor 1:9 .
May the Mormon people realize the very real danger of counterfeits . Nothing is more damaging than when people accept an imitation Jesus because they have been persuaded by men claiming to be prophets , but who in fact were not sent by God . Mormon leaders are such men .
Safety from such latter days prophets is greatly enhanced by anchoring one’s beliefs about Jesus to the apostles teachings in the Bible and not drift into accepting what Mormon leaders have introduced about Him and thus be detoured into following ” another Jesus ” ( 2Cor 11:4 ) . Only the true authentic Savior has the ability to save sinners ! What Mormon leaders have taught about Him exposes their self appointment to be His messengers .
Decent , sincere , people can be fooled . It happens every day with those who trust doctors / drug companies , lawyers , and car dealership salesmen . It also happens to the same sincere people who trust some of the prophets today . Spiritual deception is also real , the better the counterfeit the more easily people are fooled . Mormonism is a good counterfeit . Mormon leaders may be well meaning individuals , but they have not been sent by God . Their claims are filled with half truths and that has fooled many sincere people . Jesus warned to be on the alert of such men –Matt 24 :11.
May this new year find many more LDS exchanging their latter days apostles for the ones that Jesus appointed to preach the gospel of salvation Sinners heard , read , that gospel for 2000 years now and it still is the power of God unto salvation —Rom 1:16 . No secret temple rituals , no one man at the top as ” God’s mouthpiece ” , can augment the true gospel of salvation .
Very interesting! A lot of thoughts were flowing through my mind as I listened. One of the thoughts was the parable of the “Sower and the Seed” that Jesus would tell. That had to do with the seed being the Word of God, the Sower being someone who would “broadcast” or throw the seed on the ground and finally the different types of soil or conditions upon which the seed would fall.
We here on MC broadcast the seed on a daily basis. We do get some pretty hard Mormon ground here at times. We also get a situation where the enemy, and this is a spiritual battle, steals the seed sown. The latter are the Mormons who are nice enough folks but we’ve preached the gospel over and over again and they just don’t seem to get it.
I don’t know what the stumbling block for these folks is but I think it might be the idea that the gospel we preach is just to “easy”. We say, “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved.” However they want to have a program of “doing”, “working”, “striving” and “attaining”. There paradigm is that what they are seeking must be earned. It can’t be a free Gift offered by God and received by faith.
I’ve likened what we are attempting to do to something akin to “cross-cultural-communication”. Our words go right over their heads. Why is that? The problem, as I see it, is due to what the LDS gospel is. It is a gospel, not about salvation, but about becoming a god. It makes sense that if someone believes this to be true that they’d also believe that it must be earned. Becoming a god is a series of “works” within the system of the “one true church”.
This is not the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It was not the Gospel proclaimed by the apostles and we can prove it. LDS believers cannot prove that their gospel was in the first century church and that they have a restored gospel.
No, the gospel we proclaim, salvation by grace through faith and not anything we can earn, is what the gospel is. Period. No add ons!
falcon said , “…. the gospel we proclaim, salvation by grace through faith and not anything we can earn is what the gospel is . Period. No add ons! ” .
Well said . Mormon leaders make claims that must be addressed . Without closely examining these claims people can get the impression that the Mormon church/ gospel is what it’s leaders claim it is . Thankfully there are ministries like MRM and others which help people see more of the picture about Mormonism , to see if the claims of Mormon leaders are true or not . Making claims of authority is one thing but testing those who make those claims is where the spotlight must shine . Those who claim to be prophets must be tested because false prophets are a very real spiritual danger nowadays also , just as Jesus predicted . 1 Jn 4:1 ; Matt 24
Here is a common claim made by Mormon leaders :
” It is a glorious truth and blessing to enjoy membership in the church , the one true church of the Lord Jesus Christ restored to earth to the earth in exactly the same form as it existed when Christ established it first twenty centuries ago.” [ Elder Joseph Wirthlin , Oct 1953 Conf . ] .
Is that true ? Like many of the public statements made by Mormon officials there is the use of half truths to sound convincing . The Mormon church may have some of the form which the church Jesus established through His apostles in the first century had , but it is hardly the exact same church
It’s not the restored church of Jesus Christ , rather it is the substituted church of Jesus Christ . It is not the same one . Within a few years after Joseph Smith started his church it was apparent that he had merely substituted a imitation for the real one. It , like his gospel , was laced with man made innovations . In short , he and those who succeeded him in leadership , were not sent by God .
Well meaning , well dressed , or well mannered prophets are not necessarily true prophets sent by God . Mormon prophets were not sent by God .
I’ve gotten to the point where I can’t read, listen to, or watch anything without questioning the message.
Believe it or not, I found myself questioning part of what was being communicated in the video clip. Don’t get me wrong. I’m all for people hearing the message of salvation and coming to Christ in faith and there by securing salvation.
What I do question however, is what I’d call an appeal to the emotions. Crying and begging people to come forward may provide an emotional hook to get them to get up out of the pew and come forward but I wonder how many of those professions of faith are solid, sincere, long-lasting and accompanied by true conversion.
Back in Charles Finney’s day, which coincidentally was when Joseph Smith was operating, (Finney) used what came to be known as “new measures”. The religious movers and shakers of the day didn’t approve of the evangelistic methods that we take for granted now days.
“To reach as many souls as possible, Finney employed what came to be called “new measures”, although many had been used by earlier preachers. These new measures triggered alarm among conservative clergy. Opponents such as Asahel Nettleton were able to list as many as twenty-nine objectionable practices, but the most controversial were: public praying of women in mixed-sex audiences, daily services over a series of days, use of colloquial language by the preacher, the “anxious bench”, praying for people by name, and immediate church membership for converts.”
http://xroads.virginia.edu/~Hyper/DETOC/religion/finney.html
The “anxious bench” is my favorite. That’s where people, unsure of the status of their soul, would come forward and sit on the bench at some point in the preaching of the message. Sounds like a kind of “time out corner”.
Mormon missionaries, in their training, learn how to use appeals to emotion as a means to close the deal with prospects. Generating emotions are then interpreted as a revelation from God that what is being proposed, membership in the LDS church, is true. What happens then is that the prospect is lead to believe that a confirming feeling about the BoM, is a sign from God that the entire LDS program is true.
I didn’t realize initially, in my study of Mormonism, how important the role of emotions plays in the life of a Mormon. I’ve recounted how on my visits to various Mormon historical sites, the whole pitch by the tour guides is to the emotions of the visitor. It’s almost embarrassing to me knowing this, to observe the blatant attempts of the guides to generate emotions in me, the listener. I almost want to stop them and have a “let’s get real” moment. But I know then they’ll have a negative emotion and put their feelings into the category of an attack by Satan on the “one true church”.
When it comes to their religion, I would tell the Mormon to put aside their emotions and get down to the hard-cold facts about the religious sect they belong to. It’s more fun to have the feelings but positive emotions about something that isn’t true, doesn’t make it true!
you’re right about the emotions thing . In the case of Mormonism , the LDS have placed way to much importance on emotion , specifically a feeling a “inner witness ” they believe is from the Holy Ghost .
That is a recipe for spiritual manipulation in these latter days , and that is what we are talking about when it comes to the day in which we live because of the many ” prophets ” around . How to stay safe from prophets not sent by God when they may have eye appeal, articulate speech , or a polite demeanor is important to know . Very little has changed since Jesus’ apostles preached the true gospel and ministered to people and Paul’s counsel to Timothy contains some of the ways that Christians today can identify and stay safe from individuals who come with aberrant teachings .
Mormon leaders are particularly guilty of what is mentioned in 2Tim 4:3,4 .
Does anyone really understand what this “restored” gospel is all about?
First of all, the premise of the first century Christian Church “lost” the true gospel is idiotic. I hate to be so direct but Joseph Smith had to find a way to market his new religion so what could be better than a story about a lost gospel that needed to be restored. If we go back and examine Smith’s first run at his “restored” gospel, is it what the various Mormon sects practice today? In fact Smith changed his religion so many times that the concept of “continuous revelation” came to mean any time he got another creative impulse. And the legacy of Smith with his various re-dos, is all sorts of “modern day Mormon prophets” with the real restored gospel.
Once again, is there any evidence that what the LDS church teaches, practices and believes today is the same gospel practiced in the first century? The LDS restored gospel isn’t even the one that was practiced in the mid-nineteenth century.
So we can see why there is an emphasis on creating emotions and selling the prospect on the idea that this is a message from the Mormon god.
falcon, that last post of yours is a keeper . You brought up many of the issues LDS need to think about and then ask themselves if they do in fact have the truth or have they been detoured by clever advertising and the salesmanship of Mormon missionaries . Hopefully they will take seriously Jesus’ warning about prophets in the latter days who claim to be sent by Him , but which have not been .
People who wind up being fooled by latter days false prophets is a heart breaker for us . The LDS are such people .
You brought up the unstable pattern exhibited by Mormon leaders in their preaching of their “restored ” gospel . Mormon leaders have pointed at other churches / religious leaders and castigated them for tossing their flock here and there ” carried about by every wind of doctrine ” etc
Eph 4:14 . Yet we see this same type of behavior within the Mormon church . LDS can examine the teaching track record of their leaders since 1830 and discover for themselves concerning this . Bottom line : Mormon leaders have not been consistently reliable as guides , therefore it is not wise to follow them — it’s spiritually dangerous to do so .
You asked the question : ” Does anybody really understand what this ‘ restored ‘ gospel is all about?”
One thing is for sure , and that is that the gospel Mormon leaders introduced in these latter days is not the true one restored , and the church they created is not the same one Jesus had established through His apostles 1700 years earlier . The Mormon church is not the one true church of Jesus Christ .
In the Deseret News there was a article ( 4-29-2011 ) that mentions a survey by pollster Gary Lawrence , he also is an adviser to the Mormon missionary department . He recommends a strategy to help Mormons improve explaining their message to non LDS . One such tip is to use terms that non LDS will relate to , so instead of using the term ” restoration ” they should use the term
” re-established ” . Therefore Mormons are to say that their church is the ” re-established ,
original Christian church .”
Like I’ve mentioned before ,the P.R. Dept and many Mormon leaders in public venues , skillfully use half truths to sell Mormonism . There’s always some truth in what they claim about their gospel/ church , and that’s why it fools people , especially those with a Christian church background etc .
It’s the good counterfeits that fool the most people .
Our hearts break for the Mormon people , and we pray for them to ask God for the strength to be faithful to Him and walk away from Mormonism . Jesus is waiting to hear from them and spiritually rescue them . Many have left last year , and many more will follow them in this year .
So what role, do emotions play, in our spiritual lives? I think I would ask, “How are our emotions generated?” Off-the-top-of-my-head, I’d say that emotions are the result of our most dominate thoughts at the time. But emotions are also generated by our senses. Smell can generate all kinds of emotions. That’s why realtors tell people, who want to sell their house, to “bake” something when there is a showing (of the house). So just think “sensory stimulation” and you’d have a pretty good insight into where our emotions are coming from.
But probably one of the most effective emotion generators is through the spoken or written word. Someone who is a skilled presenter, can generate a myriad of emotions in a listener. That’s how people get conned. So when people are told, by these friendly, engaging MM, to pray about and read the BoM to receive a confirmation that it is true, the “reader” is already set-up for a positive emotional response. We know the rest of the story.
So what if someone who reads the BoM doesn’t get the emotional response? Well they are told that either they didn’t pray or that they didn’t read the BoM with a sincere and humble heart. Now wouldn’t you think that the responsibility would be on “God” to produce the confirmation and not the reader? After all, if God wanted to confirm the truth of the BoM He could certainly over-ride any lack of praying, sincerity or humility on the part of the reader. God doing this certainly wouldn’t interfere with the reader’s free will since the (reader) would be expected to respond, via free will,to the “revelation feeling”.
But that’s not how the Moroni challenge works in the Mormon world. The only acceptable response to the challenge is that the reader has received confirmation of the truth of the book. That’s why the prospect is told to continually read the BoM until the revelatory feeling is experienced. Sounds like a fools errand to me.
No, emotions don’t confirm truth. Emotions may act as a motivator and what the person is responding to may in fact be true. I came under heavy “conviction” as I was on my spiritual quest decades ago. It was a very unpleasant emotion. It felt heavy; like I had a big bolder in my chest. A couple of days after experiencing this, I prayed to receive Christ as my Lord and Savior. There was no emotional response but I will say this, I felt very much at peace.
For any Mormon reading this, you can receive the gift of eternal life that God is offering you. You may feel something, you may not. But what you are responding to is the call of Christ. The Bible tells us that if we confess Jesus with our mouths and believe in our hearts that God raised Him from the dead, we will be saved. But we can also confirm our faith in Jesus in the quietness of our hearts telling God that yes, we do believe and accept that Jesus is the Messiah and that He died for our sins.
Don’t delay God’s call.
Does God communicate to us through our emotions? Does God communicate to us through our intellect? Does God communicate to us through our senses? Here’s a better question. Does God communicate to us through the Holy Spirit? Could we say that God communicates to us via the Holy Spirit through our emotions, intellect and senses? Let’s face it. God is God and He can communicate to us through any means possible.
But here’s the deal, God gave the Church Gifts, through the Holy Spirit by which we are to function within the Body of Christ. One of those Gifts it the Gift of discernment. Can someone who is not born again by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ be indwelt by the Holy Spirit and thus manifest the Gifts of the Holy Spirit. I’d say no!
So Mormons are hoodwinked into following another God, another Jesus, another Holy Spirit and another gospel. Is it any wonder that their method of determining “truth” is through their emotions, absent the Spirit of God. What Mormons think is God communicating with them is nothing more than a manifestation of their own souls. It’s not their spirit being “quickened” by God’s Spirit.
Mormons just can’t understand, for example, how I can say the BoM isn’t true if I haven’t read it. That’s pretty simple. Tell me about the book. Tell me how it came to be. Give me the plot line and the message that’s communicated in the book. Finally tell me about the claims of the religion that promotes the book.
You see what Mormons are hoping is that I’ll read the book, get an emotional reaction and based on that reaction believe the book, the prophet, the current prophet and the religious sect are all true. And I’ll believe that their are millions if not billions of gods in the universe with goddess wives and that by following the LDS system, I’ll also become a god.
Do you see why it’s not necessary for me to read the BoM to determine that all of this is fabricated nonsense?
Paul’s warning in Gal. 1:8-9 is just as relevant today as it was in his day , and no wonder since the New Testament apostles preached the gospel of salvation that sinners need to hear and man’s plight is still the same today — Rom 3:23 ; 6:23 ; 1Tim 1:15 .
It’s no surprise that the New Testament contains warnings about those who would come in the latter days and mislead people about the Christian message of salvation in Christ — the gospel . Some of these individuals would be well meaning individuals who felt deep down that God was calling them to correct the errors to which all mankind had succumbed and as a result walked in spiritual darkness allegedly . It also does’nt come as a surprise that some of these individuals would claim to be the modern day counterparts of the men Jesus had sent out to preach the salvation message in the first century , and these latter days apostles/prophets also had the same message , the very same gospel . This type of claim would greatly enhance their chances of gaining people’s confidence in them and thus join their group / church . Such are Mormon leaders and the claim they advertise .
Brigham Young claimed that the ” Christian world ” were no better than heathens when it came to the knowledge of the salvation of God [ JofD v 8p 171 ] . Mormon apostle Joseph Fielding Smith claimed that Mormonism “…is still , as always , nothing more or less than the power of God unto salvation ( Rom 1:16 ) ….” [ Oct 1968 Conf. ] .
Mormon Pres. David O. Mckay claimed that the gospel of Jesus Christ , ” Which again is again established on earth in all it’s fullness . The gospel of Jesus Christ , as revealed to the prophet Joseph Smith , is in very deed in every way the power of God unto salvation .” [ Oct 1966 Conf .].
So Mormon leaders are using Paul’s words in Rom 1:16 to equate Mormonism’s gospel with the gospel of salvation that he preached . That’s a very clever tactic that we should expect a polished false prophet to use , after all , it’s vital for false prophets to try and convince people that if they accept Jesus’ apostles in the N.T. then why not someone today who claims to be sent by Jesus also?
Wise people discern that a good counterfeit may be difficult to clearly identify unless a examination is conducted into their teachings , this was the counsel of the apostle John to his flock –1 Jn 4:1 , and that kind of a test is still appropriate and relevant today .
Without taking up to much space comparing the gospel of salvation which Jesus’ apostles taught vrs the latter day gospel of salvation which Mormon apostles have taught suffice it to say that there is a big difference once the terms Mormons use are defined . In Mormonism salvation, receiving eternal life , is by doing a long list of works which their leaders have introduced . Mormon leaders call their flock “candidates “for salvation who must keep all the rules , laws, and regulations that is the Mormon gospel — receiving eternal life is thus earned , merited , by qualifying for it :
” Our church is founded upon the premise that spiritual growth and exaltation ( eternal life ) must be earned by the efforts of the individual .” [ Henry D. Moyle , Improvement Era , Dec 1937 , p 787 cited in MRM newsletter Jan/Feb 2009 , p4 — parenthesis mine ] .
Also , ” It is the celestial glory which we seek . It is in the presence of God we desire dwell . It is a forever family in which we want membership . Such blessings must be earned .” [ Thomas Monson ,Ensign May 1988 , p. 56 , cited in same MRM newsletter ] .
The New Testament knows no such gospel . Therefore a decision must be made for those wishing to be true to God and embrace the authentic gospel of salvation . Either follow the men that Jesus sent out to preach ( N.T. ) or follow the men 1800 years later who claimed He also sent them . Identifying men who have claimed to be Jesus’ messengers but who were not sent by Him is nothing new —
2 Cor 11:4, 13 ; Rev 2:2 .
The gospel that saves was preached by Paul ( Rom 1:16 ) : Rom 3:23 ; 5:8,10 ; 6 :23 ; 10:9-13 .
That’s it . It’s simple , complete , and yet profound . It’s how sinners are saved and given the gift of eternal life to live with God above forever . Eph 2:8-9 .
cont.
About the same time that Brigham Young succumbed to what Paul warned in Gal 1:8-9 could happen to those who also came after him if they drifted from what he and the other apostles taught , there was a man named Charles Spurgeon , a pastor in London England . Mr Spurgeon described how sinners receive salvation ( eternal life ) :
” You must understand that there is only one door to salvation , and that is Christ ; there is one way ,and that is Christ , one truth , and that is Christ , one life, and that is Christ . Salvation lies in Jesus only , it does not lie in you , in your doings ,or in your feelings , or your knowings , or your resolutions. Though the Lord has placed it on record in His Word , in the plainest language , that
‘ it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showest mercy ‘ ( Rom 9:16),yet most men in their hearts imagine that everlasting life is tied to duties and earned by service .
You must abandon such vainglorious notions , you must come before God as a humble petitioner pleading the promises of mercy , abhorring all idea of merit …. Confess that you are an undeserving, ill-deserving , hell-deserving sinner and begin to pray as you have never prayed before . Cry out of the depths of self abasement if you want to be heard . Come as a beggar , not as a creditor .
Your salvation does not depend upon what you do , but upon what Christ did when He offered Himself as a sacrifice for sin . When you are brought empty handed , made willing to accept a free and full salvation from the hand of the Crucified , then , and only then, will you be saved .”
Very good Mike!
One more thing though. When confronted by the fact that we can’t find Mormonism in the Bible, the writings of the Church Fathers or even the heretics of the early Church, Mormon leaders had to develop the great conspiracy theory. In-other-words, the record was scrubbed of all references to Mormonism. This, they say, was done by Catholic medieval monks who left Mormonism out, on purpose, when they copied the Bible.
Another thing the Mormon conspiracy buffs will tell us is that the Bible was copied so many times that the text is corrupted and can’t be trusted. They introduced the concept, regarding the veracity of the Biblical text, “As far as it is translated correctly”. Mormons think they are pretty smart when they say this but would have a difficult time telling us which parts of the Bible have been translated correctly and which parts haven’t been.
I would say to our Mormon readers, if these grand conspiracies have to be used to support the “restored gospel” and the absence of any reference to it in the historical or Biblical record, isn’t it all just sort-of made up?
So we get to the “burning in the bosom” because that’s the emotional and physical sensation that Mormons point to that leads them to “know” the four or five points of Mormonism are true. We all “know” what these are, don’t we? The Mormon will testify that he/she “knows the BoM is true, knows that Joseph Smith is a true prophet, knows that the LDS church is the one true church, knows that the current prophet is God’s mouthpiece on earth” and finally they attach “Jesus” at the end. It’s a topic for another discussion just exactly who this Mormon Jesus is.
So is their anything in the Bible about a “burning in the bosom”? Actually there is but it isn’t used the way Mormons use it. It’s applied in a completely different way. As a footnote, would anyone be surprised to learn that the term “burning in the bosom” was a pretty popular one at one time?
John Wesley reported: “Heavy-hearted, he went to an evening society meeting on Aldersgate Street “very unwillingly.” It was there, while someone was reading from Martin Luther’s Preface to the Epistle to the Romans, that he felt that his heart was “strangely warmed.”
He describes it as:
“I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone, for salvation; and an assurance was given me that he had taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death.”
I’ve had my own heart “strangely warmed” over the years by things spiritual and not spiritual. It’s a good feeling. I would never contend that the thing that made my heart warm was true, but I would say that whatever the cause, I did feel good and “warmed”.
(cont)
I once had a Mormon point to Luke 24:32 as an example of why the “burning in the bosom” was a legitimate test for spiritual truth. The entire episode appears in Luke 24:15-35.
The synopsis is that two disciples are walking along the road shortly after the crucifixion of Jesus. They’re talking about what has happened and out of no where, Jesus shows up. But here’s the deal. They don’t recognize Him because of His resurrected body, I assume. Jesus acts like He doesn’t know what they are talking about and when they display a lack of understanding of the significance of His sacrifice, explains it all to them. Later they are eating with Jesus and suddenly their eyes were open, they recognize Him and He disappears.
So here’s the key verse. It’s Luke 24:32.
“They asked each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?”
The “hearts burning within us” didn’t confirm the truth that Jesus was revealing to the disciples. It was an emotional reaction to what Jesus said and what Jesus said was true. What Jesus said to these disciples was an exposition of the Scriptures.
“Then beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, He explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures.” (Luke 24:27)
Jesus stood on the Scriptures. He exposed the disciples to the truth about Himself found in the Scriptures. Jesus’ handling of the Word caused an excitement, but the emotional reaction was based on the truth of what Jesus revealed.
Do we see the difference in getting an emotional reaction to something that’s not true and one that is true? Well there isn’t a difference. We base our commitment to Christ based on the truth of God’s Word, not on how it makes us feel.
falcon, sometimes people need to hear a loud and resounding ” WHOA ” from people like us when we know they may not be able to see through Mormon public advertising or the missionaries salesmanship . It’s easy to be misled by Mormons into accepting the claims of their leaders if the right questions are not asked or if a examination of Mormonism compared to the Bible is not seen as vital and the safe thing to do . But people can do this , they can be informed because of ministries like MRM which are available .
People can rest assured that the ” restored ” gospel of Mormonism is not the very same gospel that Jesus’ apostles preached in the first centuries as they led people to salvation in Christ .
We expect some of the prophets around today to make the type of claims that Mormon leaders have made concerning their gospel and their church . Latter days prophets who are trying to mimic the true gospel preachers Jesus sent out 2000 years ago in order to gain a following must make claims of authority , they must try and appear and sound like they have the same recommendation as men like Paul or John or Peter to preach the same gospel . In the case with Mormonism the gospel of salvation was not available for 1700 years because of a complete apostasy soon after the deaths of
Jesus apostles , but now it was AGAIN available to mankind on earth , allegedly restored by God through Joseph Smith .
We get to alert Christians of Mormonism’s bogus claim , and also minister to those LDS who stop by MRM because they know something is’nt quite right about their leaders/ church and they seek answers , their heart longs for something , we get to point them a person , not a church organization or religious system . We get to point them to Jesus . We also can lift them in pray .
Another year of helping LDS . They deserve to be loved and know that Mormonism is not the answer
Mike,
Several years ago my sister-in-law ran into a friend she hadn’t seen in some time. As they were catching-up the friend said that she was going through the “lessons” with the MM. My sister-in-law was quite distressed and asked me what she should do. I gave her a copy of Jim Spencer’s book “Beyond Mormonism” to give to her friend. About a week later the friend reported that she had gotten through half of the book when she cancelled her “lessons”.
The friend couldn’t believe that what she was experiencing exactly what Jim detailed in his account of being recruited by the MM. But to show how seductive the Mormon pitch is, the friend said, “I know none of it is true, but I really liked the part about forever families.”
There are a series of emotional hooks that the MM use to seduce and rope in prospects. Every chance I get, I tell people all about the Mormon belief system and their recruiting tactics. Half of what we do is bring the Mormon people to a saving knowledge of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the other half is cult proofing those unaware of the Mormon trap.
C-C-Combo Breaker! (sorry, couldn’t resist)
MT………………
We feel responsible!