Zoe and Charis dressed to celebrate the 4th
Zoe and Charis dressed to celebrate the 4th
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“Many are Called, But Few are Chosen”

 

In 2 Chron. 30, the righteous king Hezekiah sent word out to all the Northern and Southern kingdoms of Israel inviting them to come back to celebrate the Passover and return to the Lord, so that His anger would turn away from them.  Verses 10-11 say that the couriers went all over, but were "scorned and ridiculed" for the most part.  However, some actually humbled themselves and went, and they had a great crowd after all. 

 

Our preaching will eventually result in a great crowd (if not immediately, then indirectly), but of course the vast majority aren't going to bother with it!  Why?  Because of course most people end up in destruction (Mat. 7:13-14).  Also keep in mind, that we aren't talking about our attitudes or motivations when we preach here.  (Hopefully, those are Christ-like!)  We're simply talking about the medium of vocal or written preaching that obviously should make us “scorned and ridiculed” by its very nature.  If that's completely off the table since we're too worried about offending people with it and being “scorned and ridiculed,” then we aren't being faithful to, at least on occasion, utilize all that God has given us to bring people to Himself.

 

Temple Outreach

 

Last month I was able to work briefly with a college team up from Emmanuel Faith Community Church in Escondido, CA.  They took my family and me out for dinner, and then we did some ministry outside of Temple Square.  They put a video together of their trip, and I made the cut.  You can briefly see me here @3:26 holding my sign and talking with someone. 

 

In addition to preaching, I was able to have a few decent conversations.  One was with a Mormon guy, who really didn’t want to argue.  I asked him why not, especially when the Bible commands us to give arguments for our faith when someone asks—just with gentleness and respect (1 Pt. 3:15).  He bit, so I asked him why he holds Mormonism is true.  As with so many LDS, he simply began sharing the LDS story of the need for a restoration of Christ’s Church.  I told him that I’m well aware of the LDS story, but this doesn’t answer why hold that Mormonism is true or is in fact Christ’s Church.  Hopefully this guy was challenged to think deeper about his faith.

 

The Bible vs. Joseph Smith

 

MormonInfo.org went from 181 visits on July 13th to 372 the next day due to TBN airing The Bible vs. Joseph Smith!  My film review on it was hit 170 times on the 14th!

 

Meetup

 

We had another great Meetup with Kevin Cardon sharing his story.  You can see the video here and the pictures here

 

VBS

 

Charis was able to go to two Vacation Bible School programs last month.  One of those was with her two cousins!  They all loved it!  Even after two weeks, Charis is still singing her VBS song.  You may watch that here

 

We Need Your Partnership!

We not only need your prayers, but we need your financial assistance as well. Keep in mind that your investment is not simply for us, but for the lives of others we reach with the gospel. The standard way to financially invest is by writing a check to Courageous Christians United (CCU). For more information on various ways to invest in this ministry, please see our “Invest” page.  Please also keep in mind that, particularly in this economy, we have no financial guarantees each month. Ministry partners come and go as jobs do. If you’re not a partner, please consider joining our team and let us know soon. We’d love to be your missionaries here in Utah. Many thanks to those of you who hold us up in prayer and in your financial giving!

 

Here are some random things we need: medical expenses, a microphone for our video camera, video editing software, sink repair, water line into our refrigerator also needs repair, and a new laptop for Tara.  We expect God to provide for our needs through you.  Why?  Because the Bible is clear: “the Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should receive their living from the gospel” (1 Cor. 9:14).

 

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“Be strong and courageous” (Joshua 1:9)!


Rob Sivulka
President, Courageous Christians United
P.O. Box 1374
West Jordan, UT 84081
(801) 738-0539
CourageousChristiansUnited.org
MormonInfo.org
JWinfo.org
MuslimInfo.org

 

****ADDITIONAL PRAYER REQUESTS****

1. Health and protection for our whole family
2. Tara’s and Maddi’s families to be saved
3. Wisdom in all our dealings
4. Strength to keep going

 

****MAILBAG****

 

Your video's has help me witness to the Mormons!!!  you and Shawn McCraney has helped me open some Mormons eyes so with that said, I want to say thank you!!! and keep up the great work

why do missionaries get so mad when you tell them that you prayed about the book of Mormon and get an answer of no?

 

[I replied:] Well thanks much for the encouragement!  …I think it's because it short circuits what they've been told to think, viz., that most have never read it, and if they simply do and sincerely pray, then God must tell them. And if we don't get an answer, then we must not be sincere and we're wasting their time. They are so based on their feelings, and thinking about arguments is very distasteful to them.
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1. Where do you get your support? I know donations are part of it, but do you work a job(s)?

 

2. So, if Mormons claim they are saved by the grace and blood of Christ alone, are they saved? Acts 16:31 says "Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved." But they have their whole theology wrong as far as who God is, so how much information do you need to have correct to be saved? This is a question that has keep coming up in my head, because there was a Mormon group in Lincoln, Ne that claimed that they were saved by grace alone. Then we work to do the right thing just because we are grateful to Christ for what He did, not because they were trying to be saved. Of course, they had all of their other theology wrong, so it just left my brain in a jumble.

 

Thanks again!

 

[I replied:] www.MormonInfo.org/Invest

This is my only means of income.  I used to teach for a community college online for 9 years to supplement my income, but that ended last year.

 

Jn. 8:24, 17:3, and 1 Cor. 6:9-11.  You can't follow a false God, denying what He's clearly revealed, and claim you're saved.

 

Your bro,R
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Rob, I observed you at Manti and it was unlike what I have seen others do. Your speech and tone implied an imperative plea and yet respected personal zones and most of all the effort engaged people. It was rare that I looked your direction when your preaching had not stopped folks to stop and talk to you. And thank you for sharing Doug the Stake Pres with us...talking with him was a highlight of the evening for us.
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Sad that the false prophet died the day after being witnessed to. I suspect he will remember that encounter a million years from now and kick himself. The Lord gave him one final opportunity though!

 

In Christ,
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I know who Tyler and Trevor are and I know their mom.  I will pray for them.

Love the picture of you and your darling family.  So happy that God brought Tara into your life and gave you all these sweet girls!

Keep up the good work!
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Hi Rob hope your well brother. Just a quick message to thank you as I have just seen your youtube clip (mormon pageant training 2013).  Am spending time preparing myself as I am doing the chorley pageant (in uk next month), anyhow I have been preapring myself for rejection… Anyhow thank you for the encouragement and also..... Charis and Zoe, mate they are adorable. Charis has a lovely smile and the vid of her with you reaching out to our mormon friends was ace. Keep up the good work brother. .
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Awesome thanks for all you do for His Glory and Kingdom, i enjoyed holding your light bright sign for two pageant nights i was told to go home Rob i took that as a complient and i was told my momma doesnt love me love ya brother God Bless
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Hello!

I have seen your response regarding HB131.   I think the bottom line is this: 

He who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

He who believes and is baptized shall be saved.

If any man come to me, I shall in no wise cast him out.

Well, these three verses speak for Him in a very major stand-up fashion.   Mormons are Christians is what it says, as well as Baptists, Methodists, Lutherans, my mother and more.  :)

Until there is unity within the church, which, by the way, began as:   THE MESSIANIC CHURCH, we will have such struggles.   Remember, one can chase away 1,000, two can chase away 10,000, so, if this is the case, our unity is needed to be able to knock out any kind of threats from Satan by prayer.

When we walk in the light, we deny any darkness.   The major problem in Christianity is the love Christians have for darkness.  Separation of church and state is imperative for any Christian to make it with much less struggle.  Unfortunately, the church just loves:   welfare, food stamps, and more.   Israel had its own currency, if you remember, and we are to render unto Caesar what is his.   Well, if you work for Caesar, yes, you will have to pay the piper, but Jesus didn't have taxes to be paid and his followers gave Jesus what was His.   In other words, if you get your money from the State, you must give back to the State what it "States" it wants and, if you get your money from our Christ, He says it is to go back to His people, nothing more.   Mennonites have interesting understanding of this.   Scattering our forces by living in a divided fashion, one "denomination" or Christian "religion" from another is really to our downfall.  In the Messianic church, followers came together as one unit, fixed a road, built a new one, and government didn't pay a thing for it.  Everyone had a say in what was being done and eldership then made the decisions.   We've come a long way from our God and wonder why many believers are not as blessed as they could be.   America itself is under God's judgment, as well as the world at this time.   When will we learn?   My guess is:   it will take a long while yet because of one thing:   comfortability.   People want to be comfortable and not step out of the comfort zone Satan has created for them by deceiving them into thinking the ways of the world are just fine with God.  Should you feel compelled to adhere to the things I just listed, ask God for mercy before pursuing them.

In closing, I would say this:   Many denominations/Christian religions feel they are the only ones saved, but the three verses above stand for all to see:   anyone who claims Him is saved.  To single out anyone who claims Christ as lost is not appropriate and it was said about eight years ago eldership was already under God's judgment (not wrath, but discipline/correction), so, now it has gone out to the church and to the world.  It only takes a moment to make a right decision.   We must begin to make them now.

BTW, at this time, we pay our taxes.   :)

Sincerely,

 

[I replied:] So if I'm reading you right, you don't believe that there are counterfeits to Christianity or that we shouldn't warn others of "false Christs" as our Lord Himself did in Mat. 24:24?  If I claim that Obama is really Jesus and form a church around this idea, do you really think I am being led by the Spirit of God?  I agree with the verses you gave.  However, you also need to incorporate the rest of what Christ taught.  He also taught that if you denied who He claimed to be, then you would die in your sin (Jn. 8:24).  He also taught that eternal life is knowing God and His Son (Jn. 17:3).  And through His apostle, He taught that idolaters wouldn't inherit the kingdom of God (1 Cor. 6:9-11).

 

The fact of the matter is that there are all sorts of false religions out there that go against the historic Christian Faith (made up of individual believers of the 3 major branches of Christianity--Catholic, Protestant, and Orthodox) and offer up an imaginary Christ with no power to save.

 

Your bro,R

 

[She replied:] I have been:   Lutheran, Jehovah's Witness, Methodist, Pentecostal and Presbyterian, as well as Bapticostal    I have found little difference in any of these, as the Witnesses now claim Christ is Savior and Lord, which is amazing    The foundation of faith:   that Jesus lived a celibate and holy life as an example set before us, died for us, descended into Heaven, rose again from the dead is all the same in all Christian denoms     I'm well aware there are falsehoods, but...if Jesus is at the center, and no one comes to the Father but through our Christ, then anyone claiming Christ and getting baptized is saved     end of sentence

I never said not to warn     I never said there weren't falsehoods out there, but I said that anyone who does abide with those three verses is saved     That person doesn't even have to belong to a denomination     God honors the heart before all else

…My concentration on all this was this:   Jesus is the way to life eternal and I wasn't looking to bring up the rest, because the rest is not pertinent to what was discussed in the article

No one comes to the Father, but through me would include the Father, but it is Jesus first    :)

 

[I replied:] Your statement saying there's little difference here reminds me of someone saying all black people look alike.  Of course there's the obvious, but only those who aren't closely paying attention overlook great differences.  If you're really serious about all this, then let me suggest you spend some time reading my Home page of differences between Mormonism and Christianity on www.MormonInfo.org or Jehovah's Witnesses and Christianity on www.JWinfo.org.  The groups claim Jesus as Lord and Savior, but still devalue Jesus as simply a created being, not "God over all, blessed forever" as Rom. 9:5 says.     

 

So you never answered my question about Obama.  Are those who think he's Lord and Savior, and get baptized in his church saved so long as they believe in Jesus prior to His second coming did those things you mentioned?  Or how about Rev. Moon of the Unification Church?  He was regarded as Jesus in these last days.   

 

Have you written a text book on the cults?  Any of the standard textbooks on the cults disagree with what you've been telling me.  I don't know why I'd listen to your idea that anyone who claims to follow *only* your particular criteria is saved.  Do you have a Bible verse for this? 

 

What about the other criteria I gave from the Bible, viz., having the *true* Lord as Jesus Himself defined this in the context of John 8?  There Jesus claimed to be the Self-Existent "I AM" of Ex. 3:14, the only true God with the Father and Spirit.  He said that if you deny who He is, then you'll die in your sin (Jn. 8:24).  If what you're saying is true, then Jesus was just silly for asking His disciples the question about His identity in Mat. 16:13-20.  What this tells me is that yes, it's necessary to believe in Jesus, but it's not sufficient.  Why?  Because the right Jesus matters.  And if you don't see this, then you're simply not doing a good job at defending the faith once delivered to the saints as Jude 3 says.  You aren't taking the apostle's warning to watch your doctrine carefully (1 Tim. 4:16).  You aren't warning the cultists, which devalue Jesus, that they need to repent and have faith in who He claimed to be.
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Rob, I finally got the Mesa Meet up set up and approved. Hooked up with Andy and helping him build some interest online. Tks for setting such a great example for all. God Bless.
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The Lord has made everything for its purpose,
even the wicked for the day of trouble (Proverbs 16:4)
How should I understand this when the old and new testament says God has no pleasure in the death of the wicked?

 

[I replied:] Just because God is the creator and sustainer of bad times or results, and ultimately hell, for the wicked doesn't entail that God enjoys seeing people mess up or wind up in hell.
Since God is Love (1 Jn. 4:7-8).

 

[He replied:] But, he has decided that they would go there?

 

[I replied:] In what sense? In the sense that He's the creator and sustainer of what results from the wicked's responsible actions.
Nothing happens without Him creating or allow it. Not even a rape. So in some sense God is responsible for it, but that doesn't get the rapist off the hook.

Here's more from a blog I did

 

[He replied:] Proverbs 28:13 "Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper,
but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy" If a mormon would bring up this verse to me, what would be a good response?

 

[I replied:] Forsaking here doesn't take on the perfectionist character it does in the Mormon understanding.
Forsaking here is an intention, and when that is sensed by the one who forgives, then mercy is granted. It's not a conditional wait and see if I'll have to take it back.

 

Contrast that view I just gave you with [this LDS scripture]
This is what makes sense of Christ telling the adulterer, "Go and sin no more."

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Greetings Rob,
I'd like to ask you a question. I want to start reading the book of mormon so I can engage mormons on their own ground with their own source material. For years I have felt the calling but ignored it. On a recent visit to Temple Square I feel that I am spiritually mature in my walk so as not to become arrogant (like I have been in years past), thus being a more effective witness.

 

My question is should I read the entire thing or should I focus on key chapters? Should I even bother reading at all?
Thanks,

 

[I replied:] Read it all and pray all the way through it. Believe me, you'll be glad you did, since you'll always be asked, "Well, did you read the whole thing?" Once you say you did and you prayed about it, then that kicks the discussion to a whole new level!
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watched your Manti Training talk on YouTube. Thank you for challenging all of us to be bold for Jesus.
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Two days before the british Pageant and I just watched your manti talk from a few weeks ago REALLY did me good thanks bud! You are having an impact over in England thanks a lot!!
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I always enjoy your monthly letters & all the actions you describe! God is using you, your family & your team mightily.  You all are a never relenting force empowered by the Lord to preach/teach His Word liberally.  God has (& will continue) to bless His work being done so effectively by you & your team.  …Here is another love gift to help along the way to be used as the Lord leads.  Thank all of you for being willing servants of our Lord & Savior, Jesus Christ.  Love & prayers,


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