January 10, 2007
Dear Family and Friends,
Courageous Christians United finally has its own web site (www.CourageousChristiansUnited.org). Please take some time to get acquainted with it, and please sign our guest book at the bottom of the "Home" page. We invite you also continue checking back here as we update various items like the monthly newsletters, our "Calendar," "Videos" and "Blog" entries, and responses on our "Message Board."
Larry Barkdull, Mormon president of Latter-day Foundation for the Arts, Education and Humanity, recently stated, "Potential converts [to the LDS Church] are abandoning the [LDS] missionaries once they consult the Internet for more information." This statement reaffirms our conviction that the cults will continue to have a PR problem given the worldwide web. This is why we invest so much time in internet ministry, and advertising various web sites to the public.
Our general manager for CCU and my fiancée, Tara Nelsen, recently got her name removed from the LDS Church. Here's the letter from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints:
Member and Statistical Records Division
50 E. North Temple St. Rm. 1372
Salt Lake City, Utah 84150-5310
December 7, 2006
Tara Nelsen
...
Dear Sister Nelsen:
This letter is to notify you that, in accordance with your request, you are no longer a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Should you desire to become a member of the Church in the future, the local bishop or branch president in your area will be happy to help you.
Sincerely,
Gregory W. Dodge
Manager, Member and Statistical Records
Tara found my MormonInfo.org site through a friend, and after spending some time there, she found out not only how to clearly articulate the differences between Mormonism and Christianity, but also how to have her name removed from the records of the LDS Church. She never was excommunicated, and she never had to appear before someone like her bishop.
We need your help in a huge one day outreach to the LDS Church in the near the future. This has the potential to be the biggest outreach to the LDS Church in history. For specific reasons, I cannot divulge much more information at this point. If you would like more information, please write me. Would you please pray for this project and help us financially? We need to hear from you by the end of this month. Please see our "Invest" page either at MormonInfo.org or here at CourageousChristiansUnited.org for information on how you can help financially. If you would like your contribution to go specifically for this outreach, please indicate that in the memo section of your check.
I also need your help in getting myself into your church to share about the cults. This allows increased growth to our financial support base in introducing new potential contributors to this ministry.
Thank you so much for your concern and prayers for this ministry, and for those trapped by false religions and philosophies.
Happy New Year!
Rob Sivulka
President, Courageous Christians United
[email protected]
****MORE PRAYER REQUESTS****
1. For Tara's LDS family, and Jehovah's Witness friends Michelle and Jolee
2. For guidance in developing CCU's web site and JWinfo.org
3. For Rob's continued doctoral studies at the University of Utah
4. For more speaking engagements for Rob
5. For more salvations through this ministry
6. For my friend below as she attempts to get her name removed from the LDS Church records.
****MAILBAG****
Hey Rob,
Long time no talk! I don't know if you even remember me (four years ago I screamed at you outside of the temple before things became peachy and we saw each other at a few Lighthouse meetings and debates :-) ) First of all I wanted to say congratulations on the upcoming wedding, that is great news to hear, especially after reading Tara's story, what a blessing from the Lord...
I've been living back out here in Orange County and the other day I felt like hey, it's finally time to leave the church. I haven't been active in about three years now, I've been attending an awesome church out here in OC for a couple of months. Anyway, I've really felt led to have my name pulled from church records. I believe that I am going to go to heaven when I die but the other day I just felt like I couldn't have my name written on the Lamb's Book of Life AND the LDS "Book of Death" as I like to call it, hehe.
So I just wanted to ask you for prayer, I don't normally do this but I really, really need it and I just got your e-mail in the beginning of what I feel may be a long and difficult fight so right now I'm just asking for other Christians to lift this up to the Lord and I know that you know more about it than most other people. I feel that God has a plan for me in all of this, that maybe the things I say will change another Mormon's life so I'm just hoping that I have the Holy Spirit to speak through me when I'm in there with the bishop. So far it's been hard to get a hold of him, he called and left a message saying that he was looking forward to meeting me on church Sunday morning, the only problem is, I had to be to work at nine so I couldn't make it. It's not like I would have had a problem going in there and telling everybody exactly what my intentions were and why because that would be an awesome chance to minister. But if you could just pray that God gives me strength when I go in there, I'm still a little intimidated by the whole process (I've heard all of the horror stories).
Thanks Rob, and again congratulations for the both of you!
_____________________________________________________
YOUR A JERK
Being a mormon, i watched your dumb video, and your brother and sister are right! you need to start acting christ like. Your website [MormonInfo.org] is phony. I mean the whole thing about the civil war is wrong. When Jospeh Smith wrote about the Civil War it was 30 years before it happened, explain that to me would you.
I understand about freedom of religion in the USA, but what did the mormon religion ever do to you? iv seen you before holding your little sign, we dont persecute other religions so why do you persecute ours? Let me ask you a question, Do you know any other church with the same name that practices the same thing, that teaches the same thing other than ours? do you know how many other churches that aren't paid ministries? nobody other than the mormon religion practices the same thing under the same name without being paid.
Christ is the center of the universe he wants all of us to come unto him, to be like him, you are the complete opposite, you do exactly what christ doesnt want. DO you ever see a mormon standing in front of one of your churches holding a sign that has a website preaching against your religion, or passing out false information. HAve you truly even studied the mormon religion? have you ever compared the bible to the Book OF Mormon? im not sure why i even asked you that question because you obviously havnt.
By the way your jokes are lame, about the mormons in Utah, or in your version the "Jeff Foxworthy" way. Repentance is what you truly need to do. YOur ministries are false your "religion" that you teach is false. If you've ever read the bible it talks about the book of mormon in the bible, but that probably went in one ear and out the other. HAve a nice day.
_____________________________________________________
Sir,
I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. However, after viewing the video "The Bible Vs. The Book of Mormon" from Living Hope Ministries, I no longer believe the Book of Mormon to be Scripture or Joseph Smith to be a true prophet of God. However, I questions about the Bible I need some help with and I would like to help your organization if I can.
Sincerely,
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