November 3, 2007

Dear Family and Friends,

Have you ever heard the statement, "People do not care how much you know until they know how much you care"? Sounds nice, but what exactly does this mean, and is it really true? This typically means that many want to be in close relationships with others who obviously care before they care about someone else’s wisdom. This is especially true for personal matters. Religion is a personal matter for many people, and that’s why many want to be in close personal caring relationships before they will truly heed sagely advice.

But not everything in religion must be such a personal issue that it would rule out a very public or private search for the truth wherever it may be found. For example, I really do not care if theologians care for me before I consult their expertise on particular theological problems… even problems where I completely disagree with a well-respected theologian. I simply want to know what the arguments are for some position, and it is irrelevant whether they care for me or not. Nonetheless, I do care about their expertise. They have obviously thought much about an issue, and they deserve my respect in understanding their position, regardless of whether I buy it or not.

Similarly, the internet does not give a rip about me, but I certainly care about the information contained on it… especially by those who know what they are talking about. This is the testimony of countless individuals who turn to the internet to find answers. For example, while doing street ministry in a heavily populated LDS area of Arizona last week (I went door to door tracting and advertised MormonInfo.org and JosephLied.com on a busy freeway overpass), a recent ex-Mormon Christian came by and told me that he had heard about the stories of Joseph Smith’s plural wives. He went on the internet and started checking out reliable sources to find the truth out about Smith’s wives. The rest is history.

MormonInfo.org contains, among other things, reliable sources from people who used to be Mormons. These are powerful stories that many all over the world have read, and seen where there is a video. For recently added video testimonies that we produced, please see Mark Champney’s, Randy Larsen’s, Lana Larsen’s, and my wife Tara’s. For more video testimonies that we have produced, see our Testimonies page.

Rob's car that was stolen
Concerning the production of videos, we really need your help! My car was stolen from our car port right after dinner time a couple weeks ago, and with it my digital video camcorder, the wireless microphone that goes with it, and the digital camera! We do have a $500 deductible with our homeowners insurance, so hopefully this will cover these items. These items have been very important to this ministry, so we ask those of you who value it to help us replace them. Thank God that we got my car back the next morning, but in addition to the items already mentioned, the CD player was gone.

Rob at his church with Lee Strobel (10-7-7)--this was the last picture taken with Rob's camera before it was stolen
We have started taking a high school senior to church with us that I met while tracting door to door in our neighborhood. His name is Mark, and he is a Christian. His dad is a Baptist pastor in Liberia, Africa. He lives with his older brother, his brother’s girlfriend, and their baby. Mark would like to go to seminary some day, and become a pastor.

For those who have been praying for Tara’s Jehovah’s Witness friend Jolee, thank you! She recently contacted Tara, and told her that she’s pregnant and single. She knows she can’t go back to the Watchtower or she’ll be disfellowshipped. So Tara has been corresponding with her, and even had a great conversation sharing the gospel with her over a dinner. Naturally, Jolee still seems uncomfortable about coming to our church, so we ask for you to keep praying for her to really commit herself to Christ and to come check out our church with us. (By the way, our JWinfo.org site for Jehovah’s Witnesses should finally be up and running some time this month!)

Tara also had a great correspondence for a while with her Mormon uncle. He’s recently divorced, and really needs Christ. The uncle has become a pragmatist, who thinks that life is about “whatever works for you.” But instead of answering Tara’s arguments, he basically belittles her.

Please remember our financial needs during this upcoming holiday season. Your financial investments and prayers make this ministry possible. We need your continued support. Tara and I are planning on returning and staying in Utah in a couple summers. We would like to have enough of a support base that would enable us to move back, and we need your help to make this a reality. We ask that you please consider and pray about investing in this ministry on a monthly basis. If you would like details on how to contribute financially to this ministry, please see our "Invest" page.

Thank you so much for your concern and prayers for this ministry, and for those trapped by false religions and philosophies.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Rob Sivulka
President, Courageous Christians United
MormonInfo.org
[email protected]

****PRAYER REQUESTS****

1. For the replacement of our stolen equipment
2. For more speaking venues
3. For guidance in fundraising
4. For more members to join our Ex-Mormon Meetup group
5. Tara’s LDS family

****MAILBAG****

Hi Rob, It was definitely good to meet you.  It’s nice to see others who are out in the field helping people understand the danger of the cults that are preying on Christians these days.  God bless your efforts!
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Hey Rob, the beginning of the newsletter was very well-written and clearly communicated.  It blessed me tonight, and thanks so much for being able to articulate that particular truth so well! You know at Rising Tide you have our support! Miss you buddy.
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Rob, In your newsletter you referenced you discussion with Matt, the Mormon athiest.  I want to compliment you.  You wrote the best defense I have read and I thank you for that.  I am saving that and will use it where possible. 

I believe that you aquired that skill and inner conviction from doing confrontational evangelism and education.  Your strength comes from being confrontational and testing your ideas against the best opposition and finding that God is absolutely true and trustworthy, and is the God of the Great Commission.

Most Christians do little or just friendship evangelism.  First comes friendship and then confrontational, while being friendly.
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Rob, thanks for the link to your website. I read through much of it this morning as well as some of the snippy hate mail you’ve received. I get similar notes from Mormons due to my mormonism materials being posted on the LeaderU website…some of the notes result in civilized email exchanges (others are too hostile to answer). Hopefully some seeds are sown that eventually will produce changed hearts. Keep up the good work. 
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Truly the thanks is to you for being willing to come all the way over here. Both the groups thoroughly loved learning about mormonism and are still talking about all the stuff you shared. It helped me grow as well.
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heyman, ive been familiar with your ministries around a year ago when I got heavily into researching mormonism. I had been into theology and apologetics before, mostly for atheism, but of course Mormonism is a whole other ball game.

seeing the cult it was, I developed a heart for mormonism. I, then became a magnet for mormonism. Being in High school in AZ, and in choir as a christian, I had a great share of opportunities with the 1/4 or mormons in there, dating 2 of them, and doing a great deal of work for God. I graduated May 2007, and then gettign really into witnessing along with my Christian friends, we went on a self proclaimed mission/trek to SLC. Man We got so blessed.

Anyways I was on youtube because I am supposed to be studying, and I came along this video Its a guy trying to find out about Mormon underwear...you probably remember. But I saw you with those rememberable signs, and had to find out your name lol

I see you are married, and look a little different, nonetheless still great. Good luck in Utah ( I really want to move there in the future when I finish college, if God wants me there), and if I dont come across you one day, We'll trade stories in heaven.

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