LDS Missionaries
I ran into a couple LDS Spanish women missionaries while walking my dog in the neighborhood. Elisa is from Houston and Teijanra is from South America. They asked how I ended up in Utah, so I told them I'm here because I love Mormons and am a missionary to them. Probably had about 10-15 minutes with them.
I asked them, "Why should I believe Mormonism when there's so much evidence against it?" Elisa did all the talking. She said that was a really good question. She basically went on to say that she listens to God and not the "evidences of men." So I told them, "Why would I think that what you got from God is truth rather than what I got from God?" Elisa said that she doesn't believe Mormonism; she believes Jesus. She was reluctant to say that what I believe was not true. Everyone can pray and find out for themselves. So I responded by saying that your Jesus in your scripture condemned all other churches and their creeds and professors. The Book of Mormon says there's only two churches--the Lamb and the devil. The D&C says theirs is the only true church. So again, I asked, "Why would I believe that you have the truth and I don't? The Bible is clear that there's a way that seems right, but leads to death. Jeremiah says that the heart is deceitful above all else; who can know it? The Bible is also clear that even God may end up giving you want you really want if you continue not to listen to His word... He may give you a strong delusion as 2 Thes. 2:11 says. But we don't even need the Bible to tell us all this. We should know from experience how deceptive our feelings are. Feelings are terribly untrustworthy."
I went on to tell them that Jesus warned us of false prophets and false Christs and that Joseph Smith failed every biblical test for being a prophet of God. Smith taught false gods/a false Christ (Deut. 13), Smith made false prophecies (Deut. 18), and he had a lot of bad fruit (Matt. 7). He went against what God said and I quoted Isa. 43:10, 44:6, 8, and 24 to them. God was very clear here that He's the only God there is and He created everything all by Himself. However, Smith came along and taught we all have to become Gods the same as all other Gods have done, and your Pearl of Great Price and temple ceremony are clear that God had help with other Gods in creating.
I went on to underscore how I'm concerned about them, and that I have no hate towards them. They wanted to get going, so I asked if I could pray for them. They said yes, so I asked the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit to keep them from Satan and reveal Himself to them. I'll probably see them around again, so pray that I'll continue to be used to plant seeds in their lives that may one day bear fruit.
MeetTheExMormons.org
Our friend Rusty Dunbar came to share his testimony and how he likes to engage LDS. You may watch his presentation and see pictures by clicking the URL above. I love having such an international fellowship. We had people from Columbia, Peru, Korea, Austria, and my folks just flew back from Serbia!
Bob Sivuilka shares with mission teamMission Team
We hosted a mission team of 20 from Heartland Evangelical Free Church, Central City, NE for dinner . We’ve had this group over numerous times before. This team had only about a ⅓ who had been here before. My wife Tara was under the weather, so my dad shared how he likes to evangelize LDS before I spoke about my ministry and doing ministry to LDS.
Doctoral Update
I heard back from my assistant supervisor. He seems all in and wants us to push each other to get this dissertation done. We are still waiting for the supervisory committee to give word on my research proposal, which was submitted over a year ago now. In the meantime, my assistant supervisor wants me to retake the ethics exams I took over 2 years ago since they are only good for 3 years and that way I won’t have to worry about them again. He also wants me to go ahead and write the second chapter. So please continue to pray as I go through this process.
We Need Your Partnership
If you’re looking for ways to store up for yourself treasures in heaven (Matt. 6:19-20), may I suggest investing in our ministry? We not only need your prayers, but we need your financial partnership 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 tax-deductible check to Courageous Christians United (CCU). For more information on various ways to invest in this ministry, including online giving, please see our “Invest” page on our sites. If you’re not a partner and are blessed by these monthly updates, please join 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/or in your financial giving!
Be strong and courageous (Joshua 1:6)!
Rob Sivulka
President, Courageous Christians United
P.O. Box 1374
West Jordan, UT 84088
(801) 792-6373
MormonInfo.org
MeetTheExMormons.org
JWinfo.org
MuhammadLied.Info
AbortionIsMurder.Info
Mailbag
Sounds like a good conversation. Hopefully giving them some things to consider.
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I’ll pray for their salvation, too, Rob. Thank you for your efforts telling them the truth of God’s word.
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Praying for their hearts to be softened and eyes to be opened and their minds and actions to change as they embrace the Biblical Jesus.
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Great job my friend, keep planting those seeds and let the Holy Spirit do His job. Awesome. I hope they will deeply think of the truths you shared with them and maybe their eyes will begin to open to truth.
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Wow! The work this man has done in the 14yrs I've known him is amazing! Love ya Rob. Thank you for your life of service and devotion to God and reaching my people, the Mormons, with the true Jesus & the true gospel. God bless you brother!
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