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Alright, so we had another meeting with the mormons.
They started out by going over all of their basic beliefs, which took about half an hour.
Then they opened it up for questions/discussion. Our main topics were:
1) The role faith and works play in salvation
They kept referring back to James 2:24, and didn’t accept the idea of works resulting from true faith, but the true faith saving you, not the works that come from it.
2) The concept of the Trinity vs. Three separate gods
They just couldn’t see Jesus praying to Himself in the Garden, or Jesus being baptized by the Holy Spirit while God was speaking from the clouds. But if God is omnipresent, where’s the problem?
3) God being spirit vs. God having a body of flesh and bones
They said since we were made in His image, He must be flesh and bones as well. They didn’t think it was talking about character qualities, just physical image. Why John 4:24 then? And what kind of God would He be if He was limited to the physical world?
4) The purpose of Polygamy
They said God spoke to their prophets allowing it for a certain time when the church was being persecuted and needed more children, then later He told the prophets it was no longer needed…not very convincing.
5) Whether the “great apostasy” existed or not
They believe because of all the different Christian denominations there was a mass confusion and loss of the true church. They say it needed to be restored through Joseph Smith…but how do different denominations qualify as lost/confused faith? As long as they focus on accepting Jesus’ sacrifice, does the denomination really matter in determining whether a person is saved or not? They used Matthew 7:13 to back this up…but it’s not talking about denominations of Christianity; it’s talking about entirely different religions/beliefs!
If I’m wrong with anything here, just please clarify for me. And let me know if you have any scripture you think would help me out! I have tons already, but I’m sure there are still some I can add to my collection. ;)
Basically, we had tons of fun, again. I can’t wait till our next meeting…I’ve found a lot more verses supporting my beliefs.
I’m really interested in what they have to say about this:
Galatians 1:6-9
6I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel, 7which is not another; but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ. 8But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed. 9As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed.
I love you all!
Well, today something very interesting happened; I attended a Mormon church.
After service at Bell Road, I went out to lunch with Mike and Billy. Somehow, we decided we wanted to go check out an LDS church. So after we finished eating, the three of us went to Mike’s to look online for a church nearby. After finding one only a few streets away, we headed over.
To be completely honest, I felt very uncomfortable walking through the parking lot toward the church. It was a bit intimidating, but we just kept pushing on. After going inside, we came to two identical hallways leading in two directions. We went right, and began to study some plaques on the wall. A woman holding her baby eventually came up to us and asked us if we were visitors. We said we were, and she asked if we wanted to go inside where the service was being held. So she opened the door to the main temple area, and found some seats for us.
We had come in a bit late, but the message was pretty much the same sort of thing we would hear at our church. Afterwards, we were invited to join some kids our age in a Sunday school class. Interested, we agreed.
After we all sat down, everyone introduced themselves to us. The cool thing about the kids was that the majority of them were from my school, North Canyon. I hadn’t seen any of them before, but one said he had seen me a few times. We started off the lesson with a word search composed of words such as “exhaltation”, “Joseph Smith”, and “perdition”. Considering I love word searches, I was having a blast. Then we started discussing the meaning behind each of the words.
After describing a few things that agreed with my beliefs, we jumped into the concept of three levels of Heaven. Now, this was fun. I was in a very social, talkative mood, so I was throwing out questions and just having an all-around good time; we were all joking and just enjoying ourselves. There were a few serious times though, when I questioned some of the ways they were interpreting a few verses (Revelation 3:16, James 2:26). If you want to know more about what was actually discussed, talk with me. ;)
Either way, we believe that the result of our conversation was some of the young mormons’ faith being challenged. Not in a huge way, but in a way to at least get them thinking. I really enjoyed talking with them…they all seemed like really nice people. Specifically, the young lady to my left was very interested in what I was saying, and was seemingly enjoying herself as much as I was. Afterwards, they did the normal thing of asking if they could come talk to us later sometime. At first I was going to say no thanks, but then I decided something really cool could come of this. So I agreed to let two of the ladies there come visit Mike and I at my house this Wednesday. Immediately after, the girl to my left expressed her desire to want to come too! I really feel like some progress could be made with her…so keep her in your prayers.
It was tons of fun experiencing another belief system, and it really erased some of the stereotypes I had. I’m looking forward to this Wednesday, but I realize what I’m getting into. These people are trained to deal with anything I have to say. Just pray that God will somehow speak to the young lady that comes…she’s really on my heart.
I know this is a pretty popular way of thinking, but oh well; it’s on my heart. :) I thought about this after reading Dennis’ post about comfort zones.
You know, lately I’ve been attacked about the effectiveness of my witnessing. I kept thinking maybe I should just give up, I’m getting no results (or at least not the ones I would like :P). I would be much more comfortable in my “Christian Bubble” just sitting back, enjoying God all for myself. Then I realized…that’s exactly what the enemy wants, for us to just sit back and watch the world (which is his territory), inside our own, separate world (God’s family). Since he knows he doesn’t have the power to take away our salvation, he wants us to recline in our “God chairs” while we watch the “Secular World” channel…so we can’t bring other people to Christ.
I know witnessing to some people might be out of my comfort zone, but if I sit back and don’t do it…I’m not only saying no to God’s will, but also fulfilling satan’s. The devil would love for us to give up any ideas of leaving our place of comfort so we don’t have the chance to impact the world anymore than we already are. So, I think leaving our comfort zone is a way to grow with God, improve our lives (which will in turn improve other’s), and defy satan.
But wait…if satan is so worried about us leaving our comfort zone, maybe that means that we might just be a threat; that he knows that we will be effective! So let’s use satan’s reaction to our dilemma to further inspire ourselves to leave our comfort zones!
Alright, being attacked again…not feeling too great. Maybe I just need some sleep.
Either way, please be praying for me. Thanks.
*UPDATE*
I found something that really spoke to me…I had never read this in The Message.
James 4:7-10
7So let God work his will in you. Yell a loud no to the Devil and watch him scamper. 8Say a quiet yes to God and he’ll be there in no time. Quit dabbling in sin. Purify your inner life. Quit playing the field. 9Hit bottom, and cry your eyes out. The fun and games are over. Get serious, really serious. 10Get down on your knees before the Master; it’s the only way you’ll get on your feet.
Today, God taught me to trust Him and be patient with things. I need to stop assuming the worst and think positively! All my worrying was for nothing…like it usually is.
Dennae, you were right all along! :) Optimistic Eddie has been born! ;D
