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JULY NEWSLETTER 2006Below is the newsletter for the month of July, 2006. You can browse each topic by using the links below. If you would like to join the mailing list to get the newsletter each month as well as news about up and coming events within the ministry, you can visit our newsletter page and follow the email instructions. Enjoy and God bless you! You can browse the newsletter by using the links below.
On the Road Again!God can really work fast! Last month I told you that sometime in the future Judy and I were going to strike out to open other support group offices like the one here in Mesa. Well, the future is here now! Circumstances have begun to occur making this possible. We are getting requests to come to areas for that very purpose. So Judy and I are beginning to make plans to arrange a schedule of traveling to places that have already asked to be included in this idea. We are serious enough about this project that we are selling our home of 34 years to make it possible to be gone for as long as it will take. We will be living and traveling in our motor home. Pray that the gas prices will come down. You can find people who might be potential members of your group by contacting the Christian churches in your area to find out if they have any ex- Mormons in their congregation that you could talk to or who might have an interest in being a part of this effort. We've been holding weekly meetings now for over 30 years and I can tell you that sitting and listening or training people is what keeps me going. Just to see the look on their faces when they finally get the message and accept the freedom that comes with trusting Jesus Christ is worth it all. Most of them say it's like having a ton of bricks lifted off their backs. I would like to arrange our trips by regions so we can come back to our office every so often for updates and for more supplies. We have a board of directors that I want to meet with on a quarterly basis. And I want to be able to spend time with our staff to make sure everything is going well for them. Please give this some serious thought and prayer. The Mormon church is now admitting, in some of their statistical publications, that "there are more going out the back door then there are coming in the front door" here in the states. So we know the work is paying off and we want to do our part to see that it continues. The Mormon church continues to grow in third world countries. We currently have offices or people doing this work in Tucson and Prescott, Arizona; Denver and Ft. Collins, Colorado; Minneapolis/St.Paul, Minnesota; Huron, South Dakota; Enterprise, Alabama; Greenville, South Carolina; Santiago, Chile, S.A.; and individuals all across the states, as well as American Samoa and Tonga. We have requests from 3 places in Idaho, 3 in California, 2 in Washington, 2 in Oregon, 1 in Wyoming, 3 in Utah, 1 in Ohio, 1 more in Colorado, 1 in W. Virginia and 2 in Texas. Let us know if you want to be a part of any of these or you want to see one get started in your area. May God bless you as you pray about this. Also be in prayer for us as we start putting this schedule together.
The Lord Provided Grace…Even More About the same time our son-in-law, Randy was diagnosed with a brain tumor and scheduled for surgery this past April, my 95 year-old mother fell and sustained a painful deepmuscle bruise on her hip. She quickly became unable to support her own body weight and needed full-time care. The week before Randy was to go in for surgery he was working at his metal shop trying to get things finished before he'd be out of commission for several weeks. While adjusting a part on a forklift the heavy equipment fell on him, crushing his right arm and pinning him under it. Only one other person was there. It was our 21-year-old grandson, Shaun, who acted quickly, hopped on another forklift and lifted off the forklift that pinned Randy. Shaun took off his shirt, wrapped Randy's arm in it, got him into a truck and sped off to the hospital. Randy was in shock by the time they arrived. His arm had to have two steel rods and skin grafts to repair it, but he survived thanks to Shaun's quick thinking. Randy's brain surgery was to be in four days and in the meantime my mother was going down hill fast. She quit eating because of the pain, her strength decreased dramatically and the situation did not look good. Our family was stretched. A niece came from Arkansas to help out with Mom while many family members and myself, kept vigil with Janet while her husband Randy underwent surgery to remove the tumor on his brain. Randy's surgery was successful although the entire tumor couldn't be removed. He will receive radiation treatments later and he's going to rehab for his arm. While Randy was recovering, Shaun took over Randy's business and did a fantastic job. We had been praying for Shaun for some time to have a goal in life and begin living responsibly. Shaun stepped up to the plate and did everything necessary to keep Randy's business running smoothly while he was down and out. Shaun had already said he was "through partying" when his cousin, Destiny, was killed in a car accident in February. Now he had the reason he'd needed to be responsible. He more than filled the job and is Randy's most valuable employee. My mother passed away April 19. But not without many songs sung to her and prayers said holding her hand. In my youth I sang in the choir with my mother and I knew all the gospel hymns that she so loved. I was there when her heart beat for the last time and lifted up my hands to the heavens through tears, "Lord receive my mother into your loving arms." I have no doubt that is where she is now. Enjoying the place prepared for her by Jesus. (John 14:1-6,19) The final song played for Mother's memorial was, Total Praise, because it seemed to me to be a fitting "benediction" for my mother's life. When life comes unglued in your family, know that He cares for you. He is right there beside you. He knows your every need and will give you the strength needed for the task ahead. I know. The Lord provided for me when I was in need and He gave grace… even more.
Book Review by Bob Betts: Jesus and Joseph - Parallel Lives by Rodney TurnerI couldn't believe my eyes when I saw the title in a major bookstore in Salt Lake City three months ago. Parallel lives? After I read the Table of Contents and finally picked my jaw up off the floor, I bought the book. Yes, it's true. Mormons are being taught that Joseph Smith's calling by God was comparable to Jesus Christ's. The book's opening poem gives you an idea of what's to come: It is no surprise that what follows, is nothing less than the adulation and exaltation of Joseph Smith. Just as one of the Mormon hymns about Joseph Smith, is Praise to the Man, so the heresy in this book should not catch us off guard. From the Conclusion I quote, "He (Joseph Smith) knew something concerning his eternal identity so glorious he dared not reveal it to others. Joseph knew the Saints would not, because they could not, believe him. Notwithstanding, when we come forth with him as resurrected men and women-with memory of our premortal lives restored-then we shall finally know "Brother Joseph"-because then we will have the capacity to know him. And then, we shall know ourselves." ABOUT THE BOOK Part One of Seven is entitled, "The Foreordained," and shows how the author views the Bible and the Book of Mormon foretelling the coming of Joseph, as clearly as the coming of Jesus. Part Two, "The Beginning Years," likewise draws similarities between the families that Jesus and Joseph grew up in. Both experienced assaults from Satan. Both experienced assaults on their character and teachings. Part Three, "Divine Credentials," suggests that like Jesus, Joseph's divine credentials include the witness of the Holy Ghost, the witness of several men, the witness of the priesthood, miracles, and that they were both prophets. Part Four, "Treasures New and Old," gets into the doctrines that came by revelation to both Jesus and Joseph, suggesting that neither got the recognition they both rightly deserved from the religious leaders of their day. Turner also expounds on the very doctrines that have given the Mormon church its reputation for being unbiblical and heretical. He also gets into a defense of Joseph Smith's vision, but makes the following admission: "If the First Vision was-at best-an illusion, then the Church is built upon sand; and, in time, it will lose its original strength and identity and begin to crumble." Part Five, "Calvary and Carthage" compares what the author views as similarities between the death of Jesus and the death of Joseph. In this chapter he includes a dissertation on the atonement that Mormons believe took place in the Garden of Gethsemane. This hits on a pet peeve of mine. Luke 22:44 tells us that Jesus, "being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground." Nowhere in or around this passage is there even an implication that this was any part of the atonement of Jesus for our sins. Yet Mormons believe that it was. The cross where Christ died for our sins is relegated to simply being the instrument of Jesus' death. A lengthy recitation of the events leading to and including Jesus' martyrdom and resurrection, is followed by a lengthy recitation of the ordeals that Joseph had to endure, leading to his alleged martyrdom. I say "alleged martyrdom" because Jesus gave his life willingly, while Joseph managed to fire off a six-shooter he had smuggled into his jail room, killing two men and injuring a third. But, the author contrasts their days of death by saying that "Jesus was resigned, but not helpless: He could have summoned 'more than twelve legions of angels' (Mt. 26:53). Joseph was helpless and at the mercy of the merciless." Though he describes the gun battle, Turner neglects to mention that Joseph killed two of the men he shot. Turner concludes the chapter with this epilogue: "Jesus the Christ and Joseph the Prophet came to bring life, light and salvation to mankind. In doing so, they sealed their testimonies with their life's blood. Both died because of who they were and what they proclaimed. For had they not lived the lives they lived and borne the witnesses they bore, they would not have died as they did. So Jesus died on the hill of Calvary; Joseph in the shadows of Carthage. Each triumphed in his own way." Part Six, "Things to Come" is a dissertation on the Mormon eschatological viewpoint, concluding with the Mormon version of how salvation is attained, including the importance of baptism for the dead. This chapter includes Mormon teachings on the New Jerusalem, Zion, the Garden of Eden in Missouri being God's "holy mountain" and Joseph being the Moses of the latter days. Part Seven, "By Their Fruits" contains an overview comparison of the "Parallel Lives" of Jesus and Joseph, including this summary paragraph: "The thesis of this book is that in unique and important ways the life of Joseph reflected the life of Jesus more so than did any other prophet who ever lived…So there is an undeniable bond between Jesus and Joseph." MY CONCLUSION You and I must remember that, as much as this kind of book may appall and frustrate us, there are many Mormons who will come out of this falseness who need our compassion. Working together, lovingly planting seeds, watering, harvesting and then nurturing is our job to help them overcome this kind of deception. Let's prepare ourselves. The deception will only get worse.
Dear Concerned Christians, Goleta, CA Dear Jim Robertson Detroit Lakes, MN Hi Jim, Mesa, AZ Concerned Christians, Tempe, AZ Bob, (Taken from Concerned Christians chat room) Dear Friends, Philadelphia, PA Dear Sir, South Jordan, UT Dear Jim, Judy, Bob & Cheri, Mesa, AZ Hello to everyone, Montrose, Co Dear Concerned Christians, Hardy, VA Dear Jim & Judy, Petersburg, IL Concerned Christians, Prescott, AZ Concerned Christians, Delta, CO
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Maybe we will
be coming to your area. As I said last month, we would like to have an
office in every town that has a temple or is situated near a temple. That
could also be towns that have a heavy concentration of Mormons. If you
are interested in seeing this happen in your area, please let us know
so we can include your town in our schedule. In the meantime, some things
can be done in advance. Your group should have at least one person who
is an ex- Mormon so you have creditability. You should evaluate the reason
for having this group. First, you want to support those wanting or trying
to leave Mormonism. It's very traumatic to leave Mormonism and they are
going to need all the support they can get. Next, you want to have or
train people to teach about the deception of Mormonism to churches as
well as individuals. Your group should be people who have a real interest
in seeing Mormons come to know the real Lord Jesus Christ and not because
they have a grudge against Mormons. Remember, we are to hate the sin and
love the sinner. So we hate Mormonism and not the Mormons. Next, your
group should not be afraid to speak out or to confront people who defend
Mormonism. And it should be individuals who can devote the amount of energy
necessary to make this a success for the Lord. You can begin by meeting
in someone's home. You can also raise funds by speaking in churches about
the deception of Mormonism.
When in this
past April/May newsletter I made the statement, "February was one of those
months when it seems life comes unglued," I had no clue there was more
to come. But life is often like that. When we think we've been through
about as much as we can handle, another seam of life begins to separate.
Mother needed
24 hour a day care and was now with hospice inpatient care. While driving
to be with Mom each day it seemed the Christian radio station I listened
to always played just the praise song I needed. Though I don't know the
names of them all some of the words come to mind: "He cares about you"
and other words set to music by beautiful songs of praise. But the one
that carried me through most was a song by Michael W. Smith called, Total
Praise. It's based on Psalm 121 and starts out with "Lord, I lift
my eyes to the hills" and goes on to say "knowing my help is coming from
You." He gives strength in the storm. The song ends with the most beautiful
praise and adoration ending with "Amen."
THE BEGINNING
AND THE ENDING
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