Mormons

I have been learning about ways to minister to Mormons, and show them Christianity. In order to do this I have been attending seminars run by the organization “Truth In Love Ministry”. The Truth in Love Ministry exists“to bring as many as possible to heaven, Truth in Love Ministry proclaims God’s wrath and grace with love and respect to Mormons and equips other Christians to do the same.” They held a seminar on Mormonism and how to minister to Mormons at a local church here in Boise, Idaho. My youth group told me about this seminar, of which I quickly wanted to attend. In this report I will be sharing with you who the speaker was, what organization the seminar was run by,  what I learned, my own personal thoughts on the seminar and why it is so critical to minister to Mormons.

 The speaker was Mark Cares. He is a Christian pastor, who has become a large part of the Truth in Love Ministry. He has been a pastor for the past twenty five years, here in Idaho. About fifteen years ago he began a project to study Mormonism so that he could effectively relate and share the gospel to them. After studying Mormonism he wrote the book entitled “ Speaking the Truth in Love to Mormons”. He wrote this so that others could also learn how to speak to Mormons and relate to them. He says that he has sold over fifteen thousand copies of his book. He also shared with us that several people and churches are putting into practice his way of ministering to Mormons.

The Truth in Love ministry exists “to bring as many as possible to heaven, Truth in Love Ministry proclaims God’s wrath and grace with love and respect to Mormons and equips other Christians to do the same” as I quoted earlier. The truth in love ministry was founded in Nampa Idaho, from the Messiah Lutheran Church. They wish to share with Mormons the truth of the Bible. They want to help those who do not know the Love of Christ. Their main goal, is to help as many Latter Day Saints, followers as possible. They do this because they know that the Latter Day Saints religion leads to eternal death rather than eternal life. The stresses that Mormonism brings is what they wish to alleviate. Another goal of theirs is to show them “the wonderful difference the knowledge of being freely and fully forgiven in Jesus can make in a person’s life.”

During the seminar I learned many fascinating ideas and beliefs the Mormons hold. I had no idea, that they believed in not only three levels of Heaven, but that there is a spirit world split into two sections and lastly there is outer darkness a place where according to them few go.

They believe that there are three tiers to heaven. The Telestial kingdom, The Terrestrial kingdom, and The Celestial kingdom. The Telestial Kingdoms, is for people who did not accept Jesus as their savior, nor did they live a good life. It is here that they are slaves, but even that is apparently a great life compared to this earth. Also only the holy ghost visits this low kingdom of heaven. The Terrestrial Kingdom is where people who did not believe in Jesus, but lived good lives would go. It is here that Jesus and the holy ghost visit.  This is also heaven compared to earth even though the people in this kingdom rejected Christ or followed a different faith. This is where I believe they would say most Christians would go. Even though we believe in Jesus Christ, we do not believe in their doctrines. Because of this we could not possibly make it into the highest kingdom of their heaven. Lastly we have the Celestial kingdom. This is the kingdom where all Mormons hope to go, for it is here that they did the best work possible, they followed every command, got baptized, did all their temple duties and now will go to live with their “heavenly father”. It is in the Celestial Kingdom where they believe that “Heavenly father”, Jesus Christ and the holy ghost live. It is in the Celestial kingdom that they believe people can become gods themselves.

The spirit world I spoke of is broken up into two sections. Paradise and Spirit Prison. Paradise they teach is where those of Mormonism go who lived good lives and followed all the rules. Spirit Prison is where everyone who rejected Christ would go. They believe that via baptisms from the temple on earth for the deceased can send people from spirit prison up into Paradise. They also believe that people from paradise can go down and be missionaries to those in spirit prison.

Outer Darkness is the mormon’s version of hell. Outer darkness only happens to very few people. It happens to those who leave the Mormon church and to those who reject Christ even after seeing him, and knowing of his existence. They claim to know that at least Cain will be in outer darkness, beyond that they believe there are very few people are sent to this total separation from God.

I learned more about the false prophets that the Mormons believe in. They believe in a modern day prophet. His name is Thomas S. Monson. They believe that God still speaks to him and gives him revelations and prophecies to bring to his people. He is in fact a false prophet, we know this because the Bible tells us that there will be no more prophets. The Mormon faith itself even is based off of a false prophet named Joseph Smith and his teachings. Joseph Smith founded this religion based off of what he said to be visions and revelations from God. He even claimed to be a prophet himself.     Believing in false prophets is very dangerous. Jesus warns us to be wary of false prophets in the Bible. Matthew 7:15 Jesus says ““Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.” The Mormons, are being deceived by these false prophets and have little to no idea of it. The Mormons also believe that it is by works they get into heaven. Their verse in the Book of Mormon 2 Nephi 25:23 says: “For we know that it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do.” The Bible tells that it is ONLY by grace we are saved, not “after all that we can do.”
The Mormons believe that works is what gets them into heaven and it is by that they are saved. Christians do not believe this, we believe that it is by the love of Jesus Christ, and that He died for us that we are saved. It is by grace alone. This is why it is so critical to minister to our Mormon brothers and sisters. This is more than just a different opinion, the mormons are being misguided and they have the wrong, view of salvation.

The Mormons have very little idea of what hell is. They have no idea what horror awaits them and those who have not accepted Christ as their Savior. This is dangerous. They do not know the seriousness of Hell, and the total separation it brings from God. This is a terrifying fact. They need to know the extreme that is Hell, they need to know what awaits them if they do not become saved. But we must tell them in a loving way, so that we do not scare them or so that they do not feel like they are being attacked.

The seminar was an excellent one. I learned many new ideas and ways to minister. The speaker Mark Cares, explained these ideas in a way we all could understand he helped show us, the differences of Christianity and Mormonism. He also shared with us how to minister to them, which is the most important part. Many Mormons are put under incredible stress while trying to be perfect. The parents are trying to not only be perfect themselves but also raise perfect kids. The sons and daughters are trying to be perfect children and grow into perfect adults. Perfection is not possible, the only One who was perfect was and is Jesus Christ. We cannot be perfect, and yet that is what they strive to be. It is an impossible goal in life, they can never reach. It is sad, to see the stresses that a false religion such as this one can bring. He shared with us strategies for sharing the gospel with them. He told us we need to speak their language so that we can relate with them. Don’t debate, relate.

You can tell them what you believe and why you want to help them. Tell them that you are perfect, because you have been made perfect in Jesus Christ. This is one effective way to catch their attention. They are striving to be perfect, and if you already are perfect they will want to know how you did it. Another more gripping way to tell them is that “The Lord has revealed to me that you are going to Outer Darkness.” This will scare them a bit and they will probably ask you how they can not go to Outer Darkness. It is then you share with them the love of Jesus Christ.

I have stressed this earlier, it is so critical that we love our Mormon brothers and sisters and share with them the good news of Jesus Christ’s forgiveness. They are absolutely lost. Their idea of heaven and the spirit world, is wrong. They do not think that many people go to hell, which means they feel no, true terror or danger that comes from hell and needs to be known. Their very religion is based off of false prophets teachings, and today they even believe that a prophet walks this earth. They do not have the proper definition of salvation, they do not know the TRUE love of the Lord and Jesus Christ. They are being fed lies and being put under unneeded stress of perfection. “We don’t have to be perfect, because Jesus was perfect for us” -Mark Cares during the seminar.  

The seminar answered many questions about Mormonism for me and I found it very helpful. I enjoyed learning more so that maybe one day I too, can minister and share God’s love with the Mormons. I can show them just what I believe and help show them the truth of God’s Love. To be able to share with them the truth in the love of Jesus Christ and His death on the cross for us. The salvation I have by grace and not by works. This is what we should be sharing with our Mormon brothers and sisters, this is the message they need so desperately to hear. It is ministeries like Truth in Love that is spreading this urgent message.