SUMMARY:
...any god that is not the God of the Bible is a lesser or inferior god. The Mormon god is a lesser god, who does not have the divine qualities of the God of the Bible and so are the “gods” of Jehovah Witnesses, Islam etc.
By ED BARCLAY with PHILIP POWELL
HOW often have you seen the clean cut young men in their dark trousers and white shirts and ties riding along on their bicycles offering their version of the “good news” of Jesus Christ to anyone willing to listen?
These young men, many of whom are in their late teens and early twenties, have just left school. They will give up two years of their lives to spread the “Mormon gospel”. They and their families fi nance each entire mission, which costs approximately $5,500 AUD dollars per year. (It has recently gone up). Every Mormon boy is “groomed” from an early age to go on a mission. His expenses include airplane tickets, a bicycle — usually a mountain bike — and helmet, plus living costs e.g. food etc. The Church Stake1 usually pays for the fl at, house or unit that he shares with a fellow missionary.
The lifestyle that he will live for the two years is strictly regimented — up by 6.30am and lights out at 10pm. At 9.30pm every night he must ring his Ward Mission Leader to report on the day’s events. Each Mormon missionary is allowed a day off each week, usually Wednesday, for personal chores and for preparation to present “the gospel” to an “Investigator” (potential convert).
Hi, my name is Ed Barclay. My ministry deals with cults and ‘isms. I am an ordained pastor who has gone underground and infi ltrated a Mormon Stake close to where I live in Brisbane. I have been attending this stake for almost two years. The wonderful grace of the Lord Jesus Christ has kept me there. My job is to destroy their foundations, which requires constant prayer and fasting and being alert for opportunities to witness to Mormons. The Ward has 260 regular attendees. God opened the door and gave me a foothold in. I never thought, in my wildest dreams, that I could have impacted so many in one place at one time. At fi rst, I joined the adult Sunday school, and then on invitation attended their priesthood meetings.
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Sermons and meetings are more like an Amway pep rally than an encounter with God. |
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Cult Evangelism is one of the most diffi cult forms of ministry and I would greatly appreciate any prayer support you can give. It is a constant battle. Some weeks you think you have a breakthrough and the next your hopes are dashed. The process is long and slow and can be measured in years to bring just one person out of darkness. The foundation of error and false doctrine has to be broken up one piece at a time. If it is smashed indiscriminately the person ends up not trusting God at all. What you have to do is show the Mormon person that the “god” whom he worships and the “Jesus” to whom he refers are NOT the God or Jesus of the Bible. Many Mormons who have had their faith shattered end up as atheists or as God haters consigned to hell for eternity. Patience, persistence, gentleness and understanding are required. A good solid understanding of Christian and Mormon doctrine, and of their histories are vital. With these you can begin to witness to a Mormon effectively.
At times, I have felt an impulse to blow the person I am witnessing to away with Scripture, but I have learnt that if you do this you have lost him. For years when missionaries came knocking I would usually allow them the courtesy of a second visit before I brought the big guns out and blew them away. I would have a moral victory and the satisfaction of knowing that I just “wasted another Missionary”. I won the argument and they would be gone forever, but I have learned among other things something of what our Lord Jesus said about being about being as wise as serpents and harmless as doves.
Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves; therefore be as wise as serpents, and harmless as doves. —
Matthew 10:16
When the Missionaries come to your door they have a plan. Their job is to get you to engage in a six part series of discussions where they teach you the basic Mormon message (and ultimately get you baptized into the Mormon Church). This has since been revised to a Four Part series because they have been fi nding here in Australia that their 25 missionary methods are not working and the numbers of converts are falling. For years, I did not understand why I could only get to the third discussion before I lost them. I was using scripture to correct their error, but the application was wrong, very wrong. Something happened that changed my focus.
One Saturday morning, a woman and her granddaughter called at our home and offered me THE WATCHTOWER. You guessed it, Jehovah’s Witnesses! The discussion turned into an argument about John 1:1. I turned to the woman and said, “Answer me this question ‘Which God showed the greatest Love. The one who sent a created angel to die in your place or the one who sent His one and only Son?’” I knew this would be a knockout unanswerable question for her. Angry and frustrated, she grabbed her granddaughter and stormed off. I shouted after her, “You are going to hell.” Some of my neighbours heard it.
By this time, it seemed that everyone was outside watching and listening to the commotion. The lady tactfully beat a hasty retreat to a group of JW’s who had by now assembled at the end of my street. They all bolted when I came after them. I had the satisfaction of knowing that I had won the battle. As I turned to walk back to my home, the soft still voice of the Holy Spirit spoke to me, “Well, that was a great witness to the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.” I felt an absolute idiot, and wept and wept knowing that I had probably kept that person from ever entering into the Kingdom of Heaven.
It was my attitude that was ALL WRONG. We sometimes love to win the battle, but end up losing the War! Pride and self-righteousness get in the way with devastating results. The aim must always be to win the “war”, by bringing people to the Cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. We may lose a few battles on the way, but ultimately the thing that counts is winning them for Jesus. My choice of titles for this series of articles was “Children of a lesser god”, but seeing that is the name of a famous fi lm that I saw many years ago, we had to choose another title. My point is that any god that is not the God of the Bible is a lesser or inferior god. The Mormon god is a lesser god, who does not have the divine qualities of the God of the Bible and so are the “gods” of Jehovah Witnesses, Islam etc. There is no substitute for the real God!
In fact, of course, they are no gods at all. *3
For years, I bemoaned the fact that many Christians know very little of what is in God’s Holy Word. The standard of teaching in the “church” has dramatically declined to the point where congregations are being fed watered down milk. Motivational hype similar to what the secular business world uses has replaced good solid Bible exposition. Sermons and meetings are more like an Amway Pep rally than an encounter with God.
Today’s Church has become so carnal and fl eshy that it has arrived at a point where it cannot discern between the soulish and a real move of the Holy Spirit. Hype along with pumped “upbeat tempo” has replaced scripture in song.
I have worked in my secular trade for 24 years and have seen all types of promotions ranging from the sublime to the ridiculous. One course, not so long ago, involved Occult Visualization, in which you visualize your goals and objects, coupled with speaking positive confessions. We were taught that by this means all our goals would be achievable. I lasted only one day into the three-day course and promptly walked out.
What many Christians are not seeing is that these same practices occur in churches. They may use different names, with Christian terms, but the methodology is the same occult practice. What does darkness and light have in common? God forbids these evil practices; yet, men in their foolishness mock God. God is Sovereign; He is Not a God of formulae and mantras.
Most of the sales launches and product releases involve orchestrated, or choreographed routines involving music, lighting and special effects. The real world calls this “marketing” and it is accepted for what it is. The point of these launches is SALES – the movement of boxes and product.
The more units sold the better it is for the bottom line of the company. I have personally witnessed this same methodology in church services. If you carefully notice most televangelists are choreographed in front of the camera. They use the same methods of hype to pump “self” up. Self-image is allimportant today. It is how you promote yourself and your company’s image. Company image is everything. It is all about how you dress, from the type of suit all the way down to the shoes you wear, from the way you learn to read body language and so on. Sadly, it’s no different in “church”.
Self-image and self-promotion are everything and large amounts of money are spent in the process, from the way the pastor dresses to the type of car he drives. The promotion and advertising leads me to believe a consumer mindset has developed within the church. You can “shop” around and fi nd a convenient church that suits your needs.
Next time you view a “successful” televangelist, take a look at the gold Rolex watch and count the diamond rings that he wears. The pastoral team of a nearby church here in Brisbane drive a particular type of sports car. Each vehicle is worth over $60,000 new. These men would want you to believe that God has blessed them. We do not doubt that God can bless, even financially, but we must keep it within the correct confines and balance of scripture. This extravagant waste of money cannot be justifi ed. It would be better spent in helping our poor brothers and sisters overseas in persecuted churches. Some of them are crying out for the basics such as Bibles in their own languages or a simple bicycle so that they could ride to the next village to preach the Gospel.
The western Church is Laodicean — rich, fat and lazy!!! The Bible speaks quite the opposite against self. We are taught to “die to self”
(Romans 6:6 c/f Galatians 5:24-26 & Matt 16:24).
Knowing this, that our old nature is crucifi ed with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that in future we should not serve sin. —
Romans 6:6
And they that are Christ’s have crucifi ed the fl esh with the affections and lusts. 25If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. 26Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another. —Galatians 5:24
Then said Jesus to his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. 25For whoever will save his life shall lose it: and whoever will lose his life for my sake shall fi nd it. 26For what is a man profi ted, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? —
Matt 16:24-26
We are to subdue the old nature, to walk in the Spirit, and in newness of life. The Bible teaches us to lead a crucified life, to esteem others more highly than ourselves. Sadly, the focus has shifted within the church from the family and community to self and the individual. Like the world, Christians have become self-absorbed. The most important issue is, “What’s in it for me?”
This was not the feature of the New Testament Church.
Our early Church fathers set the example.
And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers. And fear came upon every soul: and many wonders and signs were done by the apostles. And all that believed were together, and had all things common; And sold their possessions and goods, and gave them to all men, as every man had need. And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart, Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved. —
Acts 2:42-47
The self-esteem agenda, which comes directly out of secular humanism, is the latest fad that has swept into the Church. It was originally promoted by Norman Vincent Peale, the positive confession guru and continued and extended by Robert Schueller and now is being promoted in this country by Brian Houston and others.
I saw a number of Houston’s “sermons” recently and I can categorically state that these are motivational messages not honest exegetical preaching.
You might as well pay a few hundred dollars and listen to Anthony Robbins (a secular motivational speaker) because it is all the same.
There is no difference. I ask this question, “When is the Church going to learn?
When is it going to stop this carnal nonsense and get back to what God intended and has revealed in His Word?”
Dealing with cults, I now give them some leeway in not knowing the truth.
Most people in these groups have been indoctrinated into NOT knowing any better. I found that most Mormons know very little about the Bible and even less of their own standard works. I was given an opportunity at one Sunday morning meeting at the Mormon ward2, which I attended.
On the fi rst Sunday of every month, they have a fast and testimony morning when each individual is expected to fast for two meals.
The money that would have been spent on those meals is given in an offering to help those in need.
I decided to go forward and with my Bible I stated that there is only ONE MEANS of Salvation and that it is through Jesus Christ ALONE, and that the Bible alone is God’s Word and that Grace alone saves us. I then asked if anyone there had read the Bible from cover to cover.
Only one man had read it just once.
I then asked had anyone read the Book of Mormon more than fi ve times, which is what I have done. Of the 200 people there were only a very few, less than 10.
So I kept counting down. How many had read it 4, 3, 2, 1 times.
Over 70 percent had not read the Book of Mormon through more than once.
From their early childhood most of these precious people have been conditioned into religion much in the same way Roman Catholics indoctrinate their children.
There is a theological vacuum that extends from Salt Lake City to the local Ward. If I were asked what is Mormonism in a nutshell I would promptly say read ….on:
I marvel that you are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ to another gospel: Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ. But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than that, which we have preached to you, let him be accursed. As we said before, so I say again, If any man preach any other gospel to you than that you have received, let him be accursed. —
Galatians1: 6-9
Mormonism is a False Gospel and offers a False Hope to all who are part of what they call The Church of Latter Day Saints (LDS).
There are approximately 12 million Mormons worldwide, with 106,000 of them in Australia and 93,000 in New Zealand, which has a higher ratio of Mormons per capita than Australia, and their numbers are slowly growing.
The first Mormon Missionary came to Australia in 1845. Last year (2004), 58,000 Missionaries were sent to nearly 140 countries.
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Initiated by Norman Vincent Peale, the positive confession guru and extended by Robert Schueller it is now being promoted by Brian Houston |
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The Mormon Church has a Missionary Training Centre (MTC) at Provo, Utah, where the majority of missionaries are trained and sent from.
In the Pacifi c region, Hamilton, New Zealand, has a Missionary Training Centre where missionaries from Australia and the Pacifi c islands train. A missionary will spend approximately two weeks in training before being sent out.
The Mormon Church is the second richest church in the world with an annual income from tithes alone that exceeds 5.9 billion US dollars.
The Church has assets in the order of 25-30 billion dollars. In addition, the church has investments in farming, chemicals, insurance, business, real estate etc.
The LDS Church structure from the Prophet at the top to the Bishop in a Ward is run like a business.
The state of Utah is approximately 80% Mormon with around 150 different offshoots from the main group.
The Church has embarked on an international Temple building program and currently owns 115 temples throughout the world with a further 14 being constructed. Australia has 5 Temples with the latest, Brisbane Temple, opened on June 15, 2003. In the first month of its operation, it conducted 16,000 ordinances, including Baptisms for the dead, Sealings, Endowments and Temple Marriages i.e. marriages for eternity.
In future articles, I will show that the Temple, where necromancy occurs is an integral part of Mormon life. Necromancy is communication with the dead and is forbidden by God.
There shall not be found among you anyone that makes his son or his daughter pass through the fi re, or that uses divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch, Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer. For all that do these things are an abomination to the LORD: and because of these abominations the LORD your God drives them out from before you. —
Deuteronomy 18:10-11
I was sitting one Sunday morning in a Mormon service when the topic was, The Importance of the Temple. That immediately grabbed my attention. An elderly man in his 80s, who had been a Temple worker for over 20 years, was speaking. He testified that communication with the dead occurs frequently and that the dead direct the people in the temple in search for family members. Mormons view this as an indication that God has accepted them. They have other very bizarre teachings concerning the Baptism for the dead (a perversion of 1st Corinthians 15 verse 29) and Life after death. I will further show in my next article the occult connection between the Mormon priesthood and the Temple.
Over ALL Mormon Temples there is a statue of the angel Moroni blowing a trumpet. Most Mormons do not realize that in this alone they are breaking the fi rst two commandments of God.
You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself any carved image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: You shall not bow down to them, or serve them: for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of them that hate me; And showing mercy to thousands that love me, and keep my commandments. —
Exodus 20:3-6
God is specifi c when dealing with idolatry of any kind. I was raised in a Roman Catholic home as an altar boy until I was eighteen. I have an uncle who is a Parish Priest. I know a lot about idolatry, the statues, Marion worship, rosary beads, the incense and candles. As a Roman Catholic, I knew of God, but I never knew Jesus. Then, as now, the main focus was on Maryolotry, that is the veneration of Mary.
Roman 28 Catholicism is in reality a cult just like Mormonism. It may surprise you to know that cults like the Mormons and JWs recruit their converts from Roman Catholicism. They are easy targets because they do not know the Word of God.
I tested this theory in the ward by asking a large number of members what were their backgrounds. Yes, the majority were from a Roman Catholic background. These people have gone from one false religious system into another that absolutely binds them and confi nes them to the pit of hell. It may also surprise you to know that I came across a few ex Pentecostals, which was a shock to me. It only goes to prove what I said earlier that the standard of Bible teaching has dramatically fallen in our churches.
It is alarming that many who claim to be “born again” do not know their basic doctrines and few are aware of the doctrines taught by the false cults such as the Roman Catholic Church, Jehovah’s Witnesses and Mormons. Most are aware that Mormonism is a cult, but they do not know why!
Most Christians would reel in horror at the doctrine taught about God.
The Mormon god, whom they call Elohim, was once a man who through obedience to the principles of the gospel (i.e. the Mormon gospel) was able to achieve “Godhood”.
This Elohim had sexual relations with a goddess, whose name no one seems to know, to produce spirit offspring.
The fi rst of these offspring was Jesus Christ and his brother was Lucifer.This is a damnable heresy. Isaiah 14 and Ezekiel 28 clearly show Lucifer to be a created angel. Psalm 90:1-2, 1 Ch 16:36 and Ps 41:13 show the eternal attributes of God. Lord, you have been our dwelling place in all generations.
Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, you are God. (KJV) —
Psalm 90:1-2
Blessed be the LORD God of Israel From everlasting to everlasting! (NKJV) —
1 Chronicles 16:36
Blessed be the LORD God of Israel from everlasting, and to everlasting. Amen, and Amen. —
Psalm 41:13
God is eternal i.e. He has always existed, and has no beginning or end. Jesus Christ is eternal with no beginning or end. The same applies to the Holy Spirit. Scripture states that God is Spirit.
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The Mormon god “Elohim” was once a man who had sexual relations with a goddess ... to produce Jesus Christ and his brother Lucifer |
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God is a Spirit: and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and truth. —
John 4: 24
God is invisible.
Giving thanks to the Father, who has made us fi t to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light: Who has delivered us from the power of darkness, and has translated us into the kingdom of His dear Son: In whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins: Who is the image of the invisible God, the fi rstborn of all creation. —
Colossians 1: 12-15
These verses highlight the true attributes of the ONE and only Eternal God.
The image that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (i.e. Mormons) wants to convey is that it is a mainstream Christian Church. The advertising on television with free video promotions, the clean cut squeaky-clean missionaries, the appeal to wholesome family values are all designed to convey this “respectable image”. Vast sums of money have been spent to convey this notion. In the world of marketing, “Image is everything”. The Mormon hierarchy issue directives in the way this image is to be portrayed.
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Many years ago, it was decided that the name Mormon was to be phased out and the name Latter Day Saints used. The reason being that most people associate the name Mormon with the practice of polygamy. A recent media release from the Church’s Public Relations Department indicates that the name Latter day Saints (LDS) is to be phased out replaced with the name Church of Jesus Christ with the emphasis on Jesus Christ. This is nothing more than downright deception and fraud, but a number of prominent evangelicals have taken the bait, just as they did with the Roman Catholics that resulted in the “Evangelicals and Catholics Together”.
On November 14, 2004, Ravi Zacharias, a prominent apologist spoke in the Salt Lake City Temple. The last evangelical to speak there was Dwight L. Moody in 1899. The Temple, which seats approximately 7,000 people was fi lled to capacity. The event had been widely advertised in the Deseret News. Before Zacharias spoke Richard Mouw, President of Fuller Theological College, where third wave and other heresies proliferate, addressed the audience.
Fuller is famed as being founded by C. Peter Wagner, with his false Apostles and Prophets (Profi ts), Strategic Warfare and Vertical-Horizontal apostles’ movements and theories.
President Mouw had the audacity to apologize to Mormons for the way evangelical Christians had treated them and their teachings.
Here is a report of what took place:
“Let me state it clearly. We evangelicals have sinned against you,” Mouw said, noting a tendency among some Christians to distort the truth about the beliefs of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. “We have told you what you believe without making a sincere effort fi rst of all to ask you what you believe.” Mouw went on to explain,
“We have even on occasion demonised you, weaving conspiracy theories about what the LDS community is ‘really’ trying to accomplish in the world. And even at our best, we have — and this is true of both of our communities — we have talked past each other, setting forth oversimplified and distorted accounts of what the other group believes.”
It is Mouw who is deceived. I am not sure whether he understands his own Christian doctrine or any Mormon doctrine, but the point remains that Mouw has driven a wedge that has caused division in evangelical circles. Satan is the one who for centuries has used this strategy.
We must ask the question,
“Is Mouw a true Christian or just another hireling?”
In the next article, we plan to address this whole situation of Mouw and Zacharias in a pagan temple (should they have been there in the fi rst place?), and the role that temple plays in Mormon doctrine and its connection to the occult.
Is Mormonism Christian?
Categorically NO!
Footnotes:
1.. A Stake is a group of normally three Mormon churches.
2.. A ward is a group of Mormon people who meet in an area or region.
3.. The term "no gods" can be found at:
2Kings 19:18 And have cast their gods into the fire: for they were no gods, but the work of men's hands, wood and stone:...
2Chronicles 13:9 ... the same may be a priest of them that are no gods.
Isaiah 37:19 And have cast their gods into the fire: for they were no gods, but the work of men's hands, wood and stone:..
Jeremiah 2:11 Hath a nation changed their gods, which are yet no gods?
Jeremiah 5:7...sworn by them that are no gods:
Galatians 4:9...when ye knew not God, ye did service unto them which by nature are no gods
Acts 19:26...turned away much people, saying that they be no gods,
HOWEVER the great "I AM", Exodus 20:3, does point out that you shall have no other gods before me.
This would indicate that whatever you worship and hold in esteem above the worship & praise of the God of Abraham, Isaac & Jacob has become your god.
Jeremiah 44:5
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Appeared in Issue CETF NR 33 2005
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-Last revised-
Monday, October 09, 2006
