YWAM group at Prima

Today a group from America and one Norwegian visited Prima Village.   They brought with them a stack of Bislama bibles made possible by the Bible Society. 

Acts 1:8 in action.

Praise the Lord for YWAM and the Bible Society!

What was the fastest growing church denomination in America last year?

I was chatting to a Mormon Elder the other day, when his defence that the Mormon Corporation is from God and is the true church is because it is the fastest growing church.  Here is what I found regarding America.

1. Evangelical Christans are 26.3% of the population and represent the largest group. 
2. Catholics are a close second (23.9%).  
3. The mormons are 1.7%

As for growth.  Most mainsteam churches are currenty in decline.  In America the Episcopalian and Presbyterian Churches fit this category (Both churches grappling over the ordination of homosexuals)  

However, compare this.

• Assemblies of God 1.27% growth in 2010 .  MORMON: 1.7% 2010
• AOG: Worldwide population of 65 million members (actual converts). MORMON 14.7 million (including children as young as 8)
• AOG: 1 million members added every year MORMON: 300,000 (includes newborns)
• AOG: New converted member every 25 seconds.  MORMON: new member every 2 minutes (including children as young as 8).
• AOG: New church planted every 35 minutes, currently 362,791 MORMON: 300 a year.  Currently 29014 in 7464 branches
• AOG: 2700 full time missionaries outside America MORMON: 74900 total majority in America.
• Worldwide, the fastest growing evangelical population are Iran (19.6%) and Afghanistan (16.7%)  of course this is because they are small in number to begin with.  But proves that Mormons cannot say they have huge growth in Vanuatu for the same reason.
• AOG: Membership is fluid  MORMON: Once a member, always a member, unless excommunicated.  So if you leave the Mormon church and join the AOG then the AoG number goes up one, but the mormon number stays the same.

Check out some other useful statistics about the Mormon Corporation including stats from mormon researchers themselves at
http://www.mrm.org/fastest-growing-church

In 2011, there were 55,410 members serving full-time missions worldwide; approximately 6,000 fewer than in 2002. 

The annual percentage growth rate for membership has declined over the past decade from approximately 2.9% to 2.2%.  Annual congregational growth rates have fluctuated from a high of 1.62% to a low of 0.23%

  The number of districts worldwide has remained relatively unchanged over the past decade at slightly more than 600

SOURCE: http://ldschurchgrowth.blogspot.com/2012/08/is-lds-mormon-church-growing.html

Mormons often say that whenever a stake gets high enough they can build a temple as a sign the church is expanding.  They are proud of thier temples.  They boast 170 temples worldwide.  If we just consider the AoG alone. They know that 1 Corinthians 6:19  says "Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?"  That means there are potentially 65 million temples in the AoG church alone.

In the end, numbers mean little.  Growth means little.  Statistics mean nothing.  If I can but bring one man alone to Jesus Christ then in that there is much rejoicing in Heaven

1 Cor 9:22  To the weak I became weak in order to gain the weak. I have become all things to all people, so that by all means I may save some.

Luke 15:7  I tell you, in the same way there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous people who have no need to repent.

Declaration: I am not a member of the AOG church by definition of AoG policy, however as a fellow believer in the fact that I believe that Jesus is the Christ into who I am baptised, I am a member of the same body of Christ to which they, and plenty other churches belong.

Listen!

How true is this cartoon!  If you believe that you never hear Jesus talking to you then perhaps you are simply not listening.  That is usually my problem.  It wasn't until in a time of serious prayer that the Holy Spirit interrupted me by shouting, "Would you stop talking and listen! "  That changed my relationship with Him.

Now I try my best to listen more than talk.  It works!  Not only that but whenever I am giving a message anywhere, because I know the Master's voice, He can interrupt me at any time. Sometimes to point out a problem, or person, or even telling me to, "Stop!"

Unless you learn to listen to Him, you may never reach a point of knowing the Shepherd's voice.

Cartoon used with permission.  Check out Mike Waters' website.

Love your Enemies

What makes a true Christian different from everyone else?  You will tell me, it is one that follows the Lord Jesus Christ and his commandments that believe in the fact that Jesus died on the cross as full and final atonement for your sins.  That a true Christian loves the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength and that you also love your neighbour as yourself.  That is true, but we often forget, or find it hard to do this – to love your enemies.

I will give you an example that happened to me the other day.  I give you this example not to demonstrate how amazingly, “righteous,” I am so that you congratulate me.  Far from it, I am nowhere near as righteous as I (or perhaps God) would hope yet.  It all happened quite unexpectedly and was not planned.  So I hold little credit personally. Let us consider the example:

On Saturday afternoon I was in my house relaxing, having enjoyed one of those nice, calm, tropical, sunny days that occasionally hit Vanuatu, when a fair amount of busy behaviour began on the road at my gate.  There was a crowd of youth (or flock, gaggle, squadron, school, or whatever a gathering of youth is called) hanging out noisily.  At first I thought it was some local boys meeting the neighbours girls (again - as they do – “Go Krip!”). 

Some boys who knew me from the group came up and asked if I could help them.  It was not “Go Krip” but “Batri i flat!” (Flat battery).  I came up with a solution which was to take my battery from my pickup and jumper leads and take them to their truck.  (From we trak blong mi i brok! – because by pickup is [broken down])    

On arrival I saw that the truck belonged to the Mormon Church.  Two of their “Elders” were returning with a group of prospects from hiking in the bush. Someone must have left the lights on or something.

If you have read this blog enough you will see that I have very clear views about the Mormon Corporation.  However, you will notice that I also emphasise that it is not the Mormon who you hate but the church doctrines that go clearly against the Word of God. OH THE IRONY!  So I had a choice to make.

A.      I could tell them that their faith was false and that as a true believer I would not help them essentially aid their cause.  They make billions more Vatu than me every year out of tithes (estimated at 700 billion worldwide in fact) so they can pay for a repairman to come.

OR

B.      Help them out unconditionally as a person in need. 

A lot went through my mind at the time.  But eventually the voice I recognise as the Holy Spirit instructed me to help them.  So in obedience I chose Option B.

I managed to get in a few quick points to their prospects before an elder rushed over.  One being how ironic it was that a Christian would help out a Mormon, when the Mormon Corporation believes that we Christians are an abomination to God.  They teach to those in training that we Christians are enemies of their belief (no problems there – for many of their beliefs, we are!)  The problem is that many Christians they encounter in their 2 year mission leaves them with an impression that we Christians are raving fanatics that hate, hate, hate. 

ASIDE: The Mormon book, The Pearl of Great Price, claims that all other Christian groups are "corrupt" and are an "abomination" in God's sight (Joseph Smith, 2:19). The Doctrines and Covenants 1:30 states – “the only true  and living church upon the face of the whole earth.”  (To which the D&C includes a footnote on the word church that points you to 1 Cor 14:33 which speaks of “all the churches[plural] of the saints!”).  This doctrine has no scriptural basis whatsoever being not found anywhere in God's word.  [With that in mind, I will state that whether it is the Mormon corporation, other cults, or Christian churches, stating that they alone are the, ”only true church,” is a false assumption.  The Catholics claim that, some evangelical churches I have experienced claim that, the Mormons claim that, the SDA’s claim that.  The true church, that is described as the Body of Christ with Christ as it’s head KNOWS that. I will write more on this point in a later blog.

Anyway, back to the story:  Their battery was so flat and my jumper leads so useless that we could not crank the motor.  So I decided to loan them the battery and then took their battery back to my house for overnight charging.  They were very grateful for my generosity. 

But what was my motive?  It was simply that here was a group in need.  I knew that they represented an actual company that my battery was safe and that they would not run away with it.  Irrespective of the fact that their organisation speaks privately against us but publically declares that the Mormon Organisation like all churches are all Christians.

Herein lies the message.  Jesus commanded us to love our enemies.  The reason is that we are all members of the human race. 

Matt 5:44-45 But I say to you, love your enemy and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be like your Father in heaven, since he causes the sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.

Jesus implies that we are all born sinners, we all need basic necessities of life – food, shelter and warmth.  No matter what you believe, you have the same rights as me to love.  Likewise, a Mormon believer has the same rights to love as me. Jesus states that it is Godly to do so.  This is re-emphasised in Luke.  (Both scriptures come from the Sermon on the Mount)

The next day they returned as they promised with my battery and we swapped them over.  I joked to them how impractical white shirts were in Vanuatu, while they were replacing the battery!  Both missionaries were from NZ so we shared a few stories.

What does “love your enemies” mean?    

To answer that we must look at the focus of the love.  Love does not mean tolerance or acceptance.  We are told to love our enemies, but we are never told to love what they stand for.  I love Mormon missionaries if I focus on them as people like I am a person.  I also love Mormon believers.  I also love marijuana smokers, drunks, athiests (one of my good friends is one), homosexuals. I love them enough to want to share Eternity with them, worshipping God.   I love them all enough to desire that they are saved from the pit of Hell.  BUT I do not love their lifestyles or beliefs, because their beliefs are against God’s laws. I would love a drunk to join me in heaven, but not his drunkenness.  It has no place there.  What is the same with the Mormon, Drug Addict, Homosexual, Drunkard, Athiest, and the rest?  They are all lost souls.  They have not found Christ and come to know Him as their Lord and Saviour.

Have you seen the film “Saving Private Ryan?”  There is a part where one of the American soldiers (It think he was a Catholic) was confronted by a German.  He had a choice – to shoot him point blank, or let him go.  He chose the latter.  Later on in the movie, he was again confronted but this time the gun was in the other hand.  The German looked at him, and walked by.  This is a great example!  In World War II, the Americans and the Germans were arch-enemies.  They hated each other, but then here we see the power of “loving your enemy.”  The American did not see a German soldier, but a man like him, probably with family hoping for his return.  His focus was on the person not what he represented. The effect was profound on both.  Both survived (at least at that point).

I recall a true story as told by that man in person, who was operating overseas in a similar role.  Details of the actual event and persons are private.  He recalls finding an enemy freedom fighter and how when he pointed the gun at the man’s head, and asked to say his last statement, the man replied, ….

“Jesus loves you.”

The man survived.  Those words haunted that soldier and lead him to Christ.  Here was a man who stood for what he believed in (freedom) who with a gun pointed to his head, loved his enemy.  I personally believe that that man can expect a great reward.

Luke 6:35 But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to ungrateful and evil people

There is a massive gulf that separates being kind to Mormons by loaning a battery and saying “Jesus loves you” with a gun held at your head, but the principle is the same.

Let’s take the Freedom Fighter/Soldier example and change the titles to Christian/Mormon.  Let’s also assume that both are absolutely convinced that they are right so that the argument which follows is applicable no matter who “holds the gun.”

You as the Christian could berate them and even shout verbal abuse at them.  Maybe you would “bible bash” them.  (I know a man who is not a Christian, who would greet them at the door with a bucket of cold water.  That I find despicable behavior.) What would that achieve? That Mormon will be absolutely convinced that you are clearly not reflecting God (which I agree with) and will have his indoctrinated belief that Christians are an abomination to God (which I don’t believe).  He will be strengthened more towards his Corporation and therefore further away from God.  As a result, their eternity is damned.  If the Christian is holding the Gun, the Mormon has no hope and knows he will die.  If the Mormon holds the gun, then the Christian will be killed!  Who wins?  No body.  One is dead and the other murdered.  Let me say this loud and clear - YOU WILL NEVER WIN SOMEONE TO CHRIST BY HATING THEM.

Now if you the Christian loves and lends a hand, then that goes against what the Mormon has been lead to believe.  If you hold the gun, The Mormon understands that he will not die, but if the Mormon holds the gun, he will not shoot because he is grateful. You challenge his belief.  You have opened up a possible friendship.  Who wins?  Firstly, you do because you are reflecting and obeying God.  Your reward is great.  Secondly, he may come to a point where he is convicted enough to repent and turn the Christ.  That is a DOUBLE PORTION blessing!  Praise God!

Now the icing on the cake.

There was a young prospect in the group that day who later came to me privately and introduced himself.  For his safety I will not tell you what we talked about which might reveal identity.  That person wanted to know more about what I believe and why the Mormon Corporation is false. 

Remember way back at the start, I said the Holy Spirit was responsible for my actions that day.  Perhaps it was not so much to help the Mormon Elders as it was to help that young person.  After all, why did they push the vehicle about 500 metres down a dirt road, ending up near my gate, when they would have pushed past another expat engineers house near the start of their attempts to crash start? 

If I had refused to help the Mormon Corporation that day, then it is most likely that the person in question would have been drawn more towards Mormonism.  But now that person has a chance.