CARM Newsletter 07-21-08

Devotion

The Long Season of waiting		 "Indeed, while following the way of Your judgments, O Lord, We have waited for You eagerly; Your name, even Your memory, is the desire of our souls," (Isaiah 26:8).

Waiting can be difficult.  Waiting requires patience and in the case of looking to God, it also involves trust.  After praying, we are called to trust God and to seek His will.  Sometimes this involves long periods of time.  One of the reasons that God does not answer our prayers right away is so that we would yet again turn to Him in prayer.  Our repeated turning to Him in prayer is the practice of the presence of God.  It is good for our souls, our hearts, and our minds.  If God answered our prayers quickly we might not be as predisposed to depend on Him over long periods of time -- and we might not be as trusting when the seasons of difficulty overtake us.  Though God can answer quickly, He often withholds himself so that the circumstances that would bring about an answer might be arranged by His mighty and sovereign hand.  Therefore, we need to be patient as God prepares the answer.  Remember, it is through our repeated prayers that we avail much with God (James 5:16).  And it is through our prayers that we dwell in His presence and are changed in our hearts.

In the case of this verse, the Israelites were waiting for God's judgment upon the wicked.  They needed the Lord's deliverance and yet they were required to wait.  But, their waiting was not passive; it was eager.  That is, they had an active and trusting expectation.  The only way to eagerly wait is to believe that God answers prayer and to have confidence in His ability and His willingness to deliver you, to hear you, and to know that his concern for you is ever present.  And, you must accept that whatever He allows is best for His glory and for us.

Finally, notice that the Israelites desired God.  They desired to bring glory to Him, to think of Him, to remember Him deep in their souls.  In other words, they desired God passionately.

Are you passionate about your relationship with God?  Do you desire Him in your soul?  Are you desiring to wait eagerly before Him and do you desire His name and His memory?  What are your answers to these questions and how are you going to pray concerning them?
From
Ryan Turner

These past two weeks have been certainly eventful as Matt and I have had the privilege to go to Twin Falls, Idaho to attend the Mormon Temple open house.  During our first day there, we took a tour through the beautiful Mormon Temple.  The exquisite structure was certainly breathtaking with the numerous colorful hand painted rooms of nature scenes, the white painted baptismal pool on the backs of twelve oxen, and the dazzling stained glass which adorned the interior and exterior of the building.

While this temple was certainly stunning, it is truly amazing how deep these kind Mormons are in the trenches oftwin falls temple ryan error.  After taking the tour, I stood on the side of the street with a sign titled "BookofMormon.com."  One kind older lady asked me what I was doing.  I told her that I was sharing the truth about Jesus with Mormons.

This roughly 80-year old woman politely asked for some of the literature that I was passing out.  I then gave it to her.  I gently explained to she and her husband the problem with Mormon teaching regarding salvation since the Mormon Church teaches it is not by faith alone one is justified.  Her husband said that I was in error and did not know what I was talking about.  He said that Mormonism was true.  I gently asked him how he knew it was true.  He responded in typical Mormon fashion, "I just know it is true.”  He then drove off.  I do not know what will happen to this man and his wife, but I know they did hear the truth and they have something tangible in their hand that explains the gospel.  Unfortunately, I may have been the last person who will share the gospel with them before they die.

While spending three days out of the past two weeks at the temple, it is certainly eye opening how normal these Mormon people are.  They are just like you and me.  There are young and old.  Most of them are certainly kind people who make great neighbors and friends.  However, it deeply burdens me how steeped they are in error.

As I watched numerous cars drive away from the temple as I held my giant sign, I could not help but wonder how much time these people have before they face their Creator.  Some of the Mormon visitors were so old they were using walkers or canes.  Sometimes I wish there was more that I could do.  While oftentimes all I can do is just hold a sign, I can still at least pray for these people.  My hope and prayer is that God will open their hearts to the truth of the real Jesus who is eternally God and provides salvation to those who depend on Him alone for salvation.
Twin Falls Mormon Temple Opening Ryan and I have been going out to Twin Falls, Idaho to the latest Mormon Temple opening.  It takes about two hours to drive there and we go up and back twice a week.  Mainly, we stand around on the corners next to a boulevard and hold up signs.  We don't pass out literature very often because most people are not interested in it.  But, they do see the signs and we know that they are effective.  One sign says sacredorsecret.com.   Another is bookofmormon.com  and the one put out by CARM is ismormonismchristian.com.

And, for the most part, the Mormons are polite and even though they do not approve of what we do, they toleratetwin falls temple matt us.  Still, the police were called and we were instructed not to stand on the grass -- the grass that is between the sidewalk and the street.  The police informed us that it belonged to the Mormon Church and that they had requested that we stay off it.  All right, not a problem.  We just set up our chairs on the sidewalks, sit, stand, walk, and occasionally talk to people.  It's hot and we get dehydrated.  But, that's all part of the joy of serving God.

One of the things I was doing last week on Thursday was watching the tour groups being escorted to the temple.  I would then walk with my sign to a place on the sidewalk that was right in line with the direction that people would be walking towards the entrance to the Temple.  I would hold up the sign over the fence so that everyone was able to read that sign (ismormonismchristian.com) as they approached the temple.

Standing out there isn't dangerous.  No one throws anything at us.  No one threatens us.  But, I've been cussed at, flipped off, told to get a life, and to go home.  Oh well.  That will not make us stop.  We are doing this because we want to reach the Mormons for the true Christ and we want others to not join Mormonism and to also find the truth in Christ.

So, please pray for us as were out there standing, walking, etc.  Pray for our health, our safety, and most importantly pray that the Mormons would find the true and living God and come out of their false religious system.  We're not there to make them angry.  We are there because we care about them and want them to know the truth.
Debate Videos The DVD's for the Pensacola debate that I had with an atheist in April are here.  If you are interested in getting the video DVD's, then go to http://shop.carm.org/shop/?shop=1&cat=35&.  We will provide the MP3 (audio format) for download later.

Head in
the Sand		 prairie dogWhat the Heck?

This feature is not so we can make fun of anyone.  This is serious stuff.  It is to show what kind of thinking is out there.  We regularly get stuff like this.  Pray for this ministry.

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ANY 'christian' organization on TV or thy internet that asks for 'donations' is totally bogus, probably atheistic, and quite plausibly satanic. God WILL punish you! Go ahead and laugh! You wont escape...  I dont pass judgement on scum like you.    I just speak the truth with no apologies. With a name like 'Slick' you gotta be a lying ********! This is all a joke right? What the ****** are you smoking? DMT?? HUHHH??? YER JEWISH???? Oh, love your nails. You must be a Libra!!
CARM Needs Staff How would you like to work in the ministry where the rewards are small, the challenges are huge, you get ridiculed, there's spiritual attack, sometimes you don't know if you are going to make it financially, you have to support yourself, and you have to research and write about false systems and compare them with Scripture? 

If that sounds appealing, then maybe you might be interested in working with CARM.

You can be male or female.  You have to agree to the CARM statement of faith, and I prefer (though it is not necessary) people who are educated and/or experienced in their field of expertise.  But I must reiterate; this is not an easy ministry.  It is time-consuming, often unrewarding, frustrating, etc.  But, there are rewards.  You get to know that what you produce will affect thousands of people for years to come.  This ministry is a challenge and it is not for the fainthearted.   Interested?  If so, contact Matt at [email protected]

Love and Hate Mailgraphic

  • Hate Mail
    • I would like to comment on your articles on Wicca. Your "If Your Wiccan, Please Read this" article was very interesting. I think it might be effective if you Christian waste of human lives, would not insult us while trying to state how your not going to insult us. I will admit, you do state alot of Wiccan facts on your site, however, most comments are entirely false: "The further you get into Wicca, the further you will move into darkness. The further you move into darkness, the more hostile you may become to Christianity, the idea of the cross and it's sacrifice, etc." First of all, we do not slip into darkness, only those rebellious kids who THINK they have a bad life, do so. Second, some of us do become hostile towards the cross.......what did you expect after torturing and killing our ancestors? To hug and kiss it? I, personally, have problems with Christianity, because of how horrible it treats people in general, and because of the rude remarks made by Christians on other religions. To me, that's not a very peaceful religion if it can't manage to keep it's own mouth shut. not only do you express lack of intelegiance in Wicca, but in Christianity itself! You say: "It can be proven to be false if, for example, the body of Christ was discovered and it was conclusively demonstrated that it was his body. If such an event occurred, that it would mean that Christianity is false because Christianity is based on the physical resurrection of Christ." Is it not possible that Jesus grew old after that, and died of old age, like normal people do when they live life? Not all religions are wrong just because your Christian. My purpose here, is to speek freedom of hatred for all religions and not just my own. Might I refer you to a very good website, that might explain Wicca the way it's ment: *****. I hope you can learn to become more peaceful, as your religion seems to be in accordnance to you. BLessed Be! )O(   P.S. Leave the children alone. if teens wish to seek a new religion, they have that GODDESS given write to do so, and there is nothing any Christian can do about it.
    • You are right. We Muslims and you Catholics do worship different Gods.Your god is a FALSE PAGAN IDOL,and our God(ALLAH) is real!This is why your DEMONIC,POLYTHEISTIC RELIGION have always promoted WAR,SLAVERY and now CHILD-MOLESTATION!
  • Love Mail
    • I would just like to congratulate and thankyou for such a well constructed article in "Is Atheism Viable?". While I felt the final line about atheists was unnecessary (although I misinterpreted your meaning until it was explained in the first response to criticism on the article), I felt it was a well written and useful article. Thankyou
    • My name is Patricia and I just wanted to write and let you know that I love your website.  Is helping me study the word of God and helping me with people who are in other religions or cults.  I am able to answer many of their questions.   Thank you again and I will be praying for you and your ministry.
    • i would just like to say that your site is great.  i was in a very bleak mood when i found it and was cynically ready for more of the "fundaMENTALIST" nonsense that has flooded the internet, but after five minutes i suddenly has a feeling like a great weight had lifted and a bucket of cold water had been thrown over me (it hadn't, i'm speaking metaphorically, you see - its dangerous to throw water about near a computer - they can't swim!).  so, anyway, that in my mind shows that the very "refeshing water" of TRUE christianity flows through your site.   so, TA VERY MUCH, and keep up the good work!
    • My name is Sandy .... I'm in CA and have been ministering to members of the Worldwide Church of God cult (aka. Armstrongism) for the last 8 years.   My M.A. is in biblical studies and I have a Ph.D. in Education from Talbot School of Theology Biola University. Both schools are strongly Calvinist and I've taken a lot of abuse from church members who object to predestination.   Anyway, what I really wanted to say was thank you for such an intelligently written article on predestination. It is a great help to me in explaining this doctrine to my students. Keep writing, brother. Your work is greatly needed and appreciated.   With you in His service,

Matt Slick
CARM President

 

 

 

 
 
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