Weekend recap 08/05/06

On Saturday night, while returning from a field trip to Six Flags theme park, I was approached in the front parking lot of my apartment complex by a pair of gentleman from this group to talk about Jesus.

This isn't my first encounter with these guys, and it probably won't be my last meeting.



Even feeling sticky from a long day of fun in the sun, getting sick from roller coaster rides, and annoyed by a slight facial sunburn, I was in a mood for some antagonism, and, at the time, I wanted to jump into an encounter.

I hoped for an argument with these young men.

Well, why not face off, I thought. Little did I realize that I came into the discussion the wrong way, until we were near the end of our conversation.

Them: Hello Sir, we're from this [group], and we would you like to talk about Jesus.

Traveler: Certainly.

Traveler: (sternly) I don't believe in the book of mormon, and I don't believe that Jesus arrived at the Americas to preach to the people there. There is no credence in the Bible stating that He indeed traveled to the New World.

As we proceeded with the banter, they introduced Ezekiel 37 as the chapter in the bible that proved the validity of the book of mormon. In verses 15 through 19, they mentioned that mormons were part of the tribe of Ephraim.

One of the guys pulled a bible out from his bag and read the Scripture.

Traveler: What version?

He mentioned it was the King James version. Okay, they didn't use some heretic version.

From what I heard about the certain scriptures, it was talking about the story of two sticks united as one sole stick.

From the Scriptural reading, I gave him my take on it as the reunification of the nation of Israel. There was no subtext for anything to refer remotely to their explanations.

For several minutes, we were arguing and exchanging Scripture to see who knew more about the Word.

The enemy (not them) is quite tricky and sneaky. The guys were trying to attack at my "lack of faith".

My faith doesn't belong to a supplementary document.

Finally, the HS convicted me that I was approaching this topic in the wrong way.

So, I took a quick breath and humbly said, "I truly appreciate your passion to share the Word. You both have a missionary gift, but I do believe that you are being deceived by this false doctrine."

We ended the discussion by stating that we would pray about what God would show us about the book of mormon. I added that I'll pray about the openness to the truth, if they will pray openly about the book of mormon as a false book.

We shook hands and they gave me a card. Then, from the corner of my eye, I saw the night shift security guy approaching the two gentlemen. He will probably ask them to leave the complex, I thought.

That night, I was convicted to go on a 24 hour fast and pray for these two young guys for the next day or two.

The lesson learned that day --- Belligerence or wrath does not result in any understanding. The apostles did not minister that way to others.

Why should I?

On a related note, as I was searching for links to add within this posting, I found an interesting article about mormon gays in heterosexual marriages. It sounds like the couple mentioned in this article are trying their best to work at the marriage.

Today's Scripture: Revelation 22:18-19 (New King James Version)

¹⁸For I testify to everyone
who hears the words
of the prophecy of this book:
If anyone adds to these things,
God will add to him the plagues
that are written in this book;
¹⁹and if anyone takes away from the words
of the book of this prophecy,
God shall take away his part
from the Book of Life,
from the holy city,
and from the things
which are written in this book.