PO Box 1347 Issaquah WA 98027 - www.saintsalive.com

Ministry Newsletter - Web edition

February 2005

A Personal Note From Ed

Dear friends of the Ministry,

Greetings and welcome to a very busy new year. It seems that the schedule gets filled before we can even blink these days. I leave in a few days to attend the 2005 NRB Conference. The National Religious Broadcasters has been a friend to our ministry for over 25 years and while we do not have a booth this year, we will be visiting with many of the broadcasters who have carried our message to the world. I expect it to be a fruitful trip. Please pray with me that our labors this year produce lasting fruit, that many will be saved and set free from spiritual darkness.

Last winter, the Mormon Church invited a few evangelical Christian leaders to speak at something of an interfaith/Christian program it put on in conjunction with an ecumenical Christian group in Salt Lake City. While I have been praying for breakthrough in having the LDS church lay down their Jesus of Gethsemane and come to the Jesus of the Cross, I held my breath and prayed for breakthrough.  Even after it was over, I held back saying anything until all the dust settled.

While Ravi Zacharias stayed mostly on track, the The Salt Lake Tribune reported that Zacharias “acknowledged there are doctrinal differences—including some that are deep—between traditional Christianity and the LDS faith. His hour-long sermon emphasized aspects of Christian doctrine for which Mormons have a different understanding, such as sin, salvation through the Cross, and the Trinity. But his overarching message—that Jesus Christ is the answer to the longing in all human hearts—was one that resonated with both evangelical Christians and Mormons … .

But the real tone of the evening of “Friendship” was set by Richard J. Mouw, the President and a Professor at Fuller Theological Seminary when had this apology to offer:

“I am now convinced that we evangelicals have often seriously misrepresented the beliefs and practices of the Mormon community. Indeed, let me state it bluntly to the LDS folks here this evening: we have sinned against you. The God of the Scriptures makes it clear that it is a terrible thing to bear false witness against our neighbors, and we have been guilty of that sort of transgression in things we have said about you.... Indeed, we have even on occasion demonized you, weaving conspiracy theories about what the LDS community is "really" trying to accomplish in the world.”

In my review of the evening, aside from Mouw’s blatant offense to the Real Jesus of the Cross and His many defenders of the faith, the Jesus presented at the Tabernacle was one easily identified with by both Mormons and non-Mormons present. This representation has done grievous harm to the witness of the real Jesus Christ to the Mormon people and don’t think the PR folks at Salt Lake City missed the point.

In this Report, I have included a correct look at the Jesus of the Mormon Church, the one they talked about at the Tabernacle. Here you will also find the next chapter of my book, My Kingdom Come.

Your brother in Christ, Ed Decker

ANOTHER JESUS?

The Christ of Mormonism is not the same Christ of the Bible. 2 Cor.11:3-5 tells us that there will be those who would teach a different Christ.  Paul says of them, "For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, masquerading as apostles of Christ".  There is a Biblical warning about those who would bring the doctrine of another Jesus and a simple test.  Do the Mormons and their Jesus pass that test?  No.

The Mormons have a difficult time understanding what actually happened at Calvary.  In their pamphlet, WHAT THE MORMONS THINK OF CHRIST, we see the problem.  In the section, The Blood of Christ (page 22 in the 1976 edition), we read:

"Christians speak often of the blood of Christ and its cleansing power.  Much that is believed and taught on this subject, however, is such utter nonsense and so palpably false that to believe it is to lose one’s salvation.  For instance, many believe or pretend to believe that if we confess Christ with our lips and avow that we accept him as our personal savior, we are thereby saved.  They say that his blood, without any other act than mere belief, makes us clean.

"What is the true doctrine of the blood of Christ?  Salvation comes because of the atonement, and the atonement was wrought through the shedding of the blood of Christ.  In Gethsemane Christ sweat great drops of blood from every pore when he conditionally took upon himself the sins of the world, and then the shedding of his blood was completed upon the cross."

This is not the Biblical account of the Atonement!  Jesus went to Gethsemane to pray and prepare.  The Atonement was the Cross!  The garden was the sanctification of the sin offering (Leviticus 4:3-5) to be given ONCE - for all - at the cross.

The LDS Church teaches in its Articles of Faith, Article 3, "We believe that through the atonement of Christ, all mankind may be saved, by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the gospel (The MORMON gospel)”.  These Mormon laws and ordinances have been placed there, in the way of the Cross, blocking the LDS people from it and its cleansing power!

The Bible clearly teaches another Christ; and another gospel... In Col. 2:13-15 Paul writes: "And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses; Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross; And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it."

The Mormon Jesus has been stripped of his unique Deity and his sacrifice on the cross has been robbed of its power.  Theirs is a tragically bloodless Christ, whose death only brought us immortality, NOT eternal life.  Their Jesus forces us under laws, ordinances and an all-too-human priesthood.  This is not the "Good News" of the Bible:

How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?  And for this cause He is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance...Nor yet that he should offer himself often, as the high priest entereth into the holy place every year with blood of others.

For then must He often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath He appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself." (Hebrews 9:14-15, 25-26)

Hebrews 10:28 states: "He that despised Moses’ law died without mercy under two or three witnesses: Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith He was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace?"

In the early LDS church, there was a more orthodox Christ preached.  But, when Joseph began to teach the strange doctrines of this different Christ, one without the redemptive powers, the church could no longer deal with the reality of the blood of Calvary and its full redemptive work.  That was when the church removed the red wine from the communion table and went to water. This act literally washed away the reality of the blood from its basically Christian converts.  The same holds true today.  The cross and the blood have become strangers to the saints.

(c) copyright 2005, Ed Decker, all rights reserved

MY KINGDOM COME

THE MORMON QUEST FOR GODHOOD

by Ed Decker

ed@saintsalive.com or www.saintsalive.com

I am sending out a chapter of this book with each Newsletter. Last month, I sent the Introduction. This month, I am including Chapter One.

Parts of this book were originally published under the title,
The God Makers II.

Since the original book went out of print a number of years ago, I have taken the time to update it with a number of things that have surfaced since its publication years ago.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction - A Truly Modern Religion

Chapter One - Mass Marketing Mormonism

Chapter Two - The Other Side of Family Home Evening 

Chapter Three - The Changing Face of Mormonism

Chapter Four - Reach Out and Touch Someone

Chapter  Five - Astonishing Changes in the Unchangeable Temple

Chapter Six - Purging The Radicals

Chapter Seven - The Birth Of Heresy

Chapter Eight - The False Prophecies of Joseph Smith

Chapter Nine - A Tangled Tale of Scripture

Chapter Ten - Present Day Polygamy and Blood Atonement

Chapter Eleven - The Satanic Connection

Chapter Twelve - Secrets of a Wealthy Kingdom

Chapter Thirteen - Back to Basics

Chapter Fourteen - Testing The Book of Mormon

Chapter One

Mass Marketing Mormonism

Contrary to the image it presents today, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which was founded in 1830, spent its first 100 years or so shaking its corporate fist at the Christian world and condemning it in strong rhetoric. The LDS prophets, temple rituals, and scriptures denigrated orthodox Christianity.  The true believer was required to separate himself from corrupted Christianity and step under the mantle of the only true prophet, Joseph Smith and the only true authority of his restored church.  According to The Book of Mormon:

There are save two churches only; the one is the church of the Lamb of God, and the other is the church of the devil; wherefore, whoso belongeth not to the church of the Lamb of God belongeth to that great church, which is the mother of abominations; and she is the whore of all the earth. [1]

One of the bedrock doctrines of Mormonism is that there is no salvation outside the Mormon Church.  In his definitive encyclopedic work on LDS doctrine, the late Mormon Apostle, Bruce R. McConkie, declared, "If it had not been for Joseph Smith and the restoration, there would be no salvation.  There is no salvation outside The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints." [2]

It is not an oversimplification to say that this position has created a double frustration in the minds and actions of the Mormon leaders.  On the one hand, they must zealously seek converts out of that "whore of all the earth", apostate Christendom.  On the other hand, they must be able to survive and flourish in a world very different from the one in which Joseph Smith first lured his converts.  Today's Mormon Church must quietly melt into what they have long considered to be that same church of the devil.

Concerning this difficult metamorphosis, an article in U. S. News and World Report noted:

Until a few decades ago, it [Mormonism] was a small and obscure sect, a religious oddity ensconced in the inter mountain West and isolated from the rest of Christendom by its heterodox beliefs and a history tinged by violence, persecution and polygamy. Today, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, better known as the Mormon Church, is one of the world's richest and fastest growing religious movements. Since World War II, its ranks have quadrupled to more than 8.3 million members worldwide. With 4.5 million U. S. members, Mormons already outnumber Presbyterians and Episcopalians combined. If current trends hold, by some estimates they will number 250 million worldwide by 2080 and surpass all but the Roman Catholic Church among Christian bodies. [3]

According to Rodney Stark, professor of sociology and religion at the University of Washington, as a result of such continued growth:

Mormonism stands on the threshold of becoming the first major faith to appear on earth since the prophet Mohammed rode out of the desert.... Yet along with its growth from a regional sect to a worldwide church come both political and doctrinal conflicts. [4]

There's an old saying, "You can take the boy out of the country, but you can't take the country out of the boy."  That's the position the Mormon Church finds itself in today.  The Church's internal mindset is cemented to its original doctrines, which clearly and completely separate it from orthodox Christianity.

Latter-day Saints can't let go of their esoteric doctrines without forfeiting their unique identity. Yet Mormonism can't take its place within the standard bounds of orthodoxy without dropping those same doctrines.  The result is a hodgepodge of affirmations and denials, and a corporate decision to hide the complete theology and agenda of Mormonism from the public.

 The purpose of this book is to expose this great paradox of Mormonism.  We are going to look under the polished surface of their public image and bring to light the many things Church leaders wish to hide from the public.

The Saints Want You

No organization can successfully and continually swell its ranks without a highly effective recruitment program in operation.  The LDS Church has become the acknowledged master of the proselytizing game, bringing it almost to an art form.  From the outside looking in, recruitment clearly seems to be the highest priority item in the corporate budget.

The Church spends enormous amounts of money pursuing its converts with both overt and subtle recruiting tactics.  By the beginning of the 1990s, its missionary program alone cost an estimated $550 Million Dollars a year. [5]  In addition to its successful paid media campaigns, the Church has been quietly but actively planning and pursuing numerous image-enhancing programs.  These range from Church operated Cultural Centers to the highly visible Tabernacle Choir tours.  While their corporate focus is generally on promoting the missionary programs, these newer strategies have steadily changed the world's perception of the LDS church.

In order to further the pristine image it has so carefully cultivated, the Church maintains its own very active Public Communications Department headquartered in Salt Lake City.  Its full-time staff is dedicated to telling the world about the joys of Mormonism on one hand and minimizing bad press on the other.  To ensure proper dissemination of what Mormons believe is the correct perception of the gospel, the Church has called together a virtual army of workers in the field.  As one Mormon source, the LDS-oriented This People magazine noted, a corps of 1400 men and women throughout the world have accepted calls to be Public Communication Directors.  These people are assigned to work at every level with the local LDS church system.  These functions are spiritual callings in the church, requiring a formal laying on of hands and a setting apart.

To further support the local effort, the Church supplies nearly 250 stations with a 15 minute weekly news service, guests and topics for radio talk shows, and a program called Times and Seasons, an award winning thirteen-part series of public affairs programs on topics ranging from pornography to fasting. [6]

Most of the spot announcements that television and radio audiences immediately recognize as Mormon are part of the LDS Church's Home Front Public Service Announcement (PSA) campaign.   The Home Front PSAs, which depict ways families can work and grow together, are among the most successful in the history of religious media campaigning.  At this People magazine reported:

Perhaps the Church's most effective media programs over the years have been the Home Front campaigns.  These are highly produced radio and television spots celebrating  family in the most vibrant and lovable images....These public service spots, which are run at the pleasure of the radio and television stations that use them, have walked off with every major advertising and film award available to them in the past few years.  According to several surveys, their soft, sometimes humorous approach has firmly identified the Church with the family in the minds of the public. [7]

In virtually every bit of LDS advertising and programming, the viewer, listener, or reader can call an 800 number to request a free book, audiotape, or videotape relating to the piece.  Unless the caller is adamant about being left alone, his name will soon appear on a computer list sent to the LDS Missions office nearest the caller's home.

By using Public Service Announcements, the Church saves literally tens of millions of advertising dollars.  John Heinerman, an active Mormon and the author of The Mormon Corporate Empire, says:

When the Church wants to get airtime in Brazil, or somewhere else...all they need to do is to go and ask the government people, "We would like to present a half-hour program on the family, and on increasing patriotism," and right away they'll get airtime.  Two years ago, Hungarian television came over and did a nice story on the Mormons, and over 400 million people learned about the Mormons.  The Church didn't have to pay for it, and the ironic thing is that these big television evangelistic ministries have to pay out millions of dollars.  The Mormon Church has it down to a science, and they are probably the best PR people of any religion that I know. [8]

In the News

Another facet in the marketing of Mormonism is the written word.  Few regional newspapers have been spared the opportunity to publish an extensive four-color insert on the many benefits of Mormonism.  These are always sent out with the weekend or Sunday deliveries to assure maximum home distribution.  In addition, paid Mormon advertising saturates the pages of many best-selling publications including TV Guide and Readers' Digest.  While the word, saturate may seem a bit provocative, in media terms, it describes the intense penetration being achieved by these LDS campaigns.

In response to this media blitz, hundreds of thousands of free Mormon videos and their holy scripture, The Book of Mormon, are requested annually.  In 1989 alone, for example, the number of Books of Mormon requested totaled 259, 943.  In addition, 86,000 of those people requesting the book asked for follow-up by Mormon missionaries. [9]

Along with their regular promotions, Church public relations people have tied major advertising in TV Guide to the showing of the television movie, "Going Toward the Light" which depicted an LDS family with a child who died of AIDS.  As with the Billy Graham special, the timing was meticulous.

All of the expensive and strategically placed advertising is professionally designed with deliberate intent on reaching certain viewer segments.  It has successfully marketed Mormonism as a bastion of domestic strength and middle-class respectability.  The sought-after image Mormons want to be associated with is the epitome of all that is family centered, wholesome, and Christian.

The idea of Mormonism being portrayed as the perfect answer to happy family unity is the obvious goal of Mormon media penetration.   However, a six-year study out of BYU's Family and Demographic Research Institute, "one of the most extensive efforts ever to collect international information about LDS membership" showed that only about 20 percent of all Mormons fit the ideal picture of the family with a husband and wife married in the LDS temple and children at home. [10]

Brigham Young University (BYU) sociologist Tim B. Heaton noted with reference to the findings of the study: "Some [couples] have no children; some are married outside the temple, about a fifth are married to non-members.  And, of course, there are many single-adult households, some with children," Mr. Heaton also said that "Mormons are not immune from divorce," and estimated that over one-third of U.S. Mormons will be divorced before 60.  He added that divorce is currently less common among U.S. Mormons while just the opposite is true in other countries.[11]

Genealogical Research

The Mormon Church isn't leaving it to just the PR people to get their message out.  The Church's famous genealogical library in Salt Lake City is the world's largest repository of genealogical information.  It houses hundreds of millions of microfilmed records that help church members to identify their non-Mormon ancestors in a bizarre Mormon belief that they must posthumously baptize their dead into Mormonism.  It is for this reason that Mormons so energetically trace their ancestral lineage as far back as possible. [12]

Mormons believe that spirits of dead people should have the opportunity to accept Mormonism in the after life and therefore Mormons practice LDS temple rituals, such as proxy baptism, for their dead.   Members are encouraged to have the faith's ordinances performed for all their ancestors in the hope that they will embrace the faith. [13]

For nearly 100 years, the international Mormon Church has been compiling a vast library of personal-status records from more than 200 countries: birth records, death records, marriage licenses, immigration and emigration rolls, church membership, government censuses, Social Security cards.  The Salt Lake City Mormon library has some record of more than 2 billion individuals, held in millions of microfilm reels and more than 5 million books.  Two years ago the Vatican gave the Mormons permission to put all Catholic Church membership records on microfilm. [14]

But the genealogical library serves another purpose.  It also lures other genealogists to Mormonism who, while searching for their family roots, are proselytized right there in the Mormon archives.

Some non-Mormon users (out of the of the 3,000 people who use the library each day, about 40% are non-Mormons) complained that after visiting the center, they were put on the church's mailing list and received a small flood of Mormon literature. [15]

In another bit of free advertising, in early 1989, the United States Post Office published a Family Tree Chart as part of one of their Postal Service Campaigns, on which they listed the Mormon Church was "a source for genealogical information” and referred Post Office patrons to the Mormon Family History Library in Salt Lake for further information.

At regional and local levels, Mormons regularly sponsor genealogy classes and workshops through the local libraries and city recreational departments, often using Mormon Church computers, libraries, and genealogy worksheets to assist the non-Mormons.

Class Acts: Mormon Cultural and Visitors' Centers

Tourists are a recruiting gold mine for Mormonism, and the art of enlisting them has been mastered at major Mormon tourist attractions and cultural event where visitors receive a slick barrage of Mormon information, films, tours, literature, and a follow-up call from Mormon missionaries when they return home.

The Polynesian Cultural Center, Hawaii's top paid-admission attraction, hosts more than 1 million people each year.  Since the Cultural Center opened in October of 1963, about 18 million people "have experienced its living museum format of meeting Pacific islanders in recreated South Pacific villages and enjoying authentic pan-Polynesian performances." [16]

Many of the actual Polynesian performers working at the center, as well most of the service personnel, are LDS students who have been recruited from the nearby campus of BYU, Hawaii.

The Polynesian Cultural Center is located at the LDS Hawaiian Temple site, and an easily accessible shuttle tram is available for the visitors to take a short ride to visit the Temple visitor center.  While there, the pleasant hosts and hostesses make it convenient for guests to sign the visitors' book and leave some comment or thought behind.  Those people who do sign their names in the book can reasonably expect Mormon missionaries at their doors not long after they return home, asking them how they enjoyed the Polynesian Center and temple tour.

The LDS Temple sits on a hill in Los Angeles east of the San Diego Freeway and just north of the Santa Monica Freeway.  It is one of the most effective missionary tools in southern California, especially at Christmas time when its 40,000 lights twinkle on the trees and shrubs while carolers perform on the grounds.   Sixty thousand people pass by the temple every day, making it a showplace for the Church.  It is a city landmark and appears on air and sea navigational charts.  Nearly 9,000 people tour the center each month, learning that Latter-day Saints are Christians.  It is probable that about a tenth of those leave their names and are followed up as missionary referrals.

These are but two examples of the drawing power of Mormon tourist attractions.  Without a doubt, the crowning jewel of Mormonism is Temple Square in Salt Lake City, Utah. Visitors can't help but be impressed by the two visitor centers, flower-filled walkways and gardens, the Tabernacle, the Assembly Hall, and the actual Salt Lake Temple itself.

More than 1.8 million visitors each year are caught up in a whirl of programmed "goodness" and an image of purity of heart and soul that flows from the smiles and comments of the ever present tour guides.  Guides fluent in the native languages of a major portion of the world's people groups are available.  Again, guest books are prominently displayed and the tourists are encouraged to sign in and leave a comment about their visit.

The Case of the Missing Statue

Not all comments are appreciated, however; especially when they are vocalized rather than written quietly in a guest book.  A short time after we had released the film, The Temple Of The God Makers, Ed was in Utah filming material for the follow-up film, The Mormon Dilemma, when a telling incident occurred.

For The Temple of The God Makers the film crew had shot a scene in the Visitor Center that featured a statue of Adam and Eve kneeling at an altar.  On the altar was an offering of fruits and vegetables, and a little lamb sat happily untethered at its base.  In the film, we pointed out that offering of the fruits and vegetables displayed there was an integral part of the actual LDS temple ceremony, itself.  We explained that the God of the Bible rejected these offerings of Cain as unworthy and unacceptable sacrifices (see Genesis 4) because they were the handiwork of man.  It was a shock to the system for many Mormons viewing the film to see this major theological flaw in their temple ritual.

When Ed walked by the statue in the visitor center, he stepped into a group of tourists there.  A tour hostess stood in front of the statue, describing the way in which Adam and Eve had come to be at that altar and how important the offerings were to the Lord.  About two seconds after she had finished her memorized speech, and as she waited in silence for the group to be duly impressed, Ed gasped loudly and began pointing at the statue, crying, "Look! Look!”  Sheer terror sprang into the eyes of the guide, and every eye became riveted to the statue.  "Look! Fruits and vegetables! The offering of Cain!”  The place turned to bedlam.

A few weeks later, Ed and a few others had the opportunity to revisit the statue and stood amazed.  All that remained was a dent in the plush carpet, outlining where Adam and Eve once knelt.  They asked the man greeting visitors at the entry what had happened to that statue.  His response was that there had never been a statue there!  By the following summer a new and more Biblically correct first couple were back on the site, without their altar and offering.

Home Improvements

On Sunday morning, July 29th, the final morning of Capstone Conference (the annual Saints Alive conference for ministries to the Mormons), several of us walked through Temple Square during a break in the nearby meetings.  As we walked through the North Visitor Center, we were amazed.  That building once housed the many displays dealing with the restoration of the LDS gospel.  Mormons believe that there was an apostasy or a falling away at the time the last apostles died.  The legal authority of the church was lost, and God had to restore it.  So the true gospel of Jesus Christ was lost until God restored through Joseph Smith.  Although the restoration is the foundation of the Mormon faith, every single thing that dealt with Joseph Smith and the restoration had been removed from public view.

Now the Main floor displays centered on the prophets of the Old Testament.  The second floor, with its gigantic statue of Christ, focused on Jesus and the lower floor was converted to theaters showing films about Christ, families and our relationship with God.  One must suppose that there must be some restoration material stored in plain wrappers somewhere under a counter that  could be had if you flashed a temple recommend (a document that certifies that a Mormon has been found ‘worthy’ to participate in Temple rituals), but who knows?

The South Visitor Center displayed some historical information on the construction of the LDS Temple and Solomon's Temple and downstairs you could hear about The Book of Mormon, but we found only one mention of Joseph Smith on the main floor.  Under a picture of Jesus, was a written statement from LDS scripture, with a heading that said something to the effect of "Jesus Testifies of Joseph Smith."

Conrad Sundholm, from Truth In Love Ministries in Oregon, asked an older man who looked like a supervisor what had happened to all the original displays.  The man, perhaps thinking that he was talking to an upset church member, confided that when they had all the restoration of the gospel displays, they averaged about 5,000 missionary referrals each year and now with this “Jesus Only” approach, they had surpassed that number each month!

One other thing shocked us.  Very pretty young women who were not dressed according to code had replaced almost all the usual older men and women guides.

The Mormon Tabernacle Choir

Perhaps the best-known ambassador of goodwill for the Mormon Church is the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.  Listening to the choir is an overwhelming sight and sound experience, with over 300 voices selected from the very best talent within the church.  The choir's weekly broadcasts from Temple Square, "Music and the Spoken Word," backed by the mighty Tabernacle organ, have been a familiar sound and sight to several generations of Americans.

The choir has toured in many foreign countries, sung at numerous worldwide broadcast and special events, and performs regularly at the inauguration of U.S. presidents.  During a celebration of the choir's 60 years of continuous broadcasting, President George Bush called the choir "one of America's greatest treasures." [17]

It would be impossible to calculate the positive public relations impact the choir has had on the recruitment efforts of the church.  Just their name alone brings immediate positive recognition when mentioned in a proselytizing encounter.

The choir produces many of the albums of the great hymns of the Christian church.  These albums are scattered out throughout the Christian world.  Notably absent in these recordings for the general public are hymns that are pointedly LDS in nature, such as "We Thank Thee, O God, For A Prophet."

When Ed walked into a church one Sunday some years ago to do a three-day seminar on the cults, the prelude music being piped through the church's sound system was classic Mormon Tabernacle choir, an outreach of the very cult the people had come to study!

Everyone Loves a Parade

From the holiday pageantry at the Mesa Temple in Arizona to the annual Hill Cumorah Pageant in Palmyra, New York, tens of thousands of visitors gather in streets across the nation to see outdoor dramas and famous Mormon pageants play out broad themes relating to Mormon history.  These visitors are exposed to Mormonism in a light and festive atmosphere.

In Utah, the Pioneer Day Parade has for all intent and purposes, taken over the usual Fourth of July pageantry.  Every July 24, the anniversary of the Mormons' arrival in the Salt Lake Valley, the streets of downtown Salt Lake are lined with the faithful.  Many of them have camped out since the afternoon before, holding down a favorite family curbside viewing spot.  There is a tremendous Mardi-Gras spirit as the city prepares for the parade, a spectacular procession of floats extolling the pioneer birthright of Utah.  Most floats have an obvious LDS theme and the Prophet/President of the Church is driven down the parade route as one of the featured celebrities.

Although these pageants draw many unsuspecting visitors, ministries to the Mormons have learned to use the parade and the gathering masses as a time and place to move along the streets and witness to the crowds. It has been a fruitful ministry.  One year, a Saints Alive (Ed Decker’s ministry to Mormons) team projected the movie, The Temple of The God Makers onto the upper portion of a two-story building they were renting on South Main, just two blocks from the Temple.  The people who were anchored to the spots they were saving became a captive audience and the film drew people from up and down the parade route.  After a few too many showings, the Salt Lake Police politely asked them to turn off the projector or they would do it for them.

The New Gideons

The Church's missionary zeal led members to place The Book of Mormon, (subtitled Another Testament of Jesus Christ) in more than 10 percent of the homes of the Washington DC South Mission area.  The effort was so successful that seven church stakes (regional divisions) have each committed to donating 10,000 more copies each year to expand the effect of the project. [18]

Scouting Young Recruits

Some of the most profitable local missionary outreaches are through the LDS troops in the Boy Scouts of America.  The Boy Scout program of the Mormon Church is an integral part of their young men's program.  Every LDS boy is automatically involved.  A young man's first Aaronic priesthood duties are often tied to his work in the scouting program.  (Each young LDS boy steps into the Aaronic or lower priesthood at age 11).  Many non-LDS school and neighborhood friends come in to the scout troops where their parents become naturally involved LDS parents and the influence of the LDS Church.

The LDS Church is very open about its control of a major segment of the Boy Scouts of America.

The LDS   presidency, speaking with the Church News in connection with the 78th anniversary of the partnership between the Church and Boy Scouts of America emphasized that scouting continues to play a strong role in fulfilling Aaronic Priesthood objectives of preparing young men for full time missions, temple blessings and righteous manhood.....All members of the Young Men general presidency, along with President Monson of the First Presidency and other Church leaders on the general and local levels, serve on national BSA committees.  The Church does have a voice in decisions made by Boy Scouts of America...It's not running us: we're working together as a companionship. [19]

Olympic Helpful

Athletic programs and sponsorship of athletes are other avenues through which the Mormon outreach thrives.  In one unique, regional approach in 1988, 500 members of the LDS Church in Alberta, Canada, volunteered to help behind the scenes at the Winter Olympics with "transportation, helping with security, hosting athletic delegations, working in food services and other areas, and singing and dancing in the opening and closing ceremonies."  President Rosenvall said the city's 12,000 Church members constantly are looking for ways to participate in community projects." [20]

Both the Olympic people and the Mormons considered the program a great success.  The LDS Church News now regularly runs articles about other high-profile LDS goodwill programs, that include soup kitchens, aid to the homeless, flood victims, earthquake survivors and hurricane disasters. [21]  We know that any kind of help is vital to those who need it, but we feel that the LDS church orchestrates much of this highly publicized action in order to achieve public approval as never before.

The Mormon Olympics

Following through with their Olympic success story in Canada, the LDS Church was glowing with paternal joy when their City and state were chosen for the Winter Olympics in 2000.  They immediately began a PR Campaign equal to nothing they tried before.  This time it was their opportunity to reach the whole world with their story; so much so, that the games were often called The Mormon Olympics in the ‘outside’ press (outside of Utah).

One reporter, Susan Greene, a National Writer for the Denver Post picked up on the heavy LDS influence immediately: "Games being used as Mormon pulpit?" By Susan Greene Denver Post National Writer:

Sunday, July 01, 2001 - SALT LAKE CITY - The glint of gold won’t be the only image beamed worldwide from medals ceremonies at the Winter Olympics here next February.

Visitors to the Roof Restaurant in downtown Salt Lake City have a stunning view of the Mormon Temple. Images of the temple are expected to be prominent and persistent during February broadcasts of the 2002 Winter Olympics.

The gilded copper angel atop the Mormon Temple is expected to be in full view of TV cameras as champions receive their medals, place their hands on their hearts and tear up at the sound of their national anthems.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is lending the Salt Lake Organizing Committee prime downtown real estate and paying millions of dollars to convert it into Medals Plaza, the nightly centerpiece of the 2002 Winter Games. Those are some of the many ways the church stands to bask in the international spotlight.

Some critics fear church elders will exploit the Games as a global missionary effort. They worry the temple - where only the most devout church members are allowed - will become the sole icon of the Olympics, which journalists worldwide already have dubbed “the Mormon Games.”

“Let’s face it, the Olympics are going to be a living, breathing billboard for the LDS Church,” said Steven Rosenberg, a local food merchant and community activist.

“They’re using the Olympics as a pulpit,” added Steve Pace, a Salt Lake City business consultant and longtime critic of the church’s influence on this community. “They see it as a way to strut their stuff, to serve up some serious Mormon mojo.”

Church officials describe their offerings as acts of goodwill intended to welcome an estimated 2,300 athletes, 9,000 journalists, 2 million spectators and 3 billion TV viewers to the city that’s headquarters of their 11 million-member flock. [22]

As the many reporters came to check out the Olympic venues before the start of the games, the city, along with the LDS church hosted many tours and luncheons.  Many of the sports reporters felt manipulated and wrote about their feelings of being controlled by the LDS influence during their stay.  This created a general backlash of such significance that the Church pulled back its massive missionary plans for the games and limited their proselytizing to the inside boundaries of Temple Square in downtown Salt Lake City.

Meanwhile, Saints Alive and other Christian groups came to town and moved about freely.  Saints Alive joined with inthebible.com to host nightly Christian band concerts in Park City and Downtown Salt Lake (the concerts would actually fill an entire city intersection with people just two blocks south of the Temple and the Medal Presentation Plaza).  Ed and his son, Jason Decker wanted their work to bring  a positive message to the games and worked with inthebible.com and other groups like Youth With A Mission to hand out many thousands of CD copies of the Bible and training material in over 40 languages and led many to the Lord.  The usual spiritual heaviness felt so often in Utah was gone during the games, while people who really wanted to know about Mormonism could go to Temple Square and visit on their terms, not the Mormons leadership’s terms.

"Hello, We're from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints"

No foray into the recruiting tactics of the Mormon Church would be complete without taking a look at those front line soldiers of the faith, the Mormon missionaries.  You would have to be living on another planet not to have experienced meeting a pair or two of these missionaries.  They always travel in twos, the clean-cut young men dressed in dress slacks or suits, white shirts, and conservative ties, standing out like beacons of light.  Some of the missionaries are paying their dues to God and family, knowing that failure to put in their time serving on a mission would bring  the tinge of spiritual deficiency and disgrace into their parents' home.  For the greatest part, however, these young men (and some women) serve their missions with vigor and honor and minimal public complaint.

In the decade of the 90s, the LDS missionary force numbered over 40,000 active participants at any given time.  Most of them are between 18 and 22 years of age and have delayed college and career plans to go wherever they are sent and spend two grueling years spreading the Mormon gospel.  As U.S. News and World Report states:

No group works harder at proselytizing than the Mormons, last year some 33,000 young men and 8,000 young women served as volunteer missionaries in the US and 94 other countries and 26 territories.  Each spent from three to eight weeks at church's Missionary Training Center in Provo, or at one of 14 satellite centers in other countries.  Last year Mormon missionaries won nearly 315,000 new converts. [23]

Today, in 2003, the numbers are even higher.  It is estimated that over 60,000 LDS missionaries are in the field at any given time.  Once in the field, missionaries live rigidly controlled lives.   A recent article in a California newspaper shared the story of several Mormon missionaries in the Los Angeles area.  It talked about the deep commitment required to submit to the 12-hour days, six-day weeks, and the missionaries' struggle to avoid the distractions of normal life. [24]

The article noted that Church rules of conduct for missionaries forbid watching TV, calling home (it isn't all bad news: they can call home twice a year--on Christmas and Mother's Day), reading newspapers or listening to music (other than church approved tapes).  Dating or even standing within arm's length of the opposite sex is banned.  Moderate exercise and some sports are permitted on a very small scale, but things like full-court basketball are unacceptable.  Usually, missionaries are assigned to new partners and cities every several months but are immediately transferred if any sign of a problem arises.

According to the article, virtually every moment of missionary life is carefully plotted by church officials, the article states: Rising at 6:30 a.m. and going to bed by 10:30 p.m., the missionaries follow an intense program of praying, studying, teaching, and door knocking.   They are supposed to meet weekly quotas for Books of Mormon distributed and potential converts or inactive church members counseled. [25]

I Remember...

In an incident that occurred some years ago, Ed was on a ministry trip in the South Pacific island nation of Tonga.  His companion on the trip was Tom Bauer, head of  the Youth With A Mission (YWAM) base in Maui, Hawaii at the time.  He recalls that:

On this particular day, we were off in a very remote area of Tonga.  I am sure that only our guide knew for sure where we were and maybe, Tom had some suspicion.  I didn't have a clue!  I recall that we were at a spot that overlooked a little bay where boats came in and out, some connecting with an island that was just a tiny speck on the horizon--some unnamed place where a few hundred Tongans lived without electricity or anything else remotely related to what an American would consider the comforts of life.

A few hundred yards out from shore was a tiny native boat with an ancient put-put gas outboard motor slowly pushing through the swells in the direction of the remote island.  They were in for a long day, I thought.  It held three passengers.  The Tongan at the helm, one Mormon missionary who was seated in the center, holding onto the sides of the boat, looking back toward shore, and another Mormon missionary standing in the bow, eyes riveted ahead to the work that lay before them.  In spite of my adversarial position with the LDS Church, I was deeply touched.  I wished I had a camera at that moment and the addresses of the families of those two young American Mormons.

Tom and Ed watched as they grew smaller and smaller in the distance.  Tom was close to tears when he finally spoke.   "Ed, if only we could see Christians going forward like that, with a zeal for the real gospel as earnest as the zeal of those two."

While the cults grow in size and power, the Christian church is afraid of offending people by talking about the Jesus of the Bible!

These Mormon missionaries were the classic example of misplaced zealousness for the doctrines of man.  The apostle Paul cried out:

Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they might be saved.  For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge.  For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God." (Romans 10:1-3)

Missionary Burnout...The Pit

We were interested to see that the missionaries were open with the reporter, Roy Rivenburg, in the Contra Costa Times article, about an area of their lives they almost never mention to an outsider, a period of depression known as “The Pit”:

That [the Pit] is shorthand for the depression and burnout that can strike from encountering repeated hostility and rejection.  The latter doesn't just come from non-believers. Dear John letters are a major bane of missionary life. Brigham Young University's mission center [He is speaking of the MTC, located adjacent to BYU] devotes an entire wall to I've-met-someone-else missives from home.  To escape “The Pit”, most missionaries redouble their efforts. [26]

In our own experience and by gleaning from statements made by Mormon leaders, we estimate that 25 percent of the missionaries called each year leave the mission field before their scheduled time.  This is not good news at home, where the family has already had the parental joy and spiritual blessing in hearing their son or daughter speak at Church during a sacrament meeting, saying good-bye to the local congregation before leaving home to do the Lord's work.  Nor will the folks at home have the usual homecoming party to match the joyous missionary farewell that everyone in the Ward (the local church assembly) attended.  To put this dropout rate in 2003 perspective, from every pool of 60,000 missionaries, the LDS missionary program ejects approximately 15,000 of them and that's a lot of saying you're sorry.

Further, Church leaders have said that 50 percent of those who fill a full time mission for the church are still active (pay their tithes, attend meetings, hold church office) two years after returning home.  That may sound good on the positive side, but it also means that of those 45,000 missionaries who come home from a successful mission, 22,500 fall by the wayside into inactivity soon after they return home.  If one were to carry out those figures over a decade, it would represent a tremendous number of failures sitting at the edge of Mormonism, and how many families in disarray?

Why would the church let such a festering hole eat away at its underbelly?  It is simply a matter of numbers.  Each successful full-time missionary replaces himself several times over each year.  The generally accepted average convert rate is seven converts per missionary year.  Even in the worst scenario, the church is seeing a net gain of over 300,000 persons per year.  Tough on the few, but for the corporate body, the missionary program is a great success.

From the Biblical, Christian perspective, however, it is all wrong.  Remember what Jesus had to say in this matter.

"And he spake this parable unto them, saying,  What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it?  And when he hath found it, he layeth it on his shoulders, rejoicing.  And when he cometh home, he calleth together his friends and neighbours, saying unto them, Rejoice with me; for I have found my sheep which was lost.  I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance." (Luke 15:3 -7)

Special-Interest Groups

Proselytizing minority ethnic groups seems to be a growing trend in the Mormon missionary program. American Indians, because they are said to be descendants of The Book of Mormon civilizations, have always been a prime target, but increased conversion with other minority groups attest to Mormon success elsewhere.  For example, Latinos are a targeted group in the Los Angeles, California area.  In 1991, 1,337 Latinos were converted, bringing the total in the Los Angeles area to 24,000.  Los Angeles has a total of 350,000 Mormons compared with 650,000 in Salt Lake City.  Today, because of the major missionary push through Central and South America, Spanish is the leading first language for over 50% of the church membership.

Today The Book of Mormon can be read in over 80 languages, and by 85 to 90 percent of the world's population.  Well over half, 46 of the total languages of The Book of Mormon have appeared for the first time in the 1980s in areas such as Greece, Ghana, Islands of the Lesser Antilies, the Philippines, and Southeastern South Africa where Zulu is spoken. [28]

It would appear that where little is known of the LDS church, it grows fast. And where the Church is better known, it grows more slowly. The Encyclopedia of Mormonism shows that the annual rate per 100 baptized members is much higher in the less developed countries of Africa and Asia than it is in European or North America.  In Africa, for instance, the convert rate is approximately 13 people per 100 Church members. By comparison, in the western United States, the convert rate is just over one per 100 baptized members. [29]

Footnotes: 

[1]    The Book of Mormon, I Nephi 14: 10, page 26

[2]    Bruce R. McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, BookCraft, SLC, Utah, 1966, page 670

[3]    "Latter Day Struggles: The Prosperous Mormon Church Is at Theological Crossroads" U.S News and World Report,  September 28,1992,   pages 73-78

[4]    Ibid. page 73

[5]    Andy Hall, Jerry Kammer, Mark Trahant, and Richard Robertson, "Mormon Inc., Finances and Faith, series beginning June 30, 1991, Arizona Republic, July 1, 1991., page 9

[6]    Maurine J. Proctor, "Communicating The Church", This People Magazine, Spring 1989, pages 18-23

[7]    Ibid

[8]     Heinerman interview with Jeremiah Films, Feb. 27, 1988; plus Heinerman, MCE, pages 62, 72

[9]    The Salt Lake Tribune, Jan. 23, 1990

[10]   The Salt Lake Tribune, Jan. 27, 1988, page 8A

[11]    Ibid

[12]    Encyclopedia of Mormonism, McMillan Publishers, NY, NY, 1992, Vol. 2, pages 537-538

[13]    The Rocky Mountain News, Fri, March 9, 1990 "Digging up your roots" Lifestyles, page 75

[14]    The Philadelphia Inquirer, Wednesday, Jan. 9, 1991. Living.  "A Church center offers chance to research roots"

[15]    Ibid

[16]   Church News, week ending Feb. 6, 1988, page 4

[17]   Encyclopedia Of Mormonism, Vol. 2, pages 950-952, MacMillian Publ., NY, NY, 1992

[18]   LDS Church News, week ending Feb. 20, 1988, page 10

[19]   Mike Cannon, "Valuable tool in bringing young men to Christ", Church News, week ending Feb. 2, 1991, page 7

[20]   LDS Church News, week ending Feb. 13, 1988, page 11

[21]   Saints Alive Newsletter, Aug. 1990, page 3, quoting LDS church news articles

[22]   Susan Greene, “Games being used as Mormon pulpit?” The Denver Post, Sunday, July 01, 2001

[23]   “Latter-day Struggles”, US News and World Report, September 28. 1992, pages 73-78

[24]   Roy Rivenburg, "Mormons Stronghold of Faith,” Contra Costa Times, Friday, October 2, 1992, page 5C

[25]   Ibid

[26]   Ibid

[27]   Ibid

[28]   Church News, Jan. 9, 1988, page 3, 7

[29]    Encyclopedia of Mormonism 4: 1526