A Note From Ed

 Thank you for being part of the ministry of Saints Alive. We are so grateful for your support, your standing with us in this vital ministry, and your prayers, your intercessions on behalf of the work of this ministry. More important than "us" are the many thousands of people seeking truth in areas of spiritual confusion and darkness. 

Please keep me in your prayers as I re-enter the busy ministry that has been waiting for my return. I am at the point where my strength is coming back and the needs are so great. There are schedules that require my attention and I am eager to be in the midst of the battle for souls. Now let me give you a look at some of the great news here at the ministry.

Our Board met recently and officially recognized our son, Jason, as a welcome member of our staff. I am so delighted to have him at my side, with all his ideas, new insights and endless energy. And yes, that wonderful zeal for souls! I remember him as a young child holding onto my leg as we witnessed and handed out tracts in the streets of Utah 20 years ago. Time sure flies when you are having fun!

As a ministry, we have committed to return to Utah with some of that new energy. To that end, we will be having another CAPSTONE conference in Salt Lake this next summer, in late June. We will be announcing it each Newsletter until then. The dates will probably be June 24-27th. Jason will also be leading a summer missionary team into Utah, with a focus on reaching the youth.

Tom Bauer, our reactivated Missions Director was here for a week of planning and fellowship and by next summer, we will have a training center in operation in Hawaii, through the facilities of Tom and Cindy’s home church, Grace Bible (in Honolulu). Isileli and Evelyn Taukolo, our missionaries in Tonga, will be here for a week in November, as we finalize a missionary trip to Tonga with many of the youth of our home church for a Youth Revival there during Easter week.

Pray for our vision to not only focus on these actions, but that it increases as we walk through these and dozens of other doors of ministry opportunity for the work of the Lord.

I have just signed off on the final galleys for a new, revised and expanded God Makers book which be coming out by the end of the year and work on a new video series, The Miracle Of Manti, and The Gods of Paradise, produced by Dr. John Boyd, is almost complete and I will be doing a large number of radio shows promoting them.

I have one bit of good news. I went to my cardiologist last week for a first checkup after my recent illness. I had been off almost all my heart medicine since my surgery in June [ I felt so much better without it} and knew he was going to be an unhappy fellow. After taking x-rays, and an EKG, he spent a long time looking at them and listening to my heart .

Finally, he said, "Ed, you are the luckiest guy in the world. Your heart is working perfectly. There is nothing wrong with it. Don’t go back on the medication. Go home and check in again in 6 months."

Well, The Lord is our healer. When I was laying there in the hospital in a comma, and on life support equipment, my family, knowing God’s Word in the matter, called upon the elders of our church. My pastors came and, according to James 5:14-15, prayed over me, anointed me with oil and prayed those prayers of faith and I was truly raised up.

As you will see by Jason’s article this month, we count prayer as the main ingredient of our ministry because the Word says it is and because it bears the most fruit. If you have prayer needs, drop a note on the back of your return card and let us pray for you and with you.

by Jason Decker

During the past few months I have noticed the familiar frustration of desperate Christians who call or write us seeking a breakthrough for a loved one lost in the LDS Church or Masonic Lodge. Most have made several "failed" attempts at trying to communicate the basic fundamental errors in Mormonism or Freemasonry but end up in heated arguments or off on some tangent. No matter how well studied the Christian or friendly the conversation, it is all too common that we find ourselves "hitting our heads against a wall."

It is very important to have a solid foundation of doctrine (1 Tim 4:16) in order to use it while you witness. But, there is much more to seeing a loved one saved than witnessing. Most people do not relate to theology or doctrine and that is why we have so many cults today. Those deceived by Mormon and Masonic doctrines, have been sold a counterfeit when they were looking for the real thing. Faith is too simple compared with the Law. "For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God." 1 Cor 1:18 (NIV)

You must not let spiritual battle intimidate you! Jesus has given us His authority over spirits. "I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you. However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven." Luke 10:19-20 (NIV)

Hitting the wall can happen even when we use Jesus’ name. This isn’t a time to be discouraged, but a time to PRAY!! "Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say unto you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you. " However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting." Matt. 17:20-21 (NKJ)

This is not a repetitious 15 second prayer. Think of it as an outline that has a specific order. First start with Praising God, Second Pray for God’s will and that YOU come inside it. Pray for His will to be manifested. Ask God for both spiritual renewal and physical provision. Then ask Him for conviction, and cleansing as you repent. Pray for His protection over yourself, family, belongings etc. Then look for anything between you and the lost person, i.e. bitterness, anger, pride, etc.… confess and cover with His cleansing Blood. Then pray for needs, salvations and other breakthroughs. Close with thanksgiving and praise.

Whether or not your friend or loved one is a Christian believer, they have evidently been blinded by Satan. You need to pray in a specific way, doing spiritual warfare against the demonic blindness which has taken him.

2 Cor. 4:3-4 says that "if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: in whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them."(KJV)

This illustrates the problem that those in both Mormonism and Masonry have—it is difficult to discuss reasonably the faith with them because of the spiritual darkness which blinds them. This is what makes them so difficult to witness to, and why prayer is the key. We must wrestle spiritually with the Masonic principalities and powers (Eph.6:12). "Baal," "Hiram Abiff" and "Tubalcain" are key demonic principalities which blind the Freemason. Likewise, "Mormo," the Satanic god of the dead and "Moroni," the false messenger, and Mechizedek, (priestcraft) are key demonic principalities of Mormonism. You must take authority over them as a believer in Christ and bind their influence away from that friend or loved one, at least for a season (Mt. 16:19, 18:18). As I said earlier, if you can find others in a prayer group or your church to agree in prayer with you, so much the better! (Mt.18:20)

You need to use your authority as a believer to literally cast out the demons which may be oppressing him/her/them at least for a short time—long enough for you to share the truth!(Mk.16:17) You need to pray against these deceitful spirits in advance, perhaps for weeks.

As Paul writes in 2 Cor.10:4-5: "The weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds; casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ." (KJV) Pray like this, and "soften the soil" upon which you are going to scatter your seeds for awhile before you approach the battle.

Finally, remember that the wall is there because of the enemy. It was not erected by God. The Lord told us that the gates of hell will not prevail against His church. Why worry then about some wall. We are His church and if the gates of hell will not hold us back then we should not be too concerned about this thing. We can do all things through Christ Jesus who strengthens us!

USA TODAY

The October 21, 1997 edition of USA Today had one of the more notable puff pieces on Mormonism to hit the streets in a long while. With pictures and testimonies of missionaries, converts all that good stuff, they even had a section on just what made the Mormons a little different from the rest of Christianity. Unfortunately, none of the true differences were mentioned.

It’s A Quark, XPress V3.32

My good friend, Jim Powers, went to be with the Lord on May 29th, while I was occupied with my bus accident. Jim was a great man of God for Utah. He cheated death more than once and for the sake of the Gospel battled for souls daily.

Jim was the first pastor in Utah to welcome our ministry and he did it with open arms, loving us, encouraging us always in that sweet Kentucky twang of his and giving us an open door to his church and pulpit. To say he will be missed is obvious. But, he told me once not to mourn his passing but to rejoice at his getting to go to heaven before I did.

I'm a close friend of Bonnie and J.R. Ricks and I am an exmormon. I'd like to forward my exit story to you and share it with you as I have with 100's of others on the Internet and in my area. I do want to say that back in 1988 I first read The Godmakers and at that time it threw a wrench in some of my "stinkin' Mormon thinkin". But you know, that burning in the bosom testimony was just to hot to dry up and so I didn't get the guts to resign until March 10, 1994. I got demormonized in the Christian baptismal waters and now I'm back in my Lutheran MS church and all is well.

I also have a small non-profit ministry called FREE IN JESUS where I have assisted people to leave the Mormon church and assisted also those families who were devastated when their loved ones joined up with that cult. 99 percent of those I've shared my story with either dropped taking the missionary discussions or even left the church after many years as members or one who went ahead and got baptized anyway but fled after only 2 months of membership.

I am on a helper site at Recovery from Mormonism where people post me and ask for my assistance to save their loved ones from that cult. I get 2-3 letters a day and I have a little baby Christian-type of Bible Study that I share with those who are wanting to get out of the church (about 12 people now), send out daily devotionals, have a ex-cult support group of women which meets every Tuesday night for Bible Study and

prayer requests. So that is a brief synopsis of who and what I am today. Now I will forward my story for your benefit as a thank you for all you've done, Ed Decker and your staff to wake me up to the Truth via your books and videos. Bonnie thinks you're great too!

Mail Bag

Dear Ed,

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Dear Ed,

Mr Decker,

Saints Alive in Jesus

P.O. Box 1347

Issaquah, WA 98027