October 2003
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November 3, 2003 Dear Family and Friends, Whoever left a care package at my door last month, thank you very much! I suspect you read these newsletters, so I thought this would be my only shot to thank you. Last month I asked many of you for prayer for the LDS General Conference. They hold this conference the first weekend of every April and October. Both days were primarily days for preaching, since I knew that hardly any LDS take tracts at this occasion. On both days, I held up my two signs while I preached rather forcefully. I was out around the Temple for 8 straight hours the first day. A couple guys brushed/pushed me just to be jerks. Then one guy late in the day came by to ask me why I wasn't leaving the LDS alone. He was a Taoist. He couldn't believe that I really was trying to save LDS from going to hell. He left, and came back not long afterwards with a notebook of paper on which he wrote "I'm with stupid--->". When I tried to preach, he simply heckled me. He was saying stupid things to the crowd like I was just trying to get on TV, and needed the attention for my low self-esteem. It was too confusing and a waste of my breath to continue preaching, so I simply stood there with him for well over an hour! I basically did a pretty good job at ignoring him. Many LDS laughed, and many took pictures. I really wasn't that bothered about his sign, because it simply caused more people to look at my signs and even take pictures of them While this guy was being a jerk to me, another guy came up to talk with me. His name was Chad, and he used to be LDS his whole life until after his mission over 17 years ago. We had a great time talking while I continued to hold the signs up for the masses. He simply started researching, and he found out what a farce the LDS Church is. He mentioned that he saw my sign "MormonChallenge.com" a while ago, and really enjoyed watching the video online. Chad is basically nothing religiously right now, so I tried to encourage him not to throw "the baby out with the bath water" as too many ex-Mormons do. It was really encouraging after being kept from preaching. Earlier in the afternoon, I passed through the Main Street Plaza, errrrrrrr, Church West Plaza with a couple Christians. We were not hindered from passing through, but about 15 minutes later a security guard approached me to tell me that I could not walk through, and that if I tried it again there would be trouble. Later in the evening, I attempted to simply walk through the Plaza with my signs underneath my arm. The signs are around 30 inches x 22 inches. It was dark at this time, so no one could really see my signs. I had no intention of preaching on the square; I simply wanted to take the quickiest route back to my car so I could go home. One of the preachers, Kevin, showed me some legal papers that convinced me that the decision of the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver made it clear that the easement could not be given away since it was a traditional public easement. Even if the LDS owned the property, which is in dispute, they can't shut down a traditional free speech zone. The attorneys for the street preachers think they have a good constitutional case which is coming in due time, but they advised the preachers not to get arrested since they don't want to deal with criminal cases here. The street preachers told me that the security will try to stop me from going through, but that the cops wouldn't do anything about it, especially if I just wanted to walk through. So I wanted to see what would happen. When I came back to pass through the Plaza, I was surrounded by at least 5 different cops. One was even videoing the event. They told me that if I didn't leave the property, I would be arrested! I told them I did want to leave the property by walking through, but that wasn't good enough. I walked away telling them they were totally discriminating, and that they couldn't get away with this. |
Rob with a Taoist heckler
The South Gate of Temple Square
Rob at the South Gate of Temple Square |
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Outside the South
Gate, Timothy Oliver from Watchman Fellowship preached on one side of
the street and I took the other. It was so awesome to have Timothy
preach the perfection requirement (Mt. 5:48, Moroni 10:32, Alma
34:32ff.) while everyone waited to cross the street, and then I got to
preach on the nature of God (how that God doesn't have a wife, there's
no such thing as Mother God, God's not a man, and He's always been
God--Ps. 90:2, Isa. 43:10, and Hosea 11:9) as people came to the other
side of the street. Timothy would even count down the timer for
crossing the intersection, and then would say, "If you are in the
street right now, you are a law breaker and are not prepared to meet
God in the celestial kingdom." We really made a good preaching team. |
One guy came by me and threatened to "cold-cock" me if I didn't leave, but he just walked off. It was nice to have cops out there to watch over us. It was also a good thing I didn't get arrested the night before, since it really didn't look good when the only people who got arrested were LDS! You can see the story at The Deseret News. I was the "lone evangelist" that this article was talking about. The other interesting thing here is why the LDS got arrested. The street preachers were mocking the LDS about their sacred underwear, and a couple LDS stole that underwear and assaulted the preachers! This set off a huge angry reaction by other LDS as well as Christians who heard about this story in all sorts of press coverage. A group of local evangelical leaders (about 37 in all) publicly condemned the street preachers who did this by calling them to repentance at the Church West Plaza.
I talked to one of my street preacher buddies in N.Y. about this, since he uses the underwear when he preaches. He said that LDS are distorting things as usual to make things appear worse than they were. When he uses the temple garments, he simply holds them up to expose and yes mock them not unlike Elijah did to the false prophets on Mt. Carmel. Kevin feels God's called him to do it, so what can I say? Kevin is inoculating non-LDS as well as LDS who are yet to go to the Temple, and he's also trying to get LDS to wake up and realize that these stupid uncomfortable things are, contrary to what the temple ceremony says, no protection from Satan. They're no more than a lucky rabbit's foot.
Contrary to popular opinion, the material content of respect isn't always the trump card. No doubt the formal content is in play with these guys (at least as far as I'm concerned, since I know them and their motives), and sometimes speaking the truth, yes even in a mocking way, can be used for the glory of God. In addition to calling the Pharisees, scribes, etc. (sometimes to their faces) a bunch of "white washed sepulchres", "brood of vipers", "children of the devil", "hypocrites", etc., Jesus (Love incarnate) "humiliated" His opponents (Lk. 13:17).
Now I'm not advocating that everyone do this who evangelizes LDS; I'm instead open for certain individuals being directed of the Lord to do this. I think it's also a tragedy that the timid, lazy Utah Christian Church is also too quick to err on the side of the LDS Church and pacify them when their feet need to be held to the fire as it were. I think we need to give the (imperfect) preachers the benefit of the doubt as our genuine brothers, since the Church is to receive the priority in the first place (Gal. 6:10).
I am planning on spending the month of December with my brother Greg and his family in the Europe. Greg is a missionary in Serbia. (Greg has been a missionary to Serbia since right before all the Balkan wars of the last decade. You can check out his web site at www.SerbianOutreach.com.) This will not simply be a Christmas vacation; it will also be a time for me to do some teaching at various churches in Europe. This will require a lot of money, but I'm trusting that God will provide it through you--my support team.
Thank you for every prayer said on my behalf, and for every check written on my behalf.
Blessed for being persecuted for righteousness (Mt. 5:10-12),
R. M. Sivulka
Rob@Mormon Info.org
Mormon Info
****PRAYER LIST****
1. For God to move more people to do street ministry downtown.
2. For Utah churches and individual Christians to support each other's various ministries.
3. For financial provision.
4. For the ability to get my rough draft comprehensive done soon.
5. For my web site being built by my buddy Allen Dardenelle.
****MAILBAG****
Dear Rob, I just want to thank you for keeping me updated on how God is using you in Utah! I am so encouraged to hear how the Lord is using you to lead Mormons to Christ! I just want to encourage you in the way God has used you to be up front with the LDS! When I read your letters, I want to be used by the Lord to reach others for Christ so they too can know God through the grace of Jesus Christ! I have been to Utah three times. Each time I have been so blessed! ...Rob, keep on preaching! Again, I have joy in reading how you have led Jessica, Chris, Ryan and Skylar and many others to the Lord! I will pray that God will lead more people wanting to know the real Jesus your way! I am praying for you and want to financially support you as well. Praise God for His wonderful works! Praise the Lord! In His Grace,
Dear Rob: I just finished reading your last letter... I can't help but admire you very much and value your friendship and Christian mission. I'm so glad to be a member of your team! ...I salute you as a friend and fellow warrior for our precious Jesus, who is our Head and High Priest Forever. May He bless + keep you always. Faithfully yours in His name,
Hi Rob, Just wanted to encourage you... Those signs are great. Rachelle and I were reading your Newsletter and we just had to go to those web pages [www.MormonChallenge.com, www.JosephLied.com, www.perfectrighteousness.com, www.ConcernedChristians.org]. I can see now why all the M's are so enraged at you guys for hold[ing] those signs HIGH... Keep it up,
...The Bible says to preach the Gospel, and you are doing that. I mean, the LDS Church insists on preaching to Christians, so why not let us preach to them for a change? ...Everyone that heckled you or abused you will have the opportunity of knowing just what the eternal consequences of that are. You know, when I met you for the first time, I thought you were trying to do the impossible. Trying to convert the state of Utah. Yet now, as a Christian (instead of a Mormon who had Catholic leanings) I feel the same desire you have, to convert the state of Utah. I sit down and think of Christ and his gospel. This morning in the Methodist service, my pastor preached on God's purpose and how we need to find that in our own lives. I kept looking at the cross that we have hanging in the church and thinking that people who die without that cross in their lives because they rejected it, end up in hell. I had to face the biblical facts recently that there is a hell and that it is not a place I care to visit, even for a millisecond. Yet I had to believe Christ when he said that many would go there. I think of my LDS friends and other friends and relatives that are not Christian and most of them have rejected Christ because I have personally witnessed to them. I think of the eternal consequences and it scares me, because of what they will have for eternity, and that very few of them have taken the time to study what I have told them, not just about Christ, but about the Mormon Church. ...I hate to say this, but the people who reject Christ through your preaching will have to spend an eternity either regretting it, or being thankful for accepting it at some later point in their lives. I say that "I hate to say this" because I would love to accept universal salvation like the liberal Christians do, but I decided not long after being saved that the Bible would be the final word and that once I found out what it said on a matter, that would be my stand as well. Keep working hard, I am sure that there are many you have helped who have not told you.
Rob, ...Jen and I are encouraged by your faith and devotion to your ministry and it has made an impact on our lives here... We look forward to your newsletters every month. We're trying to spread the gospel to the Mormons here and have had numerous encounters. We've even had other Christians asking us for pointers in witnessing. ...Keep up the good work. You're faith is an encouragement to us and many others. We'll continue to pray for you and the Spirit's work in your ministry.