Missionary Trust

The main difference between Mormon heaven and Christian heaven is that in Christian heaven you get God because of Jesus' finished work; while in Mormon heaven you get god because of your works.

As we sat and discussed this reality with a young lady you could see that she was getting it. It wasn't a notion Evangelicals hold which was falling on deaf ears, no it was falling on listening ears, and from what it appeared they longed to hear more of this workless, grace-full gospel.

But time was cut short and it was time to leave.

So what happens to a missionary when they are so close to seeing one convert to Christ, but won't see it happen?

Trust.

The missionary must trust that God is sovereignly in control. The missionary must trust that God will bring his people to himself. The missionary must trust that, that one will be cared for by the Good Shepherd and brought to the fold of God. The missionary leans not on his own prowess in speaking eloquently but on God's Spirit to save completely.

The missionary must trust that it is for God to save and for man to proclaim. 

Different Religious Dictionary

Have you ever taken a comparative religion class? Or just a world religion class in general? There's Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam and maybe even Zoroastrianism  but how often does Mormonism get thrown into that mix?

Think about this, all the terms you use to talk about Christianity, but with completely different meanings. You talk of atonement, they talk of atonement. You talk of God's love, they talk of God's love. You talk of God as your Father, they talk of Heavenly Father. Yet each of those means something different

Their idea of atonement is not the Evangelical Christ view of atonement, nor their idea of God's love the same, nor their view of God as their Father.

It all sounds the same but all the meanings are different. Apologetics with a Mormon are, I would guess, a waste of time. How can you move a conversation forward if you're both working from different dictionaries? (To add to this, they always come in twos and have "lying for the lord," as backup for getting into tricky conversations.) 

So what is the apologetic we use? Relationship.

We use the dictionary we both have in common, our humanity and need for community, to build a relationship wherein we can form trust and literally show 2 Peter 3:14-17 to those of another religious dictionary.

How is prayer different on the mission field?

I arrived in Salt Lake City last night for our week-long mission trip. As I drifted off to sleep I began to pray for God to protect me. But it hit me. The culture that I'm now surrounded by most likely prays similar prayers, but to a completely different god than the God I worship. So my prayers altered, to a much more Trinitarian version of the same prayer I just prayed. 

Yes, I know the intent of my heart was to pray to the God who inspired our inerrant Scriptures by his breath, but praying rightly isn't just about the intent, is it?

This morning I read Matthew 3:13-17, the baptism of Jesus, a wholly Trinitarian passage. Then, Dr. Mickinions Theology 1 class kicked in, I looked up the Athanasian Creed (I think I'll sit in these all week), and read, "The Catholic Faith is this: That we worship one God in Trinity, and Trinity in Unity.

So back to the above question, how is prayer different on the mission field? Well, it's not, but it is.

It's not different because at all times we should be strikingly aware of the words we are using to pray to the Maker of All. But it is different because I know I've been wrenched from the normal routine and stuck in a place where 2.8% of the people are affiliated with an evangelical church. Out of nearly 1.8 million people that's about 50,000 people who regularly hear the gospel proclaimed in an evangelical church. (statistics taken from NAMB).