Biblical Missions in Eastern Europe: An Interview With Don Currin From HeartCry Missionary Society

In this post I have had the privilege to interview Don Currin. Mr. Currin is the coordinator for Eastern Europe with HeartCry Missionary Society.  HeartCry supports 222 missionaries in 44 countries as they work to proclaim the Gospel around the world that God's name may be honored in all the nations.

Don Currin

Below my questions for Mr. Currin are in black, Mr. Currin's responses are in red.

·How did you get involved with HeartCry Missionary Society, and how long have you served
with them?
"My connection with HeartCry was providential. I was introduced to HeartCry
and Paul Washer by a friend while traveling through Hannibal, Missouri, over 20 years
ago."
·As coordinator of Eastern Europe what does your ministry with HeartCry entail?
"I serve our HeartCry missionaries in Romania, Ukraine and Moldova by visiting them once to twice a
year. I teach them in HeartCry Conferences and speak in their churches. Once I’m at their
churches, I obtain a personal update about their ministry, pics for the HeartCry website,
and provide counseling. I receive monthly reports from each missionary, from which I will
post content and prayer requests on the HeartCry website."
·Why does HeartCry support long term indigenous missionaries instead of advocating for short
term "missions trips" by foreigners?
"We believe that no one knows the language, culture, ministry context and people overall any better than missionaries in their country do. Furthermore, we find that it takes far less financial support to sustain someone who is indigenous to the culture than a missionary sent from another country. But please do not
misunderstand. We are not opposed to other churches and organizations sending missionaries. Indigenous missions is how we have been led to carry out missions. Regarding “mission trips”, once again, we are not opposed to them, but because of the limited amount of time that our staff and supported missionaries have, we don’t have the time to coordinate “mission trips.”"
·Here in the U.S. we have seen a progressive shift away from biblical principles to a secular, God-hating society. How does this cultural decline in America compare to the cultural climate in Europe, and does it differ from country to country?
"There is a difference between Eastern Europe and Western Europe. Much of the difference can be traced to Western Europe’s affluence. While both regions of Europe experience the spiritual drift, the rural communities where you find older people who have a traditional mindset have not spiritually digressed as much as the urban areas."
·In the U.S. we see much nominal Christianity and only a small percentage of the "churches" here preach a true Gospel. Is the same true of Eastern Europe as well?
"Yes. Eastern Europe is only a step behind the United States. The indifference is evident, as there are few local churches that preach a biblical gospel."
·What do you believe is the biggest challenge that the Body of Christ in Eastern Europe faces as they seek to establish biblical Churches?
"Three great challenges are an erroneous view of what is a biblical gospel, the wave of pragmatic teaching that comes from the West and an ignorance of what is a biblical church."
·What do you believe is the greatest challenge the European Church faces as they seek to engage
their culture with the Gospel?
"A false understanding of the gospel. Between the Orthodox Church and Western culture, the people have been fed an flawed view of what is the gospel."
·I know that HeartCry does not solicit donations and faithfully relies upon God to provide. How
has this practice of living by faith, impacted you?
"HeartCry’s example, patterned after Mueller, and more importantly, the Apostle Paul, has shown me that God knows what my needs are. While neither HeartCry nor myself are opposed to other ministries making known their financial needs, we do not have the liberty of doing so. HeartCry and our ministry believe that God is our Patron and if He determines it necessary for our work to continue, He will sustain it without our asking for support."
·What biblical principles or passages of Scripture has the Lord brought to mind at various times
that have drawn you closer to Christ, challenged, or blessed you through your years of ministry?
"II Corinthians 2:14 God always causes us to triumph in Christ.
Romans 8:32 He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he
not with him also freely give us all things?
Psalm 56:3 At what time I am afraid, I will trust in the Lord.
II Corinthians 1:9 But we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in
ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead:"
·What is the most important lesson that God has taught you through your years of ministry?
"Never take on any more ministry than my devotional life can sustain."
·How can people be praying for you?
"1. That I might cultivate a greater measure of love for all people.
2. That my theological understanding would be experiential.
3. That I might have a better understanding of how to persuade men when engaging them
to repent and believe the gospel."
·Do you have any final thoughts you would like to share?
"Christian men and women must learn the art of fighting in faith. Passivity is a deadly
enemy. Only the violent take heaven by storm. Nothing of eternal significance is ever
accomplished apart from aggression in prayer."

I would like to extend my gratitude to Mr. Currin for taking the time to do this interview with me. May God use his example to encourage and spur us on to make God's name known, and to serve our Lord Jesus Christ with all of our lives. Please keep Mr. and Mrs. Currin in your prayers as they seek to serve our Lord in the ministry He has given them.

You can visit HeartCry's website here: HeartCry Missionary Society. You can visit Mr. Currin's ministry website here: Don Currin Ministries.
In Christ,
Virginia

Mormon Quotes To Memorize For Witnessing To The Mormon People

Hello brothers and sisters in Christ.
In this post are some Mormon quotes that are helpful to memorize for witnessing to the Mormon People. If you memorize these quotes, they can be useful as you engage Mormons to show the comparison of the god of Mormonism and the God of the Bible, etc. Mormon quotes will be in blue, and Scripture verses will be in italics. 

"We have imagined and supposed that God was God from all eternity. I will refute that idea, and take away the veil, so that you may see." ~Joseph Smith, King Follett Discourse

"God himself was once as we are now, and is an exalted man, and sits enthroned in yonder heavens!"
~Joseph Smith, King Follett Discourse

"It is the first principle of the gospel to know for a certainty the character of God, and to know that we may converse with Him as one man converses with another, and that He was once a man like us; yea, that God himself, the Father of us all, dwelt on an earth, the same as Jesus Christ Himself did; and I will show it from the Bible." ~Joseph Smith, King Follett Discourse

For a biblical response to the King Follett Discourse, please refer to this post: A Biblical Response To The King Follett Discourse By Joseph Smith

"Take up the Bible, compare the religion of the Latter-day Saints with it, and see if it will stand the test."
~Brigham Young

This is probably my favorite Brigham Young quote. I like using this quote when talking to Mormon missionaries. You can use it in this way: "Brigham Young said to 'Take up the Bible, compare the religion of the Latter-day Saints with it, and see if it will stand the test.' This is what I desire to do." If you have opportunity for further discussion, you can bring up passages of the Bible in comparison to Mormon teaching and show that the "religion of the Latter-day Saints" does not "stand the test" of being compared to the Bible. Always remember to do this is love. Our aim is to share the truth of God with these men and women, not to rudely destroy their religion and send them on their way without having heard the truth of the Word of God presented to them in love. Bashing their religion and prophets and not sharing the truth with them, is not godly, and it is not a good way to build friendships with Mormons either.

"The truth is, my beloved brethren and sisters, man is a child of God—a God in embryo."

 ~Marion G. Romney, Man- A Child of God

This quote is blatantly contradictory to the Bible. The Bible teaches that Man is of a different nature than God, and that their is only one God. Historically Mormonism has taught that men can become gods. This teaching is clearly unbiblical. Let me share some verses that show the truth that their is only One God.

Isaiah 43:10

“You are my witnesses,” declares the Lord, “and my servant whom I have chosen, that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he. Before me no god was formed, nor shall there be any after me.”

Isaiah 44:6

“Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts: “I am the first and I am the last; besides me there is no god."

(Please refer to "A Biblical Response To The King Follett Discourse By Joseph Smith" and see the discussion on Acts 14:15 on the different nature of God and man.)

"For we labor diligently to write, to persuade our children, and also our brethren, to believe in Christ, and to be reconciled to God; for we know that it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do."  ~2 Nephi 25:23, Book of Mormon.

"3 We believe that through the Atonement of Christ, all mankind may be saved, by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel." ~ Articles of Faith 3

The important phrase in the first quote is: "after all we can do".
The important phrase in the second quote is "by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel."
The Mormon religion is works based. The true Gospel in contrast is not based on the works of man, but affirms that salvation is through the work of Christ alone.
Romans 3:28 says: "For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law."
Galatians 3:10-14 says: "For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, “Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them.” Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for “The righteous shall live by faith.” But the law is not of faith, rather “The one who does them shall live by them.” Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”—  so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith."
Galatians 5:4 says: "You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified by the law; you have fallen away from grace."
The Bible clearly teaches that salvation is apart from works and that no one can be saved by works of the law. The law is our tutor to lead us to Christ so that we might be justified by faith. (Galatians 3:24). The law can never save us, it only shows us our sin and our need for the Savior. It also says in Romans 11:5-6 "So too at the present time there is a remnant, chosen by grace. But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works; otherwise grace would no longer be grace."
If as the Mormon Article of Faith teaches we are saved by grace after all we can do, then the grace would be based on our works, and thus would no longer be grace. Rather, the biblical teaching is that we are saved apart from works, based only on the work of Christ in His sacrifice and death for us, bearing our sins in His body on the tree that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. (1 Peter 2:24) 

Please know that if you present these quotes to Mormons, they may or may not believe these teachings. You may want to present the quotes this way: "Joseph Smith taught in the King Follett Discourse that god is an exalted man, do you believe that?" You can use a similar format for other leaders and quotes. While it is recorded that past Mormons have taught these doctrines, we do not want to misrepresent the Mormons that we are speaking to and tell them what they believe. These quotes however are still good to bring up, especially from Joseph Smith and Brigham Young as they are past presidents of the Mormon church to show the conflict between their teachings and the Bible.

With love in Christ,

Virginia

A Biblical Response To The King Follett Discourse of Joseph Smith

Hello brothers and sisters in Christ.
In this post I will seek to equip Christians to give a biblical response to the false doctrine and false god that is taught by Joseph Smith in the King Follett Discourse as they speak with Mormons. This post will address some of the teachings of this discourse although it is not exhaustive. Let us begin.

Quotes from Joseph Smith are in Blue.

"It is necessary for us to have an understanding of God himself in the beginning. If we start right, it is easy to go right all the time; but if we start wrong we may go wrong, and it will be a hard matter to get right."

You may wish to bring up this quote when witnessing to Mormons to show that even as Joseph Smith thought that it is "necessary to have an understanding of God himself in the beginning" it is indeed important to get the character of God correct as the basis of our Theology and doctrine. You can then use this as a springboard to go into a discussion of how the god of Joseph Smith is not the God of the Bible and this is a matter that we must get right.

"God himself was once as we are now, and is an exalted man, and sits enthroned in yonder heavens!"

"God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?"

Numbers 23:19 (Emphasis added)
The Bible is clear that God is not a man. Joseph Smith taught that his god was an exalted man. This is a clear section where the God of the Bible is seen to be different then the god of Joseph Smith.

In Acts 14:15 it says: “Men, why are you doing these things? We also are men, of like nature with you, and we bring you good news, that you should turn from these vain things to a living God, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all that is in them." 

Let us consider the context of this passage; Paul and Barnabas are at Lystra and a crippled man is healed. "When the crowds saw what Paul had done, they lifted up their voices, saying in Lycaonian, :The gods have come down to us in the likeness of men!" The priest of Zeus wanted to offer sacrifices with the crowds. When Paul and Barnabas heard this they tore their clothes and cried out and addressed the crowds with the statement quoted above from verse 15. Let us now consider our text with this in mind; people wanted to worship these men, in response to this desire Paul and Barnabas made a distinction between the nature of man and the nature of God. They say that they should not worship them, they are men of like nature with them, however these men should turn from these vain things to serve the Living God. The True and Living God is of a different nature then men. Only the True Triune God of the Bible (Yahweh) The Father, The Son and the Holy Spirit, is worthy of the worship and adoration of man. No man, regardless of how exalted they may seem, are worthy of worship. The god that Joseph Smith invented in his imagination is not worthy of worship and cannot save. There is salvation in no one other than the One True God, Yahweh. (Isaiah 43:11)

"In order to understand the subject of the dead, for consolation of those who mourn for the loss of their friends, it is necessary we should understand the character and being of God and how He came to be so; for I am going to tell you how God came to be God. We have imagined and supposed that God was God from all eternity. I will refute that idea, and take away the veil, so that you may see."

In Psalm 90:2 The Holy Spirit inspired these words: "Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God."

As you can see in a comparison of the text of the Bible and the claims of Joseph Smith, we see an irreconcilable difference between the God of the Bible and the god of Joseph Smith. God never came to be God, from everlasting to everlasting He is God. He was never a man, He never needed to be obedient to the laws and ordinances of the gospel, He never had a god before Him, He alone is God and He always has existed as the Supreme Ruler of all. 

"Here, then, is eternal life—to know the only wise and true God; and you have got to learn how to be gods yourselves, and to be kings and priests to God, the same as all gods have done before you, namely, by going from one small degree to another, and from a small capacity to a great one; from grace to grace, from exaltation to exaltation, until you attain to the resurrection of the dead, and are able to dwell in everlasting burnings, and to sit in glory, as do those who sit enthroned in everlasting power."

Joseph Smith taught here that "you have got to learn how to be gods yourselves." This is pure heresy. Examine these verses on the fact that there in only one God. 

"“You are my witnesses,” declares the Lord,“and my servant whom I have chosen, that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he. Before me no god was formed, nor shall there be any after me." Isaiah 43:10

"Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts: “I am the first and I am the last; besides me there is no god."

Isaiah 44:6

"Fear not, nor be afraid; have I not told you from of old and declared it? And you are my witnesses! Is there a God besides me? There is no Rock; I know not any.”
Isaiah 44:8

The Bible clearly teaches that there is only one God. To say that men can become gods is blasphemy and expressly contradicts the teaching of the Bible. 

"It is the first principle of the gospel to know for a certainty the character of God, and to know that we may converse with Him as one man converses with another, and that He was once a man like us; yea, that God himself, the Father of us all, dwelt on an earth, the same as Jesus Christ Himself did; and I will show it from the Bible."

While the above statement is false, I like the fact that Joseph Smith taught that this is the first principle of the gospel. The LDS people that you witness to, may not want to discuss the character and nature of God and prefer to speak of the restoration of the gospel and other topics. You may choose to bring up this section where Joseph Smith put such a great emphasis on this teaching. You can also point out the importance of knowing the character of the True God of the Bible as the basis for all of our Theology and Doctrine and that we must establish Who God is, before we can have a proper understanding of salvation and the Gospel.

I would also suggest finding the King Follett Discourse and other quotes that you discuss with Mormons, on www.churchofjesuschrist.org as the Mormons are more likely to accept the church's website as a trusted resource. 

While there is more that can be discussed from the King Follett Discourse, I hope that this post will give you some insight into topics and quotes to discuss and how to respond to this discourse biblically. 

With love in Christ,

Virginia