A message from the East Africa Coordinator

As floods of western relativistic tendencies and postmodern idealism sweep the region, the church in Africa finds itself ill-equipped to sustain its relevance in an unpredictable, constantly changing society.

The most subtle and venomous enemy of the church is the invasion of cults—pseudo-Christian and aberrant groups, both foreign and traditional—now arising to challenge orthodox beliefs. Syncretism, unsound theological trends, widespread ignorance of God’s Word, a lack of discernment, social benefits promised by the cults, the unpreparedness of pastors, and other factors heighten the predicament in which the church finds itself.

The African church needs to stand in defense of the Gospel. It must emphasize both formative education and corrective discipline. It must seek to win cultists to the truth rather than simply brand them as its enemies. And it must teach the absolute truth of God’s Word, defending it from misinterpretations and corrupting influences. This will require biblically informed leaders, theologically knowledgeable men who are passionate for the defense and preservation of the Christian faith.

—Rodgers Atwebembeire

To schedule an ACFAR seminar or conference, click here.

ACFAR Announces Its First Major Conference

Mark your calendar now for “The Bible and the Challenge of Discernment” (1 Thessalonians 5:21–22), a national conference for pastors and Christian leaders to be held on the campus of Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda on March 15–17. The event is being held to coincide with the 10th anniversary of the Kanungu Tragedy.

Noted speakers include:

• Dr. J. Kwabena Asamoah-Gyadu (Trinity Theological Seminary, Ghana)

• Robert M. Bowman, Jr. (Institute for Religious Research, USA)

• Eric Pement (Centers for Apologetics Research, USA)

• Robby Muhumuza (Leadershipwise Africa, Uganda)

Among the topics to be addressed are the Christian’s call to discernment and defending the faith; the integrity and authority of Scripture; the Word-Faith movement; indigenous cults and sects; the Branham movement; Jehovah’s Witnesses; Mormonism; and the challenge of child sacrifice.

The conference is being jointly sponsored by ACFAR and the Kampala Evangelical School of Theology (KEST).

We truly covet your prayers as we prepare for this event!

Space is limited! For registration and additional information, visit the conference web page.

Cross-Cultural Apologetics and Missiology

If there’s one area that I believe is almost completely neglected in missiology (the study of missions) today, it’s the role of apologetics. Thankfully, veteran missions scholar David Hesselgrave has clarified its importance in “Revelation and Reason in Cross-Cultural Apologetics and Missiology” in the latest issue of the Journal of the International Society of Christian Apologetics.

Having served as a missionary in Japan for twelve years, Hesselgrave certainly has the experience and insight to address the question: What role do reason and apologetics have in missions? Many answer by saying that reason and apologetics are simply a byproduct of our Western approach to knowledge and are therefore irrelevant to those who have an Eastern or other non-Western way of thinking. But Hesselgrave knows better, and he points us to the trinary approach of conceptual/postulational, concrete-relational/pictorial, and psychical/intuitional ways of thinking rather than the Eastern vs. Western binary approach.

What does this mean? Hesselgrave explains that, instead of there being just two opposite and irreconcilable approaches to knowledge, people in all cultures approach their pursuit of truth in varying combinations of these three ways of thinking. As he summarizes:

“[This] proposal is especially helpful to Western Christian apologists and missionaries because we can anticipate that, as a result of the Imago Dei [i.e., image of God in man], the employment of cogent, coherent and consistent reasoning will be both appropriate and effective in Eastern cultures. At the same time we can anticipate that due to our fallen nature, God-given rationality will be rather easily transmuted into rationalism and irrationalism in both Eastern and Western cultures. Divine revelation will serve both to complement and complete, and to compensate and correct, ways of thinking and knowing in all cultures.”

In other words, reason and apologetics are both needed as we proclaim the gospel to all cultures. But if this is true, what does it mean for cross-cultural missions? Hesselgrave concludes by summarizing four avenues for reappropriating apologetics in our missionary task, namely:

1) Ronald Nash’s tests for truth as rooted in the nature of God,
2) Harold Netland’s defense of our objective propositional faith over fideistic subjectivism,
3) Norman Geisler’s three kinds of essentials of the Christian faith, and
4) Paul Hiebert’s view of the local church as a hermeneutical community.

One need not agree with (or even understand!) all of these applications to approve of Hesselgrave’s conclusion:

“After my experiences in Japan and a half century of subsequent involvement in evangelical missions worldwide I suggest that evangelical apologists and missionaries ‘renew their vows.’ . . . Currently missionary efforts to evangelize the world stand in need of the contributions of evangelical theologians and philosophers. Of course, the converse is also true. Apologists and theologians stand to benefit from the contributions of evangelical anthropologists and cross-culturalists.”

To which I reply with a hearty “Amen!” Hesselgrave’s principles can be used to powerful effect in Africa, and I commend his incisive article to everyone who is committed to our Savior’s missionary task.

Sermon: "Spiritual Deception"

On February 22nd, I once again had the privilege of opening the Word of God before my home congregation at Parkwood Southern Baptist Church. Below is the audio and outline of my sermon. I pray that God will use this message for His gory!

• Matthew 7:15-23, "Spiritual Deception" (MP3 download, 40:50)

I. Deceivers are Dangerous, vv. 15-20A. The Hidden Danger
B. The Exposing TestII. Deceivers are Damned, vv. 21-23A. The Final Judgement
B. The Final Declaration

eBooks and Mission Work

Last week, Amazon.com made an announcement that sent shock waves through the Internet. They are finally releasing their second-generation eBook reader, the Kindle 2. Zondervan also recently mentioned that they gave away two free Sony Readers, preloaded with several leading Christian books and a Bible, at last year’s ETS and SBL annual meetings. I’ll let others debate whether we’re witnessing a transition away from printed books to electric reading, but I want to take a few moments to discuss what eBooks could mean for missions work.

The potential advantages are exciting. Imagine carrying an entire library in an object smaller than a single book! Missionaries often have very limited space to move items with them overseas, and books must usually be kept to a minimum. Those of us with ministries focused on theological education and defending the faith find this challenge especially daunting. Could eBook readers give us the flexibility we need to effectively serve Christ without losing essential information and resources? We wouldn’t have to figure out how to ship dozens of heavy boxes of books halfway around the world; our research collections could travel in our carry-on luggage.

But issues remain. While Zondervan, Crossway, and others have made electronic versions of their books available, many more evangelical publishers haven’t joined the eBook bandwagon. I’d guesstimate that under ten percent of my library is currently available in some electronic form, so devices like the Kindle and Sony Reader aren’t workable replacements—yet.

Electronic reading also has some limitations which I’m not sure can be easily overcome. As an avid Mortimer Adler devotee (and if you don’t know who I’m talking about, read this book!), I frequently mark my books with various lines and notations. How can I do this in an electronic reader and easily refer back to my thoughts in the future?

And one final concern: While this technological step may be a great leap forward in global ministry, most of the world is nowhere close to taking advantage of it. I first realized this fact as I started serving Christ overseas. Since I’m something of a tech-geek, I figured that the efficient and inexpensive way to get relevant, updated, and translated resources into the hands of the most church leaders and other believers was to establish an elaborate Internet presence. We could create a web site with articles that can be viewed and printed, plus a database offering the latest research. But when I actually went to East Africa I quickly discovered that such assistance can only go so far. Most Africans have only limited Internet access, if any—and they seldom have computers. We can’t assume that church leaders can access our information online, however badly they may need it. So we’ve had to focus our near-term strategies on using more traditional media like printed tracts, newsletters, and DVDs.

Now perhaps you can see a little better how a Kindle or Sony Reader would mainly be of value to missionaries. I could have hundreds or even thousands of books at my fingertips—but the vast majority of my African friends could not. And until technological initiatives like Ubuntunet take hold, they’ll still need theological libraries with lots of printed books, journals, magazines, newsletters, and other periodicals. Most fundamentally, they’ll need the Bible; too few African Christians own so much as a single copy of God’s Word, even when it’s been printed in their own language.

So you can see why I’m both enthusiastic and cautious about electronic readers. I may be able to use one to effectively serve Christ someday. At the same time, technology alone can’t equip our African brothers and sisters in Christ. May the Lord guide our efforts as we navigate through these complex waters!

Bio Disc: Healing Miracle or Deception?

We recently received a request from an African church leader who wanted more information on the Amezcua Bio Disc. Though it’s not well-known in America, the Bio Disc is being sold across Asia and the Middle East as a miraculous solution to common health-related problems. Now Christians in Uganda, Kenya, and Tanzania are being invited to not only purchase and use the Bio Disc and related “Harmonised Energy” items, but to sell it themselves as well.

What is the Bio Disc? Does it actually work? Should Christians join QuestNet (or “The V”) and engage in “network marketing” so they can profit from selling this expensive object to their families and friends? These important questions demonstrate how practical apologetics can be in Africa. As with other New Age products, the Bio Disc's promoters do much more than promise “wellness,” because the device actually promotes a deceptive Eastern worldview.

We compiled a basic one-page overview of the Bio Disc that summarizes our research and succinctly addresses the main theological and ethical concerns of relevance to African Christians. You can read it yourself (in PDF format). And if you’d like to learn more, here’s a video featuring a man identified as Dr. Ian Lyons (who is said to be one of the Bio Disc’s inventors):


Sadly, such problems aren’t confined to the West; in our shrinking world, hucksters can easily find an ignorant and sometimes desperate audience in developing countries. May our Lord bring more discernment to His people in East Africa!

Weekly Round-Up

Here's the latest for this week's round-up:

1) Madinah Tebajjukira, "500 Muslim Sheiks Convict Mubajje" in the New Vision newspaper (Uganda). The ongoing controversy among Muslims in Uganda has just escalated with the latest development among their leaders. An international gathering of clerics came together and concluded: "The court prohibited Mubajje from going to any mosque anywhere in the world. It also condemned him to hell for reportedly committing Haram (sins) against the Muslim community. "

2) Fredrick Nzwili, "Church leaders want action on ritual killings of children" in Episcopal Life Online. I have largely tried to avoid mentioning the growing child sacrifices occurring in Uganda and throughout East Africa. Nevertheless, Ugandan Anglicans and others are coming together to put an end to this horrible practice. I pray that the gospel of Jesus Christ will overcome witchcraft in the country!

3) Colin Smith, "A Brief Introduction to the Qur'an: The Qur'an and the Old Testament" on the Alpha & Omega Ministries Apologetics Blog. Last month, I mentioned that Colin Smith began a series to introduce Islam's sacred book. He's just posted the second post in the series. Don't forget to check it out.

4) Rob Bowman, "Who Wants to Be an Apologist?" on the Religious Researcher blog. For those of us who defend the Christian faith, Bowman provides an excellent reminder of what it means to be a good apologist. Like him, I pray that the Lord will continue to show me where I fall short as well as raise up many good apologists globally in these days of confusion.

Weekly Round-Up

This week's round-up is a little late since my wife and I were able to go on a date last night (a rare opportunity when you have a diabetic child!). In any case, I still wanted to bring your attention to some new material on the web:

1) Paul Carden, "False teachings addressed in Africa" in Proclamation! magazine (November/December 2008). The Executive Director of our parent ministry has an article on African apologetics in the latest issue of Proclamation! Published by former Seventh-day Adventists, this magazine is an incredibly informative resource. I appreciate the opportunity to expose their readers to the challenges facing Christians and others in East Africa.

2) John Arube-Wani, "We musn't forget the Kanungu tragedy" in the New Vision newspaper (Uganda). Here is another editorial piece on the Sserulanda Spiritual Foundation. This researcher is worried that Uganda could be facing another Kanungu. Regardless, more study definitely needs to be done on this group.

3) Massimo Introvigne, "'The Black Jews of Africa': A Review" on the Center for Studies on New Religions web site. I find book reviews to be helpful overviews and quick snapshots of more substantive works. This review was very helpful in opening my eyes toward Black Jews in Africa. Now I'll have to add The Black Jews of Africa to my Amazon wish list!

4) "Theology in Black and White?" on the (Anglican) Church Mission Society web site. This link includes an audio dialogue between an emerging church, postmodern Englishman and a Pentecostal Nigerian. I found their discussion to be fascinating. This is a good MP3 to download and listen to for those interested in African vs. Western Christianity. As one blogger titled this conversation: "Postmodern Doubt and African Certainty."

Weekly Round-Up: Cults and False Teaching in East Africa, New Apologetics Resource, and Historical Background to Islam

Here's this week's round-up:

1) Peter Thatiah, "In God’s name" in the Eastern Standard newspaper (Kenya). A very important news report on several contemporary cults and false teaching that is all too common in East Africa today. If you want to understand better the challenges facing Christians in Africa, then I suggest reading this article.

2) Tim McGrew, "Historical Apologetics: 1697-1893" on the Resurgence blog. This is an excellent annotated bibliography including some great resources on the defense of our faith from an important period of Christian history. McGrew also provides links to download all of these resources for free. What a tremendous resource!

3) Michael A. G. Haykin, "Historical Background to Islam" (MP3) on the Andrew Fuller Center for Baptist Studies web site. Haykin's lecture on Islam from a conference earlier this year has finally been posted online. To learn more about the formation and early development of Islam, you'll want to download and listen to this message.

Working Together With Rose Publishing

As we prepare to launch the ministry of the Africa Center for Apologetics Research, we’re always on the lookout for good material to help East African believers grow in their ability to defend the Christian faith. Thankfully, we’ve developed excellent partnerships with several other ministries, allowing us to bring some of the best material available to Africa. I’ve already described our partnerships with Stand to Reason and the Institute for Religious Research; today I want to focus on Rose Publishing.

You may have seen Rose’s fine work without realizing it. Chances are good that their Bible charts and maps are being used in your local church. Interestingly, the company was started by a Sunday-school teacher and a public-school teacher who were having trouble finding good visual teaching materials for their classes. They began to create their own, and as time went by more and more people starting requesting them. Today, Rose produces some of the very best Christian books, pamphlets, wall charts, timelines, PowerPoint presentations, and maps available.

A number of Rose’s apologetics-oriented resources (including the “10 Questions and Answers” series) are edited by CFAR’s own Paul Carden. And with Rose’s permission, CFAR has already translated and/or adapted a number of their pamphlets on the cults and apologetics into Russian, Hungarian, Spanish, and other languages. By making such high-quality resources available to CFAR, Rose helps us to put otherwise unavailable discernment tools into the hands of pastors and Christian workers. Whenever pastors and other church leaders receive Rose pamphlets, they’re immediately impressed and want to know how to get more.

And thanks to Rose, we’ve already taken many pamphlets and wall charts on cults, comparative religions, the Trinity, and Islam to East African Bible colleges and seminaries. In the future we plan to create special African editions of the Christianity, Cults and Religions pamphlet and other materials to meet the unique needs of believers there.

As my family moves to Uganda to start ACFAR’s ministry, it’s certain that materials from Rose Publishing will be critical to our success in inoculating and equipping Christians. Rose is a treasured partner in our work, and we praise God for their help in advancing biblical discernment.

Note: A number of the pamphlets we use are gathered in The Rose Book of Bible Charts, Maps, Time Lines and Rose Bible Basics: Christianity, Cults & Religions.

Weekly Round-Up: Witchcraft, Street Preachers, Islamic Conflict, and New Conference Audio

Here's this week's round-up:

1) Joachim Buwembo, "Ugandans losing their heads to a new generation of witchdoctors" in the East African newspaper (Kenya). Witchcraft is a very serious reality in Uganda and East Africa. I have written about this ever-present challenge before, but Buwembo reminds us of the fear, suffering, and even death which Africans struggle with constantly. I pray that the gospel will overcome this darkness!

2) Claire Nabwire, "Street preachers" in the Sunday Monitor newspaper (Uganda). Here is an interesting news story on street preachers in Uganda.

3) Madinah Tebajjukira, "Rebels Muslims seek own mufti" in the New Vision; Ssemujju Ibrahim Nganda, "Mubajje now an imposed Mufti" in the Weekly Observer; and Paul Amoru, "The troubled cleric" in the Daily Monitor newspapers (Uganda). Mufti Sheikh Shaban Ramadhan Mubajje may have begun as a popular Muslim leader in Uganda, but his going to trial for fraud has created many problems for the Islamic community. While he was acquitted of the charges against him, many Muslims still believe that he is guilty. These reports help explain the challenges Mufti Mubajje continues to face.

4) "Karis Theology Weekend Audio Now Up" on the Karis Blog. A few weeks ago I mentioned an upcoming conference with (now Evangelical Theological Society President!) Bruce Ware. This week the church sponsoring the conference has posted the audio, including a discussion on Jesus and salvation. You'll want to download and listen to these MP3s!

Working Together With the Institute for Religious Research

As we continue preparing to launch the Africa Center for Apologetics Research in Uganda, our ministry has been blessed to have many partnerships with other Christian organizations who are also devoted to defending our common faith. I have already mentioned our partnership with Stand to Reason. Now I'd like to focus on another apologetics ministry. By working together, we are already making a different for the kingdom of God in East Africa!

One of ACFAR's most important partner ministries is the Institute for Religious Research (IRR), based in Grand Rapids, Michigan. IRR is widely known as a model ministry, characterized by its balance, integrity, and innovation. Led until 2007 by the late Luke Wilson, IRR is now headed by veteran apologist Robert M. Bowman, Jr.

In my mind, Bowman is one of the foremost Christian apologists alive today. He has written or co-written many books and journal articles, including one of my favorites on defending the faith: Faith Has Its Reasons. As a former Mormon, I also appreciate IRR's Mormons in Transition ministry.

Additionally, we have a long history serving Christ together. IRR was one of the founding sponsors of the first Center for Apologetics Research in St. Petersburg, Russia in 1993. Since then, IRR and the Centers for Apologetics Research have teamed up on a number of projects, including the translation and adaptation of IRR’s tracts, pamphlets, and videos in Russian, Hungarian, Ukrainian, and Portuguese.

IRR is one of the few North American countercult ministries that shares CFAR’s vision and commitment for international, cross-cultural apologetics outreach. We look forward to distributing their English- and Swahili-language resources in East Africa and to partnering in the translation of key materials into other local languages across the continent!

Weekly Round-Up: Conning African Christians, Free Apologetics Audio, Frame on Evil, and Budziszewski on Nihilism

Here's this week's round-up:

1) Kevin Kadipo, "Preying on the prayerful" in Eastern Standard newspaper (Kenya). Another example of how Africans are conned out of their money and possessions.

2) Rob Bowman, "Introduction to Apologetics Course" on the Parchment and Pen blog. I mentioned this course when it was originally offered, but now the folks at Reclaiming the Mind Ministries are making the audio of the entire course free to download. If you weren't able to be a part of the class, then don't miss listening to this excellent evangelical scholar teach about defending our faith. And make sure to sign-up for Bowman's next class: Christian Apologetic Methods.

3) Andy Naselli, "Interview with John Frame on the Problem of Evil" on the Between Two Worlds blog. Take one of my favorite living apologists/theologians and ask him questions on one of the most difficult challenges of the Christian faith, and the result is this brief interview. If you or someone you know is struggling with the problem of evil, then you'll want to read this discussion.

4) J. Budziszewski, "Escape from Nihilism" on Leadership University. This link is a little different for me to include, but I just came across it and found it fascinating. Budziszewski writes about his conversion from nihilism to Christ. In reading it, I couldn't help but think of Romans 1:18ff.

Weekly Round-Up: Predicting the Return of Christ, and Testing Revivals

Here's this week's round-up:

1) Manasseh Zindo, "Kenyan lawyer announces 'the return' of Jesus" on the Religious Intelligence web site. While this report is now a couple weeks old, it is nevertheless important. We read about a lawyer-turned-prophet who proclaims that the rapture will occur and Jesus will manifest himself to his people on July 18, 2010. As the article concludes, it warns against taking such predictions lightly, pointing to the Kanungu Massacre in Uganda, when hundreds of followers were killed.

2) John Piper, "Test Revival with Doctrine" on the Desiring God blog. Piper provides much-needed biblical insight in the wake of the unraveling of the Lakeland "revival." As he wisely points out:

Discernment is not created in God’s people by brokenness, humility, reverence, and repentance. It is created by biblical truth and the application of truth by the power of the Holy Spirit to our hearts and minds. When that happens, then the brokenness, humility, reverence, and repentance will have the strong fiber of the full counsel of God in them. They will be profoundly Christian and not merely religious and emotional and psychological.

Working Together With Stand to Reason

In East Africa, we often have Christians asking us for more resources to help equip them to defend our faith. While the development and translation of new materials is something that will have to wait until our ministry begins full-time in Uganda, we have been blessed to find other apologetics ministries with a global vision willing to help Africans now.

One ministry that has been very helpful is Stand to Reason (STR). Founded by Greg Koukl, STR is an organization dedicated to training Christians to think more clearly about their faith and to make an even-handed, incisive, yet gracious defense for classical Christianity and classical Christian values in the public square. On a personal note, I would like to point out how important this ministry has been in my own spiritual growth. I still have old cassette tapes from Koukl on the Trinity, the relationship between grace and works, and decision making and the will of God. I have also read Solid Ground for years. STR has been a blessing to thousands of believers throughout America.

So you can imagine my excitement when I heard of their willingness to partner with us as we seek to advance biblical discernment in Africa. Over the last several months, we have been working together to make a CD-ROM that will help Ugandans to grow in their knowledge of God's Word and to defend Christianity against falsehood. The result is a self-contained CD, including all of the contents of their web site in PDF format, MP3s of some of their most critical audio resources, and even QuickTime videos answering fundamental questions about Jesus.

The STR Resource CD—developed specifically for ministry distribution outside the U.S.—is an efficient and inexpensive way of placing a large amount of solid information into the hands of the many Christians in East Africa who have some access to a computer but little or none to the Internet. As you can see, this is one example of how we can work together to help our African brothers and sisters in Christ.

I appreciate STR's willingness to produce such a wonderful resource. And I look forward to seeing what we can accomplish together in the future. Koukl himself has been very gracious and supportive. As a matter of fact, he has agreed to speak at our upcoming event "Awakening Africa: Guarding the Gospel" next month at the historic Bowers Museum in Southern California. If you will be in the area on September 27th and would like to know more, please let me know.

God is truly blessing the Africa Center for Apologetics Research. Momentum is growing. Churches, ministries, and individuals are coming together to make a difference. I can't wait to see what God will do next!

Biblical Literacy vs. Apologetics: Responding to Kobusingye (Pea)

Last week, I was made aware of a blog post written by Kobusingye (also known as Pea) on our YouTube video series "The Challenge of Cults in East Africa." Unfortunately, the entire WordPress blog site has been taken down, but you can still find Pea's post here. In any case, I wanted to take the opportunity to interact with Pea's critique of ACFAR (and since I don't know whether Pea is a man or a woman, I will use the generic "he" when referring to this blogger).

First, I appreciate Pea's willingness to think through the role of apologetics in the Christian life. He correctly points out the common problem of biblical illiteracy in Africa and is looking for a God glorifying solution. Thus, it is with respect to my co-laborer in Christ that I must disagree with his reasoning and conclusion.

The center of Pea's argument is maintaining that biblical literacy rather than apologetics is the solution to Africa's cult problem. However, in doing so he has misunderstood the relationship between biblical literacy and apologetics. Defending the faith comes out of biblical literacy. So, to learn apologetics is to become biblically literate. Christians cannot defend God's truth unless they first know God's truth.

Additionally, Pea says that we must devote ourselves to God's truth without bothering to learn about error. But this conclusion is simply unbiblical. The Apostle Paul wrote to Titus that church leaders must "be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it" (Titus 1:9). How can church leaders rebuke those who contradict God's truth without knowing what these false teachers are claiming? As a matter of fact, Pea has learned some Jehovah's Witnesses doctrine since in his article he points out their denial of the deity of Jesus Christ.

Pea also seems to adopt a "me-and-my-Bible-are-enough" approach to our faith. But we must not forget that Christ never intended for us to live out our spiritual lives by ourselves or to fight for our faith alone. He has given us His body, the church, with brothers and sisters in Christ to work together in advancing His kingdom. This is where books and resources can be helpful. Believers are able to share their God-given insights with others in these materials, allowing many followers of Christ to grow in their faith and to avoid error. Can books lead to forgetfulness of the Main Book? Sure. But this is due to the sinful tendencies in one's heart, not the result of simply learning through books themselves.

Pea closes his critique by asserting that East Africa does not need a center for apologetics research. He writes, "To tell me Biblical Literacy is impossible without a Research Centre is the same as Juanita Bynum saying she cannot pray for the nations until and unless the church donates $200,000 for her to build a threshing floor to pray on. It's a little too ridiculous for me." While I would never claim that biblical literacy is impossible in Africa without ACFAR, I nevertheless hope that African believers will see the value of having a place to go where they can learn more about responding to the cults and false teachings that regularly challenge their faith. May God use our ministry to further biblical literacy and to defend His truth!

Ask Anything Wednesday: Witnessing to Mormons

Welcome to Ask Anything Wednesday. This week I am answering another great question. Please keep them rolling in! Just submit your question--on anything!--in the comments section below and I'll consider responding to it in our monthly feature.

Question:
"We've had a lovely group of elders visiting for almost 4 months now on a fairly regular basis. They've come to church with us (my husband invited them and they said it was the first time they'd been to a Protestant church), and I've had many long hours of gracious conversation with them. I'm truly interested in hearing them explain their dogma and asking them questions. They know I'm a Christian and don't want to convert.

"So, my question is -- am I fooling myself in thinking that this is a good use of my time? I don't mean these young gentlemen are not worth it! They are. I'm wondering if asking questions, probing, being genuinely interested is a biblical approach AND an approach you've seen bear fruit."

Answer:
Developing friendships with Mormons (or other unbelievers for that matter) is always a good use of your time. There are many reasons why it is worthwhile to learn about their beliefs and to ask questions. Having them explain their faith allows you to better understand what they believe, which will help you to share the gospel with them as well as other Latter-day Saints in the future. And asking questions not only clarifies one's beliefs, they also can be used as an effective way to point out inconsistencies or plant seeds of doubt.

At the same time, as you can tell, I do not think a Christian may stop with merely having learned more about another faith. Our Savior has not called us to have a better understanding of what others believe; we are to reach out to them with His good news. Mormons are in rebellion against God and are rejecting Him through a false Christ and a false gospel. Apart from repentance and faith in God's One True Son, they face God's wrath for their sin. Thankfully, He has saved us from His wrath and has provided His people with propitiation for sin (which encompasses all who come to faith, including many Mormons). Who wouldn't want to tell Latter-day Saints about this wonderful redemption?

To learn more, I would highly suggest reading Mark Cares' book Speaking the Truth in Love to Mormons. It is easily the best book that I have read on witnessing to Mormons. You can also check out Cares' ministry or learn more through Mormonism Research Ministry (I used to volunteer for this fine organization).

Weekly Round-Up: Benny Hinn, John MacArthur, Individualism vs. Communitarianism, and D'Souza vs. Hitchens

Here's this week's round-up:

1) Marthinus van Vuuren Rapport, "God bless your credit card" on News 24 (South Africa). Would you like to know Benny Hinn's latest antics in Africa? This report begins with: "God's blessing would last only two minutes and it would create 500 churchgoing millionaires or even billionaires - all they had to do was use their credit cards to pay $1 000 in offerings to televangelist Benny Hinn."

2) John MacArthur, "Fully Man and Fully God" in Pulpit Magazine. Here is a great introduction to the biblical truth that Jesus Christ is both fully man and fully God. False teachers and cults often deny at least one of these facts, but God's revelation shows us otherwise. What a glorious Savior!

3) Jonathan Leeman, "Individualism's Not the Problem--Community's Not the Solution" (in PDF format) in Modern Reformation (July/August 2008). Many of today's missionaries and church leaders fall into the trap of overcompensating for Western individualism by focusing on community. Leeman provides a much needed corrective to this contemporary shift.

4) Dinesh D'Souza, "An Absentee God?" on the Townhall web site. D'Souza takes atheist Christopher Hitchens to the woodshed, showing how simplistic and problematic his arguments can be. I may be a young earth creationist and would defend Christianity somewhat differently, but I still found D'Souza's piece informative.

Weekly Round-Up: Ugandan Preaching, the State of Apologetics, A Theologically-Driven Missiology, and Witnessing to Mormons

Here's this week's round-up:

1) Caroline Mbabazi, "The good old sermon" in the Sunday Monitor newspaper (Uganda). Wow. A woman writes about how poor preaching usually is in Uganda, appealing to Creflo Dollar, Joyce Meyer, T.D Jakes, and Rod Parsley as good examples. How desperately churches in Uganda need to grow in biblical knowledge and discernment!

2) William Lane Craig, "God Is Not Dead Yet: How current philosophers argue for his existence" and "Recommended Reading: Books on the existence of God;" Troy Anderson, "A New Day for Apologetics" in Christianity Today (July 2008). Finally, an issue of Christianity Today magazine focusing on the defense of our faith. Whatever one may think of Craig's methodology, these articles are very helpful. I pray that a growing interest in apologetics will spread to East Africa!

3) Bruce Ashford, "A Theologically-Driven Missiology," Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4 on the Between the Times blog. Ashford is a professor at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary who is writing a series of blog posts for Southern Baptists on the relationship between theology and missions. So far he has covered Revelation, the Triune God, and Christ. While I just came across this series, I am very impressed so far. He says, "Our tendency is to affirm Christian Scripture as being inspired by God and without error, and then to ignore Christian Scripture in forming our strategies and methods. It is as if we are saying that 'what' we believe about God is important, but 'how' we practice is not. We think that we can 'bank on' inerrancy and then do whatever we’d like." May many more missionaries see the importance of theology in their service to God.

4) Brett Kunkle, "Getting Mormons to Explain Why," Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 on the Stand to Reason YouTube page. A must-watch video series on witnessing to Mormons. As a former Mormon myself, I heartily recommend it.

Weekly Round-Up: African Prosperity Preacher on the Run, Kony and the LRA, Insight from Jude, and Witnessing to Mormons

Here's this week's round-up:

1) "Pastor Muwanguzi abandons flock" and "On the trail of an elusive pastor" in the Sunday Vision newspaper (Uganda). Here is another report on an Ugandan prosperity preacher fleecing the flock for personal gain. And now that things have heated up, he's split. Unfortunately, this story is all too common in Africa today.

2) Michael Gerson, "Africa's Messiah of Horror" in the Washington Post newspaper. Don't miss this important op-ed piece on Joseph Kony and the Lord's Resistance Army. Please pray that Kony's reign of terror will end!

3) Niel Nielson, "Choose This Day" on the Ligonier Ministries Blog. Reprinted from the latest issue of Tabletalk magazine, Nielson provides some much-needed biblical insight from the letter of Jude.

4) Joel Groat, "The Mormon Belief Continuum." I know that I have been posting several videos lately, but I could not resist letting you know about this message from Joel Groat. Would you like to better understand how to witness to Mormons? Then make sure to watch this video.