As I have studied and tried to understand the current
conversations (Mormonism and street preaching), two things keep coming to
the surface of the muddled puddle that I refer to as my brain.
The first is that Joseph Smith, like Mohammed, stands
alone as God's messenger. In the case of both these alleged prophets,
we have a lone ranger, revealing what has been given only to him, and only
for a limited time. If you believe either of them, you place your
complete trust in the revelation (or ranting) of one man at one point in
time. Contrast that to the Bible, where we have about forty men and a
couple of women recording the revelation given to them over sixteen hundred
years. Most of them never lived at the same time or knew each other,
yet the coming of our Savior was predicted and documented by all of them,
and when read or studied, their testimonies all fit together like pieces of
a puzzle.
When the Holy Bible was written, there were at least three
warnings in it not to add or take anything from that Book. Since both
Mohammed and Joseph Smith came along well after this Book was complete, and
no reference was ever made to them in the Book, they must be considered
whackos, and if they could return from hell for one minute, they would
repent loudly enough to drown out the tabernacle choir.
The second thing concerns the evangelism methods being
discussed. I notice that there are places in the Bible where the
prophets screamed threats, others where they begged people to repent.
There was "Thus saith the Lord" and there was "come, let us reason
together". John the Baptist was a name caller, a screamer, and one who
would jump on you about your sin. Paul tried to be all things to all
people. God used both of them effectively. I find plenty of room
in the Bible for teachers such as those Judy prefers, and I also find plenty
of room for the type of preacher that Dean sees as a model for him to
follow. There is a verse that says Jesus sat and taught, and there is
a verse that says He cried out.
God did not give all of us the same personality, and God
never expected us to conform ourselves to one mould. God can use
anyone who wants to be used with one possible exception. I do not see
anywhere where He used someone who simply stayed home and said,"Look at
me. I am a good example."
Terry
