The other day, some Mormon missionaries came to my house. I suppose they desired to serve their church and convert me. Oh, these are so cool. I love the power of a testimony. Definently read those if you have a chance. Truth time: As I listened to their message, I resolved in my heart not to make my decisions or choose my words based on fear. In my dealings with the world, I've learned that many times, I stand stubbornly on an issue or organization out of a fear of being wrong, or even out of fear of being on the losing team. But this is life, and this is truth. "Perfect love casts out all fear." I know that if I find fear and defensiveness in my heart and its out of that fearful heart that I speak, the words aren't spoken in true love. More truth time: Growing up in a Christian home, in a Christian country, in a Christian region (the south- where churches have bowling alleys and restaurants), there came a critical time in my life when I had to get real and ask myself, "How can I know that this Jesus is the real God? What about the millions of Buddhists, Muslims, Hindus, Jews, and millions of others? Could Christians really have a monopoly on the truth? That seems rather arrogant and narrow!" It really seemed that I would have a natural disposition to become a Christian with the circumstances surrounding my life. I remember my one desire at the time was not a Christian agenda, but to know the truth, and to know which God is the real God. How did that issue get resolved for me? Well, it boils down to this: "Did I not tell you that if you believe, you would see the glory of God?" And I did and so I have. God has touched my life so profoundly. And Job, who had a ton of questions, many of which did not get answered. Instead God's response, "Where were you when I created the heavens? The earth?" That might not be satisfactory for many people. Fortunately, I'm not many people, and that's so cool. God knew exactly what was needed to address my doubts and questions without having to do so in the way I would have expected him to. Which makes God all the more amazing. Back to the Mormons: I didn't want to shut them out, and even as I was listening to them, I asked God, "If what they say is true, let me know, because I don't want to shut you out. But guard me against lies and smooth words." Hehe. Its so funny because when Daniel told me that there were some "church of Jesus Christ missionaries" at our door, my first thought was, "what do these damn cult members want? perpetuators of lies! spawn of satan!" Well, maybe not that extreme, but somewhere along those thought lines. As I went out to meet them I had to continually deal with my fear. My desire to argue with them. My desire to prove them wrong and prove myself right. But as we talked I found that I began to have a heart for these guys. I'm talking about two corn-fed white boys from the breadbasket of America. One born in Idaho, the other born in Utah. Age 20 and 21. Just like me. Well, except that they're white and from Idaho and Utah. But really, not much different from me. These guys don't know any better! Their parents are most likely Mormons, and they've probably been indoctrinated hardcore since their youth. See, the cool thing about God is this: we don't have to rely on stealthy arguments, human wisdom, or human intelligence. We only rely on the goodness of God. If God is doing his thing, which he usually is, and these guys don't know God, I'm just guessing that there's a severe lack of true love, grace, and joy in the hearts of these boys. And a healthy dose of religion. I know how much that sucks. So. I'm really excited. These guys gave me a Book of Mormon and are planning to come back to my house on Tuesday to see how my Mormonification is going. I'd really like to take them out to a Starbucks or McDonald's, or even for a beer (ha ha). Just hang out. Like the couple of guys we are. Relate. I think God is gonna provide opportunity for me to share some stories with them. It's gonna be great. Oh man, the Holy Spirit is gonna bring some truth and its gonna be schweeet. By the way, if you want to read more, here are some life stories that are very very powerful. There's plenty of anti-mormon propoganda on the web, but a testimony is really something different. It's so real. Check it out.