Last month, Heidi, a former Mormon with a zeal to minister to the Mormon people contacted me on Facebook and asked for some “getting involved” advice.
I think that my response should help some of you who have that same desire. In it, I talk about how I began this work and the many blessings and pitfalls I encountered along the way. I have since done a little editing to the note I sent Heidi.
Reflections on My Ministry/ Ed Decker
Dear Heidi, thanks for writing.. I have been in the middle of a move the past few weeks, so my Facebook time has been limited..
I am so glad that you have been 'set free' from the bondage we both struggled within. For me, it took a bit more.. didn't cut loose until I was 39. By the age of 42, I was in full time ministry to the Mormons and that was, oh wow, 33 years ago....
I have slowed down over the years, a lot due to illness, but my zeal grows exponentially. I may walk around like Caleb, but have a Joshua spirit. Every day I get up knowing that God will use me somewhere exciting.
I also have been a pastor, retiring about 3 years ago.. I enjoyed working with the people of the congregation, such a change from dealing with the darkness of Mormonism.
I have closed my offices and work with my wife, my sons who pitch in when needed and a daughter-in-law who manages the mail and general office activities from her home nearby.
Amazing how much can be accomplished in my study on my laptop and the web.. I am still seeing such great fruit from this work that I will be doing it until the Lord takes me home for good.. I have had a few close calls already but keep getting tossed back.
When I started out, I didn’t have a plan or a team. I was an new Christian, saved in a little neighborhood church, where I learned about the power of the gifts in me and the anointing that comes through prayer and the WORD indwelled..
I prayed that the Lord would open doors, to send me those He wanted me to share His love with. I didn’t advertise or go after anyone. Once I determined I would minister in His Grace, I waited and He sent them to me and opened doors in SS classes, home Bible Studies and then FGBFI asked me to share my testimony and then Churches asked me to speak at the pulpit and then…. Mormons would show up at my door… and before long, I was in full time ministry..
Then came the books and films…missionary trips with teams of young/and old people to Utah and then almost 50 countries later.. The web is filled with sites dealing with the LDS issues, hundred of ministries have sprung up when there were less than you could count on your fingers when we started. These ministries and sites contain tremendous insight to the heresies of Mormonism.
I think it essential that you wait upon the Lord for His plan for your ministry DNA. If you are in balance with His will, He will begin the work in and through you.
One point of caution. Some of the ministries to the Mormons operate in the natural, and while good argument is fine, it must be balanced by prayer and understanding that the Mormons are not our enemies or God’s enemies. They are victim and even the aggressive ones are only behaving as they are spiritually led to behave.
I have taken a lot of hits over the years because I am considered too radical, bold, and a ‘sensationalist.’ I am not welcome in some Christian ministry circles.
The Mormons say that I write half-truths, misrepresentation, and even outright lies. I have been offering to dialogue those issues for over 30 years and have few takers. They don’t say that about my co-authors. I am accused of things that other people have done and I usually shrug it off. There are as many anti-Ed Decker sites out there, filled in many cases with outrageous lies.. that would be laughable if it didn’t effect some witnessing.
Expect that some will speak quite negatively about you, your motives, your character, your research and your failure to live the laws and ordinances of the LDS gospel. If you let the naysayers get to you, fold up your tent today, because, if you are effective in this work, they will live at your heels continually. If you must worry about something, worry when everyone speaks well of you.
In looking back, I would change very little. I saw ministries that had been at it
for years with little or no fruit, or in lives changed.. I felt the call was to go out and be as the fox, setting fire to the fields.. For a number of years, as I traveled through Utah and the adjoining States, we had both revival and riots.. Reminded us of the days of Paul’s ministry, when he escaped by being lowered from a window in a basket.
In later years, I have spent more time researching, writing, training and mentoring others.. I have no regret that my name and reputation have been slandered and scorned.. I’ll let the Lord deal with His correction for me, as He has over the years..
We have seen many tens of thousands of lives changed over the years and with all those men and women out there in all the ministries, who replace the false gospel with the true, who divide the Word carefully, share the real Jesus instead of the Mormon Jesus, I would guess as many people drop out of Mormonism as join it these days.
I suggest you look at an article I wrote a while back. It will give you much more direction http://www.saintsalive.com
Heidi, please use any or all of any resource we have, change it to your own needs and be free to take full ownership.I will be praying for you as you and your husband step out in faith. I know this Facebook group will be a great blessing to you and those of us who share it with you.
Your grateful brother in Christ, Ed
Join Heidi at her Facebook group, Mormons To Christ Ministries at:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Mormons-To-Christ-Ministries/128614073848158?v=wall
and finally, one email that I thought you would enjoy
Hi Ed, This last weekend I was getting my hair trimmed by a long time friend. She told me of a story this last Christmas time. She and her husband were invited to a neighborhood recital party. They went where most were unbelievers. Then one neighborhood couple came in. His name was Gary They came in 3 sheets to the wind and drunk. They continued drinking wine during the evening. Another guest was a Mormon Bishop. After the recital Gary kept slurring congratulations to the recitalist. Then he turned to the Mormon Bishop and asked if his "church" was by I-90? He said yes. A little later he asked the Bishop again if his "church" was beside I-90? Graciously the Bishop answered again yes. Then Gary said, "you know, the church with Ken Griffey Jr. on top"?