A good Christian friend of mine (whom I will call Allen) was at Temple Square with others, talking with whomever would stop to talk about Jesus. Mormonism was not the topic of discussion, but only Jesus. Temple grounds security guards stopped and told him, "You must leave immediately or be arrested." When Allen inquired what they had done to deserve such unprovoked hostility they said, "You are not allowed to talk about Jesus on Church property." As this was a bit shocking, coming from men who were supposed to be security guards for the 'Church of Jesus Christ,' he asked them why?
They just said, "This property belongs to us and we have every legal right to arrest you for trespass if you do not leave immediately." So Allen said, "Technically, if this truly is the Church of Jesus Christ the property belongs to Jesus and I am certain He would approve of us talking about His teachings on His property." At this point the guards made it clear that they were going to call the local Sheriff and have them arrested if they did not leave immediately.
Allen attempted to reason with them "Look, we don't want any trouble and we will leave your property but please, just take a minute to think about what you are doing - You are supposed to be representatives of the "Church of Jesus" and you are threatening to arrest Christians for talking about Jesus - does that make any sense?"
As one of the guards escorted Allen off the Plaza the guard asked what Allen would think if he (the guard) came to Allen's personal property or to his church to do what Allen and his friends were doing. Allen smiled and said, "You are invited to my personal property any time and trust me, you would be welcome to come to our church to discuss the teachings of Jesus. We would talk with you as long as you want to talk." The Guard just looked frustrated.
And, since that tactic didn't work, the guard said, "Well, you KNOW that Jesus would never have encouraged His disciples to break the law and you are breaking the law - you are trespassing!" Allen just said, "That is exactly why we are here... you do not know Jesus nor do you understand His teachings. When the Lord's disciples were arrested by the Temple Guards and thrown into jail, an angel sent from God set them free and told them to go right back to the temple and keep preaching. If you think your threats will stop us from being witnesses for Jesus you are dead wrong." This shocked the guard, and his face softened a bit as he said in a hushed voice, "Well, if you come back again within the next 24 hours I will have no choice but to arrest you." Allen responded, "Look, I know you are just doing your job, and I realize you have rules to follow, but think about it... you are hired by 'The Church of Jesus' to stop Christians from talking about Jesus - that's just not right."
Click on the heading.
Please go to Concerned Christians web. Take a look around. They are helping many Mormons who want to know the truth in Jesus!
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