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My testimony to Jesus Christ and my rebuttal to six doctrinal points of the Governing Body and Watchtower and Bible Tract Society, et. al.
In 1990 I turned to the Bible for help and answers during a time of great stress in my marriage and family life. I secluded myself in my bedroom and began to read the Gospel books from the Living Bible. I did this over a few weeks when I could find time between work and familyduties. I began to become very infatuated with this man JESUS. I never doubted he existed because I had heard of him before and had been to Jerusalem and Galilee when I was a teenager along with my family for a vacation my father saw as a good purpose… to visit the Holy Land.
But now I was learning about this good and perfect person who God sent us for our salvation and reconciliation to him. When I got to the end of the book of John, I remember how I knelt and came to invite Jesus into my heart to lead me and that I gave myself over to be one of his disciples. It was an emotional and heart-changing moment. Instantly, The Holy Spirit filled me with an incredible sensation. I had tears of joy. I was never to be the same. I felt HIM dwelling inside me from that moment onward.
I immediately knew I must seek him out and find out if there were any disciples left on the earth, because all I knew about the churches I was aware of over my life, I had never sensed they were a group of disciples as I had come to know from the Gospel books I had just read. But I now knew more, and my eyes of perception were sharpened from the scriptures. I felt I had The Holy Spirit inside me leading me and I was not afraid to go to the various churches in my area in search of those who are called Christians in the manner that I gleaned from the scriptures. I went to perhaps 6 or 10 church services and stopped in to speak to pastors when I drove past a church I had not seen before. I did not feel the same spirit in them that I had in me. I kept looking. I knew what I was looking for and it was to find those that were like the disciples I had read about in the Gospel books of the Bible. Meanwhile, I decided to move to Canada where my wife had a family.
I immigrated to Canada with my family to start a new life in a rural area away from the madness of the cities and culture of California which was sliding into demonic liberalism to accommodate the Homosexual community in San Francisco. I read about the changes being made in government and how the cultural leaders and media were pushing God out of the public discourse and instead pushing society towards a “No rules, do what feels good,” moral attitude . I didn’t want this abomination and ugly disrespect for Godly principles to be the environment in which I would raise my children. So we moved up north.
I continued my spiritual journey looking for the disciples and trusting The Holy Spirit to guide me and keep me from the empty places. I went to perhaps other 6 or 8 churches in our small village in our area with my wife sometimes accompanying me. But I continued to leave empty and unfulfilled spiritually. I could not understand why even the pastors I met with seemed a part of the world as if they had never experienced The Holy Spirit. Looking back now, it’s clear they were still “in the world” and had not had the same experience I had when I submitted my heart to Jesus. So I continued to pray every day to the Lord to lead me to his people or to lead his people to find me.
This was my prayer as I knew that I needed help in reading and understanding the Holy Scriptures and I needed to be around those, who like me, had experienced The Holy Spirit (baptism in The Holy Spirit?) and who were pushing forward to become disciples of Jesus and witnesses to the Gospel and Kingdom of God. But I was frustrated in not finding them yet still patient and enduring in asking the Father to help me find the disciples.
One day I came home at lunch and my wife had prepared my meal. I sat at the table and there I saw a magazine. I started to read it and I got very excited. It was talking about God and that God had a name, Jehovah, and this magazine seemed to teach heavy scripture and from my viewpoint at that time, it was encouraging. Had I found the answer to my prayers? Had God led the disciples of Jesus to me? I didn’t know yet, but I was excited for it seemed the writer of this magazine knew God and was explaining Him. I exclaimed to my wife and asked, “Where did this magazine come from?” She replied that two ladies had come to the door and offered it and she, knowing I was searching for a church, accepted it and said to them, “My husband will be interested in reading it.” She was right. So where are these people now? I saw no local contact information. My wife told me the ladies said they will return.
I could hardly wait as I felt I had come across those that knew God and could teach Him to me. After all, I only had read the New Testament Gospels and knew little else, but wanted to know so much more. In a few weeks, the ladies returned and I answered the door. I then came out of the house and spoke with these two ladies (Jehovah’s Witness Sisters.) They impressed me as modest woman and they spoke softly. I agreed with their talk and when they invited me to the Sunday Public Meeting, I agreed. I attended my first meeting at the Kingdom Hall. After that meeting, the sister sitting near me who had come to my door asked me what I thought. When I affirmed that I liked what I heard, she offered a Bible study which I accepted. She arranged for Brother Catcher to meet up with me and I was so happy in anticipation and awaited his call.
And so I met with Brother Catcher at his home. We talked and read scriptures. He had not yet presented a Watch Tower publication book. We just met and talked and I remember him introducing Jehovah and the idea of theocracy (aka, the Kingdom of God.) But I also remember objecting to his introducing a theocracy (Kingdom) under the name of Jehovah and cited this scripture:
Mathew 28:18-20, BSB
18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey all that I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
I said to him, isn’t it Jesus we should be focused on? He is the Son, not the Father, but the Father gave him all authority so should we not be looking to Jesus to follow rather, than as Brother Catcher presented it to be the name of the Father (Jehovah) we should serve? Are we not serving the Father when we serve the Son? It was a subtle but important distinction to me.
Over the next weeks and months, I agreed to study the, "You Can Live Forever in Paradise Book.” So much knowledge of The Heavenly Father and Jesus was opened to me. I continued to study weekly and gradually added the Theocratic Ministry and Group Book Study meetings to my schedule in addition to the already attending to the Sunday Public Talk and Watchtower study meetings. My marriage continued to be under stress until it finally broke and my wife returned to our house in California with our children. Then, my acceptance and inclusion into the Catcher family household became even more important to me, from a social perspective and they certainly served me as a healing influence.
I have to say that to this day, I am so grateful this family took me in emotionally, spiritually, and physically in the sense that I was at their house several days every week for study or supper and was very happy to have a new family. Brother Catcher and his loving wife and their great kids were a blessing to me; I believe they were a gift to me from God. I was under a great deal of emotional trauma from an unstable life and there was a great healing that took place when I associated with this family in the environment of sharing and learning their faith and myself learning more and more Bible truth.
I learned more about God and Jesus and the Kingdom and soon I would be out in the ministry going door to door to spread the good news.
But what I didn’t fully realize at the time, was that among many of the true things l learned from scriptures were also doctrines of men being interwoven with Bible truth. Just to add some reflection, now after 30 years, the false teachings interlaced with Truth will eventually be disproven by The Holy Spirit to a seeker of Truth; these false teachings cannot stand the testing of scripture. Enlightenment comes from leading a prayerful life dedicated to Christ. The Truth eventually succeeds and a lie will be exposed. This journey took me 30 years to come back to Jesus from the spiritual damage that ensued after being stumbled by a false teaching; which I will now discuss.
With no disrespect for the Catcher family, because I have only love for them, but I must divulge what has been made clear to me. I can only give the credit for these clarities to The Holy Spirit. God called me back after 23 years of having walked away from the JW organization due to a Watchtower article that retracted their false declaration of the fulfillment of the event of Jesus separating the sheep and the goats. See a recap article issued on July 15, 2013, that addresses corrections in the Governing Body’s (GB) thinking for the separating action of sheep and goats by Christ Jesus and the time when the “Discreet Slave” would be given authority over the sheep of Jesus. (Spoiler alert: it is not until the beginning of the Tribulation per their article which refutes their having authority now (or in 1991 when I started to study) – (See attached WT July 15, 2013 Page 8 of 8 Paragraph 19).
However, it was in 1995 when they first retracted their claim that publishers were helping Jesus to separate the sheep from the goats at the door. That article caused me to lose faith in the legitimacy of the organization’s claim to be the exclusive channel for God to man at this time of the end and bolt out from them. The 2013 article I referred to says that this governing body and/or Discreet Slave does NOT have authority over Christ’s sheep pending the beginning of the Tribulation. I think many of the sheep still believe the GB does have authority from God though the GB now claim that authority will not be granted by Jesus until the time of the Tribulation (per this Watchtower article.) Many of the rank-and-file JWs are still living under the authority of the governing body who actually says they don’t yet have that authority. Why? Because the governing body continues teaching they do have that authority and are the only channel God is using with mankind. In other words, they contradict themselves yet still want the power over the members’ lives in an extraordinary manner and the members grant them this authority over their lives.
If they themselves say they have not been given authority by Jesus at this time, do not worry about your spiritual standing with God if they kick you out (dis-fellowship you.) You have not necessarily lost your standing with God. If you repent of any wrongful act (sin,) you can be restored to Him by The Holy Spirit. You do not need to return through a “year of process” to be confident you are forgiven. You are forgiven by God as soon as your repentance is sincere. (See Titus 3:5, 2 Cor 7:10) and note the word “renewing of The Holy Spirit.” Learn to separate their claimed authority over your standing before God and what the scriptures actually say about your relationship with God.
I left the Watchtower Jehovah's Witness (WTJW) organization because of the WT article that RECANTED a previous statement/doctrine of prophetic fulfillment that said the "publishers" were helping Jesus separate the sheep and goats at the door. I walked away spiritually stumbled and damaged that day after reading that article. Why? They claim to have "exclusive authority" from God as HIS ONLY channel of communication to mankind at this time in history near the end of days. So then, if they are the modern fulfillment of Mathew 24:45 as they claim, how could they then be wrong? How could they teach something so profound as... a disciple of Jesus Christ, while in the door-to-door ministry, is “assisting” Jesus to sort out those for life or those for destruction…and then say "Oops, made a mistake on that one." You can’t claim you are the exclusive channel for God’s communication with mankind and then keep correcting your doctrine. God is not incorrect anytime. You are, therefore, a false prophet.
Some may say, "How dumb to believe them from the beginning." But there is a lot more going on than you realize if you think this. For those not yet learned in the scriptures but longing to know God, the appeal of a vast library of easy to read literature on various Bible topics and indeed on revealing “a” master plan of God is strong. I learned more there than perhaps I could have anywhere. I also was able to serve my God declaring the Good News of the Kingdom to the public. But I also learned, sadly, false doctrines that had been slipped into the teachings of Bible Truth. God lead me there for a reason and in trusting Him I have survived the damages done to me. Always put your trust in God, not in man.
1 Peter 1:21 BSB
Through Him you believe in God, who raised Him from the dead and glorified Him; and so your faith and hope are in God.
Psa 146:3 BSB
Put not your trust in princes,
in mortal man, who cannot save.
This organization promotes and exercises complete control over members’ lives and their beliefs with the authority to dis-fellowship and cause the entire full worldwide membership including your own family to shun you. And they will dis-fellowship if you, being baptized by them, believe anything contrary to their doctrine. The people are not horrible, but it is the system they belong to that has strict rules.
Yet, their WT article (Oct 15, 1995 pp 18-23 p4) recanted a prior statement of a belief that you would have been unwise to question in public before that. That told me how abusive spiritually they were (and still are.) “Believe us or else….oops, we made a mistake, undo that thought.” And for those that died over the blood transfusion prohibition that we later qualified and modified, so sorry you died thinking you were being faithful to God when it was the Governing Body that demanded obedience to this, not God. But believe everything else we say (until we recant or clarify that.) But don’t object to our teachings at any time out loud or else we will hold a judicial committee and label you as apostate and then dis-fellowship you and shun you. The pain of this dis-fellowshipping to a young person can be mentally, emotionally, spiritually, and physically devastating. So much BLOOD GUILT is on those men from the very beginning of their false utterances.
When I read the answer to the last question in the article that day (the recanting of the timing of the separation of the sheep and goat doctrine,) it was surreal. I literally had The Holy Spirit pressing on me that I must leave because they had taught us the prophesy was already being fulfilled, but that day, changed it. When I walked away from the Kingdom Hall and the Organization, I realized that I had lost my ability to pray to God (they succeeded in hijacking it.) My mind had been so conditioned that I could not have a relationship with God except under the auspices of the governing body authority (the anointed) such that I could not pray for 23 years. I walked away from the WTJW and was angry at God for leading me to this false prophet and I gradually slipped into sin. My spirit was grieving and my mental state was experiencing cognitive dissonance. I was a spiritual and emotional wreck for many years. In retrospect, this false prophet was very clever. They interweave lies into scripture and teach a perverted version of Truth that is destructive to one’s soul.
Though I never renounced God and Jesus, I always stood firm in their sovereignty over me, but no longer prayed. As I continued to encounter individuals who seemed to be hurting in their lives, I bore witness to them about the healing power of God. I would even find a local Kingdom Hall to get literature as I traveled around the country to place with an individual. I knew no other resources and was still confused about what had happened to me and unsure about which way to go. My heart was still for Jesus, I just didn’t know how to relate to him. I had rejected the Watchtower; but I had not yet come to know Jesus free from the false teachings of a high-control religion that does not promote a personal relationship with God.
In 2019 when having a painful recovery from surgery I turned and cried out to God because I had reached my limit in separation from Him and felt the urgency to reconcile my relationship with Him. I again felt The Holy Spirit confirming in me that I was reaching out to my Heavenly Father and His SPIRIT was acknowledging me. I didn’t know where to start my relationship back towards Him. Although this might be hard for some to understand, the thought to enter a church in Christendom was not yet possible. For I still held they practiced a man-made (which is idolatry) version of Christianity. So, I returned to the Kingdom Hall in a new city I had moved to.
I told myself I will find out if my leaving the Watchtower was due to their false teachings, or was it me that messed up my spiritual calling. Therein began the disappointment. Jesus said deep brotherly LOVE would be the sign among his disciples. But it soon became clear to me as I began to try to reintegrate into the local Kingdom Hall that there was only a "pretense of love" within this congregation. The “love bombing” was real and then, over time, if you are not fully participating and agreeing to a new book study, it becomes evident a “condition” is attached to the measure of love and friendship they would show.
That condition was; the participation one makes to comment during the reading of Watchtower articles, meeting attendance, and how much time one spends in the ministry service. In one of the last online Zoom meetings I attended a "sister" commented that "our salvation may depend on how much we comment, our meeting attendance, and how often we go out in service." A light bulb went off. This is a works-based earn-your-salvation organization. You dare not leave them lest your salvation be at risk. A belief they instill in all members. Please don’t let me mislead you. I had become mobility impaired and the brothers would come pick me up for meetings and some helped me move when I lost my house. There are some beautiful people that are in this organization.
The experience I had was...THE LESS you participate in the full program (I call their program the 'arbitrary performance standards set by the Governing Body' which are subject to change from time to time and contradictions) the LESS love you will get. If you pull back from participation, you may become considered “bad association,” or spiritually weak (weakness synonymous with weakness in the 'Program' and you are to be avoided. But Jesus said LOVE is the KEY to know if you are among real Christians. How can love be conditional then? Love is love and there is a special love among the disciples even if some are struggling or are weak in faith. This is the very time to shore up your brothers and sisters in Christian Faith.
One particular brother that I liked very much offered to come to my house to help me install ceiling fans as I was disabled. I hoped we would be friends. When I asked if we could get together and read scripture, he suggested a WT book study with me. Huh? I have read a lot of those publications and there is nothing new except perhaps their "new light." I would rather read the scriptures. So that friendship could not progress because they can't relate to anyone not sharing the same "PROGRAMMING," as them.
Then I said to a brother that had helped me at my place: “Brother, I love you “unconditionally.” Wow, you should have seen the deer in the headlights look on his face. I must have said something horrible (they are not used to that type of sentiment.) When he moved from our neighborhood he never said goodbye. Apparently, I was not speaking “cult language.” You obviously cannot love unless it is qualified as "conditional love." Love is based on performance. At that point I was NOT performing fully to Plan though I was not saying anything contrary to their doctrinal beliefs. I can give you dozens of examples where the LOVE as Jesus embodied was not cultivated in the congregation. It was usually restricted.
Please know that I do not regret the association with JWs. In my mind, I was doing this all for Jesus to show my commitment and dedication to Him. And while there are plenty of false teachings I’ve now discovered, my vocal declarations in the door-to-door ministry were using specific scripture and yes, using the Watchtower (WT) where I could use it in teaching the Gospel of God’s Kingdom. I admit, however, I did teach false doctrines also. For that, I ask God to forgive me.
Thinking back, I was so “on fire” for Jesus, I ignored the teachings I was skeptical about. What I mean by that is I said to myself, “I don’t really understand that teaching or I can’t see it scripturally, but I am getting so much good from learning things in the Bible and living among good human beings, I am going to overlook those for now so I can serve God.” Those are my feelings towards my first congregation in Canada. In that small mountain community, life seemed like a dream to me. I had been accepted into the small extended family of the congregation (about 100 people) and I was happy to have such a large family. I don't hold any animosity or resentment towards those I loved despite having discovered they are still captive in a false religion.
The truth is that the Organization’s indoctrination methods are effective. They are subtle. Soon the unsuspecting, with less knowledge of scriptures, will eventually have his/her faith hijacked. You will begin to substitute the worship of the Organization instead of the worship of God, in Spirit and Truth. You will come to accept the governing body of “anointed” as the ones Jesus made a covenant with for a kingdom and the rest of us are their “friends.” Your Christ taken from you when you believe them. The “anointed” are between Jesus and you. That is why only the anointed partake at the memorial supper and everyone else passes the emblems of Christ’s blood and body.
I see the past as a learning experience I needed to go through (God led me and let me) so I could eventually discover HIM personally and outside of the interference from the doctrines of men. Thus, I continue growing in a personal relationship with Him (between HIM and myself.) He certainly has opened my eyes to understand how false teachers are everywhere in the world. And how there is clever deception by teachers, many believing they are teaching "The Truth." But it all comes down to SCRIPTURE. The SCRIPTURES are the TRUTH. JESUS CHRIST is the TRUTH.
John 17:17 BSB
17Sanctify them by the truth; Your word is truth.
John 14:6 KJV
Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
He said know the truth and the truth shall set you free (John 8:32.) He means FREE from BONDAGE to false teachings. The Bible is our TOUCHSTONE of TRUTH.
Jesus said there would be love among his disciples, and he also said
God is Spirit and we must worship him in spirit and truth
John 4:23-24 BSB
23 But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. 24God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”
Truth is critically important for acceptable worship to God.
He wants us to really get to KNOW HIM and the Messiah He sent forth
who is Jesus Christ. Our eternal life is dependent upon this.
John 17:3 NWT
3This means everlasting life, their coming to know you, the only true God, and the one whom you sent, Jesus Christ.
Here are a few of the doctrines of the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society that may help you to turn away from this False Prophet and turn to Jesus Christ. These are a few of the doctrines The Holy Spirit has brought to mind to help me deconstruct the parts of their doctrine which are false, and embrace Biblical Truth. As Jesus said in…
Mathew 4:4 BSB
But Jesus answered, “It is written:
‘Man shall not live on bread alone,
but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.
It is the words of God that is our food, the food of life, not the words from a man-originated communication. Do you want a relationship with your creator? Then, read His Holy Bible and put aside the Watchtower publications. An old "questions from readers" said that if a person stops reading the Watchtower magazines and only reads Scripture, it can be expected that in about two years that person will be out of the truth. What is the Truth if it is not scripture? It IS Scripture, so hold fast to the words of God.
My objections and responses to some WTJW beliefs:
1. The use of God’s holy name in common daily conversation, instead of the Name by which we are saved: Jesus. 2. The deity of Jesus as The Word and as our creator, NOT first as a created being by God the Father per the WT. 3. Their foundational doctrine of Jesus returning to the invisible heavens above the earth in 1914. And with that event they say, Jesus (acting as the Arch Angel Michael), threw Satan the Dragon out of Heaven and to the earth with his demons. 4. A Christian's baptism has nothing to do with an organization; it is a covenant between a man or woman and God. This baptism should only be done in the name of The Father, The Son and The Holy Spirit. 5. The teaching that there is a class distinction among those saved by the New Covenant and that only a certain class should partake (most JWs do not partake) of the symbolic emblems representing the body and blood of Christ at the commemoration of his Last Supper. 6. The idea that a group of men have been appointed by God for exercising rules and a legal environment over the congregation and that they make pronouncements of theocratic prophecy from time to time claiming God is speaking through them to mankind.
The Holy Spirit has led me to discover, as I was again being rejuvenated by him for healing, a ministry, and to go forth and declare the Good News of the Gospel of His Kingdom.
Rebuttal and doctrine deconstruction:
# 1 Objection: I have to ask forgiveness from the Lord as I was teaching false understandings (because of the Organization) instead of a pure understanding of scripture (For example, we should be saying the name of Jesus. We are witnesses to Jesus.)
Colossians 3:17 BSB
17 And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.
The name we are saved by is Jesus specifically, since the establishment of the NEW COVENANT! Does that mean Jehovah is not our God? No. Of course, He is our God. His memorial name is the Tetragrammaton pronounced in English as Jehovah, Yahweh, or some say Yahovah. But we must look to the scriptures for Truth. And in this then, we see that it is the name of Jesus, we are saved by, which is to the glory of the Father.
Acts 4:12 BSB
12Salvation exists in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.”
Acts 2:21 Amplified Bible
21‘AND IT SHALL BE THAT EVERYONE WHO CALLS UPON THE NAME OF THE LORD [invoking, adoring, and worshiping the Lord Jesus] SHALL BE SAVED (rescued spiritually).’
Jesus referred to his father as “Father, or Abba.” The Scriptures do not record him using the memorial name, “Jehovah” as Watchtower disciples constantly do (so much for claiming they practice like the first century Christians.) The scripture says in John 17:26, he made his father’s name known. But, this does not mean he spoke the literal name “Jehovah" (or spoke the Aramaic word for the Tetragrammaton.) All Jews knew the Tetragrammaton was in the scrolls, but did not say it out loud for fear of committing the sin of using HIS name in vain and breaking the 2nd commandment; so, the name of the most high was not said out loud. Elohim, Adonai, and Yah were used. Jesus was making known that now, through himself, we would become "Children of God," and therefore our relationship was to be that of a child to his Father.
He called His Father, “Father;” and so in imitation of Jesus, we should refer to our Heavenly Father as our “Heavenly Father” or “Our Father.” The Watchtower has instituted a deviation in adherence to the Word of God to suit their purposes of special recognition and separation from other Christians. Is it wrong to call on the name of Jehovah to be saved?
Some translations of Acts 2:21 insert the name Jehovah. I can’t say that would be wrong. But Jehovah sent Jesus to us to be saved. Believing in Jesus will save you. Believing in Jehovah without Jesus will make you a Jew. When we are told by Paul in Colossians 3:17 to do all things and say all things in Jesus name, it is for a reason. It is the New Covenant between Jehovah and believers. So focus on Jesus.
Jesus begins the model prayer (John 6:9) and he prayed on the cross, “Father or Abba.” He did not cry out to his Father as “Jehovah.” Think about that. Pronouncing the Tetragrammaton as Jehovah only diverts you away from how Jesus was teaching us to relate to Himself and the Father now that Jesus had come into the world. Stop using the name Jehovah in everyday conversation, for surely you will perhaps tread on His holy name. let us not accept the false teaching that we are men/women of Old Testament days when The Tetragrammaton was the name by which God used to talk to his people: not now that he sent His son. He sent His son, Jesus, whose is the Messiah, as the NAME by which we are to be saved.
BSB Acts 4:12
12Salvation exists in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.
We can only honor the Father when we honor the son; and his name is Jesus (Yeshua.)
John 5:23 KJV
23That all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father. He that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father which hath sent him.
Romans 10:13, ASV
13For “for, Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.)
Looking at the context of the verse we see that preceding Acts 4:12, namely Acts 4:10, is speaking about how the LORD (Jesus) is the name being taught here. For it is Jesus’ name being over Jew AND Gentile (ASV Romans 10:12.) If it were the name Jehovah that was meant by “LORD,” then how could that apply to the Jews who already knew Jehovah’s name? Yet these are NEW teachings (Messiah’s Mission work.) They are about Jesus. It was not Jehovah’s name that was being sent out among the gentiles, it was the "Name of Jesus." So, it was the "Name of Jesus" that was taught to be over BOTH Jews and Gentiles so that BOTH types of people, Jews and Gentiles, would come to know the saving blood of the lamb.
So my JW friends, you can stop using God’s name Jehovah so abundantly, fluidly, and casually and instead use the name of Jesus who is your savior. God’s scripture has told you so.
Paul, in his letter to the Corinthians said to them…
1 Cor 3:2 NKJV
2For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.
Just focus on what the scripture actually says. Paul said he was determined not to know anything but Jesus Christ and him crucified. It would appear that God is telling us in scripture not to use His memorial name (Tetragrammaton,) but rather to use the name of Jesus Christ when talking among ourselves as his congregation and in our witnessing to others. Believe scripture, not the twisted reasoning of men.
Col 3:17 NKJV
17And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.
Where in this scripture is there any wiggle room to make a habit of doing things or saying things in the name of Jehovah? God, The Father is telling us to do all things and say all things in the name of Jesus giving thanks to the Father. The Bible makes matters clear if you just believe the message God is communicating to us and avoid altered “messages” from men.
# 1 Recap: It is the Name of Jesus by which we are saved. It is in the name of Jesus that we should say and do all things to the Glory of the Father. Unless we do all things in the name of the Son, Jesus, we are not bringing honor to the Father, our God. So the JW organization has implemented a false culture of training the sheep of Christ to use the Old Testament Name of God instead of the name of Jesus by which we must say and do all things and be saved by. Believe them or believe the scriptures?
#2 Objection: WTJW’s teach that Jesus is a created being rather than having the full deity of God the Father. That is, they say the Father created him and then through him created all things by Him. They say Jesus was the “master worker” (Proverbs 8) created by and working alongside Jehovah God in the creation. Essentially, they say that Jesus is not the Father Jehovah God, rather he is a separate creation that having free will choose to do the will of his father unto death on the cross. This part is true, except for the “created” part. Jesus was the name of the human made by The Holy Spirit when the WORD (Logos) was put into Mary. He was fully man (Mary) and he was fully God (The WORD.)
John 1:1-3 NKJV
1In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2He was in the beginning with God. 3All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.
Col 2:9 BSB
9For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity dwells in bodily form.
Jesus is the God that created us since it is his pre-earthly existence as the “WORD” that was in the beginning with God and was God.
So, if Jesus was the pre-earthly Word and was created, how can John 1:3 be true? If all things that were created were created by HIM, then how could or why would HE create Himself? Therefore, the scripture is true and Jesus as the WORD was NOT created but IS the means God (The Father) used to create all things. The Word is an integral part of the Godhead (Col 2:9 see NKJV.) From scripture we further know that the Word became flesh and dwelt among man in the form of Jesus, the man.
John 1:14 NKJV
14And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.
This is why Jesus is called the Son of God AND the Son of Man. He is both at the same time. God created Adam by breathing new life into him. But he “begot” Jesus by inserting part of Himself, known as the Word, into Mary by means of His Holy Spirit. He produced a human being that had his supernatural essence and therefore The Father became a part of his own previous creation. The man Jesus was both Man and God. His pre-earthly existence was the creator God, THE WORD (see also John 8:58.)
From John1:1-4, we can see that it was the WORD that was “with” God in the beginning and all things were made through the WORD.
Or, for all intents and purposes, he, Jesus, is the agent of OUR CREATION! He is fully God! He pre-existed as the Word and the Word was God. But he became Son of God AND Son of Man when he became the blended creation of the WORD as placed inside Mary by The Holy Spirit; thus HE was called Emmanuel, meaning “God with us.” The Bible makes it clear through scripture that Jesus is not just divine in nature, but is THE essential God Spirit (John4:24, 1 John 5:20.) But, he is not The FATHER. His role was Creator, Savior, and King.
John 1:1-3 NKJV
1In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2He was in the beginning with God. 3All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.
The WORD (pre-Jesus) was NOT created because there is no account in
the scripture to say so. In Proverbs 8:24-25 some take the words “I was brought forth” to validate their claim that Jesus was the first creation of Jehovah God and was his master worker. However, in Proverbs 8 verse 22 NKJV, the word to identify Wisdom is “possession.” It says God, "Possessed” him in the beginning…that he was established from everlasting (verse 23). The word "Possession" is not equal in meaning to "created.”
If Wisdom was established from everlasting, then that means there was no beginning to Wisdom. Even if we say the word “established” means or implies an event occurred to bring HIM into existence, we then would be ignoring that ALL THINGS were created by the WORD (Pre Jesus God) (See Col 1:16-17) and nothing was created except that which was created by him. So, in other words, If Jehovah God used the WORD to create all things, then it necessarily means that The Word (Pre-Jesus) created Wisdom (if Wisdom was created.) But Wisdom was not created at all because we are told Wisdom was established from everlasting (no beginning.) Wisdom is not a personage. Wisdom is Divine Wisdom. God possessed Divine Wisdom from the beginning. He created the universe using his divine wisdom.
Col 1:16-17 NKJV
16For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or [e]principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. 17And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist.
“Possession” is elementally integral to God Himself. It would be like me saying I used my hand to create a drawing. Is my hand separate from me? No, it is integral to me. Yet if someone asks who did that drawing, do they answer “his hand?” No, they say “he” (insert my name) did that drawing. Can my hand exist before my body or can my body exist without my hand? No, they are part of the same ME. The Word (Logos) was the means by which God created the heavens and the earth and was with God in the beginning and is God. When Jehovah God existed, the Word existed and both possessed divine wisdom in the design and creation of the universe. (John 1:1, 1:14, 8:58, 10:30, Titus 2:13 Job 38:5-7.)
In John 1:1 we see the WORD was with God in the “beginning.” Does the beginning mean the beginning of the creation of the universe and our earth or even before that? Did anything exist before God created the heavens and the earth? We don’t know more than the scriptures tell us. They tell us that the Word was with Him in the beginning when God created the Heavens and the Earth. The Watchtower interprets John 1:1 to mean that prior to the creation of the world, Jesus did not exist but rather was created prior to the creation of the heavens and the earth so that God could create all the heavens and the earth using him. Before that, the Word didn’t necessarily exist before that, with God. It’s a hard argument to follow. But I had an elder say that the “beginning” referred to in John 1:1 is the beginning of Jesus (as the Word.) But that is not what the scripture says. It says in “the” beginning not just at the beginning of the heavens and the earth. This is another attempt to twist scripture to support their theology that Jesus as the Word was a created being. But they are teaching a “different Jesus.” Just trust the scriptures.
2 Cor 11:3-4
3I am afraid, however, that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may be led astray from your simple and pure devotion to Christ. 4For if someone comes and proclaims a Jesus other than the One we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit than the One you received, or a different gospel than the one you accepted, you put up with it way too easily.
We know Jesus is the WORD spoken of in John 1:1-3. The WORD created all things per John 1:3. The WORD did not create Himself. Therefore the WORD is God and the creator was with God (the Father) in the Beginning…just as the scripture says. While Jehovah God is the Alpha and the Omega (Isa 44:6 Peshitta Holy Bible Translated,) meaning infinite and complete, so Jesus says he is the Alpha and the Omega (Rev 1:8, Rev 22:13) and he said "before Abraham was born, I AM" (John 8:58.) The Word is the God and Jehovah is the God and both are the same God, though Jehovah is the Father and Jesus is the son and Messiah. Both the Word and the Father are Jehovah and are the Holy Spirit. All three elemental aspects are ONE GOD and are the Godhead
John 17:3
3Now this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom You have sent.
Col 2:9KJV
9For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.
Col 1:17-20
He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. 18And He is the head of the body, the church; He is the beginning and firstborn from among the dead, so that in all things He may have preeminence. 19For God was pleased to have all His fullness dwell in Him, 20and through Him to reconcile to Himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through the blood of His cross.
We know the WORD emptied himself (Philippians 2:5-8) and took on the form of a man in humble obedience to the Father’s will. For, while he is our creator, he did all his works in complete unison with God the Father. The Father used HIM to create the universe. He was there in the beginning with the Father. He was not made. He is our God; he is also the Son of God, yet is not the Father. (John 5:19.) When The Word became a man, he became a new creation, Jesus. When Jesus was resurrected, he also then became a new creation, a life-giving spirit (1 Cor 15:45.) He was raised up from the dead into a spiritual body (notice both words used…spiritual and body.)
John 20:27-29 BSB
27Then Jesus said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and look at My hands. Reach out your hand and put it into My side. Stop doubting and believe.” 28Thomas replied, “My Lord and my God!” 29Jesus said to him, “Because you have seen Me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
Like angel messengers that transformed from spirit creatures into men and then back into spirit creatures, our Jesus is like that except he continues to have the body of a man and a spirit creature all at the same time (a new creation) forever. He can eat, but his body does not have the normal bodily functions as we do. That is why Thomas could see and feel the holes in him from the Cross and he could eat with his disciples. Yet, the resurrected Jesus could also walk through walls. That is the spiritual body type we will be given after our resurrection. It is the same spiritual body type that those living upon his return will be “changed into” in the twinkling of the eye. It is not a corruptible body like we now have. It is an incorruptible body
#2 Recap: The WORD is a part/essence/exact representation of the Father, not a separate created God. When the WORD became flesh, he was named Jesus, who by going to the cross became the Christ. Later, he was raised from the dead and given a new life as a new creation, even a life-giving spirit within himself and is our Lord, Master, and King now and was put above all else and now sits at the right hand of the Father awaiting HIM to put Jesus’ enemies under his foot. As Thomas said in John 20:28, “Thomas replied, “My Lord and my God!"
JESUS IS God and our Messiah. Jesus was created a man when The Holy Spirit infused Mary's womb with THE WORD. The Holy Spirit infused her womb with the WORD of God who is GOD. The WORD was not created and so the Pre-Jesus was NOT created. He is the Son of God and the Son of Man. Only the blended person named Jesus was both fully Man and fully God. There are a lot of people that think differently about the deity of Jesus and what the Bible says or does not say. What is important is that you understand HE has been given ALL authority in heaven and on earth (Matt 28:18.) He said if you’ve seen him, you’ve seen the father. He is our king, our shepherd, our redeemer, our comfort, our God. He is the first and last to time indefinite and agent of salvation. It’s good to talk to him, he loves you and listens to those that speak to him.
#3 Objection: Concerning the doctrine of Jesus having returned (invisible presence) to take his throne in 1914 and throw Satan out of heaven we can refute this as not true. The WT calculates Prophecy from Daniel to come up with the date 1914 and says the Devil has been kicked out of heaven. And because he is angry, as scripture says after his fall from heaven to the earth, he then started WWI through the evil men he uses as proxy. This is somewhat plausible on the surface as WWI was so horrendous; that amount of death and destruction had never occurred on such a scale in mankind’s history. But the WT further says that the generation that saw these times (1914) will not pass away before the manifestation of Jesus in his second coming to slay God’s enemies (Mark 13:29-30.)
Here is the problem. That generation that could have been aware of the events of 1914 has passed away now. The WT no longer cites this “generation” fulfillment related to 1914 though they still hold on to 1914 because it is their foundational doctrine. They changed their doctrine to say something else about what “generation” means. This allows for the end not to come in proximity to 1914. No one else claims that this is when Jesus returned in his invisible presence (Parousia), took his throne as King and established the Kingdom of God. Jesus warns us about those claiming he has returned to “the inner rooms” (aka in the invisible heavens) Matt 24:26. (If one was perhaps 10 years old, at the youngest, to have memory of WWI, one is now age 119. While an individual could live to 119, it would seem that generation has passed away.)
If you are interested, you can research this 1914 doctrine online at their website but I came across a scripture I had never known was in the Bible that clarifies when Satan was cast out of heaven. It was uttered by Jesus himself. Why shouldn’t I believe Him instead of accepting a man-made doctrine? Why should I consider what Jesus said to be a type of vision into the future, rather than take him literally? There is no reason at all. I believe Jesus over the men at the WT. That scripture is:
Luke 10:17-18 KJV
17Then the seventy (seventy-two) returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name." 18 And He said to them, “I watched Satan fall from heaven like lightning.”
Two good points here: First that the demons were cast out in Jesus’ NAME not Jehovah's name and second, Jesus said to them "He watched" Satan fall from heaven. This account is also summarized in Revelation 12:7-10.
But because it was the Archangel Michael in the Revelation account that did battle with Satan, the WT reasons that Michael must be Jesus because who else would be strong enough to do battle with Satan? Yet Jesus said what he said in Luke 10:18 and we know the exact time and context he said it. Jesus was not in heaven as Michael at that time. They also cite the Bible wherein when Jesus comes to the earth to pass judgement he will descend with the voice of an archangel (1 Th 4:16.) I don’t reason that the “with the voice of an archangel” means he is an archangel, specifically Michael. We already know that The Father gave him a name above all other names and his station is higher than all the angels (Phil 2:9-11)
Additionally, in KJV Luke 11:1-4 (The Lord’s Prayer) we see Jesus teaching the disciples how to pray. When He says “Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven (my underline) …” We have to ask: Was God’s will being done in Heaven at that moment if Satan was still allowed access to the heavens? Most certainly Jesus, who cannot lie, would not say that God’s will was being done in heaven if the destroyer of mankind still had the authority to access heaven. No, no, no. Satan had been cast out just as Jesus remarked earlier in Luke 10:18.
#3 Recap: If we believe what Jesus said in Luke 10:18, then we believe that he watched Satan fall from Heaven like lightning at the moment that his disciples had been casting out demons. At that time Satan’s demons had been made subservient to the “power of God in men” as empowered by Jesus. Jesus was on earth tending to his disciples when as he says, he saw Satan fall; it was the Archangel Michael that did battle with the dragon and threw him down just as Revelation scripture says. How humiliating for Satan that he was thrown down by an Angel of less status than Jesus. I am compelled to believe the scriptures and it was in Luke 10:18 when Jesus said he saw Satan fall. Not 1914!
#4 Objection: What does the scripture say regarding baptism? Baptism is a public symbol of repentance and dedication to follow Jesus Christ. There is no provision made with any mention of baptism that one should be or can only be baptized AFTER one knows the doctrine of a group of men. That is called a Doctrine of Man (Mark 7:7) and it is not from Christ. The argument made, “How can you be dedicated to serving Christ unless you know something about him and what your dedication would mean,” is a fair question. So then it makes sense that someone should know something about their God and his Christ before their dedication to serve them.
We have the example of the Ethiopian Eunuch in Acts 8:27-38. Phillip was directed by The Holy Spirit to go near the chariot the
eunuch was traveling in and stay by it. He heard the Ethiopian reading from Isaiah the passage regarding how the lamb was led to the slaughter all the while keeping silent and in his humiliation being deprived of justice. When asked by Phillip, do you know what that means? The Ethiopian responded how can one know unless someone will teach him? Phillip then told him the good news of Jesus Christ: the fulfillment of the prophesy concerning the messiah to which he was an eyewitness. The Ethiopian seeing water said, “What is preventing me from being baptized?” So they went into the water and Phillip baptized him.
This example, along with the examples of how John the baptizer baptized saying to repent and be baptized (Mark 1:4) and Jesus' admonition to repent (Matt 4:17, John 3:22) and be baptized, points to how it is the “heart” that repents and wants to turn towards a godly life and away from a life of sin. Repentance in our heart is the qualification for baptism. It is a public declaration of one’s repentance and desire to live thereafter forever in discipleship to the Messiah. No example in the scripture is given by God that men/women must have an extensive knowledge of the Bible or a doctrine before being baptized.
It seems to be clear that while we do need to have some knowledge before we are baptized (In other words why are we being baptized?), THAT knowledge is THE “Good News that Jesus, as God’s Son, died for our sins, was resurrected to new life, and is the promised Savior and King of God’s Kingdom.” His unjust death was the final and only atonement for mankind’s sin and a precious gift of God’s mercy upon a fallen mankind. If you are moved by this and accept his gift of salvation and repent from your worldly ways, nothing is stopping you from being baptized. Your baptism is between you, Jesus Christ and The Father. You take this commitment with you all your life and it is not to be included or qualified as a commitment with a third-party interloper (Watchtower Governing Body doctrine.) The apostle Peter said:
Acts 2:38 BSB
38Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of The Holy Spirit. 39This promise belongs to you and your children and to all who are far off—to all whom the Lord our God will call to Himself.”
It’s worth noting that at the time Peter said this, the whole of the New Testament books were not yet written. So it would have been impossible to make a requirement that each “baptismal candidate,” would need an education first, to know what it meant to be a Christian. Education and coming to know more about God and his savior would come later AFTER a person had changed their heart, repented, and accepted the forgiveness of their sins by Jesus’ shed blood on the cross. If God is love, then it makes sense he wants us to love him as he loves us and thus it is when you hear the good news of Jesus that a person changes in their heart, repents, and gets baptized.
Acts 15:8 BSB
8And God, who knows the heart, showed His approval by giving the Holy Spirit to them, just as He did to us.
Unless you repent upon hearing this good news, the Bible says you will perish.
Luke 13:5 BSB
No, I tell you. But unless you repent, you too will all perish.
Baptism is performed when a person responds to the good news of Jesus Christ that HE gave his life for the forgiveness of our sins. To accept HIS free gift, one needs to repent of one's old ways of living and turn towards living according to God’s principles/commandments and present oneself to God to do HIS will. This is a personal commitment on your part to God to show you will follow HIS son Jesus Christ for the remainder of your life and indeed into eternity.
Baptism is not based on/qualified to/dependent on a religious affiliation, knowledge of a doctrine, or even extensive knowledge of the scriptures. It is based on a changing of one’s heart towards God’s salvation gift and repentance from your previous way of life. Growing in the enlightenment of God will come as you continue to grow spiritually, grow in your Bible studies, and because of your committed prayer life.
Now there is nothing wrong with beginning to study the Bible and learning more about God and his plan of salvation before you come to understand God’s gift of forgiveness and are moved to repent and become baptized. Seeking the knowledge of God’s Truth is telling that you are seeking answers and you are looking to the only one who can provide the answers to life: the one who gives life itself. The point here is that you do not need to qualify for baptism once your heart tells you that you want to serve Jesus.
#4 Recap: Your baptism is not dependent upon your being affiliated with a religion. God has no religion. We have the Truth which is Jesus Christ. So what really was your Watchtower baptism? In your mind and heart you had decided you would change your life and live for God through Christ.
Question 1. Have you repented of your sins, dedicated yourself to Jehovah, and accepted his way of salvation through Jesus Christ?
Question 2. Do you understand that your baptism identifies you as one of Jehovah’s Witnesses in association with Jehovah’s organization?
Is a Christian a Jehovah’s Witness? …Actually, yes. As a Christian we are to be witnesses to the Good News and while we are actually Witnessing to the Messiah’s work (Jesus Christ) we are also witnesses to Almighty God, who’s name can be known as Jehovah, Yahweh, Yah, The Four Letters, etc. It is God’s will that he sent Jesus to us for Salvation and The Son is not greater than The Father as Jesus said. I think that is between you and The Father as to if you decide you want or need to be baptized again strictly in the name of The Father, The Son, and The Holy Spirit. I personally would like to be baptized again in accordance with the scripture and outside any oath to a false prophet. But I believe God knows I was sincere in my repentance the day I was baptized though by an organization that adulterated the Word of God (I didn’t know it then.)
#5 Objection: Regarding the partaking of the emblems representing the bread as the body and the wine as the blood of Christ at the commemoration of his Last Supper, we must examine this horrible and deceptive teaching the way the WTJWs are told to practice it… or, in this case, not practice it. They keep the flock from honoring Jesus’ death by making up a two-class system among the sheep of Christ. One class is called the “anointed” and are the Christians with a “heavenly calling.” And the other class is called the "Great Crowd" who has an “earthly calling.”
The WT teaches that the NEW Covenant Jesus made with his disciples was ONLY with the anointed class and so only they should partake of the emblems at the memorial because the covenant is between Jesus and those who will rule in heaven over the Great Crowd on the earth. So the "Great Crowd" (rank and file) must sit in the Kingdom Halls and pass the plate of bread and goblet of wine and NOT partake. The memorial is only once a year and only a small number of the 8 million JWs worldwide partake self-marking themselves as “anointed.” The remainder of the 8 million sits in respect but they pass the emblems without partaking. This happens year after year so a person born in and aged 60 who feels they are part of the Great Crowd, not the Anointed have never partaken at Christ’s Communion.
Wow, what a bunch of bunk made up by self-important men quite high on their delusions to have such a teaching. Again, I will present the scriptures so you can decide if you should believe these men or believe the scriptures of what Jesus said.
1 Timothy 2:5-6 NKJV
5For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, 6who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time,
God does not say the ransom is for “some in a class system.” Jesus is the mediator for ALL of us (between God and MEN), not just the mediator of the anointed class as WT says. And what else does Jesus say about this?
BSB John 6: 53-55
53So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I tell you, unless you eat the flesh and drink the blood of the Son of Man, you have no life in you. 54Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. 55For My flesh is real food, and My blood is real drink.
What did Jesus just say? Using the word “truly” twice he makes it emphatic. You MUST (Unless you…) partake, if you want everlasting life. And by using the word “Whoever” he makes no distinction in classes of disciples. Again, we must adhere to the Scriptures themselves to find Truth. When men make up stuff, they are deceiving you. Jesus said be careful you are not deceived. The WT teaches they alone are the channel by which God is communicating with mankind at this time of the end. Their teachings are not all scriptural. This issue with passing on the emblems at the memorial supper is a significant lie with possible salvation consequences. Don’t be deceived! Jesus said he died for ALL persons and all must partake or not have life. (Luke 21:8.)
#5 Recap: Jesus did not implement a class system for his disciples and among his sheep. All were equal and all were to be sons and daughters of The Father (Jehovah God.) But while we are children of the Father we are to be friends/brothers/sisters of Jesus, not friends of Jehovah as the Watchtower teaches. Jesus makes no class system but has a love for all his sheep equally. His New Covenant is HIS blood shed for the forgiveness of sin (final atonement) and is available to all that will believe upon him. The Lord’s Evening Meal is a time to honor HIM and participate in the New Covenant for salvation.
He made it clear that ALL should and must partake of his symbolic bread and blood of his body as a remembrance of his death given for the forgiveness of sins. HE made it clear HE is the only mediator between man and God. No one can approach the Father except through HIM. He commands us to symbolize our acceptance of his sacrifice (gift) by partaking at every commemoration, however often it is practiced. I dare say once a year is not enough only because we are engaged in spiritual warfare and need to continue to draw strength from our fellowship with other believers as we partake to say publicly that we belong to HIM. Not only does the WT have it wrong, but they purposefully are keeping salvation away from mankind who follow their false doctrines. Get out of her my people!!!! (Rev. 18:4)
#6 Objection: The whole basis for the governing body to claim it has authority over the sheep of the congregation of Jesus Christ is this scripture:
Matt 24:45-47 BSB
45Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom the master has put in charge of his household, to give the others their food at the proper time? 46Blessed is that servant whose master finds him doing so when he returns. 47Truly I tell you, he will put him in charge of all his possessions.
A person can research the founding fathers and history of the beginning of the modern-day organization of Jehovah’s Witnesses for more perspective on whether it started from God or spiritistic origins. My introduction began in 1991. Our experiences in life are often shaped by the people around us and for this, I give credit to those of faith and those that provided me with love and acceptance in the time I was first approached and was accepted into their society. I was under personal duress having lived a life without roots having been raised in multiple countries and cultures and self-directed at age 14 in a drug infested culture of the 1970s. The congregation took me in and made me feel I was part of a loving extended family. I know they were sincere but I also recognize now that they are misled as I was and that there was a conditional love. They love the organization an obey it believing they are obeying God.
Along the way, as I said, it became apparent that the governing body was speaking forth unnecessary false teachings. A slave is a worker for the master, not one that bloviates on prophesies and sends the sheep this way and that way, correcting their own mis-interpretation of “truth” and crushing the spirit with abusive practices like shunning and a death-dealing doctrine on blood transfusions. The society and its members, as directed by the WT, often quote this scripture to excuse their changing doctrine and recanting of previous doctrinal statements:
Proverbs 4:18 NWT
18But the path of the righteous is like the bright morning light That grows brighter and brighter until full daylight
They believe this scripture accounts for the changes in the understanding "light" of the Governing Body when they make changes in their doctrine. But this scripture doesn't endorse a group of men as having an exclusive license on "light." Rather, the scripture applies to all the righteous as we personally discover more enlightenment concerning our God as we continue to grow and draw closer to HIM. The Holy Spirit reveals understanding and enlightenment to us regarding our God (John 16:13, John 14:26, Luke 12:12.)
John 16:13 BSB
13However, when the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all truth. For He will not speak on His own, but He will speak what He hears, and He will declare to you what is to come.
In Mathew 24:45, what is the “food” that Jesus talks about being given at the proper time? Is it words of men (as in Watchtower publications?) Or is it the words of God-given Scriptures? When Jesus replied to Satan that man does not live alone but on every word that comes from God's mouth (Matt 4:4,) was he not saying that the Scriptures are THE life-sustaining food for all believers? Yes, Jesus said that it is the WORD of GOD that is life-giving and is the food HE wants us to be fed. So, a shepherd over the flock of God would be feeding scriptures to the sheep (because scriptures are true,) not false man-made expository teachings. Man’s words are NOT our food! Pure Scripture is OUR FOOD!!!
John 6:63 BSB
63The Spirit gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life.
These governing body men will have blood guilt when standing before Christ on their judgement day for they have done great harm to truth seekers and true believers in Christ. They have also harmed those that might have been seeking Christ but were repulsed when they were stumbled by the falsehoods and conditional brotherly love. They set a lot of rules that are not scriptural and create a culture that is harsh and impossible to live in for most because of the requirements for meeting attendance, meeting participation, teaching parts, field service hours, book studies and for the elders, meetings and shepherding calls. Members often are exhausted and many develop psychosomatic illnesses to get out of keeping up because it’s too much for them and they don’t want to be regarded as spiritually weak. They dis-fellowship teenagers for making mistakes in their teenage struggles with peer pressure and social acceptance. A phase that most human beings go through when coming of age and are trying to fit in to their peer groups, whether inside or outside the organization.
They say they are keeping everyone busy for the good of the sheep keeping on the narrow path, but they really are keeping them so busy they have less time to think and to meditate on the Word of God itself, and less time to allow The Holy Spirit to work within them. Keeping up with the mandatory literature consumption and regurgitation of Watchtower doctrine is a heavy requirement. I would say it is a burden and designed to keep one from learning and cultivating a personal relationship with God through Jesus. The pressure to become dependent on the Watchtower literature becomes dominant in their lives. The Watchtower literature makes clear and reinforces that their very salvation depends on their performance to the Watchtower requirements of meeting attendance, commenting on articles (rote commenting,) and field service hours.
They claim complete authority over the congregation and set arbitrary performance goals for meeting attendance (only 4 hours a week now, 5 hours in 1991,) goals for service time (10 hours/month is the minimum for door-to-door ministry,) and a goal to comment at every meeting which is not a necessarily a comment from your heart, but instead is regurgitating the answer on the read aloud paragraph in a book or Watchtower magazine.
This practice of reading a paragraph and then answering preset questions stated in the paragraph is the main "methodology" of mental conditioning (mental programming aka, indoctrination.) There are a vast number of publications and no matter which book one reads or studies, the WT doctrinal points are reinforced. You don’t need to read and ponder scriptures; you just need to learn what is presented to you. If you keep publicly questioning the doctrinal points you will eventually be counseled/and or dis-fellowshipped.
Don’t get me wrong here, the brothers will try to help you reason on the scriptures and “help” you to come to an “accurate” understanding. Even they will offer to “re-teach” you using a particular book. But it’s the same programming. Without their books or magazines, most cannot teach the WT doctrine from the scriptures. I once said to an elder that I felt that The Holy Spirit was leading me, and that anyone with a right relationship with God can ask for and receive The Holy Spirit’s guidance. But I was reminded, with some exclamation of excitement, that the governing body has more Holy Spirit than us publishers, so we should yield to their teaching. Excuse me, but everyone has free access to The Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit does not only channel through a group of men appointed by other men (there's that hijacking attempt again.)
The governing body imposes a practice called dis-fellowshipping. It happens when a member commits biblical sin (or holds on to a viewpoint in contradiction to their doctrine) and is not repentant. A judicial committee is formed to hear the case. The Bible does make an allowance to remove unrepentant sinners from the congregation.
1 Corinthians 5:9-13 BSB
9I wrote you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people. 10I was not including the sexually immoral of this world, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters. In that case you would have to leave this world. 11But now I am writing you not to associate with anyone who claims to be a brother but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or a verbal abuser, a drunkard or a swindler. With such a man do not even eat.
But does this scripture suggest that a mother or father or husband or wife or child should “SHUN” their family or relatives?
Imagine if one was free to speak to the one expelled to lead them again to repentance? How can you do this without talking to them? I understand the elder’s authority to separate the unrepentant sinner, but I would not feel inhibited to talk to a brother or sister I met on the street to encourage them to repent. As a parent of my child, I would not shun a relative or a teenager or anyone for that matter, though that doesn’t mean I would approve or go along with an activity that brought disfavor from God. But, love will cause you to reach out to encourage that person to repent. You don’t have to be accused of “associating” to say hello, or how are you. Do you?
The problem with the culture and directions of the governing body is that when you throw (socially speaking) a brother or sister out into the world hoping they will be miserable and repent because of being isolated, causing even their closest family not to speak to them, you can push vulnerable ones over the edge to commit suicide. Is that love? No, it is not. What small minds. You cause serious damage when you shun a person (especially a teenager.) To shun is not the same thing as the Bible says not to “associate.” Can’t you see the difference? I have heard testimony of young people that were dis-fellowshipped at age 15 and the parents told them to move out. There is a difference between a rebellious child and child that is a danger to the family. I remember at an assembly a mother and her two daughters spoke on stage and trashed the middle child that had been dis-fellowshipped at age 14. I don’t know her issue but heard she was staying out and running around with kids and drinking and smoking. Gee. I did all that at 14. This young gal once babysat for me. She came from a good family and I believe, while this is typical of issues teenagers face, most grow out of it and become responsible adults. I did. But to hear the way her mother and sisters’ trashed her very soul I was aghast. A Sad and revealing that the Love Jesus said would be among his disciples was failing in them.
This organization is a man-made religion with rules, mores, legal practices, and doctrines that are not entirely from the Bible. This form
of religion is called “legalism.” Everything must be controlled under the guise of caring for the sheep and protecting the flock. But is their architecture a healthy way to nurture and encourage believers to find joy in serving the Lord? Rules, meetings, performance expectations, and punishment are the order of the society. Where is real love?
I remember during the years of my “lost time” in a new city I talked to some Witnesses at the door. They even invited me to a regional convention which I went to with them. They knew I was inactive and after a while (I had not yet attended the local Kingdom Hall) they sent an elder. He came to the door. He introduced himself and asked me one question point blank. “Did anyone in the congregation stumble you?” I paused to think and then replied, “No.” So he said, “See you at the Kingdom Hall.” He turned and left. I was aghast.
I actually would have welcomed discussing the fact that what stumbled me was the Watchtower article retraction of their false prophetic fulfillment of the separation of sheep and goats. I didn’t consider the WT or GB a “person in the congregation,” per se. That’s why I said no to his question. But instead of him being interested and asking, “Well then why haven’t you been coming to the meetings?” What is the issue? He was not interested in the real reason, just quick to make a dismissive judgment that the problem was me. There are many in positions of oversight that lack the caring love that Jesus intended for the congregational shepherds.
So who really is the “discreet slave” who is supposed to feed the sheep per Matt 24:45? Is it this organization or is it individual Christians with Holy Spirit who help their brethren in the everyday building up and nurturing them to grow and stay strong in the faith of Jesus? Is it each of us as we encourage each other with scripture and sharpen each other for spiritual battle?
Perhaps you are aware of the legal proceedings in Australia where the government commission opened an inquiry concerning the unreported pedophilia and incest taking place in various congregations in Australia. It was a serious problem and the elders were not reporting said crimes to the authorities to protect the children. The Society was found guilty and as a result, a Watchtower article here in the USA addressed the issue. Elders now must report such things to local authorities.
It is too late for the many children through the years who reported such heinous crimes to the elders who didn't then alert authorities. The directions from the organization were lacking in wisdom as elders responsible for the spiritual welfare of the children and young people in the congregations were not protecting them from sexual predators. Sexual abuse of children is being exposed now across the world. But for decades sexual abuse was taking place, yet the organization instructed them not to take accusations to the authorities “so as not to bring reproach upon Jehovah’s name.” The elders upon having a meeting to hear the claims of abuse by a child or woman would go by the Bible’s “two witness rule.” If there was not another witness to the acts, then no action would be taken by the elders to report the crime to authorities or discipline the perpetrator.
I have listened to the video testimony on YouTube of a young woman abused by her father (who was an elder,) and not only did it take years to try and convict her abusive father in court (he ultimately went to prison), but the mother never protected her daughter from what she knew was taking place (for fear of harming her husband’s standing in the congregation). That girl is damaged emotionally and spiritually. You can see it in her videos. She is a young woman in her 20s who still has the mannerisms of a pre-pubescent child. She is emotionally damaged. A wise shepherd would not allow something heinous to carry on past the first report.
She is not a believer in Christ today and I suspect it is because the organization failed her by claiming to be the only true church, yet not taking prudent, wise, or loving measures to help her escape her abusive father who was an elder. The elders, having heard her complaint against her father years earlier, right away, should have called the authorities but did not because of "the two witness rule." So the father continued to sexually abuse his two daughters. Finally, it was a therapist and other JW family members (an uncle) who supported her through a painful trial before her father went to prison. He was ultimately dis-fellowshipped.
What is most revealing, however, is that a member of the governing body gave FALSE testimony and lied under oath while taking the stand in the Australian government commission hearings. Geoffrey Jackson, a member of the governing body of Jehovah’s Witnesses said in his testimony when asked by the prosecutor, “Do you see yourselves as Jehovah God’s spokespeople on earth?” Mr. Jackson’s reply was, “That I think, would seem to be quite presumptuous to say that we are the only spokesperson that God is using.” Let that sink in (google the YouTube video clip). These governing body members and the entire organization has always adhered to 100% exclusive legitimacy and authority to be the congregation of Christ in the these last day. Outside the organization is only false religions and “lost unsaved” people.
This organization has continuously claimed to be God’s exclusive spokesperson at this time of the last days and that all other forms of Christian religions are counterfeits and will be destroyed. Let him telling a lie as to his belief and his false testimony sink in. He doesn't believe what he said. Just listen to the Governing Body members talk on their broadcast channel and you will hear them still say they are the EXCLUSIVE means that God is using to communicate to Jesus’ Sheep around the world. They are the only "Discreet Slave."
The key reason why I left them 28 years ago after I read that WT article on the sheep and goat retraction is this: how can this organization exert such control over my life (including the power to dis-fellowship), claim to be God’s exclusive channel between God and men and announce that God's prophesies are being fulfilled, yet years later say “oops, we made a mistake?” The false claim of fulfillment of the separation of the sheep and the goats was retracted as wrong in October 1995. Why am I making a big deal about it? What they said was that we, as disciples of Jesus and WT publishers by going out into the door-to-door ministry were helping Jesus, (now ruling from the invisible heavens as of 1914) to separate mankind into the sheep and goats for eternal judgement: those that were favorable to the message we preached were showing themselves as sheep and those not favorable, as goats. We were being used by Jesus for judgment on our fellow man.
Where does it say that Jesus needs our help in the separation work? Nowhere! Where does it say in scripture that Jesus is doing that work now (back then before the retraction?) Nowhere! The Bible says Jesus does the separating work after the tribulation but before the Millennial rule begins (Matt 25:31-46.)
What is a false prophet? One that says a proclamation is from God, yet it does not come true. And the Bible warns us to stay away from these false prophets.
Jer 23:16 BSB
16 This is what the LORD of Hosts says: “Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you. They are filling you with false hopes. They speak visions from their own minds, not from the mouth of the LORD.) (See also Jer. 5:31)
Deu 18:20-22 BSB
20But if any prophet dares to speak a message in My name that I have not commanded him to speak, or to speak in the name of other gods, that prophet must be put to death.” 21 You may ask in your heart, “How can we recognize a message that the LORD has not spoken?” 22 When a prophet speaks in the name of the LORD and the message does not come to pass or come true, that is a message the LORD has not spoken. The prophet has spoken presumptuously. Do not be afraid of him.
They claim this exclusive governance authority is from God. No other congregations/religions outside the Watchtower have rightful worship. They implement rules and a class system that deprives members of partaking of the body and blood of Christ at their annual memorial. They cause children and adults to refuse lifesaving blood transfusions that has resulted in their death. They dis-fellowship and cause untold mental anguish on family relationships. They stumble sincere seekers of Godly Truth with their changing “light.” In short, they ruin lives. My tears flow abundantly for the families I know that are still practicing faithfully in that small congregation in Canada and even worldwide knowing that their faith is misaligned and they are blocked from the message of salvation and good news of Jesus Christ.
They worship a construct from the minds of men (that will always be fallible). But moreover, the restraining of the members from partaking at the memorial, improper baptism, the casual way they use God’s memorial name “Jehovah” instead of rightfully using the name of Jesus, the prohibition of blood transfusions, the oppression of the spirit of the sheep by making no allowance for holidays and festivals, the many false teachings and failed prophesies, leads me to only one place. I didn’t embark to refute their beliefs but The Holy Spirit has nudged me and instructed me to research these beliefs. My research in scripture proved their unique doctrines are not true. I therefore must reject their religion, their authority over me, and their oppression of my Christian faith which I declare is the following:
John 6:44-45 BSB
44No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day. 45It is written in the Prophets: ‘And they will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard the Father and learned from Him comes to Me
Comment: God draws us and then refines us superseding man’s organizations and teaches us directly by Holy Spirit.
John 14:6-7 BSB
6Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. 7 If you had known Me, you would know My Father as well. From now on you do know Him and have seen Him.
Comment: No organization here. Just you and Jesus and the Father and the Holy Spirit
John 14:15-17 BSB
15If you love Me, you will keep My commandments. 16And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Advocate to be with you forever— 17the Spirit of truth. The world cannot receive Him, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him. But you do know Him, for He abides with you and will be in you.
Comment: Are you a Truth Seeker? Your heart knows. If you are, you can survive anything, including a cult. Give your heart to Jesus now and know his love for you that depends on no organization’s dictates or constructs. Get free of their bondage for they do not teach the Truth.
Ephesians 3:14-19 BSB
14for this reason I bow my knees before the Father, 15from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. 16I ask that out of the riches of His glory He may strengthen you with power through His Spirit in your inner being, 17so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. Then you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18will have power, together with all the saints, to comprehend the length and width and height and depth 19of the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God
Comment: If GB promoted Love instead of Knowledge over love, the congregation could live in peace and praise Jehovah God for his Son Jesus with shouts and testimony of God’s goodness. The GB does NOT teach that Christ dwells in our hearts.
Proverbs 8:17 BSB
17I love those who love me, and those who seek me early shall find me.
Comment: I have been seeking him and I did let him into my heart and now I live for him despite my faith being hijacked for 30 years.
Titus 3:5-8 BSB
5He saved us, not by the righteous deeds we had done, but according to His mercy, through the washing of new birth and renewal by The Holy Spirit. 6This is the Spirit He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7so that, having been justified by His grace, we would become heirs with the hope of eternal life. 8This saying is trustworthy.
Comment: Even if we sin, or we had the wind knocked out of us by a false teacher, we can recover with help of The Holy Spirit, as he will renew us. Turn towards God once again and let Jesus heal your life for this is why the Father sent him to us: to be Our HEALER.
I am truly grateful for all of God's provisions towards me in the past and those he provides today. I have greatly benefitted from the rich knowledge and education I received through the Kingdom Hall School and The Watchtower organization. I do not regret my part of my Christian journey spent with the Jehovah’s Witnesses and the many loving and kind people in the congregations. I suppose it is fair to say that organizations of men that can start with good intentions can unfortunately evolve with errors in both complex and simple ways. I believe this happened to the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society and so I cannot continue to be a part of an organization which weaves false teaching with, into, and alongside truth from the Bible.
The spiritual damage they caused me back long ago has literally taken me 25 years to recover. But by the continued grace of God and HIS faithfulness I can be free of their implanted lies and recover my personal relationship with my Heavenly Father through Jesus Christ. While the hijacking of my relationship with God stopped my prayers and allowed me to stray into sin, I forgive those from the governing body that have committed sins of blasphemy, hubris, and heresy. Their judgement is by Jesus and not by me. I will pray they find their way to repentance, profess the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior and be saved. Thus they may show true shepherd-ship to Jesus’ sheep by leading them to him and to worship the Father in Spirit and Truth (John 4:24.)
I have HIS confirmation by The Holy Spirit to show me that he is still in me as I become more obedient to his commandments and appreciative of the meaning of his sacrificial blood. I am submissive to him and his direction. And his direction is to the scriptures and away from the man-made-up stuff. I am free of using God’s name in vain and instead let the scriptures themselves direct me to focus on the NAME by which we are saved, Jesus Christ.
When you become a true disciple of Christ, you do all things in his name and your speech reflects your acknowledgement how God is directing your worship in the name of his Son. This is what brings honor to the Father, that you honor the son.
John 5:22-23 BSB
or the Father judges no one, but he has given all judgment to the Son, 23that all may honor the Son, even as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him.
You honor The Father when you use Jesus’ name to praise HIM (the Father) every single day and not only when praying in Jesus’ name. It is Jesus we let into our heart and we know it is Him dwelling in us because The Holy Spirit confirms this to us.
So let us shout the name of Jesus and let us talk about the Lord with affection and gratefulness: in this the Father is pleased. We don’t need to say the Father’s sacred name in daily conversation, but if someone asks us who our Father is or we are reading scripture which uses the Tetragrammaton, we can say it is Jehovah or Yahweh. Otherwise, we call him Father, as Jesus did. Let that sink in and I will be praying for you to become free from the bondage of the harsh master that beats his household: the Governing Body.
In summary, I wish to tender this letter as my disassociation from the Watchtower Bible and Tract society and no longer wish to be known as a Jehovah’s Witness in association with the Watchtower Bible and Track Society. Instead, you may refer to me as a Witness to Jesus Christ or a Disciple of Jesus Christ or even I am a witness to Jehovah God. I don’t hate anyone in the organization but instead really love you. I hope one day you will come to the light and abandon the doctrine of men for the pure Word of Truth (Matt 4:4.)
Jesus loves each one of you and wishes you would come to him on bended knee asking for forgiveness and letting him come and reside in your heart. He is LOVE and he is freedom and no amount of works will earn a spot in heaven. If the organization ever gives up its false teachings and becomes a true force of teaching salvation according to the good news, I would love to consider whether they are then a true congregation of Jesus. But for now, I must continue to find other Christians of like mindedness to fellowship with and in order to fortify each other for continued disciple making, giving witness to the unsaved about the glorious Good News of the Kingdom of God…all this to the Glory of God, the Father in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
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I will miss you my dear brothers and sisters. But I know you are prohibited from speaking to me now that I have said formally I must separate from the organization that teaches falsehoods in the name of God. I wish to say this to you that you may think about the difference between one that is still captive and one that has been saved by the Lord Jesus Christ. I’m not crazy. I’m pursuing the Truth. God is a consuming fire (Heb 12:29.)
You my dear JW brother say you love the “Discreet Slave.” I say I love the “Sheep.”
You my dear JW brother say you have the “Truth.” I say I have Jesus
Christ who is “The” Truth.
You my dear JW brother say you appreciate the “Slave’s” feeding you. I
say I love that The Holy Spirit is feeding me.
You my dear JW brother call on the name “Jehovah.” I call on the name “Jesus.”
You my dear JW brother said to me, “Is it likely we can be friends when we don’t share the same religion? What would we have in common?” I say if we both profess there is only one True God and the one he sent forth Jesus Christ as messiah (John 17:3) and accept their authority, we have much in common. But you accept also the authority of the governing body to which you are in subjection. I do not accept them having authority over my faith in God or in Christ.
You my dear JW brother believe one can’t be justified in God, outside of maintaining a good standing in the “Organization.” I say I am justified by means of the shed blood of Jesus Christ (Col. 1:20) whom I profess as my Lord and my Savior.
You my dear JW brother believe one must show their faith by preaching door to door and not know if you are saved until his day of judgement. I believe that we are saved by grace when we repent. Then, we get baptized and pick up our cross and follow after him. If we have faith he is the Son of God, then we will do the works he is leading us to do by means of The Holy Spirit. Each Christian’s works is from his faith which is motivated by The Holy Spirit and is unique to that person’s life and where The Holy Spirit is leading him to do good works. He does good works so he can give a testimony to his salvation and a witness to the Gospel and Kingdom of God. But his good works do not earn him salvation or same would negate the precious atonement blood of Christ.
You my dear JW brother may shy away from association with me because I don’t share your commitment to the organization’s teachings. I, though, knowing your commitment to serve God is great, would love to associate with you because you are separate from the world. We may not have 100 percent agreement on Theology, but what we do share is enough for me to find joy in association. After all, I can say God’s name too. But just don’t ask me to agree to the doctrine of the men you follow. For I follow only one man who was crucified for my sins nearly 2000 years ago. This is my attitude of LOVE, though I know you will avoid me, likely you will SHUN me for not agreeing to your false religion.
You my JW brother are dear to me. My prayer is that you will come to understand that you should not worship an organization of men, but only to worship God and to put faith in Jesus. Jesus saves! Meeting the expectations of men or obeying their rules does not save. Practicing a scheme of group culture that uses the divine name to represent a specific doctrine, which is assigned by men as they lace their teachings of Bible Truth with harmful teachings, is idolatry. Idolatry is the worship of something, someone, some idea that is other than the true God. Worship is that which you practice whether knowingly or unknowingly.
The cultural & religious practices of JWs are “designed” elements by men appointing themselves to exercise authority over this group of people. It is not a “loose” arrangement. It has rules and practices that are strictly regimented. While they justify this as training for the coming Kingdom of God, they have become harsh with unreasonable requirements and rules; and as such, they overstep their assumed stewardship for the lambs belonging to Jesus. They lack the love Jesus said would be characteristic among his disciples. AND they teach false doctrines constituting spiritual abuse of Jesus’ sheep. Flee from her quickly.
If you need a friend, someone to talk to and someone who understands the pain you may be experiencing as you are waking up from this “spell” please reach out to me; I will listen and try to help you feel you have found a place with a “soft landing.” If you truly love God, it is the Holy Spirit that is waking you up so God can finish your training in righteousness. There are many former Jehovah’s Witnesses that have stayed loyal to God and are now serving Jesus. Don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater as you flee from the organization. Come, rather, to know the true Jesus and the joy that you will know when you discover the personal relationship he wants with you. He loves you and died for YOU. He is ready for you and is knocking at the door.
Rev 3:20 KJV
20Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.
Open the door to him. Surrender to him. Know his joy.
Receive eternal life. He is the greatest man that ever lived. He is your God. ILY!
Legend:
WTBTS Watchtower Tract and Bible Society
WT Watchtower
JW Jehovah’s Witnesses
WTJW Watchtower Jehovah’s Witness
GB Governing Body (of the Watchtower)
ILY I Love You!
Bibles:
BSB Berean Study Bible
BLB Berean Literal Bible
KJV King James Version
NKJV New King James Version
ASV American Standard Version
PHBT Peshitta Holy Bible Translated
The reason for the attached Watchtower article dated July 15, 2013 is to point out the correction to several of their previous proclamations. The one I was interested in specifically was the one on the Sheep and Goats as this correction originally made in 1995 and is what caused my spiritual world and faith to fall apart. Decades later I knew I must deal with it if I wanted a relationship with Jesus Christ and I did so want a relationship with Jesus Christ.
The purpose of this paper is to deconstruct the false teachings I had come to accept as Truth, but now understand to be errant doctrine of men attempting to substitute themselves for my direct relationship with Yahweh God, only through Christ. There is nothing in the Bible that gives them that legitimacy. It is their twisted reasoning that led to the hijacking of my faith. In 1991, I was new to a “called out” life and not yet established on sound doctrine from scripture.
I praise the Lord for his mercy and his faithfulness and his redemptive work on the cross. The Holy Spirit is renewing me and I again feel the love of my creator. As Jesus said in Mathew 4:4, every word that God speaks is the food we live by. Our LIFE depends on this food for it is the food of life and food that all men seeking life will live by. Praise him for having it written down so that all men can come to know him and in this way, journey on the path up the Holy Mountain of Jehovah.
1 Tim 2:3-4
3This is good and pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, 4who wants everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
Isa 2:3 PHBT
And the many nations shall go and they shall say: “Come, let us go up to the mountain of LORD JEHOVAH, and to the house of The God of Yaqob, and we shall learn of his ways and we shall walk in his steps, because The Law has gone out from Zion and The Word of LORD JEHOVAH from Jerusalem”.
Do not let men spoon feed you their beliefs. Let only God’s Word, the Holy Scriptures feed you with the help of The Holy Spirit, Amen.
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