Jehovah’s Witnesses

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Many of the Jehovah's Witnesses going door-to-door throughout the world
are honestly, and sincerely, wanting to enter the kingdom of God on Earth;
which is why I'm convinced that normal Christians really ought to know
something about "hope" as it's depicted in the New Testament before
engaging JWs in a conversation about the kingdom.

● 1Pet 3:15 . . Always be ready to make a defense before everyone that
demands of you a reason for the hope in you,

The New Testament Greek word for "hope" in Peter's instructions is elpis (el
pece') which means to anticipate (usually with pleasure) and to expect with
confidence. Note the elements of anticipation, expectation, and confidence.

In other words: elpis hope is a know-so hope rather than a cross your
fingers hope.

So, unless someone knows for proof-positive, beyond even the slightest
glimmer of sensible doubt, that they have a passport to the kingdom of God
locked in and irrevocable, then of course it is impossible for them to comply
with Peter's instructions seeing as they would not yet have the kind of hope
about which he wrote.

● Rom 12:12 . . Rejoice in the hope.

When people are praying for the best, while in the back of their mind
dreading the worst, they have absolutely no cause for rejoicing; but they do
have plenty of cause to fear the unknown.

Elpis hope is one of the three primary elements of Christianity. (1Cor 13:13)
It's also a calling. (Eph 4:4)

When people are lacking the kind of hope described by the Greek word elpis,
then I believe it's safe to assume that 1) God has not yet called them, 2)
they have refused His call and/or 3) they're not on His list of viable
candidates for kingdom citizenship.
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● John 14:16-17 . . I will request the Father and he will give you another
helper to be with you forever, the spirit of the truth, which the world cannot
receive, because it neither beholds it nor knows it. You know it, because it
remains with you and is in you.

● John 14:26 . .The helper, the holy spirit, which the Father will send in my
name, that one will teach you all things and bring back to your minds all the
things I told you.

Rank and file JWs are taught to believe that they obtain boldness in speaking
the word of God, and zealousness in engaging in the work of witnessing,
from "having" the holy spirit. (pg 382, Reasoning From The Scriptures)

However; when speaking of "having" the holy spirit, the JWs mean that it is
alongside them rather than inside them. Only a special guild of 144,000 JWs
actually have the spirit inside them. The special guild are known as the
anointed class; a label taken from 1John 2:27.

The non-anointed class-- a.k.a. the great crowd, a.k.a. the hewers of wood
and haulers of water --are in a very serious condition. Here's why:

● Rom 8:9 . .You are in harmony, not with the flesh, but with the spirit, if
God's spirit truly dwells in you.

Seeing as how God's spirit does not truly dwell "in" John Que and Jane Doe
missionary, then they are, by default, in harmony with the flesh. That only
makes things worse.

● Rom 8:5-8 . . For those who are in accord with the flesh set their minds on
the things of the flesh, but those in accord with the spirit on the things of
the spirit. For the minding of the flesh means death, but the minding of the
spirit means life and peace; because the minding of the flesh means enmity
with God, for it is not under subjection to the law of God, nor, in fact, can it
be. So those who are in harmony with the flesh cannot please God.

The non-anointed class' situation is just too ironic for words. They displease
God, and He displeases them; yet they go door-to-door sincerely believing
themselves Jehovah's friends and allies.
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● 1John 2:26-27 . .These things I write you about those who are trying to
mislead you. And as for you, the anointing that you received from him
remains in you, and you do not need anyone to be teaching you; but, as the
anointing from him is teaching you about all things, and is true and is no lie,
and just as it has taught you, remain in union with him.

The anointing provides people with some valuable advantages to which
people who lack it of course have no access.

1» Protects people from deception

2» Enables people to comprehend Jesus Christ's teachings the way he wants
them comprehended.

3» Makes it possible for people to remain in union with him.

According to Watchtower Society theology, only 144,000 special Jehovah's
Witnesses have the anointing. There aren't that many living Witnesses who
have the anointing though because when anointed Witnesses die, their
passing doesn't create vacancies; viz: 144,000 is the maximum unless an
anointed JW either apostatizes or is ousted via the process of disfellowship.

What that means is: the vast majority of today's living JWs don't have the
anointing. We're talking about some serious numbers here.

Currently, there are approximately 20+ million adherents following the
Watchtower's Society's version of Christianity. Even if all 144,000 anointed
Witnesses were alive today, that would leave approximately 19.86 million
JWs roaming the earth in our day who 1) have no protection from deception,
2) are unable to comprehend Jesus Christ's teachings the way he wants
them comprehended, and 3) not in union with him.

I'd imagine that quite a few ordinary Witnesses sincerely believe that their
association with the Watchtower Society keeps them in union with Jesus
Christ; but according to 1John 2:26-27, union with Jesus Christ isn't
accomplished on the coattails of an organization; it's accomplished by means
of the anointing, i.e. no anointing, no union.

Ironically, every non anointed JW coming to our doors preaching the
kingdom of God are themselves "those who are trying to mislead you."
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So-called Replacement Theology is just another name for identity theft. Take
for example the Watchtower Society's interpretation of Rev 7:1-8 wherein is
listed a specific number of Hebrews taken from every tribe of the sons of
Israel.

The Society claims that those aren't biological sons of Israel; but rather
"spiritual" sons-- referring of course to the Society's elite cadre of 144,000
Witnesses who have supposedly undergone a spirit birth per Christ's
instructions at John 3:3-12; and the anointing as per 1John 2:26-27.

The Society's claim is premised upon its observation that there never was a
tribe of Joseph; when in reality Joseph is listed as both a son and a tribe
(Gen 49:2-28 and Ezek 48:31-34). So that portion of the Society's reasoning
is clearly a false premise.

The Society's claim is also premised upon its observation that Ephraim and
Dan are missing from the list of tribes at Rev 7:4-8. However, what the
Society's theologians have somehow overlooked in the Old Testament is that
it doesn't matter whose names are chosen to represent the twelve tribes of
Israel just so long as there are twelve names. Are there twelve in Rev 7:4
8? Yes. Well then that's good enough. I realize that makes no sense but then
the Lord's apostles were still referred to as "the twelve" even with Judas out
of the picture. So that premise in the Society's reasoning is spurious too.

The Society's claim is also premised upon its reasoning that Levi isn't a valid
tribe based upon the fact that the Levites are exempt from warfare.
However, Levi is clearly listed as both a son and a tribe (Gen 49:2-28 plus
Ezek 48:31-34) which is a good many years after Num 1:1-54. So that
premise is bogus too.

The Watchtower Society not wanting the 144,000 to be biological Hebrews is
one thing; but I would just like to know from whence Charles T. Russell's
and Joseph F. Rutherford's followers got the idea that their people constitute
the 144,000. That's a pretty serious claim. How do they validate it? I don't
know; but I can just about guarantee that their explanation is an outlandish
stretch of the imagination consisting of humanistic reasoning, rationalizing,
spiritualizing, clever sophistry, and semantic double-speak.

NOTE: According to Rev 14:1-4, the 144,000 are supposed to all be males,
and none have ever slept with a woman. That, if true, would of course
disqualify married JWs and all the females among them too.
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POSIT: The holy spirit guided the New World Translation.

REPLY: Non-anointed JWs are living proof that their Bible is unreliable.
Here's why:

According to 1Cor 2:12-15, folks who've received the spirit which comes
from God are enabled to comprehend, and to accept, the things of God.
Well: it's believed by JWs that only 144,000 anointed Witnesses have
received the spirit of God; which means that all other JWs are physical
people rather than spiritual people.

So then, were the NWT really and truly spirit-guided, then the non-anointed
JWs would quite naturally reject it. The very fact that physical JWs accept
the NWT is proof positive that it wasn't spirit-guided, plus: the scholars that
translated the NWT didn't have the spirit either because if they did, then the
non anointed JWs wouldn't be trusting them.

According to 1John 2:26-27, the anointing protects people from seductive
reasoning; whereas folks lacking the anointing are wide-open to deception;
and that's true of not only JWs, it applies to everybody lacking the anointing
regardless of their religious preferences.
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[AndrewMorgan]

A couple times a month, JW’s come to visit the industrial estate where I work. They’re always welcoming and we always have a healthy debate, but everytime I ask the question why they don’t believe Jesus is God they stop talking and direct me to their website.
I can’t understand how someone who reads the same scriptures that we do, does not believe that Jesus is Lord? Or are they reading different scripture? As they’re trying to convert me, I offer counterpoints to make them think about what they believe. I’m not bashing JW’s. I just can’t fathom how you can read the same book, but come to a different conclusion of who/what God is. Thoughts?

As I gather from Trinitarians, they have a Translation which differs in key areas from the KJV and others.

 

[MaryM]

A couple times a month, JW’s come to visit the industrial estate where I work. They’re always welcoming and we always have a healthy debate, but everytime I ask the question why they don’t believe Jesus is God they stop talking and direct me to their website.
I can’t understand how someone who reads the same scriptures that we do, does not believe that Jesus is Lord? Or are they reading different scripture? As they’re trying to convert me, I offer counterpoints to make them think about what they believe. I’m not bashing JW’s. I just can’t fathom how you can read the same book, but come to a different conclusion of who/what God is. Thoughts?

So, who do they think Jesus is?

 

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So, who do they think Jesus is?

In Watchtower Society theology, an angel named Michael volunteered to
come to the earth to die for humanity's sins. But in order to do so; he had to
relinquish his angel existence to become a human existence seeing as how
in Society theology it is impossible to exist as a spirit being and a material
being simultaneously. However, when Michael expired, he didn't go
completely out of existence. Instead, his so-called "life force" remained
intact and was transferred to a human form.

"the transferal of the life of his firstborn Son from the spirit realm to earth.
Only in this way could the child eventually born have retained identity as the
same person who had resided in heaven as the Word."
(Aid to Bible Understanding, 1971, p.920)

"He had to become a perfect man and yet not lose his continuity of life. His
life-force was not to be extinguished but would be transferred to the ovum
of the virgin girl, Mary."
(Watchtower magazine, 2-15-82, p.7)

But Michael's existence as a material being was only temporary. When his
human form passed away on the cross, the Society claims that God
transferred Michael's life force back into his angel corpse thus restoring him
to his former spirit existence; leaving the corpse of his human existence in a
permanent state of decease.

In other words: The Watchtower Society's Jesus is still dead, and his
remains are squirreled away on Earth somewhere in a condition and a
location known only to God.

Jesus' remains pose a difficulty for the Watchtower Society. In order to
confirm that his crucified dead body stayed dead, the Society is going to
have produce it. A piece of evidence of that significance can't be allowed to
just slip through a crack unnoticed as if it makes no difference. As Carl
Sagan once said: "Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence." Till
then, we should reckon that when the Bible speaks of Jesus Christ's
resurrection, it's talking about a human's corpse rather than an angel's.

FAQ: What about Jesus' post resurrection appearances?

REPLY: Those weren't really Jesus. The Society would have us believe they
were Michael disguised in a materialized body, i.e. an avatar. I used the
word "disguised" because never once did their Michael give himself away to
his friends, rather, he let them all believe the real Jesus was back from the
grave.
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● Matt 24:45-47 . .Who really is the faithful and discreet slave whom his
master appointed over his domestics, to give them their food at the proper
time? Happy is that slave if his master on arriving finds him doing so. Truly I
say to you, He will appoint him over all his belongings.

The core of the Watchtower Society-- the Governing Body --sincerely
believes itself the faithful and discreet slave spoken of in that passage, i.e.
believes that God chose the leaders of the Watchtower Society as His sole
distributor of truth to mankind; thus explaining why John Que and Jane Doe
Jehovah's Witnesses are taught that they need to submit unquestioningly to
the Governing Body in order to associate with God, and for protection from
doomsday, viz: the calamities depicted in the book of Revelation.

"That faithful slave is the channel through which Jesus is feeding his true
followers in this time of the end. It is vital that we recognize the faithful
slave. Our spiritual health and our relationship with God depend on this
channel."
(Watchtower, 2013 Jul 15, p.20)

"We need to obey the faithful and discreet slave to have Jehovah’s
Approval."
(Watchtower, 2011 Jul 15, p.24, Simplified English Edition)

"[A mature christian] does not advocate or insist on personal opinions or
harbor private ideas when it comes to Bible understanding. Rather, he has
complete confidence in the truth as it is revealed by Jehovah God through3
his Son, Jesus Christ, and "the faithful and discreet slave."
(Watchtower, 2001 Aug 01, p.14)

According to the above: rank and file JWs are being taught that it's essential
to comply with the Governing Body's teachings. However; at the same time
they are warned that the Body's teachings should not be assumed either
inspired or infallible.

"The Governing Body is neither inspired nor infallible. Therefore, it can err in
doctrinal matters or in organizational direction. In fact, the Watchtower
Publications Index includes the heading “Beliefs Clarified,” which lists
adjustments in our Scriptural understanding since 1870. Of course, Jesus did
not tell us that his faithful slave would produce perfect spiritual food."
(Feb 2017 Watchtower--Study Edition)

Just imagine the degree of confusion and insecurity that would pervade the
minds of Bible-believing Christians had the authors of the New Testament
scriptures attached a disclaimer to their writings similar to the above.

In addition to the Society's disclaimer -- there's a recommendation for its
literature on page 5 of the Jan 01, 1942 issue of the Watchtower magazine
where it's stated:

"Those who are convinced that The Watchtower is publishing the opinion or
expression of a man should not waste time in looking at it at all. Those who
believe that God uses the Watchtower as a means of communicating to his
people, or of calling attention to his prophecies, should study The
Watchtower."

In other words: the haulers of water and the hewers of wood-- John Que and
Jane Doe rank and file JW --are not only expected to know what's in The
Watchtower magazine, but they're also required to accept it as God's
providence in spite of the Society's caveat that their teachings are neither
inspired nor guaranteed free of error.
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Some of the Watchtower Society's ethics rub people the wrong way. For
example they don't celebrate birthdays, observe Christmas, participate in
Halloween and Easter, serve in the military, nor allow blood transfusions.

Their feelings about special days are protected by the fourteenth chapter of
Romans so it would be extremely unchristian to criticize them on that front.

Their feelings about blood transfusions appear tenable from the passages
below.

● Gen 9:3-4 . . Every moving animal that is alive may serve as food for you.
As in the case of green vegetation, I do give it all to you. Only flesh with its
soul-- its blood --you must not eat.

● Lev 7:26-27 . .You must not eat any blood in any places where you dwell,
whether that of fowl or that of beast. Any soul who eats any blood, that soul
must be cut off from his people.

● Lev 17:10-14 . . As for any man of the house of Israel or some alien
resident who is residing as an alien in your midst who eats any sort of blood,
I shall certainly set my face against the soul that is eating the blood, and I
shall indeed cut him off from among his people.

● Acts 15:19-20 . . Hence my decision is not to trouble those from the
nations who are turning to God, but to write them to abstain . . from blood.

The Society construes those passages to imply that transfusing blood is all
the same as using it for food.

Rather than get into a semantic quarrel with the Society over its
interpretation of those passages; I suggest another tact. And our purpose is
not to win a debate; only to offer a second opinion.

The Jews' sabbath law is very narrow. In point of fact, the covenant that
Moses' people agreed upon with God imposes capital punishment for sabbath
violators. (Ex 31:14-15)

Now, that is very interesting because Jesus broke their sabbath on a number
of occasions, and when doing so based his actions upon the principle that
human life, safety, and welfare trump strict observance of religious
boundaries. (cf. Matt 12:3-8)

One of the best illustrations I've seen of a die-hard legalist was a cartoon
showing a man behind the wheel of his car stopped at a red light while huge
landslide boulders are within seconds of crushing to death him, his family,
and the family dog. While his wife and children shriek in mortal panic, the
legalist calmly points out that he can't move the car until the light turns
green, viz: legalists typically refuse to accept the possibility of mitigating
circumstances.

Although it's illegal to run red lights, those boulders rumbling down the hill
to crush the man's family to death unless he moves the car, are an
acceptable excuse to go before the light turns green. In those kinds of
cases, human life, safety, and welfare trump strict conformity to traffic laws.

Compare Ex 1:15-21 where Jewish midwives lied through their teeth in order
to save the lives of little Jewish boys. Did God punish the midwives for the
sin of dishonesty? No, on the contrary; He overlooked it and instead
rewarded the midwives' actions with families of their own. In point of fact,
their actions were adjudged as fearing the true God. (Ex 1:21)

Should someone reading this section chance to discuss blood transfusions
with a JW from Christ's sabbath perspective; I urge them to go about it with
the utmost in diplomacy, care, and civility because this is a hot-button issue.
Should your JW audience come to the realization that they've made a
monstrous mistake, they will be overwhelmed with guilt, disillusion, and
humiliation; not to mention fear of the organizational tsunami that'll come
their way should they dare to question the Society's stance on blood
transfusions.
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● Mark 11:12-13 . .The next day, when they had come out from Bethany, he
became hungry. And from a distance he caught sight of a fig tree that had
leaves, and he went to see whether he would perhaps find something on it.
But, on coming to it, he found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season
of figs.

FAQ: If Jehovah really was in the world as a man, then why didn't Jesus
know by omniscience that the fig tree would have no fruit? Why was it
necessary for Him to examine it up close in person?

REPLY: Jesus was able, on occasion, to observe things from a distance (John
1:48) so the question is a reasonable inquiry.

Jehovah's conduct in Mark 11:12-13 would've been unusual but by no
means uncharacteristic.

In the 11th chapter of Genesis, the people built themselves a tower. Jehovah
came down to see the tower. Now, if Jehovah is omnipresent and
omniscient, then why bother coming down out of heaven to inspect the
tower in person?

In the 18th chapter of Genesis, Jehovah announced to Abraham that He was
on a journey to visit Sodom in order to determine whether the reports He
was hearing about the city were true or not. Again: if Jehovah is
omnipresent and omniscient, why bother coming down out of heaven to visit
Sodom in person?

In the 22nd chapter of Genesis, Jehovah had Abraham offer his son as a
sacrifice made with fire. At the conclusion of the event; a celestial being—
speaking for Jehovah and speaking as Jehovah —said: "Now I do know that
you are God-fearing in that you have not withheld your son, your only one,
from Me."

It goes without saying that Jehovah knows every man's thoughts, and He
also knows the future, viz: nothing we do, say, or think catches Jehovah by
surprise; He sees everything. So then, if Jehovah already knew in advance
that Abraham would offer Isaac, and already knew in advance that Abraham
was God-fearing, then why did He say "now I know"? Shouldn't Jehovah
have already known? Well the thing is: Jehovah knew in his head tha
Abraham would go thru with it, but it was his desire to know as an eye
witness to the event in real time.

FAQ: Well then, why didn't Jesus employ the powers of Jehovah to make
that tree produce fruit for him to eat right then and there on the spot
instead of cursing the poor thing?

REPLY: When the Word of John 1:1-3 came into the world as the flesh of
John1:14, he came not as a divine man but as a Jewish man subordinate to
a higher power. (Phil 2:6-8) viz: Jesus was micro-managed. He cursed that
fig tree in compliance with his Father's instructions to do so.

● John 6:38 . . I have come down from heaven to do, not my will, but the
will of him that sent me.

● John 8:28 . . I do nothing of my own initiative

In the end; Jesus had to examine that fig tree up close and personal
because it was on his God-given itinerary to do so; and if ever Christ had a
passion; it was compliance with his Father's instructions.

● John 4:24 . .My food is for me to do the will of Him that sent me

● John 8:29 . . I always do the things pleasing to Him.
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FAQ: In standard Bibles; Jesus told one of his fellow prisoners that they
would be in paradise the very day of their deaths (Luke 23:43). But three
days later he told Mary Magdalena that he had not yet ascended to his
Father (John 20:17). How do you reconcile Jesus' statements in standard
Bibles?

REPLY: Well, of one thing we can be very certain: when Jesus died, he didn't
go up; quite the opposite direction: he went down. (Matt 12:40, Ps 16:9-10,
and Acts 2:25-31)

Paradise is structured such that its elements exist in more than one place.
For example: a city park system consists of any number of parks located in
any number of places, yet each individual park can still be correctly called a
city park.

For another example; the Pacific Crest Trail (a.k.a. PCT) traverses the
north/south length of three states-- California, Oregon, and Washington. No
matter where trekkers might be located on the trail at any given moment -
whether south at mile No.1 in Campo San Diego, or 2,140 trail-miles to the
north at Cascade Locks Oregon —they're all on the very same PCT
regardless of which State they happen to be passing thru.

Paradise is sort of like that. There's a section of it in the netherworld (Luke
16:19-31) another in a secret region called the third heaven (2Cor 12:2-4)
and yet another situated with God. (Rev 2:7)
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Some of Solomon's remarks in the book of Ecclesiastes appear to conflict
with Christ's teachings in the New Testament. Well; the answer to that is
actually pretty simple.

According to 2Tim 3:16, Solomon was inspired to write Ecclesiastes, but the
catch is: his comments essentially represent a world view-- a philosophy of
life under the sun --rather than a book of either history, revelation, or
prophecy.

In other words: Solomon's observations are limited to the scope of empirical
evidence and human experience; a perception of reality moderated by what
we can see for ourselves going on around us in the natural universe rather
than the supernatural-- which is at least one of the reasons why Ecclesiastes
appeals to cultists, atheists, and agnostics, et al.

Solomon's world view is punctuated with pessimism; which is basically a
mindset inclined to dwell on the negative in human experience rather than
the positive. For example:

"You only go around once, so do it with all the gusto you can get!"

That was a Schlitz beer slogan some years ago. It's worldly wisdom thru and
thru rather than Christ's. Compare it to a couple of Solomon's remarks:

● Ecc 9:5 . . The living are conscious that they will die; but as for the dead,
they are conscious of nothing at all.

● Ecc 9:10 . . All that your hand finds to do, do with your very power, for
there is no work nor devising nor knowledge nor wisdom in Sheol, the place
to which you are going.

That wisdom reflects Schlitz beer wisdom, i.e. it's earthly wisdom rather
than the wisdom that comes from above.

Solomon was a very wise man; in point of fact, the brightest intellectual of
his day. But Solomon's knowledge and experience were limited. He didn't
know everything there is to know, nor had he seen everything there is to
see, nor been everywhere there is to go. Whereas Christ's knowledge is
extremely vast.

● Col 2:3 . . Carefully concealed in him are all the treasures of wisdom and
of knowledge.

So then, it only stands to reason that Christ would know more about the
afterlife than Solomon, whereas Solomon didn't see anything beyond the
grave when he penned Ecclesiastes.

A good rule of thumb to apply when the teachings of Solomon and Jesus
contradict each other, is to keep in mind that Jesus is Solomon's superior,
viz: Jesus' teachings trump Solomon's.

● Matt 12:42 . .The queen of the south will be raised up in the judgment
with this generation and will condemn it; because she came from the ends of
the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, but, look! something more than
Solomon is here.

● John 3:31 . . He that comes from above is over all others.

And Jesus comes highly recommended too.

● Matt 17:5 . . This is my Son, the beloved, whom I have approved; listen to
him.

So then, when encountering remarks in the book of Ecclesiastes that are out
of step with Jesus' teachings in the New Testament; my unsolicited spiritual
counseling is to ignore the world's view of the afterlife and go with the
wisdom of "my Son".

● John 8:12 . . I am the light of the world. He that follows me will by no
means walk in darkness, but will possess the light of life.
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The passage below from the Watchtower Society's bible is deliberately
misquoted. Watch for the revision.

● Ps 146:3-4 . . Do not put your trust in nobles, nor in the son of earthling
man, to whom no salvation belongs. His spirit goes out, he goes back to his
ground; in that day he loses awareness.

The actual passage says "his thoughts do perish" which is quite a bit
different than losing awareness.

The Hebrew word for "thoughts" in that passage is 'eshtonah (esh-to naw')
which basically means thinking.

Unfortunately, Ps 146:4 is the only place in the entire Old Testament where
'eshtonah appears so we can't compare its uses in other contexts.

According to Webster's the word "thinking" is ambiguous with quite a variety
of meanings to choose from; including, but not limited to: concerns,
anticipations, conceptions, opinions, imaginations, visualizations, ideas,
epiphanies, plans, schemes, fantasies, arguments, aspirations, deliberations,
and the like.

For the rich man in Jesus' parable at Luke 12:16-20; I would choose ideas,
plans, and schemes.

"I will say to my soul: Soul, you have many good things laid up for many
years; take your ease, eat, drink, enjoy yourself. But God said to him:
Unreasonable one, this night they are demanding your soul from you. Who,
then, is to have the things you stored up?"

For a contemporary example: consider all those people who perished in the
World Trade Center, and in the Japan and Indonesia tsunamis, and the Haiti
earthquake. None of them woke that day planning on it being their last on
earth. No, on the contrary; they had people to see, places to go, and things
to do: but before the day ended; whatever was on their itinerary lost its
importance-- their priorities went right out the window and became no more
significant than green cheese on the moon.

All their plans, their dreams, their schedules, their appointments, their
schemes, their problems, their ambitions, their loves, and their aspirations
went right down the tubes as they were suddenly confronted with a whole
new reality to cope with.

So then, an alternative to the Watchtower Society's interpretation is that
people don't lose awareness when they die; no, Ps 146:3-4 only means to
say that whatever was on their minds before they passed away is now null
and void.

Take for another example Pop singer Michael Jackson. While working on a
new world tour, Jackson died in his sleep. As a result; his tour wrapped on
the spot.

When my eldest nephew was paroled from prison, he quit drinking, and
began going to college with the goal towards becoming a counselor. For 2½
years all went well. His parole officer was happy, and he was on track and
getting good grades. My nephew's future looked assured. And then on the
morning of Sept 25, 2015, he dropped dead to the floor of natural causes.

My nephew's passing was a terrible disappointment to everybody; but
actually we all kind of expected it. He was grossly overweight, had high
blood pressure, high cholesterol, rarely exercised, and smoked. But the point
is; my nephew's dream ended just as abruptly as flipping a light switch. And
all of our hopes for his success ended the same way, viz: our thoughts
perished right along with his.

Death is the mortal enemy of human ambitions. It often casts its long
shadow when people set about planning their lives. The Scottish poet Robert
Burns noticed that life sometimes throws a curve ball that makes all your
careful preparations strike out instead of getting you on base.

He was working one day plowing in the field and uprooted a mouse's
underground nest who was all set for the oncoming winter. The mouse had
picked a fallow field as the site for its winter retreat thinking it would be safe
and snug; unmolested during the cold. But it didn't (or maybe we should say
it couldn't) know the workings of powers higher than itself-- in this case,
farmers and their machinery.

Mousie, you are not alone in proving foresight may be vain.
The best laid schemes of mice and men go often askew,
And leave us naught but grief and pain for promised joy.
_

 

[Webers.Home]

.
The Watchtower Society alleges that the transfiguration event recorded in
Matt 17:1-9, Mark 9:2-8, Luke 9:28-36, and 2Pet 1:16-18 displayed Jesus'
true angelic form.

However; according to the reports; the transfiguration event was a preview
of the future kingdom; which, according to Heb 2:5-8 will be ruled,
managed, and supervised by human beings rather than by angel beings.

During the event, a voice from heaven identified the Lord as "my beloved
son". According to the first chapter of the letter to Hebrews, God has never
taken an angel as either His son or His heir.

At no time during the event did Jesus undergo a name change; he was never
once addressed, or referred to, as Michael.

None of the accounts say that Jesus' physical body was changed into a spirit
body. In point of fact, the only alteration that Jesus actually underwent was
the shine that radiated from his face and his clothing; and he remained
recognizable as Jesus rather than someone that the apostle Peter had never
seen before.

NOTE: Moses too appeared in glory during the event, which would've been
the second time around for him. (Ex 34:29-35)
_

 

[Webers.Home]

.
POSIT: It is impossible for Jesus Christ to be in heaven as a human being in
the presence of God because 1Tim 6:16 says that the king of all kings dwells
in an unapproachable light, whom "not one of men" has seen or can see.

REPLY: The Greek word translated "unapproachable" also means
inaccessible; which right there attests that humanity needs a mediator
between itself and the light to provide them at least an indirect access.

Note that the passage below is misquoted. Watch for the revision.

"There is one God, and one mediator between God and men; an angel:
Christ Michael." (1Tim 2:5)

No, that passage doesn't actually say "an angel" nor does it actually say
"Christ Michael". Here it is for real.

"For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men; a man:
Christ Jesus."

The Greek word for "men", as well as the word for "a man", is derived from
anthropos --a common Greek word for human beings in the New Testament.

So it's readily seen from a cursory examination of the Greek that the
mediator spoken of in 1Tim 2:5 is a human being rather than an angel.

Seeing as how Christ Jesus is allowed access to the inaccessible light as a
human being, then it's safe to conclude that there has to be something very
unusual about him.

Well; for one thing, his body is no longer that of mortal men. When he went
up to heaven, Christ Jesus' body underwent a miraculous transformation. It's
still human, that we know, but its chemistry is unlike any human body on
Earth. (1Cor 15:50-53)

For another, Christ Jesus is not only human, but also divine (John 1:1, John
1:18, and Col 2:9). That alone would surely be enough to grant him some
special privileges, and it does. For example: the angel Gabriel stands in the
presence of God (Luke 1:19) while Christ Jesus the man is seated. (Ps
110:1, Col 3:1)
_

 

[Aslanfriend]

A few JWs came by my house last weekend and left a tract about welcoming me to celebrate a funeral of some sort about Jesus...it said "Come celebrate a memorial of Jesus" at such and such place next weekend. I mean, if it weren't for the Resurrection our faith is all is in vain according to scripture! Anywhoo...today a FB friend of mine put up this video of the whole history of JWs and how they are linked to occult, free masons, etc. Interesting 2 hour "lesson" if you have 2 hours to watch.

There are only 2 things people may not agree with like: 1st - Women should NEVER be allowed to preach to men(sorry if i'm riling up old posts on this topic), since an early teacher in JW was a woman and 2nd - the dude in the video holds to the KJV Bible being the ONLY true Bible and compares NIV with JW's "New World Bible" being exactly the same in heresy. This is because of Kittle, (name could be mispelled from me) a German scholar around 52 minutes in.

I would like to hear KJV version only peeps to explain further why my NIV and several other somewhat newer versions I have are SO corrupt because they turn God into the word "He" in some verses, or leave out key verses, etc. ? Recently I have been investigating why people think KJV is superior to all other versions. This confusion about translations has been on my heart lately and i'm trying to figure out why so many hold to it. I'm not talking about the wacky newer Message Bible or NAR Bibles, just NIV, NSV, NLT, and ones like that. I was saved after reading an NIV so long ago, so it can't be that evil!

Any info appreciated....and without further ado, here is the video:

 

[ResidentAlien]

Robert Breaker's website, TheCloudChurch.org says this about him: "Robert Ray Breaker III is an ordained King James Bible Believing Independent Baptist Minister"; this is the first sentence. Why does he lead with "King James Bible Believing?" I though belief in Jesus is what makes someone a Christian.

Not a very good first impression; but anyway, it looks like a good subject so I'm going to try and get through it.

 

[GRACE_ambassador]

confusion about translations has been on my heart lately and i'm trying to figure out why so many hold to it.

Precious friend:

I believe each person has to evaluate the evidence and make their
own 'choice' -

I simply share my own reasons why I, personally, read and study KJB, here:

Which Bible version?
+
Handling The Word Of Life!

Grace, Peace, And JOY In Christ, And In His Word Of Truth, Rightly
Divided (+ I and II).
+
RICH Blessings

 

[VARob]

Robert Breaker's website, TheCloudChurch.org says this about him: "Robert Ray Breaker III is an ordained King James Bible Believing Independent Baptist Minister"; this is the first sentence. Why does he lead with "King James Bible Believing?" I though belief in Jesus is what makes someone a Christian.

Not a very good first impression; but anyway, it looks like a good subject so I'm going to try and get through it.

I've seen several of his Youtube videos. He posts 2-4 a week, in English and Spanish.
https://www.youtube.com/@Robertbreaker3/videos

He's hard-core KJVO.