CJ's Story

 This is the story of a very courageous woman named Cynthia J. Maurer. I met "C.J." as the result of Lee Elder of AJWRB referring her to me as she needed friends and support. She had been suffering with ovarian cancer and had just disassociated herself from the Watchtower Organization during 2001. C.J. became a born again Christian and had accepted Jesus Christ as her true Savior.

I first contacted C.J. around January, 2002 and began to correspond with her by emails. Her first email to me had the subject header, "From another Cynthia". I bonded with her right away, as my name is also Cynthia, but C.J. always went by her nickname of "C.J." and preferred to be called by her nickname.

CJ was a JW for more than 25 years and faithful in every way. She was always a "sister in good standing". Her first husband committed suicide in the 1970’s after being disfellowshipped for smoking. Originally from Indiana, she had been living in Tucson, Arizona the same town where I grew up. She had two young children left at home, a son, Derrick, 13 years old and a granddaughter, Jamie who was 10. She also had two daughters in their 20’s, Rebekah and Lily.

Jesus Christ, Who is He?

reprinted from the book, Refuting Jehovah's Witnesses 

By Randall Watters

Biblical Overview

SON OF GOD
Jesus was often called "the Son of God," and made allusions to this title himself on occasion. The apostle Paul speaks of him as the Son of God who emptied himself of His glory and took upon Himself a human body along with its limitations in order to accomplish the salvation of man. Philippians 2:68 tells us about this surpassing and unfathomable love:
Although He existed in the form of God, [He] did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bondservant, and being made in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
Bible scholars tell us that this expression "Son of God" conveys Christ's inherent Deity, especially in view of the Pharisees' reaction to it (John 10:31-36; 19:7). However, did the apostles recognize him as "God in the flesh" (as modern scholars refer to him)?

Sin and Salvation, Law and Freedom

by Randall Watters

(Note: This article originally appeared in a book called Refuting Jehovah's Witnesses. The book was published in 1985.

Biblical Overview

The word sin comes from the Greek hamartia, which means "to miss the mark," just as an archer would shoot an arrow that could never quite make it to the target. Likewise, the target that we are supposed to be reaching is moral perfection and close communion with God. To sin is to fall short of this target. Fornication, sensuality, idolatry, strife, drunkenness, etc. are some of the sins that we can become victims of, according to Galatians 5:19-21. The apostle Paul says that practicing such things will keep us out of the kingdom of God. But exactly why are these actions called sins?
For one thing, they are harmful to the welfare and spirituality of others. Even more importantly, they alienate us from God, and cause us to fall short of moral perfection. Could we say that jealousy and anger are "lesser" sins than lust? Both involve sins against another person, and could have an equally devastating effect. Both alienate us from God. Both are sins. Both carry the same penalty of death (Romans 6:23).