tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-72156890436847023972024-03-05T00:03:06.878-08:00Ex JWs Los AngelesCynthia Hamptonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07189284705272351076noreply@blogger.comBlogger25125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7215689043684702397.post-70482711343460288172019-09-02T20:24:00.002-07:002019-09-02T20:30:55.243-07:00CJ's Story<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: black;"> </span>This is the story of a very courageous woman named Cynthia J. Maurer. I met "C.J." as the result of Lee Elder of <a href="http://ajwrb.org/" target="_blank">AJWRB</a> 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.<br />
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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.<br />
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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<span style="color: red;"> </span>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.<br />
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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 was living in Tucson, Arizona the same town where I grew up. At the time, she had two young children left at home, a son 12 years old and a daughter who is 9. CJ was only 50 years old and was suffering from ovarian cancer.<br />
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About two years previously, CJ decided to remarry after many years of being single and raising her children alone. Her two older daughters were already grown, and she had only the two younger ones left with her. She was proposed to by a "brother" whom she had known for many years who lived in Indiana, where she originally became a JW. She thought this was what she wanted and this would be the person who would make her happy. She had no reason to believe any different, this was a "brother" who was also a "Ministerial Servant" in the congregation! CJ accepted his proposal of marriage, sold all of her belongings in Arizona, and moved back to Indiana to marry this "brother."<br />
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She was married at the Kingdom Hall and she thought this was the beginning of a wonderful life! Then, six weeks after the wedding, she was unfortunately diagnosed with ovarian cancer and needed a complete hysterectomy to save her life and keep the cancer from spreading. Her illness was a complete shock to her new husband, such a complete shock that he decided he no longer wanted to be married to C.J. She found herself living in a homeless shelter with her children, one month after having the hysterectomy. Where were the other Jehovah’s Witnesses in this situation? They were no where to be found!<br />
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Being a good Jehovah’s Witness sister that she was, when CJ had her surgery she told the doctors, "no blood transfusions". She was very adamant about it because she thought she was following God’s laws and wanted to remain in good standing with the Watchtower Organization. It was an unthinkable idea to accept blood and lose her place in "paradise". After the surgery, however, CJ’s surgeons explained to her that since she could accept no blood that the surgery had been "incomplete". Surgeons were able to remove her ovaries and uterus, but were not able to do any "exploratory surgery" to ascertain where the cancer may have spread to and remove that as well. If one knows anything about ovarian cancer, you know that ovarian cancer is a "silent disease". A woman can be in the 3<sup>rd</sup> or 4<sup>th</sup> stage of cancer before there are symptoms and the cancer is finally discovered.<br />
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The consequences of having an "incomplete" surgery for removing the ovarian cancer, were quite grave. CJ’s doctors explained that since she refused the blood transfusions, she had shortened her life considerably since they had to leave any residual cancer in her body. Hearing this came as a shock and a "blow" to her since she knew she was responsible for raising her children alone. This is the information she needed to wake her up from the Watchtower way of thinking. If there is one thing that a mother asks for in life, is to remain alive and well to raise her children to adulthood. Now she knew this wasn’t going to happen. It was no longer good enough that she assured herself a place in "Watchtower Paradise" by refusing blood transfusions. CJ was now looking death in the face, much earlier than she ever expected.<br />
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The caveat to this story is that it is probably true that CJ would never have left the Watchtower Organization if she hadn’t contracted ovarian cancer and had this horrific experience. She would have gone on being a "sister in good standing" and would never have bothered to investigate whether or not the Watchtower really taught the "truth". She just assumed that it was the TRUTH!<br />
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I had made a point of trying to telephone CJ as often as I could besides writing emails. I had visited her as well at her apartment in Tucson on two separate occasions. She just turned out to be the most lovely and enjoyable person to know.<br />
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Around the time of my visit with CJ on April 6<sup>th</sup>, 2002 she was starting to get some headaches. They became very painful, so she informed her doctor. Last Thursday April 18<sup>th</sup>, she went to have an MRI done to check for possible brain cancer. The bad news was she had some cancerous lesions in her brain. The good news was that the lesions are small and doctors said that they can treat them with radiation to eradicate the cancer from her brain.<br />
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I received an email from C.J. in late April, and this is what she told me:<br />
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<i>"He (</i>her doctor<i>) is such a sweetheart, a real healer, with encouraging words and reminders to continue doing all my alternative things to support the radiation I will be starting this week. NO surgery. Maybe a gamma knife thing in Phoenix. We both agreed that this is just another phase of my illness that I am going to get through. Your prayers are working. My children are systematically being networked and progress is being made toward their care. We are happy spiritually, although I would’ve liked to have gone to church this morning. I posted the prayer you sent to me above my computer and read it regularly. Praise God for your kind and sincere heart, Cynthia. He uses you in your ministry to others and I am sure you have no doubt about that. He is clearly</i><br />
<i>your confidence and guide. Thank you for being here for our family. IN Christ</i>, CJ"<br />
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C.J. went through her round of radiation treatments and the gamma knife treatment with such a good attitude. I visited her again on May 18, 2002. She was in great spirits even though she had lost all her hair again. It was the last time I would see her up and around. I continued to telephone her and keep up with what was going on. I also asked her to put my name and phone number handy as I wanted to be informed immediately if she was going to take a turn for the worse.<br />
On November 27, 2002, I received a phone call from someone letting me know that C.J. was about to enter hospice care. She had called him to let him know that she was on her "last legs" and she asked him to call me. It was Thanksgiving weekend, and I couldn’t go out there at that time. So I made arrangements to get out there the weekend of December 13<sup>th</sup>. I’m glad I did because it was to be the last time I would see her.<br />
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C.J. was told earlier in the week that I was on my way out to see her and her daughter told me that she was quite excited that I was coming out to see her. I loved C.J. as a sister in Christ with all my heart. How could I not go out and see her? I was just very sad that this was the end of the line for C.J. When I arrived there, CJ was not able to speak or respond. However, Rebekah her daughter told me that she was quite aware of what was going on around her and that she could hear and understand everything. So as Rebekah stepped aside so that I could spend time with C.J, I was able to take C.J.'s hand and talk to her.<br />
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I cried as I held her hand and prayed for her. This lady had just become so precious to me in my eyes. C.J., throughout this whole ordeal had the most marvelous, positive and peaceful spirit about her. She never once complained about where life had taken her or had any bitterness toward anyone or the fact that she spent many years as a JW. I will always hold her in great admiration for the strength that she displayed and especially the love of Christ that just radiated from her.<br />
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I had a dream about C.J. the night before I went to see her. In my dream I had gone to visit C.J., but she was not at a hospital or at her apartment. I had an address for her but the address was this great big house. In my dream, I rang the doorbell, and C.J. answered the door. She looked beautiful, radiant and the picture of health. Her hair was long and flowing and even more beautiful than the pictures I had seen of her before she became ill. In my dream I felt so very astounded! She led me into her large, spacious home and to a kitchen that is everyone's dream gourmet kitchen. She had just made some iced tea and was going to pour me a glass. I just kept asking her what happened? How is it that she was completely well? In the dream she explained that God had healed her from the cancer and that she was now cancer free. It was an amazing recovery!<br />
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I told C.J. about this dream. I believe that this dream was a picture of what was going to be like when she finds herself in the New Heavens and New Earth. Did this depict one of the "many mansions" that Jesus talked about? Well this was her heavenly mansion! C.J. was the picture of health and there was no more pain and death was no more! So I told her that is what was waiting for her there.<br />
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Sunday morning (December 15<span style="font-size: 13.3333px;">, </span>2002) I received the news that C.J. had passed away during the night. Rebekah, her daughter had called and said that C.J. had died in peace and had a smile on her face when she died. I am very thankful for the time that I could spend with her that previous day. I'm thankful that God kept her alive so that I could see her that one last time. I know that she is in heaven now with God and she's happy. No more pain, and no more suffering. I know that one day again, I will see her in the New Heavens and New Earth when we all have our perfect, glorified perfect bodies.Cynthia Hamptonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07189284705272351076noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7215689043684702397.post-55718084113058580592019-09-02T16:07:00.004-07:002019-09-02T16:08:19.168-07:00Jesus Christ, Who is He?<div>
<span style="background-color: white;">reprinted from the book, </span><em style="background-color: white;">Refuting Jehovah's Witnesses</em><span style="background-color: white;"> </span></div>
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By Randall Watters<br />
<h3>
<u>Biblical</u> <u>Overview</u></h3>
<b>SON OF GOD</b><br />
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:<br />
<em>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.</em><br />
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 <i>apostles </i>recognize him as "God in the flesh" (as modern scholars refer to him)?<br />
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From the record of Scripture it becomes clear that the disciples learned slowly in areas of faith and doctrine, until Pentecost. They were amazed that Jesus could perform miracles, even though Isaiah had prophesied such concerning the Messiah. (Matt. 8:17). They repeatedly did not discern his parables (Matt. 13:36). They failed to understand that Messiah must die for the people (Matt. 16:2128). Even after Jesus' resurrection, they erroneously thought he was restoring the Kingdom to Israel at that time (Acts 1:68). Though called the Son of God by his disciples, they did not fully recognize his identity.<br />
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It was <i>after</i> Pentecost that John said that he was by nature God (John 1:1). Paul could say that in Christ dwells all the fullness of the GODSHIP (Col. 2:9) in a body. Thomas called Jesus "the LORD of me and THE GOD (<i>ho theos</i>) of me (John 20:28; Greek text).<br />
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There are two important reasons why the full identity of Christ was concealed in the early years of his life. Alfred Edersheim comments on <i>God's</i> reasons:<br />
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Christ could not, in any true sense, have been subject to His parents, if they fully understood that he was Divine. . . . Such knowledge would have broken the bond of His humanity to ours, by severing that which bound Him as a child to His mother. We could not have become His brethren, had He not been truly the Virgin's Son. The mystery of the incarnation would have been needless and fruitless, had His humanity not been subject to all its right and ordinary conditions. And, applying the same principle more widely, we can thus, in some measure, understand why the mystery of His Divinity had to be kept while He was on earth. Had it been otherwise, the thought of His Divinity would have proved to be so all-absorbing, as to render impossible that of His humanity, with all its lessons. The Son of God Most High, whom they worshipped, could never have been the loving man, with whom they could hold such close converse. The bond which bound the Master to his disciples - the Son of Man to humanity would have been dissolved. His teaching as a man, the Incarnation, and the Tabernacling among men, in place of the former Old Testament Revelation from heaven, would have become wholly impossible. In short, . . . [one] element in our salvation would be taken away. (<i>The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah</i>, Volume One, Book II, p. 192)</blockquote>
Then there were <i>man's</i> reasons. Primarily, it took time for the disciples to develop an awareness of Christ's nature. Harold O. J. Brown, in his book entitled <i>Heresies</i>, reveals how the Holy Spirit worked to develop an awareness of who Christ was to these early disciples:<br />
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If there was a development in Christian consciousness and the formulation of Christian teaching and of course there was the most significant psychological transformation occurred at the very beginning of the church, in the first half of the first century. The very earliest disciples of Christ encountered him first of all as a man like themselves. Only gradually did they become aware of his extraordinary attributes and come to understand that he was claiming to be one with God the Father. The first Christians experienced Jesus as a man whom they slowly came to recognize as the Messiah, and ultimately acknowledged, in the words of doubting Thomas, as Lord and God (John 20:28). For them, the humanity of Jesus was self-evident; his deity was their confession of faith.</blockquote>
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. . . Later believers were almost invariably confronted first of all with his deity, and only slowly came to recognize that the Savior was also fully human, just as we are. Because they heard him proclaimed as Lord and God, it was the news of his full humanity that was rather shocking and in a sense unexpected. (<i>Heresies</i> p. 27)</blockquote>
Jesus was both man and Deity, possessing both natures simultaneously. His humanity is evident from the gospel accounts; but what manifestation of his Deity do we find?<br />
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<b>CHRIST POSSESSED ALL THE ATTRIBUTES OF GOD</b><br />
Dr. Henry Clarence Thiessen says about Christ,<br />
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Divine attributes are ascribed to Him and manifested by Him. There are five distinctively divine attributes. These are eternity, omnipresence, omniscience, omnipotence, and immutability. Christ possesses all of these. He is eternal. He was not only before John (John 1:15), before Abraham (John 8:58), and before the world came into being (John 17:5, 24); but He is "the firstborn of every creature" (Col. 1:15), being in existence "in the beginning" (John 1:1; I John 1:1); and, in fact, "from the days of eternity" (Micah 5:2, marg.). And as to the future, He continues forever (Heb. 1:11, Isa. 9:6, Rev. 1:11 [KJV]). The Father's communication of life to Him is an eternal process (John 5:26; 1:4).<br />
He is omnipresent and omniscient. He was in heaven while on earth (John 3:13, A.V., A.S.V.), and is on earth while He is in heaven (Matt. 18:20, 28:20). He fills all (Eph. 1:2,3). As for his Omniscience, we read that He knows all things (John 16:30; 21:17). He knew what was in man (John 2:24, 25). He saw Nathanael under the fig tree (John 1:49); He knew the history of the Samaritan woman (John 4:29), the thoughts of men (Luke 6:8, cf. 11:17), the time and manner of His exit out of this world (Matt. 16:21; John 12:33, 13:1), who would betray Him (John 6:66), the character and certain termination of the present age (Matt. 24:25), the Father (Matt. 11:27); and "in Him are all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge hidden" (Col. 2:3). In Mark 13:32 He is said to be ignorant of the day of His return. On the basis of this statement some would have us believe that He was ignorant on many other points also. But we must remember that while He had the attributes of deity, He had surrendered the independent exercise of them. He went to a fig tree, "if haply he might find anything thereon" (Mark 11:13); He marveled at their unbelief (Mark 6:6). All due to the fact that the Father did not allow Him to exercise His divine attributes in these instances. But He, no doubt, now knows the time of His coming.<br />
He is omnipotent. Jesus says: "I am the Almighty" (Rev. 1:8), and, "The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father doing, for what things soever he doeth, these the Son also doeth in like manner" (John 5:19). He upholds all things with the word of His power (Heb. 1:3); all authority is given to Him (Matt. 28:18). He had power over demons (Mark 5:11-15), disease (Luke 4:38-41), death (Matt. 9:25; Luke 7:14,15; John 11:43,44), the elements (Matt. 8:26,27), nature (John 2:11, Matt. 21:19), and all things (Matt. 28:18; Rev. 1:8). If it be objected that Christ performed His miracles through the Spirit (Matt. 12:28), we reply that they are, nevertheless, frequently cited as proofs of his deity (John 5:36; 10:25,38; cf. 20:30,31).<br />
He is also immutable (Heb. 13:8, 1:12). This is true of His plans, promises, and person. But this does not preclude the possibility of a variety of manifestations on His part, nor of a restriction of some of His instructions and purposes to particular ages and persons. (<i>Lectures in Systematic Theology</i>, pp. 139-140)</blockquote>
<b>KEY PASSAGES</b><br />
The inspired writers of the New Testament clearly recorded their God-given understanding for us to learn by. In John 1:1 we read plainly, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."<br />
The apostle John also writes in 1 John 5:20 "And we know that the Son of God has come, and has given us understanding, in order that we might know Him who is true, and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life."<br />
In <b>ISAIAH 43:11</b>, <i>Yahweh</i> says, "There is no savior besides me." The apostle Peter was inspired to write about his savior in <b>2 PETER 1:1</b>: "Simon Peter, a bondservant and apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who have received a faith of the same kind as ours, by the righteousness of <i>our God and Savior</i> Jesus Christ."<br />
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In <b>ISAIAH 44:8</b>, <i>Yahweh</i> says, "Is there any God besides me, or is there any other Rock? I know of none." The apostle Paul writes of the Israelites and says, "All ate the same spiritual food; and all drank the same spiritual drink, for they were drinking from a spiritual rock which followed them, and the <i>rock was Christ</i>." (1 Cor. 10:4)<br />
<b>ISAIAH 40:3</b> (JB) says, "Prepare in the wilderness a way for <i>Yahweh</i>. Make a straight path for our God across the desert." The Bible writer, Matthew, quotes from this passage and says it is fulfilled in Jesus Christ in <b>MATTHEW 3:3</b>, him being the Lord.<br />
The apostle Paul gives numerous references to the Deity (Godship) of Christ. <b>ROMANS 9:5</b> says ". . . From whom is the Christ according to the flesh, who is over all, God blessed forever." At Col. 2:9, Paul refers to Christ being "God manifest in the flesh" when he says about Christ, "For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form." (See also Col. 1:19.) Paul writes in <b>HEBREWS 1:6</b>, "And let all the angels of God worship Him." And in verse 8 of the same chapter it reads, "But of the Son He [Yahweh] says, `Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever.'" In verse 10 Paul quotes from <b>PSALM 102:25</b>, which applied to Yahweh, and applies it to Jesus Christ: "Thou, Lord, in the beginning didst lay the foundation of the earth," and "Thou art the same, and thy years will not come to an end."<br />
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These are truths not grasped by the carnal mind, even as Paul writes in <b>1 TIMOTHY 3:16</b> (JB), "Without any doubt, the <i>mystery</i> of our religion is very deep indeed, `He was made visible in the flesh, attested by the Spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed to the pagans, believed in by the world, taken up in glory.'"<br />
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On the next few pages are listed more texts regarding the identity and nature of Christ, with appropriate commentary:<br />
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For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; and the government will rest on his shoulders; and His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.<br />
David L. Cooper tells us regarding Isaiah 9:6:<br />
<i>El Gibbor</i> (translated as Mighty God) can signify God-Hero only, a hero who is infinitely exalted above all human heroes by the circumstance that He is God. This position is confirmed by Isaiah 10:21 which, with the preceding and following verses, I quote:<br />
"And it shall come to pass in that day, that the remnant of Israel, and they that are escaped of the house of Jacob, shall no more lean upon him that smote them, but shall lean upon Jehovah, the Holy One of Israel, in truth. A remnant shall return, even the remnant of Jacob, unto the mighty God. For though thy people, Israel, be as the sand of the sea, only a remnant of them shall return: a destruction is determined, overflowing with righteousness. For a full end, and that determined, will the Lord, Jehovah of hosts, make in the midst of all the earth." Isa. 10:20-23<br />
In this passage the God of Jacob, to whom the remnant shall return, is called the mighty God. This title is here evidently an echo of the words of the passage under consideration. Since it is interpreted in 10:21 as the title of the God of Jacob, it is certain that it has the same significance in this series of names. (David L. Cooper, <i>Messianic Series</i>, Parts 14, pp. 76-96)</blockquote>
<b>LUKE 18:18,19:</b><br />
<em>And a certain ruler asked him, saying, Good Master, at shall I do to inherit eternal life? And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? none is good, save one, that is, God.</em><br />
The use of the expression "Good Master" (literally, "Good Teacher") was most remarkable and unusual. Even the most revered, the most respected, the most famous rabbis were never addressed thusly by their pupils. Contrary to the way we lightly use the word today - speaking of good women, good men, good boys and good girls - it was a title of deep reverence. And the emphasis in our Lord's reply was, "Why do you call me good?"<br />
He was saying in effect, "You do not consider me God, but merely a man. Why do you use such a lofty title? Only God is good and you are not willing to call me God." If Jesus Christ is not God, he should not be called good; he is an impostor, a blasphemer, a liar, a fraud and a charlatan not worthy of anyone's respect. One could not make the claims he made and, if false, be a good man!<br />
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<b>JOHN 1:1:</b><br />
<em>In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.</em><br />
When the apostle John says, "the Word was God," he is not saying that Jesus is the Father; he is saying Christ possessed <i>Deity.</i> Even the non-trinitarian Bible translator William Barclay admits that the essence of John 1:1 is referring to the nature of Christ:<br />
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In a matter like this, we cannot do other than to go to the Greek, which is <i>theos en ho logos</i>. <i>Theos</i> is the Greek word for God, <i>en</i> for was, <i>ho</i> for the, <i>logos</i> for word. Now normally, except for special reasons, Greek nouns always have the definite article in front of them, and we can see at once here that <i>theos</i> the noun for God has not got the definite article in front of it. When a Greek noun has not got the article in front of it, it becomes rather a description than an identification, and has the character of an adjective than of a noun. We can see exactly the same in English. If I say, "James is <i>the</i> man," then I identify James with some definite man whom I have in mind; but if I say: "James is man", then I am simply describing James as human, and the word man has become a description and not an identification. If John had said <i>ho theos en ho logos</i>, using a definite article in front of both nouns, then he would have definitely identified the Logos with God, but because he has no definite article in front of <i>theos</i> it becomes a description, and more of an adjective than a noun. The translation then becomes, to put it rather clumsily, "The Word was in the same class as God, belonging to the same order of being as God." The only modern translator who fairly and squarely faced this problem is Kenneth Wuest, who has: "The Word was as to his essence essential deity." But it is here that the NEB has brilliantly solved the problem with the absolutely accurate rendering: "What God was the Word was." (<i>Many Witnesses, One Lord</i>, p.23, 24)</blockquote>
John is saying Christ possesses Deity along with the Father, because they are One (John 10:30) in substance and nature. All the fullness of Deity dwells in his body (Col. 2:9). He is the exact representation of the Father's being; something impossible for created beings (Heb. 1:3). (See also Appendix [John 1:1])<br />
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<b>JOHN 1:18:</b><br />
<em>No man has seen God at any time; the only begotten God, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him.</em><br />
Dr. Kenneth S. Wuest interprets this verse,<br />
<blockquote>
This combination of deity and humanity in one Person, Jesus of Nazareth, John speaks of again in the words: "Deity in its invisible essence no one has ever yet seen, God only begotten, the one who is constantly in the bosom of the Father, that One has fully explained God" (1:18). The words "God only begotten" refer to Jesus of Nazareth. He is God only begotten, proceeding by eternal generation as the Son of God from the Father in a birth that never took place because it always was. This one, John says, fully explained Deity. The Greek word translated "fully explained" means literally "to lead out." Jesus in the incarnation led Deity out from back of the curtain of its invisibility, showing the human race in and through a human life, what God was like. . . . In the incarnation, Jesus of Nazareth fully explained God so far as a human medium could explain the infinite, and human minds and hearts could receive that revelation. And He could do that only because He was God Himself. (<i>Great Truths To Live By</i>, p.30)</blockquote>
<b>JOHN 5:17-19:</b><br />
<em>But He answered them, "My Father is working until now and I Myself am working."</em><br />
<em>For this cause the Jews were seeking all the more to kill Him, because He not only was breaking the Sabbath, but was also calling God His own Father, making Himself equal with God.</em><br />
Jesus therefore answered and was saying to them, "Truly, truly I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, unless it is something He sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, these things the Son also does in like manner."<br />
Like the Father, Jesus did not rest from work on the sabbath. He was the "firstborn over all creation," therefore not subject to the sabbath. Unlike men, he was Lord over the sabbath! This, along with Jesus' reference to <i>MY</i> Father,<sup>1</sup> was blasphemous to the Jews, as he was suggesting that he possessed equality with God. This is exactly what they charged him with. Also, Albert Barnes remarks on verse 19,<br />
<blockquote>
The word is without limit-ALL that the Father does, the Son likewise does. This is as high an assertion as possible of His being <i>equal</i> with God. If one does <i>all</i> that another does or can do, then there is proof of equality. If the Son does all that the Father does, then, like Him, He must be almighty, omniscient, all-present, and infinite in every perfection; or, in other words, He must be God. (<i>Barnes' Notes On The New Testament</i>, one volume, p.289)</blockquote>
<b>JOHN 5:23:</b><br />
<em>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.</em><br />
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Here we get the picture of the son of a royal magistrate, who is to be honored with the same honor as his eminent father. He will one day be the heir with equal authority and power as his father. He is equal in nature and substance with his father already; there is simply the distinction of headship and order that gives the father the crown. But the son is royalty just as much so as the father; of a different mold or caste than the common people by nature of his birth.<br />
We can also see the similarity in the relationship between the Father and the Son in the Godhead. The Son is to be honored, worshiped, and considered as equal to his Father; yet recognizing the Father's headship. The Son is of a different nature than creatures or created beings, as he shares eternity with the Father. He is uncreated, and was always with the Father.<br />
Albert Barnes remarks on John 5:23:<br />
<blockquote>
We honour God when we obey him, and worship him aright. We honour the Son when we esteem him to be as he is; when we have right views and feelings towards him. As he is declared to be God, (John i.1,) as he here says that he has power and authority equal with God, so we honour him when we regard him as such. The primitive Christians are described by Pliny, in a letter to the emperor Trajan, as meeting together to sing hymns to Christ <i>as God</i>. So we honour him aright when we regard him as possessed of wisdom, goodness, power, eternity, omniscience - equal with God. . . . <i>Even as.</i> To the same extent; in the same manner. Since the Son is to be honoured EVEN as the Father, it follows that he must be equal with the Father. To <i>honour the Father</i> must denote <i>religious</i> homage, or the rendering of that honour which is due to God; so to honour the Son must also denote <i>religious</i>homage. If our Savior here did not <i>intend</i> to teach that he ought to be <i>worshipped,</i> and to be esteemed as <i>equal</i> with God, it would be difficult to teach it by any language which we could use. . . . <i>He that honoureth not the Son.</i> He that does not believe on him, and render to him the homage which is his due as the equal of God. . . . <i>Honoureth not the Father.</i>(ibid., p.289)</blockquote>
<b>JOHN 20:28, 29:</b><br />
<em>Thomas answered and said to Him, "My Lord and my God!"</em><br />
<em>Jesus said to him, "Because you have seen Me, have you believed? Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed."</em><br />
Ryle observes on this passage:<br />
<blockquote>
The noble exclamation which bursts from the lips of Thomas, when convinced that the Lord had risen indeed,the noble exclamation, "My Lord and my God,"admits of only one meaning. It was a distinct testimony to our blessed Lord's divinity. It was a clear unmistakable declaration that Thomas believed Him, whom He saw and touched that day, to be not only man, but God.<br />
The text before us is one of those which are justly quoted, as an unanswerable proof of the divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ. He is called "God" in the presence of ten witnesses, and He accepts the language, and does not say one word to reprove the person who uses it. Unless a person is prepared to deny the inspiration of St. John's Gospel generally, or the genuineness and correctness of this text in particular, it is hard to see how the force of the sentence in favour of Christ's divinity can be evaded. (<i>Ryle's Expository Thoughts On The Gospels</i>, Vol. 4, p.679, 688)</blockquote>
Not only was Jesus addressed as "Lord," but he is given the supreme title of "God" by his own disciple, and Jesus does not rebuke him, but acknowledges this statement as fact (John 20:29). The Greek reads, "[Thomas] said to him, `The Lord of me and the God of me!'" This is the same expression given to Yahweh in Revelation 4:11: "Worthy you are, <i>the Lord and the God</i> of us, to receive the glory and the honor and the power. . . ." Thomas gives Jesus the same glory and honor as he would the Father (John 5:23).<br />
<b>COLOSSIANS 2:9</b>:<br />
<em>For in Him all the fulness of Deity dwells in bodily form.</em><br />
The word "fulness" is translated from the Greek <i>pleroma</i>. The <i>New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology</i> points out that in Col. 2:9 this phrase "must mean deity, Godhead, entirety, the sum total of divine attributes." (Vol. I, p. 740) All of the very nature of Yahweh God dwells in the BODY of Christ. This rules out his being of a lesser nature than the Father. A. T. Robertson says that "Paul here asserts that `all the <i>pleroma</i> of the Godhead,' not just certain aspects, dwells in Christ and in bodily form." (<i>Word Pictures in the New Testament</i>, Vol. IV, p. 491)<br />
<b>HEBREWS 1:13:</b><br />
<em>God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world. And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power.</em><br />
Homer Kent translates this "the exact representation of his (God's) essence," then explains: "As the imprint of the die perfectly represents the original design, so in Christ there is the display for those who have eyes to see of God's very essence. In a similar assertion in Colossians 1:15, Christ is set forth as the timeless image (<i>eikon</i>) of God. Jesus Himself said, `He that hath seen me hath seen the Father' (John 14:9)." (<i>The Epistle To The Hebrews: A Commentary</i>, p. 37)<br />
<i>Expositor's</i> conveys the following thought in reference to the Greek word <i>apaugasma,</i> translated in Heb. 1:3 as "the brightness of [God's] glory" (KJV):<br />
<blockquote>
[It] seems to mean, not rays of light streaming from a body in their connection with that body or as part of it, still less the reflection of these rays caused by their falling upon another body, but rather rays of light coming out from the original body and forming a similar light-body themselves. . . . In the Arian controversy this designation of the Son was appealed to as proving that He is eternally generated and exists not by an act of the Father's will but essentially. . . . As the sun cannot exist or a lamp burn without radiating light, so God is essentially Father and Son. (<i>Expositor's Greek Testament</i>, Heb. 1:3)</blockquote>
For this reason, the Nicene Creed declares Christ: "God of God, Light of Light, Very God of Very God."<br />
<b>HEBREWS 1:610</b>:<br />
<em>And when he again brings the firstborn into the world, He says, "AND LET ALL THE ANGELS OF GOD WORSHIP HIM." And of the angels He says, "WHO MAKES HIS ANGELS WINDS, AND HIS MINISTERS A FLAME OF FIRE." But of the Son He says, "THY THRONE, O GOD, IS FOREVER AND EVER, AND THE RIGHTEOUS SCEPTER IS THE SCEPTER OF HIS KINGDOM. . . . THOU, LORD, IN THE BEGINNING DIDST LAY THE FOUNDATION OF THE EARTH. . . ."</em><br />
Christ is the "firstborn (Greek: <i>prototokos</i>) of all creation," the head over all, just as David spoke of God's promise to him,<br />
<em>I also shall make him My firstborn, the highest of the kings of the earth. (Ps. 89:27)</em><br />
Whether the Greek <i>prototokos</i> means "first one born" or "the first in authority" is determined from the context of the discussion. In Ps. 89:27 the meaning is obviously the latter, as in Col. 1:15. <i>Prototokos</i> is also applied to Christ in Romans 8:29, where he is called the "firstborn among many brethren" and also in Col. 1:18, "so that He Himself might come to have first place in everything." The latter clearly identifies the way the word should be understood, both in Col. 1:15 and Heb. 1:6. Beyond any doubt, Christ is continually spoken of as being <i>preeminent</i> or <i>first</i> in all things.<br />
As for Christ being worshiped by the angels, this is a theme repeated in Revelation 5:1214, as he is there worshiped alongside the Father by all of creation. John 5:23 tells us to honor Jesus <i>equally</i> with the Father. Greek scholar A.T. Robertson tells us that the Greek <i>proskunesatosan</i> is the "imperative first aorist active third plural of <i>proskuneo</i>, here in the full sense of worship, not mere reverence or courtesy." (<i>Word Pictures in the New Testament</i>, Vol. V, p. 338)<br />
Verse eight is a quotation from Psalm 45:6, which says, "Your throne, Oh God, is forever and ever." By placing this statement in the mouth of the Father, the Father, in effect, declares the Son God. Though some render this passage as "God is your throne forever," the former translation is more consistent with verse ten, which places this time the words of Psalm 102:2628 in the mouth of the Father in declaring the Son Lord.<br />
We find then, according to these passages, <b>[1]</b> Christ is worshiped by angels as very God (Luke 4:8), <b>[2]</b> that the Father himself acknowledges Jesus as both God and Lord, and <b>[3]</b> the context in which these truths are revealed confirms each point by definition, for the writer of Hebrews is building a case for Christ being "greater than the angels."<br />
<b>1 JOHN 5:20:</b><br />
<em>And we know that the Son of God has come, and has given us understanding, in order that we might know Him who is true, and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life.</em><br />
This text in its natural reading appears to call Jesus Christ "the true God and eternal life." Jehovah's Witnesses and similarly Unitarian groups object to this rendering, even though they are always at a loss to offer an acceptable alternative translation. Instead, they usually choose to say that "the true God" is referring to the Father; although this <i>is not</i> the most natural reading. Scholar Albert Barnes says:<br />
<blockquote>
There has been much difference of opinion in regards to this important passage; whether it refers to the Lord Jesus Christ, the immediate antecedent, or to a more remote antecedent - referring to God, as such. The question is of importance in its bearing on the doctrine of the divinity of the Saviour; for if it refers to him, it furnishes an unequivocal declaration that he is Divine. The question is, whether John <i>meant</i> that it should be referred to him? Without going into an extended examination of the passage, the following considerations seem to me to make it morally certain that by the phrase "this is the true God," etc., he did refer to the Lord Jesus Christ. (1.) The grammatical construction favors it. Christ is the immediate antecedent of the pronoun <i>this</i>. This would be regarded as the obvious and certain construction so far as the grammar is concerned, unless there were something in the thing affirmed which led us to seek some more remote and less obvious antecedent. No doubt would have been ever entertained on this point, if it had not been for the reluctance to admit that the Lord Jesus <b>is</b> the true God. (<i>Barnes' Notes On The New Testament</i>, one volume, p. 1497)</blockquote>
<h1>
<u>Refuting</u> <u>Jehovah's</u> <u>Witnesses</u></h1>
<b>JW: "JESUS IS <i>a</i> god, A LESSER BEING THAN JEHOVAH"</b><br />
Occasionally, JWs and Mormons will cite 1 Cor. 8:5, "indeed there are many gods and many lords," to prove there is more than one true god (JWs say that Jesus is <i>a</i> god). But notice from verse four of this passage that the subject is <i>idols</i>. The apostle first shows that idols have no real existence as gods, and "that there is no God but one" (v. 4). Then he continues:<br />
<blockquote>
For even if there are so-called gods whether in heaven or on earth, as indeed there are many gods and many lords, yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom are all things, and we exist for Him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and we are through Him. (v. 5,6)</blockquote>
JWs also cite John 10:34 to prove that even <i>men</i> can be called gods, and so when Jesus is called God it is not unusual. John 10:33-36 reads:<br />
<blockquote>
The Jews answered him, saying, "For a good work we stone thee not; but for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God."<br />
Jesus answered them, "Is it not written in your law, `I said, Ye are gods?' If he then called them gods, unto whom the word of God came, and the Scripture cannot be broken; Say ye of him, whom the Father hath sanctified, and sent into the world, Thou blasphemest; because I said, I am the Son of God?"</blockquote>
In this passage, Jesus appeals to Psalms 82:16 where Yahweh calls the judges "gods." This is one of only three occurrences in the OT where servants of Yahweh are called "gods" by God himself. The other occurrences are in Exodus 7:1 and 4:16. This represents a third, very limited use of the word <i>god</i> as applied to a person. Thus we have three possible definitions of the word "god" in the Bible. First is the <i>true</i> God Yahweh, who alone possesses true Deity. A Supreme Being must be omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient, and existing eternally from everlasting to everlasting; or he does not fit the title of God. Yahweh says in Isa. 43:10 that there was no god formed before him and none were to be made after him. Evidently he means <i>none with the true nature (Deity) of God</i> would ever exist beside him.<br />
<br />
Secondly, there are false gods, those who make themselves out to be gods and creations of man who are titled as gods. Yahweh says they are really not gods at all (1 Cor. 8:6).<br />
Thirdly, the three occasions (four including John 10:34 which quotes from the 3rd occurrence) where Moses and the judges are called gods. However, neither Moses nor the judges of Israel possessed the <i>nature</i> of a Supreme Being. They did not have the essence or nature of God. They were certainly not to be worshiped, nor were they to share the glory of Yahweh. Isa. 42:8 says, "I am Jehovah, that is my name; and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise unto graven images." (AS)<br />
When we look at Jesus Christ, we must ask, in the light of John 1:1 (the WORD was GOD), which <i>kind</i> of God is he? First, he is not a false god. That leaves two other categories. To settle the matter, we consider these things: Greek scholars agree that the use of God in John 1:1 as applied to Jesus refers to him as having the very <i>nature</i> of his Father, in other words, possessing Godship. This agrees with Hebrews 1:3, which tells us that Christ was the "radiance of the Father's glory" and "the exact representation of his very Being." Col. 2:9 supports this by saying that in Him (Christ) all the fullness of the Godship (Deity) dwells in a human body. John 5:23 says that we are to honor the Son the same way we honor the Father. Rev. 5:13,14 says that all the creatures of heaven bow down and worship the Father <i>and</i> the Son. John 20:28 identifies Jesus as <i>the</i> God (Greek: <i>ho theos</i>). Heb. 1:612 reveals that Jesus is NOT an angel, and is even called God and Lord by the Father! Isa. 9:6 identifies Jesus as <i>El Gibbor</i>, the Hero God (used only of Yahweh - see Isa. 10:21). Jews to this day interpret this as only applying to Yahweh. Although Isa. 44:6 identifies Yahweh as the First and the Last alone in the universe (and the only God), Rev. 1:17 and 22:13 says that <i>Jesus</i> is the First and the Last. Col. 1:19 says that all the fullness of God dwells in him. 1 Pet. 3:14,15 quotes from the OT "sanctify Yahweh as Lord" (Isa. 8:12,13) and reinterprets it as "sanctify <i>Christ</i> as Lord in your hearts." We could go on, but the point is made: Jesus shares the title, majesty and worship of Almighty God. For him, the <i>first definition</i> of "God" must apply.<br />
<br />
Monotheists believe in the existence of only one God. If you believe in the existence of <i>more</i> than one true God, you are a polytheist. No <i>creature</i>, not even Satan, is a god by nature. There is only one true God by nature, existing eternally, omnipotent, omnipresent, eternal, and deserving of worship by the creation. All others are false gods, "For I am God, and there is no other" (Isa. 45:22).<br />
Arius, a bishop in the church in the fourth century A.D. is the champion of the doctrine that Christ is a created being who was elevated to sit beside the Father in heaven. Arius believed that Christ was God, but in a lesser sense, i.e., <i>a god</i>. Yet Arius agreed that we are to worship Christ, although in his mind he was a secondary god, a created being. For advocating such a doctrine, Arius was accused of being a polytheist, and his doctrine was rejected by the Christian church.<br />
How could Jesus be <i>both</i> God and man? How could he be God at all if he prayed to the Father, stated that there were things that even he didn't know but only the Father, and even called the Father "his God"?<br />
<br />
The answer to these difficulties comes through the realization that Christ <i>emptied</i> himself of his glory to become a human (Phil. 2:9). It is like the president of a company that desires his own son to know the company well enough to run it, so he suggests the son become a janitor in the company for a time, to get the feel of it. While he is a janitor, he sets aside his active title to future ownership of the company; at first the employees may not even know who he is (it's better that way). He is fully a janitor, yet fully co-owner of the company. But he holds his real power in check for a time, in order to accomplish a special work. During the time of his humiliation, he is fully subject to the other employees and can even be ridiculed and shoved around. Yet by the very <i>nature</i> of his birthright he could destroy the future of anyone in the company if he so chose. The employees, however, would find that hard to believe, as they recognize him only as a janitor.<br />
Such is a crude illustration of the incarnation of Christ. Though possessing Deity and bearing the very nature and image of his Father, he laid his rights aside; his position, his powers, etc. to relate to man fully and to carry out his work of salvation. Yet he was still God; just in human flesh, and voluntarily limited.<br />
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<b>JW: STEPHEN WASN'T PRAYING TO JESUS ALONE IN ACTS 7:59.</b><br />
It's interesting how the WT has dealt with this occasion of Stephen's prayer to Jesus, even going as far as to purposely retranslate it to their advantage. They render Acts 7:59,60:<br />
<blockquote>
And they went on casting stones at Stephen as he made appeal and said: "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." Then, bending his knees, he cried out with a strong voice: "Jehovah, do not charge this sin against them." And after saying this he fell asleep [in death]. (NWT)</blockquote>
Before examining their statements on this passage, note first that the NWT has injected the word <i>Jehovah</i> where the Westcott and Hort Greek text (and all other manuscripts) has the Greek word <i>kurios</i> (Lord). Stephen is talking to Jesus through the entire verse. Without a doubt the context demands that verse 60 be translated as <i>Lord</i> in reference to Jesus. With this blatant error of the WT in mind, let us examine their statement on this passage. It is taken from a 1959 article:<br />
<blockquote>
Does Stephen's prayer to Jesus, as found in Acts 7:59, show that he understood Jesus to be Jehovah? W.R., U.S.A.<br />
The prayer offered by Stephen when he was being martyred is recorded at Acts 7:59,60, which says: "And they went on casting stones at Stephen as he made appeal and said: `Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.' Then, bending his knees, he cried out with a strong voice: `Jehovah, do not charge this sin against them.' And after saying this he fell asleep in death." Rather than indicating that Stephen understood both Jesus and Jehovah to be the same person, his prayer shows that he knew they were not, because he differentiates between the two. His request to Jesus he does not address merely to the Lord, but to the Lord Jesus, thus doing away with all ambiguity. (WT, Feb. 1, 1959, p. 96)</blockquote>
Note the method of interpretation used by the WT. First, they distort the identity of who Stephen is speaking to by changing verse 60 from "Lord" to "Jehovah" with absolutely no justification. Then they comment on the "fact" that two different persons are spoken of in verses 59, 60 and use their own distorted reasoning to "prove" that Jesus alone wasn't being supplicated in prayer! However, note that they admit that Jesus is the one being prayed to in verse 59. Both the NWT Reference Bible (1984) and the revised <i>Kingdom Interlinear</i> (1985) mention that Stephen is praying to Jesus in their footnotes to Acts 7:59! Yet in actual practice, JWs are not allowed to pray to Jesus.<br />
What is especially interesting about Stephen's prayer in Acts 7:59,60 is that Stephen is repeating the very same prayer that Jesus offered up at his death in Luke 23:34,46! Jesus prayed to the Father, but <i>Stephen prayed to Jesus!</i> Since both Luke and Acts were written by Luke, he undoubtedly wants us to see the parallel.<br />
<br />
<b>JW: THE FATHER IS GREATER THAN CHRIST, BECAUSE CHRIST IS IN SUBJECTION TO HIM.</b><br />
<i>Subjection</i> is not synonymous with <i>nature</i>. Persons who are equal in nature can still be subject to a headship arrangement, such as with the case of husband and wife. Additionally it must be pointed out that most all references that make Christ out as dependent on the Father should be understood as part of his voluntary <i>kenosis</i>, or emptying out, in order to become a man. He became an EXAMPLE for us to follow, and he continually pointed us in the right attitude towards the Father, including how to pray, etc. Yet he himself was later prayed to (Acts 2:21 [except NWT] and Acts 7:59).<br />
In one passage, however, the continued subjection of Christ is mentioned, at least in his role towards man as mediator. 1 Corinthians 15:2028 speaks about a time in the distant future, after the resurrection and the mediating work of Christ is fully accomplished, when Christ "delivers up the kingdom to the God and Father, when he has abolished all rule and all authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet." Apparently certain aspects of Christ's work will have been fully accomplished, and while his kingship will not end (since it is spoken of as <i>eternal</i> elsewhere), part of its goal will be complete. Verse 27 shows that all things have been subjected to Christ by the Father, but the Father has obviously not put himself under subjection to the Son. This would be reversing the order so common in other texts.<br />
<br />
<b>JW: CHRIST HAD A BEGINNING, THEREFORE COULD NOT BE EQUAL TO GOD.</b><br />
In the <i>Reasoning From The Scriptures</i> book (p.408), the WT attempts to prove the inferiority of Christ using Col. 1:15 and Rev. 3:14. First we will discuss Col. 1:15, then Rev. 3:14 and also Prov. 8:22.<br />
<b>COLOSSIANS 1:15:</b><br />
As is discussed under HEBREWS 1:6-10, the Greek <i>prototokos</i> has two meanings. While the Septuagint (OT Greek) often uses <i>prototokos</i> in the context of "first one born," the NT only does so twice, once in regards to Jesus' birth and the other in reference to the OT. The other six instances of its use reveals the idea of preeminence over something, having nothing to do with the process of "birth" or creating. Five of these six instances refer to Christ as the "firstborn of all creation" (Col. 1:15; Heb. 1:6), the "firstborn from the dead and the ruler of the kings of the earth" (Col. 1:18; Rev. 1:5), and the "firstborn among many brethren" (Rom. 8:29). The final usage is in calling the Church the "firstborn who are enrolled in heaven" (Heb. 12:23).<br />
<br />
In an attempt to prejudice the JW mind, the WT says, "Trinitarians say that `firstborn' here means prime, most excellent, most distinguished." They fail to state that so do all recognized Greek scholars! Then they use faulty reasoning by asking that if the Father and Holy Spirit are part of a Trinity, why are <i>they</i> not called the firstborn of all creation? They aren't aware that each Person of the Trinity has a different role in the redemption of man. They continue by trying to prove that because the OT usage of the word is primarily that of "first one born," Trinitarians are inconsistent in applying another definition. They conveniently ignore the usage of "firstborn" in Psalm 89:27. Additionally, they are unable to apply their idea of "first one born" to Col. 1:18; Rev. 1:5; Rom. 8:29 and Heb. 12:23. Finally, the WT attempts to justify the adding of the word "other" to the text of Col. 1:15-17 (to convey the idea that <i>Christ himself</i> was created) by pointing to how some Bible translators have added the word "other" to passages such as Luke 13:2. What they fail to mention is that such words are added only to clarify a passage that would not make sense otherwise, <i>not in an attempt to change the theology of the passage</i>, as the WT has done here. They make Christ out to be the "first one created" rather than the Author of Creation, totally distorting the Greek text.<br />
<br />
<i>The New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology</i> states regarding <i>prototokos</i>:<br />
<blockquote>
(a) As a title for the mediator of creation, it is used in Col. 1:15, as is demonstrated by parallel sayings in v. 16, "in him all things were created. . . . all things were created through him and for him," and v. 17, "He is before all things, and in him all things hold together." Both supporters and opponents of the suggestion that prototokos in Col. 1 echoes Hel., mythical ideas agree that the statement is a confession of the supreme rank of the pre-existent Christ as the mediator in the creation of all things (cf. E. Kasemann, op. cit., 154ff.; W. Michaelis, TDNT VI 879 f.). (p. 668)</blockquote>
<b>REVELATION 3:14:</b><br />
The <i>Reasoning</i> book (p. 409) points out:<br />
<blockquote>
But Liddell and Scott's <i>Greek-English Lexicon</i> lists "beginning" as its first meaning of <i>arkhe</i>. (Oxford, 1968, p.252) The logical conclusion is that the one being quoted at Revelation 3:14 is a creation, the first of God's creations, that he had a beginning.</blockquote>
This would be like saying that because the first listed definition of the word "trip" in the dictionary is "a light, quick tread," therefore the logical conclusion is that whenever the word "trip" is used, it always means "a light quick tread." This is absurd. The context of Rev. 3:14 is the same as Col. 1:15-18, making Christ Lord and Chief over all creation.<br />
<br />
<b>PROVERBS 8:22:</b><br />
"Wisdom" is personified in this passage and spoken of as being "brought forth" or "created." She is spoken of in feminine terms as having been alongside God before time began. While Arians such as Jehovah's Witnesses use this passage to claim that Christ is the Wisdom here mentioned, and was therefore created, Hebrew scholars have viewed it quite differently. Note the inconsistencies of the WT view: <b>(1)</b> Wisdom is not identified here as Jesus Christ. The connection <i>can</i> be drawn, and was even done so by the early church fathers, such as Ignatius. Others like Irenaeus believed Wisdom to be the <i>Holy Spirit</i> personified. At any rate, the passage is vague, not allowing a detailed comparison with Christ. <b>(2)</b> It cannot be used to prove Christ was "created," since neither can we say Wisdom was created. There could not have been a time when God was without his Wisdom! If Christ is thereby equated with the Wisdom of Prov. 8:22, he would thereby be eternal, being "brought forth" or "produced" in the sense of emanating from God, rather than being created by him. What the JWs are inadvertently saying in using their argument is that God CREATED wisdom, rather than possessing it eternally!<br />
<br />
<b>JW: JESUS IS CALLED THE ONLY-BEGOTTEN SON, MEANING HE IS BEGOTTEN, OR CREATED.</b><br />
The Greek word <i>monogenes</i> has the more literal meaning of "only," or "of a single kind," especially in NT passages using it as a title for Christ. It is only distantly related to the Greek <i>gennao</i>, which means "to beget." The meaning of <i>monogenes</i> "is centered in the Personal existence of the Son, and not in the Generation of the Son" according to Greek scholar B. F. Westcott (<i>The Epistles of St. John</i>, p. 170). Jesus' Sonship is unique, which means he has a relationship with the Father impossible with others, and that he IS Deity and was with the Father before time began (John 1:1,2).<br />
<br />
<b>JW: JESUS IS MICHAEL THE ARCHANGEL, WHO BECAME JESUS ON EARTH, AND IS NOW MICHAEL IN HEAVEN.</b><br />
This is an interesting study in itself. The WT teaches that (1) since Michael the great Prince of Daniel chapter 12 delivers his people, and (2) Michael is the one who battles the dragon who is thrown out of heaven (Rev. 12:7), and (3) Jesus is spoken of as having the "voice of the archangel" in 1 Thes. 4:16, then therefore Jesus must be the same as Michael. Several factors must be considered in refuting this.<br />
<br />
First, the Bible does not say that Jesus is Michael anywhere. For years, the WT taught that Michael is <i>not</i> the Son of God, since the angels had to worship him (WT, Nov. 1879, p. 4; Reprints, p. 48). At one time "Michael" was identified with the Pope of Rome! (<i>The Finished Mystery</i>, 1926 edition, p. 188)<br />
<br />
Secondly, it is to be expected that God would have archangels in charge of his people, "arch" simply meaning a chief. It is also expected that angels would do battle with the forces of darkness (compare Dan. 10:13, 21; 9:21). In Daniel 10:13 Michael is listed as ONE of the chief princes, meaning there were OTHER archangels. No doubt Gabriel was one of them. Jewish tradition teaches there were several.<br />
<br />
Thirdly, Jesus' having a "voice of an archangel" does not necessitate him BEING one. The President of the United States is also Chief of the Armed Forces, but he is not actually in the armed forces. He, too, can have the voice of an Army Commander without being one by nature. Leon Morris discusses the two words, "voice" and "archangel":<br />
<blockquote>
Neither of these nouns has the article (the Greek reads "a voice of an archangel"), which makes it unlikely that Paul is thinking of any particular archangel. ("The First and Second Epistles to the Thessalonians", <i>New International Commentary on the New Testament</i>, pages 143, 144)</blockquote>
Of added interest is the WT's teaching concerning the transferral of Michael's "life force" into Mary, to become Jesus. They teach that only the "life force," which they say is devoid of any personality traits (<i>Awake!</i>, July 8, 1949, p. 26), was transferred into Mary's womb. Since they define "being" or personhood as "life and body both" (WT April 1881, p. 1, Reprints p. 205), and that life without body and life force, and body <i>without</i> life does not make a person, then the logical conclusion we would have to draw is that Michael actually ceased to exist in heaven, while his impersonal "life force" took root in Mary's womb! There is no room in this view for a transfer of personality traits or anything. Thus Jesus could not actually have been Michael, according to their own reasoning, but some kind of a clone. Additionally, since the same thing happened at Jesus' death in reverse, Jesus ceasing to exist and his impersonal life force being transferred up to heaven, the one they call Michael thereafter could not have been Jesus!<br />
<br />
<b>JW: HOW CAN JESUS BE GOD IF MARK 13:32 SAYS THAT JESUS DIDN'T KNOW THE DAY AND HOUR OF HIS RETURN, BUT THE FATHER DID; AND IN JOHN 14:28 JESUS SAYS "THE FATHER IS GREATER THAN I"?</b><br />
In view of other statements by the apostles and Christ himself regarding his omniscience and Deity even while still on earth, Mark 13:32 must be understood as applying to either his voluntary nonuse of his attributes during the incarnation, or his temporary loss of Godship. The latter is ruled out since such would require a <i>change</i> of nature, something God cannot do; or he ceases to be God. Therefore, Mark 13:32 must be understood as being a <b>nonuse of his omniscience</b> during his incarnation. In other cases, however, he exercises his omniscience, such as in John 1:47,48; 2:24,25; 4:29; 6:64; 16:30; 21:17; etc., revealing that some things he knew, while others he left to the Father's jurisdiction.<br />
John 14:28 is primarily dealing with Jesus' <i>condition</i> rather than his <i>nature</i>. Additionally, there is an order in the Trinity, as Albert Barnes points out:<br />
<blockquote>
In the plan of salvation the Father is represented as <i>giving</i> the Son, the Holy Spirit, and the various blessings of the gospel. The discourse has no reference manifestly to the <i>nature</i> of Christ, and cannot therefore be adduced to prove that he is not Divine. Its whole connexion demands that we interpret it as relating solely to the imparting of the blessing connected with redemption, in which the Son is represented all along as having been <i>sent</i>, or <i>given</i>, and in this respect as sustaining a relationship subordinate to the Father. (<i>Barnes Notes on the New Testament</i>, John 14:28)</blockquote>
JWs use these texts to establish that Jesus is a lesser god, not only subordinate but created. This cannot be, for Yahweh says that no lesser god existed before him, neither would any after him (Isa. 43:10). Yet, John says that Jesus has the very <i>nature</i> of God (John 1:1,18). Yahweh says that he will not share his glory with any other god (Isa. 42:8) and that besides him, there is no other Savior or Rock (Isa. 44:8). Yet Jesus shares the glory of the Father (John 5:23; Rev. 5:1214) and is the Savior and Rock (Titus 3:6; 1 Cor. 10:4). Yahweh declares he is the First and the Last, and that there is no God beside him (Isa. 44:68). Then <i>Jesus</i> declares himself to be the First and the Last (Rev. 1:17; 2:8; 22:13). The 24 elders before the throne of God in heaven call Yahweh THE LORD AND THE GOD OF US (Rev. 4:11), which is the same expression Thomas calls Jesus in John 20:28THE LORD OF ME AND THE GOD OF ME (see the <i>Kingdom Interlinear</i>). Yet the Greek <i>ho theos</i> (translated as <i>the God</i>) only applies to Jehovah, according to the Watchtower!<br />
<br />
We must understand Mark 13:32 and John 14:28 in the light of these statements. It is also interesting to note the WT's reasoning regarding Isa. 43:10. They imply that only the Gentile nations are unable to bring forth "other gods," but Jehovah could make other gods! (<i>Reasoning</i>, page 413)<br />
<br />
<b>JW: JESUS IS NOT THE ALPHA AND THE OMEGA OF REV. 22:13.</b><br />
In their <i>Reasoning</i>, book (p. 412,413), the WT confuses the issue by pointing to certain modern translations which inject the name "Jehovah" in Rev. 1:8 as the Alpha and Omega. Yet these are recent Jewish translations, and are not true to any ancient manuscripts. At any rate, verse eight CAN apply to God, not Christ specifically (all the more reason to prove Christ's Deity from Rev. 1:17; 2:8 and 22:13!), so there is no contest here. They further confuse the issue by trying to prove that since the Alpha and Omega is said to have sons (21:6,7), He couldn't be Christ, since the "brothers" of Jesus are never called sons. In answer, one need only point out that according to the WT, certain Christians (their "earthly class") <i>are</i> sons of the Everlasting Father of Isa. 9:6 (Christ)! See <i>Life Does Have A Purpose</i>, p. 73,74)<br />
<br />
It is evident from the context of Rev. 22:1216 that Christ is speaking. Verse 16 removes any doubt as Jesus identifies himself. The inclusion of the title "the first and the last," synonymous with "Alpha and Omega," is clearly applied to Jesus in Rev. 1:17.<br />
<br />
<b></b><b></b><em></em><b></b><b></b><b></b><br />
<sup>1</sup> Leon Morris says, "The expression, `My Father' is noteworthy. It was not the way Jews usually referred to God. Usually they spoke of `our Father', and while they might use `My Father' in prayer they would qualify it with `in heaven' or some other expression to remove the suggestion of familiarity. Jesus did no such thing, here or elsewhere. He habitually thought of God as in the closest relationship to himself. The expression implies a claim which the Jews did not miss." <u>New</u> <u>International</u> <u>Commentary</u> <u>on</u> <u>the</u> <u>New</u> <u>Testament</u>, "The Gospel According To John," p. 309.<br />
<div>
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Cynthia Hamptonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07189284705272351076noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7215689043684702397.post-1032200496069527622019-09-02T15:42:00.000-07:002019-09-02T15:49:38.752-07:00Sin and Salvation, Law and Freedomby Randall Watters<br />
<br />
(Note: This article originally appeared in a book called <i>Refuting Jehovah's Witnesses</i>. The book was published in 1985.<br />
<div>
<br />
<h3>
<u>Biblical</u> <u>Overview</u></h3>
The word <i>sin</i> comes from the Greek <i>hamartia</i>, 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 <i>sin</i> 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 <i>why</i> are these actions called sins?<br />
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).<br />
<b></b><br />
<a name='more'></a><b><br /></b>
<b>THE LAMB OF GOD</b><br />
An angel appeared to a man called Joseph and spoke concerning his wife-to-be, Mary: "And she shall bear a son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for it is He who will save His people from their sins." (Matthew 1:21) Jesus was miraculously conceived, as Joseph had not yet had intercourse with her. Years later, when Jesus appeared to John the Baptist to be baptized, John spoke up and said, "Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world" (John 1:29). Like a sacrificial lamb, Jesus was to pay the price for our sins, and would live and die as a sacrifice for mankind. John 3:16 tells us,<br />
<blockquote>
For God so loved the world, that He gave His only-begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world should be saved through Him.</blockquote>
What was Jesus' purpose in coming to earth? You will say, "To die for our sins and to draw men to God." But <i>why</i> did Jesus have to grow up and live among humans? Why couldn't a glorious angel just have declared the gospel of salvation? The answer lies in Jesus' <i>humanity</i>. He "emptied himself, taking the form of a bondservant, and being made in the likeness of men." (Phil. 2:7) Jesus was humble. He found no better way to teach this humility than by washing the feet of his disciples. He knew of no better way to teach compassion and love than by healing the sick and raising the dead. God knew of no better way to bridge the chasm between himself and man than by <i>becoming</i> a man. Yet, being <i>Deity</i> by his very nature as well as human, Colossians 2:9 says of him: "For in him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form."<br />
<br />
This was not the first time God had manifested himself in the form of men; other times he had evidently done so. These appearances may have been, not the Father, but the preincarnate Son. Genesis 3:8 says that Adam and Eve heard the sound of God <i>walking</i> in the garden.<br />
<br />
Abraham <i>talked</i> with God <i>face-to-face</i> (Gen. 18:23-33). Moses spoke with God <i>face-to-face</i> (Ex. 33:11). Isaiah feared that he would die for <i>seeing</i> Yahweh the Lord of Hosts (Isa. 6:15). None of these men saw the full glory and majesty of God (Ex. 33:20; 1 Tim. 6:16), yet it says they <i>saw</i> God.<br />
All those who looked upon the brazen serpent of Moses gained their lives (Num. 21:9). So also all that would gaze upon the Son of Man and believe in him would also gain life. The Bible speaks of no other way; there being no kind of works on our own that will save us, no matter how sincere we are. We must come to Christ.<br />
<br />
All of the pre-Christian pictures of salvation, including the Mosaic Law, pointed forward to the supreme sacrifice of Christ:<br />
<blockquote>
Therefore the Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, that we may be justified by faith. (Gal. 3:24)</blockquote>
<b>SALVATION BY FAITH</b><br />
If the Law was simply a "tutor" leading men to Christ, what was to happen to it?<br />
Galatians 3:25 says, "But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor." Yahweh spent thousands of years in teaching mankind about the need for Christ as a sacrifice. The Ten Commandments and the rest of the Law were part of the lessons. Yet, as Romans 5:20 says, "The Ten Commandments were given so that all could see the extent of their failure to obey God's laws." (Living Bible)<br />
<br />
Man needed to fully understand what sin is, and what better way to emphasize it than to give him a perfect law to follow! He could not keep it, no matter how hard he tried:<br />
<blockquote>
Now do you see it? No one can ever be made right in God's sight by doing what the Law commands. For the more we know of God's laws, the clearer it becomes that we are not obeying them; his laws serve only to remind us that we are sinners. (Romans 3:20 [LB])</blockquote>
When we are faced with a list of God's perfect requirements, we soon realize how wide that gap between fallen human nature and moral perfection really is! Until we accept the atoning sacrifice of Christ to pay the price for our sins, we are dead in God's eyes:<br />
<blockquote>
You were dead in sins, and your sinful desires were not yet cut away. Then he gave you a share in the very life of Christ, for he forgave all your sins, and blotted out the charges proved against you, the list of his commandments which you had not obeyed. He took this list of sins and destroyed it by nailing it to Christ's cross. In this way God took away Satan's power to accuse you of sin, and God openly displayed to the world Christ's triumph at the cross where your sins were all taken away. (Col. 2:13-15 [LB])</blockquote>
By Jesus dying a sacrificial death, he met the demands of the ransom. The Mosaic Law demanded perfect obedience, which he gave. The whole purpose of the Law was accomplished, and it was no longer binding on any men (Gal. 3:19). For generations to come, it would serve as a reminder of God's perfect moral standards; but would not be used as a law to judge God's people any more.<br />
In fact, the Jews were never really saved by keeping the Mosaic Law, because they couldn't keep it perfectly. If all the Jews that ever lived were judged by their own law, none could be saved:<br />
<blockquote>
We aren't saved from sin's grasp by knowing the commandments of God, because we can't and don't keep them, but God put into effect a different plan to save us. He sent his own Son in a human body like ours - except that ours are sinful - and destroyed sin's control over us by giving himself as a sacrifice for our sins. So now we can obey God's laws if we follow after the Holy Spirit and no longer obey the old evil nature within us. (Romans 8:3,4 [LB])</blockquote>
Just like the child that is told to "Stay out of the cookie jar!" and then immediately develops the desire to get into the cookies, so man's sinful nature causes him to desire what is wrong. (Though the overpowering nature of sin is broken when we are born again, we still experience a struggle in the flesh in many ways throughout our whole life.)<br />
The Law code was written to judge our evil desires, and that it does! It actually <i>excites</i> them as well:<br />
<blockquote>
But sin used this law against evil desires by reminding me that such desires are wrong and arousing all kinds of forbidden desires within me! Only if there were no laws to break would there be no sinning. (Romans 7:8 [LB])</blockquote>
As long as there are rules to obey, we would always break them and therefore remain under guilt perpetually. Guilt separates us from God and widens the chasm between us and God. As Paul said, only if there were <i>no</i> laws to break would there be no consciousness of sin and guilt. Romans 4:15 (LB) says:<br />
<blockquote>
But the fact of the matter is this: when we try to gain God's blessing and salvation by keeping his laws we always end up under his anger, for we always fail to keep them. The only way we can keep from breaking laws is not to have any to break!</blockquote>
<h2>
<span style="color: maroon;"><u>Refuting</u> <u>Jehovah's</u> <u>Witnesses</u></span></h2>
JW: <b>"THOUGH WE ARE SAVED AS A FREE GIFT FROM GOD, YOU MUST WORK TO MAINTAIN YOUR SALVATION."</b><br />
The above statement sounds logical, and is voiced by many other cults as well as a few churches. There is a serious contradiction here, though. For the above statement to be true, either [1] salvation is not really "free" at all, since it is a gift conditional on your performance (earned, in other words); or [2] it is <b>partially</b> given, leaving you to complete the rest of your salvation in your own strength. In the case of Jehovah's Witnesses, both forms of reasoning are employed.<br />
<br />
<b>Adoption Versus Slavery</b><br />
The difference between the JW view of salvation and the Christian view of salvation can be illustrated by two circumstances mentioned by the apostle Paul: <i>slavery</i> and <i>adoption.</i> In Galatians chapter four, Paul compares the Christian conversion to being adopted into a family complete with an inheritance. In contrast, he likens being under a law system (as the Pharisees' and the WT approach) to slavery. What is the difference between slavery and sonship? Note the difference between slaves and sons:<br />
<br />
Slaves<br />
. . . have no inheritance.<br />
. . . are not secure in their position.<br />
. . . must follow laws and rules to be accepted.<br />
Sons<br />
. . . are automatic heirs of the promises; their inheritance is not conditional upon do's and don'ts.<br />
. . . are secure in their permanent relationship with God.<br />
. . . have been given the right heart, spirit, and frame of mind to be a part of the family. This is placed<br />
there by the Holy Spirit at the new birth (2 Cor. 1:21,22; 5:5; Eph. 1:14).<br />
<br />
Sons of God are predestined, according to Eph. 1:5 and Rom. 8:29,30. They have not worked their way to God, but were known <i>beforehand</i> by God and <i>chosen</i> to be his children, and he gave them an inheritance before they were aware of being chosen! They are known by their living according to the Spirit rather than the flesh (Rom. 8:12-17), meaning that they have discarded the notion that they can please God by performing proscribed laws, and have received the indwelling of the Holy Spirit to enable them to live by the Spirit. You cannot live BY the Spirit unless the Spirit lives IN you, and both the Pharisees and JWs deny the new birth to their members, choosing instead to follow a religion of do's and don'ts. They are like slaves, who have no real inheritance, and who must forever prove their worth before their master, never being completely assured of his permanent favor.<br />
<br />
The WT must come up with an alternate explanation for Paul's statements regarding adoption. The first approach is to deny this "adoption" into the body of Christ to all but 144,000 elite ones, who were chosen from among JWs prior to 1935. For the rest of the JWs, "adoption" into God's family will come only after 1000 years of obedience and testing. They are not even yet "sons of God" in the Biblical sense, as they will receive sonship only after the 1000 years! Note their statements illustrating this (emphasis added):<br />
<blockquote>
Christ Jesus as the Greater Moses now mediates the New Covenant toward his remnant of spiritual Israel, but he is not yet begetting earthly children. That is, <i>he is not yet giving the "other sheep" the standing of sons of his,</i> sons of "The everlasting Father". (Isa. 9:6) But these faithful ones will become such during his thousand-year reign after Armageddon; and now, by virtue of <i>the prospect of eventually becoming Jehovah's perfect sons,</i> they address him prospectively as "Our Father". (WT, Aug. 15, 1945, p.253)</blockquote>
<blockquote>
Hence, <i>before adopting them as his free sons</i> through Jesus Christ, Jehovah God will subject all these perfected human creatures to a thorough test for all time. (<i>Life Everlasting</i>, 1966, p. 398)</blockquote>
<blockquote>
Jehovah God will justify, declare righteous, <i>on the basis of their own merit all perfected humans who have withstood that final, decisive test of mankind.</i> He will adopt and acknowledge them as his sons through Jesus Christ. (ibid., p. 400)<br />
<i>Thereafter,</i> when the final test is passed and all those then rebelling have been destroyed, <i>Jehovah will lovingly adopt as his sons through Christ all perfected humans who have proved loyal. They will become a part of God's united universal family. . . .</i> (WT, Feb. 1, 1984, p.17) </blockquote>
<blockquote>
These of the "great crowd" are also tested as to their integrity. Their continued faithfulness now and on through the Thousand Year Reign and the final test <i>will result in Jehovah's declaring them righteous as perfect humans,</i> along with resurrected ones who become part of Jesus' "other sheep". . . . <i>They then will be,</i> as were originally Adam and Eve, the visible part of Jehovah's universal organization. (WT, Oct. 15, 1985, p.31)<br />
The name "Jehovah's Witnesses" applies specifically to God's anointed ones who have been taken out of the world and made witnesses for Jehovah, and <i>these alone bear the new name. . . . the official organization of Jehovah on earth consists of his anointed remnant,</i> and the Jonadabs who walk with the anointed are to be taught, but not to be leaders. (WT, Aug. 15, 1934, p.249)</blockquote>
All of the above is an attempt to make their approach sound Biblical. Yet, by their own confession, the majority of JWs CANNOT be born again, they CANNOT be considered saved or predestined, they CANNOT be declared righteous in the Christian sense (compare WT, 2/15/86, p.19), and they WILL NOT be perfect or even considered as sons of God or part of "God's organization" until they pass a test at the end of 1000 years! Additionally, Christ is not even their mediator:<br />
<blockquote>
So in this strict Biblical sense Jesus is the "mediator" only for anointed Christians.<br />
The new covenant will terminate with the glorification of the remnant who are today in that covenant mediated by Christ. The "great crowd" of "other sheep" that is forming today is not in that new covenant. However, by their associating with the "little flock" of those yet in that covenant they come under benefits that flow from that new covenant. (WT, 4/1/79, p. 31. [Compare WT 9/1/84, p.14])</blockquote>
What, then, is Christ's role in this program of salvation? Paul proceeds to say: "There is one God, and one mediator between God and men [not, <i>all</i> men], a man Christ Jesus, who gave himself a corresponding ransom for all. ([italics theirs] WT, 11/15/79, p.26)<br />
<br />
The emphasis is placed on working one's own salvation out, as if it is a process of following rules and procedures. Paul does speak of "working out our salvation with fear and trembling" in Phil. 2:12 and the WT quotes this often, but they always seem to miss the next verse and its qualifying statement: <i>"for it is God who is at work in you,</i> both to will and to work for His good pleasure." (v.13) Paul is saying that it is the indwelling Holy Spirit that is at work in you for salvation; and as you live in the Spirit, your salvation is firmly established! However, the WT uses this passage to convey another idea:<br />
<blockquote>
God has arranged for the "good news of the kingdom" to be proclaimed so that each individual will have opportunity to work out his own salvation. (WT, 2/1/85, p.5)</blockquote>
Speaking of the time under the 1000 year reign of Christ, the WT conveys this idea further that attaining perfection is largely a human process:<br />
<blockquote>
So everything in heaven and on earth will now be helpful to the surviving "great crowd" to overcome and deaden sin's law in themselves and to build up righteousness, bringing their bodies into subjection to their minds and hearts with which they serve God's law. The reigning King Jesus Christ will keep them constantly occupied with works of righteousness. (<i>Life Everlasting</i>, 1966, p. 388)</blockquote>
Finally, through faithful molding of themselves to righteousness they will get that "law of sin" nullified in themselves and become perfect human creatures, like the perfect Adam in the garden of Eden.<br />
<br />
Accordingly, as those of the "great crowd" more and more cultivate actual, persistent righteousness within themselves, physical healing and betterment will be given. (ibid., pgs. 391, 392)<br />
Attaining perfection and sinlessness is thus seen as a process of changing yourself, not of God working in you through the indwelling person of the Spirit. Note their emphasis upon personal efforts in trying to change their personalities over:<br />
<blockquote>
These sleep-like ones are now being taught by Jehovah through his growing, visible organization. Appreciating what they learn, they work to remake their personalities in God's image. (WT, 1/15/85, p.18)</blockquote>
Paul classified the Pharisees as being <i>in the flesh</i> for their attempts to conform to rules apart from the Holy Spirit (in other words, attempting to change their personalities, or become "holy"):<br />
<blockquote>
For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not in accordance with knowledge. For not knowing about God's righteousness, and seeking to establish their own, they did not subject themselves to the righteousness of God. (Rom. 10:2,3)</blockquote>
JW: <b>JAMES SAYS, "FAITH WITHOUT WORKS IS DEAD."</b><br />
Very true! If you do not have works to show or demonstrate your faith, it shows that you have a dead faith. Yet the Bible is full of examples of men of God like Samson, David, Hezekiah, Peter, etc. that at times not only failed to show works of faith, but showed great lack of faith and disobedience towards God. You could apply James' statement to them during these times, too, but nevertheless, their overall life was one of faithfulness. Just because a person isn't demonstrating faith in every moment doesn't mean that they aren't a Christian. It just means they may be momentarily walking in the flesh.<br />
<br />
Faith itself can be considered a "work" at times, as Jesus replied to the multitude who questioned him when they said,<br />
<blockquote>
What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?<br />
Jesus answered and said to them, "This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent." (John 6:28,29)</blockquote>
Yet in the normal sense of the word "work" (meaning performance of deeds), one cannot be declared righteous by works. Paul says,<br />
<blockquote>
For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about; but not before God. For what does the scripture say? "And Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness." Now to the one who works, his wage is not reckoned as a favor, but as what is due. But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is reckoned as righteousness. (Rom. 4:25)</blockquote>
Paul attacks the view that you can achieve righteousness through following law systems or organizations:<br />
<blockquote>
It is clear, then, that God's promise to give the whole earth to Abraham and his descendants was not because Abraham obeyed God's laws but because he trusted God to keep his promise. So if you still claim that God's blessings go to those who are "good enough," then you are saying that God's promises to those who have faith are meaningless, and faith is foolish. But the fact of the matter is this: when we try to gain God's blessing and salvation by keeping his laws we always end up under his anger, for we always fail to keep them. The only way we can keep from breaking laws is not to have any to break! (Rom. 4:13-15, [<i>LB</i>])</blockquote>
Note the power of Paul's statement:<br />
[1] Trusting God from the heart made Abraham righteous.<br />
[2] Trying to attain a level of goodness is not the right way; in fact,<br />
[3] You will end up under God's anger by attempting to do so.<br />
[4] There cannot be a law system alongside a covenant of grace, as they are opposed to<br />
each other. You must be indwelt by the Spirit, allowing Him to work out your salvation.<br />
<br />
JW: <b>"THOUGH WE CAN'T BE DECLARED RIGHTEOUS FOR LIFE UNTIL THE END OF THE THOUSAND YEARS, WE CAN BE DECLARED RIGHTEOUS IN A SENSE."</b><br />
This is a recent attempt to cover over their obvious unscriptural approach to justification. In the <i>Watchtower</i> of Dec. 1, 1985, a series of articles begins on being "declared righteous" for life, and what it means. An attempt is made to compare Christ's sacrifice as a "credit" arrangement, whereby Jehovah "cleans the slate" of a man's sins, thereby enabling him to start over and build up right works with God. Note how they phrase this:<br />
<blockquote>
It was an equivalent, or corresponding, sacrifice seeing that, as a perfect man, Jesus bought back what the perfect man Adam lost. Justice having been satisfied, Jehovah is lovingly willing to "wipe out," or "blot out," the sins charged against the account of "the man that has faith in Jesus." If such a man remains faithful, not only does Jehovah refrain from "reckoning to him his trespasses" but He actually credits righteousness to his account. By means of this merciful credit arrangement, "many have been constituted righteous." (p.9)</blockquote>
Incidentally, this reveals one of the major errors of the JWs when they say that Christ died for <i>the sins of Adam</i>, with no mention or discussion of <i>personal sins against God</i>. The Bible reveals that we at times deliberately sin against God, not just due to "Adam's sin" (compare Manasseh's great sins against Yahweh and his repentance in 2 Chron. 33:1-17--this was not due to mere "Adamic sin"). The WT cannot conceive of the depth of man's sin and depravity. They do not realize that even if our past sins are erased, we will still continue to fall far short of righteousness, and will sometimes deliberately sin. Christ's blood must cover ADAMIC sin as well as continual PERSONAL sins against God and men.<br />
<br />
The last-quoted WT statement was not a new teaching, but was emphasized to pave the way for a revised understanding in 1985, that while there are "two classes" of Christians, the 144,000 who will live in heaven and the "great crowd" who will live on the earth, both share ONE type of righteousness, while only the 144,000 share an additional, superior form of righteousness. Quoting the WT:<br />
<blockquote>
There are two aspects to justification, or the declaration of righteousness:<br />
[1] God's accounting that person guiltless<br />
[2] God's declaring that person perfect and worthy of everlasting life on earth<br />
The 144,000 anointed Christians are declared righteous in both respects. They sacrifice their human rights and are begotten as spiritual "sons" called to become kings and priests with Christ in the "new heavens." (WT, 12/1/85, p.11)</blockquote>
The idea being conveyed is that those of the "great crowd" can be considered relatively "guiltless" in comparison with the rest of mankind. Speaking of faithful men of the OT (who are classed in the "great crowd"):<br />
<blockquote>
[Jehovah] lovingly accounted them relatively guiltless, when compared to the majority of mankind alienated from God. He gave them a righteous standing, declaring them righteous to the extent that was appropriate at the time. (ibid., p.14)</blockquote>
They then attempt to prove that Abraham was not "declared righteous for life," but only considered righteous in comparison with the rest of the world. They allow him to be called a <i>friend</i> of God but not a <i>son</i> of God:<br />
<blockquote>
Yes, due to his faith, Abraham was declared righteous as a friend of Jehovah, not as a son with the right to perfect human life or to kingship with Christ. Interestingly, in his<i>Synonyms of the Old Testament</i>, Robert Girdlestone wrote concerning Abraham's righteousness: "This righteousness was not <i>absolute</i>, i.e. such as would commend Abraham to God as a rightful claimant of the inheritance of sonship." (ibid., p.15)</blockquote>
What was Robert Girdlestone really saying in his book? Was he conveying the WT idea of "partial righteousness"?<br />
This is another example of their misquoting scholars to prove their point. They are choosing one aspect of Abraham's righteousness as being discussed by Girdlestone, and not telling you the other part of the discussion. Girdlestone actually continues to say,<br />
<blockquote>
. . . the passage does not teach us that Abraham's faith was regarded or estimated by God <i>as if it were</i> righteousness - the one quality being taken for another - but that owing to the fact that he had faith in the promises, God accepted him, acquitted him from the charge of sin, pronounced him righteous, and conferred on him an inheritance. (<i>Synonyms of the Old Testament</i>, Girdlestone, p.183)</blockquote>
The point that Girdlestone is making, which the WT totally distorts, is that Abraham <i>was</i> righteous; God conferred upon him sonship and therefore ABSOLUTE righteousness was the result. Girdlestone says that there are two aspects to Abraham's righteousness: [1] Abraham's righteousness as spoken of in Gen. 18:19 was RELATIVE in that it was not perfect <i>in and of itself</i>, [2] but that God conferred upon Abraham ABSOLUTE righteousness in Gen. 15:6 as a result of his sonship towards God. He emphasizes this in speaking of the Israelites brought into Canaan as being "trained in the idea that the(ir) inheritance was not to be regarded as a reward for human merit, but was to be received as a gift from the covenant-keeping God." (ibid., p.184)<br />
<br />
Contrary to the WT, Girdlestone believed that God sees righteousness in his servants in terms of their faith (imperfect though it may be), and then subsequently confers on them his ABSOLUTE RIGHTEOUSNESS. Yet the WT denies Abraham or the modern "great crowd" receiving this righteousness or sonship, in effect claiming that they must work for it!<br />
The good works that make one "relatively righteous" according to the WT involve <i>obedience to organizational policies</i>. Two out of four requirements for gaining everlasting life as mentioned in the WT of Feb. 15, 1983 are that one be associated with the organization:<br />
<blockquote>
To receive everlasting life in the earthly Paradise we must identify that organization and serve God as part of it. (p. 12)</blockquote>
The fourth requirement is closely related, in that one has to be loyal to God's government (as represented by the Watchtower Society) and spread its message abroad. According to the Dec. 1, 1985 WT,<br />
<blockquote>
All who put faith in Christ's blood and accomplish appropriate "deeds" will eventually have their names written in "the book of life." (p.17-18)</blockquote>
Even with the "new light" on "relative righteousness," the "great crowd" still <i>do not have Christ as their mediator, nor can they be called sons of God, nor are they "declared righteous for life."</i><br />
The theme of loyalty to "God's organization" continues full force through the `80's. A publication entitled, <i>Worldwide Security Under The Prince of Peace</i>, released at the District Assemblies in 1986, has no less than three chapters boasting of the organization.<br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>ARE JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES "SAVED"?</b><br />
For decades, the WT has conveyed the idea that you are never sure of your salvation; it is dependent on your performance. While they are taught that they can say to others that they are "saved" on a <i>momentary</i> basis if cornered by Christians (see <i>Reasoning From The Scriptures</i>, p. 360), they live in fear of losing their lives at Armageddon. After quoting a favorite passage in Zeph. 2:3, the April 15, 1977 WT says,<br />
<blockquote>
Why does it say, "Probably you may be concealed in the day of Jehovah's anger"? It is because those words originally applied to the nation of Israel before its destruction in 607 B.C.E., and it was a question of God's showing mercy towards those who conform. These words are thus a reminder that we cannot presume on God's mercy. (p.241)</blockquote>
However, while surviving the destruction of Jerusalem was not guaranteed, salvation through Christ is! The Bible makes it plain that you are in one of two conditions, lost or saved, dead or alive (Eph. 2:16). If you are alive, it is because you are IN CHRIST and raised up with him, seated in the heavenly places (verse 6). You are in ONE HOUSEHOLD, which is built upon the foundation of the prophets (Old Testament) and the apostles (New Testament). (Eph. 2:19-22) What does it mean to be "in Christ"?<br />
<br />
Paul says, "I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me." (Gal. 2:20) Galatians 3:26-28 says that "you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus."<br />
John tells us that "Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God" (1 John 5:1). He continues, "These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, in order that you may know that YOU HAVE eternal life" (1 John 5:13). John 5:24 says, "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears my word, and believes Him who sent Me, HAS ETERNAL LIFE, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life."</div>
Cynthia Hamptonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07189284705272351076noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7215689043684702397.post-62783694306222247712018-11-14T21:02:00.000-08:002018-11-14T22:45:43.750-08:00My Experience on the Leah Remini "Aftermath" Special on Jehovah's Witnesses<br />
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<span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I was very happy about
being asked to be on Leah Remini’s “Aftermath” special on Jehovah’s Witnesses.
For months, I had heard that Leah Remini was going to do a special on the JWs,
but I didn't know any details. Last year I had been on the Dr. Phil Show, but when it came time for me to finally speak, it was maybe all of 15 to 30 seconds.<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
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<span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I had no idea when
Leah Remini was going to do this show. Then I got a call from someone else who
had been asked to be on the show but she declined (she was getting married that
weekend) and she asked if I was interested. So I said "yes" and we
were off to the races. I was interviewed by a couple of their producers and
they decided I was a good fit for the program. They wanted the "women's
issues" perspective on the program.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">They gave us the royal
treatment to appear on the show. Although I live in the Los Angeles area, they
offered me a nice hotel, but I declined. I was picked up by professional driver
in an SUV (not Uber or Lyft) it was a really nice limo type service. They did
my hair and makeup there and gave us breakfast and a nice buffet lunch as well.
I got to sit next to Mike Rinder and across from Leah when we had lunch. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The panel was
interesting as how they decided to set us all up. What you saw in the show was
just a small percentage of the stories that were covered. Everyone had a very
heart wrenching story and everyone had been through the wringer and back. The
story of the family with the two suicides was extremely tragic and sad and made
me cry. I hear these kinds of stories quite frequently because of the support
group I run here in Los Angeles. I cannot ever get used to hearing such sadness and
tragedy and all those stories as they are so heartbreaking. There was the lady who gave up her
daughter for adoption to another JW couple that really shook me up. (the
daughter ended up being sexually abused by the adoptive father.) I had no idea
that anyone could be made to feel that they were so worthless that she could
not even raise her own daughter because she thought she would die in
Armageddon. But this is what cults and the effect of cult mind control does to
people.<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
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<span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">These tragic stories
made mine pale in comparison. Although I lived through two years of a very bad
marriage and regular physical abuse, I was always looking for a way out. I
hated my JW ex husband when he hit me and dragged me around by the hair. I
hated him for all the pain and bruises he inflicted on me. Every time something
went wrong, he blamed me and then slapped me around and worse. I never dreamed
that life with this young man would be so bad. I also felt resentful of the elders in the Kingdom Hall for not having the sense to do anything about his behavior. I am so glad that he was caught
smoking and this gave me my way out of this relationship. The elders did not
care if I left him because he was difellowshipped, but they just told me I could not remarry. I left this
organization anyway and could care less what these self appointed elders
wanted.<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
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<span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">What did not get shown
on the program was the rest of my story and how I left the abusive situation. I moved in with my parents and
a year later, started going to school to improve my situation. A couple years
later I disassociated myself. And then two years later, I became a Christian.
Because I feel so strongly about helping those who have suffered tragedy and
sadness leaving the Watchtower, I have been reaching out to those who leave and
need support. I have run a support group in Los Angeles since 2002.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The show did not seem cover
any happy endings and I wish it could have focused on how well the other panel
members have done since leaving the Watchtower, showing that there IS LIFE (and
a good one too) after leaving the Watchtower organization. My Christianity and
love for ex JWs is what drives me to keep teaching and keep supporting those
who need the love and support.<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
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<span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Besides the ex JW
support group, I am also involved with another nonprofit Christian group
called "Women in Apologetics". We are a group of women who seek to
teach Christians and others the reasons for faith in God, how to differentiate
truth from false teaching, and how to engage our current culture with truth. If I had been familiar with anything like this, I
would never have joined the JWs with my mother. In an upcoming Women in
Apologetics conference I'll be speaking at a break out session on the subject
of "Unlocking the Minds of Jehovah's Witnesses". I wish that I could
have met someone at the door who would have cared about me enough to help get
me out and help me to think. The method I try to tell other Christians about is
to build a relationship with the JWs that you might meet and ask a lot of
questions to get them to think logically about what they believe.<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
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<span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">It was a pleasure
to be on the show with Leah Remini and also a pleasure to meet Mike Rinder.
They are both remarkable people and I will always be grateful to have had this
opportunity to speak out on how women are mistreated in the Watchtower. This was another one of those things that just fell into my lap and became a "God Incidence."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: times new roman, serif;">Here is also something from the Hollywood Reporter:</span><br />
<a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/jehovahs-witnesses-recount-stories-abuse-leah-remini-special-1160963?fbclid=IwAR0ny0SI4NhyR3BXE2t-i-766kM2mRdeU9nA2gC5nNCE8olWzn2Z9oIFtRk" target="_blank">https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/jehovahs-witnesses-recount-stories-abuse-leah-remini-special</a></div>
<br />Cynthia Hamptonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07189284705272351076noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7215689043684702397.post-64823537470873142902018-05-29T13:29:00.001-07:002018-05-29T19:12:35.456-07:00Reconnecting after 36 years<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">In
this month of May 2018, it has been exactly 36 years since I decided to visit a
church after leaving the Jehovah’s Witnesses. The more I think about it, the
more I know that God had me go to the right church at the right time.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">In
my testimony, I always mention a lady named Mary K who had left the Jehovah’s
Witnesses herself whom God truly used to open my eyes to the false teachings of
Jehovah’s Witnesses. I already knew, I did not like their doctrines, their views
on women, or their views on marriage resulting in spousal abuse.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">I
have given my testimony many times and always mention how I met Mary at church,
recognized her as an Ex JW and was so happy to meet her. She took me under her
wing and showed me exactly what was wrong with the Watchtower. I think what
nailed it for me was when she produced the April 1, 1979 Watchtower from the “Questions
from Readers” where a person wrote in and asked if Jesus was the mediator for
all Christians or not. The answer given by the Watchtower was a firm “no”
because, as they explained, Jesus was only mediator for the “anointed” Jehovah’s
Witnesses, or those who claimed to be part of the 144,000 “heavenly class.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">As
I relooked at the passage from 1 Timothy chapter 2, the passage talks about “all
people.” Even the New World Translation the word “all”. There is no delineation
between separate classes of Christians. I was astute enough to figure out that “all”
did not mean a limited number of people. Because of that, my mind really woke
up. I had been living the past two years knowing that something was wrong with
this picture, I just couldn’t put my finger on it. This was 1982, and the
internet did not exist, but I did go on a quest for truth right after than when
I moved to California a few months later.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">I
kept in touch with Mary K very briefly, but ultimately lost touch. She had no
idea how much she affected my life and how she started me down the path to
continue to search for truth. In 1983, I discovered so much more and listening
to Walter Martin “The Bible Answer Man” on the radio was a godsend for me.
Later that year or early in 1984, I finally was connected with Randall Watters
who was running “Bethel Ministries” (later changing the name to Free Minds) and
helping him type and edit articles he was preparing. Since that time, I have
been helping ex Jehovah’s Witnesses understand what they have believed is false
and sharing with them who Jesus Christ really is. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Studying
apologetics in order to refute religious cultic doctrines because my favorite
thing to do. Soon, I learned how to refute not only Watchtower Theology, but
LDS theology as well. I realized too, how dangerous the New Age practices that
I had once been involved in were and learned how unbiblical they are. I was
loving the study of apologetics before most people knew what apologetics was.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">One
day recently, I felt a nudge from the Holy Spirit to look her up and call her.
I didn’t know how I could get a hold of her, but thankfully, I did find her phone
number online. So out of the blue, I called her and she had just about
forgotten all about me. A lot had happened in 36 years and unfortunately, she
had also lost her husband as he went to be with the Lord. I told her that I had
never forgotten her and had always mentioned how we met when I gave my
testimony. It was because God used HER to help me and send me on my way. I
would forever be thankful that God placed her at the particular church I
visited at the right time. Hey, it was our “anniversary” of when we met. God
had a plan for my life and for her life too. Our lives never really intersected
again, but just the fact that God placed her in my path when He did was a very
highly significant event in my life and I thank God that she was there for me.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">When
I called Mary K, it came at a time when she was feeling down and out and a
little useless because she had been suffering from a broken ankle. Then I
called to tell her that she really meant a LOT to me and it weren’t for the
fact that God did use her, I wouldn’t have become the person I have become. What
Mary K did for me was a very pivotal moment in my life in which I will always
be grateful that she was there. God DOES work in mysterious ways and He sure
knows what He is doing. I just needed her to know all that and am happy to be reconnected!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br />Cynthia Hamptonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07189284705272351076noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7215689043684702397.post-60986631500760923732018-05-10T23:39:00.001-07:002018-05-10T23:42:52.081-07:00When Spousal Abuse Happens in the Church<br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">If you
have read my testimony, you already know that one reason I left the Jehovah’s
Witnesses (AKA “The Watchtower”) was because they turned a blind eye to the fact
that my former husband was physically abusing me. I was told that I needed to
be “in subjection” to my husband and to stop nagging him so much. I was the
victim of his violence, but the elders were blaming me for not being a good and
submissive wife. There was a point in our marriage when he left me for a time,
but I was told that I had to wait for him to come back and I was not allowed to
initiate divorce. It didn’t matter to them how much he was physically violent
against me. I lived in fear of him, constantly. When I would hear him come home
after work, I would cringe because I knew what that mean most of the time.
There was a lot of yelling and screaming at me. Terrible accusations and craziness
mentally brought me down. If I said something he didn’t like, he would just
slap me across the face. I felt so stuck and a prisoner of this horrible mistake
of a marriage I had. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">Well
that was long ago now, but even though it has been 42 years since I was finally
able to escape from him, the scars of what he did remain. I feel like I need to
be an advocate and a voice for other women who suffer at the hands of abusive
men. I also speak out against ANYONE who ever advises a woman stay with an
abusive husband. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">When I
hear about religious leaders in any church who advise women to stay with an
abusive spouse and “just pray” or “be more submissive,” it really upsets me.
(What if the religious leaders in the church were experiencing violence from
someone in their family? How would they react?) I do not think that any woman should
be advised to stay with someone who assaults her. She should be advised to
leave that violent situation. Christians should help her to move out and find
her a place to live away from the violent husband. She needs to be protected along
with any children she may have. She should press charges against her husband to
make sure he is prosecuted to the full extent of the law.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">I believe
that marriage should be a lifelong commitment. But there are certain things
that break that commitment and one of them is physical abuse. No one, man or
woman should be expected to put up with physical abuse just as much as they
should not have to put up with a spouse’s sexual immorality. I believe that
most Christians have misunderstood what Jesus when he said: “But I tell you
that anyone who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, makes her the
victim of adultery, and anyone who marries a divorced woman commits adultery.</span>”
(Matt. 5:32 NIV) In those days, women weren’t allowed to divorce their
husbands, it was the men who were doing all the divorcing. They were divorcing
for “any reason.” That’s why the Pharisees asked Jesus this: “Some Pharisees
came to him to test him. They asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; float: none; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"> for any and
every reason? <span class="woj"><span style="background: white; color: black;">“</span></span>Haven’t
you read,” he replied, “that at the beginning the Creator ‘made them
male and female,’ and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father
and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’ So
they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together,
let no one separate.” <span class="text"><span style="color: black;">“</span></span>Why
then,” they asked, “did Moses command that a man give his wife a certificate of
divorce and send her away?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span id="en-NIV-23771" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Jesus
replied, “Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because your hearts
were hard. But it was not this way from the beginning. I tell you that
anyone who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another
woman commits adultery.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span id="en-NIV-23773" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">The disciples said to him, “If this is the situation
between a husband and wife, it is better not to marry.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">Do you
see what</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> they were trying to do? They were
looking for their loophole so that they could divorce their wives for “any
reason” including not making a dinner up to their liking! They were divorcing
their wives and throwing them out to the streets. Most times these women ended
up destitute because there was not much in the way of making a living for
themselves in this 1<sup>st</sup> century patriarchal society. Jesus KNEW what
they were up to and what was in their hearts. So Jesus declared that these
divorces were invalid since they were divorcing for “any reason” that they
desired. However I can’t imagine that Jesus would have ever told a woman she
could not leave her violent and abusive husband to divorce him. I am not even
sure that divorce was an option for women at that time or if they were allowed
to seek a divorce at all, since women were completely dependent on men in this
society.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Divorcing a husband on the grounds
of physical violence is not just “any reason.” It is not a divorce based on “no
fault” or mere “irreconcilable differences.” Divorce because of physical violence
was once listed as valid grounds by most states before every state changed
their divorce laws to “no fault.” In this case, a divorce should protect the
wife from having to live with such violence, assault, and severe injuries. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Marriage is important, but I have
been experiencing many in the Christian church making an idol out of marriage. Yes,
a lot of marriages are worth saving, I totally agree, especially when there are
children involved. But some are not, especially when there is violence involved.
I think the Christian Church needs to take a hard look at some of the hard
lines they have taken with marriage and divorce. Statements that have been made
by various Evangelical leaders regarding how a wife should be submissive to an
abusive husband need to be examined and corrected. Church leaders need to
apologize for statements they have made that keep women prisoners in abusive
marriages. Can you imagine Jesus Christ advising a wife to continue to live
with a man who beats and assaults her? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">A man who beats and assaults his
wife is not loving her as Paul said that husbands are to love their wives as
Christ loves the church. (Eph. 5:25-33) He is not behaving as a member of the Christian
Church. A man who exerts physical violence against his wife has effectively
abandoned her and has abandoned his faith. The wife should call the police,
press charges against him, so that he is incarcerated. He should also be excommunicated
from the church as well until he truly repents (not just because he was caught
and prosecuted.)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">So is this what would be called a “scriptural
divorce” if the wronged spouse seeks a divorce against the violent spouse? In
my opinion yes, because the guilty spouse has abandoned the marriage, causing a
breach of contract. He has failed to love his wife as Christ loved the church.
He did not love her as his own body. He treated his marriage and wife like garbage.
The wronged spouse should be viewed as abandoneded by the previous spouse and
free to divorce and seek remarriage at a later time.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />Cynthia Hamptonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07189284705272351076noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7215689043684702397.post-60049255959531601482018-03-06T10:19:00.000-08:002018-03-06T10:36:17.311-08:00No Longer a Spirit of Fear<br />
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<span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">On Friday, our family said goodbye to my nearly 95 year old
(non-JW) Aunt Josie. She would have been 95 today. She was a sweet woman, but she
didn’t want to have anything to do with studying with JWs and least of all, becoming
a JW. Yet she remained loving and cordial to family members who joined the JWs
and still loved them no matter what. She was a godmother to one of my cousins
who became JW as a teen and she still treated my cousin as her goddaughter and
was always very loving and kind to her. So at the funeral on Friday, there were
four (4) JWs who came to her funeral. That one cousin who had been the
goddaughter was there with her husband, and another one of my cousins who brought his
adult son.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">I used to have a sense of dread when I knew I would see JW
family whom I knew would make an issue of shunning me. It used to make me very
upset and I used to feel horrible when they were around. I’m not sure what it
was that bothered me so much. I guess I just felt so hurt by it all that even
after all these years as it’s been 38 years since I left this cult now…it’s
hard to believe that they continue to shun, no matter what kind of good and
moral life I’m leading. Just the fact that I don’t want to ever be a JW ever
again and have a support group that helps other former JWs makes me guilty in their eyes
of immorality, loose conduct, apostasy, etc.….you name it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">I no longer feel that sense of dread anymore. It’s just all
gone and all I feel now is a sense of sorrow for them. I am very happy and I
have nothing but a sense of joy that is brought on by really learning to rely
on the Holy Spirit. They don’t bother me, no matter how much they pretend I’m
invisible or scowl at me. I just smile at them and say “hello” when I’m near
them. They can’t take my joy, none of them! I hope they could sense my joy and
happiness in me. Nothing---nothing that they can do, whether it be shunning, or
showing distaste on their faces because I’m around, can steal my joy. My joy is
fully in Jesus Christ and what He did for me. He has gifted me with the Holy
Spirit and spiritual gifts that they can never understand if they stay in the
Watchtower organization. They are slaves, subject to the whims of their
leaders. They are filled with hate and disgust when they see a former member
which is aggravated by what this organization teaches them to believe about
former members. As far as they are concerned, we are all “mentally diseased” to
them and they are the ones who are filled with fear and all kinds of phobias. See
<a href="https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/2011524">https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/2011524</a>
The Watchtower has filled them with fear, hatred, anger, and they are devoid of
love for anyone who dares walk away from their organization.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">As far as I’m concerned now, I hold to what the Apostle Paul
told Timothy: <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">“For God did not give us the Spirit of fear but of power and
love and self-control. So do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord or
of me, a prisoner for his sake, but by God’s power accept your share of
suffering for the gospel. He is the one who saved us and called us with a holy
calling, not based on our works, but on his own purpose and grace, granted to
us in Christ Jesus before time began, but now made visible through the appearing
of our Savior Christ Jesus. He has broken the power of death and brought life
and immortality to light through the gospel! For this gospel I was appointed preacher
and apostle and teacher. Because of this, in fact, I suffer as I do. But I am
not ashamed, because I know the one in whom my faith is set and I am convinced
that he is able to protect what has been entrusted to me until that day. Hold
to the standard of sound words that you heard from me and do so with the faith
and love that are in Christ Jesus. Protect that good thing entrusted to you,
through the Holy Spirit who lives within us.”</span></i><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"> (2 Timothy 1:7-14
NET)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">I regularly pray for my JW family, no matter how they treat
me or how they behave around me. They are the ones who are horribly deceived,
they just do not know it and the enemy has filled them with a self-righteous
pride. They are prevented from investigating whether or not I have good reasons
for leaving the Watchtower and becoming an Evangelical Christian who believes
in the Trinity. To them, I’m just a mentally diseased pagan to be avoided and
shunned forever. But it doesn’t matter what they think. It matters what God
thinks and what His will is for my life. It matters that for 36 years I have a
relationship with the real Jesus Christ, not the false Jesus of the Watchtower
who is merely a created being and exalted angel. He is of the same nature and
substance of the Father and even claimed to be the “I AM” in John 8:58. In
another blogpost coming I will be writing about why I believe in the Trinity.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">This was my Aunt Josie. I will always remember how she loved everyone, no matter what. I imagine she can celebrate her life and birthday in heaven now. I look forward to seeing her again.</span></div>
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<br />Cynthia Hamptonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07189284705272351076noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7215689043684702397.post-54375909368480583932017-08-08T21:30:00.000-07:002017-08-08T21:32:22.539-07:00Coming Out of the Watchtower: Why Is It So Difficult?<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 18px;">Reprint from Jul/Aug 1991 Bethel Ministries Newsletter (used with permission)</span></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">By Randall Watters</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">"Why can't you just
walk away from that religion and never go back? They don't have any hold on
you!"</span></i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">Have you ever said that
to a person struggling with leaving a cult or manipulative church? If so, you
were no doubt unawares of the degree of emotional and psychological control
that cults have over their members. Why is it so hard for them to leave, even when
they know that something is seriously wrong with the religion? And, once they
leave, why is it so hard to be "normal" and go to church like anyone
else?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">The June 1991 issue
of <i>Longevity</i> magazine ran a brief testimony of a young man who
was raised by a very religious mother, who told him from a very young age that
the only way he could be proud of his life was if he never had sex and became a
Catholic priest. Joshua Butler was isolated at school to keep him away from
friends that might introduce him to the ways of the world. His mother prayed
for five hours a day and made Joshua and his father recite the rosary on their
knees nightly, even in front of guests. She banned all movies and TV from their
lives when Joshua was eight. He says, "She was the founder and sole member
of The League for Modesty in Dress, and forced my father and I to go to Mass
every day."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">By the age of nine,
Joshua shared his struggle regarding his rigid lifestyle with his father. They
devised a plan: "Every Saturday, when my mother allowed us to visit parks
and planetariums, my father and I would instead go to movies and listen to
popular music and for a while completely forget the life to which my mother
subjected us." Joshua and his father managed to discover a coping device to
maintain their sanity and sense of reality with the outside world. "Movies
were my salvation. They showed me that life is a story, a fascinating and
complex and meaningful story. And I understood that this applied to my life as
well."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">Joshua and his father
confronted his mother with their unbelief in her religion when he was eleven.
She separated from her husband, and later married a man 16 years her junior who
shared her religious fervor. "Every once in a while she sends me a leaflet
or a tape that suggests that I'm going to hell, and around the holidays she
calls, but only to preach or to make small talk as if nothing has
changed." Joshua (now 17) and his father were the victims of a cult of one
person.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">The tools of
manipulation were fear of God, guilt, and the need to keep the peace around the
home. Isolation was used to prevent Joshua from having a well-developed sense
of reality about life. The demand for purity and the tool of confession were
used to make Joshua feel guilty for entertaining normal desires.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">People who have never
been involved in legalistic churches or cults cannot appreciate these powerful
factors that keep a person from just walking away. To the person who has a
well-developed sense of reality and even a little self-confidence, it seems incredible
that people can be victims of these cultic groups. A recent <i>Sally-Jessy
Raphael Show</i> interviewed three young men who were once trapped in
cults and later deprogrammed, and also interviewed their mothers who worked so
hard to get their sons out. The three young men unanimously agreed that in the
religions they were involved with, they were totally different persons, victims
of mind control by powerful church leaders. They were even directed to turn
against their parents.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 3;">
<b><span style="color: maroon; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">Leaving the Watchtower</span></b><b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">As you read the letters
to the editor in this Newsletter, you will hear of similar stories of those who
have spent many years of their lives in the Watchtower organization. For some
of them, it took a long time to finally leave. The reasons were fear, guilt and
insecurity; fear that God would punish them for rejecting Him (since leaving
the organization is equated with leaving God), guilt over entertaining thoughts
of leaving, and the insecurity of making it through life apart from the
"mother" organization. Jehovah's Witnesses are isolated from the
start, being told that the Watchtower is the only true religion and that the
devil is out to mislead them away from it. They are not permitted to read other
religious literature or viewpoints on the Bible, nor are they allowed to read
anything critical of the Watchtower in any way. This form of isolation
effectively inoculates them from ever possessing a clear sense of reality.
Theirs is an "us versus them" world, in which they offer the only
safe haven of thought, and all other persons are regarded as potentially
dangerous. Is it any wonder why JWs aren't rushing to leave the organization?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">Family members in the
Watchtower are also a powerful factor. For most Witnesses, their family and
their friends at the Kingdom Hall are their only associates. If one leaves the
religion, the family usually shuns them as well. For those of us who love our
parents and brothers and sisters and their children, the thought of never being
able to see them again or talk with them is extremely painful. But this is
precisely what faces the JW who leaves the Watchtower.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 3;">
<b><span style="color: maroon; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">What You Can Do To Help</span></b><b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">DON'T force doctrine on
them, by insisting they believe in the Trinity, hell, etc. They are better off
dealing with these issues when it is not too frightening for them.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">DON'T force church
attendance on them, as they have been taught to believe churches are the haven
of demons and false doctrine. Give them a little space and they will eventually
come around.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">DON'T underestimate
their trauma. To a Witness leaving the Watchtower, it may seem that their
entire world is crashing down around them due to fear and insecurity. If you
are insensitive to this, they may not confide in you.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">DO encourage them to do
normal, "fun" things such as taking a vacation, or going to see a
movie. The more exposure they have to non-cultists, the better off they are.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">DO show them videos of
former members of other cults who went through the same trials they are facing.
This is immensely helpful. Call Bethel Ministries for more information on such
tapes. Or, have them meet former members of other cults for dialogue.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">DO make them feel loved
and accepted regardless of their performance. Show the love of Christ by your
attitude and actions.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 3;">
<b><span style="color: maroon; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">What You Are Up Against</span></b><b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">Many of you may be under
the impression that Jehovah's Witnesses joined the WT due to the attractive
doctrines they present. While this is a factor in most cases, more powerful
motivations are at work in the conversion and indoctrination process of the
Watchtower.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">Studies involving persons
who are ex-members of various cultic religions reveal a common factor in their
indoctrination. The common factor is not low intelligence, genetic
predisposition, or even gullibility. Many who join cults are very intelligent,
idealistic and even skeptical at first. The common factor is <i>vulnerability</i>,
caused by a change of circumstances in a person's life, such as a new job, a
recent divorce or broken relationship, or a time of pain or insecurity in one's
life. Such a change of circumstances can shake one's foundation, allowing
him/her to question beliefs previously settled or not open to discussion.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">All of us like to think
of ourselves as being objective, able to make wise decisions and to think
clearly, considering all the options. But strong emotional factors often cloud
our thinking or drive us to a conclusion before all the facts are considered.
Let's use the example of a friend who goes to buy a used car from a car agency.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">John is looking for a
good transportation car, with 50,000 miles or less. He prefers a four-door for
the wife and kids, even though he will be using the car most of the time (she
has her own). He is willing to spend up to $6000 if necessary. While on the
lot, he notices a snappy red sports car that he has often admired on the streets.
He tells himself, "No, don't be crazy, you don't want to spend all that
money on car and insurance, not to speak of the likelihood of getting
tickets!"<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">The salesman notices his
interest in the car immediately, and begins to talk the car up. He has John
take it for a drive. ("What the heck! Why not?") The salesman touts
the car's horsepower, the leather interior, the stereo, and even works up
payments to lessen the impact of its $7,500 price tag. Because John is
emotionally predisposed towards the car, he ignores the shoddy paint job, the
telltale signs of a previous wreck in the body panels, and transmission
troubles when shifting. The salesman, of course, will not point these things
out, as he wants to sell the car. Before he knows it, John is driving the car
home.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">John's wife, Linda, sees
him driving up and goes out to greet him. "John, what have you done! You
didn't buy this, did you?" Immediately his defenses go up, for two
reasons. One, he has always loved these particular cars and secretly wanted one
for the last two years. Who is she to keep him from what he knows will make him
happy? She just doesn't understand! Secondly, he already feels a little guilty
for making such a quick decision without checking everything out, and he
doesn't want to face the possibility of being wrong or foolish. So he must
become defensive and defend his purchase. John gets angry with his wife.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">Note several things
here:</span></i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">John did not buy the
sports car because it was the most practical or intelligent thing to do. He did
no research on the car by reading <i>Consumer Reports</i> or asking
other car owners. He took the word of a biased party, the salesman. He did not
take a mechanical-minded friend with him to check the car out. In other words,
John did not make an objective decision, but bought it from other, more
powerful motivations. Yet, if you ask him, John will tell you that he made the
right decision.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">This is much like the
person who becomes a Jehovah's Witness. Whether it is a housewife who is lonely
and needs friends or a young man who is insecure and needs to see the meaning
of life, the emotional and psychological motivating factors will prevent the
person from weighing all the facts if the Watchtower offers something that they
really want. Often it is the sense of community and caring atmosphere in the
Witnesses that is so attractive. The prospect of having instant friends to a
lonely person is a very powerful drug in itself! Furthermore, the ability to
see the world in clear, black and white distinctions and to have all the
answers of life at one's fingertips quickly dispels any feelings of insecurity
and insignificance. The following changes often occur in the person studying
with Jehovah's Witnesses:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<ul type="disc">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">A sudden feeling of euphoria due to embracing powerful
new "truths."<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">A sense of confidence in one's life, that one is moving
in the right direction and getting one's life "straightened
out."<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">Ego gratification in seeing that others are unable to
refute one's position, and instead they act out of anger or other
emotions.<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">Inability to entertain thoughts critical to the
Watchtower's way of thinking or to dialogue with those critical of the
Watchtower.<o:p></o:p></span></li>
</ul>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">Christians often don't
know what to say when they ask a Witness if they really checked out the
Watchtower before they got involved, and the Witness answers, "Why yes! I
read many books about the history of the Watchtower, and I even read one by an
ex-witness." What this usually means is that they read the Watchtower's
version of their own history, and that though they read a book by an
ex-witness, they saw it simply as some kind of "hate" book and were
not open to any objective points being made. The potential Witness wants the
Watchtower to be true so badly that he/she is driven to quickly dismiss any
facts that may cause "dissonance," or internal struggle, over what is
the truth. This is the equivalent of Linda trying to tell John that he made a
bad decision in buying the sports car. He simply does not want to hear it, and
will not listen without getting emotional and storming out of the house.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">In the scene involving
Linda and John, it would have been great if John had brought a friend with him
to the car dealership who could ask some pointed questions and pressure John to
be more practical in making this decision. But is it really too late to ask
questions? Maybe in the case of buying the sports car, but not with the person who
has already become the Jehovah's Witness. It is never too late to seek the
truth and to be willing to reshape one's life in accordance with it. The hard
part is in getting the Witness to think clearly and objectively.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">I have discovered that
the JW is only willing to entertain the possibility of the Watchtower being
wrong for two reasons: (1) they have become disillusioned with the organization
or the people therein (for whatever reason), and (2) they have become more
confident and secure, and are no longer afraid to question the Watchtower. They
realize their world would not fall apart if it was wrong. Sometimes people even
grow beyond the need for such a rigid, controlling structure and are seeking
the freedom to think for themselves and not to just trust someone else's
judgment.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">Most of those who leave
the Watchtower do so for the first reason (having become disillusioned).
"God's organization" becomes a human organization. The human
failings, mind control and manipulation become more obvious as the years go by.
Bad experiences with others in the organization temper one's idealism regarding
living for eternity on a Watchtower-controlled earth. Once the idealism is
lost, it is replaced with either cynicism or a searching for better things. The
Witness may start voicing their disillusionment to others, though this is
dangerous, as they could be turned in for "apostasy." Often their
criticism is limited to a few individuals, perhaps even to those outside of the
Watchtower organization. Sadly, however, many of these will continue in the
Watchtower even when they know much of it is in error, simply because they are
to afraid to start over or face the insecurity of searching once more.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">There are quite a few
Witnesses who fit into the second category, though (being no longer afraid to
question), and the Watchtower no longer holds the same attraction for them.
Because they are not primarily influenced by fear or guilt for entertaining
doubts, but feel more secure with themselves, they are driven by the hope of
something better than the Watchtower has to offer, and by faith in a God who
may be bigger than the Jehovah of the Watchtower. Often they come to this
conclusion simply by looking intensely at Christ and seeing something more than
what the Watchtower has said about Him. One of the most influential passages to
me when I was leaving the Watchtower was Col. 2:8,9:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">"See to it that no
one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the
tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather
than according to Christ. For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily
form."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 3;">
<b><span style="color: maroon; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">Encourage Positive Thoughts</span></b><b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">If the Christian detects
that the Witness is one of these two types</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">, they can do several
things to encourage the Witness' thinking process. Even if the Witness is
bad-mouthing the organization or the people therein, it would not be well to
encourage this. The goal is to get them thinking more positive thoughts, and to
gain confidence in their own thinking abilities. Additionally, they will
appreciate a broader view of God's grace and the freedom He gives. People are
usually drawn towards a more positive outlook on things, and if you have
nothing better to offer than criticism of the Watchtower, they won't see any
point in leaving because what you have to offer is no more attractive than what
they have.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">Many Christians will say
that they want to offer them "Jesus," and then proceed to argue the
Bible with the Witness. This almost never has any good effect, as they need to
SEE and FEEL something better. They need to see your humility, your willingness
to understand them, and your desire to be their friend regardless of what they
believe. In other words, they need to SEE the love of Christ, not just hear
about it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">Here are some tried and
tested tips for reaching the JW with success:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<ul type="disc">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">DON'T argue the Bible with them. Stay away from
doctrine initially. If they ask doctrinal questions, have a brief answer
ready that will take them off guard (such as found in our book, <i>Refuting
Jehovah's Witnesses</i>) and then direct the conversation back to more
critical questions, such as those found in the tract, "Opening The
Closed Mind." The goal is to get them thinking and resolving
difficult questions on their own, apart from the Watchtower mindset. To do
this you need to ask questions that they are not "programmed" to
answer. Such questions encourage them to think and reconsider why they
joined the Watchtower.</span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">DON'T tell them you will pray for them or that you feel
sorry for them, or tell them they are brainwashed or stupid. Witnesses
usually have a strong ego, and quickly take offense to a condescending
attitude. Rather, say that you are interested in the Watchtower
organization and why they have come to believe in it, and do they mind if
you ask some questions about the Watchtower? (Again, use questions from
"Opening The Closed Mind"). A curious or questioning stance is
not usually threatening to the Witness, but a negative, judgmental stance
will drive them away from you.<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">DON'T show them all your literature regarding the
Witnesses and their faults. This will only scare them away and they will
categorize you as one who is prejudiced against the Watchtower. Read the
books, but keep the points in your head, not under their noses. It will
all come in handy eventually.<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">DO show an interest in them, what attracted them to the
Watchtower, and what they like the most about it. This will give you a
clue as to their primary motivating factors, and what they are REALLY
looking for in life. Speak to that need! Offer them something more
fulfilling or superior to what they have.<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">DO read up on the mind control aspects of how cults
work. An excellent tool is the book, <i>Combatting Cult Mind Control</i> by
Steven Hassan. Also, we have several past issues of the <i>Bethel
Ministries Newsletter</i> that discuss the mind control methods
employed by the Watchtower. Experts usually address the mind control
issues before they even bring out the Bible or the photocopies of their
false prophecies.<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">DO pray for them! Pray specifically that God would show
them their true needs are not being met in the Watchtower, and that He
would create a new hunger in them for something better. Pray for a shakeup
in their lives that will initiate a more honest investigation of the
Watchtower organization.<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">Remember to be patient. It may take months or even
years to bring the Witness to openly question the Watchtower. Yet love for
our friends and relatives drives us to persevere and show them the love
and freedom that lies just beyond the Watchtower curtain. <o:p></o:p></span></li>
</ul>
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<span style="color: maroon; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">FOOTNOTES:</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 10pt;">1. In cults, the leader
is assumed to be from God or chosen by God, and is therefore qualified to
interpret the Bible. The members are not to question his/her authority or
interpretation, as they are considered inadequate for the task. When the cultist
realizes that he/she is just as qualified as they are if not more so, the fear
of "disobeying God" disappears and they feel some what free to
entertain questions or doubts. This is a healthy process, and is even
encouraged by the Watchtower to outsiders regarding other religions, but not
towards the Watchtower or JWs themselves.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 10pt;">2. When Christians
encounter Witnesses that they desire to get out of the Watchtower, they may
come across one who fits neither of the above types, but is simply "gung
ho" for the Watchtower. Unless the Holy Spirit is directly working on the
person, there may be little hope but to plant seeds in their minds. For this
purpose we have printed the tract, "Opening the Closed Mind," which
contains many questions to plant as "thought-bombs" in the Witness'</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18px;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 10pt;">mind.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%;">From the Free Minds, Inc. website at: <a href="http://www.freeminds.org/">http://www.freeminds.org</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
Cynthia Hamptonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07189284705272351076noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7215689043684702397.post-7143100908260057152017-06-20T22:40:00.002-07:002018-12-27T17:50:53.755-08:00Finding Jesus: Leaving the Watchtower and other False Practices Behind<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Before
my family joined the Watchtower Organization in around 1971-1972, my family was
Roman Catholic. But we were not really good practicing Catholics. My family,
especially my father’s side of the family was heavily involved in astrology
beliefs and the occult. My father and my grandfather seemed to love the false
prophecies of Edgar Cayce. We had books on meditation and visualization in our
house. I read all these books. I used to go over to my aunt and uncle’s house
and my cousin taught me how to use a Ouija board when I was 9 years old. I got
my own spirit board and used a pendulum to talk to spirits. I got books on
witchcraft and learned how to read Tarot cards. I was heavily into these
practices by the time my mother began to study with Jehovah’s Witnesses.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">When
I had heard about the apocalyptic teachings of Jehovah’s Witnesses and the
Watchtower, I thought much of it sounded very much like what I had learned from
Edgar Cayce’s writings. So prophecy was what interested me because it sounded
so much like what I had already believed. There was only one problem: I really
enjoyed my belief in astrology and occultic practices. The Watchtower does not
allow their members to practice such things as they rightfully say that these
things are of satanic origin. I never gave up my desire to read my horoscope
and my desire to practice visualization even though I was joining the
Watchtower organization who forbids such practices.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I
kept my spirit board for a time and my Tarot cards. Finally one day I had put
them up in my closet and thought they would be alright up there. But one day
the box with the pendulum and board “jumped” down off the shelf several times.
There was no reason for them to fall out, we were in Arizona and there were no
earthquakes happening. It scared me so much I took all if it out to the trash
in the back and never saw it again. But we still had our Edgar Cayce books, the
astrology books and all our other “New Age” books in the house. Nothing else
ever “jumped” off the shelf that I saw. So I started to seriously study with
Jehovah’s Witnesses after that.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The
Watchtower presents a very distorted view of demons and the occult. So when I
joined them, I was trained to think that demons were around every corner and
were out to get me. We were taught a lot of superstition, like to be afraid of
Smurf dolls and Cabbage Patch dolls because they were thought to have demons.
We were told not to buy items at yard sales or second hand stores because
demons might be attached to some object such as an article of clothing or an
appliance. When my 2<sup>nd</sup> hand sewing machine was not working
right, I was told it was “demonized.” I never knew what to think or what to
believe about that while I was a JW. I was all mixed up with confusion. But
thinking about it now, that is exactly what the enemy wants, is for us to be
confused about who God is and what his will is for our lives.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">After
going to several assemblies and through heavy indoctrination, I decided the
Watchtower was the truth. I was baptized in 1972.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">We
all believed that Armageddon was coming in 1975. Everyone was speculating as to
when it might arrive. Some even speculated that it might be 1974 instead of
1975. I remember the District Overseer, named “Brother Sales” (I believe it was
him, but not entirely sure), giving a talk at the International Assembly in
Oakland in 1973. His actual words were, “When an alarm clock is ready to ring,
just before it rings, there is a click and just a split second before the alarm
actually rings. Well we are in that time period between the click and the
actual ringing of the alarm clock. That’s how much time we have left
before Armageddon!” The crowd clapped and cheered. All everyone talked about
was how little time we had left before Armageddon.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Because
there was so little time left, many teenagers began to get married quite young.
It is traditional and typical for a Jehovah’s Witness to marry young.
Since one is not allowed to date unless you intend to be married, anyone who
dates is expected to get married. However, since Armageddon was so close, it
just seemed like there was a frenzy of young teens getting married. We
had been told that we didn’t know whether there would be marriage in the new
system. Since it wasn’t for sure that we might be able to get married in the
new system, many decided that they would be married before Armageddon, rather
than have to remain single for eternity.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">When
young hormones are raging, this thinking is dangerous. Many young people ended
up in very unhappy marriages, including me. I married another young
Jehovah’s Witness in 1974 at the age of 18. It was the worst
mistake of my life. This young man was physically abusive with me and got away
with it. He began to hit me exactly one week after we were married.
When I approached the elders with the fact that he beat me, their response was
one of disinterest. They said there was no WT policy on this, and it wasn’t a
“disfellowshipping offense.” It was to be considered a family problem and they
could not get involved.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Well that family
problem translated into a lot of physical and mental abuse. I always carried
bruises all over my body and no one really knew and maybe they did not care. I
was told to not to discuss this with anyone and to quit nagging.
Apparently they thought that I nagged my husband too much and that was the
reason for the beatings. He was eventually disfellowshipped in 1976 for
smoking. So I began to think, is smoking a worse sin than beating up your
wife? I knew something was wrong with this picture. When he was
disfellowshipped, I was pregnant with my son at the time.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In 1976, after my son
was born, I decided I could no longer take the abuse, so I left my husband,
moved out, and went back to live with my parents. I subsequently divorced
him after a year went by. The elders told me that I
wasn’t “scripturally divorced” and was not allowed to date. I was
only 21 at the time.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">A year later, I
enrolled in community college and decided I liked going to college – after all
I hadn’t studied as well as I should have in high school. I saw no need since
Armageddon “was just around the corner.” So there I was and I had no means to
get a job, and I certainly didn’t want to be a cleaning woman or do janitorial
work, (like many of the JWs did) as I am not cut out for that type of work and
prefer working at a desk. I decided to put my brain to work and enroll in
community college. It was already 1977 and Armageddon still hadn’t
arrived.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">After a while, it
began to seem to me that those in the Kingdom Hall were not as intellectual as
I thought I was becoming. I was learning how to use critical thinking skills
and believed in asking questions at a time when independent thinking was
starting to be frowned upon.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I remember talking to
an “elderette” (an elder’s wife) one day and telling her that I was taking a
psychology class and that I was enjoying it. Her response to me was that I
should quit school because I was studying doctrines of demons. I didn’t listen
to her – I stuck with my classes.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">By 1979, I had all but
quit going to the meetings. I think I went to one day of the district
convention that year in Tucson, and I did not go out in field service at all by
that time. I was very tired of the entire situation. In February 1980, I wrote
a handwritten letter to the elders letting them know I wasn’t going to any more
meetings and not to consider me a Jehovah’s Witness any longer. I gave the
letter to my brother to hand deliver to the elders.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I always had a few
doubts about the Watchtower organization and I think that made it easier to leave.
For example, I never truly believed that it was wrong to get a blood
transfusion, so I never carried one of those “No Blood Transfusion”
cards. I always knew that if I were looking death in the face, I would
accept a blood transfusion to save my life. Another thing that always
bothered me was that the Watchtower made an issue out of whether or not a woman
screamed if she were being raped. The Watchtower rule was if a woman did
not scream, then she must have enjoyed it, and therefore was committing adultery
or fornication and would be disfellowshipped. How could any woman in her
right mind agree with that kind of thinking and that policy?<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I
never looked back, although I did attend the “Memorial” in 1980 and made the
decision then to never set foot in Kingdom Hall ever again. (For those of you
who do not know, the “Memorial of the Death of Jesus Christ” is observed once a
year at the Kingdom Hall. It is a faux communion service and observed around
Passover. Only select members who believe that they are of the 144,000 elite
who are chosen for heavenly life are allowed to partake of the emblems. The
Watchtower forbids the celebration of Easter and does not celebrate the
resurrection of Jesus Christ.)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">After
I disassociated myself from the Watchtower in 1980, I decided to go back to
practicing New Age philosophies. Although I did not read Tarot cards again, I
got heavily into different meditation practices. I used to love emptying my
mind and having a leader take me on a “journey” where I would be in a type of
trance. I had no idea how dangerous these practices were and how demonic it all
was. I continued with going back to reading my horoscope and bought more books
on astrology. I thought if the Watchtower did not have the answers for me,
surely astrology and meditation would have my answers.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">It
did not help. I suffered from an enormous amount of depression and anxiety. My
relationships were all failures during that time. I had few friends. Any man I
dated surely thought I was very weird. And I guess I really was.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In 1982, a good friend
who had been my neighbor invited me to his church and I accepted the
invitation. You know nothing in life is ever merely a coincidence, when God is
working in your life, even though you do not know it, a “God incidence” can
happen. I visited to his church and discovered that the Christians I met there
were warm and caring people who loved Jesus Christ. But I was still scared. Did
I really do the right thing by going to this church? Would something bad happen
to me because I dared go into what the Watchtower calls “Babylon”?
As Jehovah’s Witnesses, we were always taught that demons were present in the
churches of Babylon.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Then I received my
answer: After the church service was over, I looked around and saw a familiar
face – I thought. “No, it couldn’t be,” I’m thinking. But I thought it was
another ex-Jehovah’s Witness! I did a double take and yes, I did recognize this
lady. I went up to her and asked her, “Didn’t I used to see you at the
assemblies?”<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Her eyes were wide
open as she asked me, “Did you just leave the Jehovah’s Witnesses?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I said, “Yes!” I left 2 years before and this was my first time
in the church since leaving the JWs. It turned out that this lady, her name is
Mary Kling. Her husband is the first cousin of M. James Penton, author of the
book, <i><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;">Apocalypse Delayed! </span></i>I was just so thrilled to know
that I wasn’t the only person who left the JWs who decided to go to church!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Mary took me under her
wing and began showing me what was wrong with the Watchtower organization. See,
at that time I knew that there was something wrong, I just didn’t know how to
prove it! She showed me an old Watchtower from April 1, 1979 that taught that
Jesus was the mediator for only 144,000! When I read that I knew that the
Watchtower was a false organization and that the truth could only be found in
Jesus Christ. Shortly thereafter in May, 1982 I gave my life over to Jesus
Christ.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">It was no coincidence
that out of all the churches in Tucson, Arizona, I happened to visit the one
that Mary had been attending. I knew that God had His hand in this the whole
time. However, it was not without a price. I told my father, who was not yet a
baptized JW, about my experience. He told my mother – and my mother and I had
the biggest, most awful blowout. It ended by her telling me that I was not
welcome in her home ever again! She shunned me for 17 years.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">At the end of the year, I moved to Los Angeles, CA and began a
new life away from my old friends and family who were shunning me. I met Randy
Watters who founded the <b><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;">Free Minds Ministry </span></b><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;">that helped ex-Jehovah’s Witnesses. </span>I began attending
his quarterly potlucks which were events for ex JWs to get together. I
eventually volunteered to help him in his home/office with his ministry, which
was called “Bethel Ministries” at the time. I learned so much from Randy
Watters and will be forever grateful that he was my friend, teacher and brother
in Christ.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In the summer of 1998,
I found that one of my JW cousins, Andy Burns, had leukemia at the age of
39. I’d heard through the family “grapevine” that he had not been feeling
well and suffering from some migraine headaches. After some tests and a
diagnosis of acute leukemia, he was hospitalized for some intense
chemotherapy. He lived another six weeks before he died. Of course,
he being a JW elder, refused all blood transfusions. His blood count
became so dangerously low that the chemotherapy treatments had to be
discontinued. He did not have to die that quickly if it had not been for
the Watchtower’s ban on blood transfusions<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In 1999, my JW mother
decided to start speaking to me again. In 2000, she and my father come to my
house and visit. They even went out to dinner with my husband and me. I did not
know what was going through my mother’s mind, but I think they were tired of
not knowing their grandchildren. My brother is the only one of the children in
our family who remained a JW, and of course, he had been an elder. He and his
wife never had children and ended up divorced. He remarried later but never
became an elder again.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">My sister and I both have children, and my parents never got to
know them until they had grown up somewhat. It is very sad how the Watchtower
separates families. My two younger children were 10 and 13 when they first met
my parents, their grandparents. I lost contact with my parents, because I know
that the August 2002 Kingdom Ministry had once again instructed the JWs to shun
the former members. I no longer knew where I stood with my parents,
except that I know my mother was very angry with me, as she did find out about
this website. She also refused to acknowledge the recent issues
regarding child sexual abuse in the Watchtower, and claims it is all just
“baloney.” I felt sorry for her because she did not know the real Jesus.
After all, Jesus did say at John 14:6, “I am the way, the truth, and the life,
no one comes to the Father except through me.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">My mother’s life has been tied up with an organization that will
NEVER show her Jesus Christ. It is an empty organization with false
promises and false prophesies. The Bible never talks about joining an
organization for salvation.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Eventually, my father was disfellowshipped from the Watchtower
and never went back. He suffered through cancer, strokes, and finally cancer
took his life. He died in 2016 as a believer in Jesus Christ. My mother is now
in her 80s and currently has dementia. The good thing is that our relationship
that was once severed is now healed. She even lets me lay hands on her and pray
for her.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Some
people, after leaving the Watchtower organization ask, “Where else can we
go?” This inevitably comes up because the Watchtower has so effectively
indoctrinated their followers to believe that there is no place to go except
the Watchtower organization. The thing to remember is that Jesus never talked
about where to go or how to be in the right group. He told his followers to
come to Him. <b><sup><span style="background: white;"> <i>“</i></span></sup></b><i><span style="background: white;">So Jesus said to the twelve, “You do not
want to go away also, do you?” Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom
shall we go? You have words of eternal life. <b><sup> </sup></b>We
have believed and have come to know that You are the Holy One of God.”</span></i><span style="background: white;"> (John 6:67-69 NASB) Jesus wanted us to go to HIM
as a “who” not a “where” or a “what”.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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been a Christian now for over 35 years and have never been happier since
becoming a Christian and knowing who the true Jesus Christ is. For many years,
I told my testimony leaving out the part about how my family was led into the
occult before becoming Jehovah’s Witnesses. However, I now realize that this is
a very important part of my story because Satan had me blinded and threw me
from one frying pan to another and back again. My journey has not been easy,
but the joy I have from knowing the true Jesus Christ is amazing. The
Watchtower was merely an idol that took the place of the true God. The occult
with all its attractions, illusions, and deceptions are nothing more than
idols. They lead to the worship of false gods, which are really demons. As a
Christian, I now know the truth about demons and how they are out to oppress,
destroy, and keep you from knowing Jesus Christ. The New Age, astrology,
witchcraft, false prophets such as Edgar Cayce and the like are all demonic in
origin. It took me many years to acknowledge and to realize that all these
false prophets are demonic and were responsible for leading me down the wrong
path for quite a few years of my life. Thankfully, I am healed and rid of all
of that false teaching and the desires that led me to the occult.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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blessings have come my way. Today I am married (over 20 years now) to a good
Christian man. I have three grown children who are all happily married, in
their own homes and have good jobs. My husband and I belong to a good church
where we feel a calling to ministry.<br />
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Since 2002, I have run a support group for former Jehovah's Witnesses who need
support coming out of this cult and answers to their questions. One thing that
really bothers JWs when they leave is the thought of "what if they are really
the truth?" I have to reassure them that because they are guilty of false
prophecy, they can never be the truth. Then I read them Deuteronomy 18:20-22:
"But if any prophet presumes to speak anything in my name that I
have not authorized him to speak, or speaks in the name of other gods, that
prophet must die. Now if you say to yourselves, 'How can we tell that a message
is not from the Lord?' -- Whatever a prophet speaks in my name and the
prediction is not fulfilled, then I have not spoken it; the prophet has
presumed to speak it, so you need not fear him." (NET) <b>There is no
need to fear a false prophet! </b>The Watchtower is guilty of not only the
1975 false prophecy, but many others since their beginnings in the late 1800s
under Charles Taze Russell. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I am very thankful
that my eyes were opened and that God delivered me from all false teaching from
the Watchtower and the occultic deceptions. Today my goal is to help others
know the real truth that is only found in knowing Jesus Christ. There is no other
way but Jesus Christ.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Cynthia Hamptonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07189284705272351076noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7215689043684702397.post-70845782000255344722016-11-30T20:17:00.000-08:002017-01-08T22:20:26.750-08:00How My Father Rejected Jehovah’s Witnesses and Found Jesus ChristThis blog is dedicated to my father, Eugene Velasco who would have been 84 on September 25, 2016.<br />
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In 1972, after several years of studying Watchtower materials, my mother was baptized into the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, calling herself one of “Jehovah’s Witnesses.” Mom thought she found “the truth” and was very excited about joining. She had left the Roman Catholic Church, deciding that they were “pagan” because they taught the Trinity. Every church who taught the doctrine of the Trinity was pagan according to the Watchtower. In order to be truly serving God you had to give up all that was considered “pagan”, including celebrating anyone’s birthday.<br />
My father did not embrace the Watchtower teachings when my mother joined the Watchtower. He continued to love her in spite of my mother’s “new love” in her life. Many times when one spouse joins the Watchtower, it feels like the spouse is having an affair with someone else. My mother was just “in love” with this new religion and it just consumed her life. My father however, fell into alcohol addiction, drowning his sorrows that way. Sometimes it seemed like such a vicious cycle. The more my mother dedicated herself to the Watchtower organization, the more unhappy my father was and the more he drank alcohol.<br />
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He wasn’t always an alcoholic. I don’t want to give this impression that my father was a bumbling drunk, he was far from that. He was quite an intelligent man and well respected at his position as he was a career fire fighter. He went into this line of work because he truly cared for people. He was involved with saving lives and property every working day of his life. He also saw a lot of tragedy and misfortune on the job. I am sure he saw things he just really wanted to forget. He had to live that daily struggle knowing that he could go to a call and see a dead child or other burned victims from a fire. He responded to traffic accidents where victims were pronounced dead at the scene. It takes a very special kind of a person to work in these types of situations and it is never easy. In a nutshell, my father’s objective in life was saving lives. <br />
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I left the Watchtower in 1980 and became a Christian in 1982. At that time, my father had not joined the Watchtower yet, although my mother had been pressuring him to get down to business, have a “study” and get baptized. She wanted the respectability of having a husband who was serving the Watchtower with her and not just being the spouse of an unbelieving husband. My dad was always the person I could talk to after I left the Watchtower. After I moved to California from Arizona, he decided to call me once a week. Since my mother was shunning me at the time, he felt he could not call me from home, as this would incite my mother’s anger. When I left the Watchtower and became a Christian, she was very angry with me. I had found out that the Watchtower was NOT the truth, but she was angry with me because I left and decided to go to a Christian church. She was taught that since I did this, I was now an enemy and she should treat me as an enemy who betrayed God’s earthly organization. So Dad was pretty careful about not talking about me or calling me in front of her. He just did not want to get her all riled up. <br />
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One day my dad called me and told me that he had some news for me. First, he was retiring. That was in 1984, he had spent 28 years working for the Tucson Fire Department. The second part of the news was that he was joining the Watchtower and he would no longer be able to call me. I was so crushed. I was happy that he was getting to retire, but I was losing a relationship with the only parent I had left. It was a very sad time for me and I mourned losing him. This was not good news for me because I did not know when I would see him again or if I’d ever get to speak to him again. The Watchtower teaches that when former members such as myself, leave their organization and join another church or even attend another church, they are to be referred to as “apostates”. Now that he was joining them he was officially supposed to treat me as an enemy and was supposed to shun me.<br />
I saw him sporadically throughout the next 10 or 15 years. I noticed that when we were together, he did not shun me, only my mother did. I realized that Dad never really wanted to shun me, but my mother was really hell-bent on it because she wanted to be obedient to the organization. Years ago, I talked to him about the shunning and told him that I was very glad he did not shun me. His response to me was: “I don’t believe in disfellowshipping the family.” I realized then that he still was thinking for himself and making his own decisions. The one thing I knew about my father was that he truly loved my mother. After he retired, he took her on many vacations. They went to Hawaii four times! They went on an Alaskan cruise. They went to Mexican resorts, Puerto Rico, and South America. They really took some beautiful trips together and had a good time. <br />
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Around 2001, the relationship between myself and my parents, specifically my mother began to improve. By that time, I had been married to my husband Dave for five years and my father liked him. We had visited them off and on as I was somewhat cautious about my mother. However, my relationship with my father began slowly improving. He was disfellowshipped from the Watchtower around 2003, allegedly for his alcoholism and being cited with a DUI. He spent a night in jail and I felt very badly about that. He did not want to be disfellowshipped, but the elders did it anyway. Now he was in the same boat with myself and my sister. I do not think he realized how badly he was going to be treated by the so-called Jehovah’s Witnesses.<br />
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One day some Jehovah’s Witnesses decided to come by and visit my mother. My father was sitting in the living room when these people arrived. Imagine his shock and dismay when they asked him to leave the room! What kind of nerve did those people have to ask the man of the house to leave the room. This was HIS home, not theirs! After that, he was very upset with the audacity of their disrespect to him as the man of the house. Dad was never the same after that because this incident seemed to open his eyes to what kind of organization the Watchtower really was. What kind of religious organization tells their members to disrespect a man in his own home, just because he no longer is a member? They made no effort to bring him back as a “lost sheep”, but instead shunned him and disrespected him. <br />
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In 2008, my mother was diagnosed with breast cancer and had a bilateral mastectomy. My sister Jeanette and I made plans to take care of her following her surgery. Dad, because of his immobility from his strokes was unable to care for her. So, my sister took the first week and I took of the next 10 days from work to stay with them. It was during this time that I snuck in some materials into the house to show Dad the errors of the Watchtower organization. I left him several books to read that all exposed the Watchtower’s false teachings. Close to around the same time, my sister Jeanette gave Dad an NIV Archaeology Study Bible. Dad never went back to the Watchtower and never had the desire to go back.<br />
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Dad’s health was somewhat stable for the next few years, but in 2015, he slowly started going downhill. I used to call the house once a week and he would always answer the phone. Mom used to joke that she made Dad the secretary and that is why he answered all the phone calls. Every time I called, I knew Dad would answer. A few months before he became very ill before his death, I asked him if he had ever thought about going back to the Watchtower. His answer was a resounding NO. Dad’s words were, “No, they are a cult!” I talked to him about that and I asked him what he now believed. His answer? “Jesus is the only way.” Somehow, along the way, after reading the materials I left for him and the Bible my sister gave him, he came to that conclusion all on his own.<br />
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Dad got very sick in November 2015 with a pain that was in his elbow. Doctors said it was an inflamed tendon, but in truth, it turned out to be cancer. On December 5, 2015, I received a call from my sister letting me know that Dad was in the hospital with a broken arm. Dad had broken his arm trying to lift himself out of bed that morning. The x-rays revealed there was a tumor, which during surgery, turned out to be 4<sup>th</sup> stage renal cancer. He lived another two months. During that time, my sister brought her pastors to see him and to pray with him in the hospital. We know Dad was saved because he verbally expressed it several times before he died.<br />
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On February 7, 2016, Dad went home to be with the Lord. It was sad, we were all saddened by his death, and we all miss him very much. The Watchtower stole many years from us, but I am confident that I will see him again because he is spending eternity with Jesus. My mother is still a JW and she suffers from dementia. She is 83 years old and we just keep praying for her. No matter what, we will not give up on her either. May God also have mercy on her and open her eyes even through her elderliness and dementia. The Lord saved my father and I once thought that was going to be impossible, but nothing is impossible with God! “<i>But Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible</i>.” (Matt. 19:26 ESV)<br />
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Cynthia Hamptonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07189284705272351076noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7215689043684702397.post-31300666323258347892015-10-25T18:15:00.000-07:002018-02-07T08:53:08.563-08:00Everything I Know about Football and Cookies, I Learned from my Brother<div style="text-align: left;">
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Every time I watch NFL football on TV, I think about my younger brother. It was my brother who got me started watching football games with him and he was the one who taught me all about the various teams. He had an electric football game that he had received for a gift as a birthday or Christmas gift before our family joined the Watchtower. He used to quiz me and had me learn the names of each team and what city they were affiliated with. He also trained me what the various referee signs meant during the game. By the time I got to high school and played in the band at our high school football games, I knew all about the game. I was very proud to be one of the only girls who actually KNEW what was going on during the game. No one had to really explain much to me because my little brother had taught me so well. He was also (and I believe still is) a San Francisco 49ers fan; I remember very clearly a poster of quarterback John Brodie in his room.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Another thing my brother did for me was to get me started making chocolate chip cookies. Our mother was a fabulous baker. She could bake breads, cinnamon rolls, cakes, and pies. She was great at all of that, except cookies. My mother could never master cookies. Her cookies came out like rocks. I don't know why they did, perhaps she overbaked them or over mixed the dough. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">One day my brother and I were in the mood for some chocolate chip cookies. We know we could not ask our mother to bake them as we well knew they would come out like rocks. So we decided that we would take out my mother's old Betty Crocker cookbook and make the cookies ourselves. Mom always had all the ingredients we needed in the kitchen.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We followed the recipe exactly as the cookbook said. We mixed the sugars and butter with the egg. We added the flour, baking soda, and salt. We stirred in the chocolate chips. The oven was preheated to 375. We shaped the dough into little balls and carefully placed them on the cookie sheets and put them in the oven for 10 minutes. At the end of 10 minutes and after they cooled, we had the best cookies I have ever tasted. How did we both accomplish that and when we were no more than about 11 years old for me and 9 for him! I quickly became a very accomplished chocolate chip baker, thanks to my brother. Today, everyone loves my chocolate chip cookies. I even give cookies as birthday gifts now.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">So what does this all have to do with having been a Jehovah's Witness or leaving the Watchtower? Well you see, when I disassociated myself from the Watchtower, my brother stopped speaking to me. It has now been over 35 years since I left the Watchtower organization and he and I have never had a conversation. If he sees me in public, he ignores me. Even in family gatherings where we happen to be in the same place, he behaves as though I'm invisible. He has been very obedient to the Watchtower's edicts concerning shunning former members whom they now consider to be "apostate." What makes me an apostate in their eyes? It is the fact that I became an Evangelical Christian and have accepted Jesus as my one and only Savior. I attend a Christian church, a church that the Watchtower teaches is part of Babylon the Great, because all churches, except for theirs, are false churches and part of Satan's organization. Since I run a support group for former Jehovah's Witnesses, he sees me as more of a "super apostate." Does it hurt? Yes it does. Do I still love him? Yes I do. I have missed him very much all these years.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I have hope that one day he will see the Watchtower hypocrisy and leave them. I would love to see him become a believer in the real Jesus Christ, the Jesus who died on a cross for all our sins, not just for the sins of Adam. I would love to see him find the real truth about who Jesus Christ is and that we do not need a contrived entity called the Faithful and Discreet Slave as our mediators to Jesus Christ. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">There are several members of my family and extended family who are still part of the Watchtower and I remember them and pray for them all. Even though I do not know many of them because they grew up not knowing me and never met me, I love them and pray that they all will be released from the Watchtower chains that bind them.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Sometimes I think about how much in common he would have with both my husband and me. My husband happens to be a San Francisco 49ers fan, just like my brother. If my brother visited us on a Sunday afternoon, I bet my husband and my brother would both be together in camaraderie concerning that team.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I do not know what my brother's relationship is with the Watchtower right now. I am wondering if he really is a loyal true believer, or if he is just going through the motions and attending all their meetings just in case it happens to be true. I meet a lot of former Jehovah's Witnesses whose greatest fear is the "what if" part and the what if it all happens to be true? The Watchtower teaches that if you leave this "mother" organization that Jehovah God WILL destroy you in Armageddon. The Watchtower instills this unrealistic fear of all churches and has instilled a mistrust of every single church. That is why it is so hard for former Jehovah's Witnesses to attend another church let alone join another church. I once heard an elder at the Kingdom Hall proudly say from the podium that anyone who leaves the organization may not ever come back to the Kingdom Hall, but they will NEVER join another church. Well, they try to make sure that no one ever joins another church, but thankfully, God is very merciful and and many of us former JWs are now Evangelical Christians.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I have hope for my brother and will continue to pray for him and for his lovely wife. I wonder what he would think if he knew that every time I watch the San Francisco 49ers I think about him. I think about him too when I'm baking cookies and wish he was here to taste one of them. I am thankful I have a brother and for what he taught me when we were children. May God bless him, open his eyes, and bring him to Christ. </span></div>
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Cynthia Hamptonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07189284705272351076noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7215689043684702397.post-29902602130500879192014-10-30T17:55:00.000-07:002018-02-28T12:08:14.568-08:00Women Equipping Women<div style="text-align: left;">
(<i>Unfortunately, the links below have been taken down and no longer work. I will try to upload a copy of my PowerPoint presentation that I did.</i>)<br />
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Recently, I was honored to be part of an online apologetics conference put on entirely by women! My part in the conference was to talk about Jehovah's Witnesses, or rather, "Refuting Jehovah's Witnesses with Love."</div>
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<a href="https://connectpro58388802.adobeconnect.com/_a939485686/p9tgjgh0583/?launcher=false&fcsContent=true&pbMode=normal" target="_blank">Cynthia Hampton: Refuting JWs with Love</a></div>
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So go ahead and click on the link and listen to my presentation. It will take you to a page where you will see a PowerPoint presentation. There was a little technical difficulty in the beginning, but I just went ahead and spoke and someone else ironed out the wrinkles. Eventually everything was worked out. I think the entire talk was about 50 minutes.</div>
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If you are interested in hearing any of the other speakers, the archives are available for purchase for $16 for the entire conference. You will hear great speakers such as Nancy Pearcey from Houston Baptist University, author of <i>Saving Leonardo: A Call to Resist the Secular Assault on Mind, Morals, and Meaning</i>. Mary Jo Sharp, founder of Confident Christianity and also from Houston Baptist University spoke on "The Women in Islam."</div>
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The link to purchase the entire series for $16 is at:</div>
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<a href="http://athanatosministries.org/store/products/category/conference-archive-access" target="_blank">Online Apologetics Conference 2014</a></div>
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Cynthia Hamptonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07189284705272351076noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7215689043684702397.post-55470336857266996132014-07-18T23:27:00.001-07:002016-12-29T21:46:15.128-08:00Remembering Tony<span xmlns=""></span><br />
<span xmlns=""><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14pt;">This blog is dedicated to my cousin Raymond Anthony "Tony" Burns who passed away on July 11, 2014 at the age of 53.</span></span><br />
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<span xmlns=""><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14pt;">Being a few years older than Tony, I actually remember when he was born. I remember him being around eight months old and crawling around on the floor. Although his first name was Raymond, no one ever called him that except his mother, who was my Aunt Lucy. It seems that my Aunt Belen who was her older sister decided she wanted to call him Tony. And so the name Tony stuck. My younger sister Jeanette would occasionally hear our Aunt Lucy calling "Raymond" whenever he was in trouble. And Jeanette always wondered, "Who is Raymond and why is she calling him?"</span></span><br />
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<span xmlns=""><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14pt;">My father used to call Tony "Antoine", by the French version of Anthony.</span></span><br />
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<span xmlns=""><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14pt;">Our mothers come from a very large family. Our grandparents had 13 children together, but only 11 were surviving by the time I was born. When I was a little kid, I used to ask my mother how many brothers and sisters she had. She would always say, "I have six brothers and four sisters." So I would say six plus four is 10 and with you Mommy, that makes 11! The best part of being part of an extended large family was having so many cousins. I had lots of cousins! Aunt Josie and Uncle Albert had four children. Aunt Nena and Uncle Frank had five children. Aunt Lucy and Uncle Jim had three children. Uncle Ben and Aunt Charlene had five children. Aunt Belen had two children. I was always counting my cousins and bragging to other people about how many cousins I had. I really loved all of them very much and have fond memories of all of them.</span></span><br />
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<span xmlns=""><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14pt;">The family that was closest to my family was Aunt Lucy and Uncle Jim. They had three sons all about the same ages of the children in my family. David is my age only three months older than me. Andy was my brother Gilbert's age, they were only seven months apart. Tony was a couple years older than my sister Jeanette. But we all paired up and hung out together every time we were at one another's homes. Our families were very close because Aunt Lucy and my mother were literally best friends. They were only one and one half year's apart in age. Another thing our families had in common was that my father was a firefighter and so was my Uncle Jim. So it was the case of two sisters married to men who joined the fire department. It seemed while I was growing up that we were together all the time eating meals together and having a good time. Life was different back then. We would just freely visit at each other's houses. I was as comfortable at my Burns' family home as I was in my own home. Needless to say, David, Andy, and Tony were not just cousins to me. They felt more like brothers. I loved each of them just as though they were my brothers.</span></span><br />
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<span xmlns=""><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14pt;">We spent summers together going on camping vacations. I remember quite a few camping trips. I did not enjoy camping because I wasn't a "roughing it" kind of person. But my dad and my uncle loved going fishing together and my aunt and mother came along and enjoyed the fresh air and cooler climate in the mountains. My male cousins were full of constant energy and the trips were good for them. And Tony always seemed to be the funny guy in the bunch and loved pulling pranks and jokes. He was the one who was always in the background laughing. Tony was the one who always had the smart comeback. He was the one with all the wit in the family. Tony knew what to do for a laugh.</span></span><br />
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<span xmlns=""><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14pt;">Tony loved to tease and make fun. I spent a couple weeks at their house in the summer of 1969. Apparently my family went camping and my aunt and uncle were unable to go that time. This was the summer I had learned to sew. Tony used to come into the room where I was sewing and ask me what I was doing. Sometimes I'd say, "I'm just going to baste the pieces together." So Tony would then ask, "What does that mean?" I'd answer, "It means when you sew by hand." Ugh! Questions, questions and more questions! And then he would tease and make fun of me later! I still remember the week I was at the Burns home because that's when Apollo 11 landed on the moon. I was busy in the back room sewing. Then Tony and my Aunt Lucy came in and told me to come out to the living room to watch the moon landing. Tony even said, "You can stop sewing now and go watch the astronauts land on the moon!" Tony wanted to make sure I would watch the Apollo 11 astronauts land and walk on the moon.</span></span><br />
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<span xmlns=""><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14pt;">Our mothers joined Jehovah's Witnesses together which caused quite a bit of tension in the family. My dad and uncle were not happy. My aunt forced all three boys to study Watchtower theology. David and Andy finally became convinced that the Watchtower was the truth. Tony, however, was a different story. While the rest of us in my family were convinced that this Watchtower was the truth, Tony was the only one of us kids who would not accept it. Looking back, I know he was the smartest one of us. Tony told the story of how his mother forced him to "study" through high school. He was about 11 years old when our mothers joined this organization. As Tony neared the end of his studies with the "brother" who was trying to indoctrinate him, the "brother" asked if he was ready to get baptized. Tony said "no". He was not getting baptized. This "brother" then asked, "Well when do you think you will be ready?" Tony said, "NEVER!"</span></span><br />
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<span xmlns=""><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14pt;">Tony joined the army after high school and served our country proudly. Although we lost track for a time when he was overseas and not living close to me, my love for Tony always remained strong. When his brother Andy came down with leukemia in 1998 of I cried because I knew that because he was a Jehovah's Witness and would not accept blood products, that death would be imminent. And he did die very quickly too, living only eight weeks or so following his diagnosis. I never dreamed that Tony would get the same disease.</span></span><br />
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<span xmlns=""><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14pt;">Tony lived for seven months after his diagnosis of leukemia. He fought the disease with chemotherapy as valiantly as he could. But by early March 2014 he fell victim to an infection that nearly killed him. That infection also left him so weak that he could no longer fight the leukemia. I am grateful that God gave him this extra time because it gave me the chance to go see him twice before he died last week. It gave me the chance to pray for him too and to reflect that every day is a gift from God. I am also grateful that when Tony was in the hospital I was reunited with two cousins I had lost track of because our mothers became estranged from one another many years ago and I never saw those cousins again. My cousin Ken had related that Tony's wish was for us all to be reunited. This is what I call a "God incidence", when God is working and you do not really expect Him in the situation. But these two cousins, Evelyn and Ken who are brother and sister are Christians and that filled me with such joy! So not only did I regain two cousins, but I gained two cousins who are also my brother and sister in Christ. I am reunited with them all because of Tony!</span></span><br />
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<span xmlns=""><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14pt;">He leaves behind a wife, Candy, daughter Cheyenne, daughter Marialisa, son Antonio, and seven grandchildren. He also leaves behind his father Jim, his brother David, and four nephews. He was predeceased by his brother Andy and his mother Lucy. There are also aunts, uncles, and many cousins who will also miss him very much.</span></span><br />
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<span xmlns=""><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14pt;">I am very glad that Tony had confirmed his belief and faith in Jesus Christ before he died. Although I will always miss Tony, I know that he is in heaven now, completely healed of his illness and at peace with the Lord. </span></span><br />
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<span xmlns=""><br /> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;">Above,
Tony in the hospice facility surrounded by cousins. The picture below is Tony and myself in 2009 at our Tucson High School class reunion. He was class of 1978 and I was class of 1974. We weren't in high school at the same time, but it was fun going to reunions together.</span><br />
<span xmlns=""><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14pt;"><br /> </span> </span>Cynthia Hamptonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07189284705272351076noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7215689043684702397.post-16197918750395241012014-07-05T16:05:00.001-07:002016-12-29T21:52:05.078-08:00Christianity Created to “Control” People?<span xmlns=""></span><br />
<span xmlns=""><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14pt;">On my Facebook page recently, I had posted a video about the high control practices found in the Watchtower Organization. The video showed how the person trying to do the outreach to Jehovah's Witnesses was totally ignored as though he were not there. The host kept asking various Jehovah's Witnesses if they have "the truth" and they just refused to answer and did not acknowledge his presence. He was "invisible" to all the JWs who were there to attend their convention at the Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego. Many of us former Jehovah's Witnesses know very well the shunning practices used by the Watchtower to control their people from talking to any of us who have the organization. The video can be found here:</span></span><br />
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<span xmlns=""><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14pt;">Although some sects of Christianity can be considered very high control, in my experience all the denominations (six major evangelical denominations) that I have been associated with in the past 32 years do not practice high control procedures.</span></span><br />
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<span xmlns=""><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14pt;">A responder to my Facebook post who has never been a Jehovah's Witness and is not a Christian made the claim that ALL organized religion is controlling. She went on to say:</span></span><br />
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<span xmlns=""><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14pt;"><em>I have studied religion for years. All organized religions of today sprang from nature based religions where women were the priestesses and all creatures were respected. Then along came the Crusades when men destroyed 3000 years of women's "history" slaughtering the priestesses and their followers. Christianity Judaism and the religion of Islam all were invented to control people and create a hierarchy of power. 90% of people who believe themselves to be religious know nothing about the origins of their religions or the blood that has been spilled and is still being spilled to protect the money and power that came from these religions.</em></span></span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14pt;">My, my, that is quite a claim! She provided no citations and no substantiation for her claim. Come on now, women were "priestesses" for 3000 years of prehistoric history before men came along in the crusades that destroyed their history and culture? I find absolutely no evidence that remotely substantiates her claims. I searched through various scholarly journals I could find through the University of Phoenix Library and could find nothing. Sounds like one WHOPPER of a conspiracy theory to me.</span><br />
<span xmlns=""><br /><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14pt;">I consulted with Marcia Montenegro and asked if she had ever heard of anything like this since she specializes in refuting New Age philosophies. Marcia confirmed that these theories, which are present in Wiccan and feminist circles have been debunked in academia. As a former new ager and now a Christian for many years, she works in full time ministry to educate people about the dangers of the New Age and Occultic practices. She went on to say, </span><em style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt;">"This theory about an original nature loving culture with priestesses and being in a universally female dominated, sprang mainly from feminist spirituality in Wicca and New Age Circles."</em></span><br />
<span xmlns=""><br /><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14pt;">My friend Nick Peters, made this response to my Facebook friend who made these outrageous claims. He gave me permission to quote him here from his original Facebook post responding to her. </span></span><br />
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<span xmlns=""><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14pt;"><em>Religions created to control? Yep. Because Christianity did everything right to control people!</em></span></span><br />
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<span xmlns=""><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14pt;"><em>Let's see. Create a shameful Messiah who suffered the most shameful death of the time and who if you were a Jew, identifying with him would be kin to being a blasphemer to YHWH and if you were a Gentile, would mean you were identifying with a traitor to Caesar? Check.</em></span></span><br />
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<span xmlns=""><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14pt;"><em>Create a religion that would not accept worship of other gods when you were in a culture where you worshiped the gods of the people around you lest you invoked their wrath and judgment? Refusing to worship them would mark you out as deviant and lead to shaming and persecution. </em></span></span><br />
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<span xmlns=""><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14pt;"><em>Create a religion with a Messiah figure who came from a people of no reputation and a city of no reputation who never traveled, went to war, ran for political office, wrote a book, established a philosophy, etc. </em></span></span><br />
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<span xmlns=""><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14pt;"><em>Create a religion that was seen as new when instead, it was the traditional systems of the day that were honored and the new was looked at with suspicion. (See for instance Robert Wilken's "The Christians as the Romans Saw Them.)</em></span></span><br />
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<span xmlns=""><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14pt;"><em>Create a system where resurrection of the body was emphasized when in reality, the body was seen as a prison to escape from and so returning to the body would be like going back into prison. (Crossan and Reed "In Search of Paul.")</em></span></span><br />
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<span xmlns=""><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14pt;"><em>Create a religion with a strict ethical code and no advantages in this lifetime but rather all waiting for the next?</em></span></span><br />
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<span xmlns=""><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14pt;"><em>And that's just a start and this can be found in scholars like Pilch, Malina, Neyrey, Richards, DeSilva, Jeffers, Witherington, etc. </em></span></span><br />
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<span xmlns=""><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14pt;"><em>You're right on one thing. Many people don't know the origins of their religious beliefs because they don't read real scholars.</em></span></span><br />
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<span xmlns=""><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14pt;"><em>Even worse, many people fool themselves into thinking that they know because they take comparative religion courses at a university.</em></span></span><br />
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<span xmlns=""><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14pt;">The moral of this story is that even though we who have been Jehovah's Witnesses once believed what was false in the Watchtower, we need to search for real truth and not fall for another lie or cleverly told story. This whole story given to me by my Facebook friend is nothing but a myth, a fairy tale with no substantiation. I know that many Ex Jehovah's Witnesses have followed after New Age philosophies because they have eschewed religion, specifically Christianity, in any form, saying they don't want to be "controlled". They keep looking and looking for something to fulfill them and have not found complete freedom because they do not know what freedom in Christ means.</span></span><br />
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<span xmlns=""><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14pt;">Some actually believe that Christianity is a faith for the ignorant and the uninformed. They see us as a bunch of idiots who are unenlightened and practice "blind faith." They have no idea what Christian scholarship is and the extent of research within Christian scholarship in many universities and seminaries. I do not know whether my friend has ever heard of or read any of C.S. Lewis's works. There are so many wonderful Christian scholars out there with impeccable credentials from excellent universities and seminaries. A few off the top of my head would be William Lane Craig (Talbot School of Theology and Houston Baptist University), John Lennox (Oxford University), and Daniel B. Wallace (Dallas Theological Seminary). </span></span><br />
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<span xmlns=""><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14pt;">So my Ex JW friends, keep reading and keep researching. Read the Bible, but if you need help, look up scholarly information on Biblical subjects. Most of all, really consider all of the evidence concerning the truth of scripture and Christianity. The more you research the real evidence, the more the real truth will shine.</span></span><br />
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<span xmlns=""><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14pt;">Nick's blog can be found at: <a href="http://deeperwaters.wordpress.com/">http://deeperwaters.wordpress.com/</a><br /> </span></span><br />
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<span xmlns=""><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14pt;">Marcia's website and information is at: <a href="http://christiananswersforthenewage.org/AboutCANA_Background.html">http://christiananswersforthenewage.org/AboutCANA_Background.html</a><br /> </span></span><br />
<span xmlns=""><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14pt;"><br /> </span> </span>Cynthia Hamptonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07189284705272351076noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7215689043684702397.post-66322618066961115822014-06-14T21:30:00.001-07:002016-12-29T21:50:17.823-08:00Watchtower Ladies at my Door<span xmlns=""></span><br />
<span xmlns=""><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 14pt;">Every now and then Jehovah's Witnesses show up at my door. Sometimes it can be years between their visits and other times only the Spanish speaking ones come to my door asking if anyone in the home speaks Spanish. I usually kid around and tell them I speak "Spanglish," does that count?</span></span><br />
<span xmlns=""><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 14pt;">Recently I had a day off from work so I didn't get around to taking my shower and getting ready for the day till mid-morning. I was nearly all dressed up when I heard the doorbell. As I was still up in my bedroom finishing dressing, I went to my intercom to find out who it was. </span></span><br />
<span xmlns=""><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 14pt;">Me: "Who's there?" </span></span><br />
<span xmlns=""><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 14pt;">Female Voice: "We're Jehovah's Witnesses and we just wanted to talk about the Bible with you."</span></span><br />
<span xmlns=""><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 14pt;">Me: "Hold on a minute, I'll be right down."</span></span><br />
<span xmlns=""><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 14pt;">Female Voice: "Ok."</span></span><br />
<span xmlns=""><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 14pt;">I went downstairs to my living room and opened the front door and said to the two ladies standing there, "Come on in. I don't like to stand here with the door open because I don't want my cats going outside." So they both came in and I invited them to sit down.</span></span><br />
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<span xmlns=""><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 14pt;">JW lady #1 begins her talking points regarding their book, <em>What Does the Bible Really Teach</em>? She explained how they reference all their teaching with a Bible verse. I smiled at her and told her that I was quite aware of what Bible teaches. I pointed to my study Bible on the coffee table and told the ladies that this Bible is not the only one in the house. I went on to explain how important it is that people really read their Bibles and understand it in context. Taking my cue from Stand to Reason's Greg Koukl, I further explained that my rule was, "Never read just one verse." Explaining how easy it is just to take a verse or two out of scripture and try to build a teaching around it to believe in can be very dangerous. One example would be the passage and verse at Matthew 27:5 where Judas went and hanged himself. Someone could build a case about committing suicide as a good thing when one commits a grievous sin against God. These ladies just looked at me and agreed but looked puzzled. I believe that deep down inside, they know that the Watchtower nearly always uses just one verse to build an idea that they base all their theology on. When examining their theology, one will find in most cases that nearly every verse they cite to prove their point actually does not mean what they think it means when read in context. </span></span><br />
<span xmlns=""><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 14pt;">An example of where the Watchtower applies this out of context reading is in Revelation 7:1-11. In this chapter, the Watchtower says that the 144,000 is in heaven but the great crowd is on Earth. On further examination of this passage it actually appears that the 144,000 is on earth and the great crowd is in heaven. First the angels are told not to damage anything on Earth until the 144,000 from every tribe of Israel had been sealed. If the 144,000 were already in heaven, this verse would not make any sense if they were already in heaven. Reading further on, verse 9 begins with the "Great Crowd" (whom the Watchtower says remain on earth) seem to be in heaven! They have the whole thing topsy turvy because they read all their scripture out of context!</span></span><br />
<span xmlns=""><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 14pt;">As I tried to continue to try to talk about the Bible to these ladies who had by this time, were sitting on my living room couch, one of them just kept whipping out the <em>What Does the Bible Really Teach</em> book. As she had the book open to the table of contents, she tried to tell me that the only way to really understand the Bible was to read this book and understand what is written in the chapters. I told her that I had already read the Bible from cover to cover a couple of times and was in the process of going through it again this time teaching a lady from my church whom I conduct a personal Bible study with.</span></span><br />
<span xmlns=""><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 14pt;">Then the two ladies got up and said they had to leave. I asked them why because I thought they had come over to discuss the Bible with me. Their answer: "We can tell you already know a lot about the Bible. We are looking for people who don't know anything about the Bible."</span></span><br />
<span xmlns=""><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 14pt;">Well there you have it. Jehovah's Witnesses are not interested in just going door to door and finding anyone to discuss the Bible with. They are seeking only those with Bible ignorance so that they can teach them a false gospel.</span></span>Cynthia Hamptonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07189284705272351076noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7215689043684702397.post-41754254800485925112014-03-16T22:30:00.002-07:002016-12-29T21:38:37.119-08:00Dealing with Shunning<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">Shunning
is a technique that the Watchtower uses not only to control their current
members, but their former members as well. The Watchtower uses very effective methods
of teaching their followers that former members (also called apostates,
especially if the former member has joined a Christian church) are persons to be avoided and feared. When a Jehovah’s
Witness is disfellowshipped, disassociated, or just walks away from the
organization, he or she will be shunned. Family and friends are not only
encouraged to shun the former member, but they are required to take steps to no
speak to the former member and not even say hello to the person. The Watchtower
teaches their members to practice rudeness to their former members. As someone
who has experienced shunning very recently, here are some examples from my own
family: While visiting a non-JW cousin in the hospital, the older brother of
the non JW took it upon himself to turn his head the other way if I were
nearby. If I said, “hello”, he just ignored me as though he did not hear me.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">Another
JW family member has literally turned her back toward me so she would not have
to look at me. My own brother just reacts as though I am invisible. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">My
JW family members have behaved that way since I gave my life to Jesus Christ
and have Jesus as my savior instead of accepting the Watchtower as my savior. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">I
believe that the Watchtower organization teaches their members shun their
former members because they do not want the truth about their organization
being told to by other family members who may have stumbled upon the real
history and truth about the Watchtower organization. So the Watchtower builds
fear and phobias against the former members. It is a “separate and destroy”
type of mentality. Some examples are:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="background: white; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">"What if we
have a relative or a close friend who is disfellowshipped? Now our loyalty is
on the line, not to that person, but to God. Jehovah is watching us to see
whether we will abide by his command not to have contact with</span></i><span class="apple-converted-space"><i><span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;"> </span></i></span><i><span style="background: white; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">anyone</span></i><span class="apple-converted-space"><i><span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;"> </span></i></span><i><span style="background: white; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">who is disfellowshipped.—Read 1 Corinthians 5:11-13.</span></i><span class="apple-converted-space"><i><span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;"> </span></i></span><i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;"><br />
<br />
<span style="background: white;">Consider just one
example of the good that can come when a family loyally upholds Jehovah’s
decree not to associate with disfellowshipped relatives. A young man had been
disfellowshipped for over ten years, during which time his father, mother, and
four brothers “quit mixing in company” with him. At times, he tried to involve
himself in their activities, but to their credit, each member of the family was
steadfast in not having any contact with him. After he was reinstated, he said
that he always missed the association with his family, especially at night when
he was alone. But, he admitted, had the family associated with him even a
little, that small dose would have satisfied him. However, because he did not
receive even the slightest communication from any of his family, the burning
desire to be with them became one motivating factor in his restoring his
relationship with Jehovah."</span></span></i><span class="apple-converted-space"><i><span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;"> </span></i></span><i><span style="background: white; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">Watchtower</span></i><span class="apple-converted-space"><i><span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;"> </span></i></span><i><span style="background: white; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">2012 Apr 15 p.12</span><o:p></o:p></i></div>
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<i><span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">"Really,
what your beloved family member needs to see is your resolute stance to put
Jehovah above everything else - including the family bond. … Do not look for
excuses to associate with a disfellowshipped family member, for example,
through e-mail."<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span>Watchtower<span class="apple-converted-space"> 2013 Jan 15 p.16</span><o:p></o:p></i></div>
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<i><span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">"By
cutting off contact with the disfellowshipped or disassociated one, you are
showing that you hate the attitudes and actions that led to that outcome.
However, you are also showing that you love the wrongdoer enough to do what is
best for him or her. Your loyalty to Jehovah may increase the likelihood that
the disciplined one will repent and return to Jehovah."<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span>Watchtower<span class="apple-converted-space"> 2011 Feb 15 p.32</span><o:p></o:p></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">When
it comes right down to it, the Watchtower teaches their followers to hold a
grudge against the former member. This grudge can last many years, even
forever. I have been out of the Watchtower since 1980 and became an Evangelical
Christian in 1982. It has been over 34 years since I left the Watchtower and 32
years since becoming a Christian. They do not forgive me because they consider
it a sin to leave them. I have to
understand that they may never forgive me as long as they remain in the
Watchtower. Although Jehovah’s Witnesses believe that they are ‘in the truth”
and that their religious organization is the only one that teaches the truth
from the Bible, apparently they do not understand the concept of love and
forgiveness from scripture.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">For if you forgive men when they sin against
you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not
forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.</span> (Matt. 6:14-15
NIV)<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">And when you stand praying, if you hold
anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive
you your sins.” (Mark 11:25 NIV)</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">The Lord our God is merciful and forgiving,
even though we have rebelled against him; (Daniel 9:9 NIV)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">Christians
reading this need to realize how much a former Jehovah’s Witness needs love and
acceptance. Many are very afraid of Evangelical Christianity because they have been
told stories about demons being in the church and paganism. When I was a JW, we
were told that anyone who is a Pentecostal Christian is demon possessed if they
speak in tongues. Because Jehovah’s Witnesses are told so many negative stories
about the Christian church, it is very difficult to get them to come to church
with you because of the fear that is instilled in them. They have been told
that attending church services will make them an “apostate”. In the mind of the
former JW, this is the last thing they want to have happen to them. I once had
a lady come to my support group who admitted to promiscuous relationships,
drugs, and alcohol. In her mind, none of this was as bad as becoming an “apostate.”
She was very terrified of becoming an apostate.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">Those
of you who have never been in the Watchtower can learn to minister to these
former members if you meet them. If you meet someone who is a former Watchtower
follower, get to know them and bring them the love of Jesus Christ. Pray for
them and pray for their mental and spiritual healing. Many of them are hurt and
quite damaged from all the abuse they have suffered as the result of shunning
and losing all of their friends and family. Do not preach at them and give them
sermons. Just bring the love of Jesus Christ to them and let them know that
Jesus truly loves them despite what the Watchtower has told them. Many of them
even believe that they are deserving of this abusive shunning! Some scripture
you may want to share with a former JW who does not know Jesus:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for
I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with
my righteous right hand. (Isa. 41:10 ESV)</span> <o:p></o:p><br />
<br /></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">For God so loved the world, that he gave his only
Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16 ESV)</span> <o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?
Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or
danger, or sword? As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all the
day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.” No, in all these things
we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that
neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to
come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will
be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Rom. 8:35-39 ESV)</span> <o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">For</span><span class="apple-converted-space" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, (Eph. 2:8 ESV)</span></div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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</div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">It
took me awhile to understand all this once I realized the Watchtower is a false
prophet and teaches false doctrines concerning the Bible. I had to get all the
junk out my mind and all the triggers that caused fear and phobia. If you are
helping a former JW go through this process, take it slowly. It took me a long
time to realize that God really does love me and always has! There are many
websites that give a lot of helpful information on debunking Watchtower
doctrines and point out their false prophecies. A </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">few examples are:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;"><a href="http://freeminds.org/doctrine/doctrine.htm">Freeminds</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;"><a href="http://www.kevinquick.com/kkministries/books/reasoning/">Reasoning with
Jehovah’s Witnesses</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;"><a href="http://www.towerwatch.com/">Tower Watch</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;"><a href="http://4jehovah.org/">4Jehovah</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">There
are also in person support groups for former Jehovah’s Witnesses such as the
one I run. It is very cathartic for the former JW to meet others like themselves
so that they do not feel so alone. Help them to find such a group if they are
available. There are many online groups too, but I believe it is much better to
go to one meet in person, such as my monthly meetup group. Contact me if you
are interested in this support group for yourself or someone you know.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Cynthia Hamptonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07189284705272351076noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7215689043684702397.post-82366841961851787252014-02-15T18:43:00.000-08:002017-08-09T22:04:45.995-07:00How to Recover from Leaving the Watchtower<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.8pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 2;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">There are four main ways
that people leave the Watchtower organization. They are the “fade aways”, the “disfellowshipped”,
those who leave because they are “burned out”, and those who leave because they
have stumbled upon false doctrines that the Watchtower teaches.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Fading
Away<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Those who just fade away
gradually stop attending meetings. They may just start off not attending field
service and bring their hours down to one hour per month and then finally do
not turn in time at all. Their meeting attendance will gradually wane and the
fader will maybe attend a Sunday morning public talk only. They fade so
gradually that people in the Kingdom Hall may not even notice at first, so no
one says anything. Many times the “fader” will purposely change congregations
to another Kingdom Hall and just tell everyone that they have moved. If one is
planning an exit out of the Watchtower, this is probably one of the best ways
to do it because it is least likely to cause an alert with many people. The
downside to this is that if the person is still under mind control and still
believes what the Watchtower teaches, the person can may still lead a fear
filled life with depression. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Sometimes depression leads to destructive tendencies
because in the forefront of their minds, they believe that they could never
measure up to the Watchtower’s requirements so they might as well live it up
any which way. Sometimes this leads to the self-fulfilling prophecy that the
Watchtower teaches: All those who leave will turn to drugs, alcohol, and promiscuity.
I believe that the only reason that comes true is because the former Watchtower
follower is riddled with depression and phobias caused by the Watchtower’s mind
control techniques. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Disfellowshipped/Excommunicated<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Disfellowshipped members
are literally kicked out of the Watchtower against their will. The
disfellowshipped members are often kicked out for failing to live up to the
Watchtower’s moral standards with no forgiveness. Sometimes an “errant” member
is kicked out for questioning the Watchtower doctrine or questioning the elders’
authority. Elders meet with the errant member and whether or not the member is
repentant, impose punishment. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Disfellowshipping involves shunning the errant
member and no other member, including family, is allowed to speak to the
disfellowshipped. Many times the disfellowshipped member feels grief and guilt
which again may lead to destructive behavior. Surprisingly, they are still
loyal to the Watchtower’s beliefs and the other members even though they are
rejected. Many times, when speaking to disfellowshipped members, they will
still say that they believe that the Watchtower is the only religion that
teaches “the truth.” Many times the disfellowshipped believe that they got what
they deserved and suffer immensely.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.8pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 2;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.8pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 2;">
<i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Burning
Out<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.8pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 2;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.8pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 2;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">People who are burned out
from the Watchtower faith often feel very spiritually, emotionally, and
mentally abused. They feel confused and often cannot trust anyone because of
the abuse. Many women leaving the Watchtower faith have been physically abused
by their husbands. Men in the Watchtower are told that since they are the “head
of the house” that they have full authority over their wives. This mentality
leads men to believe that abusing one’s wife is permissible. Having personally
experienced that disaster, </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.8pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 2;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">I can attest to the fact that Watchtower elders turn
a blind eye to spousal abuse. When I approached the elders in 1975 to report
that my then husband was physically abusing me, they told me that they could
not interfere because this was my family problem and told me that I must be
nagging too much. The following year the elders finally disfellowshipped him
for smoking.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.8pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 2;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">When those who leave are so
burned out from this cult, many times they suffer post-traumatic stress syndrome.
These people are in dire need of counseling and therapy to overcome their
fears, confusion and traumas.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.8pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 2;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.8pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 2;">
<i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Finding
Out<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.8pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 2;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Those people who stumble
upon the fact that what they have been taught all these years is not the truth
may experience anger about the situation. But even though they are angry about
having been lied to for so many years, finding out that the Watchtower is a lie
is more conducive to healthy leaving. When a person realizes that the
Watchtower system is nothing but lies and false prophecies designed to control
the members, one bypasses the guilt, grief, and shame along the way. It may
take several years to adjust to normal living and having a changed attitude
toward life and the real world. Education, both secular and religious, making
new friends, and finding a new environment to grow and establish new
relationships are all very helpful. Healing does not come overnight and it
takes perseverance to forge ahead with new and healthy relationships. A support
group of former members is usually a help if one can find a group like this. If
you cannot find an in person group, there are many online support groups
available, including Facebook. Having the support of those who have “been there
and done that” is an exceptional help. The more one learns, the faster one
heals from the trauma of having lived through Watchtower propaganda.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.8pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 2;">
<i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Leaving:
Stage One<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.8pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 2;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Leaving a cult is a complicated
process that sometimes take years to resolve. In stage one, the cult member
realizes that something is wrong. It may be just a gut feeling and cannot be
explained. In my own personal case, I felt that there was something wrong with
this picture, but I could not tell what exactly was wrong. I believe that
because in the cult situation, one’s conscience is bypassed because of fear;
however, if you allow your conscience to function normally, a person will
realize that something is wrong with this organization even if you are not able
to verbalize why.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.8pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 2;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.8pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 2;">
<i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Leaving:
Stage Two<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.8pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 2;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Stage two is when the cult
member truly begins to experience some real doubts, but tries to suppress those
doubt. Sometimes with the doubt they feel real guilt because of the doubt. Of
course the Watchtower keeps telling them that it is wrong to have any kind of
doubt or question anything. It becomes an endless loop in the person’s mind. They
may try to delve deeper into the cult by ignoring their feelings. But the
feelings and their conscience continue to bother them. One problem is that at
this state, they do not even know what questions to ask and have no clue that
there is really something wrong with the group’s history or doctrines.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.8pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 2;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.8pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 2;">
<i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Leaving:
Stage Three<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.8pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 2;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Sometimes the person will
give lip service to the group but behaves totally differently and often leads a
double life leading to more guilt and the resolve to try to get it right. But
the more guilt and resolve in the person, the more stress it causes to their
emotional state.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.8pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 2;">
<i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.8pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 2;">
<i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Leaving:
Stage Four<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.8pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 2;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.8pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 2;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">This is the stage when the
person may finally notice some discrepancies between what the organization
teaches and what scripture actually says. The Watchtower always references
scripture to prove their points, but when you actually examine the scripture in
context, the passage never means what the Watchtower says it means. During this
time, one may also notice problems or even scandals that occur, but the same
person may tell themselves that God will take care of the problem or the old “Wait
on Jehovah” tired out saying. Well of course people are imperfect and God is
perfect; however, scandals such as child molestation and sexual abuse should be
a huge red flag in the eyes of the true believers.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.8pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 2;">
<i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.8pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 2;">
<i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Leaving:
Stage Five<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.8pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 2;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.8pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 2;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">If the person finds out the
history of the Watchtower organization and begins to wonder why he or she was
lied to regarding the groups founding, he or she will finally begin an
investigation. Because the person may already know that it is socially
unacceptable to voice their doubts to the group, he or she will keep things
very quiet. Having questions or doubts in front of others could cause one to
become “marked” in the Watchtower organization. Not as bad as being
disfellowshipped, but people will avoid associating with a “marked” person and
not trust them.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.8pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 2;">
<i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.8pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 2;">
<i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Leaving:
Stage Six<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.8pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 2;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.8pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 2;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">The person in this stage
may experience feelings of denial and decide to ignore all warning signs.
Persons in this stage may feel angry with anyone who has information that
exposes the organizations lies and deceits. They may feel hostility toward any
information concerning the false information the organization has taught.
Again, fear keeps the person from actually learning more because all this
information very much upsets the apple cart so to speak.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.8pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 2;">
<i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.8pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 2;">
<i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Leaving:
Stage Seven<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.8pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 2;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.8pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 2;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">This is almost a dangerous
place to stay too long. It is the stage where one do not know exactly what to
think. One tries to figure out things on his or her own and distrusts friends,
family, or anyone else. They do not trust traditional Christianity because, after
all, they have had it drilled into their heads over and over again how all
other churches are evil, part of Babylon the Great. They do not trust the
information exposing the group. They may not even trust scripture and may look
for reasons to believe that the Bible is not true. Much of the stress from this
stage can lead to much anxiety, illnesses, nightmares and other emotional
problems. At this point some believe that if they stay, they can help bring about
change to the organization. They will try to “reason” with the elders and write
letters to the Watchtower organization. At last, they become dumbfounded at the
inability of their leaders to understand anything they are saying. Staying in
the organization at this point where perhaps elders were able to smooth over
the situation can lead to a very angry member.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.8pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 2;">
<i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.8pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 2;">
<i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Leaving:
Stage Eight<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.8pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 2;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.8pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 2;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">In this stage, the actual
decision to leave the group is made. Persons in this stage may feel very angry
with God and decide to become agnostic or atheist. After all, their concept of
God is tied up with the Watchtower version. They may try to go on their own
spiritual search or leave that part of their lives on the back burner for the
time being. Some people go back and forth to the organization. They will leave,
then return, only to leave again.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.8pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 2;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.8pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 2;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">If these people are honest
with themselves and do a real investigation into the Watchtower organization
without fear or hindrance, they can find out the truth about the Watchtower’s
history and how much they have actually lied to them. With my own experience, I
had already been disassociated for over two years when someone pointed out to
me that the Watchtower taught that Jesus was the mediator only for the 144,000 “anointed”
Jehovah’s Witnesses. Since I already knew what the scripture said about Jesus
being our mediator, I knew at that point the Watchtower was truly wrong.
Another point in my own research was when I found out about <a href="http://www.jwfacts.com/watchtower/bethsarim.php">Beth Sarim</a>. When I
found out that the Watchtower built a home in San Diego to house Abraham,
Isaac, Jacob, and other Old Testament heroes in 1929 truly was the icing on the
cake for me. From then on, I really read the Bible in context and studied as
much theology and church history as I could until I was satisfied with my
research. When I told my father that I was never going back to the Watchtower
and that I had found out what Jesus is really all about, he told my mother and
that was the time my mother rejected me and told me I was no longer welcome at
their </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 16.8pt;">home.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.8pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 2;">
<i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.8pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 2;">
<i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Leaving:
Stage Nine<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.8pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 2;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Time for extreme make-over
in this stage! The former Watchtower follower may get rid of all their old
Watchtower literature, their book bags and briefcases, and even the clothes
they used to wear to the Kingdom Hall. They want to rid themselves of anything
that was associated with their old self-concept, since their self-concept and
identity was all tied up with the group’s identity. New interests and hobbies
take over. Some people do charity work or join organizations to help animals.
Sometimes adjusting to the new identity can be stressful because their minds
still want to go to the same place of “comfort”, even though it truly was not comfortable.
Almost like mending a broken bone with a cast, there is still a healing process
going on. However, this is a happy state, where the world begins to look new
and beautiful. At this time, a person may find a good church to fellowship with
spiritually and find further happiness. This is the place of spiritual rebirth
and renewal.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.8pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 2;">
<i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.8pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 2;">
<i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Leaving:
Stage Ten<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.8pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 2;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.8pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 2;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">This is the stage where one
feels sorry for the group members they left behind. When one can take pity on
those whom they have left behind and rejoice in their new lives, they have
truly experienced renewal and healing. In this stage many feel a need to talk
about their experiences and spend time with ex members of the Watchtower just
to solidify their journey and their feelings. Former cult members, whether they
be ex members of the Watchtower, Mormonism, or other cults go through a similar
process. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.8pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 2;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.8pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 2;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Sometimes comparing notes together can help one another along in their
spiritual healing. Even though I had come to know Christ as my savior by this
point, I still had much healing to do. Sometimes anger against family members
subsists within you and that was something I still work on. But as time goes on
I have been able to get these things under control and channel my anger into
constructive uses to help others to understand that they too can successfully
leave the Watchtower and still have a relationship with God.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.8pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 2;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.8pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 2;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">*This essay is adapted from
a previous articles written by the late Jan Groenveld: <a href="http://caic.org.au/zleaving.htm">http://caic.org.au/zleaving.htm</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
Cynthia Hamptonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07189284705272351076noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7215689043684702397.post-4012115809058128512014-02-03T20:18:00.001-08:002016-12-29T21:40:51.140-08:00The Truth about Birthday Celebrations<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">A
couple weeks ago, an assistant producer from the Nickelodeon kid’s show
“NickMom”, contacted me via e-mail. She was working on the premise of covering
how different people in differing religious cultures celebrate birthdays. In the
case of Jehovah’s Witnesses, who are known for <i>not</i> celebrating, she was interested in meeting families who had
come out of the Watchtower but now celebrate birthdays. In reflecting on my own
experience coming out of the Watchtower and not celebrating, I had begun to
think about how I felt not celebrating my birthday and not celebrating my
firstborn son’s birthday for the first three years of his life.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">I
remember when my mother began to study with the Jehovah’s Witnesses, the last
birthday party I celebrated was my 13<sup>th</sup> birthday. I remember having
kids from my school over to my house and having a really good time. I was in
the 7<sup>th</sup> grade and becoming a teenager was a big thing for me. I
remember playing music on the stereo and dancing. It was a very normal time and
for normal kids, a rite of passage. Little did I know that more than 10 years
would pass before I would celebrate another birthday. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">Jehovah’s
Witnesses base their beliefs off of the fact that only two birthdays are
directly referenced in the Bible. The first one from Genesis 40:20-22.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="text"><i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">Thus it came about on
the third day,</span></i></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> </span></i></span><span class="text"><b><i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">which
was</span></i></b></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><b><i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> </span></i></b></span><span class="text"><b><i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">Pharaoh’s birthday,</span></i></b></span><span class="text"><i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> that he
made a feast for all his servants;</span></i></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> </span></i></span><span class="text"><i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">and he lifted up the head of the chief cupbearer
and the head of the chief baker among his servants.</span></i></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> </span></i></span><span class="text"><i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">He restored the chief cupbearer to his</span></i></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> </span></i></span><span class="text"><i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">office, and</span></i></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> </span></i></span><span class="text"><i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">he put the cup into Pharaoh’s</span></i></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> </span></i></span><span class="text"><i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">hand;<b><sup> </sup></b><b>but</b></span></i></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><b><i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> </span></i></b></span><span class="text"><b><i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">he hanged the chief baker</span></i></b></span><span class="text"><i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">, just as
Joseph had interpreted to them.</span></i></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> </span></i></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">And
the second example from the New Testament in the book of Matthew 14:6-12.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span class="text"><b><i><sup><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> </span></sup></i></b></span><span class="text"><i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">But when <b>Herod’s birthday came</b>, the daughter of</span></i></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> </span></i></span><span class="text"><i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">Herodias danced</span></i></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> </span></i></span><span class="text"><i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">before</span></i></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> </span></i></span><span class="text"><i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">them</span></i></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> </span></i></span><span class="text"><i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">and pleased</span></i></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> </span></i></span><span class="text"><i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">Herod,</span></i></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> </span></i></span><span class="text"><i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">so</span></i></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> </span></i></span><span class="text"><i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">much</span></i></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> </span></i></span><span class="text"><i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">that he
promised with an oath to give her whatever she asked.</span></i></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> </span></i></span><span class="text"><i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">Having been prompted by her mother, she said,
“Give me here on a platter the head of John the Baptist.”</span></i></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> </span></i></span><span class="text"><i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">Although he was grieved, the king commanded</span></i></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> </span></i></span><span class="text"><i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">it</span></i></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> </span></i></span><span class="text"><i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">to be given
because of his oaths, and because of</span></i></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> </span></i></span><span class="text"><i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">his dinner guests. <b><sup> </sup></b><b>He sent and had John beheaded in the prison</b>.</span></i></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> </span></i></span><span class="text"><b><i><sup><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> </span></sup></i></b></span><span class="text"><i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">And his
head was brought on a platter and given to the girl, and she brought it to her
mother.</span></i></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> </span></i></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">By
reading the above passages, one can ascertain that scripture is referencing Pharaoh’s
birthday and Herod’s birthday as only a reference point as to mark the date and
nothing else. As I have researched birthday celebrations, I have not found a
history of murder taking place on birthday celebrations as way to “celebrate.”
Yet the Watchtower insists that only pagans celebrate birthdays and whenever
birthdays were celebrated, there was always a hanging or beheading! The result
is a fear of birthdays along with a fear of celebration. Parents are told not
to have a cake for their children’s birthdays and should not give them gifts
because after all “Jehovah” would be very displeased with those actions.
Jehovah’s Witness children are not allowed to attend birthday parties of their classmates
or neighbors either with stern warnings from their parents.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">The
Watchtower removes the joy of life from their followers. Birthdays are one way
of honoring a person’s life and showing that you care about someone, whether it
be your child, your spouse, or a close friend. Birthday celebrations make the
recipient feel good and happy to have the people in his or her life honoring
that day. The Watchtower has inserted a needless commandment of “Thou shalt not
celebrate a birthday” into their doctrine without any kind of support. Nowhere
in scripture is there any kind of a hint that birthday celebrations are evil.
The only evil is coming from the Watchtower itself by promoting to their
followers that they should not show love to each other by recognizing birthdays
and giving gifts to one another. My mother used to tell the non JW relatives
that we gave gifts year round. When I look back, I don’t think I ever received a
gift from my mother after my 13<sup>th</sup> birthday. There were no more
celebrations, no more birthday parties, and life became a dull monotony of
Watchtower studies.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">Today
is kind of a birthday in a way for me because on this day, February 3, 1980, I
left the Watchtower organization and became free of their control. I am very
thankful that I left when I did and did not raise my son to become a Jehovah’s
Witness. That same year, my then only son turned four years old, I baked a
birthday cake for him for the first time, added candles and sang “Happy
Birthday to you.” There was no turning back for me. I had left my family and many
friends in the Watchtower, but my freedom and independent thinking to make my
own free will decisions was more important. Two years later, I accepted Jesus
Christ as my Savior and thank God every day for that new birth. The Lord has
guided me through and even when life was difficult because of family shunning
me, I knew that I had God to love me. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">I
believe that God wants us to celebrate our lives and our children’s lives who
are gifts to us. So if you are a former Jehovah’s Witness or even a current
Jehovah’s Witness, birthday celebrating is nothing to fear. Just celebrate your
child’s life and thank God for all His good gifts!</span></div>
Cynthia Hamptonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07189284705272351076noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7215689043684702397.post-51384883284272142612014-01-11T20:43:00.000-08:002016-12-29T21:39:06.698-08:00A Relationship with God or an Organization?<div class="MsoNormal">
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">Jehovah’s Witnesses
believe that their organization is the only religious organization on earth
that teaches “the truth.” They believe they have the “truth and nothing but the
truth.” Truth as they see it can only be found in the pages of the Watchtower
publications. In their eyes, no other religious organization has truth. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">The reason why Jehovah’s Witnesses believe this
is because Watchtower has done a very good job at drilling that concept into
the mind of every one of their followers. Everything in life is about “the
truth.” When two Jehovah’s Witnesses meet for the first time, one will ask the
other, “So how long have you been ‘in the truth?’” While in the non-JW culture
that would be an unusual thing to say to a person one is meeting for the first
time. Among Jehovah’s Witnesses, it is a getting to know you question, very
much like saying, “How are you?” or “What do you do for a living?” The question
means to ask how long a person has been a member of the Watchtower
organization. Being a baptized member of Jehovah’s Witnesses makes one to be
said “in the truth.” Being “in the truth” is akin to being right with God.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">When dealing with Jehovah’s Witnesses at the
door, many times they will ask the householder what organization he or she
belongs to. What they really want to know is which organized religious
organization the householder belongs to. The householder may say that he or she
believes in Jesus Christ as their Savior and that all their sins are forgiven
through His death on the cross and resurrection to life. But that doesn’t
matter to the Jehovah’s Witness. They are more interested in telling you that
you are in the wrong organization than they are about talking about Jesus Christ.
They are truly not God’s (or Jehovah’s) Witnesses. They are witnesses for their
organization. Some people at our support group refer to them as Watchtower
Witnesses.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">Their perception is all about organizations and
how God (Jehovah) views religious organizations. In the Jehovah’s Witnesses
worldview, God (Jehovah) loves their organization and works exclusively through
their organization. The only way to have an approved relationship with God
(Jehovah) is through the confines of this Watchtower organization and what they
call the faithful and discreet slave (mentioned at Matt. 24:45) that turns out
to be the Watchtower governing body. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">The July 15, 2013 Watchtower states:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">“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, July 15, 2013 p. 20).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">"To receive everlasting life in the earthly Paradise <b>we must identify that organization</b> and
serve God as part of it." (Watchtower 1983 Feb 15 p.12) (bolding mine)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">The Watchtower Magazine instructs their
followers that their relationship with God depends on this “channel” that they
think is God’s organization. Jehovah’s Witnesses live and breathe the
organizational concept that theirs is the only God approved organization.
Leaving or getting kicked out of this organization is either certain death in
the future at Armageddon or a life consisting of losing one’s family and every
friend one ever made in the Watchtower organization. The Watchtower insists
that that God requires an organization, using 1 Corinthians 14:33 as their
proof text: “For God is a God not of disorder but of peace.” However the fact
that they are organized is not the problem. The problem lies with the
unquestioning authority their members must give their leaders.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">"The Bible shows that Jehovah has always guided his servants
in an organized way. The nation of Israel was called "Jehovah's
congregation." (Numbers 20:4; 1 Chronicles 28:8) If you were a true
worshiper of Jehovah back then, <b>you had
to be part of that congregation of worshipers, not separate from it.</b> Did
Jehovah ever use more than one organization during any period of time? In
Noah's day only Noah and those with him inside the ark had God's protection and
survived the floodwaters. (1 Peter 3:20) Also, in the first century there were
not two or more Christian organizations. God dealt with just the one. There was
just the "one Lord, one faith, one baptism." (Ephesians 4:5) Likewise
in our day Jesus Christ foretold that there would be only one source of
spiritual instruction for God's people." You Can Live Forever in Paradise
on Earth p.192 (bolding mine)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">The Watchtower manipulates the fact that Israel was
a nation into being an organization that God (Jehovah) set up for his purpose.
Granted, Israel was to bring the promised messiah through the seed of Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob and served as the genetic line for Jesus Christ coming into
the world. However, they were not an organization. They were not set up as a
highly organized group that manipulated the Israelites’ lives with orders to
follow it. Yes, they had the Law as given to Moses, but this Law was set up as
a means of forgiving or atoning for sins. They were a nation, an ethnic group
of Israelite monotheistic believers that God chose to use to help bring about
His purpose for salvation; one who would finally atone completely for the sins
of the world, not just Israel.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">One does not have a relationship with anyone
when there is an organization between yourself and another person. Jesus Christ
said that he alone was the way, the truth and the life. He plainly said that no
one could come to the Father except through him. (John 14:6) A relationship
with an organization is not a real relationship. Think about the organizations
that you know of, perhaps that you like to purchase items from. One example I
can think of is Amazon.com. Amazon has my credit card information, my address,
my phone number, and my e-mail address. And although I frequently go online and
purchase from them, I have never talked to one individual from that
organization. It is highly impersonal organization that I use to buy books,
videos, music, toiletries, and many other items. I receive a very impersonal
e-mail thanking me for my purchases. They seem to know me, but I don’t know any
of them personally. The business relationship I enjoy with Amazon.com is at
best, a superficial one. If at any time I would decide to not use Amazon.com,
they would not care. They would not even know. They would not threaten me and
tell me that I could not leave their website without penalties. They would not
be like the mafia who would threaten my livelihood and take away all my friends
and family. The Amazon.com organization is only an “it.” So too, the Watchtower
organization is only an “it.” It is much better to have a relationship with a
real person. This is the difference between an “it” and a “who.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">In a conversation with my Jehovah’s Witness
mother concerning whether the Watchtower organization was right or wrong, she
tearfully said one time, “But where would I go?” The Watchtower teaches that
every Christian denomination is wrong and part of Babylon the Great. In my
mother’s mind there is no place to go and be right with God, only the Watchtower
offers her such truth. She just does not quite get the fact that to be right
with God, it involves believing and accepting Jesus Christ as her savior. There
is no organization that can give salvation or forgiveness of sins. The
Watchtower just misuses the concept that becoming part of their organization is
required for salvation, just as God used Israel. A study of the book of Hebrews
would certainly put away this notion. Hebrews 8:13 says: In speaking of a new
covenant, he makes the first one obsolete. And what is becoming obsolete and
growing old is ready to vanish away. (ESV)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">After the death, burial, and resurrection of
Jesus Christ, there was no need for God to have an organization such as Israel
with its system of animal sacrifices. All believers would make up the church or
the bride of Christ. Believers have a relationship with their Savior, Jesus
Christ. As each person comes to Jesus Christ and realizes his or her need for
forgiveness as we have all sinned and fall short of God’s glory, we then have a
privileged relationship with Him and He loves us because He died for us. My
husband has always told me that he would die for me. If someone were trying to
shoot me, he would gladly step in front and take the bullet for me to make sure
that I lived. Someone who is willing to die for you truly does love you. Jesus
Christ as the divine Son of God took on death but was victorious in His
resurrection from the dead and His ascension to Heaven. If He loves us that
much to die for us a painful death we should be willing to thank Him and praise
Him for the greatest love that anyone has ever shown humankind. No organization
can offer what Jesus has to offer. No organization will die for you. Only Jesus
died to atone for our sins. That is the concept that Jehovah’s Witnesses do not
understand. No one can stand between ourselves and Jesus. Jesus has given us
love, mercy, forgiveness and grace. The Watchtower organization cannot even
come close to offering that. All they do is stand between their followers knowing
Jesus Christ. If an object is standing between you and Jesus, how will one ever
have a relationship with Jesus Christ?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">If you are someone who has been
thinking about leaving the Watchtower organization, please remember your
relationship with God is not through a “what” (organization). Your relationship
with God depends on “who” (Jesus Christ). It is about WHOM we should go to NOT
where or what we should belong to. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">So Jesus said to the Twelve, “Do you
want to go away as well?” 68 Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we
go? You have the words of eternal life, 69 and we have believed, and have come
to know, that you are the Holy One of God.” (John 6:67-69, ESV)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Cynthia Hamptonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07189284705272351076noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7215689043684702397.post-32914694308976979942014-01-05T18:13:00.000-08:002016-12-29T21:41:41.609-08:00Witnesses at My Door<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">By Cynthia Hampton</span><br />
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">(Originally written January
20, 2007 Christian ex-Jehovah’s Witnesses Yahoo Group)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">I had not seen Jehovah's Witnesses in
my neighborhood for the longest time. Usually what I see are the ones
from the Spanish speaking Kingdom Halls and they come to my door and just ask
if I speak Spanish, which I really can't carry on a very good conversation
in. So they always go away, since their first language is Spanish, and
mine is English. So needless to say, I was quite surprised to get a knock
on my door today and find some English speaking JWs!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">They seemed to be a nice
couple in their early to mid-30s or so. They introduced themselves as Kim
and Ken. Anyway, when I opened the door to them, since I don't have a
screen door, I invited them to come in. I told them I couldn't stand there
with the door open since I had pet cats and didn't want them to escape
outside. So they came in. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">Ken presented the
January 1st Watchtower and the January Awake magazines to me. He talked
about a time that there would be no sickness and death and asked me if I
believed in that. I replied, "Well of course, I believe in a time
that there will be no sickness or death, I believe in the promises from the
Bible that Jesus Christ gave to us, by the sacrifice of His own life.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">They looked at me with a
surprised look and said, "Do you read the Bible?" To which I
replied, "Well, I've been reading the Bible a very long time and I believe
in reading it chapter by chapter, verse by verse.” Ken replied that the
Watchtower magazine has scripture referenced so that one can understand the
Bible completely without having to read the whole thing because the Bible is so
hard to read. I told him that I had no trouble reading the Bible and that
I believed in reading it independently without the help of commentaries or
other types of books. I told him that I believed that it is very
dangerous to read scripture out of context because you can get an incorrect meaning
from just doing a "hodge-podge" of scripture. I told him that I was
involved in a Bible study where I was going over the book of John with another
lady who is a new Christian. We just sit there and read the text and
discuss what Jesus meant when he said various things about Himself.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">I began referring to
areas within the book of John concerning Jesus and every time He said "I
am". I asked if they knew that there are 7 I AMs in the book of John. Of
course they said no. I mentioned how Jesus said "I am the bread of
life." I asked them if they knew that Bethlehem means House of Bread.
(I knew that they didn't know that!) I talked about how Jesus spoke with
the Jews and how the Pharisees listened to him, ultimately becoming angry and
accusing Jesus of having a demon. In fact, those Pharisees were trying to
attribute the miracles of Jesus to Satan! I went on a little more
concerning things that Jesus said and did while He was on Earth.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">Notice how I was
handling them. I was getting them out of their own script so that I could
speak and have my say without them replying to me with their canned answers
from the Watchtower literature. I did not let them control the
conversation. I talked to them about things they probably never really stopped
to think about because it's not taught in their literature and at the Kingdom
Hall. Not once did they try to stop me and try to tell me about “Jehovah’s
Kingdom.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">It is very important if
you decide to speak to JWs that you get them off the set path and script that
they are on. I<b> did NOT discuss their doctrines with them</b>, because
they would have been back on the same old track. Instead, they were caught off
guard and off track. This is a good way of getting them to think for themselves
and not revert to their intended script.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">They really didn't know
what to say to me. They said that they never meet people in their door to
door work who know so much about the Bible. I told them that because most
people probably don't study the Bible the way my friends and I do. My
circle of friends are very well versed in the Bible and we read and
discuss it frequently. My husband had taught adult Sunday school for many
years and so we discuss the Bible very frequently at home. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">They asked what church I
attended and I told them the name of my church. Kim asked, "Is that
church in Downey?" (town where I live) And I told her yes, the
church has Bible studies after their main Sunday service and during the week. They
told me that they didn't know that churches had such Bible study. You
should have seen the looks on their faces. The Watchtower teaches their
followers that Christians are absolutely clueless so that was the reason for
their surprise. Also, it is sad to say, but many Christians just refuse to talk
with the Jehovah’s Witnesses at the door.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">So then they asked me if
I still wanted the magazines. I said, "Well only if they are free.”
So they said, well yes, they are free, and so he handed them over. I told
them to come again if they are in the neighborhood. I never did see them again
after that, but hopefully I gave them a lot to think about and perhaps someday
they will be back.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Cynthia Hamptonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07189284705272351076noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7215689043684702397.post-28315812047482639112014-01-04T12:53:00.000-08:002017-08-09T22:07:55.548-07:00<h2 style="background-color: white; border-bottom-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); border-bottom-style: solid; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 22px; font-weight: 300; line-height: 33px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<a href="http://ex-jw.com/coping-with-false-prophecy" rel="bookmark" style="background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border: 0px; color: #035877; font-size: 20px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px 0px 20px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 9px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" title="Permanent Link to Coping with False Prophecy">Coping with False Prophecy</a></h2>
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(I wrote this in January 2012 and it was published at <a href="http://ex-jw.com/coping-with-false-prophecy">ex-jw.com</a> originally.)</div>
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For several years I have been honored to coordinate and moderate a Jehovah’s Witness support group based in Los Angeles and San Jose, California. Our group stays in touch by using the <strong style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Yahoo!Groups</strong> email system and through our <a href="http://exjwslosangeles.org/" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; color: #006699; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">ExJWsLosAngeles.org</strong></a> website.</div>
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I recently received the following question from a non-member of the group submitted on an automated email form located on the <a href="http://exjwslosangeles.org/contact-us" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; color: #006699; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Contact Us</a> page of our website:</div>
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<strong style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">“How does one cope with the new information that Armageddon will not come in our lifetime using the information from scripture, ‘This generation will by no means pass away until all these things occur…’? My generation? Or [the generation of] those who saw the beginning of signs that Jesus gave us to watch for that will mark the end of this system? My hope is gone from my heart. I miss my God, but I am no longer sure he is there. How does one cope with that? Thanks for reading.”</strong><br />
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Here is my response to this person’s question:</div>
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<em style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">I’m glad you contacted me. I've been free of the Watchtower organization for about 30 years. I left when I was 24 years old and have never looked back. I am no longer afraid, because after heavy investigation and research I determined that the Watchtower is a false teacher. In that way, I was able to cope and search for God in a different way outside the clutches of the Watchtower organization. The more I researched and read, the better I felt, and the better I understood that I need not fear any longer.</em></div>
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<em style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">When I was in the organization we all believed that Armageddon would surely be here in 1975. But 1975 came and went and nothing happened. The same for the rest of the dates the Watchtower had set that proved to be false prophecies. That includes when the Watchtower built a mansion in San Diego [in the 1920s] naming it Beth Sarim (“House of Princes”) for the Old Testament prophets (Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, King David, etc.) to live in. According to the Watchtower, those Old Testament saints were to return in 1925. In 1921 Joseph Rutherford gave a speech referring to the “indisputable truth that millions now living will never die!”</em></div>
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<em style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Earlier last year the Watchtower made changes in their doctrine of “this generation.” Now that “generation” is a never-ending and overlapping generation. Time is against the Watchtower because time is always the enemy of the false prophet. (Please see this link:<a href="http://www.jwfacts.com/watchtower/generation.php" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; color: #006699; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" title="JW Facts Watchtower Generation">http://www.jwfacts.com/watchtower/generation.php</a>)</em></div>
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<em style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">I have always believed in God and continued to believe in God after leaving the Watchtower organization. One of the biggest problems with the Watchtower is that they seem to set themselves up in the place that Jesus Christ should be in. They have a two class system, making their “anointed” class the upper class, and the “great crowd” the class that must hang on to the anointed. Why have a Savior who has died for our sins if you have to hold on to an anointed class? This is totally unscriptural and there is nothing that Jesus ever said that would lead anyone to believe that there would be a two class system – unless you have someone like the Watchtower organization reinterpreting the Bible for you. They have manipulated the minds of rank and file Jehovah’s Witnesses, making them believe that they themselves are the “mediators” for you – not Jesus. Scripture teaches us that Jesus is the mediator and savior for all, not just 144,000 as the Watchtower teaches. (See <a href="http://www.jwfacts.com/watchtower/mediator.php" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; color: #006699; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">http://www.jwfacts.com/watchtower/mediator.php</a>)</em><br />
<em style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br />But let’s first take a look at that scripture from Matthew 24. I want to stress that when reading any type of literature, whether it is considered a “holy book” (sacred works), classical literature, fiction or non-fiction, the most important thing to keep in mind is context. No one should ever just take out parts of sentences from a piece of literature if you are going to understand it properly. When reading the Bible, or any other piece of literature (and I’m including ancient works such as Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey), one must look at the surrounding context and consider everything together before making a determination about what it means. So taking the one verse about “this generation” and building a whole doctrinal theology on this is dangerous.</em></div>
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<em style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">If you begin with what Jesus said at Matthew 24, it reads:</em></div>
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<em style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">“As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. ‘Tell us,’ they said, ‘when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?’ Jesus answered: ‘Watch out that no one deceives you. For many will come in my name, claiming, I am the Messiah, and will deceive many.’”</em></div>
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<em style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">If I’m interpreting this correctly, Jesus is saying that we ought to watch out for people who are deceiving us and not be afraid when we hear of earthquakes, wars, and the like.</em></div>
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<em style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">In verses 23-25 it says:</em></div>
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<em style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">“At that time if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Messiah!’ or, ‘There he is!’ do not believe it. For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. See, I have told you ahead of time.”</em></div>
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<em style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The disciples had just asked Jesus about the end and the sign of his coming. But Jesus didn’t really say what the sign of his coming would be. He went on to describe that there would be things like earthquakes, wars, famines, and persecution. He also mentioned false prophets (again!). If you read on you will find that most of these things happened right before the Romans destroyed the temple. In a way, that was “the end,” and the generation who was listening to Jesus would be around to witness the destruction of the Jewish temple.</em></div>
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<em style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">But Jesus also described his “coming.” In Watchtower theology, Jesus already secretly “came” in 1914 and has been “ruling” since then. (And nobody else seems to know it except the Watchtower and its followers). This doctrine is an amended doctrine that Charles Taze Russell plagiarized from the Adventist groups that he was associating with before he splintered off with his own group. The 2nd Adventists, who were descendants of William Miller’s followers (“Great Disappointment” of 1843 and 1844) were the ones who came up with these years. Most rank and file Jehovah’s Witnesses believe that Russell supernaturally came up with these teachings on his own because God anointed him with this information. The truth is that Russell plagiarized all the information from these Adventist groups. You don’t have to believe me. All you have to do is look up secular sources for Watchtower History.</em></div>
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<em style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Finally, continue to read Matthew 24 and see what Jesus says when he describes his own return. In verse 27, he says, “For as lightning that comes from the east is visible even in the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.”</em></div>
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<em style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The Watchtower describes Jesus “coming” as invisible. But Jesus said his coming would be very visible, just as though you were watching lightning flashing across the sky from east to west. Normally when we see a lightning storm, we see the lightning strike in a certain direction, but never as visible from east to west. But that’s how Jesus described his own coming.</em></div>
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<em style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Finally, my own “hope” comes from my relationship with God. I believe that Jesus is the Son of God and is my Savior who died for my sins. My hope comes from God’s unconditional love for me and that He will never let me go. He is not like the Watchtower god, ready to kick me out of the “kingdom” for every little perceived infraction. In the Watchtower there is no grace, no faith, and no hope.</em></div>
Cynthia Hamptonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07189284705272351076noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7215689043684702397.post-2308485762000843152014-01-04T10:12:00.001-08:002017-08-09T22:06:38.321-07:00Whether or not to Celebrate Christmas<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt;">One day before the Christmas Day Holiday, I received an email from a former Jehovah's Witness that said:</span><span xmlns=""></span><br />
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<span xmlns=""><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt;"><em>"I know it is not the day Jesus was born. Fact. I know that it is a pagan holiday. Fact.</em></span></span><br />
<span xmlns=""><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt;"><em>This year the Lord showed me Jeremiah 10. He was instructing Israel not to pick up the heathen ways. They were cutting down trees in the forest and decorating them. This was before Jesus's birth.</em></span></span><br />
<span xmlns=""><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt;"><em>God does not change. He is the same yesterday today and forever. Because of this man has changed and said it is ok. We just will say it is the day that the Savior was born. In fact we lie when we do this.</em></span></span><br />
<span xmlns=""><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt;"><em>In the chapter right before this in Jeremiah He told Zion that they would suffer wormwood. To close to the tribulation in Revelations for me.</em></span></span><br />
<span xmlns=""><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt;"><em>Beside this fact I notice that Mystery Babylon aka "the world was drinking the blood of the Saints and the martyrs of Christ." I ask myself why I understand the martyrs' blood but why had she killed the born again believers as well. Do we have a valid reason as a born again believer to celebrate Dec 25 as the birth of Christ?"</em></span></span><br />
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<span xmlns=""><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt;">There are many questions in that email. Jehovah's Witnesses teach that all holidays that the church celebrates are "pagan". In fact, the words "pagan and Babylon the Great" are used synonymously and create negative connotations and disdain within the Jehovah's Witnesses minds. Even when they leave the organization, they have trouble celebrating any holidays because they have been told celebrating holidays is not only wrong, it is downright evil! The Watchtower also uses the passage from Jeremiah 10 to convince their followers that Christmas trees are just wrong, wrong, wrong. Anyway, I will address each one of her issues:</span></span><br />
<span xmlns=""><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt;">Christmas is not a pagan holiday, it is just that simple. Examine the word "Christmas." The first syllable is Christ and we know that Christ is Greek for anointed one or messiah. Jesus Christ is not pagan. The second half of the word is "mas" derived from Old English word for "mass" which is literally derived from Latin "missa." The etymology or meaning behind the word missa is the idea of dismissal or being sent or even a mission. When we look at the word Christmas in the literal sense, it means Christ sent. I believe that is how we as Christians should understand it, as Jesus Christ's first coming or being sent into this world. There is no Biblical law or principle that says we should or should not celebrate that Jesus came into this world as an infant. Decorating one's home with Christmas decorations is not a requirement, but many believe decorations prepare ourselves for the celebratory mood when we remember that Jesus, son of God humbled himself and was born as a helpless infant into this world. There is no real reason to ignore the fact that Jesus Christ was born into this world. It seems to me that celebrating the birth of our Savior is a good thing. After all weren't the angels praising God that this miracle had happened? (Luke 2:13, 14)</span></span><br />
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<span xmlns=""><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt;">The Christmas tree is another question in this e-mail I want to address. In this passage from Jeremiah, if we read the passage in context, it appears that this has nothing to do with Christmas at all. After all, Jeremiah was written several centuries before Jesus Christ was born. The passage at Jeremiah 10:1-16 is referring to the futility of idolatry and how worthless it is. The people of Judea had become ensnared with idolatry. They were living in a time where every nation around them did not worship the true God, but instead worshipped all kinds of other non-existent gods and fashioned icons made of wood or stone, bowing down to them. Idolatry was a very serious sin to God because God did not want His people worshipping non-existent gods which most of the time, was intermingled with immoral sexual practices as well. God wanted his people of Israel to have a relationship with Him as their Creator and Giver of Life. In fact, God allowed the Southern Kingdom of Judea to be destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 B.C. for their disobedience and their immoral practices of idolatry. It was part of the judgment from God. There should be no question about why the true God would forbid idolatry for His people. Back then, it seemed very easy to fall into idolatry because all the nations surrounding Israel practiced idolatry, and perhaps in many cases, it seemed like fun with the accompanying celebrations. </span></span><br />
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<span xmlns=""><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt;">In modern times, the Christmas tree has nothing to do with idolatry. No one (that I have ever heard of) bows down before a Christmas tree and makes the tree their god. Today's modern Christmas tree was begun by German Christians in the 16<sup>th</sup> century. According to tradition, Martin Luther began the practice of putting lights or candles on the tree. When one examines the Christmas tree tradition closely, one finds that there are about 2000 years between the tree that Jeremiah was writing about and the German Christians in the 16<sup>th</sup> century desiring to decorate their homes with a green tree. Certainly, no one should accuse Martin Luther of paganism. If a person decides to have a decorated tree in his or her home during the Christmas holiday, neither should that person be accused of a pagan practice since no one is really worshipping the tree. The tree is merely a decoration for the home.</span></span><br />
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<span xmlns=""><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt;">The final part of the e-mail from above deals with false religion and "Babylon the Great." I believe that she may be referring to those persons who practice false religion and persecute Christians. Since this reference comes from the book of Revelation, in my opinion, much of this has not occurred yet, or in come cases has already had a 1<sup>st</sup> Century fulfilment. Christians should stay away from idolatry, false worship, and false religion. That part is true. However, the celebration of Christmas is not practicing false religion unless one considers Jesus Christ coming to the world the first time to be part of false worship.</span></span><br />
<span xmlns=""><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt;">In conclusion, to answer the question if Christians should celebrate Christmas, the answer is that it is one's choice to do so. Everyone must decide for themselves how much they prefer to celebrate or how little to celebrate. But none of us should pass judgment on one another based on how we celebrate Christmas. I believe that we should always apply the Apostle Paul's words from Romans 14:1-12: (NET)</span></span><br />
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<span xmlns=""><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt;"><em>As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions. <strong><sup>2 </sup></strong>One person believes he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables. <strong><sup>3 </sup></strong>Let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains, and let not the one who abstains pass judgment on the one who eats, for God has welcomed him. <strong><sup>4 </sup></strong>Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master<strong><sup>[<a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans%2014&version=ESV" title="See footnote a"><span style="color: #b37162;">a</span></a>]</sup></strong> that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand.</em></span></span></div>
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<span xmlns=""><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt;"><em><strong><sup>5 </sup></strong>One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. <strong><sup>6 </sup></strong>The one who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord. The one who eats, eats in honor of the Lord, since he gives thanks to God, while the one who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God. <strong><sup>7 </sup></strong>For none of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself. <strong><sup>8 </sup></strong>For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord's. <strong><sup>9 </sup></strong>For to this end Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living.</em></span></span></div>
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<span xmlns=""><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt;"><em><strong><sup>10 </sup></strong>Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God; <strong><sup>11 </sup></strong>for it is written,</em></span></span></div>
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<span xmlns=""><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt;"><em>"As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me,<br /> and every tongue shall confess<strong><sup>[<a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans%2014&version=ESV" title="See footnote b"><span style="color: #b37162;">b</span></a>]</sup></strong> to God."</em></span></span></div>
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<span xmlns=""><span style="color: black; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><em><strong><sup>12 </sup></strong>So then each of us will give an account of himself to God.</em></span><span style="font-family: "verdana";"><br /> </span></span></span></div>
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<span xmlns=""><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt;">For more information, please refer to the links below:</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: blue;" xmlns=""><a href="http://www.orlutheran.com/html/chrtree.html"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt;">O Christmas Tree: The Origin and Meaning of the Christmas Tree</span></a><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt;"><br /> </span></span><br />
<span xmlns=""><a href="http://freeminds.org/doctrine/holidays.htm"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt;">Holidays</span></a><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt;"><br /> </span></span><br />
<span xmlns=""><a href="http://chronicon.net/blog/christmas/sol-invictus-evidently-not-a-precursor-to-christmas/"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt;">Sol Invictus Evidently Not a Precursor to Christmas</span></a><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt;"><br /> </span></span><br />
<span xmlns=""><a href="http://www.jwinfoline.com/Documents/Christmas/what_precedent_for_christmas.htm"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; text-decoration: underline;">Part One: What precedent do Christians have to celebrate the first coming of Jesus?</span></a><span style="color: blue; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></span><br />
<span xmlns=""><a href="http://www.jwinfoline.com/Documents/Christmas/were_wise_men_from_satan.htm"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; text-decoration: underline;">Part Two: Were the wise men divinely directed or were they emissaries of Satan?</span></a><span style="color: blue; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></span><br />
<span xmlns=""><a href="http://www.jwinfoline.com/Documents/Christmas/what_major_reasons_for_no_Christmas.htm"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; text-decoration: underline;">Part Three: What major reasons does the Watchtower have for not celebrating Christmas?</span></a><span style="color: blue; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></span><br />
<span xmlns=""><a href="http://www.jwinfoline.com/Documents/Christmas/Is_Christmas_pagan.htm"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; text-decoration: underline;">Part One: Is Christmas pagan?</span></a><span style="color: blue; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></span><br />
<span xmlns=""><a href="http://www.jwinfoline.com/Documents/Christmas/Was_the_star_of_bethlehem_satans_star.htm"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; text-decoration: underline;">Part Two: Was the star of Bethlehem Satan's Star?</span></a><span style="color: blue; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></span><br />
<span xmlns=""><a href="http://www.jwinfoline.com/Documents/Christmas/Why_dont_jws_celebrate_christmas.htm"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; text-decoration: underline;">Part Three: Why don't Jehovah's Witnesses celebrate Christmas?</span></a><span style="color: blue; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></span><br />
<span xmlns=""><a href="http://www.jwinfoline.com/Documents/Christmas/Why_does_the_wt_kick_out_jws_who_celebrate_Christmas.htm"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; text-decoration: underline;">Part Four: Why does the Watchtower kick out Jehovah's Witnesses who celebrate Christmas?</span></a><span style="color: blue; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></span>Cynthia Hamptonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07189284705272351076noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7215689043684702397.post-77117313464660204192009-10-12T21:51:00.000-07:002016-12-29T21:45:01.051-08:00<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;">My Visit with my Jehovah's Witness Mother</span></div>
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I stayed with my parents this past weekend, as I came into town for my 35th high school class reunion from Tucson High School. The weather was lovely and so was everything else. I loved seeing all my old high school buddies, even those that were my friends since the 1st grade. Everyone looks great!<br />
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I have been praying for my mother who is a Jehovah's Witness, for a long time. (My father was disfellowshipped several years ago) She is getting better with her health, looks good and she seems to feel well. My dad is better too, he lost 30 pounds, he was way overweight last time I saw him; he has diabetes. Our relationship has improved much in the past few years, as for many years, Mom has completely shunned me. Last year I stayed with them for 10 days after Mom had her bilateral mastectomy. This past weekend, I stayed with them again. Last years, when I stayed there, I slept on an air mattress on the floor, which is fine, because I really don't want to inconvenience them. Mom and Dad have separate bedrooms, (well they are old) but Mom GAVE UP her bedroom and invited me to stay in it, and she went over to sleep with Dad. I couldn't believe it! That's HUGE STEP for my mother, a huge step indeed! There was a time when if I were in the same place as she was, she would walk right out because of her anger with me at leaving the Watchtower Organization<br />
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Saturday was their 56th wedding anniversary. Imagine, they have stayed together for 56 years, in spite of all the bad times, the Watchtower, shunning, my father's alcoholism. My sister drove up from Sierra Vista (she was disfellowshipped as a JW same year I left, and has been a Christian for many years now). We took them out to lunch at Mimi's Restaurant, and we had a nice time.<br />
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The funny thing is that she was acting like a mother again. Even though we have been speaking to each other the last few years, there was a coldness about her. This weekend she turned on the warmth. She's 76, I'm 53 now. As I left to attend my reunion, I chuckled and smiled as she gave me the "motherly advice" about not going to my car alone when I left the building, be careful, etc....same advice I tell my daughter if she's going to be out late. However I thought to myself, that it's really nice to have her caring again, so I just smiled and said, "yes, mother, I will be careful".<br />
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It's amazing how God is working in their lives, and how God has been healing relationships. I am just counting on God to get my mother completely out of the Watchtower before she dies. I am diligently praying for their salvation. Last year I gave a copy of Charles Love's book, Twenty Questions Jehovah's Witnesses Cannot Answer. Dad has already read the book and agrees with it. Mom doesn't know that he has it, but I'm praying that she will inadventently find it and read it. I am confident that God can and will open the eyes of the spiritually blind, such as my mother.Cynthia Hamptonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07189284705272351076noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7215689043684702397.post-64020173147700477202009-08-26T14:34:00.000-07:002016-12-29T21:45:36.884-08:00Another Heartbreak Caused by Jehovah's Witnesses Beliefs--with addendumOne Monday in 2009 I received an email from a woman who lives in the city that I grew up in requesting help for her daughter. This woman's 18 year old daughter had become involved with a young man who is one of Jehovah's Witnesses. Unfortunately, the mother did not know that her daughter would be studying to become a Jehovah's Witness herself. The mother thought that the family looked like a nice family, the boy seemed nice and clean cut. Little did this mother know that the parents of this young man would use deceptive recruiting methods to indoctrinate this young girl into Watchtower beliefs.<br />
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There is an old country song that says, “Mamas, don’t let your babies grow up to be cowboys, make ‘em doctors and lawyers and such”; however, we could re-write the words to, “Mamas, don’t let your babies grow up to be cult members” instead.<br />
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These parents thought their 18 year old daughter was on the fast track to wonderful things. She has been great student at her school, she had all kinds of plans to further her education by going to college and perhaps going to law school to become a lawyer some day. Then she met up with a boy who is one of Jehovah’s Witnesses, and together with his family has used deceptive recruiting methods to indoctrinate their lovely daughter, causing her to turn against them. She is their only child.<br />
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The daughter moved out a few nights ago, with this Jehovah’s Witness family. Their daughter still depends on the parents for support because is still in high school. But the mother of this Jehovah’s Witness boy keeps telling this young girl that since she is 18, she should do what she wants to do, including disrespecting her parents because they are “wrong” and are standing in the way of her becoming part of “the truth” as they call it. Jehovah’s Witnesses have convinced their daughter that this religious organization, the Watchtower is “God’s channel of communication on Earth” and that one cannot understand the Bible without reading their books.<br />
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They are beside themselves with grief, as this religious organization, called the Watchtower, has alienated their daughter from them. They don’t know what to do except pray for her and hope that she comes home soon.<br />
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As I looked back on this post from 2009, I realized that I hadn't updated the happy ending to the story, because the daughter did leave the Watchtower somewhat shortly after she was baptized. After a new recruit is finally baptized, then the high control begins. The Watchtower control's every aspect of their followers lives, from what they wear to their medical decisions. The young lady I am speaking of seemed to violate some unspoken rules (which there are many in the Watchtower) and promptly got herself in trouble with the congregation's elders. We don't know exactly what happened, but after the incident, she seemed to be angry with them and little by little did not attend meetings. She had just gotten baptized in April 2010.<br />
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By early 2011, the romance with the Jehovah's Witness boyfriend was completely over. The daughter was tired of the Watchtower's controlling ways. We don't know exactly when she quit the Watchtower all together in 2011, but by the holidays, she was celebrating and participating with her family. For her parents, it was a very long two and a half years.<br />
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As of 2013, after several stops and starts with her education, she is months away from getting her degree in a nursing program to become an R.N. The Watchtower world is far behind her and she has a new (non-Jehovah's Witness) boyfriend. She often makes comments such as, "I'm never going to let anyone control me ever again." Thankfully, she has walked away from the Watchtower pretty much unscathed. Her parents are thankful to have their daughter back again and are very happy this Watchtower nightmare is over with. One day we hope to find out the entire story. But until then, we continue to pray for her and that one day she will become a believer in the true Jesus Christ.<br />
<br />Cynthia Hamptonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07189284705272351076noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7215689043684702397.post-86577487127062812032009-08-17T13:56:00.000-07:002013-12-07T13:40:51.728-08:00Introducing MyselfMy name is Cynthia Hampton and I've just created this blog. I am married, I have three children who are all adults. My eldest son is 37 and married. My younger son is 27 and also married. My youngest, a daughter is 24 and soon to be married. Thankfully, none of them grew up to be Jehovah's Witnesses. I left the Watchtower organization when my eldest was 3 1/2 years old. We finally celebrated his birthday for the first time when he was four years old. In his "baby album", there are no traditional pictures of "baby's first Christmas", or baby's first birthday, since holidays and birthdays were strictly forbidden. So at the ripe old age of four, my eldest son finally had his first birthday cake with candles.<br />
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I became a Christian when I was 26 years old and it was the best decision of my life. Life in the Watchtower was extremely restrictive, we didn't even have the freedom to have Jesus Christ as our mediator. Being saved by grace was unheard of in the Watchtower, they have no "grace", only "undeserved kindness", which always made us feel like since we didn't deserve God's grace, we should never have it. I am thankful to God that He showed me the way to true salvation and true forgiveness of sins and that although the Watchtower rejected me and my old Watchtower friends shunned me and kicked me out of their "kingdom" (hall) the true God, will never kick me out of His real Kingdom.Cynthia Hamptonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07189284705272351076noreply@blogger.com0