Wednesday 28 August 2013

A sunny bank holiday, Four Jehovah's Witnesses, three ties and a Chocolate milkshake.

My 'journey' of apologetics saw me  originally involved with Mormons JWs and other similar groups   to reach them with the Gospel.  This 'connection' has never left me and here is a brief story of some encounters this last Bank holiday....enjoy!

 It was a beautiful sunny day. I was strolling along the Millennium seafront prom in Llanelli. LO and behold I came across three Jehovah's witnesses sitting on a wall in shirts and ties  with some display shelves of Watchtower material.   I asked my wife permission to talk (it was a family walk after all, I was with my wife Janet, daughter Caris and son in law James.) she said they would go for a coffee.

I stood waiting to get into the convo  but an Old Guy from a local Church was doing a good job  so I waited for him to finish. I sat next to one of the JW's and asked him why was he a JW, he explained he was brought up as one but had as an adult made his decisions.  As usual I began to question the organisation whilst affirming his genuine faith. He asked me why he shouldn't trust the organisation , I talked briefly about false prophesies,changes in doctrine and other stuff, he said the organisation is progressive and changes as time goes on. He also said he had checked it all out...I asked him 'If his checking out involved WT books, WT reference material, WT magazines, translations and interlinears....his silence was mute testimony to a 'yes' answer!  I encouraged him to check out by googling  '4jehovah'  which will lead him to some helpful material.....pray for him.  My parting thought to all three of them was 'could you all say Jesus is  'my Lord and my God'  (Jn 20v28)  they blubbered about 'a god'  but I asked again  and the answer was no    its good enough for Thomas in the Bible and for me.....  why not for you, think about it guys! My final word was 'hey guys how can you cope with shirt and ties in this weather ..the bible doesn't say you must wear a tie you know'!!    the youngest guy said to me he was going to take his tie off later.



I wandered a little way and bumped into a lady I know from another Church who was talking to an older man, who I discovered was a JW!!  A younger man was listening in too. Once again (but this time thinking of my milk shake waiting for me ) Once again I probed about the organisation, but this guy was different he really employed the full arsenal of evasion.

1. He simply would not admit that JW's believed that
the  144,000 are born again.  (he probably knew its  a weak point)

2. He kept switching the subject   and used service in the army as a way of trying to deflect any probing.. 'do YOU think serving I the army is right if so you believe in killing people.!!  My reply was would YOU allow thousands of children to die by not allowing blood transfusions...the organisation you serve has much blood on their hands.

3. He tried the 'but there is so much love in Jehovahs organisation how can it be wrong?  I explained I have met wonderful loving Mormons and Muslim's....are they right,  judge the WT organisation on its track record including  false prophecy!  I also said if the organisation is so 'loving' why are there no JW orphanages, schools and clinics in Zambia where I am going soon?

His attempt to say that the name of God is Jehovah and we are false churches for not using I,t meant that I ended up saying to him 'well its not Jehovah, there is no J in Hebrew, more accurately its Yahweh but if my children viewed calling me 'John'  as a pinnacle of relationship I would be bitterly upset, Jesus brought us into relationship with 'Daddy'... so tell me why on earth should I start saying Jehovah all the time. The organisation that has taught you that has led you astray. With that he simply walked away   which was sad, but I felt I had communicated some of the Love and truth of Jesus. The woman thanked me for being a rescuing angel and that she had been praying for someone to come.

So why mention al this?  Well its my life I get this all the time, mundane meeting while walking, dramatic divine appointments, many of them around 'JWs'.  All my life since age 10 I have had contact with JW's, it is obviously part of Gods plan for me.  I soon travel to Zambia the country with the largest % of JW's in the world..... obviously part of Gods plan for me, my 18th visit.  I could have av0ided the meeting and walked on, it was hot I wasn't on duty'  but I would urge you whenever and wherever you are   to do Gods will, share your faith, sow that seed. It is God's will for you.

8 comments:

  1. So if you follow Jesus , believe he is your Lord and Saviour, you are not saved if you don't follow orthodox church doctrine?

    Does your god issue a theology exam to people to see if they are allowed into this alleged Heaven?

    What mark do you have to get to pass?

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  2. Ah Steven. I would love to know what church or group you belong to. In this instance these were very aware people who had specifically rejected elements of biblical teaching and had taken on board a set of beliefs that ring fenced them from other Christians !! It is they who would say that no one else, no group or Church will be saved apart from them and thier American organisation. I didn't mention that on more than one occasion back in 1975 members of this group told me I would have my eyes pecked out at armageddon later in the year! There is only one villain in this scenario and that is the WT organisation.

    ReplyDelete
  3. So they believe that Jesus is their Lord and Saviour and are going to Heaven?

    So if your god has no problem with them, what is your problem?

    ReplyDelete
  4. they actually do not believe they are part of Gods new covenant. They believe that God has an organisation that directs them. When they get baptised it is in the name of the Father the son and Gods spirit directed organisation. What church are you part of steven?

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  5. So why does that matter if they are saved because they believe Jesus is their Lord and Saviour?

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  6. Hello JT, I applaud you for having chosen a loving rather than utterly confrontational approach.

    That said, I think that many of your arguments could be applied to your Evangelical beliefs about the allegedly inerrant Bible.


    When confronted with a JW, I tell him that this organization is abusive in many ways, that they limit God's love and that it would be far better for his soul to leave it.


    Friendly greetings from continental Europe.

    Lothars Sohn – Lothar’s son

    http://lotharlorraine.wordpress.com

    ReplyDelete
  7. Lothar thanks for commenting. I don't think the parallel works. They have an utterly totalitarian regime. And a totally closed self validating set of material . The evangelical world is broad and recognises non evangelical Christians. The Jw world is tight and small and utterly exclusive .

    ReplyDelete
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