Dealings with the Jehovah's Witnesses...

[Syndicated]

So I've been having a bi-monthly conversation with a couple of Jehovah's Witness gentlemen for the past few months, and I was interested if anyone would be willing to share their experiences if anyone has any.

My impressions of what they are teaching is that they are very 'works' based and live by the doctrine of choice, not believing the bible when it says that Jesus is the savoir of ALL men.  I have found that there are times when they will take the bible very literally and there are other times when they take it figuratively.  I don't believe that you can take it both ways.  It would be like reading Moby Dick and taking the part of the captain as literal, but the whale was a figurative 'beast' he was battling.

What would your thoughts be?

[Cardinal]

 :cloud9: Oddly enough, one of the best times of fellowship I have had was the 4 months a JW woman came to my home. When I opened the door (with intentions of telling her I wasn't interested), the Lord spoke to me, "She's one of the lost sheep of Israel", so I knew He wanted me to invite her in, which I did.

I forewarned her that I knew she would be trying to get me to see the scriptures "her" way, and that I would be doing the same, and if she was ok with that, we could share. She laughed and agreed. What followed was quite disconcerting for her superiors, I imagine.  :laughing7:

She ended up writing down questions over things I showed her, to take back to them. After a month, they sent an elder WITH her, to answer them in person. He got quite upset at first, and he didn't come back, but she continued to send back things to ask them about, that she couldn't answer. It lasted about 4 months, before they jerked her chain and wouldn't let her come anymore. I guess they decided I was a lost cause.   :winkgrin:                                                                             

I often wonder if she made her way back to the Lord. All we can do is plant seeds and release them to be watered by someone else.  :dontknow:

[gregoryfl]

I had been one of Jehovah's Witnesses for several years, and can say that yes, they believe in choice, that Jehovah has done his part, and now we have the choice to believe and be baptized so that we can live on the paradise earth. Jesus died for everyone, but only to give them that chance. Those who refuse to believe will be everlastingly destroyed (cease to exist). Just like most groups, there are parts of the Bible they take literally (such as the accounts of creation and others in Genesis, etc.) and then other parts they take figuratively (such as Revelation, which they mostly apply to themselves and things concerning their history). I do not necessarily see it as the Moby Dick example, for scripture contains both literal and figurative language, and it is just a matter of properly interpreting and knowing the difference between the two. Not sure any of us have that nailed down. I certainly don't.  :laughing7:

Hope this helps,

Ron

[Molly]

I studied with the JW for quite a while--maybe a year?  They would come to my house every week, always at least two of them, sometimes more, and we would study the Bible together.  I had never really 'studied' the Bible at that time, and there was no one else in my life who would talk about the Bible with me, so I loved it.  I also consider them without exception very honorable people.

We started to get into trouble towards the end when they began to reveal some of their deeper beliefs to me.  We clashed on who Jesus is since I have always had particular beliefs about that.  They also have some kind of built in hierarchy with the 144,000 on the top--those slots have already been filled it seems by named church elders.  That's all a bit fuzzy to me because it was at that time that my spirit began to reject their beliefs.

We went through a period of time where the Holy Spirit had started taking over my instruction and I started pointing out to them scripture all over the Bible and saying to them--what about this?  I remember one meeting where they had brought some higher church member and I showed them scripture which they couldn't deny and couldn't explain away within their framework.  They just sort of slowly faded away after that.

But, like I said --I always enjoyed their company.  They are really great people.  They were the ones who indirectly got me into studying Greek because they told me that John 1:1 was not translated correctly in the KJV and that it should say the Word was 'a god,' not the Word was God.  So I went to the Greek and looked at it and that's not what it says--the KJV has it right.  John 1:1 is one of those timeless passages and they have changed it in their Bible..

After that, I slowly became more interested in what the Greek and Hebrew has to say, than the English.  I read and reread John 1:1 in the Greek.  I said it out loud over and over, and something changed inside of me regarding my relationship to the Bible.  It became alive!

One recurring problem for me about all of these groups is that there always has to be a leader who tells you what the truth is and stands as authority and intermediary between man and God, whereas I believe that is the position of Jesus and only him.  So I listen to what anyone has to say, but Jesus is the final authority for me.

[Cardinal]

So I listen to what anyone has to say, but Jesus is the final authority for me.

:cloud9: Amen..... :thumbsup: and if everyone would do that there would be NO denominations at all......so simple, yet so seemingly impossible for men to do.

[JohnOneOne]

...They were the ones who indirectly got me into studying Greek because they told me that John 1:1 was not translated correctly in the KJV and that it should say the Word was 'a god,' not the Word was God.  So I went to the Greek and looked at it and that's not what it says--the KJV has it right.  John 1:1 is one of those timeless passages and they have changed it in their Bible..

After that, I slowly became more interested in what the Greek and Hebrew has to say, than the English.  I read and reread John 1:1 in the Greek.  I said it out loud over and over, and something changed inside of me regarding my relationship to the Bible.  It became alive!...

Regarding Jehovah's Witnesses' "New World Translation" Bible and its rendering of John 1:1, it may interest you to know that, in support and explanation of their wording of this verse (especially within the third clause with "a god"), there is soon to be published a 19+ year study (as of 6/2011), a thoroughly researched reference work - an historical analysis & exhaustive annotated bibliography - it will be entitled, "What About John 1:1?"

To learn more of its design and expected release date, you are invited to visit:

http://www.goodcompanionbooks.com

When finally published, apart from discussing many of the other topics and scriptures often related to the man-made Trinity doctrine, you will also discover that we have collected information on about 430+ scholarly reference works (mostly Trinitarian) which, throughout the centuries, had opted to say something other than, "and the Word was God," and that, included among them are over 120 which had chosen to use "a god" within the third clause of their renderings.

As you might expect, we are very excited at the opportunity to share our findings with others.

Agape, JohnOneOne.
john1one@earthlink.net

[Syndicated]

Jesus died for everyone, but only to give them that chance.

I totally feel that this is the way that most major religions in the world today view Jesus and all He accomplished with His death on the cross.  I think that if He died for everyone, then that's who's all included in salvation and righteousness... EVERYONE!

In going through the booklet they hand out to people, we have discovered a lot of inaccuracies and speculations about what the bible really says.  There seems to be a lot of taking things out of context, making assumptions, that kind of stuff.  I honestly don't think that the members of the JW faith will come by much longer, we seem to be reaching a point where sometimes it seems that we're just out to prove the other wrong.  I ask them to explain a few things and really get no real answer.  As my fiance said to one of them, "I have no desire to convert your beliefs, I simply want to know what it is that you believe" and the reply was "Well we're out to change your beliefs and that's why we're here."  Another response we got from one of the members wives was "We just want to get people reading the bible, that's why we go out preaching" which didn't make sense because they have obviously discovered that we do read the bible, but they're still coming back to try to explain the booklet... Hmm...

[Syndicated]

:cloud9: Oddly enough, one of the best times of fellowship I have had was the 4 months a JW woman came to my home. When I opened the door (with intentions of telling her I wasn't interested), the Lord spoke to me, "She's one of the lost sheep of Israel", so I knew He wanted me to invite her in, which I did.

I forewarned her that I knew she would be trying to get me to see the scriptures "her" way, and that I would be doing the same, and if she was ok with that, we could share. She laughed and agreed. What followed was quite disconcerting for her superiors, I imagine.  :laughing7:

She ended up writing down questions over things I showed her, to take back to them. After a month, they sent an elder WITH her, to answer them in person. He got quite upset at first, and he didn't come back, but she continued to send back things to ask them about, that she couldn't answer. It lasted about 4 months, before they jerked her chain and wouldn't let her come anymore. I guess they decided I was a lost cause.   :winkgrin:                                                                             

I often wonder if she made her way back to the Lord. All we can do is plant seeds and release them to be watered by someone else.  :dontknow:

This sounds very much along the lines of what's been happening in my house.  First it was one man, then it was two for about 2 months, then last time only the original man and his wife came back.  When we asked if the other gentleman would be coming back with them, they were very quick to say that he couldn't make it on the day that we had agreed upon at that point.  We don't think that he'll be coming back.

[Syndicated]

So as of yesterday, THEY walked out on US claiming that because we believe that God is in control having already crushed the devil under his feet, they wouldn't and couldn't go any further with us.  That's too bad, I was finding it really interesting sitting with them and having discussions with them.  I found it encouraged me and challenged me to research and read my bible more.   :sigh:

[shawn]

...They were the ones who indirectly got me into studying Greek because they told me that John 1:1 was not translated correctly in the KJV and that it should say the Word was 'a god,' not the Word was God.  So I went to the Greek and looked at it and that's not what it says--the KJV has it right.  John 1:1 is one of those timeless passages and they have changed it in their Bible..

After that, I slowly became more interested in what the Greek and Hebrew has to say, than the English.  I read and reread John 1:1 in the Greek.  I said it out loud over and over, and something changed inside of me regarding my relationship to the Bible.  It became alive!...

Regarding Jehovah's Witnesses' "New World Translation" Bible and its rendering of John 1:1, it may interest you to know that, in support and explanation of their wording of this verse (especially within the third clause with "a god"), there is soon to be published a 19+ year study (as of 6/2011), a thoroughly researched reference work - an historical analysis & exhaustive annotated bibliography - it will be entitled, "What About John 1:1?"

To learn more of its design and expected release date, you are invited to visit:

http://www.goodcompanionbooks.com

When finally published, apart from discussing many of the other topics and scriptures often related to the man-made Trinity doctrine, you will also discover that we have collected information on about 430+ scholarly reference works (mostly Trinitarian) which, throughout the centuries, had opted to say something other than, "and the Word was God," and that, included among them are over 120 which had chosen to use "a god" within the third clause of their renderings.

As you might expect, we are very excited at the opportunity to share our findings with others.

Agape, JohnOneOne.
john1one@earthlink.net

Welcome John.  We are glad to have you here.

[eaglesway]

 It may seem obvious, but...... prayer and the spirit of prophecy are the only things that can break through the veil that covers the minds of religious zealots, whether they are "sectarian christian", jw, muslim, jew, etc., etc. I encourage anyone who is laboring among religious proselytes to remain open to the voice of the Spirit, because He knows the secrets of the hearts- and what they need to hear. He may lead us into apologetics or He may lead us into deeper water in the Spirit- but in a sense, at such times we are just as "being called before councils and judgment seats" and we have been promised that the Holy Spirit will give us words that will seal before them  the testimony of Jesus in a way that cannot be torn down.

[rosered]

It may seem obvious, but...... prayer and the spirit of prophecy are the only things that can break through the veil that covers the minds of religious zealots, whether they are "sectarian christian", jw, muslim, jew, etc., etc. I encourage anyone who is laboring among religious proselytes to remain open to the voice of the Spirit, because He knows the secrets of the hearts- and what they need to hear. He may lead us into apologetics or He may lead us into deeper water in the Spirit- but in a sense, at such times we are just as "being called before councils and judgment seats" and we have been promised that the Holy Spirit will give us words that will seal before them  the testimony of Jesus in a way that cannot be torn down.

AWESOME  Bro EW !  :HeartThrob:  You just  bore witness to what I heard from my mom , yesterday  , she is in a nursing home now      and there and many different  religons  all bearing witness about the Lord     
and   she said  to me   If they Love  Jesus thats good enough for me , I am not going to let all that other stuff get in the way ...
  well she broke though the veil !  :HeartThrob:   That is what Love does Bro , changes  minds and things ,   and what matters most , Love conquers all  :HeartThrob:  Thanks  :thumbsup:

[jabcat]

...They were the ones who indirectly got me into studying Greek because they told me that John 1:1 was not translated correctly in the KJV and that it should say the Word was 'a god,' not the Word was God.  So I went to the Greek and looked at it and that's not what it says--the KJV has it right.  John 1:1 is one of those timeless passages and they have changed it in their Bible..

After that, I slowly became more interested in what the Greek and Hebrew has to say, than the English.  I read and reread John 1:1 in the Greek.  I said it out loud over and over, and something changed inside of me regarding my relationship to the Bible.  It became alive!...

Regarding Jehovah's Witnesses' "New World Translation" Bible and its rendering of John 1:1, it may interest you to know that, in support and explanation of their wording of this verse (especially within the third clause with "a god"), there is soon to be published a 19+ year study (as of 6/2011), a thoroughly researched reference work - an historical analysis & exhaustive annotated bibliography - it will be entitled, "What About John 1:1?"

To learn more of its design and expected release date, you are invited to visit:

http://www.goodcompanionbooks.com

When finally published, apart from discussing many of the other topics and scriptures often related to the man-made Trinity doctrine, you will also discover that we have collected information on about 430+ scholarly reference works (mostly Trinitarian) which, throughout the centuries, had opted to say something other than, "and the Word was God," and that, included among them are over 120 which had chosen to use "a god" within the third clause of their renderings.

As you might expect, we are very excited at the opportunity to share our findings with others.

Agape, JohnOneOne.
john1one@earthlink.net

Jehovah's Witnesses include many nice people who are indeed zealous.  However, the very core of the Gospel is Jesus Christ, the Divine Messiah, the Savior of the world.