Confession,
That was a very good post!
Thanks!
Tammy
newbie and need help.
by jamesd2004 35 Replies latest jw friends
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patio34
Hi James,
I've enjoyed reading this thread and especially Confession's insightful posts.
One further thought I had about getting baptized. Once you're baptized, there's really no "honorable" way to leave them. If you disagree or change your mind, you're considered "apostate." Something to think about!
Pat
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jaffacake
James,
If you believe in God and Christ, at some point you will have to choose between Christianity and Jehovah's Witnesses. Or you may choose neither. My lifelong friend is about to be baptised into JWs and he is not allowed to talk to me. I am a Christian who studies the Bible daily. He hates to study but does so because men tell him he must or else. I have written long heartfelt letters to my beloved friend, but his wife handed them to the elders before he could read them. pm me with an email address if you want to see what I wrote. Someone may as well see it. You are doing what The Bible commands us all to test everything:
1 John 4:1 The Living Bible Dearly beloved friends, don’t always believe everything you hear just because someone says it is a message from God: test it first to see if it really is.
Acts 17:10-11
Now the latter were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with greatest eagerness of mind, carefully examining the Scriptures daily as to whether these things were so.
1 Thess 5:21
Test everything. Hold on to the good
Psalm 146:3 NWT
Do not put your trust in nobles, Nor in the son of earthling man, to whom no salvation belongs.
Romans 10:2
For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God; but not according to accurate knowledge; for because of not knowing the righteousness of God but seeking to establish their own, they did not subject themselves to the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the Law, so that everyone exercising faith may have righteousness.
James 1:5, 4:8
But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives to all men generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him……
Draw near to God and he will draw near to you.
Matthew 23:8,10 New International Version
But you are not to be called rabbi for you have only one Master and you are all brothers….nor are you to be called teacher for you have one teacher, the Christ.
John 8:31-32
The truth will make you free
If one rejects a matter before he hears, it is folly and shame to him
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jaffacake
James
You asked specifically about Armageddon. What does the Bible teach?
Luke 21:8
When Christ foretold the coming of false Messiahs, he spoke also of men who would come saying:
'the time is very near now, and he counselled never follow men like that'.
Please read and research as Jesus commanded, do not believe men. Reading the New Testament without mens aids, and in prayer, will reveal the truth. Try Johns gospel, or Pauls letters to Galatians, Romans, etc.
The most important book you could read is perhaps Crisis of Conscience by Raymond Franz.
You take care, please James.
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stevenyc
Hi James, and welcome to the board.
I will let you know, first off that I am not a Christian, however was brought up in the Watchtower organization.
The posts sent to you by confession are something to take to heart if you are a believing Christian and are considering joining the Watchtower organization.
Also, you should check out their history as well. For example, the originator of the organization came to the date 1914 AFTER other dates had failed. And 1914 was supposed to be the end. He drew his calculations from early Adventist sects, along with the amount of inches in a passageway of the Geza pyramid. No kidding.
In the twenties they bought a large property in San Diego, supposedly to house the prophets of old, but, there new leader used it as a summer retreat instead.
They preach that Armageddon would arrive in 1975, and even published a magazine with the heading 'What will you be doing in 1975?' When that day came and went they blamed the ordinary witnesses on making it up.
If you've only been studying a year then you probably don't know about the doctrine of the 'last generation'. For years this was that people who were old enough to have witnessed the events of 1914 would not die before Armageddon. That generation being 70 to 80 years of age. In 1995, when that generation died out they changed it to mean nothing, because their prophecy had failed.
If you decide to get baptized, people here call it the 'Kool aid', you will be asked to sign a contract between you and the watchtower organization. Ask people here; we've all done it.
You've probably also noticed that the literature is free and been told its free because its the 'last days'. The reason it’s free is because of a Californian lawsuit against the Jimmy Swaggert ministries regarding tax evasion as a publishing house. The Watchtower organization was officially a 'friend of the court' to Jimmy Swaggert in that case. The case was lost and the Watchtower Publishing house changed its fee-based distribution to remain tax exempt, however, the ordinary witnesses received a bombardment of 'instructions' regarding 'contributions for materials'. Why is the collection box in full view of everyone when picking up your magazines?
There's also the doctrine of the United Nations being the prophesized great beast on who's back rides the harlot of Christendom. Well, even though the Watchtower preached the UN was Satan's tool, the Watchtower became a member of the UN as a NGO. A newspaper reporter in England found out after many years and the good old Watcher organization immediately withdrew their membership, claiming they only did it to get access to the library. Well, ANYONE could get access to that library without being a member.
There's LOTS more, stick around here and you'll discover.
Just to leave you with something for fun next time you have a study. Ask your study person to show you i the bible where it specifically prohibits birthday celebration.
steve
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jaffacake
James
I think Raymond Franz, who set up the Governing Body in its present form, said it best in the intro of his wonderful book Crisis of Conscience:
He first quotes the Watchtower of January 15, 1974: When persons are in great dangr from a source that they do not suspect or are being misled by those they consider their friends, is it an unkindness to warn them? They may prefer not to believe the warning. They may even resent it. But does that free one from the moral responsibility to give that warning?
He then goes on to write from the heart:
Life is uncertain and when he dies what he knows dies along with him - unless he passes it on while still in life. What this book contains is written out of a sense of obligation to people whom I sincerely love. In all good conscience I can say that its aim is to help and not to hurt. If some of what is presented is painful to read, it was also painful to write. It is hoped that the reader will recognise that the search for truth need never be destructive of faith, that every effort to know and uphold truth will. instead, strengthen the basis for true faith. What those reading this information will do with it is, of course, their own decision. At least it will have been said, and a moral obligation will have been met.