Tag Archives: Jehovah’s Witnesses

Witnesses Now For Jesus 2007 Report

October 28, 2007 3:38 am / 1 Comment /

Becky and I attended the Witnesses Now For Jesus convention last weekend in Colorful Pennsylvania and had a wonderful time. There is a lot to report, but I can’t get into much of it now. We took numerous pictures and are currently working on a very cool project that we will post here once we get it finished.

One thing I will report now is that there was one man who was raised as a JW who made a profession for Christ. The Sunday of the convention was the very first time that he has ever participated in communion. We were honored to share with him in this glorious event. Praise God for His grace!
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Witnesses Now For Jesus Convention

October 18, 2007 4:10 am / Leave a Comment /

In the morning we leave for New Ringgold, Pennsylvania for the 2007 WNFJ convention. We will be staying at the Blue Mountain Christian Retreat center. We look forward to meeting new friends and reconnect with some old ones. There will be many wonderful testimonials and teachings from some great speakers.

This year I’ll be speaking during the Sunday service and have the privilege of conducting the communion service. If you know anything about JWs, they are forbidden to partake of the emblems. This fact alone makes this service very special as there is a good chance that there will be someone partaking for the very first time. I’ll report once I get back. If you would like to read more about the convention check out the PFO web site. There is also a pdf of the schedule.

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I Felt Like A Jehovah’s Witness

October 12, 2007 7:11 pm / 1 Comment /

As many of you know, our daughter has been doing ballet for months. She really enjoys it and is practicing all of the time. We wanted to find something for our son to do also so Becky thought about a six week class of Tae Kwon Do at a local martial arts academy that is designed for four and five year olds. I practiced this martial art myself 20 years ago so it was something that I could help him learn.

As soon as the class ended, they lined the kids up and gave each of them a stamp on the hand. I didn’t notice it until we got home, but the stamp was of the yin-yang symbol. I wasn’t sure what to think about it so I did a little research on what the symbol means and came to the conclusion that it wasn’t something I wanted our family to display. Becky and I talked about it and we decided that we would give our son his own little kid tattoo so that he didn’t feel out of place. We also decided that I needed to tell the instructors that our son was not to receive a stamp after the next lesson.
The next week’s lesson time came so on the way we talked about the stamp and I reminded him that he was not to take one if offered. Even though I was going to talk to the instructor, I knew that they might forget and possibly give one to him anyway. I went over it numerous time with our son;
“What are you going to say if they ask if you want a stamp?”
“No thank you.”
“Good boy!”
Once we arrived at the academy, I talked to the head instructor and asked him to remember my son and that he was not to receive the yin-yang stamp. I explained that it represented a world view that we did not hold so I preferred not to have my son wear one. I also told him that other people have the right to choose to wear one and that we weren’t judging anyone who did, it just wasn’t for us. The instructor was very understanding and had no trouble with our request. As were were walking away, I overheard him tell one of the other instructors, “We’ll have to remember that.”
At the end of class, our son just happened to be the first in line for the drill they were just finishing so he was the first kid they asked if he wanted a stamp. Now, I can’t tell you how many times we went over this, but every single time he gave the correct answer until now. He said, not quite at the top of his lungs, ” I can’t! It was kind of funny, but I could not help but think, “No, your suppose to say, ‘No, thank you!'”
During the whole week, it occurred to me that this is what JW parents must feel like. They instruct their children to abstain from birthdays, holidays and extra curricular activities at school and have to explain their position to the children’s teachers. The kids are expected to withstand peer pressure and obey the wishes of their parents, even if it conflicts with their own desires. I realize that this is but a small taste of what JWs experience, but nonetheless, it is a valuable lesson.
Are we as Christians willing to risk ridicule, embarrassment and possible alienation for our convictions? Personally, the yin-yang symbol is not that big of a deal for me, but what is a big deal to me is standing up for my convictions. I looked at this situation as an opportunity to exercise my fortitude and use this as a teaching lesson for our son. If we can take advantage of enough opportunities like this, hopefully it will stick with our son.
Here is a short video clip of our son in the Tae Kwon Do class.

http://www.youtube.com/get_player

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Don’t Study Your Bible!

October 2, 2007 7:37 pm / 4 Comments /

I was going through my inbox and deleting old e-mail when I came across one that I had forgotten about. An ex-JW friend of mine sent me a scan of a recent Watchtower publication that is causing quite a stir. It seems like the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society doesn’t want Jehovah’s Witnesses studying the Bible.

The September, 2007 issue of the “Kingdom Ministry” warns JWs from conducting their own study of the Scriptures and compares it to “foolish questionings.” Click on this image to see a larger version of the document so that you can read it for yourself. As you read through it (the part in the blue box), notice how independent Bible study is viewed in a negative light. If JWs want to be fed spiritually, they should read the publications of the Watchtower. Accurate knowledge comes from reading Watchtower material, but reading the Bible alone is “unprofitable and futile.”

I pray that JWs reading this edition of Kingdom Ministry will recognize how this is just plain sick.

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Jehovah’s Witness Convention 2007- Follow The Christ- Part II

July 21, 2007 11:02 pm / 3 Comments /

Part II

The building was not completely packed, but I have never been in the company of so many JWs. Every one was dressed up, men, women and children and no child care was offered. Above the stage was a huge banner that read, “Follow The Christ 2007 District Convention 2008.” The program started a bit late, but the speakers usually ended their time slot a few minutes early. There were no breaks from when to convention began at 9:30 until 12:10 for lunch.

As soon as the lunch break began, S.R. came over to me and asked if I had any questions. We got to talking about whether or not God needed an organization when he tried to prove through Acts 15 that all of the churches reported back to a governing body in Jerusalem. I pointed out that because this was the only time in scripture where a letter was sent forth from the apostles in Jerusalem, it wasn’t as clear cut as the Watchtower says it is about a governing body. I told him that after churches were set up and established, they were autonomous and followed no pattern of reporting back to Jerusalem. We agreed to disagree and decided it was lunch time.

S.R.’s family invited me to stay with them and eat. Practically no one left the building for lunch because they all brought their own food in small coolers. Out of the few people who did leave the building, the majority of them sat in the parking lot and ate lunch in their cars. Very few people left the premises to go eat at a restaurant. I thanked S.R., but declined their offer because I had a small cooler in my car and I wanted to call Becky and talk with her about how the day was going.

One of the things I told Becky about on the phone was that the parts I disliked most about the convention were the testimonies. The first three people to give their testimonies all had these stories about how they persevered through extreme circumstances in order to give more time to the organization. The first lady said that she entered into the pioneer service (full-time door to door ministry) in spite of the fact that she has type one diabetes, her daughter has some sort of disability and her grandmother, has Parkinson’s disease.

The second lady told of giving up her four year degree. She was very close to graduating, yet decided that she didn’t want to “waste any more time.” She thought it best to pioneer instead of following Satan’s world.

The third lady was a bit younger than the other two and said that prior to pioneering, she was seeking “wrong entertainment” in the form of video games and movies. Next, she said something very interesting. I don’t have it word for word, but it was something to the effect of, “If you stay busy in the works of Jehovah, you don’t have time for the world.” The message that the Watchtower was trying to send was extremely obvious.

“There are no excuses for not doing more. Do you think you have it
tough? These people have difficult circumstance and are still able to
pioneer full-time for Jehovah’s Organization. Why can’t you?”

What a guilt trip! That, my friends, is a classic mark of a cult. We should stay so busy that we do not have time for anything else. That includes no time for investigation or critical thinking.

One way that the organization accomplishes this was being played out right before my eyes in this very convention. Each speaker brought up numerous Bible verses to substantiate certain points of their subject, but gave almost no time to look up the verses and zero time to consider the context. I was writing as fast as I could and was looking up as many of the verse as I could. When I couldn’t keep up, I would just write down the passage and turn to the verse the speaker had already jumped to. I could see the JWs in front of me who were doing little more than just writing down the verses. It was very difficult to write down the verse, look it up, check the context and take notes before the speaker had already moved on to another verse. After a few hours of this, we all needed a break. Lunch time sounds good right about now.

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