The memorial service for Jerald is planned for 10:30am this Saturday, October 7, 2006, at the Salt Lake Christian Center, 4300 South 700 East, Salt Lake City, UT 84107. In lieu of flowers the family has suggested that donations be made to Rescue Mission of Salt Lake, 463 South 400 West, Salt Lake City, Utah 84101-2202, (801) 355-1302. Condolences can be sent to condolences@utlm.org or directly to the Utah Light house bookstore at 1358 S. West Temple, SLC, UT 84115.
Jerald Tanner of Utah Light house Ministry died peacefully yesterday evening. Here is an excerpt of an e-mail from his wife, Sandra Tanner.
“Dear friends,
Jerald entered heaven’s gates today (10/01/06) at 7:20 pm….He went into a coma last night and didn’t give any sign of knowing we were with him today.A memorial service is being planned for Sat. but not sure where–mainly
because we aren’t sure what size facility we need.
Pray for us as we grieve.
In Christian Friendship,
Sandra Tanner”
Jerald and Sandra were both generations deep in Mormonism. God in His wonderful grace led them both out of Mormonism to start a ministry providing humanitarian outreach to the Community, and printing critical research and documentation on the LDS Church. For this, they are known world-wide and looked up to by countless Christians.
I am glad for Jerald, yet sad for his family and extended family- the counter-cult community. We invite you to join us in prayer during this difficult time for Sandra, the Tanner family, and those who knew Jerald best. If you would like to know more about the Tanners and their work, visit the Utah Lighthouse Ministry web site. Condolences can be sent to condolences@utlm.org. Rest in the joy of the Lord, Jerald.
Today at the breakfast table my four year old daughter said, “Daddy, do you want to hear the new words I learned how to sound out?” We have a marker board near the table and the kids are allowed to write, draw, or color on the board. Becky wrote down a couple of new words for our daughter so now she was proud to show me what she learned. “Sure, let’s hear them,” I replied.
She looked at the first new word and said, “But.” She then moved on to the second word and said “Top.”
Evidently she didn’t say them clearly enough because our 3 1/2 year old son started to copy what he thought the two new words were. He started bouncing in his seat as he rapidly repeated, “But-talk, but-talk, but-talk!”
If you don’t get it, repeat those two words out loud really, really fast. Those kids crack me up.
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Important note: We will not reveal the names of our children on this blog. Any comment that mentions our children’s names will be deleted. It is nothing personal, we just feel that it is an important safety measure for our family. If you would like to read the other FTJB entries, click on the “From the Jewel Box” link in the side bar on the right or on the Jewel Box icon at the end of this paragraph.
A couple of weeks ago Becky met with a pair of Jehovah’s Witness ladies in the Kingdom Hall. (She has met with these ladies for close to two years.) They were going through a passage (Colossians 1:16-17) in the JW’s own New World Translation of the Bible that is notorious for inserting one word four times in order to completely change the meaning of the passage. The New American Standard translation of the Bible translates this passage as follows.
16 For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities–all things have been created through Him and for Him.
17 He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together Balklänning.
Now here is the New World Translation.
16 because by means of him all [other] things were created in the heavens and upon the earth, the things visible and the things invisible, no matter whether they are thrones or lordships or governments or authorities. All [other] things have been created through him and for him.
17 Also, he is before all [other] things and by means of him all [other] things were made to exist,
Notice any differences? The word “other” appears four times in brackets. This passage is speaking about Jesus, and as the N.A.S. points out, all things have been created by Him. If Jesus is the Creator, then that means that He is Deity. Since JW’s believe that Jesus is the first creation, they have inserted the word “other” in an attempt to make Jesus look like a created being. In other words, he didn’t create all things, he created all other things. Jehovah God created Jesus, who then created everything else.
Becky was quick to point out that the word “other” does not appear in her New International Version of the Bible. Not only that, she showed the two JW ladies that the word “other” does not appear in the Greek either. Last year one of the ladies gave Becky a Kingdom Interlinear Translation of the New Testament. This is the Watchtower’s own publication which has the word for word Greek on the left side of the page and then the NWT on the right side. Becky brings this book with her every week and has found it to be very helpful.
Once the ladies saw that the word “other” is not in the original language, they tried to explain that it didn’t make any difference. The word is inserted for clarification, but even if the NWT did not include the word, the passage still has the same meaning. Becky had an idea and decided to see if the ladies really meant that.
Becky wrote on a sheet of paper, “By means of him all things were created,” and then asked,
“If this sentence was written about Jehovah, what would it mean?”
JWs- It would mean that Jehovah created all things.
Becky- All things? You mean that this would say that everything that
was ever created would have been created by Jehovah?JWs- That is right.
Becky- Would it leave any room for even one thing to be created by someone
else?JWs- No, it wouldn’t. If the Bible says that Jehovah created all things, then no one else created anything.
Becky- Then why does the meaning change when this sentence is applied to
Jesus?
The ladies were so caught up in defending Jehovah’s right to creation that they failed to remember that Colossians chapter one attributes the creation, all of creation, to Jesus. If you take the word “other” out of the text, Jesus is revealed as the Creator Christ.
http://widget-49.slide.com/widgets/slideticker.swf
I came across this cool tool today so I figured I would test it out with a slide show of our family. If this works the way I hope it will, you can look forward to more slide shows of family and ministry related things.
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Important note: We will not reveal the names of our children on this blog. Any comment that mentions our children’s names will be deleted. It is nothing personal, we just feel that it is an important safety measure for our family Bröllopsklänningar.
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