witnessing to a JW

[17th Angel]

Ok. .so my boss is a JW.. I love the guy Hes hispanic and hispanic guys make me laugh because of their machismo.. So we goof around a lot.. Hes married to a beautiful woman who has been very sick for the past 10 years.. Its a strange thing because she is sick with the very thing that killed my dad when he was 39 and she is also 39 yo

So I ask him if he believes in miracles.. which he says no.. he said that there are no more miracles.. so I tell him some of the miracles Ive seen lately one of which is a healing of an incurable disease.. he said that he believes that stuff happens but not that they are miracles??? whatever that means.. so he tries to tell me some stuff and I tell him about mee and he told me based on what I told him that mee is apostate and not a true believer... sorry mee. Apparently internet witnessing isnt that popular in the kingdom halls...

anyways he tells me right off that Jesus isnt God.. Im like yeah yeah I heard this one before.. he tells me that Jesus is the son of God given the powers of God.. I was like ok.. so Jesus is our example.. we are to live like Jesus lived.. he said exactly.. I was like ok.. Jesus healed and performed miracles.. why cant we do that if we are to live like Jesus lived.. !!! he did exactly what mee does.. He sidesteps the issue.. and changed the subject. oh my goodness...

I let him change the subject but then I took hold of the conversation and asked him if he read the book of psalms and he said of course.. he reads all of the bible... I said ok so do you believe that God keeps His promises and Javier said yes I said ok what about Gods promise that He will give us a long life and save us from our time of troubles if we but know His name??? I said your wife is 39 thats far from living a long life.. well ... javier changed the subject again.

It was very sad to me.. I felt the burden he feels.. he has to be strong for his wife and his family and the responsibilities of witnessing all weekend.. and the high standards for himself personally bleed over into his employees.. he has no life.. he has work work work.. God created us for His good pleasure.. so it pleases Him to see us enjoy His creation and our lives.. These people are in huge bondage and I will always pray for them. They love God.. they love their version of Jesus Christ... the most horrible thing I can think is that when they face the judgement seat... the disillusionment they might feel that they had it all wrong they believed a lie.. how sad I went out to my car and cried for an hour and prayed until the Lord released me..

Please.. with me.. pray for these people.

I asked him if he had the opportunity to see his wife healed would he take it and he said no.. that they are supposed to suffer in this life. I told him that Christ suffered so we dont have to .. . he changed the subject again.

He gave me information of the kingdom halls in my area and the watchtower web address I took them graciously.. I know his intentions are good and I adore him for wanting to see me saved by his standards.. but dear one Im already saved.

This is the belief of a real JW.... This world, this currently life isn't for keeps... It will fade and die and return to ash... They have this hope for the new paradise on Earth where they will live forever. They are currently in a way to coin it... In hell. This is a place that is run/influnced by the devil and is an evil and wicked world. So their view being; what is the point in being brought back to life or healed or kept on that "life support" when this is a mere blink in time... The future, their paradise earth is what they await... Not this current life. And it has NOTHING to do with having to suffer just like jesus... They are not like that section of catholics who punish themsleves..

Indeed they work very hard.... I have never seen a more dedicated set of people. That is one of the few reasons I left, I am not a work horse nor that dedicated to anything... heh. You mention judgement day.... They have attempted ALL their lives as a JW to bring people to god and the bible...... They teach nothing but, the bible... Why would they have a bad time at this judgement day? They have a teaching of false religion, so for example you are wrong in their eyes and they pray for you on judgement day.... But they know that their god gives mercy to those who have walked by accident blindly following the wrong religion, as they believe that when the whore of babylon.... false religion is destroyed you and all others will be free from it's delusions and so on and can learn the "goodnews".

 

[BlaznFattyz]

there is witnessing and calling and preaching to and within the christian churches. many are called to christ during services, many are called to evangelism, many are called to baptism, many are called to rededicate their lives, many are called to greater responsibility.

 

[BlaznFattyz]

actually some jw's stopped to talk to me sunday, and i witnessed to them the gospel and the dangers of mixing magazine doctrine from anonymous and implausible sources and invited them to my church to hear a live person apply scriptures from the living bible to ones life.

 

[17th Angel]

actually some jw's stopped to talk to me sunday, and i witnessed to them the gospel and the dangers of mixing magazine doctrine from anonymous and implausible sources and invited them to my church to hear a live person apply scriptures from the living bible to ones life.

I bet they turned you down right?

What danger is there of mixing magazines with bibles? You say magazine doctrine.....? Doctrine? Have you ever read a watch tower magazine? It gives references of the bible and tries to explain and give understanding of the scriptures within the bible.. It isn't like the majority of churches that make their own dogma ;x

 

[mee]

Indeed they work very hard.... I have never seen a more dedicated set of people. oquote]
Just as Jesus found great happiness in willingly serving God, so do Jehovahs witnesses. they are willing to do the will of God, just as Jesus did , that is not to say that we will be put to death like Jesus was, but whatever Jesus tells us to do we do it . following Jesus example john 5;30 says it all really,
because I seek, not my own will, but the will of him that sent me. so we as christians were told by Jesus to GO matthew 28;19-20 and Jehovah did say to listen to Jesus.
(Luke 9:35) And a voice came out of the cloud, saying: "This is my Son, the one that has been chosen. Listen to him."

 

[BlaznFattyz]

I bet they turned you down right?

What danger is there of mixing magazines with bibles? You say magazine doctrine.....? Doctrine? Have you ever read a watch tower magazine? It gives references of the bible and tries to explain and give understanding of the scriptures within the bible.. It isn't like the majority of churches that make their own dogma ;x

the danger of magazines is many people replace what is said by authors who have an agenda, and these people replace it for what god make by speaking in their hearts.
an example: have you not seen the dangers of magazines and the media painting pictures of people? take for example women. since the '50s women have been seen in magazines as independent smoking kools and in constant need of being thin and having drugs to fix the many problems they have or make them better than normal so then can compete with men or other women. some people buy into it and are victims of how the media has portrayed women.
now take that idea of how media affects peoples lives and transfer it over to a religion.
do you pick up articles and just assume they are real and accurate, or do you look for the crediblity of the paper, even the author?

 

[BlaznFattyz]

I have never seen a more dedicated set of people.

i have, the many thousands of christian evangelists all around the world spreading the gospel. even a little church like the one i attend has set up schools, orphanages, etc in third world countries for the glory of god and continue to do so. christian teachers of the top of my head: j. vernon mcgee, billy graham, these are all preachers that work very hard and have brought many to christ.

 

[mee]

i have, the many thousands of christian evangelists all around the world spreading the gospel. even a little church like the one i attend has set up schools, orphanages, etc in third world countries for the glory of god and continue to do so. christian teachers of the top of my head: j. vernon mcgee, billy graham, these are all preachers that work very hard and have brought many to christ.

yes there are many good deeds that sincere people are doing, but making known about the established heaven kingdom goverment is what Jesus wants his people to be doing , he wants his people to be telling others and making known about this GOODNEWS of the kingdom . because it is for a witness , he wants people to put their vote in for the only goverment that will bring peace to the earth .
(Mark 13:10) Also, in all the nations the good news has to be preached first............. this heralding about the kingdom is serving a purpose , people are being gathered out of all nations and tribes of the earth revelation 7;9-10 because when Jesus goes into action ,on the great day of Jehovah , people will be on one side or on the other side . there will be no sitting on the fence. we will be for the established heavenly kingdom with Jesus as reigning king, or we wont . but the gathering is NOW going on , these gathered ones are helping the faithful annointed ones to get the job done . yes as matthew 24;14 says ,this GOODNEWS of the kingdom will be preached in all the inhabited earth .............for a witness to the nations............then the end will come. there is no stopping bible prophecy ,Gods purpose for the earth will come to fullfillment there is no stopping it............ the heavenly kingdom goverment was established in 1914 according to bible prophecy and chronology. and Jesus was made king at this date inline with the bible , this is the GOODNEWS but the question is do people want this GOODNEWS or do they reject this GOODNEWS. what side of the fence we are on when Jesus goes into action will be obvious , but at that time it will be to late , we will have aready made our choice,NOW is the time to be welcoming this reigning king (Jesus) Jehovahs people have made their choice. they are waving their symbolic palm branches to welcome Jesus as the rightful king . and because it is such GOODNEWS they are making it known all over the world, so that other sheep can put their vote in also .

 

[mee]

the danger of magazines is many people replace what is said by authors who have an agenda, quote] that is very true, i am glad to say that Jehovahs people always use the bible as their guide, nowadays we are living in a world that is far removed from bible standards and princibles and the watchtower and awake mags always direct people to Gods word the bible . since 1914 the world has been influenced greatly by the great deciever(satan the devil) this world and its standards just gets worse and worse .the way people live gets more removed from bible standards every day , the awake mag especially ,has many fine topics about family life , and always points to the bible as the best guidence . i find the mags to be most helpful, when i was caring for my elderly mom it had a very good topic about caregiving which helped me a great deal , and it always pointed to the bible and the princibles in the bible , also it has very good topics about bringing up children and family life , and it always pointed to the bible as a guide. so there is nothing wrong with mags that Jehovahs people print, because the bible is their guide. i love the way that the mags point to the bible verses, so rather than taking on the influence of this world , they bring our thoughts back to the bible and then we can see what God has to say . the watchtower and awake mags have helped me lots over the years , in one way or another.

 

[17th Angel]

that is very true, i am glad to say that Jehovahs people always use the bible as their guide, nowadays we are living in a world that is far removed from bible standards and princibles and the watchtower and awake mags always direct people to Gods word the bible . since 1914 the world has been influenced greatly by the great deciever(satan the devil) this world and its standards just gets worse and worse .the way people live gets more removed from bible standards every day , the awake mag especially ,has many fine topics about family life , and always points to the bible as the best guidence . i find the mags to be most helpful, when i was caring for my elderly mom it had a very good topic about caregiving which helped me a great deal , and it always pointed to the bible and the princibles in the bible , also it has very good topics about bringing up children and family life , and it always pointed to the bible as a guide. so there is nothing wrong with mags that Jehovahs people print, because the bible is their guide. i love the way that the mags point to the bible verses, so rather than taking on the influence of this world , they bring our thoughts back to the bible and then we can see what God has to say . the watchtower and awake mags have helped me lots over the years , in one way or another.

Hey, you starting to give more than pastings... I liked this post. Some nice parts to it... Nice to hear that it helps you in so many parts of your life from caring for your mother, rasing children and just general topics that pop up in this world.... And I am sure you would give the same answer as an old fellah I used to know. I asked him once, Just imagine for a moment you were wrong, and you had the chance to go back what would you say? He told me he wouldn't change a thing and that he had lived a loving and peacful life helping as many people as he could and just generally doing all he could to make this place seem a little less cold.

 

[BlaznFattyz]

the danger of magazines is many people replace what is said by authors who have an agenda,

that is very true, i am glad to say that Jehovahs people always use the bible as their guide...

you are missing the point. a magazine can be a distraction and taint what the bible has to say, the jw's walking around were pushing the magazine and not the bible. let me make that perfectly clear as you have a tendency to overlook things... they were pushing the magazine which was written by people they don't know, and they never opened or talked about the bible, i did not take the magazine, and warned them about replacing what the magazine has to say with what god has to say to them if they read the bible for themselves.

 

[17th Angel]

Blazn... Avoiding me much?

Why would a magazine that is simply a reference tool be bad? JW's do not "push" their litreature more than the bible, the bible is the first and formost imoportant book to them... Obviously there is a scale, a scale of intelligence and understanding... So the magazine touches on references from the bible that can reach everyone. Also, it's not just about the bible true... It also has stories of real people and what the bible means to them and how their lives have been made better.. It's not like there is a hidden agenda in these magazines or anything to divert you from concentrating on the bible.... Like I said twice in this thread... Have YOU even read a watchtower magazine? ;\ I don't think you have, cause your vision of these magazines seemed warped...

To answer the thing about these jw's that came to you with the magazine... They wouldn't have gone to bible I guess because your version is so much different to theirs, and they consider your bible tainted and you I would guess would consider theirs tainted or perhaps just be confused when they read a verse than you read that same verse and they were both differently phrased *shrugs* Or perhaps, they may not have known you were a religious person and I guess the way they may have approached it was they didn't want to instantly be told to leave... Someone came to my door and I instantly targetted a bible, I wouldn't hear them out... heh.

 

[mee]

you are missing the point. a magazine can be a distraction and taint what the bible has to say, .

in all the years that i have been reading the mags , i have never ever found that to be the case, or am i misunderstanding you , and you are saying that no one should ever print a mag and refer to the bible in it? seems a bit strange to me if you are . or maybe it is the fact that the mags are printed by Jehovahs witnesses that you dont like . if it is then it seems that the problem would be nothing to do with the mags , but the problem would be your own . but for me i think the mags are very topical and informative i cant wait to see what the next issue brings , i have just finished reading my latest mag and it was a good artical about .......truthfulness ....it was asking the question .............must we always tell the truth? and it directed me to the bible throughout the artical, and the verse that stayed with me was this one
But as for the cowards and those without faith and those who are disgusting in their filth and murderers and fornicators and those practicing spiritism and idolaters and all the LIERS their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulphur. This means the second death." revelation 21;8 so i can see from this verse that to be a practicer of lieing would not lead me to everlasting life it would lead me to everlasting destruction ......... and believe me there are many in the world who make it a practice to lie about things . so i feel that the mags are very useful to lead us to the word of God the bible. and then of cause we have to make the choice as to weather we put into practice what the bible says , or not . i think the next issue is ..........children be obedient to your parents... nice

 

[BlaznFattyz]

in all the years that i have been reading the mags , i have never ever found that to be the case, or am i misunderstanding you , and you are saying that no one should ever print a mag and refer to the bible in it? seems a bit strange to me if you are . or maybe it is the fact that the mags are printed by Jehovahs witnesses that you dont like . if it is then it seems that the problem would be nothing to do with the mags , but the problem would be your own . but for me i think the mags are very topical and informative i cant wait to see what the next issue brings...

i have read the magazines, not just one, i have read many... so it is not just a remark i am making to not accept them. that is not to say there are not good intentions of good articles that point to the bible for answers, because there are. but often times the articles, who are written by an organization i dont know and cannot check their credibility and from an organization that already has lost credibility to me by constantly changing dates and re-written their doctrine to justify it, as well as putting an misinterpretated jw slant on scripture that seems to creep into these informative articles that i do not agree with, it is for those reasons i cannot accept the mags as a gift, and it is those reasons i told the jw people to be cautious, and they told me they understood what i was saying and thanked me for pointing that out to them.

 

[mee]

i have read the magazines, not just one, i have read many... so it is not just a remark i am making to not accept them. that is not to say there are not good intentions of good articles that point to the bible for answers, because there are. but often times the articles, who are written by an organization i dont know and cannot check their credibility and from an organization that already has lost credibility to me by constantly changing dates and re-written their doctrine to justify it, as well as putting an misinterpretated jw slant on scripture that seems to creep into these informative articles that i do not agree with, it is for those reasons i cannot accept the mags as a gift, and it is those reasons i told the jw people to be cautious, and they told me they understood what i was saying and thanked me for pointing that out to them.

i know the ones that write these mags ,it is the ones spoken of in matthew 24;45-47 and they are faithful to Jesus teachings as laid down in the bible, and Jesus is feeding these faithful ones with food at the right time, and it is really good spiritual food that can then be shared out to anyone who wants to partake of it . but some dont like healthy spititual food , so they will have to go without. but one thing is certain , those who go without ,can never ever say that they were not offered any of the healthy spiritual food from Jesus

 

[BlaznFattyz]

i believe the lord brought them to me to witness to them the true gospel, so i did, and gave them information for them to be aware of and cautious of and invited them to my church. hopefully they will allow the lord to speak to their hearts, and not substitutes his words for the words from an anonymous organization.

 

[mee]

i believe the lord brought them to me to witness to them the true gospel, so i did, and gave them information for them to be aware of and cautious of and invited them to my church. hopefully they will allow the lord to speak to their hearts, and not substitutes his words for the words from an anonymous organization.

"Who really is the faithful and discreet slave whom his master appointed over his domestics?"—MATTHEW 24:45.
The faithful and discreet slave" cannot be one person. Why not? Because the slave began serving spiritual food back in the first century, and according to Jesus, the slave would still be doing so when the Master arrived in 1914. That would represent some 1,900 years of faithful service for one individual. Not even Methuselah lived that long!—Genesis 5:27.
Jesus said: "Truly I say to you, He will appoint him over all his belongings." (Matthew 24:47) yes its all happening in this time of the end , since 1914 when Jesus was crowned king , the evil slave has been identified
(Matthew 24:48-51)
the faithful and discreet slave went through the same tests as "that evil slave." Rather than becoming embittered, however, they were readjusted.
Yes, the "evil slave" came from the ranks of the faithful slave.
In a comparable way, after the death of the apostles, "oppressive wolves" came from the ranks of anointed Christian elders.—Acts 20:29, 30. and so it was in the time of 1914 , some fell away and they are now in spiritual darkness , because they were not faithful they became BITTER AND TWISTED .
The ten virgins of
Matthew 25:1-4)
remind us of anointed Christians before 1914. They had calculated that the bridegroom, Jesus Christ, was about to make an appearance. Hence, they "went out" to meet him, boldly preaching that "the appointed times of the nations" would end in 1914.—Luke 21:24.

They were correct. The appointed times of the nations did end in 1914, and God’s Kingdom under Christ Jesus went into operation. But that was in the invisible heavens, but the evil slave did not hang around for enlightenment ,
Before 1914, many members of the faithful slave class had high hopes of meeting with the Bridegroom in heaven that year, but their hopes were not fulfilled. As a result of this and other developments, many were disappointed and a few became embittered. Some of these turned to ‘beating’ their former brothers verbally and consorting with "confirmed drunkards," religious groups of Christendom.—Isaiah 28:1-3; 32:6. yes its all happening since 1914, but the understanding is now very clear indeed . i love it. the way the religious groups are called drunkards, it reminds me of that woman Babylon the great she is drunk and full of nasty things. and she is the WORLD WIDE EMPIRE OF FALSE RELIGION .and Gods people are out of there. revelation 18;4 but the great crowd spoken of in revelation 7;9-10 are feeding from the faithful ones in matthew 24;45-47 and the feeding gets better and better .

 

[BlaznFattyz]

...according to Jesus, the slave would still be doing so when the Master arrived in 1914.

according to your own words ("if we stick to the bible we cant go wrong...") we should stick to the bible. therefore that which you continuously repeat (wt dates) is not in the bible, then you open yourself to the possibility of being wrong, which for the record has been historically shown already.

 

[mee]

according to your own words ("if we stick to the bible we cant go wrong...") we should stick to the bible. therefore that which you continuously repeat (wt dates) is not in the bible, then you open yourself to the possibility of being wrong, which for the record has been historically shown already.

bible prophecy regarding Jesus kingship in the heavens has come true , its nothing to do with anyones dates , its about the (appointed times of the nations . ) bible prophecy ALWAYS comes true. and it has, just because some like yourself refuse to recognize bible prophecy does not make the prophecies wrong . its all happening in this time of the end. we really are in the last days, or the time of the end. thrilling times indeed
In 1914 the appointed times of the nations ended, and the time of the end for this world began.
The Davidic Kingdom was restored, not in earthly Jerusalem, but invisibly in "the clouds of the heavens." (Daniel 7:13, 14)
Jesus spoke of a time during which the leaders of the world would occupy center stage without interference from God’s Kingdom. Jesus called that period "the appointed times of the nations." (Luke 21:24) At the end of those "appointed times," God’s heavenly Kingdom would come to power, with Jesus as its rightful Ruler. At first, Jesus would rule "in the midst of [his] enemies." (Psalm 110:2) Then, according to Daniel 2:44, the Kingdom would "crush and put an end" to all human governments, and it would stand forever. yes we are now well along in the stream of time ,and very soon Jesus will go into action against the human goverments

 

[BlaznFattyz]

bible prophecy regarding Jesus kingship in the heavens has come true , its nothing to do with anyones dates , its about the (appointed times of the nations . ) bible prophecy ALWAYS comes true. and it has, just because some like yourself refuse to recognize bible prophecy does not make the prophecies wrong . its all happening in this time of the end. we really are in the last days, or the time of the end. thrilling times indeed
In 1914 the appointed times of the nations ended, and the time of the end for this world began.
The Davidic Kingdom was restored, not in earthly Jerusalem, but invisibly in "the clouds of the heavens." (Daniel 7:13, 14)
Jesus spoke of a time during which the leaders of the world would occupy center stage without interference from God’s Kingdom. Jesus called that period "the appointed times of the nations." (Luke 21:24) At the end of those "appointed times," God’s heavenly Kingdom would come to power, with Jesus as its rightful Ruler. At first, Jesus would rule "in the midst of [his] enemies." (Psalm 110:2) Then, according to Daniel 2:44, the Kingdom would "crush and put an end" to all human governments, and it would stand forever. yes we are now well along in the stream of time ,and very soon Jesus will go into action against the human goverments

first you said to only use the bible so one doesnt err, but then you dont use the bible and come up with dates given to you by the watchtower, i cant seem to get past you contradicting yourself more than once.
people like myself do believe in bible prophecy such as jesus being born a king and messiah in bethlehem or israel becoming a nation, etc. but people like myself just dont consider jw's as any voice that should be listened to for interpreting prophecies since they have already given many false dates and retracted and reissued different dates. if again we go by the bible, it says to not listen to false prophets, so personally i cannot listen to anything your or your organization have to say, except for loving god and loving others we probably can agree on that and thats a good thing.