Unloading My Thoughts to Make it Make Sense - Jehovah's Witnesses - Part 1

On Wednesday, January 24, 2024, I posted the following to my Facebook page. Here is the unedited version:

 What is on my mind? Well, truth is I had no plan to write a post in Facebook today since there are other pressing things on my plate. But, after some reading and hearing of God's Word, right now I am ruminating on the similarities of Arian Christianity and some contemporary/modern denominations such as the Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses. I will understand if you choose to block or mute me for a while, but I had to write this.

Arius was a priest and ascetic in the third and fourth centuries. He  promoted a belief that would come to be called Arianism, i.e., a view held by him and other scholars that Jesus, the Son of God, was created by God the Father. Such creation would relegate him to "a god" subordinate to God the Father, rather than "God" and co-equal to the Father. The documented historicity of the belief for Jehovah's Witnesses (actual documents and statements made by the Watchtower society) goes back to when the Watch Tower society was chartered in 1884. In its charter, the society was incorporated to develop and publish Bible literature, to educate men and women to be ministers and missionaries, teachers and instructors in the Bible and Bible literature, "and for public Christian worship of Almighty God and Christ Jesus." While they put forward the practice of worshiping Christ Jesus, they also believe that He was a being created by Almighty God. They rely on the scripture at Colossians 1:15 that says Jesus was "the firstborn of creation" as the basis and proof of Jesus being a creature and not God. If He was a "firstborn" of creation, who was His mother, and why is it believed that this concept does not conflict with John 1:2-3? In verse 18 of Colossians 1, Christ is also referred to as the "firstborn from the dead". So does that mean that no one was resurrected before Jesus was resurrected? Well that would be hard to prove since the Gospels explicitly state accounts of Jesus Christ himself raising people from the dead during His earthly ministry!  Therefore, how should we understand the English translation of  "firstborn"  being used in those passages? The original Greek used there and translated "firstborn" is "prototokos", which means, in addition to a natural birth from a woman or the order of birth, also carries the meaning of referring to priority, rank or position.  That is, positionally, Jesus position of Head of creation takes priority over all other things created, and that His position of firstborn from the dead by resurrection from the dead makes His resurrection rank as the first in importance, in rank and priority, rather than the first in order, since as the Bible clearly shows that individuals in the Old Testament and New Testament prior to Jesus' death and resurrection were raised back to life! Therefore, the scriptural argument for Christ being the first person made or created when examined is weakened when using scripture to prove scripture. Further, adding words to scripture to use as the basis of one's stated belief is not proof; instead, it is dangerous! (Revelation 22:18; Jeremiah 14:14-15; Matthew 7:21-23) 

From 1884 to 1954 the worship of Christ Jesus was doctrine for Jehovah's Witnesses. In the 1950s, there was a growing concern that since Jesus was considered or believed by Jehovah's Witness to be a creature per their core belief, that worshiping Christ Jesus -- although the founders and key leaders of the Jehovah's Witnesses strongly advocated it, members of the society would begin to question the appropriateness of "worship" of Christ Jesus, indicating that to worship Him, even though the leaders cited scriptural bases for that practice, would be considered idolatry. A number of amendments to the charter would eventually remove the doctrine of worshiping Christ Jesus, reserving all worship for Jehovah God, despite Biblical evidence to the contrary. When the New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures, the translation created by the Watchtower society, was amended, all references to the worship of Christ were removed, and phraseology would be incorporated to show Jesus as being a created being who was "a god". The New World Translation is virtually the only version of the Christian Bible that alters the word "worship" relative to worshiping Christ. None of the foregoing concerning the stated beliefs of the Jehovah's Witnesses organization is my own opinion! No! What I have expressed regarding the Witnesses' beliefs and how they evolved over time are all documented within their own literature.

It would be a foolish error to assume only one or two Christian denominations or organizations are outliers when it comes to Christianity, for many groups - even mainline denominations - put a unique spin on what they say they believe based on their "Biblical" perspective. It is true that there are many, if not, significant differences throughout Christendom in how people identify, worship the God of the Bible and understand His Word and commandments, principles, etc. How does one sort through this? In Acts 17, in an almost obscure passage at verses 10-12, we learn that the hearers of the gospel message being preached by Paul and his companions, did not take what they were hearing at face value, but, instead verified what was being spoken by examining the scriptures - not "scripture" but scriptures, cross-referencing them and locating supporting accounts to verify that what they were hearing was the truth. 

I think Dr. Charles Stanley once noted, as he spoke about the many denominations that profess Christianity nowadays, that while the original designation of  "The Way" which was the earliest reference to the following of Christ in the Bible by people who shared a common understanding of the teachings of Christ and His apostles, and which would formally come to be called "Christian" (Acts 11:26 and Acts 24:14), the number of named/distinct denominations that arose over the centuries were most often based on human interpretation of what Christianity is and how it should be practiced. 

Yet to deny the validity of Christ Jesus, the Gospel accounts, Christ's words and prophecies pertaining to Him, to deny His very existence  and sacrificial death and resurrection based on errors that denominations in Christendom have made, or who may have injected their own viewpoints and interpretation is a great mistake. Many people are more comfortable depending on a preacher's words rather than the Word of God. Even the Israel nation when released from slavery in Egypt told Moses, "we don't want to hear from God - you (Moses) talk to us!" Can we be more like the people of Beroea and go to our Bibles and ask God to show us, reveal to us in scripture, His truth, then pursue it, and examine a church or denomination that most closely teaches that truth? 

I daresay that everyone of those denominations believe they are teaching the truth of the Gospel. The Bible tells us that the "truth" will become evident when clarified by God the Holy Spirit, and as it becomes proven by God on "The Day." (1 Corinthians 3:10-13; Luke 11:34-35; 1 Corinthians 4:5)

"My people perish..." - Passage Citation and the Relevance of the Camp Lejeune Story

 

“My people perish…”

    If you are just now ‘tuning in’, please find a copy of the email I sent to the worship community at my blog link: https://mycuprunnethover14.blogspot.com/2023/06/my-people-perish-can-you-complete-bible.html  

Hosea 4:6 is the passage that was partially quoted:  “My people are perishing/destroyed for lack of knowledge; because you have rejected knowledge, I reject you from being a priest to me. And since you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children.”  A simple Google search of what scripture passage tells us that God said His people will perish could have helped an interested person find the answer quickly. Ancient words, yes, but eternally true! Don’t make the same mistake that God’s people made in the past, but, rather, allow those ancient words from God’s eternal Word to change you, your children and your children's children. You see, God is serious about, protective of us, and has radical love for those who are called by His name to know Him and His ways and Word. This past Sunday, the Pastor preached on that relationship factor in our lives.

 

In the true story about Camp Lejeune, the people died from lack of knowledge. They did not know that their water supply was poisoned by toxic chemicals that activated dormant cancer cells or caused new cancers within individuals.  Back then, as now, even the best water filters cannot filter out all toxic substances. They did not know the real reason why they were getting sick and dying. Back then, the fight against cancer was ongoing like it is now; new cancers and their causes took longer to identify and to source. In some cases, that is still very true. The people who lived at, worked at, visited regularly, or otherwise had constant contact with the base at Camp Lejeune and drank its coffee, tea, used ice cubes, or ate food from there that was cooked with the contaminated water had no idea what they were consuming. They lacked the knowledge about why they were becoming ill and dying. They did not know. And, sadly, it is suspected that the knowledge of how the water was being contaminated was not told to the people and the public immediately. Those who had the knowledge or were given the information did not respond to the urgency of what that knowledge and information implied. Thus, thousands of lives were ruined, people died because of the lack of knowledge. The excruciating suffering of thousands and their deaths were the horrific consequences of the lack of knowledge. 

    Here is a brief background to the quotation from Hosea 4, verse 6: God’s prophet Hosea had one of the most challenging assignments as a prophet. Because the majority of God’s people in the nations of Israel and Judah had turned to idol worship, had rejected God’s law for generations, God called Hosea to marry an unfaithful wife to illustrate the unfaithfulness of His people. God’s people had lost interest in things of God; they had turned His festivals into drunken celebrations and mixed in with it worship of foreign gods. The foreign gods from the countries around them fascinated God’s people because of the carnal natures they

represented and promoted. Some of God's people even offered their children to the god Molech as burnt offerings, in order to appease the deity. God had warned His people from “Day 1” (Deuteronomy 27-29) of the consequences of worshiping other gods. Yet, they did not heed God’s warnings, no doubt some of them counting on the game of "sketchy repentance for a while to get blessings from Yahweh," a game that they played way too often and actually thought God was stupid enough to believe! As a result, the majority of the people perished or were destroyed because they rejected both God and the knowledge and counsel of God: Who He is, what He says, and what He requires. In 721 B.C., the northern nation of Israel was destroyed and those who survived the siege were hauled away like cattle. Outlying parts of Judah were also terrorized; a number of Judah’s kings chose to ally themselves with foreign countries and pay tribute to their gods for help, and eventually setting up idols in God’s temple for the people to worship. Thus, a little over one hundred years later, the Babylonian empire destroyed Judah, demolishing the temple and carrying off what was left of its treasures that the Judean kings had not offered to foreign gods and governments.

[It is interesting and compelling to me personally, even knowing why, that God would create a people, a nation upon whom He desired to pour out unheard of blessings and favors, yet knowing that a large number of those in the nation would reject God and His Word. And, that He would permanently record those experiences so that generations to come would have all the warning and information needed for a reasonable person to consider. ]

    Here we are in the 21^st century, surrounded by idols and culture very much like God’s people in Hosea’s day. Inside of God’s Church today, as it was with the called out people of God in Hosea's day, idolatry still takes place. Idols do not have to be statues or pictures of ‘gods’. An idol is anything that takes the place of God in our life. What might some idols be? Some have made their careers an idol – they have placed their careers in a position where their lives are consumed by it – they eat, drink and sleep – as the saying goes – their jobs. Everything else becomes second. Perhaps sports and similar activities have become an idol – how many hours a day are spent doing or watching sports, working out, etc.? A number have made devices their idols – so that they have become addicted to their phones and other communication or gaming devices; there are some youths that have had murder in their hearts when parents or persons in authority have taken away their devices. Pride and self-interest, and social media have become idols – several hours are spent on self-absorbed activity and/or on social media sites; many surf and scroll through their media sites/text messages, or gaming during times of worship. Pride exalts oneself as the supreme authority – ignoring, rejecting, and sometimes berating God and His Word as outdated or not modern enough, and persons who are prideful are easily offended. Family, certain cultural traditions that do not align with the Word of God; entertainments; money, cigarettes – tobacco and marijuana, vaping; cocaine and other drugs that produce psychotropic effects; sex and all versions of carnality including promoting sexuality through appearance, through speech, etc.; gossip. These and other behaviors and actions are the toxic things that persons professing Christ have allowed into their own lives that have supplanted or caused over a course of time and repetition, a rejection of God and His Word. The Jewish nations were engaging in the 8^th, 7^th, and 6^th century B.C. versions of the 21st century noted above. To use an old saying – same dance, different instrument. God has told the Church and members of it that there is no excuse for not knowing Him, and that those who falsely claim to know Him will be unknown by Him.  

  In the catechism contained in the Westminster Confession of Faith, we are told that “The purpose of man is to glorify God and to enjoy him forever.” We who have been saved and who are being sanctified by the Holy Spirit continually are a new creation of God - a people created by God and for God. Thus, we are obliged, very privileged to commune with God daily – through His Word, through prayer and praise, and service. What if all of God’s people did this? What would the Church look like? What would be the same? What would be different? God has called each member of His Church to be a priest – that is, one who offers worship to God, glorifies Him, serves Him, serves others. In 1 Peter, chapter 2, verses 1-12 we read about our identity in Christ. Did anyone who is reading this and who is a part of God’s Church know that the calling of God on all of His people was to be a priest? This is not to be confused with the terms used by denominations to describe clergy or ministerial leaders. The priesthood that God has called all His people to is one based on the knowledge and authority of God and His Word, and the purposes and commandments of
how to live out our faith in that role as described in Peter's letter. 

    Just as in the days of Hosea, the devil, satan, knows scripture better than many churchgoers or persons professing Christianity. Some people shirk off reading and studying scripture because what God says in it is the opposite of what they want to do, and/or they think that God’s Word is so old-fashioned, that it has little to do with our lives today. And that is just the position that the devil wants us in. That is why so many churchgoers are filled with false knowledge, why so many barely resemble Christ in their thoughts, actions, and character. They do not know or they choose to reject knowledge of God and His Word, and instead seek to glorify self, satisfy self by whatever means at hand, and even do so in a way that they think they are giving God praise and worship!

    Sadly, Hosea’s warnings are going unread and unheard - even in His Church. God's Word is being 'reinterpreted', being changed, out of the mouths of those who have chosen to rebel against God. Those who solely self-identify as people of God in their own eyes are perishing, because they are ignorantly rejecting God and snubbing His Word for reasons such as told to me: "I already went to Sunday School when I was a kid", "I don't want to be embarrassed because I don't know as much as other people", "I don't have time; I'm a mother and stay busy", among other seemingly 'good reasons'. The rejection continues despite how many times they have heard it and have even been in the company of those who are anointed by God's Holy Spirit; the sad  consequences of which are always eternal if repentance does not occur. Those victims in Camp Lejeune did not know and were not told that the water was contaminated with cancer-causing chemicals. They did not know why they kept getting sick. It would be decades before the truth came to light, and persons were made knowledgeable about their situation. Unlike humans, God has not withheld the truth from anyone. It has been spoken and recorded in His Word for thousands of years. Anything we face and encounter today has been illustrated, spoken to, and has had principles established for it within the pages of scripture; the Bible doesn't have to be made relevant - it has always been relevant to any and every generation. We who disbelieve or who want something more palatable are the ones that are irrelevant before God! That should make us shake in our boots. 

Today, as you read God’s Word, heed the warning God has given through Hosea. Repent of the choice to reject God and His Word, and seek forgiveness and mercy from God. Ask Him to show you His cleansing truth and allow you to experience it, to address your needs and situation, to answer your questions, to draw closer to Him.  

 "O that today you would hear His voice and not harden your hearts!" (paraphrased from Hebrews 4:7)  

 

  

Blessed Are Those Who Are Persecuted for Righteousness’ Sake, for Theirs Is The Kingdom of Heaven

 

Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. There is a popular “church” teaching that when we become followers of Christ, we have a rosy path before us. That we can expect material goods and wealth because we are now “Christian”. But, do you know that Jesus says just the opposite to those who would follow Him? ¹⁸“If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. ¹⁹ If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.” (John 15:18-19) This hatred may look like name calling, denial of certain provisions or kindness, verbal assaults and threats, even physical assaults and attack on property. (I have personally experienced a number of these; on one occasion, when I and some high schoolers from church were sharing the Gospel on Good Friday, we came under verbal attack!) It may be direct persecution on our bodies by satan in an attempt to limit our ability to praise and worship God and to distract us from our mission. 

Do we withhold our identity as a follower of Christ because we are embarrassed, or think we will be called names? Look at what Jesus tells us in Mark 8:38: “Those who are ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of them the Son of Man will also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.” 

Zowie! God implores us to turn to Him in times of trouble – look at what the Bible says about praying to God when we are facing trials: Psalm 56:1-4, Psalm 57:1-3, Psalm119:84-87, Psalm 142:6, John 15:20; there are many more!  God has given us not just His Spirit, but also spiritual armor to protect our souls, because the devil and his agents are seeking to destroy our faith and relationship with Jesus. As a follower of Christ indwelt by God’s Holy Spirit, we are already walking in eternity with God; we are already experiencing in a very tangible way, the kingdom of heaven because the Spirit of God, at work in us to build God’s kingdom, fills us, protects our souls, hearts and minds, we are sharing with Christ in our sufferings, and draws us closer to Jesus. Jesus, knowing in advance that we all face some version of suffering for His name, passionately prayed to His Father to protect us, most importantly to protect our faith and trust in Him, so that we may endure. As those who suffer for His namesake, we then fully identify with God’s kingdom, knowing we are secure in His grace and power. 

Therefore, though we will face difficulties because we follow Christ, we do not shrink back from being a Christ follower because we know we have already been saved for an inexplicable life beyond our humanity. No one can take that reality from us. The persecution can have the purpose of building our faith and trust in God, in rejoicing because we become enjoined in a remarkable and special way to Christ and His sufferings. We will find and know God in a unique way through suffering! And in the midst of our suffering, we can bow before God in grateful thanksgiving because we have the confirmation that we are Christ’s and in Christ.

 

Explore

This beatitude and the last one are tough to deal with because very few, if any, of us want to be taken out of our comfort zone. We want people to like us, and treat us fairly. We don’t want anything ‘negative’ to happen to us just because we are Christian. Consider these things:

·        For right now - and only God knows how long this will continue, the U.S. is one of few countries where you can live and not experience the kind of harsh persecution that our fellow brothers and sisters in over 85% of the countries of the world are experiencing because they name the name of Christ. Our trials are more subtle – just like they were for the Israelites when Balaam enticed them with sexual immorality and idolatry. Many who profess belief in Christ in the ‘western’ world are succumbing to the enticement; many Christians obey culture instead of God, breaking the first commandment. They call good what God has called sinful. Have you found that to be true; if so, in what ways? If you do not think that is true, why?

·        In this paper’s opening it says that “There is a popular “church” teaching that when we become followers of Christ, we have a rosy path before us. That we can expect material goods and wealth because we are now “Christian”. What do you think about that?

 

·        Have you been made aware of the harsh persecutions taking place around the world? How do you feel when you hear about, read, or see reports of such persecutions?  

·        What is it about God’s kingdom that would make you desire to endure pain and trials for Christ’s name? How easy would that be for you? (hint, re-read the Psalms above that David prayed to God)



Bonus: "Guilty"  -- Newsboys  (theme song from movie God's Not Dead 2); "Even If" - Mercy Me; "Don't Wait Til the Battle is Over - Shout Now!" - Walter Hawkins and the Love Center Choir