A "witness" encounter...

Earlier today, two Jehovah's Witnesses stopped me while standing in my driveway performing some yard work. We started a conversation, as cordially as we possibly could standing in the heat of a California midday sun.

While the other witnesses walked around our new neighborhood, we could hear the responses of our neighbors letting them know they weren't interested in the message, followed by the click of the door latches. On the first weekend in our new home, we were already showing ourselves to be a family at least willing to talk about the things of God... Boy, do I look forward to future conversations in this neighborhood!

I politely allowed them to make their introduction and explanation about why they were here. The woman, Sue, let me know that they were in the area, encouraging people to read the Bible, and their magazine - on the cover, read the words, "Are Better Times Just Ahead?" She asked me if I believed this...

My initial thought was, "well, not according to the Government, and the National Weather Service, and Wall Street, and just about every other special interest-type group you might be able to find out there... No, better times are not, in fact, just ahead..." However, I remembered my audience and gave my response some thought...

I replied, "It depends on how you look at things... If you see yourself as a person who is basically 'good' and has lived a life intent on being content, then no... Better Times, in the eternal sense are not just ahead at all... In fact, some very bad times are ahead."

Then I explained what I meant by that... I told her that anyone who does not see themselves the way the Bible describes us (wretched, deceitful, in need of God's mercy) is going to have a seriously rude awakening in the Day of Judgment that God has set aside. I asked her how she would feel if a doctor were to walk into the room with a fatal prognosis for her, only to tell her that everything was fine, and soon she wouldn't be feeling any pain at all...

Sue admitted that wouldn't be the way she would want to be treated by the doctor - and that's when I pointed out that telling people - my neighbors in particular - that 'better times are just ahead' without telling them of the alternative, or informing them of who will be effected or how it would happen, is not the proper way to share their faith...

Jehovah's Witnesses believe in a doctrine referred to as annihilation, which is just one of the unfortunate and heretical aspects of their faith. This doctrine basically states that the "second death" referred to several times throughout the Bible, but particularly in the Book of Revelation, is what Satan and all those who are not faithful Jehovah's Witnesses... They will simply cease to exist. Therefore, Hell is the grave described as "Sheol" in the Old Testament, and not a place of eternal punishment.

Sue and her friend assured me that they weren't interested in getting into theological arguments, but that they were only out to share the love of God with people. To which, I agreed that arguing with people would not do much good when they can see you coming in your Sunday best on a Saturday morning from all the way down the street. However, the Bible makes it clear that we should be sharing the WHOLE word of God, and not just part of it... (The BAD news as well as The Good News)

The Jehovah's Witness doctrine would have you believe, as many ignorant political and social leaders would, that mankind is the reason that the Earth is allegedly heating up... I wrote that sentence that way for the following reasons... ONE: There is no conclusive proof that the Earth, on the whole, is increasing in temperature - there is no way to measure that assertion, therefore, it is simply an opinion or a theory, not a fact... TWO: Weather patterns are cyclical, there is little rhyme or reason to them, with the exception of a handful of areas around the world. Therefore, the patterns, while seemingly predictable, are still random, and therefore, subject to change without notice... Hence, we have what many people believe to be "global warming."

One interesting fact to note here is this... Trends in temperatures have been showing an incremental rise since the beginning of the last century when there were basically a handful of cars - not millions and millions supposedly creating this worldwide calamity... I don't want to get too far down the rabbit trail, the weather topic is for a whole other post entirely... The point I wanted to make is this, that the Jehovah's Witness stance is that mankind / the world is being judged by God because of "those who are ruining the Earth." (The Watchtower - Aug. 1, 2008 - p. 7)

"This is no man-made catastrophe. Rather, it is God acting 'to bring to ruin those ruining the earth.' Revelation 11:18"

"Wicked people, whose selfish actions have brought the planet to the brink of ruin, 'will be cut off from the very earth.' But the blameless ones (faithful Jehovah's Witnesses) who serve God acceptably, 'will be left over in it.' Proverbs 2:21-22"

Did you get that??? In the first reference, they are quoting from the prophecies of the opening of the Seven Seals... Verse 18 is declaring the judgment from the midst of the Seventh Seal itself... What they've done here is taken a passage WAY out of it's originally intended context in order to try to make a claim that we humans are responsible for the state of the planet, and those who continue to abuse the earth will be "cut off." Which, in their version of judgment doesn't sound like all that big of a deal... One minute, you're littering to your heart's content, without a care in the world about your personal carbon footprint, the next minute you're dead, without any conscious understanding of what's just happened...

And in the second quotation, they are claiming a proverb as prophecy... Now, I'm ALL FOR the literal interpretation of the Bible - where it is necessary to do so... When someone, anyone, a church, a pastor, a bible-study leader suggests that we should begin to use a passage for an intention other than the one it was clearly written to be, I've just GOT to say something about it... The second chapter of Proverbs is addressing Wisdom in general, and the positive and negative effects of being wise vs. ignorant, gaining understanding vs. remaining well... ignorant... Living in righteousness vs. giving in to lawlessness... It is not a prophetic declaration against those who are not concerned with, or otherwise abuse good ol' earth...

ANYWAY... Sue's friend Cameron apologized and let me know that he didn't feel prepared enough to talk much further, and that he wanted to go and read up on his information and stop by next Saturday. I encouraged them to do so... I'll fill you in on how that goes, when it does...