I went out today to check on my wonderful father-in-law and my multi-talented Beautiful Wife as they were working on some paint and gutter issues on our house, and I noticed that some Jehovah’s Witnesses had been by and stuck a pamphlet in our door — pictured there on the right.
The heading asked, “Would You Like to Know the Truth?” and it asked six very important questions.
I thought I would take the time to list those questions for any who might wander through to this blog–maybe they received a Jehovah’s Witness pamplet like this, themselves–and for each question add a link to a resource that can help them find begin to find the real answers. (Spoiler alert: The real answers aren’t with the Jehovah’s Witnesses.)
Here they are:
Thoughts En Route 
Love. It. Spoiler and all. 😀 LOL
I can’t disagree with John Wheeler ( Johanan Rakkav ), not even the spoiler! The answers were spot on! 😀
They come and put those things in my door all the time, when I happen to be home and they want to do a bible study with me I simply them I am not interested. They still put those things in my door, their hall is just beside the Church of God (Sunday keeping) that is directly across the street from me.
The last occasion where I met a JW at my front door, rather than go through what feels like a long drawn out conversation, which in my experience is what usually happened. I just handed them some CoG literature in exchange for theirs, that was pretty much it and they left. Now if I can only figure out how to civilly do something similar with most door to door salespersons. It seems that taking a “no” for an answer is something they can ignore for a longer time than should be necessary.
Here is a textbook example of what I have been asking for all along. I would like to see a televised debate on doctrine between one (or more) ministers of the Living Church of God and a representative of these faiths:
1) Catholic Church;
2) Seventh Day Adventist;
3) Mormons;
4) Jehovah’s Witness; and
5) Any mainstream “Protestant” denomination of Christianity.
How about an hour long interview with Piers Morgan on CNN as well?
Does anyone at the LCOG have the courage to maken this happen? After all, what better way to “hit the masses” with what the Church believes?
P.s. Please don’t give the line that Mr. Gerald Weston used “you have to be invited”. My response to that is “GET YOURSELF INVITED!” If you want to evangelize, your goal should always be to target as many people as possible. The mainstream is the way to go for that. You need to “stir the pot” (so to speak) and “get in there!”
God doesn’t want His ministers to simply lay back and “hope” that the 99% of the population who do not even know about the Tomorrow’s World program (for example) happen to one day stumble upon it. The ideal scenario is for a minister to be interviewed/debated on a mainstream media chanel etc. That would give him the opportunity to expose many more people to what the Church teaches and the Bible. If you do that, then you have “maximized” your reach and then it is up to the viewer to follow-up (should they be called to properly understand God’s Word).
Great post by the way.
Thanks for your opinion, Steven.
When I lived in Cleveland, there were a couple of JWs who tried to convert me. I know one probably thought I was a nut job, but I remember one conversation with him when the other one sort of got an “that’s interesting” look on his face.
JW1: So, let me ask you a question… You say Christians should keep the seventh day Sabbath. So, what do you believe about Jehovah’s Witnesses and others who keep Sunday?
Me: I believe you are deceived and are not saved. Furthermore, I believe you will come up in the second resurrection rather than the first.
JW1: So, are you judging me?
Me: You asked me a question, and therefore I gave you my honest opinion according to God’s word.
JW2: [Looks surprised.]
JW1: Well, I guess I have to give you that.
With the proposal Steven brought up about having public debates. It’s been my experience having entered into discussions/debates at Christian Forums, any person could gain first hand knowledge of how many of those conversations you will actually win. What starts as ‘convincing the gainsayers’ usually ends with ‘But Elymas the sorcerer withstood them’. So I have gained an appreciation about what the leading elders in the CoG are up against; it’s an easier said than done thing.
It’s one thing to tell another person what they should do, it’s another thing doing it yourself.
Thanks, Norbert, for your thoughts. I think what we are currently doing best emulates in our modern environment what the Apostles did, and Paul, when he would have had opportunity to go back to the Acropolis actually decided not to do so. The first century had its debating forums in the Greco-Roman world, and we don’t see Christ’s disciples seeking those avenues out in NT, versus being out in the public marketplace. Still, I’m open to other ideas, to be sure. (And good call on that Elymas reference! Of note there, too, is that they were sought after in verse 3; they did not arrange that circumstance themselves.) Thanks, again!
I don’t think public debates are a good idea. From my experience those things always turn into food fights, once the hackles start to rise. Skeptics and atheist might find it entertaining, though.
I think lay members need to show trust in church leadership. You have to match tools with available resources, and lay members don’t have access to the information that church leadership does. It’s easy to criticize when you’re not the one sitting in that chair. Know what I mean?
In commenting on Mr. Smith’s public forum with leading ministers from other churches, that just may happen. Think about the two witnesses and what they are going to do on the world scene.
I had a similar experience. When they asked me if I had a church I attended and I told them I kept the Sabbath, they said, oh that’s your “Sunday” I continued in explaining the difference and other differences we had in common in our beliefs. I told them, I’ve taken many of your literature would you be kind enough to view something that may help you understand my beliefs? He, uncomfortably said sure. I gave him a printout from the COG writers page on some of the similarities and differences of the COG and JW. He asked me if I needed it back when he was done. I said, “No you may throw it away or maybe you will want to share it with other witnesses. I have not had any witnesses back at my door since!