Evangelizing at your own front door :)

[ccmcmg]

Well, that was actually fun and interesting. Two very nice ladies came to my door to share their faith (JW) with us; unfortunately, their teachings weren’t entirely correct (to be generous). But we had a very good conversation, and I pray that they find the Truth in the Words I shared with them.

I think I held my own (or His Own) with them, and was able to quote from Scripture, as well as ask them good questions, and answer with truth and faith to their questions. I even stopped them in their tracks a couple times at least, when they couldn’t refute the Truth; they changed the subject. But it was a good learning experience for me as well; I’m reminded that I must always be ready to share His Word, to defend the Faith, and the reason for my faith in God, the Father, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit. Amen and praise to Him who gave me the poise and words I shared this morning.

I offered them a small wooden Crucifix, and they declined; they asked me questions about why we had one, and what we did with it. I was able to answer, and they changed the subject.

They asked what command Jesus left for us, and said that we should obey Him. Well of course, I shared “Do this in memory of Me”, and said we obey that command at every Mass. I then shared how we are also commanded to go out among all the nations and spread His Word.

We spent time at the beginning talking about whether or not Jesus is God. They weren’t convinced, and when I quoted Scripture, they wouldn’t listen unless I knew chapter and verse. I’ll have that ready next time. They asked to come back; I told them they were free to stop by, but if I wasn’t able to visit, I would let them know. Hopefully, they will stop by on a nice day so we can sit out front; I don’t let strangers into my home.

Please keep Olivia and Janelle and their fellow door-knockers in your prayers.

 

[spiderweb]

You will most likely have a hard time trying to convince them that Jesus is God. You may be more successful at talking with them about the Holy Spirit. They believe that the Holy Spirit is simply a “force” like electricity. This is much easier to show them from the bible as their reasoning about Jesus being St. Michael and not God will likely make you dizzy.

 

[Ignatius]

Well, that was actually fun and interesting. Two very nice ladies came to my door to share their faith (JW) with us; unfortunately, their teachings weren’t entirely correct (to be generous). But we had a very good conversation, and I pray that they find the Truth in the Words I shared with them.

I think I held my own (or His Own) with them, and was able to quote from Scripture, as well as ask them good questions, and answer with truth and faith to their questions. I even stopped them in their tracks a couple times at least, when they couldn’t refute the Truth; they changed the subject. But it was a good learning experience for me as well; I’m reminded that I must always be ready to share His Word, to defend the Faith, and the reason for my faith in God, the Father, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit. Amen and praise to Him who gave me the poise and words I shared this morning.

I offered them a small wooden Crucifix, and they declined; they asked me questions about why we had one, and what we did with it. I was able to answer, and they changed the subject.

They asked what command Jesus left for us, and said that we should obey Him. Well of course, I shared “Do this in memory of Me”, and said we obey that command at every Mass. I then shared how we are also commanded to go out among all the nations and spread His Word.

We spent time at the beginning talking about whether or not Jesus is God. They weren’t convinced, and when I quoted Scripture, they wouldn’t listen unless I knew chapter and verse. I’ll have that ready next time. They asked to come back; I told them they were free to stop by, but if I wasn’t able to visit, I would let them know. Hopefully, they will stop by on a nice day so we can sit out front; I don’t let strangers into my home.

Please keep Olivia and Janelle and their fellow door-knockers in your prayers.

I always like to ask, do you know who started your church, and when?
We will keep them in our prayers.

 

[Tex_Alberta]

As a former JW if I have the time I invite them for a chat. You can’t really go with theology as much as they are seriously brainwashed. I go for the watchtower itself, it’s claimed authority. Their elders under oath have stated that the watchtower is Gods word, inspired.

From there I go back to their history of constant changes, failed prophecy etc.
You have to remove the authority of the watchtower. You can play scriptural pingpong all day, might as well talk to your cat about astrophysics.

You can prove your point from scripture, but in the JW mind they are converting it to conform to witness theology. If they don’t have an answer it is just ignored.

If I don’t feel like chatting, I just let them know I was a baptized JW, and am now a Catholic. They can’t get away fast enough.

 

[spiderweb]

Another interesting statement taken from their website under FAQs…

Have the Jehovah’s Witnesses changed the Bible to fit their beliefs?

No, we haven’t. On the contrary, when we have discovered that our beliefs were not completely in line with the Bible, we have changed our beliefs.

Leads to this question…

So if the Holy Spirit is a person (John 16:13-14), and God (Acts 5:3-4), and has the same singular name (Matt 28:19), what is taking them so long to change their teaching on the Holy Spirit being a force like electricity?

Edit- This leads to what Tex Alberta mentioned above. Who actually has the authority to change these beliefs? Would someone be shunned just for suggesting that any teaching may be incorrect? Lots of directions to go.

 

[Church_Militant]

Way to go you!

You did well and I suspect they’ll come back (with reinforcements I imagine) or else mark your driveway as one to pass over in favor of easier prey.

CA has a lot of pretty awesome stuff that can help with these folks, so here’s a list that I found.

• Where does Scripture state that Jesus is God?
• Are They Awake on The Watchtower?
• Distinctive Beliefs of the Jehovah’s Witnesses
• Stumpers for the Jehovah’s Witnesses
• More Stumpers for the Jehovah’s Witnesses
• The God of the Jehovah’s Witnesses
• History of the Jehovah’s Witnesses
• Strategies of the Jehovah’s Witnesses

[Link to more articles on this cult. (http://www.google.com/cse?cx=008187825485874300314%3A1bfkl0u3vji&ie=UTF-8&q=jehovah's+witness&sa=Search)

***A useful resource:
***shop.catholic.com/media/catalog/product/cache/1/small_image/135x/9df78eab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/b/e/beginning-apologetics-2.5.jpg Beginning Apologetics Volume 2.5: Yes! You Should Believe In The Trinity: How To Answer Jehovah’s Witnesses

 

[Tex_Alberta]

Another interesting statement taken from their website under FAQs…

Leads to this question…

So if the Holy Spirit is a person (John 16:13-14), and God (Acts 5:3-4), and has the same singular name (Matt 28:19), what is taking them so long to change their teaching on the Holy Spirit being a force like electricity?

Edit- This leads to what Tex Alberta mentioned above. Who actually has the authority to change these beliefs? Would someone be shunned just for suggesting that any teaching may be incorrect? Lots of directions to go.

Actually, yeah, you will be more than shunned. How about being brought before a judicial panel of elders to question your questioning. (like I was)
Disfellowshipping is the next step (their excommunication) and believe me, they take it very seriously.

There are plenty of things they have changed, sometimes back, and forth from the same position. That’s why you have to go after the authority angle. If what they say is true, that the WT is guided by God himself, why the changes? Hmmmmm???

 

[ccmcmg]

You will most likely have a hard time trying to convince them that Jesus is God. You may be more successful at talking with them about the Holy Spirit. They believe that the Holy Spirit is simply a “force” like electricity. This is much easier to show them from the bible as their reasoning about Jesus being St. Michael and not God will likely make you dizzy.

Thanks. And thanks for the message. I’ll answer it shortly! I just canNOT stand by and have anyone tell me under the guise of religion, especially at my own front door, that Jesus Christ is not our Lord and Savior, that He is not God. And if they’d like to talk about the Holy Spirit…I think I might have that covered; God has provided me with the gift of speaking about the Holy Spirit knowledgably.

As a former JW if I have the time I invite them for a chat. You can’t really go with theology as much as they are seriously brainwashed. I go for the watchtower itself, it’s claimed authority. Their elders under oath have stated that the watchtower is Gods word, inspired.

From there I go back to their history of constant changes, failed prophecy etc.
You have to remove the authority of the watchtower. You can play scriptural pingpong all day, might as well talk to your cat about astrophysics.

You can prove your point from scripture, but in the JW mind they are converting it to conform to witness theology. If they don’t have an answer it is just ignored.

If I don’t feel like chatting, I just let them know I was a baptized JW, and am now a Catholic. They can’t get away fast enough.

Good ideas. I’d learn more from a cat about astrophysics than I could teach it. So I know what you’re saying. I’ll be ready with resources. I’m so blessed that I could have these moments with them this morning.

Way to go you!

You did well and I suspect they’ll come back (with reinforcements I imagine) or else mark your driveway as one to pass over in favor of easier prey.

CA has a lot of pretty awesome stuff that can help with these folks, so here’s a list that I found.

What great info! Thanks, thanks, thanks!
Tex Alberta;12403658:

Actually, yeah, you will be more than shunned. How about being brought before a judicial panel of elders to question your questioning. (like I was)
Disfellowshipping is the next step (their excommunication) and believe me, they take it very

seriously.

There are plenty of things they have changed, sometimes back, and forth from the same position. That’s why you have to go after the authority angle. If what they say is true, that the WT is guided by God himself, why the changes? Hmmmmm???

I plan on being ready. God was truly with us this morning. I did flat out tell them that I was saddened that they wouldn’t accept my gift to them of a crucifix. I did notice that they somehow took two of the pamphlets out of my hands after I tried to give them the small wooden crucifix. That almost leads me to think that they won’t be back, that they didn’t want me to have the Watchtower.

I haven’t been on CA much lately; we’ve been very busy. So I signed on to share this story, and then went back to the main page of the forums. The very FIRST post up towards the top that I noticed was in the Ask the Apologists, and it was about JW. How cool is that!!?!!

Thank ya’ll for your support and prayers for these two visitors (they said they were mother and daughter), and all those outside the Catholic Faith, either by misdirection or choice.

God is so good to me and to us! AMEN AMEN AMEN!

 

[mexolic]

Recently, I’ve noticed something new about the Jehovah Witness in Los Angeles. For example, today on a sidewalk I saw a man and a woman standing next to a small stand containing Watchtower material. It seems to be for people to approach them and enquire about their faith. Perhaps the JW’s did not read the Bible (non-JW version) before converting to their faith. Otherwise they would see for themselves the changed wording in the version they are allowed to read. My understanding is that they are forbidden to read any Christian material, including other Bible versions.

 

[Tex_Alberta]

They’re forbidden to read anything from an apostate, that’ll get you in trouble (did me). I remember being told that we could easily prove our theology using any bible, I myself had at last count at least 37-40 translations. So they can read other bibles, but only the NWT is a true translation according to them.

You have to understand something here, JW’s can read other religious material, but they see everything through JW tinted glasses. You really don’t understand how ingrained it is unless you were one.

When you throw a verse at them, it is filtered through JW theology, you think you’re talking about a subject, and they’re nodding their heads like they understand what you believe, but you’re both talking two different languages.

When people think all you have to do is just “show them the verse in the bible”, and that’ll do it, you’re kidding yourself. Maybe, just maybe you might hopefully plant a seed in one of them at your door. Hopefully one day it might make a difference. But I’ve never met any former JW who as converted that way. Not that there aren’t any, it’s just that it’s not the usual way out for many of us.

Why do you think there are two of them at your door? While you’re presenting your verse, one is answering you, the other is already preparing a counter-verse, and it goes back and forth like this.

Realize that before they show up whatever morning, they have already spent at the very least one week, to a month preparing for that particular campaign. How many people have made a in-depth study of the trinity, hellfire, divinity of Christ this week? Month? Year?

There you are, coffee in hand, slippers, and robe, Saturday morning, door bell rings, and now you’re in a theological debate with two people who have been carefully prepared for this very subject.

That training continues week, after week, year after year. Years later, when reading scripture, there are the main proof texts JW’s use that are right next to the proper interpretation going on in my mind as I read them. It fades, but doesn’t go away.

So your verses you’re using? They are already been accounted for, and dismissed in their minds as not properly interpreted by you.

Know the difference between a JW, and a terrorist?
You can negotiate with a terrorist.