We've been being frequented by a couple of Jehovah's Witnesses lately. We've talked briefly, though I haven't invited them in. I have never heard of a Jehovah's Witness being converted to the Christian faith. I was wondering if any of you have ever successfully witnessed to a JW. I think the next time the JW's come over I will say (though I'm not sure how to get to this point) that if Jesus is not God, they do not believe in the Trinity and do not believe that Jesus is God, then he cannot have been perfect. And if he was not perfect, then his sacrifice for us was meaningless. It was just as if I were to die for mankind - a nice gesture, but that's about all. Of course, they don't believe that anybody goes to hell either. So I'm not exactly sure what they think Jesus died to save us from.
Any wisdom? They usually stop by our house on Thursday, so I could use some Godly advice by then.
Hi from New Zealand,
One of my closest friends is an ex J -ub (as we call them here). When she was about 10 years old her father and mother converted to Christianity (it's an inspirational story of how God revealed the truth to the father). They had to pay the cost though - their two eldest daughters had already married into the church, and on the day they left the J-dub's, they never saw their daughter's again. One of the girls passed away recently due to cancer, and sent a message to the mother saying she could come and see her after she was dead but not before. Isn't that awful! It has been a great grief to the parents and to my friend and her sister who were young enough at the time to follow their parents. But they loved God greater than their own flesh.
We occasionally get visits as well, and my husband says in the past he has tried to argue with them, but has always found it to be fruitless, so he just tells them, "look, we believe something different to you and we're not going to get anywhere discussing it, so you might as well leave." I always make a point of taking their literature though. I figure it's one less magazine to hand out to someone else. And then I throw it away.
Rachel from NZ
it is very hard for them to turn away from their church. rather like shunning, I would imagine.
their beliefs are purely "logical" (in a twisted way) and do not (at least the ones I have encountered when I was a missionary) like the Spirit of God. So my advise, bear down in pure testimony of the truthfulness of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Speak it from your very soul and ask God's Spirit to testify of the truthfulness of your words. No one can stand against that (although they may never admit it to you.)
It's always hard for me to speak boldly for Christ from scripture. I clam up! So I guess I'm one of those that speak loudly by my actions. My suggestion to you would be to confront them about theses things when they come by again and be prepared with scripture to back the "Truth"....diety of Christ, Trinity, Hell, and such. If they don't take it in then, you can be like Paul, who even brushed his feet and left these who refused to believe to their own demise. Then politely ask them not to come by again. In my experience, they have always respected me when I've asked them not to return.
Momma Jo
Wisdom:
I would suggest you read the first 3-4 chapters of Proverbs. They speaks a lot about 'wisdom, knowledge'.
Fast:
Pray and fast a day or two before you know they will visit.
DO NOT let them in.
2 John 10-11
If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not take him into your home or welcome him. Anyone who welcomes him shares in his wicked work.
You can share the Lord thru a screen, or step out onto the porch.
Matthew 10:19-20
19 But when they arrest you, do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time you will be given what to say,
20 for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.
Isaiah 55:10-11
10 As the rain and the snow
come down from heaven,
and do not return to it
without watering the earth
and making it bud and flourish,
so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater,
11 so is my word that goes out from my mouth:
It will not return to me empty,
but will accomplish what I desire
and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.
Spend a lot of time in His Word, praying, fasting and seeking His Face.......
You never know, He may want you to say nothing?
But if He does want words to come out of your mouth, He will speak them, if you allow Him!!
They are not visiting you for you to convert them. They are there to convert you...period! They have the "truth" and everything else is wrong. There is no "free-thinking" in their religion. If you question something that is being taught to you then they have the answer...period. Yes, if you fall away from the JW's then you are what is considered an apostate. You have known the truth and have turned your back on God so they will disfellowship you. After disfellowshipping you, you can confess to the elders and they will welcome you back into the congregation on a probation period. Which means you are allowed to come to "meetings", you have to sit it the back of the hall and you are to leave immediately after meeting is over. No hanging around to talk afterwards.
I wish you luck with your visits but I have a very doubtful mind that you will be converting them over to Christianity. I've dealt with JW's for quite some time and know many of them so I know what they are all about. I have a close friend who is one and my sister is one too. I know that we are to be disciples for Christ but from my experience there is no changing their mindset. Once you take their literature they will keep coming back. It is a very dangerous thing to read their literature because it is very convincing and it makes you start to question everything that you believe in.
We have had JW's stop by our home. I do not invite them in, but I do witness to them in a loving way on my doorstep. :) They come to convert you, and once they realize you are trying to witness to them, they become upset and leave. Sadly they are not open to the truth regarding the plan of Salvation. ( John 3:16).
It is very hard to bring a person out of a religious cult/false religion, but I want to tell you it is possible! For thru God all things are possible!
I am a living witness to God's grace and goodness ~~ I was involved very deeply with the mormons for over 19 yrs. Last year I became a born again believer in the Lord Jesus Christ! It is possible!
Please ladies, do not give up on the JW's , Mormons, or any other people that are lost and come to your home. Reach out to them, pray for them and yes, witness to them.
Miracles can and "do" happen!!
Blessings~~
gloria
ps. my 10 children have also become born again believers! Praise the Lord for the work He is doing!
Hello. I've been a Christian since 1995 and I was a JW for several years. So was my husband. I always knew there was something not quite right in their teachings. I left and 6 months later my husband followed. We had a 14 year old. I was saved a year later and our daughter a month later and my husband about 6 months later. I continue to thank God for saving us out of there. We were all 3 baptized on the same day at a small creek on Dec 1 1996.
If your not versed in their teaching and you don't know how to answer their teaching, then it's probably a bad idea to let them in.
They have alot of answers and are trained how to answer what we have to say, BUT they're trained to answer the very basics of what we say. That's why it's important for us to get TRAINED in how to answer the basics of what WE as Christians need to witness about.
It's all about preparation, attitude and how to be an ambassador for Christ to EVERYONE that asks questions.
We should not avoid confrontation and we should KNOW what we stand for and how to train ourselves to be Disciples of Christ. We were created to Minister to the Lost and share the Gospel with all.
I think where Brothers and Sisters in Christ tend to fall short is in preparation. We see how many cultic religions and their followers TRAIN to answer questions to convert. Christians too should train by continually being in Gods word, prayer and educating ourselves from such websites as: Standtoreason.org and others like it so we may equip ourselves for ministries like this.
My only suggestion though, if you decide to do this, you MUST KNOW the word very well and at least educate yourself with the Jehovah Witnesses philosophy from their site.
My husband and I use Watchtower.org which isn't the Jehovah witness site, but is actually a ministry tool on how to minister to Jahovahs as well as other cults. If you go to the bottom of the page, you'll find "how do I minister to a Jehovah's witness" alone with three other how to's for other cults.
In the end, this is actually something we've been doing for awhile now. I don't know why, but God has blessed us with the ability and knowledge to minister to those in cults. We haven't sought it out by ANY means, but we've lived next a couple that were involved in a totally different cult, and several others who were involved in not just Jehova witnisses, but other groups as well. It's not something you want to get involved with if you don't know the Bible inside and out and haven't done tremendous study (like my husband has) in theology as well as a Biblical Scholar for many years.
We've invited most of those couples in our homes offering Christian Hospitality and have ministered to many.
Know that JW's as well as other cults are taught how to take parts of scripture and not all.
Recently, my husband left 5 Jehovah's witnesses (4 young and one senior citizen) questioning their beliefs. Through our research and Evangelistic teaching, we've learned how to "ask them questions" have them read passages in full, and ask them where they got the answers to what they gave.
All five left with questions based on the questions my husband has about certain words being left out of their Bible, as well as other important things left out of their teaching.
When they knocked on our door, they had no idea they'd be getting themselves into conversation with two Biblical Scholars that knew the word was being misconstrued and had a version of the Greek at hand. Haha
They have YET to be back AND they've stayed away from preying on other tenants here in our townhomes.
I feel Gods protection was at hand.
In conclusion, not everyone should minister to those following cults unless their VERY deep in the Word and have a strong background. It's pretty hard and as the scription was given, inviting them in isn't always the best thing for those who don't have SERIOUS evangelical training for these kinds of encounters.
I do believe though, that Jesus himself ministered to the lost and thats what we are called to do. There are many scriptures both on Discipleship AND turning away the needy because of our judgement on them.
So while I believe one of the prior scriptures to be harsh, It does have it's place as do the scriptures that DO tell us to minister to the needy in Gods word.
I think the end result is to use discernment. Pray as the others have said, and if anything, educate yourself with the sites I added in here and then in continued prayer for awhile ask God how to minister to them "safely".
What a heart you have for ministry dear friend. I'm so sorry for the long comment, but this is a subject my husband and I have experience with and have educated ourselves on for many years and we still have room to learn and grow ONLY with the Lord wholeheartedly on our side.
Welcome to our farmette-ette-ette-ette (9000 sq foot city lot). Come on in! I may not stop what I'm doing while you're visiting, but feel free to join in. Mi casa es su casa!
