Category: Jehovah’s Witnesses

52 Years Later, The Fascination Only Grows

DebbieLynne KespertLeave a comment

He sat cross-legged in front of the white brick fireplace in his parents’ living room, balancing his Bible on one thigh as almost a dozen high school kids surrounded him. It seemed like it was going to be a typical Thursday night Bible Study as we sang upbeat praise songs to begin the evening. But his opening prayer came with an odd intensity. He forcefully praised Jesus for being God in the flesh, his voice swelling with passion at each sentence.

Before he could finish his prayer, a girl I’d never met lept from her seat and, covering her ears, ran out of the house yelling, “Blasphemy! Blasphemy!” The Bible Study leader watched calmly, saying he’d pretty much expected that reaction, though he’d hoped she would stay and listen.

Only a few months old in the Lord myself, I was quite confused by the incident. I asked point blank why he’d intentionally prayed something when he knew it would offend her. I didn’t think his actions modeled Christian love.

Patiently, he explained that the girl was a Jehovah’s Witness, which meant that she denied that Jesus was God. He had wanted to take a bold stand against the false teaching that kept her from knowing the true Jesus Christ. Looking back, I’m still not sure his methodology totally pleased the Lord, but I believe his motives came from a sincere desire for her salvation. He knew that she’d been deceived into believing in a false Jesus.

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Saturday Sampler: February 24 — March 2

DebbieLynne KespertLeave a comment

penguin-samplerThankfully, Phil Johnson relies on Scripture rather than the accepted wisdom of the Social Justice Movement in his Pyromaniacs article, One More Plea for Impartiality in That Virtue We Call “Justice”.  If only more of us let the Bible inform our thoughts!

Can you identify The Common Denominators of false religions? If not, Leslie A of Growing 4 Life lays out a helpful and comprehensive outline to assist you in your discernment. As a bonus, she includes a little background on the origin of Jehovah’s Witnesses.

Absolutely, Christians need to exercise more civility on social media! But let’s not go to an opposite extreme that causes us to condone sin. In Girl, Same Here! How our desire to be relatable is hurting our morals, Jillian McNeeley cautions against being agreeable when someone is in sin. You’ll find her blog post on Biblical Woman.

Erin Benziger has imported her blog, Do Not Be Surprised, to WordPress recently. I want to welcome this dear friend of mine to the WordPress community by sharing her devotional, The Sufficiency of Christ and His Word. Erin zeros in on a key reason that so many evangelicals lack discernment today.

Praise the Lord for Denny Burk‘s report that African Christians Rescue United Methodists by influencing them not to weaken their official position regarding LBGTQ matters. Will this decision lead to a denominational split? Probably. But how encouraging to see people stand for truth!

You’ll find encouragement from We Never Stop Needing the Gospel by Rebekah Womble of Wise in His Eyes.

Morning by Morning features Brianna Lambert’s piece, The Fruit of Self-Control: What is Your Hungry Soul Telling You? Before you roll your eyes, assuming that she’s just writing another dreary lecture urging us to be good little girls, give her a fair hearing. Her conclusions might not be what you expect!

In Context Matters: Forgetting What Lies Behind, Peter Krol of Knowable Word clears up erroneous teaching on Philippians 3:13 by showing us how this verse relates to everything leading up to it.

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Remembering The Wonder Of The Incarnation

DebbieLynne KespertLeave a comment

The Word became fleshLess than a year into my walk with the Lord, I sat in my friend’s living room with other kids from my high school (including a girl I’d never met) for Thursday night Bible Study. My friend began his opening prayer, speaking in an unusually forceful tone as he praised God for becoming a Man. He managed to find at least four ways to reiterate the idea.

Before he could finish praying, the visiting girl lept up, covered her ears and ran out of the house shouting, “Blasphemy!”

Baffled, I asked the leader what had just happened. He explained that she belonged to the Jehovah’s Witnesses, a cult that denied Christ’s deity.

At that point, my confusion intensified. I knew that Jesus Read More »

Saturday Sampler: May 6 — May 12

DebbieLynne KespertLeave a comment

Flower Sampler

Michelle Lesley of Discipleship for Christian Women responds Biblically to the latest Beth Moore stunt in her piece, The Mailbag: What did you think of Beth Moore’s “A Letter to My Brothers”? This thoughtful analysis covers a wide range of Moore’s remarks while pleading with Moore (and her followers) to repent.

The woman who writes at Biblical Beginnings examines a popular false teaching in Twisted Tuesday — First Born by showing us how context interprets a phrase in God’s Word. What a wonderful demonstration of correct Bible Study methods producing good discernment!

Doug Wilson of Blog & Mablog expresses his Gratitude & Update to those who prayed about his cancer surgery.

The Ligonier blog features Sinclair Ferguson’s wonderful ruminations on The Gracious Work of the Holy Spirit in the salvation process. I particularly love the way he connects the Holy Spirit with the Word of God.

Cale Fauver’s article, Christian, Don’t Follow Your Heart, appears in For The Church to address a very common problem in society at large and among evangelicals in particular. Of course, evangelicals should know better. Pastor Fauver’s reminder cannot be repeated too often!

My regular readers know how adamantly I advocate for reading the Bible in context. So they’ll understand why I appreciate Alan Shlemon of Stand To Reason for writing Double the Trouble if You Ignore the Context.

Why would Leslie A of Growing 4 Life open a blog post talking about how mice infiltrate houses? Read The Smallest Crack for her accurate and convicting spiritual application.

Inspired (in a strange way) by the frustration that many women feel in response to Proverbs 31, Steven Ingino of The Cripplegate offers perspective and encouragement with Studying Proverbs 31…the right way. Ladies, although our husbands will benefit from reading this piece, enjoy the refreshing words for yourselves.

How can a blog post about hell end on a positive note? Allen Nelson IV, blogging for Things Above Us, answers that question with The Overwhelming, Never-ending, Reckoning Wrath of God. The post, as an extra bonus, gives us a couple verses to use in witnessing to Jehovah’s Witnesses.

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Jehovah’s Witnesses, Speech Defects And The Appropriate Expression Of Anger

DebbieLynne Kespert1 Comment

TypingHow do you respond to false doctrine?  I get angry! Perhaps that’s why God gave me a speech defect that pretty much prevents me from talking to people face-to-face. Writing seems a better way to harness my outrage when I see people perverting truth.

I admit that when John and I wheel around Boston, I want to engage the Jehovah’s Witnesses who swarm all over heavily populated areas in conversation, if only to hinder them from spreading their lies to those who might believe them. John, knowing my explosive temper, wisely steers me past them before I can discredit the Gospel. He frustrates me by doing so, but he’s right.

Anger at false doctrine isn’t wrong, but it can be expressed in very wrong ways. So for me, blogging best gives me opportunity to condemn false teaching without dishonoring the very Christ that I seek to honor. It doesn’t reach the Jehovah’s Witnesses that overrun Downtown Crossing, the Boston Common or South Station, but apparently they’re not my mission field. My anger should drive me to pray for others to witness to them, and to write articles addressing their heresies.

The Watchtower Society teaches that Jesus is a god, and maybe the Archangel Michael, thereby denying His deity. Yeah, this blasphemy infuriates me! When someone blatantly denies that Jesus is fully God and fully Man, any true Christian should feel indignant. Jehovah’s Witnesses grossly distort the essential nature of our precious Lord and Savior.

Of course, they also teach salvation by works, just like every other false religion. If you read Galatians, you’ll notice Paul’s fury toward anyone who teaches that sort of doctrine. If we feel no anger at Jehovah’s Witnesses for propagating this damning counterfeit gospel, we need to examine how seriously we take the true Gospel.

Beneath our righteous anger at the lies of Watchtower, we must have compassion for the people trapped in it. Many of them sincerely want to serve the Lord, but their leaders lock them into an evil system that deceives them. We should grieve over their imprisonment.

As John and I wheel around Boston, I pray for the Jehovah’s Witnesses mounted in their strategic places. I pray that knowledgeable Christians who master their tempers better than I do will show them Who Jesus is and how He brings salvation to all who believe in Him. Perhaps I should also pray that I can write articles to equip my readers to proclaim the Gospel to Jehovah’s Witnesses. My speech defect and unbridled anger doesn’t have to render me mute.

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