Help - My husband was a Jehovah's Witness

[delivered]

Years before my husband and I married, he was a devout Jehovah's Witness. Years before his conversion, he had struggled with a drug addiction but recovered and married a woman who also was a JHW. He studied religiously with the JHW and was about to become an elder when he relapsed back into drug abuse. He eventally was ex-communicated from the Kingdom Hall and later divorced. Again, he kicked his habit. We met and were married. We've remained happily married for over 11 years now.

Throughout our marriage, he's attended church with me. We attended a Methodist church that I had attended since I was a child and later a Pentacostal church but never joined. We studied at home together, but he still held on to some teachings of the Witnesses. He always kept his JHW handbooks available. I always felt that he was hurt about his ex-communication because he was not even suppose to speak to any JHW's if he saw them on the street or anywhere.

We rent property to one of his former Witness church members. Recently, my husband informed me that he had confided in this person who assured my husband that he could pray to God even though he was ex-communicated. I never knew that my husband believed he was not allowed to pray, even though we've prayed together at mealtimes. It chills me to think that in all of these years, our marriage and/or life affairs had not been put before the Lord in prayer. My prayers include our marriage and my husband as an individual. I can't imagine the burden my husband must have been carrying or the isolation he must have felt while thinking he was "banned" from having a prayer life. I shared with him my surprise at this and asked if he felt relieved and he does.

Now this is my dilemna: I don't know if he plans to become a member again, but I will not go or be converted. I don't know why I'm afraid to ask. I don't consider him an "unbeliever" because he does believe, but doesn't have the correct understanding. What do you think? Of course, I will pray about this. Any suggestions as to how I should approach this?

[ayin jade]

In my opinion, the kindest thing you can do is get your husband away from that cult. Yes I said cult. Jehovahs Witnesses are just different enough that their salvation is in jeopardy.

From CARM:

Is the Jehovah's Witness religion Christian?

The answer to the question is, "No. It is not Christian." Like all non-Christian cults, the Jehovah's Witness organization distorts the essential doctrines of Christianity. It denies the deity of Christ, His physical resurrection, and salvation by grace. This alone makes it non-Christian. To support its erring doctrines, the Watchtower organization (which is the author and teacher of all official Jehovah's Witness theology), has even altered the Bible to make it agree with its changing and non-Christian teachings.

You will find this link helpful in understanding the differences.

http://www.carm.org/witnesses.htm

Once you both understand the differences, then show him the truth to be found in Jesus. That Jesus is our mediator to God. That He is our Advocate. That He atoned for our sins. The church cant stop him from coming to God. The church has no power to stop that. In my sig line, you will see a verse, philippians 4:6-7. Your husband should understand that God wants our prayers, always.

[elkieDannsa' Air An Drochaid]

Dear delivered,

I was raised in the JWorg and there are some really important things you need to know about it. Firstly, I would like to offer this book that helped me so much written by RON RHODES called, Reasoning from the Scriiptures with the JEhovah's Witnesses. Ron Rhodes named it this as a play off on words from the JW's reasoning from the scriptures that they use that is not at all Biblical. Ron Rhodes book is Christian and going subject by subject , using scriptures, it shows us the difference in the JWs teachngs and the Biblical teachings. You can buy it or order it at a Christian book store. I can't stress enough how much this book cleared things up for me! This book, subject by subject will help very much to UNTWIST the scriptures in your husbands mind. Also you can contact Randy Watters and or see his web site http://www.freeminds.org Randy is also an exJW and his stie has info you may not find elsewhere to help you and your hubby learn the things the JW temselves will never tell you and the very things that free a person from this mind control group.

Ther is alot to learn about the history and founding and purposes of this religious ciult that the members are kept in the dark about. This is VITAL to know because otherwise, they are stil the "correct authority" to your hubby!

It takes prayer and study to clear up all the Jw org does to a person.

Even though many of us have been "disfellowshipped" or dissassociated ourselves. many are full of fear to talk to another exJW as the JWOrg demonizes us so others cannot learn the truth of their organization, that actually started out as a corporation.

I told them to take my name off their records. My mother was a JW and raised me in it. But, I knew there was something wrong frm a young age. Eventually, I came to know JEsus as LOrd and SAviour and I wanted nothing to do wit hthe org. An important thing is that your hubby does NOT have to give them any control on his life anyumore, nor does he have to ANSWER TO THEM as they insist we do!

They think the fear tactics they use with taeching JEhovah a destroyer and amny minds games and then to comntrol all our family and friends who are in the org to never talk to us again becauise acording to them and I quote" are deserving of being stoned to death ..but it is nort legal"... that for leacing them! Only another control device to scare and isolate to keep control over members. Many members are leaving, it is a revoolving door...new in old out on and on..

In the seventies they predicted teh end of the gentile times and armegeddon in 1975,,this is in print in the Wathctower, then when it did not hapen ,they blamed their members, said it was all their fault for assuming..when this false prophecy is ACTUALLY in their magazines.(they did this in the 1800's in the 1900's several times. Infact the founder, Charles Taze Russle taught that JEsus was coming back in the end of 1800's then again in the early 1900's! One night he actually said JEsus was coming back and he woulsd never see them on earth again and he went atop the building in NY and waited..next morning when JEsus had not returned, he claimed that JEsus had returned INVISIBLY! and now that is another teaching they believe.

You see CT RUssel hat4ed the teaching of the Diety of JEsus and other things and he was making money and that is how it went and more! The "Scriptures" they use, have been changed. As we all know the name JEhovah does not appear in the New Testament(Being HEbrew and its not there) but since they pitted Jesus and Jehovah against one another, one is forbidden to EVER speak to! or worship JEsus! THey inserted the name of JEhovah in the New Testament whereever it suited them and many others changes, they wanted to erase all places where JEsus can easliy be seen as LORD and GOD.

THey set themselves up as experts, but don't know what they are talking about!

They teach another mans gospel(CT RUssel) and not of JEsus Christ. They claim that they do not teach CT RUssells work and toss him out(now that he is dead) but all the teachings are actually from CT RUssells work, This man, a heritic, sat in his library ALONE and wrote ALL THE TEACHINGS..it was NEVER a "group of bible students seeking truth" as they claim.

Also, this man got his "calculations for Armageddon" by the measurements of the great pyramid and at his request was buriedin a pyramid!

THey repeat triggring "phrases" to brainwash people and alot of othjer things.

Ther is also occult influences in it and the ones that "helped" them with free spirit writing to change the Bible to what they call teh New World Translation..any Bible scolar can tell you it is a MIS translation and indeed NO translation at all, they continue against well known Bible scolars requests to stop quoting that is a good translation as it is opposite! IT is NO translatio and a botched mess.

BUt, you got your work cut out dear sister.

PLease read up and encourage your hubby NOT TO FEAR, feasr of JEhovah never meant what they make it to be, fear of everything and fear of even speaking to JEsus.

A good point is Apostle Stephen, cried out to JEUS to recieve his soul. HE spoke to JEsus!

It is NOT Christian and was adamant about saying they were NOT Christians until a few years back when it helped gain more interest from outsiders and they were being exposed as a cult to claim Christian.

They believe they alone are the only spookespersons on earth that speak for Jehovah and that Jesus was a man like moses. In their book, the greates MAN that ever lived, they"along with Pontuious PIlate applaud and say the greatestMAN(they agree with the one who issued his death he is ONLY MAN NOT GODMAN).. They believe the Holy SPirit is a energy , like a gas( but by scripture you can prove that the Holy Spirit is a person, you can't be taught by nor grieve an energy, only a person)

It is so important that you give you hubby INFORMATION and TIME and alot of praying for him to work through this, Only JEsus can heal him as he is needing.

THe JWorg must LOSE IT'S POWER OVER HIM and to accomplish this you need ot not just talk like you would with other people, but PREPARE! be patient with him. Until the JWOrg has lost its power over his mind(the info you learn will help that to happen and prayers for him,put him on the prayer chain at church) Once he can look at htem and see who they are, point by point will come to see the need to make JESUS HIS Lord, not just think he is a lord of some kind,but HIS OWN LORD that he can pray to worship and know is the I AM HImself who loves him and is not the terrible person they made him out to be!

Please feel free to PM me if I can be further assiatance i nany way.

PLease see RON RHOSES book; Reasoning from the Scri0ptures with the Jehovah's WItnesses.. and

http://www.freeminds.org

There are also helps fomr others like JesusWItnesses.

There are ALOT Of us who found JEsus as our LORD AND SAviour and have healing in JEsus.

Your hubby can too!

Ther is SOOOO Much more to tel you... Please let me know hos it is going.

I will pray for him !

May JEsus Christ our hope for GLory bless you adn help free your hubby .

He who is free in the SON is free indeed!

elkie

[elkieDannsa' Air An Drochaid]

(please escuse my typos)

ALso the yteach that here were NO CHRISTIANS ON EARTH until them! they ahve a very olong time of no Christians at all on earth! They teach that Cristendom is satans kingdom and that churces are full of demons.

most of the exJw women I have counceled suffer from post traumatic stress dissorder from this cult.

It is a very destructive cult and the results are very similar to the persons they damage, but soicne they keep them (usually) from meeting and learning about this from one another, they often succedd in destroying the leaving members, who unfortunately get the wrogn conclusion that THEY ARe not good enough, not the right conclusion that the org IS WRONG! TOTALLY FALSE AND WRONG.

I can;ttell you the nightmares and stress involved in this ultimate nightmare relsigion, even teh abused will still defend them out of fear and nto know why they ar doing it.

Was HE RAISED in it from birth? or came to believe in it later in life?

It is harder for those who are raised in it from birth because you havee NO other life or friends or family(Usually) to return to and are lost in a world where you think you are living among the condemned. An entire new life must then be createad.

IT is important he NOT TLAK With the JWS for long enough to get free of the mand knwo what and WHO they really are, before dealing with them and their tecniques to control him again.

SOmetimes the JWs can be ver harassing and difficult and pressure ones who leave alot.

I thank GOD I am not in that and I truely sympathioze with your hubby more than you mauy know.

Oh PRAISE JESUS HE freed me and many I know of! SO many are getting free and willing to help others to live through this org and find the Lord.

Take Good Cre,

elkie

[elkieDannsa' Air An Drochaid]

Oh anohter good book,

saving your loved one(s) from the watchtower

also Pilgrimage through the watchtower is really good, I read that one early on and it helped me when I felt alone in the world to sort this out.

[elkieDannsa' Air An Drochaid]

one other thing,

The Jw's teach that JEsus is actually a created being and that he is Michael the arcangel. That he became a perfect huaman man and died and did not raise form the dead, but he created a look alike. THey confust the preeminent of Christ as created being. WHen God returns with the voice of an arc angel it didn't mean he IS an arcangel anymore htant when JEsu returns with the sound of a trumpet that he is a trumpet!

SIghs oh ther is alot of UNtwisting to be done here...

BUt to a Jw, Jesus is NOT GOd , not tlaked to and never ever ever worshipped.

They cannot know HIm personally and they believe only 144,000 g ot oheaven adn that man has no soul and that Jehaovah will recreate us on earth from His memory one day...

You see, your hubby at this time, may believe that he has NO SOUL and that is is simply his human life and wtht when he dies, he will cease to exist.

We are in simple terms, not EVEN tsalk ing about the SAME JESUS.

Perhaps saving your loved one fomr the watchtower may help you alot.

I have seen many get free of this mentally abusive cult org and I pray with all me heart your hubby gets free in JEsus!!

[elkieDannsa' Air An Drochaid]

one more they hang on their "translation" of John1:1 that the WOrd was A god, not God. they do not understand nothing that is created was created except by HIm and FOr HIm. making HIMSELF UNCREATED. Essentially it could be argued that the JW teach TWO gods.

THey teach the Trinity is pagan concept.

BUt ANYONE reading the KJV or another translation(and even several scriptures in the JWs one I found they forgot to change!) can find the Trinity teaching, they wil lclaim the "word trinity is not in the bible" well , neither is their coin phrase "theocratic" in the bible.

oh sorry if its too much, but there is alot you need to read.

Remember , "Not by men ,nor might, but by my Spirit I wil accomplish thses things" GOd has said and JEsus will prove HImself ot your hubby if he asks him to and he can have trust in his life and know GOd for himself. please write me if you need to or want to.

YOu may find a video on JWs in teh Christian store and I saw one that was so helpful there once logn ago ,too.

elkie

[elkieDannsa' Air An Drochaid]

I will get my list of the witness translwtion scriptures to help itf you want them to show your hubby, there are scriptures that can still show fomr their translation that Jesus is LORD and Saviour.

But if your hubby will agree , he needs a real Bible.

[ayin jade]

As you can see, Elkie is just a little passionate about this subject. And who can blame her? She knows first hand the damage that can be done. The damage you are seeing in your husband. You can see how much it hurts him that he doesnt feel able to pray. How much more trauma lies buried beneath the surface.

Good news! He can be saved and healed from this. Get the Ron Rhodes book. It isnt expensive, only 12 dollars or so. It is a good book. Check out the sites Elkie posted. Please feel free to pm her too. If you are not able to pm her, you need 10 posts before you can use pm. Just post 10 times someplace and you can pm Elkie.

Pray for your husband now tho. Pray that he is freed from that influence and come to know the true Living Lord.

[nanasimmons]

Dear Delivered,

I bought a $8.00 book called Fast Facts On False Teachings by Ron Carlson/Ed Decker. It's a wonderful tool there is about 16 pages on Jehovah's Witnesses. Those pages are very helpful.

My neighbors are JW and it is sad.The wife is a hand servent, and on top of that she doesn't believe they go to heaven because the 144,000 spots are already taken.She happialy believes they will be cleaning up the earth after the wicked people are thrown in hell. I have tried to witness to her but I don't want to push her away or make it so that her husband wont let her visit me.They live in Fla.6 mo. and in N.Y. (here)the other 6 mo.She use to babysit me when I was little.

A few pages in this book are very interesting..

The man Ron gets a visit from a pair of JWs, he invites them in on the condition that they would answer a few questions regaurding the JWs.

They said they would be glad to answer any questions he might have.

Then Ron said"I guess that I really only have one question. Throughout your literature you continually say that the trinity is not taught in scripture."

The JWs smile and say'thats right, nowhere in the Bible will you find the word trinty."

Then Ron counter with telling them that the trinty is taught throughout Gods Word.

The JWs again tell him the nowhere in the Bible will you find the word trinity.

Then Ron tells them that it's a latin term meaning three in one that the word trinity it's simply a term used to describe God.Then he points out the fact that they use the term'theocratic kingdom more than any other term in thier literature.Then he asked them to show him one place in the Bible where that word can be found.

The elder Witness says" But the trinity is not rational;you can't understand it."

Ron asks"You believe the Bible, don't you?'

"Oh ,yes, we believe the Bible ," they said.

Ron tells them to put away all thier books,magazines,dictionaries ect..

Then he takes them to the Bible to Revalations he says"let's begin and you will see something very interesting develop here", he promised.

Ron turned to Rev.1:8"I am the Alpha and the Omega" says the Lord God,"who is ,and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty."

Ron asks"who is speaking here?'Iam the Alpha and Omega' say who?'

the answer"Says the Lord God, Jehovah God!"

Ron said"You are absolutely right, we believe that Alpha and Omega is Jehovah God."

Then he tells them to turn to Rev. 21:5-7

He who was seated on the throne said"I am making every thing new! Then He said" write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true." He said to me:"It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega,the Beginning and the End.To him who is thirsty I will give him to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life.He who overcomes will inherit all this, and I will be his God and he will be My son."

The two JWs say" we believe that Alpha and Omega are Jehovah God. Thats what it says."

Ron says " now turn to Rev.22:13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last,the beginning and the End.

again the JWs responded that these titles referred to Jehovah God,as in Rev.1:8

Ron continued,"there's just one more passage; do you think you could help me with it?"

"Oh, we'd be glad to."they said

Ron said"the passage is Rev. 1:17,18 ,Will you read it for me?"

They turned to the verse in thier Watchtower Bible and the elder one began to read.

When I saw Him, I fell at His feet as though dead. Then he placed His right hand on me and said"Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last"Rev.1:17

Ron said,"stop.I've been tring to figure out who the First and the Last is. Tell me who is He."

They replied,"We just saw who the First and the Last is. The First and the Last is Alpha and Omega, Jehovah God."

Ron asked," You mean to tell me the First and the Last is Jehovah God?"

They replied"Of course He's Jehovah God."

Ron answered,"Well, keep reading."

I am the Living One; I was Dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades(Rev.1:18)

Ron then asked " When did Jehovah die? When did God die?"

Finally after they silently stared at ther scriptures one said"I never saw that before."

"Well" Ron said "Is this your own Bible you are using, published by the watchtower?"

he answers "yes"

Ron asked"So tell me-when did Jehovah die?"

They just kept looking at the verse. At last they quietly answered"But Jesus died."

Ron asked,"Oh,you mean Jesus is Jehovah God?"

They replied,"well,no.He can't be."

"Why not ?" Ron asked.

"Well, if Jesus is Jehovah God, that would change everything else in the Bible----everything be believe about Him."

They left.

I hope this helps you, Nana