This blog was partially inspired by Don Cameron's book "Captives of a Concept."It is a small book,only as big as a large magazine,that is a MUST READ for JW's.
Their repeated warnings about former witnesses whom they like to call "apostates" ,turns out to be WT propaganda that does not protect JW's from being misled.Rather,it prevents them from noticing that they are already being misled,not by those they DISTRUST the most OUTSIDE the organization but by those they trust the most INSIDE their organization.-Don Cameron "Captives of a Concept" p.9
"If we entertain the false reasoning of such ones,our confidence in Jehovah's Word of truth,the Bible,can be weakened and our faith can die."March 1,2002 p 11 WT
2 Thes 2:10 and with every unrighteous deception for those who are perishing, as a retribution because they did not accept the love of the truth that they might be saved. 11 So that is why God lets an operation of error go to them, that they may get to believing the lie
JW's won't hesitate to apply the above to those who have LEFT the organization because the organization is THEIR "truth."
However,Jesus Christ is the truth!When men contradict HIM and label you for listening to those who only want you to listen to him as apostates and evil then the problem isn't the people outside the organization,but rather those within it.If you take more pleasure in the words and doctrines of men that contradict Christ's, then an operation of error will overtake you.When I personally preferred trusting these men implicitly rather than reading the bible alone prayerfully,mistakenly believing I couldn't know anything without them,instead of simply trusting God's spirit and Son,I had an operation of error.It is against Jehovah's principles to to allow any man or organization to take Christ's place in your life,to assume you can't do anything in Jehovah's service or in relation to actually learning truth without THEM.As if God and Christ and God's spirit cannot reveal more truth to you at all times than a magazine with flickering light,unmerciful policies,and a history of false prophecy,flip flops,and self exaltation to Christ's very place as your way to salvation..
I understand some are disfellowshipped for gross unrepentant sin.That is one thing.Leaving for conscientious Christian matters regarding certain bible truths being ignored by the society(as well as simple recognition that these men are not mediators & that there's a history of bloodguilt,hypocrisy,and false prophecy etc.) is another entirely,and it is absurd to label those who are Christian as "apostate" just because they know they don't need men to save them.Apostate from what?Certainly not the truth since that is Jesus!So no one needs to "come back to the truth" if they never left him and his father.
JW's,because of WT propaganda and relentless repetition in their literature,get hounded with belief systems and certain untruths that become acceptable and real to them because these men instill fear and use smooth rhetoric.I don't think they do it maliciously.I think they're captives of the same concept their followers are..that God is ACTUALLY using this organization.In spite of any glaring evidence to the contrary.That's where this operation of error comes into play.When Yah witnesses men taking the roles that belong only to Christ and people following them happily and trusting their literature over holy scripture,He allows deception.Just like he would for a trinitarian or a hellfire adherent who prefers tradition and manmade commentaries that isolate passages,rejecting hebrew thought and explicit truth and the words of Christ himself.This operation of error is very real and very scary.When we're deceived,we don't know we're deceived.This is where I urge everyone to read and believe Christ.To trust God's spirit.To care more about truth than comraderie and social acceptibility.To put Christ on a pedestal above even your family and friends.If you don't,you aren't worthy of him.It sounds harsh and is hard.It is downright devastating to be an outsider to those you love the most,but it's worth it.
In the book "Captives of a Concept,"Don Cameron points out that members are captives to cults because they believe particular men are God's chosen individuals.Similarly,JW's believe the WT organization is God's chosen organization.As if this is actually scriptural.That whatever it says and does is what God would say and do.Which is ridiculous upon examination considering they tell so many lies.I say lies confidently because many of their doctrines aren't Christ's,but rather in detrimental opposition to his bold and wonderful words and invitations that men should NOT be able to tell you aren't meaningful for you personally in a tenable way.
"I try in my own mind and heart to understand the feelings of all JW's,including those of the Governing Body.Based on my own 60 yrs. experience among them I believe that they are,in effect,the captives of a concept.The concept or mental images they have of "the organization" seems almost to take on a personality of its own,so that the concept itself controls them,moves them,or restrains them,by molding their thinking,their attitudes,their judgments..The concept of the "organization" becomes ,in fact,the dominant,controlling force."-Ray Franz "Crisis of Conscience p.296
This is where real discernment comes in as a JW.How do you view this organization?Can it save you?Is it your Messiah?Can you know God without it?If not,why not?Why do you think the organization is "the truth?"Is it really the truth if it doesn't conform to Christ's teachings 100 percent?Can truth be mixed with a heap of lies?Can good moments and truths mixed with a heap of lies negate all the lies?If so,wouldn't any place of worship be appropriate?
JW's are captives of this concept,and, in my opinion, victims of "an operation of error",& so they won't be able recognize all that is ACTUALLY wrong with the organization.Thoroughly convinced that they are that God speaks through these few men in NY,no matter how many times these men have been in error or at fault for something seemingly in my opinion unforgivable,as I have witnessed no humble repentance,which requires humble admittance of error and a cessation thereof..And just to make sure you don't leave if you do recognize what's wrong,the society publishes guilt trips like this one that JW's are generally bound to buy into because they're captives of the concept that the organization is God's sole channel:
"If we have become thoroughly convinced that this is Jehovah's organization that he is guiding and directing his people,we should NOT BE UNSETTLED BY ANYTHING THAT HAPPENS..If we really have faith we will know that if something is wrong,God will straighten it out eventually."-May 1,1957 WT
Again,the implication here is that God actually works through this organization and will straighten them out.If they can't even recognize Christ as their sole mediator and remove themselves from that position,I'm not sure how God can help them.First,they have to listen to His Son.This logic also makes me wonder why attendance at any church isn't ok if we're allowed to just wait things out till things are corrected and the truth eventually gets revealed.How can one be chosen as sole channel if they're as full of lies as any other group?The salvation issues are rather simple and JW's deny many of them.That is not ok when you're Christian,nor is it faithful and discreet.
You're considered spiritually immature and an unacceptable association by JW's if you question anything at all in their literature as if it's actually inspired.That's what I call labelling people for no good reason,treating the flock with anything but tenderness,and being merciless as opposed to forgiving and understanding,which they certainly expect people to do with them.Yet they aren't willing to afford the same sentiments or fairness and kindness to others.JW's are supposed to freely forgive the organization that cannot and will not freely forgive them,over trivial nonessential matters oft times.That's because of legalism,my friends.
Matthew 23:4:They bind up heavy loads and put them upon the shoulders of men, but they themselves are not willing to budge them with their finger.
"If we have once established what instrument God is using as his "slave" to dispense spiritual food to his people,surely Jehovah is not pleased if we receive that food as though it might contain something harmful.We should have confidence in the channel God is using."Feb.15 1981 WT
The WT has essentially made themselves indispensable to JW's and their hope of salvation.JW's love Jehovah(I know I sure did and do more now that I can serve him without men controlling my thinking and getting in Christ's way!) and fear disappointing him in any way.And their being captive to this organizational concept makes them actually listen to words like these as if this spiritual food is the food they need to inherit eternal life,found in the WT literature.And how dare one of them question anything in it as possibly harmful!Who would want to displease God in such a fashion,right?This is where discernment must be used,again.If the literature is misleading you,that means it isn't written by Yah through men in NY.What we CAN be confident of is that the bible IS inspired and that as Chritsians we should not question it.But there's nothing in the bible about not being allowed to question anything else written by men,is there?Slaves who are neither faithful nor discreet,who contradict scripture,who take the place of Christ in the lives of millions of people are NOT faithful and discreet slaves.Faithful and discreet slaves are Christ's slaves who care for their fellow slaves and handle the word of truth aright,as opposed to eradicating it's application to the vast majority of people,who look after one another and feed whoever they can spiritually and even materially when possible,irregardless of religious affiliation.Who have immense love and mercy and impartiality.Who care more about faith and love than policies,Christ and truth than manmade literature,treating fellow human beings with dignity and not using unwarranted labelling and possessing fear of men's legalistic retribution.THAT is NOT Christian freedom.That is fear created through propaganda,deception,controlling policies and heaps of intellectual intimidation by men.
Essentially,this blog is to emphasize to JW's that God allows an operation of error to occur if one listens to men over his Son,violating his principles boldly.This goes for ANYONE who tries to qualify Jesus's statements of truth throughout the NT,including trinitarians.Because one has no idea if one is under this operation of error,the only remedy is listening to Jesus and Yah in scripture alone through prayer,purging all your preconceptions and opinions you initially got from from MEN.When Jesus talks,listen.Don't qualify his words.Don't read into them a theology you got from a secular book or publication.Take the vast majority of texts and interpret the bible in light of those instead of isolating a few with many interpretive possibilities and trying to make the entire bible fit them with special pleading everywhere you turn.
"For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires; and will turn away their ears from the truth, and will turn aside to myths" (2 Tim. 4:3-4).
Examples of the above:a separation of Christians into two destinations and folds,a triune entity as the Only True God as opposed to the father of Christ,mediators between Christ and men,eternal agony in flames and unkillable souls as opposed to being GIFTED immortality only if you're righteous and perishing if you're wicked.
The bible itself says to study the bible diligently(nothing about manmade literature in there being the lens through which to assess it)and that God's spirit will lead one into all truth(nothing about men doing it better.)If one "makes sure of all things" as instructed and rightfully ignores the WT's admonition that it is dangerous to study independently,then the "operation of error" may fall from your eyes when you abandon your blind guides.No point in saying they aren't blind.Sometimes their light flickers so they must not be able to see perfectly ;-).Jesus's light doesn't flicker.He's the "true light",your only mediator,your ONLY savior.Like a charismatic cult leader,the "organization" becomes JW's Messiah and savior.When it says "jump" either they jump or get discarded and abused.Freedom in Christ is your answer.If you seek and find that,nothing else compares.
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