Is the Father called Kyrios?

Many times in speaking with Jehovah’s Witnesses I will try to show them what the Scriptures teach about the deity of Christ. The Jehovah’s Witnesses believe that Jesus is a created being by the Father and He is now the archangel Michael. More than once I have had a JW to go 1 Corinthians 8:6 to try and prove their point. So I thought I would spend some time studying this wonderful verse of the Bible to see what it had to say.

1 Corinthians 8:6 - yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom are all things and we exist for Him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we exist through Him.

The JW will attempt to use this verse to show that the Father and Jesus are two separate beings. They may start by saying “See there is only one God, the Father, therefore Jesus cannot be God because the Bible says the Father is the only God.” This type of hermeneutical interpretation is flawed and I will demonstrate that in this article.

I might respond by testing the waters of the Jehovah’s Witnesses knowledge by asking, “If the Father is the one God and Jesus is the one Lord then is the Father ever called Lord?”

They will respond by stating that LORD (all caps) in the Bible refers to the Father but Lord in the Bible refers to Jesus. Well let’s see if that rule always applies. Shall we?

In 1 Corinthians 8:6 the word “Lord” in the Greek which refers to Jesus is Kyrios. It simply means “Supreme in authority”. Below are many examples where the same exact word is used in relation to the Father.


• Greek – Ho Kyrios = The Lord
Matthew 1:22 - Now all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet:

Mark 5:19 - And He did not let him, but He said to him, "Go home to your people and report to them what great things the Lord has done for you, and how He had mercy on you."

Luke 1:6 - They were both righteous in the sight of God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and requirements of the Lord.

Luke 1:28 - And coming in, he said to her, "Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you."

Romans 4:8 - BLESSED IS THE MAN WHOSE SIN THE LORD WILL NOT TAKE INTO ACCOUNT."

Hebrews 7:21 - "THE LORD HAS SWORN AND WILL NOT CHANGE HIS MIND, 'YOU ARE A PRIEST FOREVER' ");

1 Peter 1:25 - BUT THE WORD OF THE LORD ENDURES FOREVER."


• Greek – Kyrios = Lord
Mark 13:20 - "Unless the Lord had shortened {those} days, no life would have been saved; but for the sake of the elect, whom He chose, He shortened the days.

Luke 1:58 - Her neighbors and her relatives heard that the Lord had displayed His great mercy toward her; and they were rejoicing with her.

Acts 7:49 - 'HEAVEN IS MY THRONE, AND EARTH IS THE FOOTSTOOL OF MY FEET; WHAT KIND OF HOUSE WILL YOU BUILD FOR ME?' says the Lord, 'OR WHAT PLACE IS THERE FOR MY REPOSE?


• Greek – Kyrios Ho Theos = The Lord God
Matthew 4:7 - Jesus said to him, "On the other hand, it is written, 'YOU SHALL NOT PUT THE LORD YOUR GOD TO THE TEST.' "

Matthew 4:10 - Then Jesus *said to him, "Go, Satan! For it is written, 'YOU SHALL WORSHIP THE LORD YOUR GOD, AND SERVE HIM ONLY.' "

Matthew 23:37 - And He said to him, " 'YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.'

Luke 1:16 - "And he will turn many of the sons of Israel back to the Lord their God.


• Greek – Kyrios Sabaoth = Lord of Hosts
Romans 9:29 - And just as Isaiah foretold, "UNLESS THE LORD OF SABAOTH HAD LEFT TO US A POSTERITY, WE WOULD HAVE BECOME LIKE SODOM, AND WOULD HAVE RESEMBLED GOMORRAH."

James 5:4 - Behold, the pay of the laborers who mowed your fields, {and} which has been withheld by you, cries out {against you;} and the outcry of those who did the harvesting has reached the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth.


• Greek – Kyrios Pantokrator = Lord Almighty
2 Corinthians 6:18 - "And I will be a father to you, And you shall be sons and daughters to Me," Says the Lord Almighty.


• Greek – Kyrios Ho Theos Ho Pantokrator = Lord the God, The Almighty
Revelation 4:8 - And the four living creatures, each one of them having six wings, are full of eyes around and within; and day and night they do not cease to say, "HOLY, HOLY, HOLY {is} THE LORD GOD, THE ALMIGHTY, WHO WAS AND WHO IS AND WHO IS TO COME."

Revelation 11:17 - saying, "We give You thanks, O Lord God, the Almighty, who are and who were, because You have taken Your great power and have begun to reign.


• Greek – Kyrios Ton Kurieuonton = Lord of Lords
1 Timothy 6:15 - which He will bring about at the proper time--He who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords,


• See also…Lord of Heaven and Earth
Matthew 11:25 - At that time Jesus said, "I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from {the} wise and intelligent and have revealed them to infants.

Luke 10:21 - At that very time He rejoiced greatly in the Holy Spirit, and said, "I praise You, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from {the} wise and intelligent and have revealed them to infants. Yes, Father, for this way was well-pleasing in Your sight.

Acts 17:24 - "The God who made the world and all things in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands;


Ok. Now that we have proven that the Father is called Kyrios in the Greek, which is the same word that refers to Jesus let’s get to the part of logically and hermeneutically refuting the JW’s claim.

Let’s now revisit the JW’s claim to 1 Corinthians 8:6. The JW claims that since the verse states that there is only one God, which is the Father that Jesus cannot be God. I might say something to the JW as follows:

“In order to be consistent with your interpretation you would have to say that the Father cannot be Lord since Jesus is the “one Lord”. So I ask you, Is Jehovah not your Lord? If the JW says yes then he is being inconsistent with his interpretation of the verse since Jesus in the only Lord. If he says no then he is in direct violation of what the Watchtower teaches. They simply cannot get around this logically. If the JW interprets “one God” as only applying the Father then he would have to be consistent in applying “one Lord” only to Jesus.

Something else to take note of is Jude 4.
“For certain persons have crept in unnoticed, those who were long beforehand marked out for this condemnation, ungodly persons who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.”

Notice that Jesus is called our “only Master and Lord”. Once you have answered the JW’s questions ask if he is willing to be consistent with his view in the interpretation of this verse.

Now let’s spend a few minutes detailing exactly what 1 Corinthians says about the Father and the Son.

The Father – 1 Corinthians 8:6 --------The Son – Colossians 1:16
From whom are all things ---------------For by Him “all things” were created
We exist for Him------------------------All things have been created though Him and for Hin

The Son – 1 Corinthians 8:6 -----------The Father – Romans 11:36
By whom are all things -----------------“From Him…all things”
We exist through Him ------------------“through Him….all things”

It seems the terms “from whom” and “by whom” are synonymous. The logic behind that statement is as follows. If I make or create something is it not from me and by me that it is made? If something comes into being by someone (God) then it is naturally from Him as well.

It should also be noted that the same Greek word is used for “from whom” and “by whom”. I’m not a Greek scholar and why it is translated as such is a question for another article. I simply just find that interesting.

Conclusion: 1 Corinthians 8:6 is a powerful and clear affirmation of the essential equality of God the Father and God the Son.

Is there more revelation to come?

Could the canon be opened with more revelation to be added?

That is primarily a theological question to which I can only give a theological answer.

2 Peter 1:3 - seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence.

This verse at the beginning of 2 Peter speaks of grace and peace being multiplied to us and knowledge of Jesus our Lord. This grace and peace is being multiplied in the fact that He has by His divine power granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness. Now I ask the question “Is there something missing in Scripture that is necessary for life and godliness?” Could Peter say these things if there was a lack or a deficiency that needed to be made up? But that is not all look at Jude 3

Jude 3 - Beloved, while I was making every effort to write you about our common salvation, I felt the necessity to write to you appealing that you contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all handed down to the saints

Once for all delivered to the saints. In fact the literal reading would be “The once for all delivered to the saints faith.” Now what is that faith? What is the content of that faith? Is there something that the scriptures don’t tell us about that faith? I don’t believe so.

Hebrews 1:1 - God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways,

Now the point of that being that God’s way before to speak to His people was through prophets but now a final and complete revelation has come in the person of Jesus Christ. Now you may say – What a minute! What about Paul’s writings and Peter’s writings and Hebrews coming after Jesus. That is true, but what is the content of their revelation? The content of their discussion of revelation is Jesus Christ.

If there was to be anything more it would be about Jesus Christ and Him only because He is the final revelation and nothing other than that.

I then have to ask the question “Could there be anything more than what has been revealed?” Why would God wait? This is what the Bible calls the end times and we know how swiftly God put together the New Testament. Roughly over a period of over 55 years...

Everything that has been offered as being a continuation or addition to the canon of Scripture has always failed the test that the early church utilized. Everything that man has come up with to attempt to add to the canon of Scripture has always taught something contradictory to what was already there. This includes the Book of Mormon, the Pearl of Great Price and other LDS scriptures. The Jehovah’s Witnesses are guilty of the very same thing with their so called on-going revelation of God from the Watchtower and/or Governing Body.

Are there two Jehovahs?

One of the things that I like to do with Jehovah Witnesses when they come to my door is ask them if I could use their Bible to show them something that I want them to teach me about.

I will say to them “I read some verses and when I read them I found them very intriguing and interesting. It’s almost confusing but I think I know what’s going on but I would like to see what you think about it.” Be honest! Don’t lie or try to be deceptive here. Just ask them the straight forward question. Most of the time they will politely respond…"Sure!"

Use their Bible (the New World Translation) and go to Genesis 19:24

24 Then Jehovah made it rain sulphur and fire from Jehovah, from the heavens, upon Sod´om and upon Go·mor´rah.

How many Jehovah’s are there? There are two. Now that can throw a monkey wrench into things!

You can also go to Amos 4:10,11 in the New World Translation

10 “‘I sent among YOU people a pestilence in the nature of that of Egypt. With the sword I killed YOUR young men, along with the taking captive of YOUR horses. And I kept making the stink of YOUR camps ascend even into YOUR nostrils; but YOU did not come back to me,’ is the utterance of Jehovah.
11 “‘I caused an overthrow among YOU people, like God’s overthrow of Sod´om and Go·mor´rah. And YOU came to be like a log snatched out of [the] burning; but YOU did not come back to me,’ is the utterance of Jehovah.

God is speaking in this passage. When asking a Jehovah’s Witness about these passages from their own Bible more times than not they will look at you and ask, “Are you trying to show me the Trinity?”

Simply respond with, “You got the Trinity out of that?”

This is just a small way to plant a seed of Truth to many Jehovah’s Witnesses.

Jehovah's Witnesses and Colossians 1:15

Inevitably when witnessing to any Jehovah’s Witness the deity of Christ will come up. This is a crucial topic for us to share with the Witnesses because the Watchtower teaches their students the Jesus is Michael the Archangel. Having witnessed to many JW’s over the past two years I thought I would share some of my knowledge and pass on some witnessing tips that I have learned from the MacArthur Study Bible. One of the main verses that any Jehovah Witness will go to is Colossians 1:15. So let’s take a closer look to know how to answer the JW’s challenge to this verse (1 Peter 3:15).

Colossians 1:15 - He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.

image of the invisible God

The Greek word for “image” is eikon, from which the English word “icon” derives. It means, “copy” or “likeness”. Jesus Christ is the perfect image – the exact likeness of God and is in the very form of God (Phil 2:6, John 1:14, John 14:9) and has been so from all eternity. By describing Jesus in this manner, Paul emphasizes that He is both the representation and manifestation of God. Thus, He is fully God in every way. (Col 2:9, John 8:58, 10:30-33, Heb 1:8)

the firstborn over all creation

The Greek word for “firstborn” can refer to one who was born first chronologically, but most often refers to preeminence in position, or rank (Heb 1:6, Romans 8:29). In both Greek and Jewish culture, the firstborn was the ranking son who received the right of inheritance from his father, whether he was born first or not. It is used of Israel who, not being the first nation, was however the preeminent nation (Exodus 4:22, Jer 31:9). Firstborn, in this context clearly means highest in rank, not first created (Psalm 89:27, Rev 1:5) for several reasons…

1. Christ cannot be both “first begotten” and “only begotten” (John 1:14, 18; 3:16, 18; 1 John 4:9)
2. If Paul was teaching that Christ was a created being, he was agreeing with the heresy he was writing to refute.
3. It is impossible for Christ to be both created, and the Creator of everything (Col 1:16, the very next verse!)

Thus, Jesus is the firstborn in the sense the He has the preeminence and posses the right of inheritance “over all creation” (Heb 1:2, Rev 5:1-7, 13). He existed before the creation and is exalted in rank above it.

Annihilation (Jehovah’s Witness) or an eternal Hell?

The theological teaching that God will condemn sinners to an eternal Hell is one that even Christians can struggle with. In today’s culture there is so much talk of God’s love and compassion that it is tough for us to imagine that such a place could exist. But the Bible is clear that there is a Hell where sinners who do not repent and trust Christ will spend eternity. Do all groups hold to this teaching? No, they do not. One is the Jehovah’s Witnesses. This group believes that when an individual is judged and condemned, they are not sent to an eternal Hell, but are annihilated by God.

The Watchtower teaches that Jehovah will annihilate the wicked and they will simply cease to exist. The Bible teaches the endless punishment of the wicked.

The Bible teaches that when Christ comes back with the saints at the end of the Tribulation period to establish his kingdom on Earth (Rev 19), one of the first things He will do is have the Antichrist (also known as the beast) and the false prophet (the Antichrist’s right hand man and religious leader) thrown into the lake of fire (Rev 19:20). This happens before the 1000 year reign. After this event, we read in Rev 20:2 that an angel is sent with a chain and seizes the devil and throws him into the Abyss, and locks the door for 1000 years. (Rev 20:3)

At the end of that 1000 year period, Satan is permitted to come out for a short time (Rev 20:7), in which he leads one final rebellion against the Lord (Rev 20:8-9). When the Lord ends the rebellion, we read this in Revelation 20:10…

Revelation 20:10 - The devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are. And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.

When were they (the AntiChrist and the false prophet) thrown into the Lake of fire? When Jesus comes back at the end of the 7 year tribulation period. When is Satan thrown into the Lake of fire? One thousand years later. He is locked up for that one thousand years in a place called the Abyss. When he is finally judged and put away forever, his is thrown into the lake of fire, a thousand years later and look who he is going to meet there. Two individuals..the antichrist and the false prophet and notice that the Scriptures says it is at the very place where they “are” also. They are currently there is what John is saying. When Satan is thrown in there those two individuals will be there. He doesn’t say that the antichrist and the false prophet use to be there or that they were annihilated there. No, they are still there suffering when Satan is finally cast in to join them. The rest of the verse tells us that they (all 3 of them) will be there and they will be tormented day and night. For how long? Forever and forever.

The devil who will finally be cast into the lake of fire, will meet up with two people who will already have been there for 1000 years. Those who end up in the lake of fire will not be annihilated, as the Watchtower teaches; they will go on experiencing torment “forever and ever” Rev 20:10

This is the very place where the unrighteous will spend eternity. Rev 20:15 – And anyone not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. The very same place that Satan, the antichrist and the false prophet will spend eternity.

Matthew 25:41,46
41 “Then He will also say to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels: 46 And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

Revelation 14:11 - And the smoke of their torment ascends forever and ever; and they have no rest day or night, who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name.”

I will be posting a part 2 to this entry in which we will briefly look at a few Greek words describing the eternal nature of Hell. God bless!

Saved by faith or something else?

We are saved by grace through faith after all we can do, right? Wrong, I just quoted 2 Nephi 25:23 in the Book of Mormon. We are saved by grace through faith based only on what Christ has done. That question was a bit of a setup I must confess. Again, we are justified by faith in Christ alone. What good work can you do to earn, keep, or maintain the grace of God? If you said “repentance”, then read 2 Timothy 2:25.

25 with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition, if perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth,

If you said “faith”, then read Philippians 1:29

29 For to you it has been granted for Christ's sake, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake,

Your believing is the work of God – John 6:28,29

28 Therefore they said to Him, "What shall we do, so that we may work the works of God?" 29 Jesus answered and said to them, "This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent."

So again…What can you do? You can receive – John 1:12

12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name,

What are you able to do to become saved? The only thing you can do is to trust in Christ. What if someone were to say to you that God’s grace is a substance that that is infused into a person’s soul and this infused grace in them enables them to do good works and then God judges their salvation based upon two things. 1) Their faith in Him and 2) Their good works. What would you say to that? Would that type of thinking be damnable heresy?

What are we talking about here? Justification. How are we justified?

Romans 4:5 - But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness,

Romans 5:1 - Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,

I can go on and on quoting verses plainly stating we are justified (made right) by faith alone. Paul does not combine grace, faith, and works. He says it is either grace or works. Not grace and works. If you are saved by grace and your works, then you are saved by your WORKS! Because grace is the unmerited favor of God. Works is what is due to you because you have earned something. So, you cannot be saved by the unmerited favor of God and the merited favor. Which is it?

So to say that you are saved by grace through faith with works that you perform is damnable heresy because it is denying justification by grace through faith alone in Christ alone.

Mormonism, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and many other so-called Christian religions are false because of the reasons mentioned above. They deny the essentials of the Christian faith by saying grace is given to us by God but YOU have to do something to finish the work that Jesus Christ did on the cross. The grace of God is then given to them so that they may perform good works by which they are ultimately judged for salvation. But these works they say are done with the grace of God. So, they can call it salvation by grace. What they are doing is speaking from Satan’s mouth and speaking lies about the Word of God.

Now, I have a tough question for you. Do you want to honor God and serve Him in truth? Do you want to do what Jesus did, what the apostle Paul did, and what Peter did? What happened to them when they spoke the truth? They were persecuted. Did they cower down to change their message to what the crowds wanted to hear? No way. They stood on the truth of the Word of God just as Christ did in the Gospels. We are all called as Christians to do the same thing and as Christians we better get this concept down and understand it. That justification by grace is through faith in Christ alone and if you mix works with it then you are damned. Because what you are doing is saying that you have to accomplish and finish what Christ hasn’t finished on the cross.

Mormonism is an apostate religion because it has a false god and it adds works to earn salvation. The same is true for Jehovah’s Witnesses and the Watchtower. Whenever you compromise the doctrine of God then the next thing that is compromised is the doctrine of salvation. If God is the true and living God who alone saves, who alone predestines and elects, then your effort is nothing before Him and you cannot be saved in anyway by what you do which is why the Bible says “But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness”.

So, grace in order to make works is salvation by works and grace, but biblically grace is unmerited favor of God. Works is what is due, what is merited, so you cannot be saved by grace through faith and by the works that He works in you. Because then it is by merit that YOU accomplish those things. This is a contradictory, self-refuting system. It is false and it is from the pit of Hell. I am sure that I will have to say this a hundred times or more over the next year.

Please understand that I am not in any way mocking Mormons or Jehovah Witnesses. But, we must ask whether or not anyone can achieve salvation through his own efforts of keeping the Law or any part of it. The Word of God is clear…

A Jehovah's Witness doesn't have time for me

Sorry. Not too much to tell this morning. The streets were not really crawling with people. But I was able to pass out a couple of handfuls of tracts and have a few really good chats. One of the talks was with Jory and David. Both of these guys claim that they were Christians so our conversation was pretty much Law and Grace. They are both really friendly guys. I was then able to have a one-to-one with Roy. Our conversation was cut short but he did take a few tracts so I pray he gets to check them out. This morning I really didn’t want to talk to any Jehovah’s Witnesses but God kept pressing it on my heart. As I continued down the sidewalk I noticed two JW’s ladies that I have talked to in the past. So I stopped by asking them this question…

“Excuse me. We have talked a few times in the past so I know that you are a Jehovah Witness. How long have you been a Witness?”

They both just stared at me silently….

I continued, “The reason I ask that is because I have a question that I would like to have answered if you don’t mind.”

One lady replied, “We have talked to you several times before and we just don’t have time for you”

The other JW lady gave her input too. She said, “Yes, we just don’t have time for this.” With that they turned and walked away.

I also turned away but once they got about 10 yards away or so I turned back toward them and lifted my voice to say, “What if I wasn’t saved? What if I was going to die today? Would you have time then?” I probably said this a little louder than I should have but I wanted to get my point across.

So many of the JW’s that I talk to have been completely brainwashed by the Watchtower or they have hardened their own heart against the God that created them and wants to save them from their sins. Tears began to well up in the back of my eyes, not because my feelings were hurt but because I was praying for God’s mercy to them. I pray that it is not too late for these ladies and that God will show mercy by breaking their self-righteous heart in true repentance and faith to our Great God and Savior Jesus Christ.

So Christian, my question to them is my question to you. What if you knew someone that wasn’t saved? What if they were going to die today? Would you have time for them then? Make time! Go and make disciples with fear and trembling, in respect, honor and obedience to Him.

Jesus of Mormonism and the Jehovah Witness

There are many cults specifically Mormon and Jehovah’s Witness that do not pray or worship Jesus. They ignore or misinterpret many Scriptures within the Bible. The true Jesus of the Bible is worshipped, prayed to, and called God. Just for this example we will look at 1 Corinthians 1:9 which reads:

“God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.”

The Word of God clearly states that we are to have fellowship with Jesus Christ. The word fellowship in the Greek is “koinonia”. It is also translated as “communion”. In Hebrews 13:16 the very same word “koinonia” is translated “to communicate”.

Now, how do you have an intimate communion or communicate with someone you don’t talk to? How does that work? The only way to do that is to spend time with them and talk to that person. We are commanded to have fellowship, koinonia, communion, with Jesus. In order to do that you have to pray to Him, you have to talk to Him. Mormons and JW’s don’t do that. Christians do and the people of the Bible did. So a good question to ask a Mormon or a JW is ...

“Why should I join what you have when the Bible tells me to have this intimate relationship with Christ in prayer, fellowship, and worship? I would have to give this up to join your church. Why should I do that?”

The purpose of this question to help the person begin to think about the proper relationship that we are suppose to have with Jesus Christ. This hopefully will plant a seed that God can water and grow for His glory.

A Post-Modern-Universalists-Jehovah’s Witness

Location: Downtown Chattanooga

This morning was a bit colder than it has been in few weeks past so I really didn’t think anybody would be up for talking. Oh, man was I wrong. I think my ears have been yapped off!

Downtown Chattanooga has lots of Jehovah’s Witness that pass out Watchtower magazines. As I rounded one corner a JW friend of mine (Leonard) meet me and said hello. From there he began a chat with me about why he was out on the streets.

He said, “I don’t have any right to impose on your freewill of choice. So I can’t criticize you and you can’t criticize me”. To that I asked him, “So, by criticize do you mean that you can’t tell me that I’m wrong and I shouldn’t do the same to you?”

“That’s right!” he said.

“Ok.”, I said, “but am I right about Jesus?” He said, “I can’t tell you that”

“Why not?!” I asked him. He told me that only the Bible can tell us right from wrong. True the Bible does set the standard for right and wrong but….I continued, “So would you tell a Muslim that he was wrong?” He just shook his head no. “What about a Buddhist?” He just shook his head no again.

So I said “Ok, what about this. What if I said that I believed in the great god of Krunyan Flap (that is just one of my silly words) and I believe that if I eat 7 Krispy Kreme doughnuts every Tuesday night I will live forever with the great god Krunyan Flap. Would I be wrong?”

You are not going to believe this, but I promise he just shook his head no. What!? The conversation soon ended as I warned him of Jesus’ words in Matthew 7:21-23.

I continued down the sidewalk and I noticed a JW that I had never seen before in the downtown Chattanooga area so I decided to walk across the street and engage him in a conversation. His name was Lee. I began to ask him a series of questions to get an idea of his theological understanding. Just like all JW’s he was all over the place.

Lee talked and talked and talked. Did I mention he liked to talk? I had to press just to get him to even talk about the 10 Commandments and when I did “whoosh!” he went down another rabbit trail. I finally convinced him he was a liar and a thief, but he did not admit to blasphemy. He said saying God’s name in vain is not blasphemy and began to get into a lengthy theological presentation of what blasphemy is really all about.

So, I point-blank asked him, “Lee, if I say GD is that blasphemy?” Brace yourself for this one, Ok? He said it wasn’t. That’s right, he said it was not. So I confirmed “Lee, are you telling that I can say GD and it is ok?” He repeated that it was not blasphemy. How could anyone who claims to know God, theology aside, make that type of statement?

For some reason he began speaking about the Garden of Eden. He asked me why God would put the tree in the Garden. I answered him that true love demands a choice and because God loves us he gave us the choice to love and serve Him out of free will. I also told him that it was in God’s prearranged plan for the fall to happen. God knew it would happen and He created us anyway.

He stopped me right there and said “Are you saying that God knew Adam would sin when He put them in the Garden?

I replied with “Uhhhhh, yes. He is God. Doesn’t God know all things?” Lee then said, “Why would God go through all of this if He knew we were going to sin against him?”

At this point I politely packed my stuff because it was time to get to work, but before I left I told him. “Lee, you are unreasonable. You have broken God’s law and He is going to judge you in righteousness. That is His standard, not ours. I would like to talk to you again, but you are going to have to keep quiet some and listen. I hope you have a good day.” We shook hands and parted ways.

So I guess the Watchtower is teaching that God does not know all things. Wouldn’t that mean that God is lacking something, that He would be imperfect? I also learned that JW’s shouldn’t tell anybody that they are wrong. If a Muslim isn’t wrong and a Buddhist isn’t wrong then why in the world have the Jehovah’s Witness religion? If everyone if right and we shouldn’t tell anybody that they are wrong. What’s it matter anyway? This is something new…a Post-Modern-Universalists-Jehovah’s Witness.

Oh No! Not Evangelism!

I was excited this morning to out witnessing to the streets of downtown Chattanooga. I was glad to be able to rub shoulders with people and do get my hands dirty talking to others about Jesus Christ. In my head I went through my list “Tracts – check, Bible – check, car keys – check, cell phone – check” Ok, so let’s go!

As soon as I stepped on the sidewalk a Jehovah’s Witness was no more than 20 yards away. I quickly grabbed my document detailing the false prophecies of the Watchtower. As soon as he made eye contact and smiled I engaged him in a conversation. Jehovah’s Witness really know their Bible and are really good at taking you down rabbit trails, so always stay on track when talking to them. It’s funny how when you prove that the Watchtower claims to be a prophet and that false prophecies have been spoken by the organization most will completely deny that! Please play for Clyde. That God will lift the fog of the Watchtower and open his eyes.

I also had the chance to speak with Roger at the bus stop. He was very friendly and allowed me a few minutes to talk to him. He told me that he was raised a Christian and still held to his Christian values but he knew that God would forgive him because he had done good things and his bad things were in the past. A few good questions/statements to this could be:

• How many good things do you have to do to be saved?
• Are you being good enough right now?
• Would a good judge forgive a rapist if his crime had been committed 30 years ago?
• If you were to murder one person but be nice to thousands more would a judge just let you go due to that fact alone?

Whether Roger agreed with me or not, I do not know, but I pray that God will move his heart. Today could be the day of salvation for someone but you must tell them about the Savior. Take his Word out of the comfort of our homes and churches and be faithful to our Great God and Savior Jesus Christ.

Thy Will Be Done

This past Saturday night was the Sugarland concert here in Chattanooga. Josh and I thought it might be a good idea to park away from the venue and walk to the convention center. On the way we had plans to pass out Gospel tracts and witness to people on our way there. We both were looking forward to the “black tie” fund raiser that Sugarland was performing at…but God had other plans. Within 20 minutes of being downtown Josh was witnessing to a couple walking down the street. After I finished up my talk with someone I walked by to check out what was happening. I heard the lady say, “…that 144,000 is the Jehovah’s Witnesses...” I knew right then what the deal was. As the four of us stood on the sidewalk having our discussion a fifth person arrived, his name is Charles. Charles was obviously a wee-bit intoxicated because he quickly chimed in with his sermon on Revelation and the end of the world. The JW woman quickly cut him off and he was steaming mad. He was screaming at all four of us telling us “You people say you are Christians but you don’t want me to talk to you!” The situation could have quickly turned bad but Josh and I gently talked him into coming back over to us. After a few minutes went by Josh delivered the question “Would you consider yourself to be a good person?” I knew this would be the time to get Charles out of the way. So I asked him to step away and hang out with me on a park bench for a minute or two. Josh was able to present the Law to both of the JW’s. The gentleman was extremely convicted and wanted to continue talking Josh, but his fiancé’ pulled him away.

A few minutes later he did come back and Josh was able to witness to them a bit more. Josh was also able to minister to this couple by taking them to the grocery store and assisting them in stocking up on some meals and such. This gave me some time to continue to witness to some homeless folks that were in the area. I was able to witness to at least 8 to 10 people in a very short period of time because 2 to 3 at a time were sitting on park benches. While the people that I spoke with were very kind in letting me present the Gospel to them they also asked me to help them with some needs. So, my wife and are making some care packages that I will be taking back this week. Please pray for my homeless friends.

Cory – living in Chattanooga, but his children are in Birmingham
Cindy – is finally clean from drugs and alcohol but has supervised visitation with her daughter
Charles “Mississippi” – homeless passing through Chattanooga
Leon – homeless passing through Chattanooga
Carrie – was just looking for a “drink”
Charles – is an older gentlemen, admitted he wasn’t saved, but told me our talk was a “blessing”

Later that evening I spoke to Josh about the JW couple. Josh continued to witness to them and warn them of the coming judgment. They both agreed to meet with us and have a Bible study very soon. Please pray that the Holy Spirit will soften their heart. Josh and I both had plans to spend the evening with the elite of Chattanooga and to bring the Gospel to them but God had plans for the night too. I have been praying for some of those “God moments” in ministering to people and He delivered tonight. Thank you Lord for another answered prayer. All the glory to God alone! Above all else Thy will be done. Amen.

A Disfellowshiped Ex-JW

Even before I hardly opened by eyes this morning the battle was raging. The Battle of the Blanket! I was having a tough time moving away from the comfort of our comfortable, cozy bed. As I was lying in bed weighing the decision to get up our dog would grunt and groan at every move I made under the covers. Ok, Ok. I’m going, I said. I can only listen to that dog for so long before I want to smack him. (Sorry PETA)

My first talk was with Tim this morning. Tim was one of those people who have all the right answers but if you dig a little deeper you find that things aren’t the way they appear to be. Tim has been disfellowshipped from a Jehovah’s Witness church, and also from an Islam church here in Chattanooga. Tim has been battling an alcohol problem but now he says he is clean from the bottle and has also stopped smoking. After I witnessed to him we had a really good chat about his background and how he is looking for church membership right now. Hopefully he will listen to the Holy Spirit and repent and trust.

Next I met Adrian. Right off the bat I knew something was off about this guy. Either he was very intelligent or confused. He used big words in vocabulary and was throwing out religious jargon like he knew the deal. As we continued to talk he told me that he had been in the hospital a few times diagnosed with Paranoid Schizophrenia. Now things were starting to make sense to me. I’m still not too sure if he is homeless or if he was just down on his luck. But he asked me for a few bucks to get something to eat so I handed him the only cash that I had. After I left Adrian I starting talking to Dmitri. He was crossing the street so I struck up a conversation. Just about every question I asked he answered with “I don’t know”. But I did catch his attention when I asked him “Dmitri is God angry with you?”

He turned and looked at me. I began to quote Scripture to him that speaks of God’s judgment against sin. I was able to finish presenting Law and Grace to him. He took a “Why Christianity?” and off he went. I could tell that he really didn’t want to talk to me, but I tried to hang in there and give him a fighting chance.

After I am finished witnessing to people on the way to the car I always try to give out a lot of tracts. This morning I past one out to a guy who asked me what it was.
I told him “It’s a Gospel tract.”
He said “You must have got this from Way of the Master”. “I sure did”, I replied.
He told me “I’ve been watching you. I’ve seen you down here before and I was wondering what you were doing.”

My point in telling you that is this, my evangelist friend – Keep passing out those tracts and preaching the Gospel. People are watching you. People around you everyday are waiting to see what you are doing. You may never know who has their eyes on you and what they might want to ask you. Just be faithful to Him who if faithful to us.

False Prophets

Over the past few days I have been studying a document from http://www.bananajackson.com/ about the false prophecies of the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society. This document is great and introduces some irrefutable evidence that the Jehovah’s Witnesses follow a corrupt system that has made numerous prophecies that have never come to pass. What does the Bible tell us about such a religion? If someone is a prophet of God, how often will they’re prophecies be right? 25% - nope. 75% - nope. If someone speaks for God they must be right 100%. Every prophecy must be absolutely correct! According to the standard of Deuteronomy 18 if a prophet speaks for God and is incorrect they worthy of the death penalty. That seems to be a pretty rigid law, but if someone claims to speak for the Creator then they better be able to back it up.

This morning as I approached a JW on the street corner I began asking him questions about the Watchtower. Even as I read these prophecies to him he denied them and said they were still true! Huh? How can that be? I read the material straight from the Watchtower publications. Finally he asked me “What is the point you are trying to make?” So, I told him that by the standard of Deuteronomy 18 the Watchtower is a false prophet and should not be trusted according to the Bible. So, here comes the typical JW rabbit trail. He asked me “Do you believe that Jesus is God?” Yes sir, I sure do.”, I said. That sent him off on a whirl wind of Scripture quoting that I haven’t heard in a while. I really felt that he had me back up against a wall and pinned down pretty good. But I just keep praying silently to the Lord.

He asked me “Did Jesus say He was the Son of God?” Yes, He did I replied.

He continued “Then why do you say that He is God”. I told him this “Let me answer your question with a question – You say that Jesus said He is the Son of God so therefore He is not God to you. But Jesus also said He was the Son of Man. By your logic does that mean He is not a man?” He really didn’t know what to say. He just kept going back to that one Bible verse. He then handed me his Bible and asked me to read the first five versus of John 17. I did and he kept stopping me every time Jesus called God his Father and when He called Himself the Son.

Then I read verse 5 which said “And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.”

Immediately my mind went to:
Isaiah 42:8 - I am the LORD, that is My name;
And My glory I will not give to another,
Nor My praise to carved images.

So, I asked him. Who will God share His glory with? He got that deer in the headlights look. So I asked him again. Who will God share His glory with? He said I know Isaiah 42:8. He told me “I’m not going to say how God can share His glory with Jesus because that is something between them only”. I left him with this “I know how God can share His glory with Jesus because Jesus is God. It’s that simple”.

This morning a JW call me a liar, a blasphemer, and he told me that I was also calling Jesus a liar. I ended our talk with a handshake and by asking him to check into the prophecies of the Watchtower because ultimately it doesn’t matter what I believe or what you believe it only matters what it true. Truth by its own definition is very narrow. There is only one right answer and many wrong answers. That one right answer can only be the true Jesus of the Bible.

Always Be Ready - Jehovah's Witnesses

Be sure and check out the "What's New?" section or download here. I have just finished an outline of the DVD teaching "The Jehovah's Witnesses" by Always Be Ready Ministries. It's taken alot of work to put it together so I hope you enjoy, learn, and reach out in love to our deceived friends. Thank you.

Two Jehovah's Witnesses and a Mormon

Lately I’ve been praying that God would send me those opportunities that you hear others have. Ya know, those moments when God just places someone into your hands to share the Gospel with? I’ve had two of those moments recently that I wanted to share.

First encounter: My wife and I always have lunch together but she was stuck in a meeting so at lunchtime I decided to hit the streets of downtown to find someone to witness to. Before I even rounded the corner of the first block I saw two Jehovah’s Witness ladies walk out of a restaurant 20 feet in front of me. My heart began to race and I prayed, “Yes, Lord. I will go”. So I stopped both of them and was able to witness to them. As I began to take them though the Law they wanted to get away from me so bad, but I said to them “Hey, if I’m lost as you say that I am then you should want to stay here and talk to me.” That bought me a few extra minutes and we parted ways on good terms.

Second encounter: At work yesterday we had a guy from Terminex (Pest Inspector) come by our office. After he finished his inspection he was looking for someone to sign the paperwork and there was no one around but me so I offered to sign. Through small talk we began discussing our wives and he told me that he was LDS (Mormon). I began to tell him that I meet with LDS missionaries from time to time and I would like to join him in a Bible study at my home. He seemed a little unsure so he asked for the contact info for the missionaries, which I gave him. He told me that he wanted to join me for a Bible study with them. I said “You can bring whoever you like to my home.” Please pray that he will. I handed him a Gospel tract and asked him to please follow up with me. To God be the glory for these answered prayers.

Ty

How would you answer this Jehovah's Witness?

Location: Downtown Chattanooga, TN

Roosevelt was one of the first JW that I ever talked to when I began my street ministry and boy did he ever give me a verbal whoopin’ the first time we ever talked. Ouch, it wasn’t pretty. He is an older gentleman (70+) and is very knowledgeable and friendly. He always stands outside of the courthouse and passing out Watchtower literature. After some friendly chatting I dove right in with “Roosevelt if I had only 3 minutes to live what would you tell me that I can do to enter the kingdom?” His answer was kind of a squishy mix between hope in the resurrection and to believe in Jesus. I finally pinned him down to the answer of “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ”.

“I don’t have to do any good works”, I asked

“What did I just tell you?” He said “You have to believe in Jesus. What do you think you have to do?” He asked me.

I said, “You need to repent, put your faith and trust in Jesus Christ and believe the Gospel”.

He told me, “That’s what I do”.

Ok, great I thought. Now we are going to have an hour long debate on the deity of Jesus. So I took him through the Law. He was not very friendly toward that and told me that I reminded him of the Pharisees of Jesus’ day. The Pharisees made accusations, I’m only asking questions, I told him. He would not admit that he was a liar, a thief, or a blasphemer. He also said that God was not going to judge him on the 10 Commandments so he didn’t have to worry about it.

Anyway he became so flustered as I was asking him questions about the Law and judgment that he actually picked up his Watchtower literature and walked away from the courthouse. I was very happy to see that because no one else would be getting their false teachings this morning.

So my question to you is this…If a JW says that to get to Heaven you must believe in Jesus and that works in not necessary how do you approach the topic then? What would be your next move in the conversation?


Ty

Ouch! The truth hurts..

Glory to God for a great morning! This morning as soon as I rounded the corner by the courthouse there stood one of my Jehovah’s Witness friends. He immediately started talking to me about John 15 and then began to ask me questions on what the Bible says about the Trinity. He would hardly let me finish a word without interrupting me. I think he wanted me to answer his questions they way he wanted them answered. This went on for about 15 minutes until I knew that I had to get going.
So I told him “You and I have had plenty of conversations. You have heard the truth and you need to repent and put your trust in the true Jesus Christ of the Bible because one day you will die and you will close your eyes for the last time and the fog that you have been living under will be lifted. You will be judged and you will receive justice for you sins. So please walk away from the Watchtower or it will drag you into Hell forever.
He did not like that at all. He asked me “What gives you the authority to judge me?”
I’m not judging your character and I don’t have any authority to judge you but God does and I’m telling you what Scripture says.
He said “Well I can tell what you think of me! You tell me that you care about me but you’re condemning me to Hell!”
So I asked him “If you saw me about to drink from a cup filled with poison what would you do?”
I would tell you not do to it, but if you wanted to that would be your choice.
I said, I would smack that cup of your hands, kick you in the stomach, whatever I had to do to keep you from dying. That is all I’m trying to do. He walked away angry and I could tell his feelings were hurt. I guess sometimes getting the truth hurts and sometimes giving the truth hurts too.

Next I met Patrick. He was very open to talk and I truly appreciated his time. We went through the Commandments, sin, and repentance. It was pretty much a straight forward witnessing encounter. Towards the end of our talk Patrick told me that he was a Christian so I briefly discussed how so many people think believing in God is enough to get to Heaven but it takes repentance and faith in the Savior. Thanks Patrick for you time this morning.

As I was walking back to the car I noticed Ely sitting at the bus stop. I quickly looked for the optical illusion tract and started a conversation with him. I just love that tract, it makes things so easy. I started by asking him a few scenario questions and then transitioned to the Law. Ely told me that he thought he would go to Heaven because he was trying to live better. So I tried to explain the God will punish our sin even if we are sincere about changing. About that time his bus pulled up so I hope I run into him again. It was a good talk. It was a great morning..

Jesus or Michael the Archangel

Last night I continued my discussion with my Jehovah Witness friends about how Jesus cannot be Michael the Archangel. A few weeks ago they left me a copy of “What the Bible really says”. It was neat to see exactly what they believed and I prayed that God would use that to teach me how to reach them. We didn’t get to speak about the Scriptures as much as I wanted to. Sometimes JW’s can really take you down some rabbit trails, but nevertheless, I think I made my points. The more I study the JW doctrine the more you can tell these poor souls have just been deceived. Anyway, please download this document and use it to study so can refute the idea that our Savior was once an angel. God Bless!!
Click here to download!!

Kicking and Screaming...

This morning was a great time for witnessing! It was really, really cold, but not too bad once your face gets completely numb. I first started out this morning with Vicky. I could tell she didn’t want to talk at all, but I just felt compelled to press her a little bit and try to get her to open up. She let me talk and she was very open to her sin before God. You can always tell people are uncomfortable when you speak to them about the Law. There body language will change or they stop making eye contact with you and just look around thinking about their guilt. And that is a good thing! I then saw SanAntonio waiting for the bus to I leaned up against the rail next to him and started in with the Optical Illusion tract. I’ve also been adding the new scenarios by Ray Comfort. You know the whole Adolf Hitler sniper one and the asteroid one too? Those are great ice breakers. SanAntonio admitted that he had sinned against God, but believed that God was in his heart.

This is where it gets funny. When I first got downtown I put a million dollar gospel tract on a newspaper stand and when I was walking back to my car I noticed two ladies carrying groceries and I offered them both. One lady took the tract the other unloaded on me! She began screaming that she saw the other tract I put out and God was not going to be happy with me. I could hardly make out what she was saying she was screaming so loud. “I’m going to find a cop and have you arrested!” she said. What for? I asked but she just kept on yelling so I just strolled off and away.

Just when I was about to get into my car I noticed some of my JW buddies, so we talked about how they believe Jesus is Michael the archangel. Here is a document that I created with some detailed Scriptures that I hope will help you out with this topic. To God be the Glory!!
Download the document here!!

JW Meetings

Over the past few weeks I have been meeting with a Jehovah’s Witness couple in my home. We have touched on many different subjects but I’m mainly trying to keep our conversation on Jesus. Who is He really? Is He God in the flesh or is He Michael the Archangel as the JW doctrine states? Please download this document. I would suggest taking a King James Bible and marking these verses with the cross references listed and make side notes to help you remember some of the answers. I witness to a lot of JW’s and this sheet has helped me out on numerous occasions. Also, after Thanksgiving I will be meeting my JW friends to talk more in depth about our study of Jesus. I will post another document then showing the Scriptures that proves Jesus is God Almighty and not one of God’s angels. Thank you…
Click here to download the document!!