Final Straw

We all know the fable about the straw that broke the camel's back. It's owner kept piling on more and more until that one last straw was finally too much for the camel to bear.

I feel like i have reached that point.

Now i don't care about the many small misunderstandings the Governing Body have when it comes to the Bible. "Accurate knowledge" is not a requirement to be a Christian. Christ himself, when confronted with someone holding a false belief, did not correct the individual, because it was not important. (Jn 5:7)
It is faith, hope, and love that are important. (1Co 13:12, 13)

(John 21:21-23) So when he caught sight of him, Peter said to Jesus: “Lord, what about this man?” ²² Jesus said to him: “If it is my will for him to remain until I come, of what concern is that to you? You continue following me.” ²³ So the saying went out among the brothers that this disciple would not die. However, Jesus did not say to him that he would not die, but he said: “If it is my will for him to remain until I come, of what concern is that to you?”

That tells of a false belief that spread among the early Christians. Did the fact that they held this inaccurate belief disqualify them as Christians? No. Again, it is faith, hope, and love that are important. "But the greatest of these is love." (1Co 13:12, 13)

Now, if you truly love your fellow brothers and sisters you do not intentionally cause them harm, do you?

Yet we are told over and over that it is our duty and responsibility to preach, and if we don't we won't make it through Armageddon.—That is scripturally false and spiritually and emotionally harms those who do not have the mental capability or outgoing personality to evangelize. (see my article "The Preaching Work")

And we are served article after article that strongly implies that Jehovah individually protects us physically. They don't come right out and say it because they know that He doesn't. We know that they know this because they slip-in sentences here and there acknowledging it, probably to cover themselves against future accusations.—This puts many of our brothers and sisters at risk of physical harm because they inaccurately believe they are protected. And on top of that they tell the brothers and sisters it is wrong to have the means to protect themselves by unscripturally condemning the possession of firearms for self protection. That is the exact opposite of what Christ commanded. (see my article "2017-07 QFR...")

They tell us that the holy spirit appoints the elders and other brothers in charge, and that going against them is tantamount to going against Jehovah.—That is blatantly false. (see my article "Appointed by holy spirit") They use that appropriated power to 'beat their fellow slaves' by ignoring Christ's instructions on how to deal with sinners. (see my article "Disfellowshipping in the Early Congregations") This harms our brothers and sisters who sin, are repentant, and are disfellowshipped anyway. And it harms their families as well. It also harms those who have not sinned but are falsely accused and condemned. That power they brandish also puts an un-Christian air of fear upon the whole congregation.

They say that a terrible world-wide "great tribulation" is about to come upon us before Armageddon.—This psychologically harms our brothers and sisters by causing much unneeded fear, stress, and anxiety.
In contrast, Christ tells us that life will be carrying on normally on the day that Armageddon strikes.
(Mt 24:36-42; Lu 17:26-30) (see my article "The Great Tribulation - Discussion")

They claim that an entire race of people are rejected by Jehovah when the Bible repeatedly tells us otherwise. (see my article "Replacement Theology") And they condemn all other Christians for not being Jehovah's Witnesses even though there are scriptures such as Revelation 18:4 where they are called "my people." (Re 18:4) (see my article "Other Sheep")

But what is the final straw for me? It is two-fold:

First: They have been strongly recommending that all Jehovah's Witnesses take that highly dangerous governmental experiment called a "COVID vaccine" which often causes irreparable damage and even causes the death of some. And to wear masks that do nothing to protect you from a virus and are unhealthy to wear for extended periods. Why are they aligning themselves with Satan and his governments' world-wide agenda in pushing that poison? (Jn 12:31) It would seem that they have been "molded by this system of things." (Ro 12:2)

See these articles on my server:
COVID-19 News
COVID-19 Protection
COVID-19 Vaccine
Before Your Child Is Injected!!
How to Neutralize Potential Damage from mRNA Vaccines

Second: Recently they told us that they believe that they are going to receive instructions from God, and when they pass on those instructions to us, although those instruction may "seem strange, impractical, or illogical" to us, "that will hardly be the time to second-guess the direction or to view it with skepticism." [w22.02 p. 6 ¶15]—That categorically and unequivocally contradicts the directions given to us in the Bible, which tell us to "make sure" (Php 1:10) and to "test the inspired statements to see whether they originate with God." (1Jo 4:1; 1Th 5:21)

The Bible tells us that we are to scrutinize their conduct to determine whether it is acceptable or not.

(Hebrews 13:7) Remember those who are taking the lead among you, who have spoken the word of God to you, and as you contemplate how their conduct turns out, imitate their faith.

That includes not only the conduct of those taking the lead, but also their teachings. (Ac 17:11)

(1 Thessalonians 5:21) Make sure of all things; hold fast to what is fine.

(Acts 17:11) they accepted the word with the greatest eagerness of mind, carefully examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so.

God requires us not to follow blindly. (Jn 14:10)

(Matthew 15:14) Let them be. Blind guides is what they are. If, then, a blind man guides a blind man, both will fall into a pit.”

True, the "chosen ones" (Mt 24:31) have been given the task of serving food to the lambs and little sheep (Jn 21:15-17), but when we mature spiritually we are to move beyond their milk and are to feed ourselves solid food.
(He 5:11-6:2) (see my article "Share Your Thoughts and Research + advice")

(Luke 22:27) For which one is greater, the one dining or the one serving? Is it not the one dining?

The Bible commands us to use our "power of reason" (Ro 12:1) and not to rely on the reasonings of others.

(1 Corinthians 2:15) the spiritual man examines all things,

(1 Timothy 4:15) Ponder over these things; be absorbed in them, so that your advancement may be plainly seen by all people.

Christ did not tell us to listen to the voice of the "faithful slave." He told us to listen to his voice.

(John 10:16) “And I have other sheep, which are not of this fold; those too I must bring in, and they will listen to my voice, and they will become one flock, one shepherd.

(John 10:27) My sheep listen to my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.

(John 18:37) So Pilate said to him: “Well, then, are you a king?” Jesus answered: “You yourself are saying that I am a king. For this I have been born, and for this I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is on the side of the truth listens to my voice.”

We do not belong to the Governing Body.

(1 Corinthians 3:23) in turn you belong to Christ; Christ, in turn, belongs to God.

And they are not our leaders.

(Matthew 23:10) Neither be called leaders, for your Leader is one, the Christ.

Telling us to obey what they say without questioning it instead of obeying scriptures like Philippians 1:10,
1 John 4:1, and 1 Thessalonians 5:21 is the very definition of trying to take the place of Christ.

(John 10:8) All those who have come in place of me are thieves and plunderers; but the sheep have not listened to them. — (see my article "Are You a Sheep?")

It is also the very definition of going beyond the things that are written.

(1 Corinthians 4:6) “Do not go beyond the things that are written”

Paul condemns those who would listen to such instructions.

(2 Corinthians 11:4) For as it is, if someone comes and preaches a Jesus other than the one we preached, or you receive a spirit other than what you received, or good news other than what you accepted, you easily put up with him.

As does Christ.

(Revelation 2:20) “‘Nevertheless, I do hold this against you, that you tolerate that woman Jezʹe·bel, who calls herself a prophetess, and she teaches and misleads my slaves

The old story that a frog will not jump out of water that is slowly heated is untrue. In reality the frog jumps out when the water gets too hot.

I feel like that frog. The water has been getting hotter and hotter over the last few years, and i have reached the point where i must now jump out.

When the Governing Body gives you those instructions that don't make sense and you are told to obey without question, will it be a test of your obedience? Yes indeed! It will be a test to see if you will obey the directions given to you by Jehovah and His son in the Bible, or if you will obey men instead.

They are already giving us instructions and teaching things that don't' make sense and that contradict the Bible. And if we dare to question them they make us pay the consequences for our "disobedience" to the those men. But my allegiance lies with Jehovah and His Son, not with men.

(Matthew 7:22) Many will say to me in that day: ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and expel demons in your name, and perform many powerful works in your name?’

Yes, they did. Christ does not deny that fact. But he still condemns them. And just as Christ does not accept their good deeds as cover for their bad, neither do i. (2Co 11:14) So i will no longer be making the Weekly Audio for the blind, or the weekly Study Prep for the technologically unskilled. I can no longer in good conscience promote the men who do and teach things that contradict the Bible and cause real and serious harm to the brothers and sisters. I will not share in their bloodguilt. (Pr 28:17)

As for me, i will "obey God as ruler rather than men." (Ac 5:29)

I conclude with a few scriptures that i hope you will consider:

(Isaiah 2:22) For your own sakes, quit trusting in mere man, Who is only the breath in his nostrils. Why should he be taken into account?

(Revelation 2:2) ‘I know your deeds, and your labor and endurance, and that you cannot tolerate bad men, and that you put to the test those who say they are apostles, but they are not, and you found them to be liars.

(Proverbs 14:15) The naive person believes every word, But the shrewd one ponders each step.

(Romans 13:11) And do this because you know the season, that it is already the hour for you to awake from sleep, for now our salvation is nearer than at the time when we became believers.

(1 Thessalonians 5:6) So, then, let us not sleep on as the rest do, but let us stay awake and keep our senses.

(Ephesians 5:14) “Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and the Christ will shine upon you

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After i wrote that, i have since watched a member of the Governing Body (at the 38:55 mark of the first morning video of the 2022 convention) call newborn babies "little enemies of God".

I cannot fathom how anyone can think of an innocent baby as an enemy of God.

Just because we are all born with Adamic sin does not make us God's enemies. We all have Adamic sin, even those whom God called His friend. Even the "chosen ones" (Mt 24:31) who will rule with God's Son in heaven have Adamic sin.

It is stunning to me. And that wasn't an off-the-cuff remark. No doubt his talk was written, proof-read, practiced many times, and he still chose to say those words. Then they put it up on JW,org for the world to download.

How can anyone respond favorably to such a statement?

We know how Christ felt about little children:

(Matthew 18:3, 4) and said: “Truly I say to you, unless you turn around and become as young children, you will by no means enter into the Kingdom of the heavens. ⁴ Therefore, whoever will humble himself like this young child is the one who is the greatest in the Kingdom of the heavens;

(Matthew 19:14) Jesus, however, said: “Let the young children alone, and do not try to stop them from coming to me, for the Kingdom of the heavens belongs to such ones.”

(Matthew 21:16) and said to him: “Do you hear what these are saying?” Jesus said to them: “Yes. Did you never read this, ‘Out of the mouth of children and infants, you have brought forth praise’?”

(Mark 9:36, 37) Then he took a young child and stood him in their midst; and putting his arms around him, he said to them: ³⁷ “Whoever receives one of such young children on the basis of my name receives me also; and whoever receives me receives not me only but also Him who sent me.”

(Mark 10:14-16) At seeing this, Jesus was indignant and said to them: “Let the young children come to me; do not try to stop them, for the Kingdom of God belongs to such ones. ¹⁵ Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the Kingdom of God like a young child will by no means enter into it.” ¹⁶ And he took the children into his arms and began blessing them, laying his hands on them.

(Luke 18:16) However, Jesus called the infants to him, saying: “Let the young children come to me, and do not try to stop them, for the Kingdom of God belongs to such ones.

(1 Corinthians 14:20) Brothers, do not become young children in your understanding, but be young children as to badness; and become full-grown in your understanding.

your brother
Dave

I welcome any Bible-based responses. da.getmyip@gmail.com

The referenced articles that scripturally prove my statements can be found here:
http://da.getmyip.com/PDF/Ramblings

Last edited 03-08-2024       (date created 06-06-2022)