As I look back at my "Glory Story," I am
reminded of the book of Esther. The word “God” does not appear anywhere in Esther, yet God
used the circumstances of her life and Mordecai's to accomplish His will. I firmly believe that life
decisions I made were orchestrated by God to call me to Himself. A
non-Christian might look at my story and say “coincidence” but I say “Providence
I was raised, baptized and confirmed as a Lutheran. But I was not Born Again and had little interest in the Bible. That all changed when I married a Jehovah’s Witness. About six years after our marriage we decided that it would be best if both of us were JW’s. So I decided to study WT doctrine with the goal of being Baptized. I, however, decided that I did not want to study the usual WT way, which would have me meet with a JW and read, from cover-to-cover, one or more of their books. I wanted to study on my own. Marian’s (my wife) parents (both JW’s) brought over a huge box of WT material. Watchtower and Awake! magazines, the book Aid to Bible Understanding, TheNew World Translation and a host of other magazines,
books and booklets. The one book that they included, was a little read WT
Bible, The Kingdom Interlinear
Translation of the Greek Scriptures (KIT). This Bible proved invaluable to
Marian, her parents and me becoming Christians. I have blogged about the KIT
here and here.
In addition to the WT material, I got several translations of the Bible. Now, what topic to begin my study? I settled on JESUS CHRIST! As I began to study WT doctrine on Jesus, I thought that it would be beneficial to get some material critical of WT doctrine and see how the WT responds to criticism. This was 1979, well before the internet, so Marian and I started searching the Libraries in and aroundVancouver ,
WA and Portland ,
OR Lewis and Clark College
Months of study ensued and I shared everything I found with Marian. The turning point involved Colossians 1:16-17. I have blogged about this here. As the blog shows, the WT has altered scripture. Colossians says four times that Jesus created ALL THINGS, ALL THINGS were created for him, etc. The WT changed the verse four times stating “ALL OTHER THINGS.” This lead me to other verses the WT has altered. (In my blog, you can see these verses in my eight (8) part series, “Presto Change-O!”Part 1 is here.)
After months of study, I was convinced the WT’s major doctrines were all wrong when compared with the Bible. At this time, I was studying John 5:22-23 and surrounding verses. Verse 22, “For not even the Father judges anyone, but He has given all judgment to the Son, 23 so that all will honor the Son even as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him.” I realized that if I was judged I would fall far short of God’s mark of perfection. I was a sinner in need of a Savior and my study showed me that that Savior was Jesus. At home one night I asked Jesus to be my Lord and Savior. God shortly answered my first prayer, that Marian would see that the WT was wrong about Jesus and she would embrace the Jesus of the Bible. God then answered our prayer, that Marian’s mom and dad would renounced the doctrines of the WT and become Born Again Christians. “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end, they are new every morning.”
My wife's Glory Story is here.
I was raised, baptized and confirmed as a Lutheran. But I was not Born Again and had little interest in the Bible. That all changed when I married a Jehovah’s Witness. About six years after our marriage we decided that it would be best if both of us were JW’s. So I decided to study WT doctrine with the goal of being Baptized. I, however, decided that I did not want to study the usual WT way, which would have me meet with a JW and read, from cover-to-cover, one or more of their books. I wanted to study on my own. Marian’s (my wife) parents (both JW’s) brought over a huge box of WT material. Watchtower and Awake! magazines, the book Aid to Bible Understanding, The
In addition to the WT material, I got several translations of the Bible. Now, what topic to begin my study? I settled on JESUS CHRIST! As I began to study WT doctrine on Jesus, I thought that it would be beneficial to get some material critical of WT doctrine and see how the WT responds to criticism. This was 1979, well before the internet, so Marian and I started searching the Libraries in and around
Months of study ensued and I shared everything I found with Marian. The turning point involved Colossians 1:16-17. I have blogged about this here. As the blog shows, the WT has altered scripture. Colossians says four times that Jesus created ALL THINGS, ALL THINGS were created for him, etc. The WT changed the verse four times stating “ALL OTHER THINGS.” This lead me to other verses the WT has altered. (In my blog, you can see these verses in my eight (8) part series, “Presto Change-O!”Part 1 is here.)
After months of study, I was convinced the WT’s major doctrines were all wrong when compared with the Bible. At this time, I was studying John 5:22-23 and surrounding verses. Verse 22, “For not even the Father judges anyone, but He has given all judgment to the Son, 23 so that all will honor the Son even as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him.” I realized that if I was judged I would fall far short of God’s mark of perfection. I was a sinner in need of a Savior and my study showed me that that Savior was Jesus. At home one night I asked Jesus to be my Lord and Savior. God shortly answered my first prayer, that Marian would see that the WT was wrong about Jesus and she would embrace the Jesus of the Bible. God then answered our prayer, that Marian’s mom and dad would renounced the doctrines of the WT and become Born Again Christians. “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end, they are new every morning.”
My wife's Glory Story is here.
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