Good morning!!!! I trust everything is going well for you out there. As seen by the title, I believe that the study may be over. Let's recap real quick....
A month ago, I was told there was a convention in Reading, PA. This year the theme is "Don't Give Up!" The quote by attendee Dana Kinney sums it all up, "it's like a spiritual boost." This is needed since I previously wrote about why that title may have been used since the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society is hemorrhaging membership-badly. With that in mind, I was supposed to meet last week with my JW friends. However, there's been another development.....
My daughter has earned a spot in the local junior symphony orchestra for the viola. I'm immensely proud of her. As a result, there is a time commitment. Every Saturday morning for the foreseeable future, she need taken/picked up from there. I had left a message for the custodian's husband to give me a call on his smartphone (he's coming along slowly but surely in the technology arena). Since there was a possibility he may not have checked it, I did follow up by sending a message to the elder. With that in mind, I still haven't heard back from either of them.
With that in mind, I have a few thoughts:
Although the Jehovah's Witnesses propagate an accursed gospel since it differs from what Paul taught in Galatians 1, they are highly commended for taking things at times serious enough to go weekly door to door. I say "at times" since I saw on Facebook I did see this. You'll see they want to "spread" the message so much they are sitting back and relaxing. I wonder if they are merely "counting time" waiting for the BBQ to start.
They have possibly/probably given up on me since they realized I'm not going to join. Although there were times where I let go a "little" thing, I wanted to always impress upon them something that I figured was major so that they had to think about it after they left. The biggest things in my mind were the physical bodily resurrection of Jesus and by taking the time to develop a relationship (which is key), I was successfully able to explain the Diety of Jesus Christ without an argument. Along with that, by taking time, I was able to show them old literature and at the very least, the custodian's husband did take it. If he threw it away once he left, I'll never know.
From our conversations, something else I had previously forgotten to mention but want to here. The elder said at one point he was basically checking the custodian's husband's computer history. Perhaps it was nothing but there is a possibility that maybe the custodian's husband was asking questions that the elder couldn't answer. Maybe he was searching on the internet for things on his own. Maybe he was instructed to never call me again. This is interesting considering the custodian's husband stopped out a few weeks back on a Sunday afternoon by himself to simply say "hello" and we had a "trivial" chat for a few minutes.
All the above in mind, I have been "dropped" before by the elder a few years back. They didn't mark my house as they had previously done since they came out last year. Hopefully, I'll get to see them again. If not, Lord willing, there were enough seeds planted to cause sufficient questioning and they all will get to know the Jesus of the Bible prior to the end of their earthly course.
If they don't come back, that will give me a lot more time which is needed especially considering I'm having to work overtime right now. I'm not complaining just explaining but aside from our two to three hour meetings, there's me writing things up which takes up to eight hours and this is after taking some time to prep before they come. That could be an hour or two considering the chapter we were going to discuss.
Quick update on the Armageddon project... I'm coming down to the home stretch now. I'm down to 149 more documents. I wanted to get done by the end of September but it may take me until the end of the year at this point. I've been breaking documents out now but this project when it's done, it will be the most comprehensive set of Watchtower Bible and Tract Society quotes that will have ever been produced on one word. One observation then I'm done, the usage of the word Armageddon really "took off" under Joseph Rutherford.
Below is a bit of a teaser:
When those in the covenant have been brought to the unity of the faith in Christ Jesus, “unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ” (Eph. 4:13), it is then that the new covenant is inaugurated toward them and they are made official witnesses of Jehovah; and their work as such witnesses must be done before Armageddon.
Jehovah. 1934. p. 211
While other Scriptural texts show that at Armageddon there will be great physical disturbances, these words of the apostle Paul recorded in Hebrews concerning the inauguration of the new covenant do not appear to apply at all to literal shaking or violent movements to and fro of natural objects.
Jehovah. 1934. p. 217
There will be no occasion for such ministry after Armageddon; and this is further proof that the new covenant is made and inaugurated and accomplishes its purpose prior to Armageddon.
Jehovah. 1934. p. 237
By his prophet Jehovah had foretold the coming of Elijah to do a preparatory work before “the great and the terrible day of the Lord”. (Mal. 3:1; 4:5, 6) Without a doubt Christ Jesus himself is the messenger and antitypical Elijah meant by this prophecy, and who must do a certain preparatory work before the great and terrible day of Jehovah. This prophecy must have its fulfilment just preceding Armageddon.
Jehovah. 1934. p. 336
The “winter time” is the hard time, and the time when the great fight is on. It symbolizes the time of Armageddon.
Jehovah. 1934. p. 358
You can obtain and verify the book here.