Vision, Goals and Boundaries

Do you ever feel beat down?  Your world is spinning out of control.  Your boss is complaining that "your head just doesn't seem to be in the game" while shoving more work onto you.  You arrive home to find the kids are yelling and running through the house, your husband is asking "what's for dinner, honey" or better yet complaining "dinner's not ready yet?" while you stumble over the dog and attempt to put down your own brief case.  No peace at home....no peace at work.

The scene is typical of most modern families.  It's not much different if you're a single gal.  You are still juggling deadlines and the demands of friends and family.

All too often, we take on too much and have hectic lives because we lack boundaries and a vision.  One must first have the vision and goals, then, setting boundaries will become easier.

In Proverbs, the Bible says "without a vision the people will perish".  There are countless verses that discuss setting up store houses rather than being a sluggard.  People who set up their store houses had a vision for the future.  They planned ahead.

Remember the story of Mary and Martha?  Martha was busy running around while Mary took time to spend with Jesus.  When Martha complained that Mary wasn't helping her, Jesus told her "Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.” (Luke 10:41-42)  Likewise, we spend our lives running around trying to take care of work, family, career, and other obligations.  We fail to spend time with Jesus, we fail to bless others because we are too busy, and we often fail to accomplish our true goals in life because we have been blinded by the busyness of the day-to-day.

As 2010 was coming to a close, I heard more sighs of relief and hopeful expressions for 2011.  Truth be told, unless you take the time to slow down, spend time with Jesus, prayerfully seek God's guidance for your life, and plan the vision, it won't matter if it is 2011, 2012,  or 2015.  You will grow older while running around "putting out fires". 

Being busy is one way in which Satan stops you from spending time with Jesus.  Busyness keeps us from daily devotion and Bible reading.  It stops us from participating in outreaches.  It also keeps us from fulfilling our God-given destiny. 

I would encourage you to examine your life.  What are the areas that keep you from God-time?  What can you change?

Plant the vision by charting it out.  Give yourself something to look at, trust the Lord to help guide and support you, and remember the following Bible passage from Psalms 37:23-24:

The steps of a man are established by the Lord,

when he delights in his way; though he fall, he

shall not be cast headlong, for the Lord upholds

his hand.

What's a Biblical Worldview?

“All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16-17 (KJV)


So, what is a biblical worldview?  For starters, it is based upon the Bible. Absolute moral truth exists as defined by the Bible. There is a Heaven, hell, Satan, absolute morality exists, salvation is through grace not by works, and there is a requirement for sharing your faith. Our lives should be modeled after Jesus and we should look to the Bible--the living Word of God--for guidance instead of new age gurus. While this is a basic summary definition, what does it actually mean? How does it impact our lives?

If we live using the Bible as our compass, it will affect every area of our lives. God's word, conveyed to us through the Bible, is clear on the use of psychics--whether called psychic, intuitive, etc--gambling (lottery, betting, etc), gluttony, drunkenness, murder, sexual sins, respecting parents and elders, respecting government, loving one another, and many other things. 

We are warned in the Bible to "Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because[a] narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it." Matthew 7:13-14. In other words, in life, we cannot take the easy way out to escape persecution or to enjoy secular--but ungodly--pursuits.

The Bible also cautions us, “See that you are not led astray. For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am he!’ and, ‘The time is at hand!’ Do not go after them." (Luke 21:8) New age gurus, self help books, and alleged spiritual experts advocate a self-development and self-reliance to develop the god within us. People, including some Christians, have been led astray to believe that "all paths lead to the same God". Yet this is not what the Bible says.

There even exists a group, The Jesus Seminar, made up of men claiming to be biblical scholars. Most were hand-picked by founder, Robert Funk who, himself, advocated "demoting Jesus" and called Christianity fiction.   You might be familiar with some of their work.  Around the time of the release of the DaVinci Code, "experts" from the Jesus Seminar were often quoted in interviews as biblical scholars to support the erroneous historical facts and bad theological doctrines used in the book and movie.   The members of the Jesus Seminar met to vote on biblical stories and to decide, by casting colored beads, what made sense to them.   Whatever didn't make sense, they deemed fictitious.  It's not up to man; however, to decide what makes sense.  God is bigger than man and heavenly concepts are often difficult to grasp.  Jesus spoke in parables.  Those that were hungry for the word, sought out the meaning and understood.  Unbelievers failed to grasp the meaning of any of his stories. 

This is just one of many instances of the secularization of Christianity. We're all familiar with the saying "when the going gets tough, the tough get going." In terms toward the shift modern Christianity is making, the saying should be edited to "When the going gets tough, we change the rules to suit ourselves." 

Increasingly, Christians are attempting to change Christianity to suit their lifestyles.  Pastors, anxious to draw people, are failing to preach the true gospel and are embracing new age practices and eastern mysticism.   The new growing fad in Christianity is contemplative spirituality.  If you do a Google-search of “contemplative spirituality”, you will find many articles, mostly negative.  By its definition, I found the following terms and beliefs applied to it “divinity in all of us, no need to connect through Jesus and the cross, Eastern Mysticism, spiritual oneness.”  All contrary to a biblical world view and warned of in the Bible, “Beware, lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit….” (Col 2:8 KJV)

So, is a biblical worldview relevant to us today? Of course it is. The Bible is living Word of God.  Living. It is the same yesterday, today and forever. It tells the story of God's relationship with and love for people. Within its pages are words of guidance, love, inspiration, and reproof. It provides a code by which we are to live and gives us the example of Jesus' life on earth. We are to guard our hearts because they affect our lives (Prov 4:23). The movies we watch, the music we listen to, and the books we read have an effect on us. If we watch or read ungodly material, over time it will desensitize us and have an effect on how we live our lives.

So what is a Christian to do?

You've heard of "putting on the armor of God", right?  Ephesians 6:13--17 is our action plan.

• Speak truth: have integrity, don't lie--let your word be your word---and don't gossip
• Live righteously: respect the Lord, love others, help those who are less fortunate
• Recognize pitfalls and traps ahead of time (what tempts you) and memorize some scriptures to recite when you get tempted.  If you can identify triggers to your temper and environments that cause you to stumble and fall, you can plan to stay away or limit contact.
• Guard our minds:  garbage in = garbage out.  Stop reading lustful books, quit going to movies and watching television shows that are sexual, violent, etc.
• Study the Bible: memorize verses to help you in your daily walk
• Pray: ask the Holy Spirit to give you strength and to help you in times of temptation. 

The world is ever changing.  The way a  Christian reacts to it; however, shouldn't. 

Who are Jehovah's Witnesses

I cross paths with people of many different religions. Most are all very sweet-spirited and likeable people. Their demeanor, however, does not make them a Christian. Some, such as the Jehovah’s Witnesses (hereafter referred to as just "JW"), claim to be Christians, and truly believe that they are, however they have been led astray and are really members of one of the largest cults whose formation was based on Christianity. If you mention to a JW that they have cultish teachings, they will become very argumentative. They have volumes of books that teach them how to reply to these, among other, accusations. Indeed, they believe that THEY are the only true Christians. So, what is the Christian response? How do we know that JW are a cult?

CULT 101

While there are several factors which can be used to identify cults and cultish teaching, there are some main characteristics that separate cults from Christianity:

***They claim a special revelation that sets them above Christianity
Example: An angel appeared to the founder telling him that Christianity was corrupted and new information will be revealed to him that will help him be true to what God really meant. Sometimes, they claim God speaks directly to/thru them in prophecy, et cetera and only they or their organization can be trusted.

***They claim to have more accurate higher teachings than the Bible.
***Their views of who Jesus is.
***They distort scripture by adding to it to “clarify”, refusing to use all of it, and/or retranslating it.

The JW meet all three of the above factors. Their founder, Charles Taze Russell, sold his men’s furnishings store and set-out to preach against ministers and Bible translators thereby organizing his own religion which he based, loosely in part, on the doctrines and theology of the Seventh Day Adventists and Pyramidology. He made several prophetic pronunciations about the end of the world which failed to come true thereby causing the organization to continually change dates in its publications. Upon his death, Russell was succeeded by Joseph Franklin Rutherford. To further solidify his power and lessen any remnants of Russell’s influence, Rutherford declared any devotion to Russell as “creature worship”. It was under Rutherford’s leadership that the society of JW made it clear that angels transmitted information to the governing body.

The JW discourage study of outside material. In some congregations, study of Christian material can be cause for “disfellowshipping”. The society claims that the Bible can only be understood by the aid of either AWAKE or The Watchtower. In 1950, despite having used the King James Version of the Bible for the past 75 years, under Rutherford’s and the governing body’s guidance, the New World Translation was published. Supposedly, the NWT was more accurate because of the guidance of the angels and because of the discovery of new manuscripts which made it easier to clarify what the previous verses were truly trying to say.

Lastly, the third factor which is used to indicate a cult/cultish teaching is the view of who Jesus is. Belief in Jesus as the Christ, the fulfillment of old testament scriptures, and being fully God in human form are central to Christianity. JW, however, teach that Jesus was the archangel, Michael. He is a creation of God, but not fully God, himself.

CULTISH TEACHINGS OF THE WITNESSES

Let’s look at some of the beliefs of the JW. In parenthesis, I have given some of their specific materials. The references are not inclusive of all references that could have been provided.

1. God is not triune, ie Father, Son and Holy Spirit (Let God Be True, pgs 100-101; Make Sure of All Things, p 386)[Witnesses claim that the theory of the trinity is pagan. I read an article somewhere that one culture they point to is the ancient Egyptian gods/goddesses. This is not the case, however, as the Egyptians do not have a triune god. The sun god, Ra, is the supreme god. All others are subordinate.]

2. Jesus was really the archangel, Michael. He became known as Jesus when he became man on earth. (The Watchtower, May 15, 1963, p307; The New World, 284)
Jesus was only a man, not God in the flesh (Reasoning From The Scriptures, 1985, p306)

3. Jesus did not rise from the dead in his physical body. Russell told his followers that Jesus either dissolved into gases or is still preserved somewhere. Likewise, man has no spirit. (AWAKE! July 22, 1973, p4)
Jesus came back invisibly in 1914 and is ruling the world (The Truth Shall Make You Free, p300)

4. The only true church and the only church with members who will be saved are the JW (The Watchtower, April 1, 1972, 9127; The Watchtower, Feb 15, 1981, p19; The Watchtower, Feb 15, 1979, p30)

5. Good works are required for salvation (Studies in the Scriptures, vol 1, p 150, 152) [This is why they go door-to-door. Their followers are told that they are following in Jesus’ footsteps. This is not true, however, because Jesus never went door-to-door. When Jesus entered a town, the people flocked to Him.]

6. Hell does not exist. It is just the grave. The wicked are simply annihilated and cease to exist. (Let God Be True, pgs 79—80)[The JW organization teaches that the dead will rise again and live on earth for 1000 years. During that 1000 year period, they must live perfect lives without sin or they will be annihilated. Despite being good for 999 years, they believe they will be annihilated if they fail to remain perfect for the 1000 year period.]

7. Only 144,000 will get to heaven and they must be JW (Reasoning From The Scriptures, 1985, p 76 and pages 166—67; The Watchtower, November 15, 1954, p. 681; Let God Be True, p121)

8. Satan was entrusted with the duty of overseeing the creation of the earth (Children, p55)

9. Angels, not the Holy Spirit, are responsible for the light (information) (Preservation, 1932, pg 203) because Jesus came to earth and invisibly assumed his throne in 1918 and the Holy Spirit ceased at that time (Preservation, 1932, pgs 202—203). [The JW believe the Holy Spirit was not part of the triune God and was only a force, not a person]

In addition to their erroneous beliefs, the JW have made several false prophecies. Their own writings contradict themselves in several places. The body of JW are trained to answer people who point to their erroneous prophecies by saying they did not make the prophecies in the name of Jehovah, rather they were statements meant to clarify/interpret prophecies. However, if you read their publication, The Watchtower, April 1, 1972, p 197, you will see a statement claiming they are prophets of God and as such speak God’s warning. Their top leaders have consistently referred to themselves as the new Ezekiel, Elisha, John , et cetera class. All of whom were prophetic and all of whom were used by God. So, what are some of their false prophecies?

1. 1877—the world is ending soon (N.H. Barbour and C.T. Russell, Three Worlds and The Harvest of This World, p 17)

2. 1879—Christ came in 1874

3. 1880—7th trumpet was sounded in 1840 and world will end in 1914 (Zion’s Watchtower, Nov, 1880, p1)

4. 1888—world ending in 1914 (The Time Is At Hand, 1988, pgs 76—77)

5. 1889—The setting up of the Kingdom of God on earth has already began and the world will end in 1914. (Studies In The Scriptures, Vol 2, The Time Is At Hand, 1889 Ed, p101.****NOTE: the 1914 was changed to 1915 in the 1915 Edition of Studies In The Scriptures)

6. 1889—Christ’s reign began in 1873 not 1840 after all (Studies In The Scriptures, Vol 2, p 40, 1889)

7. 1889—all governments will cease to exist in 26 years (C.T. Russell, Studies In The Scriptures, Vol 2, p 98--99, 1889)

8. 1894—Made a statement that the dates come from God and that the date for the end of the time of trouble is 1914 (Russell, Studies in the Scriptures, Thy Kingdom Come, Series III, p 342, 1987 edition)

9. 1897—Again made a statement that the dates come from God and that 1914 is now the date for the beginning of the time of trouble. (Watchtower, July 15, 1894)

10. 1903—used astrology to predict the planetary time that the world would end in 1914 (The Watchtower, May 1, 1903, p 130-131)

11. 1904—time of trouble will be between 1910 and 1912 with ending of world in 1914 (The New Creation, Studies In The Scriptures, vol 6, p579, 1904)

12. 1914—we never said 1914 was the year (Watchtower, November 1, 1914, p325)

13. 1914—the end will be in 10 more years (Watchtower, December 15, 1914, p376)

14. 1914—Armageddon might possibly be in the spring (Watchtower Reprints, VI, 1914, p5450)

15. 1915—the present great war is the beginning of Armageddon (Pastor Russell’s Sermons, p 676)

The prophecies continued to be issued with the dates being moved farther into the future. When 1915 did not occur, it was prophesied that 1925 would be the end. (A booklet, Millions Now Living Will Never Die, was published by the Watchtower Society which advocated 1925 would be the end as well as various Watchtower articles). So sure was Rutherford that the world would end and the old prophets would return that he deeded land and vehicles to them (Time Magazine, March 31, 1930; interview with Rutherford in the San Diego Sun Newspaper, January 9, 1931). When the world did not end in 1925, a date was given in the 70’s. When that failed to occur, a prophecy was made that the world would pass away before all those who were of age during 1914 died. (Watchtower May 1, 1992, page 3: The Year That Shocked The World)

WHAT DOES CHRISTIANITY TEACH

1. While the term “trinity” is not found in the Bible, several scriptures support the existence of a triune God. Some of these same scriptures also support the bodily resurrection of Christ. (NOTE: There are several additional scriptures in the Old and New Testaments. The scriptures in parenthesis are just a sampling.)
***Isaiah 43:10—there is 1 God

***Matthew 28:19---Jesus instructs the disciples to baptize in the name of “The Father, The Son and The Holy Spirit”

***2 Corinthians 13:14---“The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all.”

***1 Peter 1:2---“Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ”

***John 1:1---“In the beginning was the Word (Jesus), and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”[Jesus was not created by God, the father. He existed from the very beginning.]

***Colossians 2:9---For in him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily [Paul was writing to address the claim of Gnostics who disputed the deity of Christ. Even centuries past, Satan has inserted doubt into the midst of the believers.]

***Luke 24:39—“Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me and see, for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have.” [Jesus was bodily resurrected. The Holy Spirit is not flesh and bone.]


2. The Bible teaches that all will know when Jesus comes again. He will come as he departed, not discretely so that only a select few know.
***Acts 1:11---“…why stand ye gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.”


3. Jesus is fully God, begotten not made
***John 1:1---“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God.”

***Michael, the archangel was referred to in several scriptures. The Bible states angels are not worshipped. Several verses in the Bible state that Jesus was worshipped (Matthew 2:11, 14:33, 28:9; Hebrews 1:6; and Revelation 5:8). Point out this discrepancy to the JW.

4. The Holy Spirit is God (spirit—not flesh and bones, is not a “force” but is alive)
***Acts1:8---But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.

***Acts 13:2---As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work where unto I have called them. (If you are interested in a list of the attributes of the Holy Spirit, email your request to sedminaministries@gmail.com)


5. The ONLY way to Heaven is through Jesus Christ and is not through works or obedience to the 10 commandments
***John 3:16—18-- For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 17For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. 18He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

***Acts 4:12-- Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. (additional verses: Romans 5:21, 1 John 2:23, 1 John 5:11, Romans 3:20)*****obedience and works are outward signs that will follow faith and becoming a Christian


6. Hell is a real place
***Matthew 23:33-- Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?

***Luke 12:5--But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear: Fear him, which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear him.


***2 Peter 2:4--For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment


***Revelation 20:10--And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.


7. The Bible warns to beware of false prophets and tells us that many will come who will present false teachings.


***Matthew 7:15--Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.


***2 Peter 2:1—2--But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction. And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of.

***Jude 1:3—4--Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints. For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.


For additional information on Jehovah’s Witnesses and the Christian Response, check out the following websites: http://www.towerwatch.com/about_us/introduction.htm, http://www.freeminds.org/psychology/cults/opening-the-closed-mind.html, http://www.carm.org/jehovahs-witnesses or enter “Christian response, Jehovah’s Witnesses” into your search bar.

An interesting article by Jay Rogers makes the assertion that all modern day heresies, including the Jehovah’s Witnesses, can be traced back to three ancient heresies. The text can be found here: http://www.forerunner.com/orthodoxy/X0008_7._Christianity_vs._.html

As an interesting sidenote: The Jehovah's Witnesses randomly changed several scriptures to reflect God's original and true name of "Jehovah." In reality, the name "Jehovah" was never found in any of the original Aramaic, Greek or Hebrew scriptures. It was first coined by a Roman Catholic priest, Raymundus Martini, in 1270 CE.

For questions or comments, please email sedminaministries@gmail.com