SHANES TESTIMONY
Preface
I met Shane when he contacted the ministry and told me he needed help to leave the Watchtower Society. Leaving a cult is a hard both physically and mentally and folk who have made this decision need lots of caring love and patience. They are not going to change their beliefs overnight and most tend to hang on to some teaching even though they have left the group. Other Christians can help by being caring, loving and most of all patient. Shine forth your Christian love and let the Holy Spirit convict the ex-cult member and draw them to Christ. Be there for them when they need you, answer their questions to the best of your knowledge but do not condemn them. I have known Pastors of Churches who do not have the patience with ex-cult members and I feel this is a great shame because this is what they desperately need. Generally an ex-cult member will make an excellent member of any Christian church and I know many, including Shane, who have made this change in their lives.
Shane has a wicked sense of humour and this shows through in some of his comments in the testimony you are about to read. I have left this humour intact as he speaks it as this is the real him. I hope his story will help and enlighten you.
Ray - Free in Christ Ministries
MY TESTIMONY
INTRODUCTION
Thank you for allowing me to share my testimony with you today. But before I begin I have to warn you that some of what you will read may shock you. Having said that though, almost everything I am going to share with you can be found recorded and supported in the Bible.
CHILDHOOD
For as long as I can remember I had always been interested in Aliens, ghosts, UFO's, pyramids, TV shows like Great Mysteries of the World, Nostradamus, Angels, astrology, reincarnation, God…any type of mystic stuff.
My childhood was normal. I can't remember ever going hungry or abused in anyway. My Dad had an interest in unexplained mysteries and science, but by no means could it be said that he ever steered me in any direction regarding my interests that I just listed. In fact I would say that he was an athiest in his beliefs. Although oddly enough he said that life may have been started here via aliens through evolution. I suppose the answer to that is, who made the aliens? Anyway, I had some experience with Christianity as a child. A little bit of Sunday school when living in Macquarie fields, Sydney. I remember winning a book about Moses that I believe my mother still has. Also, we were given Easter eggs which I thought was great, as most kids do. It's funny that these are the two memories I have of christianity. I liked the giving.
I also remember attending The Greek Orthodox church. My mother is Greek and she would respect her traditions and customs on many occasions that were religiously significant, like Christmas and Easter and name days. My grandparents love the Lord. I don't know as much about The Greek Orthodox faith, but it appears that tradition and idols and superstition play a big part in that faith. It is an old religion, and seeing as the NT we read was written in Greek, they do have a special place in history.
So with that background behind me, I was baptised, along with my cousin, as a Greek Orthodox in a pot that looked like a witch's cauldron. Apparently my cousin pulled the Priests beard while I put on a song and dance.
SANDY
About eight years ago my wife Tracy and I moved into a unit in Penrith with our son Steven. There we met a lady named Sandy who had two children. Sandy, we soon found out, was heavily involved in the New Age movement and occult practices. Sandy’s specialty included reading the Tarot cards. She did not realise ovcourse that she was being deceived by seducing spirits, and neither did I at the time. As far as people go she was a kind and caring and generous person. We soon became good friends and given my curiosity with all things mystical she soon had me involved in the New Age mumbo jumbo.
THE OCCULT
It was not long before I became an amateur Clairvoyant and was involved
in reading Tarot cards and jewellery reading; a necromancer, I explored past life
regressions, and astrology.
I want to talk to you about some of my experiences so that maybe you can help those who
are involved in the occult. I would remind you that we are at war with Fallen Angels for
the souls of men (Ephesians 6:12) and I want to share with you how God called me and saved
me. I just mentioned that I was a necromancer, that is one who talks to the deceased. I
actually never heard voices, nor did I ever see anything physically manifest itself in
front of me. I think that if that had happened I would have run a mile and the satanic
powers that were behind the events that transpired in my life, that you are about to hear,
knew this fact very well. In some respects at first, I was shown the red carpet, by these
demonic forces.
I don't believe they have the power to tell the future, so they were genuinely trying to win me over. I believe they have limited knowlege of the future, and that probably through eductaed guesses. There is no doubt that demons are a higher intelliegence than mankind, so obviously then they have more resources at their disposal. If they could have won me, they would have won my soul and therefore I would be lost. If they had won me I would have won others as well. In fact I probably have influenced others as I have not corrected all those that I had psychic dealings with. I can only pray that God in his providence has taken care of this. Actually I am sure he has. I will expand these thoughts later concerning the sovereignty of God and what can be called divine appointments.
After a few months of constant practice, I was ready to go public and share what I believed was a gift from God with my adouring fans, the general public. I started 'inhouse' so to speak. A lady at work asked me to try and get in touch with her deceased Mother whom she loved very much. Now before I ever read the Tarot Cards or anything else, I would always ask God to protect me. I would visualise white pure light surrounding me and protecting me so that no nasties could get in. As I just said, I actually believed that what I could do was a gift from God and that I was somehow a special person. Little did I know at the time that I was being deceived by Fallen Angels who are in fact more intelligent than man and have superior skills. Make no mistake, Fallen Angels can seduce you, trouble you, oppress you, vex you, bind you, deceive you, possess you, and torment you if you give yourself up to them like I did, willingly or unwillingly.
Anyway, while trying to get in touch with this ladies mother I saw, and when I say saw, I mean just in my minds eye, it’s sort of like the way you see things in a day dream. I was in a room and there was old furniture in there, and I had the feeling that it was about 1940 or around about that period. Perception plays a major part in the repertoire of the psychic. We all have feelings about certain things. Sometimes we feel uneasy about things, or sense a loved one is in danger. Perhaps we think of our spouse and then they ring us. Or perhaps we dream of a certain person and then see them. Maybe nothing like this has ever happened to you. Everybody is unique and different. My point is this, I am not sure what God has made our minds capable of. Who knows what power Adam may have had from the beginning. And who knows what mankind will be capable of in eternity when we are perfected.
Getting back to where I left off, There was a very old black and white picture on the wall of a man in uniform. I believe that it was a replica of the lady I worked with and who I was doing this reading for, this was her father's picture. Then I saw a lady who matched the description of her mother; she was standing in the room. She seemed to be about twelve feet away from me and then in an instant she was directly in front of me. All of a sudden she reached out her hands for my throat and started choking me. I couldn’t feel anything physically but it was distressing. Her mother then opened up her right hand and was showing me red rosary beads in them. When I told the lady at work what I had seen she started to cry. Apparently just before her mother died she went a bit funny in the head and had a habit of trying to choke people. Also when they buried her mother her daughter had put red rosary beads in her right hand.
I can tell you that this incident shocked her, as it would. Could you imagine being told details about your deceased loved ones by somebody who did not have a clue what they were like at all? Its cruel to have told her all this, in her mind she believed that her mother was in my presence. I have deceived her with the help of satanic forces.
I did another "reading", as I used to call it, for another lady at work and again I was asked to contact her deceased mother. What I saw was a boat on a river and in it were a lady and a little girl, everything was quite peaceful. The lady at work apparently was the little girl and her mother was in the boat with her and afterwards she told me they used to do this for holidays as she was growing up. That satisfied her that it was her mother I had seen. I can't imagine what would have happened if the boss had caught me having this 'episode' from 'beyond' while in the work place. We had a two storey furniture shop and I was downstairs with an item from her mother, a bangle I think it was. And here I was suppose to be peddling furniture.
Another time at the request of my father-in-law's partner I saw a man who looked like he was standing behind a counter in a lolly shop. It reminded me of a scene from Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. Then I saw him holding out his left hand and pointing to it, I also saw a little girl on his lap. The father-in-law's girlfriend believed she was the little girl and as her father had worked in a chocolate factory in Newcastle and in fact was left-handed. She felt this was important to him as a sign to give me. He had to give her up when she was a toddler and she believed that he was trying to say sorry.
I had learn't that details like this are tremendously important to the person who was looking for evidence that their loved ones had survived death and were able to communicate with the living. Let's face it before we became Christians it may have very well crossed our minds. I remember watching a documentary on Houdini and he had given his wife a key phrase only known between them to prove to her that he had survived death. Apparently she went from one psychic to another to seek this phrase.
These demons or fallen Angels who were behind all this are very clever. They know about all those who I had tried to get in touch with. They have been around and have observed society since the dawn of time, it’s like they have a network of knowledge between themselves and that is how they knew these things and were able to transmit them to me. They knew full well intimate deatails of many that have died, and definitely in the lives of those I worked with. They used to have a phrase to give me through various psychics I used to pay to see, a few psychics would repeat this phrase and it used to hook me in. You see I believed that in a past life I was a ship's captain and was possibly made to walk the plank, or at least some evil had befell me I thought.…what an imagination huh? No pun intended for the hook me in bit.
The phrase they would have for me was "don’t miss the boat" and I took it to mean that I should go down the path of the New Age for the rest of my life. I had heard that phrase by various unrelated psychics I had paid money to see so it was powerful to me. I remember reading one of Shirley MacLean's books and she said a very similar thing, the phrase she kept hearing was "to get to the fruit you must go out on a limb". Would you believe that I once met with a clairvoyant who had grown up as a Jehovah’s Witness? She told me about a Priest, in fact I think he was an Arch-Bishop who she said had studied church history and believed that the Apostles were all psychics and that the church had hidden it’s true origins. I’ll tell you a bit more about that pair later.
Incidentally, I was nicknamed the Great Swahili by Sandy’s brother after a few accurate tarot readings for him, and a few of his friends. I remember one of his mates being quite impressed when I told him that a certain person had stolen an item that he was looking for. News travels fast, In football terms, I had the ball and I was galloping up field. As for Sandy her dabbling in the occult was starting to ruin her life. She once told me that she walked into her daughter's bedroom one night and saw what looked like a large dark man standing in their room. That really spooked her. I pray that she sees the truth about the occult.
BIBLE VS THE OCCULT
Well here I was thinking about launching a career in the New Age. Making people cough up cash for readings. Things were going well, I had not had any negative experiences. I was all over the occult like a seagull onto a hot chip. And then one day I was looking for something in the bottom of a box at home and I pulled out a Good News Bible. It was a little tattered and torn but for some reason I just started leafing through it a little. It was my wife Tracy’s Bible that she had as a young girl in the girl guides in Orange NSW where she mostly grew up. Then something uncanny started to happen at work where I was a furniture salesman in Penrith. All of a sudden there were five different unrelated groups of Christians that came into my shop telling me about Jesus over a period of about three weeks.
It was strange because in the previous eighteen months I had been there I can honestly say that I knew of no other Christian that had entered the store witnessing to me. I remember one lady pretending she liked the lounge I was trying to con her into buying, and while we were sitting there and I was pretending it was beautiful and comfortable, she said to me, Jesus loves you. I can tell you that words failed me over that statement. How do you covert that into a package deal sale I ask you?
I felt it was a conspiracy, one other lady asked me if I wanted to go to a lecture on hell at her church, she was well meaning, but I told her that I had to re-arrange my sock drawer. I told another lady that "I would bring some sausages for a BBQ with all my mates in hell". I know it was cheeky but I didn’t know any better at that time. This may sound bizarre and land me in a straight jacket, but one lady said to me "you never know who is an Angel". I was also sitting on a lounge opposite her with the intent to sell it to her, when she dropped that bombshell on me. She certainly didn't look like my idea of an Angel.
I know that the Bible says in Hebrews 1:14 concerning Angels, "Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation". Most of those I met were Pentecostals. One Pentecostal couple told me that I had a hex placed on me as a kid. That is not what you want to hear during an attempted sale.
The very first scripture I remember reading from a pamphlet that the Pentecostals slam dunked on my cars winscreen was Isaiah 53:5 which is now one of my very favourite scriptures to this day. It says: "But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities, the chastisement for our peace was upon him and with his stripes we are healed". Man that was powerfull to me, even back then when I was surrounded by the occult.
THE JEHOVAH’S WITNESSES
At this same period of time I had finally sold a lounge to a lady and I had lost the sample of the fabric that she had ordered the lounge in. So I asked her if she could come in to the store so that she could re-choose it. But because she was in a wheel chair she said she couldn’t. So not wanting to lose the sale, I took some samples to her house. While I was there I noticed an advert for a TV program on the New Age, and I big noted myself by saying I was a psychic. She didn’t say much at the time but the next day there was a booklet delivered to me by her carer. The booklet was a publication by the Jehovah’s Witnesses on spiritism and the Bible. And it was a good book because it contained many verses from scripture which totally contradicted and denounced the occult.
Well… here I had in my hand an intelligent response and an alternative to what I was doing in the occult.
After a few days I decided to make it the Bible versus the Occult in a no holds barred fight to the finish and see which one is true the Bible or the Occult, may the best man win. I stopped all my tarot readings and all involvement with the occult while I did this. What I read from the Bible genuinely began to interest me and the lady, a Jehovah’s Witness, asked if a nice "brother" could come and see me for brainwashing sessions, oops I mean to talk to me. Well I had to admit that I liked this Elder from the very start, he was tattooed, and strong, he had played professional rugby league in England. I love sport so we clicked. I was curious as to how a man like him could change so much and be Christian.
So here I was sitting opposite this huge guy so I decided to test him out. For some bizarre reason I said to him, "what would you do if I punched you in the guts?" I wanted to know what a christian would do when push come to shove. Plus the fact that he had obviously led such a violent past, I was hoping to trigger a little of his old rough stuff feelings. Imagine going the biffo with a Jehovahs Witness Elder in broad daylight. I could visibly see him brace for impact. He said that he would try and show great restraint. I gave him a pass mark with that answer.
Then I decided to start blowing smoke rings at him with my cigarette. As the rings would come at him he would just gently move his head and let them float passed while he just casually continued in conversation. I liked him I had to admit it and I certainly liked what he taught on hell, that had always been a big issue with me. The Jehovahs Witnesses teach that Hitler for example will never wake up to know he is dead. So in other words, you can be as vile and evil as you please and then just cease to exist. I suppose annihilation would be like all the vast eons in eternity that have transpired before we were born. Have they never looked at scriptures like John 5:29 and Rev 20:12
Just before I decided to start studying with him I had a great experience that I remember to this day; it was a very special moment for me. I was reading the Bible and for the first time was starting to seriously doubt the spirit world. Questions arose that I could not answer from the Occult. For example I could not satisfy myself as to who made the world, why there were earthquakes, tidal waves, cyclones, meteors, famines, death, disease, cruelty, it seemed to me to be a B grade planet. Why was there so much evil in the world, who created the supernatural beings that existed in the universe. How could I possibly know things about the deceased who I had not met, what was the source of the power I had from the Tarot cards, why did the Bible condemn me for being involved in spiritism? Why was I scared of certain psychic phenomena like ouija boards? Why do the New Age mumbo jumbo’s say Jesus was just a great clairvoyant when the Bible said He is the Son of God, which I now know means that He is God?
I decided that I would indefinitely stop all involvement with the occult and go full on Bible study. I noticed that I really started to despair over the injustices of the world and the hurt that people were feeling. That night, in my lounge room God stopped me dead in my tracks and this was the only occasion that I ever heard that "still voice" you hear some people talk about. I have felt the power of being in the presence of Fallen Angels as a clairvoyant, but this was much much different.
You know the scripture that the JW’s mess up that says "the spirit itself bears witness with our spirit that we are Gods children" (Romans 8:16)…that is what I believed happened. With tears in my eyes and rolling down my face, , I am positive that God conveyed to me these words, "All your sins are forgiven". I am not sure if I was saved then; I would like to believe that that was the moment in time, but I do know that what happened was of God.
I also know from that time on I have never had any more involvement with the occult. I burnt all the mumbo jumbo I had, just like they did in the Bible. That night I gave up marijuana, cigarettes and being a drunkard, and I am proud to say I have not gone back to those since, and that’s been about eight years. But demons do not want to let go easily, I know my wife had some demonic opposition as I did. One morning I woke up and while I was lying in bed I heard a buzzing sound and then my body was paralysed. I could not move a muscle. I started saying over and over again in my mind, this scripture: "Jehovah’s name is a strong tower, into it the righteous run" then the sensation stopped and I have never been bothered since, nor do I expect to be.
Since writing this statement, circumstances have changed somewhat.
After giving this testimony to a Baptist church in the Southern Highlands, I again come under demonic opposition. A dear friend of my wife and I, fell on our driveway quite hard and was bleeding from the nose. Shortly after this, my youngest daughter jumped into the pool under the care of a young lady from church. But God gave my eldest daughter wisdom to protect her younger sister. She jumped in the pool after her. These events did disturb me untill I prayed with an assistant Minister I love. I realized that it is the grace of God that protects me from the evil one. Because left to my own devices, I am no match for the devil. If God wants this testimony to be heard then I know he will protect me from Satan.
I have been completely satisfied that I know the truth about Demons who were impersonating the deceased. My power as a clairvoyant came from satanic sources. Jesus said "you will know the truth and the truth will set you free". So I started Bible studies (brain washing sessions) with the Jehovah’s Witnesses.
I was as green as a hornet; I knew almost nothing of Christianity. In actual fact I thought that the Watchtower Society was just the same as any other denomination. I was like a blank cheque that they could imprint on, and they did. They gave me the guided tour through the Bible. I was a good Jehovah's Witness, I kept up with the average hours witnessing (knocking on doors), so that I could keep the wolf from the door, that is the Elders giving you a "pull up your socks" talk. About 10 hours a month for a working family man was deemed permissable. If you could not manage that, then you needed to explain your commitment. Of course all this is discussed between you and a 'loving' Elder of the Watchtower Society. My wife also joined me in my dedication to the Watchtower Society. I do not want to go in to the actual teachings of the Witnesses to much at this stage, but I will say that by their standards, Tracy and I were faithful Witnesses. We were baptised together, that’s my second baptism if anybody is counting. There was one more real baptism after this by my Pastor in the Independent Baptist Church, it is like a baptizathon for me.
I can’t even remember now what I said "yes" to when I got baptised as a Jehovah’s Witness. Looking back I should have had a lawyer present as it was quite a lengthy presentation. I could have said yes, I will hand over all my worldly possesions to you for all I knew.
LEAVING THE JEHOVAH’S WITNESSES
So again, what happened?
I was going along nicely, completely indoctrinated, my faith was strong, and I was not living a double life. I had changed jobs by now and was working at K-mart Penrith. There was this lady at work who was a Catholic. I can tell you this, she was an absolute sweetheart. A kind soul who truly cared about me and my involvement in the Jehovahs Witnesses. She would try and answer all my accusations about her catholic faith as best she could, and always in a spirit of love. She invited me to her bible study group, but I said no.
She use to say to me all the time, "Would you really let your children die rather than give them a blood transfusion?" We had two lovely children at this stage, Steven and Stephanie. I used to give her all the Societies answers, such as "there are substitutes for blood products" and "modern medicine can do this that and the other" and "the Bible says to abstain from blood". She started to irritate me after awhile so I decided to investigate the WTS reasons for not having blood transfusions for myself, rather than just accept what the faithful and discreet slave (the Societies Governing Body) was dishing up to me "as spiritual food" as they say "at the proper time", my question was, were they serving Lobster or doses of food poisoning?
Bad move, that opened up a real can of worms or a Pandora's box. In a nutshell what I found is that the Watchtower Society takes a drop of blood, dissects it and then tells you what components of that drop of blood you may have and therefore still be able to enter the Kingdom of God. Also what components of that drop of blood you can’t have and that it will cost you your place in the Kingdom if you do partake.
It’s a ruling that cannot be found in scripture. They use all types of arguments to justify this, like what components of blood God allows in the placenta. One day God will hold these men who make these life and death decisions accountable. As for what the Bible says in Acts about abstaining from Blood, this clearly refers to some of the gentiles who ate and drank blood regularly. A short time later the Apostle Paul told the Corinthian Christians they were free to eat whatever meat their pagan neighbours sold in the meat markets. There is more, but there are plenty of good articles on the Internet, and I cannot recommend Ray Franz’s second book, "In search of Christian Freedom" highly enough. In context abstain from blood did not mean blood transfusions, something Paul would not have had the faintest idea about.
I took this book on holidays with me and we were very happy together. It was the greatest holiday in my life. That book liberated me from the WTS. You see, Ray Franz was one of the elite Governing body of the WTS. He was in a position to relate the inner workings of the society. He described in detail how they made policy decisions and how they formulated doctrine. He was denied eternal life according to the WTS over one restaurant meal he had with a disfellowshipped member. Sounds like the Pharisees to me.
Do you remember the lady psychic that grew up a Jehovah’s Witness that I mentioned earlier? Well my Mum had started working with my Aunty in a fish and chip shop in the Blue Mountains. A Holy Man used to buy fish and chips every Saturday night. They got talking and my mum told him I was a Jehovah’s Witness, well, he wanted to speak to me, so because I was having big doubts about the Watchtower Society, I rang him. He was the Archbishop I mentioned earlier. What a coincidence, not. He mentioned that ex JW psychic lady and I almost fell off my mum's back veranda. How on earth could I have crossed paths with the two of them. Especially when you would assume that a clairvoyant and a Archbishop would have nothing in common. We spoke for awhile and he tried to explain the mystical nature of Christianity and its pagan roots. But I wasn't interested and I could sense danger.
It was at about this point that I started sneaking into Christian bookstores, with all the guile of an international jewel thief and purchased one apostate book after another. As quick as I would buy them and bring them home, my wife would rip them up like confetti. You see, to read anything that is not pro Jehovahs Witness, is considered vile by the WTS. In fact it is equated with looking at pornography. This is a very clever propoganda trick because it stems the flow of questions and doubts that will eventually come when confronted with many of the issues that I am about to mention.
I once sat in my car and read "30 Years a Watchtower Slave" before I got home. I will not go into detail now, but the following list is some of the things that I found out about the Watchtower Society that they conveniently forgot to tell me when I joined.
False prophecies, which include numerous dates for the end of the world, dates like 1914 1915 and the 1925, 1940’s 1975, the list is long and embarrassing. They could not pick the winner of a chook raffle and I told them so before I left.
False doctrine such as the 144,000 superior class of Christians who will be, according to them, the only ones going to heaven.
What rubbish with no support outside the Watchtower Society.
According to Judge (booze) Rutherford, the Holy Spirit was replaced in 1918. Christ's second presence began in 1914. A date that is only believed by those chained to the Watchtower and they can find no evidence to support them. Business transactions of the day plus astronomical data completely contradict how they arrive at the 1914 date.
Bizarre teachings such as the Great Pyramid of Giza’s measurements of its passages containing end time prophecies.
The ERA machine, Angelic channelling, ridiculous statements like Man will never leave the planet; God lives on the star Alcyone; man will wear anti-gravity boots in the new earth, and lot’s, lot’s more. There are plenty of websites with this information if you want to search around a little.
Expunged and suppressed writings covering up false dates and statements. Such as when they said in one of their books that in 1918 God WILL destroy church members by millions, then when that failed they later printed the same book but this time said when God "begins" to destroy the church members by millions. And changing the wording of the AWAKE magazine masthead, now that the 1914 generation prophesy "use by date" had expired.
The New World Translation which is a perversion of the Holy Scriptures written by men, one of whom was a cook with no qualifications what so ever and only one of them with a high school knowledge of Greek and Hebrew. That’s like asking me to perform brain surgery on you, by reading an article on the Internet first. Eternal destinies are at stake here on correctly translating the Bible. So after two years of doubts I was ready to leave the Watchtower Society because of their past disqualifying them from being who they say they are. It is not an easy thing to do, as I am sure some of you who have been through the same, are aware. I had to have private meetings with the Congregational Overseer and an apprentice Elder in my house once a week until they finally read the riot act to me. It was a kangaroo court.
I remember I presented them with a stack of photocopies, ALL of which were from Watchtower publications, every single item. They would not look at them as they said they were apostate. I said to them apostate? It is your own words from the Watchtower Society, they said it was apostate because an apostate had given it to me.
I disassociated myself after this meeting before I was forced to resign. You see, to borrow a nautical term, they force you to walk the plank. Either way, if you leave the Watchtower organisation for absolutely any reason whatsoever, you are then considered as an apostate. But that is rubbish, an apostate for example, would be somebody who has left christianity to become a hindu or muslim, or buddist. I have been labeled an 'evil slave' since leaving the WTS. I assume this is because I have actively protested against them. Officially no Jehovahs Witness can contact me or speak to me. This is a master stroke on behalf of the governing body of JW's because it helps to keep the average JW away from the truth about their organisation. It's incredible to stand in the line at the supermarket, right next to somebody who you have worshipped with and have have shared meals and good times with, and they look through you like your invisible. You would think they take acting lessons on the side. At first I felt very uncomfortable plaing the game of 'we don't know each other' but as time rolls on, I have more confidence now and I say things like, 'don't I know you?' This forces their hand, especially when their in the line at Coles with a full shopping trolley.
So, my hand was forced, it was jump or be pushed. I snuck up to the congregation overseers house and left a little "love letter" for him. I assume my name was read from the platform at the Kingdom Hall, as having disassociated myself from their organisation. If I could have my time over again I would have just slowly slipped away as spiritually lethargic, that way I would not be shunned and I would be free to communicate with them still. That way I may have been able to win some of them for Christ.
I found Free in Christ Ministries phone number in Koorong book shop, and I started to attend their support group. Ray was a great help to me with the knowledge he had. I leaned on him a lot when I was leaving. Emotional support is needed for those who are leaving the Watchtower Society.
Also a loving Seventh Day Adventist Pastor, who has baptised over 150 ex JW’s over the last twenty years, helped me out. I have studied the Seventh Day Adventists extensively over the last five years. The reason I have never joined them is because I have never been able to accept their Prophetess Ellen White, the 1844 Investigative Judgement doctrine and the Sabbath teaching.
CHURCH
Where are Tracy and I today, well we started attending a Baptist Church where Ray was going. How different this was to the cold hard Kingdom Hall. Would you believe that in two years in the Kingdom Hall I only ever ONCE had coffee and biscuits after a service. I swear that we were squeezed into a little room and we were very careful not to drop a crumb or spill anything. We had to be very quite as well. I know now that God's presence was absent from the Kingdom Hall. I do not hate or despise anybody I met from the WTS. In fact I am glad that I was one of them. I have a unique perspective on them, and a heart to win them to Christ. In my opinion they can not be classified as Christians, just as I would say about the Mormons. I believe that if I was to spend an hour with an active JW, they would never be the same again, they would be forced to learn some ugly truths. Some of which would haunt them all there days with the society. To believe that Christ is a created being is blasphamy, to believe that the good news of the kingdom is that Christ returned in 1914 is also blasphemy. To believe that they must earn their salvation through works is also blasphemy in my opinion.
And what about playing pass the parcel with the bread and wine memorial service I could go on and on. For those who do not know, when the bread and wine are passed around no one partakes, only those very few who claim to be of the 144,000. They will be the only ones going to heaven. The rest of us second class christians will have to clean up the new earth with picks and shovels, according to the WTS. I have one scripture for them. Rev 21:1-5
As a saved Christian I am truly free in Christ, my church believes in 100% of the Bible, allows me to hold contrary opinions on non salvation issues without disfellowshipping me, upholds Christ and has no extra biblical authority.
The church is autonomous and that is exactly what I would imagine. We don’t change doctrine like the weather and outdate the Watchtower Society by plenty. We have Bible family camps, sing happy Birthday to each other, celebrate Christmas, which I think is the best day of the year for me; at least the world associates that with Christ, unfortunately Santa as well.
I’ll tell you something I have discovered about being a Christian and that is the wealth of Christian material and great men who have preached in the past. Men like Moody, Spurgeon, Dr Martin Lloyd Jones, Bunyan, John Rice, Calvin, Luther, C.S.Lewis, Torrey, a younger Billy Graham, the Baptist Dr Walter Martin, who probably did more damage to the cults than any man alive, and many others.
Its been about 8 years now since I left the WTS, and yet it still has a deep effect on me. This is not because I have nagging doubts about the truth of their organisation On the contrary, the exact opposite, I know that they are wrong on many many doctrinal issues.
It took me two years to accept the doctrine of the trinity. I did not want to believe it just because others wanted me to. One day I was reading Hebrews 1:8 and I believe God intervened and convicted me of the truth about the deity of Jesus Christ. If God the Father calls Jesus God, if Thomas, if Jeremiah, if John, if Peter, if Paul, and Isaiah call Jesus God, then so will I. And I have for the last five years. It is a non-negotiable doctrine for me.
Also I am very proud to say that my wife Tracy now teaches scripture to both primary and high school students. And has now in fact just been employed part-time by a local church as their senior youth minister. God has worked in her life in an amazing way.
There is so much more I would love to share with anybody interested in my christian walk. The story does not stop here, this is really just the beginning.
For example I would like to discuss doctrine. I would love to discuss what I believe in Christianity and why I believe what I do.
I am talking topics such as Gods sovereignty, creation, election, security of the believer, the trinity, the bible, prophecy, the last days, hell, the soul and spirit, Jesus and salvation and grace. I absolutely love to discuss and study doctrine. Or perhaps you may like to share your testimony with me. I always love to hear a persons testimony and how God has worked in their life.
If you would like to talk to me please feel free to contact me at: