xjwsforChrist

May you all have Peace as our Lord provides it.

Regarding “eating and drinking” at the Memorial. . . .

Do you want to “live forever”? Then you must eat and drink.--John 6:51, 58.
Do you want to have life in you? Then you must eat and drink.—John 6:53.
Do you want eternal life? Then you must eat and drink.—John 6:54.
Do you want to be resurrected? Then you must eat and drink.—John 6:54.
Do you want to remain in union with Christ? Then you must eat and drink.—John 6:56.
Do you want to live? Then you must eat and drink.—John 6:57.

He said [these things] while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum.—John 6:59.
On hearing it, many of his disciples said, “This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?”—John 6:60.

Are you like ‘those disciples’?
Do you argue against what Christ said like the Jews did?—John 6:52.
Jesus said to them, “Does this offend you?”—John 6:61.
“The words I have spoken to you—they are full of the Spirit and life.—John 6:63.
“Yet there are some of you who do not believe.”—John 6:64.

“Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?—Luke 6:46.

47 As for everyone who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice, I will show you what they are like. 48 They are like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built. 49 But the one who hears my words and does not put them into practice is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. The moment the torrent struck that house, it collapsed and its destruction was complete.”—Luke 6:47-49.

Are you a wise or a foolish builder?

19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.—Matthew 28:19, 20.

Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take and eat. . . .”—Matthew 26:26.

27 Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you.”—Matthew 26:27.

Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching.—John 14:23.
Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching.—John 14:24.

“If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love. . . .”--John 15:10.
For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.—1 Corinthians 11:26.

You “proclaim the Lord’s death”—how? By gathering together just to be gathered together and watching a passing of emblems? Or by actually ‘eating and drinking’?

So then, my brothers and sisters, when you gather to eat, you should all eat together.—1 Corinthians 11:33.


I hope these are words of encouragement as they are meant to be. . . .

From your brother in Christ, at this Memorial season, Armand

Peace to you dear brother Armand,

Yes I am quite encouraged, thank you. What a privilege it will be to be sent forth and share in front of men what our Lord truly meant when he gave us this bread and wine to eat of as TRUE food and TRUE drink.

And as to this that you shared....

You “proclaim the Lord’s death”—how? By gathering together just to be gathered together and watching a passing of emblems? Or by actually ‘eating and drinking’?

And as our Lord said, " Take eat.....Keep DOING THIS in remembers of me."

DOING WHAT? Just Gathering? Observing? Passing it over to the person next to you?

NOPE! He said what he meant...and meant what he said!

Take EAT, this means my body. DRINK, this means my blood! Simple! Yet, the hardest and most stumbling issue for a JW. The same reaction as the Jews had when he told them this. " How could he?....How dare we?...

Well, all we can do is be obedient ourselves to what he says. Show them what he meant for all and leave it to him from there.

May you all be encouraged as well, and may Jah and Christ bless you and your households wherever you may be, and give you the strength and courage to be among those that partake and proclaim his death to all.


Your sister and fellow servant, Kim

So funny, dear Armand (peace to you, luv!). I was thinking, "What would become of the WTBTS if everyone partook at the Memorial?" I think the possibilities are what keep some from doing so - "Wait! But we've ALWAYS had the 'anointed' and 'the great crowd'! No, it would be too weird!"

Thing is... they haven't always had "the anointed" AND "the great crowd"... and fire didn't come down out of heaven an burn them up, then, either. Just as it wouldn't now.

So, why all the fear? Easy answer:

"PERFECT love casts ALL fear OUTSIDE."

What, though, is "perfect" love? Surely, JWs have it, don't they, given all of that "love" exhibited among their "worldwide brotherhood"? They certainly THINK so. What, though, did Christ say? This:

“You heard that it was said: ‘You must love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ However, I say to you: Continue to love your enemies and to pray for those who persecute you, so that you may prove yourselves sons of your Father who is in the heavens, since he makes his sun rise on both the wicked and the good and makes it rain on both the righteous and the unrighteous. For if you love those loving you, what reward do you have? Are not also the tax collectors doing the same thing? And if you greet your brothers only, what extraordinary thing are you doing? Are not also the people of the nations doing the same thing? YOU must accordingly be perfect, AS your heavenly Father is perfect." Matthew 5:43-48

One of the foremost teachings of JW's is to HATE their enemies, including those of their own flesh (who they constitute as enemies if such leave the organization). They SAY, "Oh, we don't hate so-and-so; we pray for them." Do you, though, EVER... hear them pray for anyone who has disassociated themselves... been disfellowshipped? Heck, I don't think I often heard them pray, by name, for even the sicking or destitute among them.

Not that they SHOULD pray (publicly), but I mean, c'mon... we ALL know they don't pray for ANYONE, at least not in particular. Rather, it's that same 'ol blanket "Jehovah, forgive us for falling short" prayer, which prayer isn't even directed to the right ONE... OR brought before Him (because they don't go through the DOOR).

They foment fear and so they all exist in fear (and they DO - they are THE most superstitious people I know, seconded only by people who throw spilled salt over their shoulders, which most do in jest, or won't cross a black cat's path)... because they LACK.. PERFECT love. Love EVEN of their enemies.

And it is that same fear... due to their lack of [perfect] love... that keeps them from partaking of Christ's flesh and blood. The Bread... and water... of LIFE. And so, it will keep them from eternal life.

AHHHHHH!!!! May they WAKE UP , TURN AROUND, and FACE the Word... and look at and listen to him... in order to have their eyes and ears OPENED. It is the only way they are ever going to see or hear.

Father, we know that you don't wish ANY to die (eternally). May it be your will, then, through your dear Son, the HOLY One of Israel and Holy Spirit, JAHESHUA, your Chosen One (MischaJAH), that these people DO awaken from their slumber... and soon.

Peace to you all... and to your dear households!

YSSFS of Christ,

Shel

Yeah, well, apparently not THAT simple, dear 'Mom (peace, luv!)... because some 7-10 million (or something like that) people do exactly what you said: just gather, observe, pass it over to the person next to them. Most of us did, too, at one time.

And no wonder, with such lying propaganda as we were once fed. Which can now be even more easily found on their website (Oy! I started to link the page here and our dear Lord said, "Are you SURE you want to republish their dung here, child?" Of course, I don't... and said so... so while I will allude to it, I will NOT sully our dear board with their filth - and no, I am not overacting - it is filth. Not everyone might see it that way but, I mean... isn't vomit filth? Well, then, you'll take my meaning.).

Peace to you, dear 'Mom, and to your dear household!

YSSFS of Christ,

Shel

Yes! I hear ya sis. Peace to you.

We all were part of it and passed it over. Praise Jah that we have been shown mercy in order to see and DO what our Lord " simply" lol said.

And yes! Dung it is! Mixed with vomit and everything else that is disgusting!

As to....if most all started partaking...they would put a stop to that in a second. They would NO long pass the emblems around the halls. They would simply leave them on the table and then just talk about them and what he did.

Ooh well. I'm ready for that as well!

Peace to you and your entire household as well, love your sister and fellow servant of Christ
, Kim

Amen, Armand! Thank you brother for sharing all of that. I too am encouraged in the spirit. And yes, also, to what you, my sisters, have added.

Some time ago, my Lord gave me an additional emphasis on some of the words in one of the verses (Matthew 28:20) that you shared above:

"Therefore go and make disciples of all nations.... teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you."



Teach them (the disciples they were to make) to obey everything that Christ commanded them (the apostles). He did not say "teach some of them to obey me in eating and drinking... and teach others NOT to obey me in eating and drinking."

What He said was:

"... Teach them to obey EVERYTHING that I have commanded YOU."




May anyone who wishes them be given ears to hear and to get a sense of this truth; and may you also hear as the Spirit and the Bride say to YOU, "Come!"

Let anyone who wishes and anyone who thirsts, "Come! Take the free gift of the water of life!"


Peace to you all, and to your loved ones,
your servant and sister, and fellow slave of Christ,
tammy

And there you GO - dear Tams (peace, luv!) has hit the nail smack on the head! IF JWs are to "go make disciples," then those disciples should be DOING... EVERYTHING... the one "making" them should do. And so, if we take that "making" all the way back to the Apostles... and Christ told THEM to eat his flesh and drink his blood... at what point would a (so-called) "disciple" NOT eat/drink the bread and wine??

Trickery, tom-foolery, falsehood, and deceit. Plain 'ol lyin.' For one purpose: to "shut up the kingdom of the heavens before men, because [they themselves] are not going in."

Unlike our dear Lord, who has to look for his sheep, the Adversary doesn't even have to look. Folks steppin' up... hell, RUNNIN'... to join with HIM... left and right. The "great" AND the "small."

Too bad... too bad.

But THANK, dear Tams, because given the opportunity, I am CERTAINLY going to raise THAT issue (with SOMEONE) this Wednesday evening. You can stake one of your work aprons on THAT, luv! LOLOLOL!

Peace to you and to your dear household!

YSSFS of Christ,

Shel

Little story here... A couple days ago, I wrote my wife a letter to explain exactly why I was going to openly partake this year. I decided to write a letter so I could get all my thoughts down without being interrupted and without the conversation devolving into an argument. I have no desire to argue. Nope, don't care if the letter makes it to the elders. They know how I feel. I had a two hour discussion with them a couple months ago. Well... she FLIPPED OUT. She never got past the "I'm going to partake..." part. She literally gnashed her teeth at me, and through those clenched teeth, she hissed, "Why are you doing this TO ME?????" She threatened to go to a different congregation's memorial instead of going with me. She also told me not to go at all. I expected her to be upset, but was mildly amused at just how upset she got.

Somewhat in her defense, she is facing a major life-changing surgery next month, so her stress level is super high anyway. This may very well have put her over the top. I thought long and hard before I decided to say something to her. Mistake? Perhaps. Glad I said it, though. There is no "good time" to buck against the JW system, and since she has forbidden me from saying anything to her about things I've learned (yes, forbidden... it causes her huge distress) this was one time I had to go against her wishes.

There's a couple of takeaways, though. Because of this, she decided to tell my son what was going on with me. Of course, he will have gotten a tainted version of it, but he may be more apt to ask me questions in the future. She also said she will give me the dignity of reading the rest of the letter I wrote some time after the surgery because all she can focus on right now is getting through the surgery. So there's that. Who knows.

Peace to you, dear LQ... and to your dear wife - may she be granted the peace of our dear Lord to help strengthen her through her pending surgery and all that comes with that.



".. the morning stars sang together
and all the angels shouted for joy...



SMART move! VERY smart!

I'm sorry, but I also have to say, though, that JW women tend to be some of greatest "drama-queens" I've ever known. Between the postulations, the crying, the woe is me's... I used to be SO taken aback - I never knew women who acted that way (although, I'm absolutely certain and have since learned, that drama is not limited to JW women. But where I came from, well, let's just say drama either got you talked about (poorly)... or beat up.)

The literal gnashing of the teeth, though - isn't that something? You see it and you go, "OMG, he SAID that would happen but I didn't think he meant LITERALLY!" But, yep, literally. I am very sorry that it's your dear wife, dear brother, and hope that it's as you say: just additional stress due to her pending surgery.

Although, as we can see, for some (okay, most) JWs, partaking is NOT a good thing - to the contrary, rather than being a reason for JOY... which is what it SHOULD be... for them, it's WORSE than adultery, fornication, homosexuality, child abuse/molestation, spousal abuse... heck, murder. SO sad that they don't "see" it that way. As we've often discussed, most exJWs will come out and do all manner of "worldly" things to exert their (so-called) "freedom" from the WTBTS. But... PARTAKE???!!!!! Ohhhhh-nooooooo... NEVER that! LOLOLOL!

As for your dear son, may JAH will it that he the young man isn't so inculcated with FEAR... that he at least ASKS you what's up. Sure, maybe what you tell him will be hard to take. But if he won't even ask so as to find out... well, let's hope that isn't the case. I am sure that between his mom and the WTBTS "wolves," fear has TRIED to overtake him. You, though, and YOUR actions and information MIGHT be the key to fear losing out over him. May it be so.

And may JAH bless you, dear brother. May His undeserved kindness and mercy, and the love and peace of His Son and Christ, our dear Lord, the HOLY One of Israel and Holy Spirit, JAHESHUA, JAH's Chosen One (MischaJAH), be upon you... to time indefinite. May it such strengthen you and may it be granted you to CONTINUE hearing the Spirit and his bride and their invitation to YOU to come and take Life's (Christ's) water... as you are wishing to do.

PEACE to you, dear, dear brother!

YSSFS of Christ,

Shel

Peace to your dear brother LQ,

Not much to add to what Shel shared. Peace to you as well sis.

What caught me was the statement your wife said to you, " Why are you doing this to ME?"
That what you are about to do tomorrow, FOR CHRIST not her, partaking of our Lords body and blood out of faith and obedience is something she is making about HER? Not about what our Lord said to do. But this is expected, I understand.

Anyways, may Jah and Christ strengthen you and bless you tomorrow knowing that we are with you in spirit doing the same.
Love, your sister and fellow servant of Jaheshua MischaJah, Kim

So truly happy for you and for our Lord, Leaving. I, too, hope that your wife is more receptive after her surgery, that her surgery goes well for her, and that your son, should he come to you with questions, may hear the truth in what you share. At least your wife has some time to reflect on this, including upon her own strong reaction and perhaps where that comes from.


In any case, may the peace of my Lord (and your Lord) be with you, and your loved ones, always,
your sister and servant and fellow slave of Christ Jaheshua,
tammy

Yes, I agree with JustMom, Leaving, it sounds as though your wife sees/thinks/imagines that everything is about HER. She must see herself as so important! It defeats me that she doesn't credit your faith to have any value at all. That said, I hope the best for her in her upcoming surgery.

I pray that you manage to publicly partake as you wish and thereby receive the joy only our Lord Jaheshua can give. If your wife objects I would suggest to her that she takes it up with Christ.

Peace to you dear brother,

Loz x

_________________
"This is my son. LISTEN to Him!"

Thank you for the encouragement of this thread Armand, dear brother. It is much appreciated.

Peace

Loz x

_________________
"This is my son. LISTEN to Him!"

Peace to you all and hope all went well with each of you. You were all in my prayers for peace and strength, if needed, especially our dear brother, LQ (the greatest of love and peace to you, dear brother! ).

Nothing to report here. Same ol, same ol... everything. Talk. Bible references. Interpretations. All the same. Same emphasis on who should NOT partake ("all ya'll")... and "why" (no good, logical, valid, or TRUTHFUL reason , at all). Same ol "the numbers getting smaller" BS.

I felt really saddened at the slavery, this year, though, because the congregation we partook with was like 98% black. And I KNEW that for most of them, the WTBTS had saved them: from drugs, gangs, abject poverty... maybe even death. Because it has kept them off the streets.

But Christ can and does, too... and my heart broke for them because I knew they HAD to be in SOME religion. Because they don't know HOW to live as a FREE people. They would not serve JAH and Christ on their own, following ONLY the Fine Shepherd. Because even the oldest if them are really only babes... as to the world and ITS ruler and ways.

But they really only changed one kind of oppressive slavery for another. And so my heart broke for them. Especially the little boys who, save for this "master", might end up the victim of gun violence.

And then I was reminded by my dear Lord that several of the JW boys my kids grew up with... many of whom are dead, even by their own hand... or in prison, on drugs, alcoholics, abusers, etc. Not that I'm judging or have a problem with such. It's just I realized the WTBTS didn't really help those ones at all.

My heart breaks for them.

BUT... nothing exciting to tell. Oh, except that the speaker was the man that, along with the two women, I shared with about a week or so ago - LOL!

Peace to you all... and to your dear, dear households!

YSSFS of Christ,

Shel

Peace to you ALL as well,

Thanks Shel for keeping us all in your prayers. I too hope it went well for our brother LQ.
Same here! Nothing out of the norm. Same old same ol jumping around with the verses and spending NO time on Christ reallllyyyyy as to what he truly said to do.

Many of my hubby's family this year all at the same time. The early one verses the 9:00 pm one.
The biggest difference I notice this year with us ( and our youngest son came with us and partook)
Is much more fear in them than usual. It was heart breaking. Even when we took our time leaving (although they rushed us for the next one lol) and walking by people smiling and saying hi to a couple family members, they acted terrified.

It truly was sad, the control and blindness. Ooh well, praise Jah and Christ for the privilege to be able to partake of our Lords body and blood before them.

Enjoy the rest of the week. We will be out of town til weekend.
Love your sister and fellow servant of Christ, Kim