Hi, my name is Eric Wilson aka Meleti Vivlon.
I’m in Kelowna BC on Lake Okanagan, enjoying the sunshine.
The temperature is cool but pleasant.
I thought the lake was a fitting backdrop for this next video because it has to do with water.
You might wonder why. Well, when we’re waking up, one of the first things we ask ourselves is, “Where do I go?”
You see, all our lives we’ve been taught that the organisation of Jehovah’s Witnesses
is like this great ark, like the ark of Noah.
And it is the vehicle that we must remain in if we're going to be saved when Armageddon comes.
This attitude is so pervasive that if you ask someone, (one of the Jehovah's Witnesses)
what did Peter say, or how did Peter answered Jesus when Jesus asked him if they wanted to go?
This was the circumstance where he had given a discourse telling
his listeners that they would have to eat of his flesh and drink of his blood
if they wanted to have everlasting life.
Many found this offensive and left, and he turned to Peter and the disciples and said,
“You don’t want to go as well, do you?”
And Peter answered, and If you ask this to many Jehovah’s Witness,
I would lay money that almost 10 out of 10 will say, Peter said “Where else will we go, Lord?”
But, he didn’t. Look it up. He said,
“To whom will we go?” (John 6:68)
To whom will we go?
Because he recognised that salvation
didn't depend on a place, or being inside of a group,
it depended on a person. Salvation depended on turning toward Jesus.
Interesting thought, isn't it?
How does that apply to Jehovah’s Witnesses?
Well, with the mindset that we must be in an arc-like organisation,
we might think of ourselves as being in a boat.
All the other religions are boats as well.
There is a Catholic boat, a Protestant boat, an Evangelical boat, a Mormon boat, etc.
They’re all sailing in the same direction.
Like being on this lake, there’s no waterfall on the other end.
But if there were, the image would be, they'd all be sailing toward the waterfall
and one day Armageddon comes, over they go.
But, Jehovah’s Witnesses are in a different boat. Our organisation is sailing in the other direction,
we are sailing toward Paradise.
And everybody onboard the boat is going to be saved.
But when we wake up, when we realise that Jehovah’s Witnesses have false doctrines
just like the other religions,
different false doctrines, but still false doctrines;
when we realise that Jehovah's Witnesses have been guilty of negligence,
criminal negligence,
as in the case of the child abuse scandals,
and have been found guilty,
in multiple courts and multiple lands
of the same crime of negligence;
when we realise that Jehovah's Witnesses have acted hypocritically
in telling their flock they must be remain neutral,
and even disfellowshipping or disassociating those who fail to remain neutral politically
while at the same time, affiliating themselves with the United Nations organisation
for a period of 10 years, no less!;
when we realise all these things, we realise our boat is just like the others:
it is sailing in the same direction,
and we think, where do I go?,
we don’t think like Peter. We think like trained Jehovah’s Witnesses. "Where do I go?"
Well, again, thinking about the water behind me, there's an illustration given by Jesus
to tell us exactly where to go.
It’s an interesting account, because Jesus is not a showy man.
He was not given to great displays of showmanship.
Matter of fact, when he cured people; when he healed people; when he resurrected the dead
often, he told those who were present not to spread the word about it.
So, for him to make a showy display of power seems unusual, seems uncharacteristic.
and yet in Matthew 14:23, that's basically what we find.
He says, after sending the crowds away, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray.
When evening came, he was there alone.
By now the boat was many hundreds of yards away from land, struggling against the waves
because the wind was against them.
But in the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea.
When they caught sight of him walking on the sea, the disciples were troubled, saying: “It is an apparition!”
And they cried out in fear. But at once Jesus said to them,
“Take courage! It is I; do not be afraid.”
Peter answered:
“Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you over the waters.”
He said to him: “Come!” So Peter got out of the boat and walked over the waters and went toward Jesus.
But looking at the windstorm, he became afraid. And when he started to sink, he cried out:
“Lord, save me!”
Immediately stretching out his hand, Jesus caught hold of him and said to him:
“You with little faith, why did you give way to doubt?”
Why walk on water? He could have gone with them on the boat.
No, he wanted to make a very important point!
He was telling them: "by faith, you can accomplish anything".
Do we get the point?
Our boat may be sailing in the wrong direction, but we can walk on water! We don’t need the boat.
For many of us, it’s hard to understand.
Being able to worship God outside of an arrangement
that is highly structured.
We feel we need that structure. Otherwise, we will fail.
That's only because we have been trained to think that way
Faith should help us to overcome that.
It is easy to see men, and therefore it is easy to follow men. A governing body is highly visible.
They speak to us, sometimes often with great persuasion. They can convince us.
Jesus, on the other hand, is invisible.
His words are written down. We have to study, we have to think about them.
We have to see that which cannot be seen. That’s what faith is for, it gives us eyes to see that which is invisible.
Jesus called Satan the ruler of the world in John 14:30.
If Satan can rule the world even though he is invisible, if he can control this world,
do we not think that Jesus can control the Christian congregation?
Those wheat-like Christians that are willing to follow him and not men?
I have seen this at work. I have seen this at work often.
It took a while for me to get rid of the indoctrination, the doubt, the fear
that we would need some kind of control, some kind of authoritarian control,
that without it there would be chaos in the congregation,
I have found quite the opposite.
When you get a group of individuals together who love Jesus,
who look to him as their leader, who allow the Spirit to come into their lives, into their minds, and hearts,
who study his word,
they control each other.
they help each other; they nourish each other; they feed each other; they guard each other.
Because the Spirit does not work through one man, or even a group of men.
It works through the entire Christian congregation. That’s what the Bible says.
You might say: “What of t he faithful and discreet slave?”
Well, who is the faithful and discreet slave?
Jesus posed that as a question. He didn’t give us the answer.
He said the slave would be proven faithful and discreet upon his return. Well, he hasn’t come back yet.
So, it is the height of hubris to suggest that anyone is the faithful and discreet slave.
And how do we know
that someone isn't the faithful and discreet slave?
Well, the characteristics are there.
He did say that we know the wicked slave
because the wicked slave would abuse the flock.
At the annual meeting a few years ago, David Splane used the example of a waiter
to talk about the faithful and discreet slave. And It’s not a bad example actually,
although it was misapplied in the case of the organisation of Jehovah’s Witnesses.
But, if you go to a restaurant, the waiter brings you food, but the waiter doesn’t tell you what food to eat.
He doesn’t demand that you eat the food he brings you.
He doesn’t punish you, if you fail to eat the food he brings you.
And if you criticise the food, he doesn’t go out of his way to make your life a living hell.
But that is not the way of the faithful and discreet slave,
so-called,
in the organisation of Jehovah's Witnesses.
If you disagree with the food they provide; if you think that it’s wrong;
if you wan t to pull out the Bible and prove it’s wrong,
they punish you.
even to the point of cutting you off from all your family, your friends,
hurting you economically as a consequence.
Even to the point of maybe endangering your physical well-being
if you are in a situation that requires health care.
It's horrific!
It is not the way a faithful and discreet slave works.
Jesus said the slave would feed.
He did not say the slave would govern.
It did not appoint anyone as a leader. He said he alone is our leader.
So, do not ask, “Where will I go?”
Ask "to whom will I turn?"
Turn to Jesus, have faith that he can guide you,
seek out others of like mind, ans associate with them.
But always turn to Jesus for guidance.
Thank you very much!