To start you off, maybe you would like to go to the movies with some friends today and then go out for some pizza afterwards. Okay then, write that down. How about tomorrow? What do you want to do?

Right off the bat, you probably recognize that there are some serious limitations here. More than likely you are going to have to do things today and tomorrow that you wish you didn't have to do. You know your situation. 

Like everyone else, your choices and options are somewhat limited because of your present circumstance. Maybe you don't have very much money to go places and do the things you want to do. Maybe you don't have a car to get where you want to go. Maybe you don't have so many friends that you like to be around all that much anyway. Maybe you just don't feel very good about yourself and so your relationships with other people are not the best. Maybe, after you do the things you have to do, you just don't have the time or energy to do the things you really want to do—so you just end up on the couch in front of the television—or worse. No doubt you can see that what you want to do is very limited by what you can do because of circumstances beyond your control. That's what breeds boredom and frustration.

Okay, now I am going to ask you to use something that everyone possesses that is one of the most powerful forces in the universe—your imagination! Think about this: Everything in the world, both good and bad, originated in someone's imagination first before it became real. So, unleash your imagination!

Now make a list of all the things you want to do without the limitations you are presently faced with. Don't worry about not having the time or money or energy. Imagine: no limitations! Think about it. Spend some time lost in a daydream. Realize that in your imagination you can go anywhere and do anything.

Forget the Watchtower's crude drawings of people sitting around on blankets with huge picnic baskets of fruit and vegetables while the children are petting lions. That's merely one aspect, of an artist's impression, of paradise. The real paradise is much more than that and your imagination has the power to make it much more vivid. Besides, this is your list—your version of paradise. What do you want to do? Now do you get the picture?

Paradise means that you can stay up as late as you want partying with friends and drinking cappuccino!—If that's what you want. It means that you can sleep until noon every day—if that's what you want. It means that you can go anywhere, anytime, without any worries or hassles from anyone.  

Do you want to live in a home on a cliff overlooking the sea? Why not have another home in the mountains and one in the valley or desert too? You can do a time-share with your many friends from all over the world when you aren't living there. Are we getting the imaginative juices flowing yet? By the way, how many friends do you have now? How many do you want to have? How many friends do you have that are from a different race or nationality? How many languages do you speak? Why not learn them all? Can you imagine using 100% of your mental capacity? Probably not, since we currently use only a very small percentage of our brain's capacity--even when imagining.

Okay, maybe you just want to live free and unencumbered without any possessions—just living in the open like Adam and Eve—if that's what you want. Or, you can live like the wealthiest person in the world—because you will be—everyone will be, because you will not be lacking anything that you want. Remember: Jehovah has immense wealth, beyond our ability to even comprehend, and he is going to share it with all of his children.

Can you imagine the joy and deep satisfaction of having meaningful human relationships? No more people-problems caused by jealousy, greed, anger and stupidity! Just think: No more mean people! Paradise means that you can have a perfect family. It means your children will never be snotty-nosed, bawling brats. Children will always be a joy to be around. They will continually amaze you with their genius, creativity and loveliness. How many children do you want to have?

Do you want to dance and sing? What's stopping you? Do you want to play beautiful music? Or perhaps you want to compose music like a Beethoven? Forget it. By the time Wolfgang Amadeus is resurrected into paradise you will be giving him music lessons! There are yet-unheard new songs waiting to be sung and new music to be discovered and composed and you are going to have the opportunity to do it all—if that's what you want.

Do you want to paint or sculpt or make beautiful works of glass or ceramic? Would you like to design landscapes that make the gardens of Versailles look like an unkempt lot? Do you want to write classic novels that inspire and captivate others? Remember, no limitations! What do you want to do? No two snowflakes are exactly the same—or so they say. The same goes for people. And you have forever to discover your own uniqueness and potential, as well as the uniqueness of others.

What about travel? Have you ever been to Tahiti? How about Tibet? Have you ever explored an underground cave? Why not? Have you ever dug an emerald or ruby out of the earth? How many unpolished precious gems are waiting to be unearthed and transformed into breathtaking ornaments by you?

Have you ever climbed a mountain? Have you ever stood on a frosty peak and looked out over the world? Have you ever slept under a canopy of stars in the middle of the vast ocean, in a sail boat, as giant whales sing their serene serenade in the distance? Have you ever gone snorkeling in tropical blue waters? Have you ever frolicked with a pod of killer whales or dolphins? Have you ever traveled to the beautiful winter wonderland of the Arctic and hung out with penguins or fed the polar bears in the glow of the Northern lights? It is going to become your planet. What do you want to do with it?  Where do you want to go?

We have all been to weddings and funerals and we know the emotions involved-- but you have never been to a resurrection ceremony. Can you imagine being at a gathering of friends and family as they await the pre-announced materialization of the next resurrectee? What kind of reception do you suppose would take place afterwards? For example, can you imagine the astonished look on, say, your grandmother's face when you walk over to her and give her a kiss and welcome her to paradise? Then, a few weeks later you and your newly resurrected grandmother go to her mother's resurrection reception to welcome your great grandma back from the dead. Do you think you would ever become bored participating in welcoming each generation back from the grave? Is there anyone who has died whom you would like to host at a resurrection party? If so, add their names to your list.

Romance you ask? Listen, Jehovah invented wine and roses, exotic music, and everything that is beautiful, lovely and sensuous. Have you ever sipped 50-year old Armagnac? You are missing something! Its sweet vapors evaporate in your throat without ever reaching the bottom! And just think, Jehovah promises to roll out the barrel of the finest wines for everyone to enjoy—if that's what you want.

Paradise means that your lover writes you poetry and brings you flowers everyday! Do you think you will become bored basking in the glow of the "flame of Jah," burning like a torch in your lover's eyes? We were made to thrive on love and that's all there is going to be in paradise—even more love than you can handle. Is that hard to imagine? If so, you need to crank up your imagination.

God created the human face to reflect his own joy and glory. How could he possibly allow even one of his children to go around sad-faced in his new world? What must Jehovah have intended when he created Adam and Eve? They were his own children. Can you imagine being a true son or daughter of a loving Father like Jehovah? We are so far removed from Eden it doesn't seem real sometimes. But that is where your imagination comes in; not in imagining some Elysian fantasy, but imagining what is real—what is to come. Paradise offers you the opportunity to find out what it really means to be made in the image of God and to be part of God's universal family. It offers you the privilege of personally experiencing what it is like to have Jehovah's power and personality in a scaled down version of God himself.

Best of all, the real reason God created us is so that we might have a relationship with him. Not a relationship where we do all the talking and we hope he hears us. Paradise means that Jehovah comes looking for you—just like he did in Eden with the first man! Can you imagine what Jehovah might say if you could casually converse with him? Do you think you would ever get bored if you could speak with the Creator of the universe on a daily basis and ask him any question on your mind?

You could even ask the Creator to solve the age-old riddle, once and for all, about which came first, the chicken or the egg? Surely He knows. And who knows, he might just astonish or amuse you with his answer? Or do you suppose that Jehovah has no sense of humor? He created the chimpanzee didn't he?

I imagine that once we get our relationship with God repaired, that, then Jehovah could tell you a private joke that would leave you laughing for weeks. What do you want to say to Jehovah when you talk to him in person?

Do you think Jehovah ever gets bored? How could he? Look at his vast universe and this fantastic earth he created and all of its many marvels. We don't enjoy a fraction of it. Do you honestly think God is going to allow his sons and daughters to be bored living in paradise? Whereas, it seems that if the Devil can't fool us into destroying ourselves outrightly, he seems intent on boring us to death with his futile system of things we are forced to live under presently; but in Jehovah's world-to-come it will be a thrill to simply be alive—to breathe the clean and sweetly perfumed air of paradise.

When Jehovah promises to give the entire earth to the meek ones as an inheritance, what does that mean? What does it mean to inherit something from a parent? It means that you own it—you take possession of your share, right? Can you imagine owning the world? Give it a try—use your limitless imagination to envision what you are going to do with your inheritance of the earth. Inheriting the earth means total freedom to do whatever you want as long as you do not break God's law of love. Isn't that awesome?

And your name is penciled-in in Jehovah's legal Will. As long as you have faith in him and appreciate what Jesus did to make it possible—it is yours. That's your inheritance from your heavenly Father.

So, don't let the Devil trick you into thinking that the New World will be a bore. Start dreaming and thinking about all the wonderful possibilities that await you in the paradise of Jehovah's promise. I am sure that once you open up your imagination you will not be able to stop thinking about all the wonderful possibilities that come with everlasting life in a new world.

In the two places in the Bible where Paul discussed the resurrection of the saints, he merely stated that those who die before Christ's presence are resurrected first; then, those who are living during the presence are resurrected as they die—meaning that they do not have to sleep in death awaiting a resurrection.

So, when Paul referred to "we the living" being caught away in the twinkling of an eye to meet Christ in the clouds, he was not saying that Christians would be bodily levitated from the earth—as many wrongly suppose. Paul said of the anointed: "We shall not all fall asleep in death, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye." Notice, that Paul is contrasting those who sleep in death and those who do not. But, just because those living during the presence of Christ do not sleep in death does not mean that they do not die. Their not sleeping simply means that they do not stay in a death-like state for any period like their anointed predecessors. Instead, they are instantaneously resurrected—"in the twinkling of an eye."

But, the point is that each one is changed. And what are they changed into? Paul answers at 1 Corinthians 15:52-54, that we are changed into incorruptible and immortal spirit beings. Obviously the corruptible, mortal, fleshly human body is left behind after that "change."

Their preaching in sackcloth is to take place during the period when Jehovah disciplines his organization. That is when we will mourn and be humiliated over the catastrophe that Jehovah allows to befall his people. But, it is during that time when the final sealing takes place and our humiliation turns to triumph because of Jehovah's direct intervention. So, yes, the sons of God will be revealed during that period; whether at the start of the 1,260 days or at the end is not clear-- but it should be clear that the prophecy in the 11th chapter of Revelation has profound implications for Jehovah's Witnesses in the near future.

As regards the issues that you bring up, in view of all the things that are wrong with the organization and with our local congregations, why have you highlighted such relatively trivial issues? Is it because these really are important issues to you, or are you merely repeating accusations that have been planted in your mind by apostate JW's?

Take the issue of organ transplants: Transplants are relatively new procedures that were unheard of 40 or 50 years ago. When organ transplants first started coming into vogue they were very rare and fraught with risk. Also, they did not have the expertise to perform those procedures without using blood transfusions. So, the Watchtower saw such procedures as unacceptable for Jehovah's Witnesses. But, like Paul said, "the scene of the world is changing." That means that Christians are constantly faced with new challenges to their faith—things do not remain the same. As time goes on, it means that we have to revise our view as new situations develop. Now organ transplants are done more routinely and they can be accomplished without the use of transfusions. So, we haven't really changed—the world around us has changed—and we have merely responded and made the corresponding adjustment in our view, so that what was once unacceptable has become permissible.

But, on the issue of changing doctrine: In the 1st Century, the apostles made a huge doctrinal change—what you call a flip-flop. Being Jewish, all the apostles and older men in Jerusalem accepted the Jewish customs and way of life, even after becoming Christians. The Scriptures do not specifically say that the apostles actively advocated circumcision, but we may be sure they thought it was important for the simple reason that it required a long period of discussion among the brothers as to its importance in the Christian faith.

So, imagine the bombshell they set off among the Jewish Christians when the apostles finally ruled that non-Jews were not required to observe Jewish customs. They were saying that after all those years of Hebrew circumcision that it was not necessary anymore to be circumcised in order to be a child of Abraham. That had to have come as quite a jolt to some. In fact, many anointed Christians back then could not accept the apostolic ruling. Consequently, they became rapid opponents of the teaching of the apostles.  Paul called them the Judaizers—dogs—who wanted to mutilate the flesh of the uncircumcised. The lesson is: Change with the times or be left behind.

The business about the resurrection of the Sodomites is a bit of a joke. Jesus said that the men of Sodom would rise up in the judgment and condemn the unbelievers of Christ's day. But, the apostles later wrote that Sodom received the judicial punishment of everlasting fire. So what is it? The Scriptures can be interpreted both ways. But, instead of putting the onus on the Watchtower for vacillating between two different opinions, what's wrong with you using your own mind to determine the truth of the matter, if the destiny of the Sodomites is really so important to you? Will you condemn yourself so harshly if you later change your opinion? Why must your faith depend upon what the Watchtower says on that issue? Anyway, what difference does it make to you if they are or aren't resurrected? Should you not be more concerned whether you yourself will be, should you die while living in this system of things?

Our opposers merely seize upon such seeming inconsistencies as proof that we are not the true faith. How unreasonable! However, unlike us, Jesus was an inspired teacher, and yet Christ once instructed his apostles not to carry a purse or a food pouch or a change of clothing when they went on the preaching tour. Later, though, he instructed them to do the exact opposite. He told them to take a purse and food pouch. Was Jesus guilty of a doctrinal "flip-flop"? No doubt many of the Watchtower's enemies today would similarly accuse Christ of such if they used the same measure of judgment.

The Scriptures plainly say that it is inevitable that some people will stumble over various teachings, changes, errors and the bad behavior of others in the truth. That is unfortunate and tragic to be sure. Many of these stumbling blocks, however, seem as mere pebbles strewn on the path. The question we ought to ask is: If we allow ourselves to be stumbled over such trivial things, what are we going to do when some serious stumbling blocks obstruct our path?

However, you must remember that the Bible is a product of the mind of God and it addresses some very difficult legal issues and covenants of universal importance. Also, some parts of it are intentionally written in a cryptic style so as to prevent unworthy ones from comprehending the message. If you recall, that's why Jesus always spoke in illustrations--because he said it was in order that those looking might not see and get the sense of it. Jesus frequently asked his disciples if they understood, because he knew they often didn't. Only the humble ones were eventually permitted to truly understand what Jesus was taking about.

Peter verifies for us that much of the Bible is difficult. He wrote of Paul's writings, saying of them at 2 Peter 3:16: "In them, however, are some things hard to understand, which the untaught and unsteady are twisting, as they do the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction." So, while the truth is simple, there are also some very difficult things that require that we use our mind's full potential to comprehend. That's why Paul prayed that we "might be filled with the accurate knowledge of his will in all wisdom and comprehension, in order to walk worthily of Jehovah to the end of fully pleasing him."