It is noteworthy that the United Nations has declared the invasion of Iraq by the so-called coalition forces to be illegal, although it is not clear what legal action can or will be taken against Britain and the U.S. for prosecuting war without UN approval. There is even talk that President Bush and Blair could be brought up on war crimes if the war goes badly and the invaders inflict a lot of civilian casualties. But, the fact that the United Nations has so far been powerless to prevent the Anglo-American king from doing as it pleases indicates that the UN is not yet ruling as the 8th and final king of Bible prophecy. One thing is clear though: the world has entered a very perilous and critical time, and anything can happen.

According to the prophecy in the 13th chapter of Revelation, the ruling head of Satan's political wild beast is destined to suffer a catastrophic death stroke and then afterwards miraculously revive, only to lead the world into idolizing an image of the revived beast. We may be certain that no such death-stroke was inflicted upon the Anglo-American victors of the First World War. In view of the certainty that the prophecy awaits a future fulfillment, we may anticipate that the world is facing the unexpected and horrifying collapse of the Anglo-American king, and, to some extent, the entire system overseen by the currently-ruling 7th king.

As for when we may expect the 8th king to war against Jehovah's people: according to the 13th chapter of Revelation, immediately after the beast receives the sword stroke and then comes back to life, it begins to blaspheme God and war against his servants.

However, the 1995 Watchtower page 21, paragraph 19, clearly states that "Although Jesus is now King of the Kingdom, his further activity mentioned at Matthew 19:28 will include sitting on a throne to judge during the Millennium. At that time he will judge all mankind, the righteous and the unrighteous." Would you care to clarify?

At the moment, that description simply does not fit those who are presently serving as Christ's ambassadors. However, according to numerous prophecies in Daniel, Isaiah, Ezekiel, Revelation, and elsewhere in the Scriptures, the anointed sons of God, or brothers of Christ, are destined to be laid low by the hardships of the tribulation.  The sheep who remain loyal to Christ's embattled brothers during that judgment phase are the ones whom Christ will reward by allowing them to inherit the kingdom.

But, while the Watchtower has readjusted their interpretation of that prophecy so as to anticipate a future fulfillment, we still teach that the judgment upon God's household took place back in the 1916-1919 period. Remember that, according to scripture, God's household is composed of those who have a heavenly hope.

The above-cited verse at Matthew 19:28, as well as the related verse of Matthew 25:31, both refer to the judgment occurring "when the Son of man sits down upon his glorious throne." The contradiction lies in the fact that we teach that the judgment occurs in the future as a result of Christ taking his throne, while at the same time we still insist that Christ sat down on his throne way back in 1914. Unfortunately, there is an obvious disconnection that has resulted because the Watchtower is committed to dogmatically clinging to the 1914 chronology.

While the apostle Paul counseled Christians to pray for kings and those in high station, the purpose of our doing so is so that we may go on living a calm and quiet life, because we do recognize that those in power can have a tremendous impact on our lives—for good or bad. So, we leave it in God's hands, through prayer, to have the ultimate say in the outcome.

But, since there is no record in the Bible where Jesus or his apostles ever tried to influence the Roman Empire through any sort of political action, we must conclude that our being "no part of the world" applies to not being politically involved.

As far as celebrations go, the same principle of being no part of the world applies. Nearly all holiday celebrations have political or false religious meanings that we simply find unacceptable. Instead of celebrating certain holidays simply because it is expected that everyone should, we celebrate more personal occasions, like births—with baby showers, marriages, baptisms, anniversaries, graduations and things like these.                     

Whatever changes that you may have in mind that have occurred in the Watchtower's teachings over the last century have been relatively trivial in nature.  Moreover, it is each Christian's responsibility to know who it is that they are worshipping and why. If you are a pagan, or perhaps "partaking of the table of the demons" as Paul worded it, it is your responsibility before God to know what you believe and where you stand in that regard.

While the Scriptures command Christians to cut off association with brothers and sisters who become apostate, in my opinion it is a mistake to refuse to even discuss the issues, especially with family members. After all, Jude says that we ought to try and snatch them out of the fires of doubt. But how can we do so unless there is some effort on our part to understand what their issues are? The worst thing that family and friends can do is become irrational or hysterical. That only tends to further alienate the victim and it lends weight to the opposers' accusations that we are brainwashed cult members.  If we are willing to have biblical discussions over doctrines like the Trinity with total strangers, why is it that we cannot rationally address the issues and concerns of our own relatives who may be disturbed over certain things in the Watchtower Society?  

In the very context of the verse cited above, Paul wrote that we should be "restrained under evil, instructing with mildness those not favorably disposed; as perhaps God may give them repentance leading to an accurate knowledge of truth, and they may come back to their proper senses out from the snare of the Devil, seeing that they have been caught alive by him for the will of that one."

Reasoning on the above verse: If those who are ensnared by the Devil "may come back to their proper senses" then, obviously, the Bible definitely holds out the hope that it is possible for a person to come back into the truth even if they are presently opposed to their former faith. One thing we can say in their favor is that Jehovah's Witnesses who abandon their faith and go to the extent of picketing our conventions are not apathetic.

And, for your information: e-Watchman has received several emails from self-described apostates who have made known their desire to once again become Jehovah's Witnesses.

Keep in mind, too, that the Watchtower and all of Jehovah's Witnesses are not guilt-free in this matter. We have tolerated many stumbling blocks in the organization, which our enemies are always quick to use against us. So, a little humility on our part is always in order.

The families of such individuals would be well-advised to lighten up on the recriminations and reassure those who have been stumbled into apostasy that we still care for them, and that we would be happy to try and help them work through their doubts and issues, provided that discussions can take place without rancor. 

Reasoning on the above verse: Jesus speaks of his death and subsequent resurrection as though it had already happened, because for a fact, the prophecies had already foretold that very thing. His death and resurrection were predestined in the Scriptures. And, yet, Jesus also said that it was his decision to make, whether he would voluntarily lay down his life as the Father willed. It was Jesus' choice to do what was pleasing to Jehovah or not. For love and loyalty to mean anything it must be possible to not love and to be disloyal. By the way, that's why the Trinity is so absurd. Why would God love himself for being obedient to himself?

But, the point is that Jesus had a choice. Evidently God simply knew that Jesus would make the right choice. But, from a human standpoint that was not a given at all. And, obviously, the Devil did not assume that Jesus' obedience was written in stone. That's why the demons were relentless in trying to tempt and pressure Christ into disobeying Jehovah—they knew he had the free will to go his own way. More than anything else, it proves the power of perfect love. Jesus loved Jehovah so completely that it is evidently impossible for him to ever betray that love. Evidently, Jehovah knew that from the beginning.

But, the future most assuredly has already happened from Jehovah's standpoint. The thing is, we must modestly acknowledge that we have no idea what God sees from his lofty vantage point. The tendency is for us to assume that our version of how things are supposed to work is God's perception of reality, too. But, just consider that even science now recognizes that what passes for reality is only relative to a particular time and place. We have to remind ourselves that Jehovah exists in a totally different dimension and in another realm of time and space; so that what may be deemed impossible in the physical world is ordinary to Jehovah.

Dear E-watchman I have a rather embarrassing situation that is kind of hard to tell, but I'll try. I am 35 years old and was raised as a Jehovah's Witness all of my life. I was baptized when I was 19 years old and really love the truth and being a witness, but my problem is I was "disfellowshipped" about 3 years ago for "homosexuality". The elders were nice to me, but I just could not give up my "gay lover" so they told me they had to "disfellowship" for conduct unbecoming of a Christian. I have tried to like women, but to no avail. I am just crazy about men. The elders told me they would not "reinstate" me if I am still homosexual. My question to you is: Will Jehovah destroy me at Armageddon if I still have homosexual feelings and am living a gay life? I really love Jehovah and Jesus and Jehovah's Witnesses, but just can't give up my gay lifestyle.

What are your thoughts on this? You always give good scriptural answers.

You say that you love Jehovah and Jesus, and that is no doubt true. But, the question is: Who do you love more, Jehovah or yourself? That is really the challenge we all face, since, as imperfect sinners, we all have selfish desires that stand as potential stumbling blocks to our loving Jehovah with our whole mind, heart and soul-- as Jesus said we must. Since you are undoubtedly aware that the Bible says that men who lie with men will not inherit the kingdom of God, you already know the answer to your own question. Furthermore, you well know that God incinerated the ancient cities of Sodom and Gomorrah for the very thing which you practice.

The question you have to answer for yourself is whether you are willing to forfeit everlasting life in order to indulge in your gay lifestyle. That is the choice that is yours to make.

You say that you "just can't give up your gay lifestyle." That is not an entirely true statement. What you ought to say is that 'I just don't want to give up my gay lifestyle.' There is no question but that we have a nearly unlimited capacity for self-deception. The scriptures accurately assess our true inner nature when it says: "The heart is desperate and treacherous. Who can know it?" But, we owe it to ourselves to at least try and be honest with ourselves. The truth is that you can give up your gay lifestyle if you want to.

As you know, in Paul's letter to the Corinthians, after mentioning practices like fornication and homosexuality, practices he said would absolutely preclude a person from God's kingdom, Paul said: "And yet that's what some of you were."

Of course, there is the argument today that individuals are born gay and that it is not something that they choose, and that may well be true. Nevertheless, God's Word says what it says. As previously mentioned, we are all born as sinners and as a result of that we all have unhealthy desires that, as Peter said: "carry on a conflict against the soul." For example, most men have very strong sexual attraction towards women. Usually that is considered natural and normal. But, Jesus said that any man that keeps on looking lustfully at a woman has already committed adultery in his heart. So, even heterosexual men must fight against lustful tendencies if they want to please God.

Shortly after the Jews went into the Promised Land, they took up the practice of Baal worship. We can only incredulously shake our heads when trying to comprehend why anyone would bow down to a phallic pole planted in the ground. Yet, Ephesians 3:5 informs us that if we indulge in covetous sexual appetites, uncleanness and fornication, we are really engaging in a form of idolatry. But, instead of making a block of wood the object of our reverence, from Jehovah's standpoint we are worshipping our own sex organs if we place more importance upon satisfying our own desires than obeying God.

Jesus' advice to us is that we ought to pluck out our own eye or cut off any member of our body that causes us to stumble and lose out on the wonderful gift of everlasting life. By that Jesus meant to say that we might have to suffer intensely in the flesh in order to bridle our sinful passions. According to Jesus, though, any suffering we may experience now, due to our warring against the sin in our bodies, is nothing compared to the healing and freedom that Jehovah promises to bestow upon those who love him more than they love themselves. The question you must squarely face is: Who do you love more?

Forgiveness is ours provided that we have the faith to reach out and claim it for ourselves.