Almighty God – Everlasting Father

Feb 16, 2008

Dear Heavenly Father,

I surrender my mind to you. I toss my concerns and my anxieties upon your back. This exchange will be out of my hands...help me to trust that it is in your hands.

Please prepare Mike and his friend's hearts right now. I pray that they would respond to your truth. Help me to speak your truth and nothing else. Help me to relax. This is in your hands...


Immediately there was a knock on the door. My heart jumped. I had already heard some scuffling in the halls as I scribbled out the last few lines of my prayer. I looked at my watch. 10:30."They're right on time." I thought.

I took a deep breath and flung open the door. There, smiling before me, was Mike and a friend of his. "Hey Mike! Good to see you!" I beamed as I shook his hand firmly. "Who's this guy?" I said, pointing to his friend. "Oh, this is Scott" said Mike. I shook Scott's hand vigorously... my own anxieties starting to disappear now that the initial exchange was over. "Well, come on in you guys."

They came in.

Mike and Scott are Jehovah's witnesses.

I motioned them to sit on the sofa. "Let's jump right in." I said. They looked surprised.

First of all these were nice guys. Clean cut...wearing suits and ties...and the most authentic and enthusiastic smiles you can imagine. Both Mike and Scott were in their late 20's, newly married, in the prime of their life. They seemed to be striving to live holy lives and were bent on pleasing God and believing his word. These guys were genuine...and genuinely wrong.

I started by questioning the accuracy and the authority of the JW founder Charles Taze Russell, who is infamously known for his faulty predictions, including his prediction of Christ's return in 1873. But as I began to discuss these things, it soon became apparent that neither Mike or Scott were familiar or willing enough to talk about their religion's sordid beginnings. They instead assured me that Russell was not perfect, and that their authority was the Bible.

"Russell discovered some important insights, but some even greater insights have been discovered since. We follow the Bible...following a man...is a sure sign of a cult."

So we turned to the Bible.

Instantly there began a babbling of eschatological gibberish between us. Mike proclaiming that Christ's reign in Heaven began in 1914 based on precise mathematical calculations that he could explain at a later time, and me demanding the precise calculations. Back and forth we went, talking past each-other about global catastrophe's, exact dates and timelines; the beginning of God's kingdom and Bible Chronology. But I knew this wasn't the heart of the issue.

I was waiting for the perfect opportunity.

When we first sat down, I told Mike and Scott that I did not want to get into all of this "babbling about eschatology and blood transfusion" because there was more crucial matters at stake.

Then suddenly my opportunity arrived.

While trying to prove one of his points, Mike had me read a passage in Revelation that describes Michael the archangel casting Satan and his demons from heaven. As he explained the passage he casually interchanged the names of Michael the angel and Jesus Christ. I immediately stopped him.

"So Jesus is just an angel?"

"Yes he is." Mike smiled.

"Then what do you guys do with John?" I smiled back.

"What do you mean?"

"The Word became flesh and dwelt among us...and the Word was with God...and the Word was God."

Mike paused. "Notice it said, 'was God'...not 'is God'." He replied hesitantly.

"Are you conceding that Jesus was God at some point?"

"No."

"Then what are you saying?"

"I'm saying that Jehovah gave Jesus a lot of authority."

"But the Bible says Jesus was God."

"Well, the Bible calls Jesus a lot of things...Ben, would you please turn with me to Isaiah 9:6-7..."


And this is where the miracle happened. I still have no idea why he had me go to those verses. If I were a Jehovah's witness I would hide these verses in the deepest, darkest closet. I do not know how I missed those verses as I studied up on the divinity of Christ the night before. To my knowledge this is the most powerful and prophetic testimony in scripture referring to Christ as God.

I read the verses...

"For unto us a child is born
to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father Prince of Peace..."

I stopped and began to laugh.

"Why did you show me this verse!" I exclaimed. "You're only proving my point! In this single verse, we see that not only is this tiny child the 'Mighty God' but is also one with the 'Father'!How can you possibly argue with this?"

Mike was very serious now.

"Notice that the verse never said Almighty God...it just said Mighty God."

I was very serious now.

"Mike...how many God's are there?"

"One."

"Right...and His name is Jesus."