The Saddest Sight: My Memorial 2014 Experience

On a Sunday afternoon I received a few knocks on my door. Since my family and I are new in Edmonton, the last thing we expect is a knock on the door. As I opened, there were two older Jehovah's Witness men. I invited them in, had a wonderful conversation on the Bible, Jesus, and how to attain eternal life. They then proceeded to hand me an invitation to the Memorial of Christ death. This year the date landed on April 14th, 2014.

It has been 5 years since I have attended the yearly Memorial celebration of Jehovah's Witnesses. For those who do not know, the Memorial or "Lord's evening meal" is the only sanctioned celebration JW's across the World observe, it is the one part of the year where they remember the death of Jesus and pass around the emblems of the bread and wine. It is essentially their yearly sacrament meeting, and it is very important to the Witnesses. An estimated 17 million people Worldwide attend this meeting.

I decided that I would go. My wife never grew up as a Witness and has never been to any of their meetings. The only experience she has is through me and interactions shes had with my JW family members. I thought it would be good for her to see and get a feel for the religion I grew up in. So we went. As I walked into the rented Hall they had for the occasion, I could not help my mind from going to an earlier time in my life, going to the Memorial felt familiar and almost routine. I was told that the event had 3 congregations in one, yet there couldn't have been more than 200 people in attendance. As I looked around my family and I looked like we we're the only ones "out of place", we had our own Bibles, no song books. Not to mention I wore no tie and walked in with a full set of hair on my face. We sat in the last row and observed everyone coming in. Out of everyone there I am convinced we were the only ones who were not either studying with JW's or were JW's. The reason this is interesting to me is that I am sure that the Witnesses in my area have spent thousands of hours inviting people to this event for the past month and it seems like we were the only ones who responded to the invite. How ironic. 

The meeting started with a usual "Kingdom song", but as soon as the recorded tune started I noticed maybe half of those in attendance were actually singing along. This depressed me, I mean this is the most important night of the year for these Witnesses, you would imagine that they would be eager and excited to praise Jehovah for the sacrifice of his Son. Yet the music reflected the dead spiritual state of their worship. It's no wonder why they call it the "Memorial", it feels more like a funeral then a celebration of life and triumph. The talk given was no different from years before, they talked about the provision of the ransom, the significance of the occasion, who could and could not partake and then the future blessings on Paradise. Looking from the outside in, its incredibly alarming how the speaker brings together isolated Scriptures and quotes one end of the Bible to the other to prove his doctrine without any context of the surrounding verses. I use to do the same thing as a JW but I was never conscious that I myself was doing it. Then came the moment to pass the emblems of the bread and wine. I had contemplated partaking of the Memorial to make a statement, but I decided against because I did not want to bring unwanted attention to myself or offend anyone. So when the emblems started coming our way my wife and I got up and walked away to the back of the meeting. 

Jehovah's Witnesses do not believe that they can partake of the emblems of the Sacraments unless they are part of the 144,000. They believe that the Great Crowd members are not born again, that they are not apart of the New Covenant, and that they are not sons and daughter of God. It was as they were passing the emblems that we saw the saddest sight- Every Jehovah's Witness in the room passing and rejecting the body and blood of Jesus. This was the first time that my wife had been to the Memorial and as she saw what was happening a tear came down her eyes as she saw an entire room of people reject the sacrifice of Jesus. As we were standing in the back another gentlemen was back there attending his child and was trying to explain to us what was happening and why no one was partaking, I turned to him and asked, "Doesn't it seem like they are rejecting and passing away the ransom sacrifice of Christ?". He stood stunned by the question, he had never seen it that way and he was taken back by the question. After the meeting I stood in the back for a while as a few JW's approached us and greeted us. As we were getting ready to leave three JW men approached us and I took the opportunity to ask them a few questions regarding some of the stuff that was mentioned during the Memorial. The conversation lasted about 10 minutes and at the end of the conversation all three Witnesses were stunned by some of the verses I had shared with them. They all promised to look into it and research it. 

Going to this years Memorial was a reminder of what I once was, a person outside of the Kingdom and Covenant of God. It was sad to see people who genuinely want to serve God reject the very sacrifice that can set them free. I'll end this post with a quick overview of what the Bible really says regarding the Memorial of Jesus.

How often are we to observe the Memorial? The Bible makes clear that every time believers in the 1st Century came together, they observed the sacraments or "Memorial" of Jesus. It was NOT a once a year occasion. READ 1 Corinthians 11:20-34 & Acts 2:46

Who can partake of the emblems? According to the New Testament, every believer has the privilege of taking communion, it is one of the two commands instituted for believers in the Church alongside baptism. Jesus said regarding the cup, "Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me." What are we to do to remember Him? Is it to pass the cup and bread? No, to remember is to partake according to Jesus. There are no verses in all of Scripture that says that a certain class of Christians CANNOT partake of the emblems. The belief that only a 144,000 can partake is an unscriptural assumption.

Are only the 144,000 Born again members of the New Covenant? This is a concept that is totally foreign to Scripture. Jesus said,"Most truly I say to you, unless anyone is born again, he cannot see the Kingdom of God." (John 3:3, NWT) He did not say only 144,000 would be born again, instead he said "What has been born from the flesh is flesh, and what has been born from the spirit is spirit. Do not be amazed because I told you: You people must be born again." (John 3:6-7, NWT) If you are not born again, which is a spiritual rebirth, according to Jesus you are still in the flesh. It is written regarding the New Covenant, "That is why he(Jesus) is a mediator of a new covenant, in order that because a death has occurred for their release by ransom from the transgressions under the former covenant, those who have been called may receive the promise of the everlasting inheritance." (Hebrews 9:15, NWT) If you are outside of the New Covenant arrangement you are outside of life and salvation. If you are not in the New Covenant relationship with Jehovah than you have no guarantee of the promises of everlasting life. The 144,000 are very likely Jews who are the promised remnant of the nation of Israel who will believe in the Messiah during the end times. READ Romans 11:1-2, 25-26 & Revelation 7:4-8

Are there "two hopes" for Christians, a Heavenly and Earthly one? Ephesians 4:4-5 in the NWT confirms that "One body there is, and one spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism". There is only one hope for Christians, that is to be with Christ. READ 2 Corinthians 5:1-10 & Philippians 3:20-21

So everyone will go to Heaven? What about Paradise Earth? The Bible teaches that when a believer dies, he will go straight into the presence of the Lord. (Philippians 1:20-21) But that is not the final reward of the believer, for the Bible teaches that there will be a new heaven and a new earth, we believe that in the new creation Heaven in the form of New Jerusalem will come down to the Earth and God will dwell and reign with man for all eternity. It will be a true Paradise, literally a Heaven on Earth! READ Revelation 21:1-27

Place your faith and trust in the Savior, Jesus said "Most truly I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in yourselves. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has everlasting life, and I will resurrect him on the last day." (John 6:53-54, NWT) Will you obey Jesus who leads to life, or will you place your eternal salvation in the hands of an organization of men? Choose this day whom you shall serve!

Serving Hope in Canada

Back in January of this year, my family and I prayerfully decided to pursue a new job opportunity and adventure in ministry in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada as a part of Hope Mission.  In February we headed out from our home in Connecticut, leaving behind precious friends and family in order to pursue a calling we felt God had clearly opened up. I have been in Canada and in my new position for about a month now and my goodness has it been a ride! At first when we heard of this opportunity to move to Edmonton we hesitated. We were firmly convinced that CT was our home, and that despite our difficult circumstances we would stay the course in Hartford. But as we took this matter to the Lord, it began to be very apparent that God did indeed have different plans for us. 

We knew that if we were going to take this plunge to leave behind our loved ones and our way of life, God would have to make it possible for us to get over there. My car at the time had broken down beyond repair, my job in CT was quickly coming to a close and our apartment had gotten broken into. We were in need of transportation to get there and enough money to start over; both of which we were lacking. But trusting in the Lord we moved forward and accepted the job offer to work as an Intake ministry worker for Hope Mission. God blessed obedience and he provided us a vehicle by the graciousness of our incredible Christian family back home. God also blessed us with more than enough money to be able to travel and get started in Canada. The Lord also granted us our passports and visas without any hindrance! But leaving behind all that we had come to know and love was anything but easy. We also had to leave behind most of our possessions, we packed what we could in our Station Wagon and away we went. We made a stop in Milwaukee, Wisconsin where we said more goodbyes to family and friends. The car ride from Hartford to Milwaukee, and Milwaukee to Edmonton was not something I'd enjoy doing again. The traveling combined with the goodbyes and the anxiety of a new life away from home took an unexpected toil on us all, not to mention we have been traveling with our 1 year old son. 

When God calls you to relocate to a completely foreign place where you know essentially no one and have nothing, faith in God's leading is chief. When we arrived in Edmonton, a wonderful Christian couple housed us and took us in until we could get on our feet. I immediately started working and learning the ropes at Hope Mission. Let me explain my new job to you guys. Hope Mission is a Christian non-profit that serves the underprivileged people of Edmonton by serving over 1000 hot meals a day(Breakfast, Lunch, & Supper) and offers a warm place to sleep to over 500 people a night. Hope Mission has specific ministries that reach out to teens, women, men and people who are struggling with addictions. I have the responsibility to work as an intake worker at one of the men shelters and also lead our Turning Point Program which serves men who recognize their addiction problems and are looking to something bigger than themselves to help heal them. During our sessions I teach Bible principles that will lead them to recognize their need for recovery and a Savior, with the hope that they join our 1 year Breakout program which is an enhanced Bible recovery program. It's been a real joy to teach men the Bible and helping them on their road to recovery, and even more, their road to Jesus and eternal life. I have already begun to see the fruit of God's faithfulness and calling to serve Hope to the people of Edmonton. 

This has been a time of testing, trials and transition. We miss our friends, family and dear House Church and spiritual family back home. We look forward to meeting and making new friends, and serving people in spiritual need. I also rejoice in the trials that we have endured and the ones we will encounter, for as the Scripture says, "Consider it a great joy, my brothers, whenever you experience various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. But endurance must do its complete work, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking nothing." (James 1:2-4, HCSB)

Pray for us during this exciting time of transition. May the Lord bless you all.

Celebrating the Holidays- The reflections of an ex-Jehovah's Witness.

Celebrating the Holidays is usually a joyous occasion when families come together and celebrate the birth of Christ and usher in together a new year. When I was growing up as a Jehovah's Witness I dreaded the holidays. I could always hear the children bragging about the expectation and anticipation of Christmas and spending family time and just hearing about their family tradition. I was always excluded from such conversations since the majority of my peers already knew- I was one of Jehovah's Witnesses and I did not celebrate Christmas. 

Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years were just regular days for me, nothing special at all. In fact since I was likely off of school on those days we usually used the opportunity to go out to field service and condemn the people at the door who were spending time with their family and telling them how pagan their celebrations were. I hated the Holidays, not because I saw them as pagan or worldly, but because I envied the family centered nature of it. In my household we didn't have a Holiday replacement, there weren't specific times of the year where we would just have a big family centered celebration or gift exchanging. I've heard of some JW families who had such events throughout the year so that the kids did not feel left out, but it was never something I experienced or even saw in Witness families that I knew. 

I can remember the first time I actually celebrated Thanksgiving and Christmas as a new creation in Christ Jesus. It was 2008, I had given my life to Christ September of that Year and was pretty much keeping it a secret from my family and congregation. By the end of October I began fellow-shipping with believers at a Church a town over and told them about my journey. They were overwhelmed and took me in as their own. Not even a few weeks later my family had discovered that I was attending a Christian Church and that I had begun to "apostatize". The pressure was on, I had stopped attending the Kingdom Hall meetings and my elders were trying to contact me to question me. In the midst of all the chaos I was invited by my then Youth Pastor to celebrate Thanksgiving with his family at his house. My first Thanksgiving, an event I would never forget! Years before I mocked the notion that you take one day out of the year and reflect on the many blessings of life, but here I was, counting each of my amazing blessings and reflecting on the goodness of God despite my personal trials. I discovered the meaning of Thanksgiving. 

Fast forward to December of that year, I had sent in my letter of disassociation to my congregation elders. I was officially no longer associated with the false organization of Jehovah's Witnesses. The very next day I was kicked out of my relatives home who I had been living with, I was homeless and in desperate need. This all occurred 10 days before Christmas. When my new spiritual family found out about what had happened they quickly came to meet my need and took me in. It was one of the most trialing experiences of my life, my whole world had been turned upside down! In one brief announcement everyone who I had ever known and loved in the Witness religion cut me off and the mere mention of my name was anathema. When I was broken, God used another Holiday; this time Christmas, to demonstrate his love for me. My Church Youth group had a Christmas party at our Church just days before Christmas, and at the very end we all exchanged gifts. I was poor, homeless and abandoned- I had no gifts to give and I felt once again embarrassed. Everyone had a gift in their hand and I had nothing to give or to receive. Little did I know, the gifts in everyone's hand was for me. My Church and youth group that I had only known for barely even two months came together to bless me in my greatest hour of need. I then understood what Christmas was all about, it wasn't about worshiping a false pagan deity or about Santa Claus or even about getting gifts! It was about the compassion and self-less love of Jesus Christ. Jesus gave up Heaven to humble himself by becoming a helpless baby born in a manger to poor and lowly parents, all so that he can grow up and save a fallen race. Although I was poor and broken, Jesus took on my brokenness and poorness and exchanged it for his richness. As it is written in Scripture, "For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ: Though He was rich, for your sake He became poor, so that by His poverty you might become rich." (2 Corinthians 8:9, HCSB)

This was the first year that my wife and I celebrated the Holidays since the birth of our beautiful son. As I reflect on my past and my journey to Jesus and my discovery of the true meaning of the season, I rejoice that my son will grow up with the joy of celebrating the goodness of God and the birth of Christ Jesus. It is exciting to see our own family traditions form and using the Holidays as an opportunity to bless others. I will teach my son the lessons I have learned and remind him of the reason we celebrate and come together as a family- Jesus. Celebrating during this time of the year always reminds me of my past and current struggles with my JW family, but it also gives me strength and remembrance of the cost of following Jesus. 

My Family- Christmas 2013

Can I Get a Witness? Documentary

On October 4-6, 2013 we attended the annual "Witnesses Now for Jesus Convention" in New Ringgold, Pennsylvania and we revealed the documentary, "Can I Get a Witness?". "Can I Get a Witness?" is a short-film documentary based on the need for meaningful dialogue between Christians and Jehovah's Witnesses. The documentary is based on the newly released book, "Can I Get a Witness? How to understand and set free Jehovah's Witnesses" which I wrote. The book and documentary focus on the need for more witnesses of Jesus to give JW's everywhere a witness of the real Jesus. It is my hope that this short film will explain and help Christians see the need to learn and engage Jehovah's Witness, the ministry that comes to our doorstep.

I am proud to reveal that exciting new documentary for everyone to share and enjoy. We bless God for his faithfulness is allowing us to film and produce this project. God has been faithful and provided mightly in creating and bringing together this short film and we are excited to share it with the world. You can view this documentary in the following link on Youtube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mXff2qF7u1Q&feature=c4-overview&list=UUPwFxQx09kcz0mP1zWLgP9Q

It is vital that you help us reach as many people as possible and share this with your Christian friends, ministers, and Pastors. 

The book is now available as an e-Book and will soon be available as paperback. The link for the book is  http://www.amazon.com/Witness-Understand-Jehovahs-Witnesses-ebook/dp/B00FGUOGSG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1380321910&sr=8-1&keywords=Can+I+get+a+Witness+how+to+understand

"Can I Get A Witness?" Now Available on Amazon!

"Can I Get a Witness? How to understand and set free Jehovah's Witnesses" is now available for purchase on Amazon.com as a downloadable e-Book. I praise God for his faithfulness and providence in allowing me to write and finish this book. I thank everyone who supported me and financially contributed to our project on KickStarter. Now its time to let this book fly and see where God takes it.  We still need your help and support! We need to spread the word about this ministry and our "Can I Get a Witness?" project. My goal is to reach as many Christians, Churches, ministries and ultimately Jehovah's Witnesses with "Can I Get a Witness?" to help educate and inform believers on how to reach out and effectively minister to JW's and the lost. Purchase the book, watch our new documentary and share it with others. 

I've already gone to a few events and Churches talking to people about our book and ministry and the feedback has been incredible. But I need your prayers and support. My entire family are still JW's and they are aware of my ministry and projects. They view my ministry as an attack on the religion that they love, and they believe that my book as smear-apostate literature. But the opposite is true! For those who have already begun to read the book, you see that I have had a great deal of respect for JW's and only offer a bridge of understanding and love for those who wish to reach out to them. I love Jehovah's Witnesses, and my book is a labor of love toward them as my prayer is that they come to know Jesus Christ. To my family and former associates, I am the enemy and many in my family have already let me know this loud and clear. Launching this book and ministry is bittersweet, on the one hand I know this is God's calling and will for me, and yet it is still difficult to be viewed as an enemy by the people I love. 

I praise God however because I know that our labor in the Lord is never in vain, even if this book was meant to only reach a few people, at the end it will all be worth it. May God use this book and project to advance his Kingdom and bring Christians to the conviction that they need to be witnesses of Jesus, even to the Jehovah's Witnesses.

To purchase this book please visit and click on this link: http://www.amazon.com/Witness-Understand-Jehovahs-Witnesses-ebook/dp/B00FGUOGSG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1380321910&sr=8-1&keywords=Can+I+get+a+Witness+how+to+understand

Support, "Can I Get A Witness?"

The book, "Can I Get a Witness?" is just about ready for publishing! I am proud to announce that we are looking at a October, 3rd release of the eBook version of "Can I Get A Witness?", and a November release for the paperback version, but we need your help! Please pray and consider helping us raise the necessary funds to get this into the publishers hands. As you can imagine, producing a documentary and writing a book takes a lot of time, research, effort and resources. This is a project with the potential of reaching thousands with the life saving message of the Gospel. We've been blown away with the excitement and enthusiasm surrounding this groundbreaking project, but in order for us to get this project to as many people as possible we need your help. This project has been funded by myself with very little outside monetary help, and in order to get this book and documentary out for the World to enjoy, we need to raise $1,000 to pay for the printing and publishing fees and film related costs. By God's grace we have been able to raise a little over half of our goal! We pray that God would raise up people who believe in this project and the message behind it, and help us reach countless thousands with the Gospel of Jesus. "Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver."(2 Cor 9:7) 

Please visit this link and learn how you can help us reach our goal!

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1454950462/can-i-get-a-witness

How you can help: 1. Pray for us! We've had a lot of obstacles over the last few months, spiritually, financially and family wise. We know that Satan does not want this book and documentary out, and I need your prayers to be bold. 2. If you feel so led, consider helping us meet our goal of reaching $1,000, which is the bare minimum needed for Amazon to convert and format the book into eBook and paperback versions. 3. Spread the word! Spread the word on this important project that can reach thousands of Jehovah's Witnesses and help Christians better understand and minister to JW's. Spread the word on the need that we have, so that by God's grace we can meet it.

If we cannot raise the minimum amount of $1,000, Kickstarter.com will not charge any of the pledged amounts and we will walk away with no funds for this project, and consequently we will be forced to delay the project. Please send this to friends, family, ministries and churches.

Thank you very much for your prayers and continued support! Please do not take this message as me trying to pressure anyone into giving, I know the times are difficult. But any contribution will help. You can donate anywhere from $500 to $1, every gift counts! May God bless you and keep you all in Christ.

Brian Garcia, Real Truth Ministries

Can I Get a Witness? Explaining the upcoming Book and Documentary

Exactly one year ago I began to contemplate writing a book and making a documentary on a topic very dear to my heart, Jehovah's Witnesses.  I have been out of the Watchtower for nearly 5 years, and in my new walk as a Christian I have encountered hundreds of other Christians who know very little about Jehovah's Witnesses.  In fact for many of my new friends, all they knew about the Witnesses was that I used to be one.  

As I began thinking about what I could write about I knew that I wanted to produce something different, I did not want to put out another book or film about "how wrong" the Witnesses are in their teachings, or how they are a "cult" and "false prophets".  There are plenty of books from people of the outside looking into the Watchtower organization and trying to debunk their teachings, and there are plenty of films of ex-JW's being critical of the Watchtower Society.  I did not want to simply critique my former religion, I wanted to help people understand my former religion.  You see, in my 5 years as a Born again Christian most  believers were totally oblivious to the history and teachings of Jehovah's Witnesses, and even if they learned about their teachings how would they be able to minister effectively to them when they came knocking on the door?  Where do you begin?  I also wanted a book that if lets say a my JW brother or sister picked up and read it, they would understand why I left and understand that I am not simply some crazy "apostate", but a Christian who truly loves them enough to speak the truth to them.

This book and documentary project is a result of a dire need, we need more Christians in the Church to stand up and give a witness to Jehovah's Witnesses.  Thus was born, "Can I Get a Witness?".  This project is aimed at Christians to help educate them about Jehovah's Witnesses from the eyes of someone who was born and raised as one, from someone who loved it and defended it proudly.  In the book I help the reader understand the mindset I had as a Jehovah's Witness, what the Watchtower taught and why I believed it.  I then offer a Biblical defense of the real Christian teachings on topics such as the deity of Christ, the Trinity, life after death, Heaven, Hell, Paradise Earth and many more.  The book is not meant to be an exhaustive commentary on every aspect of Watchtower theology, and I will not cover every single controversy in the JW religion.  But I will offer key insight on the history, teachings and mindset of Jehovah's Witnesses, while also equipping the reader with a defense for the true gospel.

The documentary will be a lead in for the book.  My goal for the "Can I Get a Witness?" film is to highlight the fact that many Christians know very little about Jehovah's Witnesses, and offer reasons why it is important that true Christians be "ready to offer a defense for the hope within" (1 Peter 3:15), and be obedient to the call of our Master Christ, and be witnesses of Him to people of all faiths and backgrounds. (Acts 1:8) In the documentary I interview Christians, non-Christians, Pastors, and EX-JW's on various topics of JW's.  I also highlight a personal journey to the mecca of Jehovah's Witnesses, the Brooklyn Headquarters of the Watchtower Society. 

Please be in prayer for me as I finish up the remaining chapters of my book and the final editing stages of the documentary.  I have encountered a lot of opposition to this book within my JW family circle, but I know that it is God's perfect will that I continue forward with these projects.  I am excited to announce that the book and full 20 minute documentary will release early this fall, with the book being published on ebook and physical copy by Amazon, and the documentary will be released on Youtube.  Help spread the word to friends and family, your churches and pastors.  Together we can help fellow believers be equipped with the Good News, and with the ability to give a witness to Jehovah's Witnesses. Can I Get a Witness?

Check out the trailer for the upcoming book and documentary, "Can I Get a Witness?"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5kh07lxqF1o