How Jehovah Got My Attention: Part 1, Being Raised Pentecostal/Questioning God

I am so glad you are here, my beautiful readers. You have allowed me to take up a moment of your time. I feel blessed that I can share part of my life with you, and blessed that you want to hear about it!

From time to time, when talking to people about my faith, they are surprised to learn that I was raise Pentecostal and later became on of Jehovah's Witnesses. When they ask why, I always share with them James 1:13, because that is the God I was looking for, the God that I knew was out there, but not taught through the scriptures from my Father, who did the preaching in the family. Yes, James 1:13 made quite the impact in my heart, and finally, finally, after years of searching for that God of Love, I found him in James 1:13, which reads: When under trial, let no one say: “I am being tried by God.” For with evil things God cannot be tried, nor does he himself try anyone. The explanation resulting in that follows with the words below. My story is a bit lengthy, so I have broken it up.

How Jehovah Got My Attention

I was raised Pentecostal. My dad was the preacher of the church he started up upon moving to Wyoming. I can remember a couple of times when Dad talked with the Witnesses when they came out to our place, but I never stuck around to hear what was being said. I know that my dad never had anything good to say about them, though, I can not recall what he did say. I just got the impression that they were wrong and my dad was right.

Heaven?

Hell?

Being raised Pentecostal, I was taught such things as Hellfire punishment, the Immortality of the soul: dying and going to heaven or hell, speaking in tongues, Faith/Prayer Healing. Although, now, I have learned that most Pentecostals believe in the Trinity, I can't remember being raised with that thought, it seems to have been more of my Mom's belief that Dad's, and Dad did the teaching in the family. 

The following is supplemental information, what the Bible teaches vs what man teaches.

•  Lies that make God Seem Unlovable
• Myth 1: The Soul Is Immortal
• What happens to us when we die?

I did witness Faith Healing at our church and, everybody, including my Dad, spoke in tongues. I remember thinking there was something wrong with me because I could not speak in tongues. I tried to fake it, but it just did not feel right.

As I got older, in my teens, I started to questions things, things about God, but I did not know where to turn for answers. To question my Dad was to question God, so I was left uninformed. I could not understand why a God of love could torment someone in Hell...FOREVER. Questions that I needed answered that could not be explained were answered with the statements: 'Some things are just a mystery' or 'It's Gods Will.' So as I left High School in 1985, I turned my back on God.

I met my husband early on in 1985 while living in Lander Wyoming. By the end of the year, we were married and had a daughter. That is the first time I can remember studying the Bible with the Witnesses. I was too stubborn to learn anything as I was out to prove them wrong. Although I can not remember much of what they were teaching, I knew it did not agree with my 'Religion.' I did not study long as one of the people that studied with us was Paul's sister-in-law, and I had heard through her husband that she really did not like me, and I was not about to have someone that did not like me studying the Bible with me. (Long story, and to this day, I do not know what happened to her.) The other sister, she was welcomed to come back, although I don't remember much about those studies as well.

One other thing I do remember is sitting down with my Mom, Sister, and Paul for a Bible discussion when we all lived out in a trailer on the Indian Reservation in Ethete, Wyoming. He had 'A Witness' Bible (that's what I thought of it back then) that had the 'Reasoning W/the scriptures' book bound up with it. In my King James Version Bible, I read something that bothered me. The discussion was over the Trinity, and though I really did not understand the Trinity, my Mom used the scripture in I John 5:7 out of the KJV which reads: For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.' The surprising thing is, there was a footnote at the bottom of the KJV Bible that said something to this effect: 'And this was added later,' in reference to the 'and these three are one,' statement. Now, while that was not enough for me to questions my Bible education, it did make me wonder: 'If that was added, what else was added?' or for that matter, 'Taken Away.' (stay tuned, more to follow)