My name is Michael Esteban. I am 34 years old. I am a licensed respiratory therapist but works as a kidney dialysis technician in Jacksonville, Florida. I am married to a beautiful girl named Rowena, and I have a one-year old little girl named Laralynn Rose. Even though I was raised in a Christian home and went to a Christian school, I sort of wandered away from the fold. I was out in the world big time doing and loving the things of this world. Life was great and I felt no need for God in my life.
My life sort of turned around in a somewhat unexpected way. I worked with a guy I will call Tom. Tom and I were very close friends. He was a lay pastor at a Pentecostal church. Somehow there was a falling out, and Tom decided to leave that church. He was considering joining the Jehovah's Witness organization. Immediately I thought: "Why Jehovah's Witness?"
I knew first hand what Jehovah's Witnesses believe because my Mom was once a Jehovah's Witness. I knew that Jehovah's Witnesses do not believe in the deity of Jesus Christ, and I also knew that they do not believe in the triune nature of God. I also knew that they believe differently concerning the second coming of Jesus Christ. They believe Jesus Christ came to this earth in 1914 in a spiritual sense. Even though I was out in the world doing my own thing, I knew that Jesus in spirit never left this earth and that His second coming will be personal, literal, visible, and audible for ALL to see and hear.
For some reason or other, I didn't want Tom to join the Jehovah's Witness organization. So I started giving him information and scriptures of what I had learned as a child at my mother's knee and from Academy days.
But you have to remember that Tom was a lay preacher so he sort of knew the Bible better than I did. Every time I gave him a text about something he would rebuff it and point me to another text. We would go on and on but never get anywhere. He was especially adamant about his belief concerning the moral law of God--that it is done away with, nailed to the torture stake and is no longer binding. And I was equally adamant that it is not done away with for it is the foundation of God's eternal throne and was seen by John the Revelator in the original ark of the covenant in the Most Holy Place in the heavenly sanctuary.
Please note that Tom was not completely lawless. He believed that there are only two laws--love to God and love to neighbor. But of these two laws, the Bible says, hang (not drop) all the laws of Moses and the prophets. The moral law of ten commandments is spiritual and so broad that it covers everything that is good and excellent toward God and man. The law does not save us from sin but without it we wouldn't know we are sinners in need of a Saviour (Rom 3:20).
Many times Tom and I would be talking about the same scriptures but he would be giving me a different, complex interpretation than what I had known as plain and simple. This caused me start calling on my Mom for reinforcement--to give me "ammunition" to hit Tom with. Of course, Mom didn't approve of my approach--using the word of God to hit somebody in the head with.
The fact that Tom was well-versed in the Scripture forced me to really dig into the Word of God, read history books and other inspirational books to help me in my understanding of scriptures and prophecies so I could explain things to Tom. Somehow I found it a paradox that one could be so well-versed in the Scripture, yet not have an understanding of the truth as it is in Jesus who is the fulfillment, the embodiment and personification of the Law of God.
Tom and I went over the same scriptures, and it seemed we were not getting anywhere. He couldn't see my point, and I couldn't see his. My Mom said that Tom had already made up his mind, and there was nothing I could do but leave it in the hands of the Holy Spirit. She advised me to leave him alone and move on. But I didn't want to just drop him off like that. I continued to work with Tom. I continued to study and research things out.
They say God works in mysterious ways, and I believe that with all my heart. While Mom prayed and fasted for Tom to see the light, she didn't know that in the process of "getting through to Tom" God was getting through to me. Mom, for years, prayed and fasted for me to come back to God and to the Church. Well, she received an answer to her prayers in a way she had not expected.
After almost twenty years of living my life apart from God, I was convicted of the soon coming of Jesus Christ, and I sensed the urgency to get my life right with God. I started going to church on Sabbath, paying tithe, and reading my Bible, not just to have information stored in my head even though that is important but to cultivate and nurture a meaningful relationship with the King who bled and died for "Who Am I" on Mt. Calvary. I am not perfect by any means, but I'm confident that He which has begun a good work in me will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ (Phil 1:6).
Well, sad to say, Tom ultimately was baptized into the Jehovah's Witnesses organization. He also transferred out of the clinic where I worked. I didn't know it at the time but my Mom was praying for such an event to happen for she feared that things might "backfire", and Tom would influence me to join the JW organization. However, Tom and I continued to communicate through snail mail. I hope and pray that someday Tom will see the light of the three angels' messages of Revelation 14.
CLICK on the NEXT Button to read the most recent letter to Tom which includes the things that I've researched out from the Bible and other inspirational books plus, of course, help from my dear old Mom who wanted to make sure I stay focused on the main issue and all aspects of it. The letter was edited and adapted for Internet environment. Some scripture references and comments were added to clarify things. This covers the main thrust of what we believe our denomination came into existence for--to preach the three angels' messages of Revelation 14, a life-and-death warning from a loving God to keep people from receiving the mark of the Beast. Tom's letter was written and shared with you in the spirit of love.
CLICK on the NEXT Button to continue.
