My cousin Jamie/2000-Present

(left to right my first cousin Jaime, my brother Jimmy, my cousins, David and Jaime's older brother Joe.)

My first cousins are Jehovah’s Witnesses, the Sosa’s, momma’s older sister’s children, Tia Dalia she passed away in 2006. For years they tried to convert me, first Sandy then Jaime. Jaime is the cousin I am closest to. Jaime, is Moe’s age, they used to be close, when they both were drinking in their early 20’s, then Moe got married, got saved, was delivered from alcohol. Jaime also stopped drinking. He has been working in the IRS for 18 years now. We were close since neither one of us ever married.

In the last couple of years, he would take me out to lunch on Saturday’s usually. He would buy me lunch then buy Emma some lunch afterwards, usually McDonald’s. Jaime was always kind to me. Before I had my van, he used to take me to the store whenever he came over.

Jaime is a hardcore Jehovah’s Witness. The Jehovah’s Witnesses have their own bible translation, the New World Translation, where they have changed Scriptures to align with their religion. They will tell you it is the real translation, but it isn’t, they changed it to suit their false doctrine.

For years we both preached to each other. I’ve tried to talk to Jaime about my faith in Jesus Christ, about the Gospel, about the Cross. But Jehovah’s Witnesses go on about the same thing the 144,000 who will go to heaven, the rest of them will stay on paradise earth. Only certain people are allowed to participate in the Communion of the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ. Jaime and I don’t believe the same thing. He doesn’t believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, is God, one in three persons, the holy Trinity. He believes, as they all do, Jesus is different from God, not God

Over the years, I have had Jehovah’s Witnesses come to my door to preach to me. But the Holy Spirit kept me from becoming one of them. The discernment of the Holy Spirit is the one who kept me from becoming converted. Or else I probably would have. Anyone can fall into false doctrine it is only He, the Holy Spirit who keeps a person from believing every lying spirit.

I sense Jaime is unhappy with his religion. I sense his emptiness, since I experienced that same black hole. Without Jesus we are empty, all of us. Religion leaves a person empty. We were not created for religion, but for a deep and abiding personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

“Abide in Me and I in you, as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.”

(John 15:4)

What makes the difference is abiding in Jesus Christ. Jaime doesn’t preach the Cross of Jesus Christ. He talks about Scriptures, but never about the Cross, never about the Blood of Jesus, never about the Holy Spirit. Jehovah’s Witnesses believe that the Holy Spirit is the active force of God, and not a Person in the Godhead.

I know this may sound strange, but I saw the Holy Spirit, in a dream, the curtain of the sky was pulled back, and I saw three standing looking down at me, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

There can be no Salvation apart from Jesus Christ, and Jesus Christ is the Son of God who was crucified and died for the sins of mankind on the Cross. God wants us to worship His Son, the Lamb of God Jesus. The devil doesn’t want us to worship Jesus. Any religion that doesn’t worship Jesus is not genuine. Jesus said,

“I AM the way, the truth and the life no one comes to the Father except through Me.” (John 14:6)

The Jehovah’s Witnesses want to get to God, without Jesus, without acknowledging that He is the Son of God, without acknowledging the need for His sacrifice, and that His Sacrifice was acceptable to God because He is the Son, and He is God.

Jehovah’s Witnesses, my cousin Jaime cannot wrap his head around that, we are not meant to wrap our finite heads around that.

I believe The Word,

“Hear O’ Israel, The Lord our God, the Lord is One.” (Deuteronomy 6:4)