Pilgrimage Through the Watchtower |
Epilogue |
Epilogue: Twelve Years LaterIt's been twelve years now since I wrote Pilgrimage Through the Watchtower. A lot of people have written and e-mailed me with their comments and questions. Sometimes I'm asked how I'm doing now. Do I still believe the same things that I did when I wrote the book? What have I been up to? What's been happening in my life? I'm happy to report that yes, I still believe the same things now that I did when I wrote the book. The only thing that seems to change over time is my depth of understanding of and appreciation for the truths that God opened my eyes to back in 1984. Since then, I've done a fair amount of study in theology, eschatology and church history, and thankfully, this has continued to deepen my appreciation for the fundamental truths of Biblical Christianity. I've also read through the Bible a few more times. And, God continues to work in my life as I walk with Him day by day. As for my personal life, after writing Pilgrimage Through the Watchtower, I continued working for James L. Taylor Manufacturing Company until April of 1999. I worked for the company, serving in engineering and as western regional sales manager, for a total of 15 years, minus a 2-year stint as owner of Essential Software, a Macintosh software start-up, in 1992 and 1993. I lived and worked in upstate New York until 1993, then moved to Woodland Park, Colorado where I lived for five years, then moved to Lake County, northern California, where I've been living now for a little under four years, since 1998. I was "let go" from Taylor in 1999, and was then privileged to experience some of the joys of "real life": unemployment, financial difficulties, and even clinical depression for a short while. Needless to say, the past three years have been challenging. We're not completely out of the woods yet, but God is in control, and things have been taking a turn for the better recently, especially in the past couple of months. Six years ago, while living in the mountains of Colorado, I met, fell in love with, and married my wife Kathleen. Thankfully, Kathleen has never been involved with Jehovah's Witnesses. She has a very sweet, kind, bubbly disposition that has helped a lot toward keeping me on the level during our rough times. I worked with Kathleen in her housekeeping business for two out of the last three years; I also worked as a laundromat manager for awhile. Then, a year or so ago, I finally decided to "bite the bullet" and go head-to-head with my former employer, deciding to start up my own machinery importing business, Quick Machinery Company. This was a difficult decision for me to make, as my brother Brad still works at Taylor, and my dad, although retired, is still involved with the company, too. With three years of low income and a few too many new-buisiness expenses, a couple of months ago Kathleen and I made the decision to sell our home, pay off our debts, and start over financially. At this moment in time, our house is in escrow, and we've just begun caretaking a property on Clear Lake. We'll be living humbly for awhile. Kathleen and I are members of Grace Evangelical Free Church in Kelseyville, California. Kathleen is involved in AWANA, and I'm involved with the music ministry at church. I'm the piano player for our Sunday evening service "band," and I also play for some of the offertories on Sunday mornings and at special events. Even though my brother Brad and I are competitors now in the business world, I am happy that we're still communicating privately. Sad to say, my other brother, Steve, is still an active Witness. I invite Christians reading this to continue praying for Steve. This "K&K Ministries" web site has seen a lot of activity since its launch in 1998, and I spend a fair amount of time responding to e-mails from people who have visited the site. I've done some speaking in churches about Jehovah's Witnesses, but most of my ministry lately has been on-line. God has blessed the ministry (spiritually, that is--it's not a source of financial income for me). I'm grateful that the study that God brought me through seventeen years ago is still being helpful to a lot of different people, in a lot of different circumstances. So, that's what's been going on with me lately. How about you? I'd be very happy to hear from you. Please feel free to write any time. Again, please feel free to e-mail me at kevin@kevinquick.com Kevin Quick, January 2002 Later note: Another adventure is in the works: On November 27, 2002, my wife Kathleen gave birth to our first child, a boy, Aaron Nelson Quick. This has been a bit of an adventure already, as Aaron was born four months early, at only 24 weeks gestational age. He weighed 1 pound, 8.5 ounces when he was born, and statistically had less than a 50% chance of survival. However, he's doing "miraculously well," as his neonatologist has said, and he should be ready to come home on or around his due date of March 17, 2003, which is in about two weeks from the time that I'm writing this. (He's been in intensive care at a hospital in San Francisco, a three-hour drive away, since he was born.) We've been incredibly blessed by prayer support, personal visits, food, and gifts for baby since this little adventure began, from our brothers and sisters at Grace Evangelical Free Church in Kelseyville, CA, and others. I've written almost daily e-mail reports (today's report will be update #88) for family and friends, and have taken hundreds of pictures. Perhaps, in time, and God willing, I'll put together some web pages for Aaron's story, as an encouragement to others who may find themselves in similar circumstances. Kevin Quick, March 2003 One month later... Aaron has been home now for two weeks, and is doing great! He's on a little supplemental oxygen; he'll probably be on the oxygen for a couple of months, until his lungs grow a little more (he was on a ventilator for the first six weeks of his life; the ventilator always causes some damage, but at least it kept him alive!). Other than that, he's just a perfect little guy, and a real sweetie. God is good! Jesus is Lord!
Another month later... Aaron's Story is on the web! Enjoy! Five years later... It's now October 2008, and I thought it might be about time for another update... Aaron is doing fine! He's five years old now, and just started kindergarten last month. He's a completely healthy, normal little boy, although he is still tiny, weighing only 25 pounds (yes, at five years old!). We trust that he will grow in due time, possibly during adolescence, when I did most of my growing. He's a delightful boy, a ray of sunshine, full of energy, who loves technical things, like his dad does. Our family has also been joined by Robin, who's now 4 years old, and Justin, who'll be one year old at the end of this month. Needless to say, there's not a dull moment in our household! We're still active members of Grace Evangelical Free Church in Kelseyville, CA. I've been continuing my theological studies, with an emphasis lately on the Kingdom of God. I've just finished reading Norman Geisler's Systematic Theology in four volumes, and Alva McClain's The Greatness of the Kingdom. George Peters' The Theocratic Kingdom is next. I heartily recommend any and all of these works to anyone reading this. Ministry-wise, I've been spending a fair amount of time on-line, witnessing to JW's and others in various forums and blogs. And, I continue to respond to and dialog with those who write to me after visiting this web site. Quick Machinery has been doing well. We were again able to buy a home two years ago. However, as I write this, the U.S. economy is in the tank (the House just passed the $700 billion financial bailout bill this afternoon), so who really knows how any of us will be doing financially in the near future... But as always, more than anything, I look forward with great anticipation to Jesus' return, and His coming Kingdom. See you there? Amen, come, Lord Jesus! Four years later... April 2012... time for another update... Sadly, my JW brother Steve passed away a year ago, in January 2011. His autopsy showed that he died of hepatic cirrhosis of the liver; complications from alcoholism (so much for the Watchtower's "spiritual paradise"). As far as I know (he'd shunned me for the last 26 years), he was still a staunch JW when he died. As a pastor friend has counseled me, "Steve is now in the hands of our just and loving God." Today I just placed on line my life's work and magnum opus, The Glory of the Kingdom. It's an 1800-page exposition of the biblical Kingdom of God program. Thirty years in the making, it contains virtually everything that I've ever wanted to say to lost mankind, to Christians and to Jehovah's Witnesses. I hope you'll find it interesting, challenging and edifying. |
