I have the "assured expectation of things hoped for" that grissoms an idiot. And that his middle name is Goober.
Dismembered
Dismembered, I was thinking of the EXACT same scripture!! Faith is the ASSURED expectation......
Grissom..
We can back up our faith by facts, can you?? I challenge you to put your faith to the test?? What person could have more backbone then to try that?? You see, we HAVE had backbone to see if not only we hold up, but most importantly wether what we always believed to be the truth would hold up to the facts. If you have "the truth" then a honest examination will be only faith strengthening. I have a few questions for you to consider:
1. That God has an "organization" on earth- one of the kind here at issue- and uses a Governing Body to direct it? Where does the Bible make such statements??
2. That the heavenly hope is not open to anyone and everyone who will wmbrace it, that it has been replaced by an earthly hope (since 1935) and that Christ's words in connection with the emblematic bread and wine, " Do this in rememberance of me," do not apply to all persons putting faith in his ransom sacrafice? What scriptures make such statments??
3. That the "faithful and discreet slave" is a class composed of only certain individuals, and that it operates through a Governing Body? Again, where does the Bible make such statements??
4. That Christians are seperated into two classes, with a different relationship to God and Christ, on the basis of an earthly or a heavenly destiny? Where is this said?
5. That the 144,000 in Revelation MUST be taken as a literal numner and that the "great crowd" does not and CANNOT refer to persons serving in God's heavenly courts? Where do we find those statements in the Bible??
6. That the "last days" began in 1914, and that when the apostle Peter (at Acts 2:17) spoke of the last days as applying from Pentecost on, he did not mean the same "last days" that Paul did at ( 2Timothy 3:1)? Where??
7. That the calendar year of 1914 was the time when Christ was first officially enthroned as King toward all the earth and that that calendar date marks the start of his parousia? Where??
8. That when the Bible at Hebrews 11:16 says that men such as Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were "reaching out for a better place, that is, one belonging to heaven," this could not POSSIBLY mean that they would not have a heavenly life? Where??
Not a single Society teaching here can be supported by any plain direct teaching of Scripture. Every single one would require intricate explanations, complex combinations of texts and, in some cases, what amounts to be mental gymnastics, in atttempt to support them. Yet these are being used to judge people's Christianity. These are being used to decided whether a person who has poured out their lives in service are apostates!! You may find more of these interesting points I have shared with you from our dear and loving brother in his book, Crisis of Conscience by Ray Franz. Now, I invite and even CHALLENGE you to show us your back bone and give us some scriptural support on these issues. As these are the reasons you have come here to cast stones at us.
Sincerely,
Lady Liberty