What IS "Pure Worship"?

by Sunspot 13 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  Sunspot

  We often heard this term being constantly shoved down our throats at the meetings at the Kingdom Hall.....but as I become older, (and hopefully wiser) I cannot for the LIFE of me see where learning how to place/sell WTS literature each week, can be classified as pure worship!

  For example: I attended a little church up the road from here last Sunday night. They were having their first-ever "worship night" that a couple of teen-aged girls had the idea to hold and arranged the whole event. It was MY first time in a church since I was in my late teens, other than for a funeral or a wedding.

  This church is poor and struggling....and the people are down-to-earth and unsophisticated in that they are not tied up with the latest fashions and the newest doo-dads and gadgets. They are what could be best described as "country" folk, and I mean this in the most loving way. I don't know how else to state this without sounding condescending, which is the opposite of what I am trying to convey. I felt completely welcome and very much at ease with them.

  Whoever wished to.....read a poem, presented a drawing to be displayed somewhere in the church, played an instrument, or just said something from the heart.....and it was quite touching....and PURE! There WERE no "timed talks" that were rehearsed beforehand, NO cut and dried formats or outlines to follow, and no one worried about "going overtime" to fit in the WTS mold.

  ALL that wished to....had a part. The women didn't have to face away from the audience and the men were so entirely different than any "speaker" at the Kingdom Hall. Old and young alike.

  Only another JW or former JW could appreciate what the WTS deems as "pure worship" and then come to "worship night" in this little tiny church here in upstate NY----and actually experience what pure worship is all about! Heartfelt praises and outpourings of LOVE for God and their fellow man......and somehow I feel that they have left the WTS in the DUST in these humble acts of ....you guessed it-----pure worship.

  One could not HELP but be moved. I tend to think that God Himself was moved that night.

  Annie
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  fullofdoubtnow

  I heard that term, more times than I care to remember, to describe what took place at the kh and assemblies, and believed it most of the time a well. I suppose they considered it "pure" compared to all the other churches, who according to them were in cahoots with satan.

  Nowadays I look back on it as pure purgatory.
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  heathen

  Nowadays I look back on it as pure purgatory.

  LOL yah you don't have to die to be in purgatory as the catholic church would say . At least they don't dance with snakes or do fake healings or are holy rollers tho . I think they may be more sane than those type religionists .The most exciting thing that happens is if somebody farts during the main talk . Had that happen and everybody chuckled .
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  Satanus

  Sounds good. Of course it was likely only for worshippers of jesus and the bible god, which is understandable. Those who feel 'divinity' within themselves, or in nature can fall in and out of worship throughout the day. I guess 'pure worship' is different to different people. It seems to me that rules dilute the purity.

  S
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  Honesty

  What IS "Pure Worship"?

  One thing is for sure. It is not at a Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses.
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  Narkissos

  Purity or spontaneity aside, I guess the only "worship" in the JW routine boils down to mere formalities -- the opening and closing songs and prayers.
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  Satanus

  In a group setting, structured worship becomes necesary. However, imo, pure worship can get down and dirty. It's like sex, communion, only that it is communion w deity. Worship among the pentacostals is more raucous than it was at your church.

  S
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  codeblue

  There is nothing pure about a group of people that conceal a pedophile.............and carry around the divine name as well.........

  shaking my head............

  why did my MOM raise me in this?

  I guess in the late 60's it seemed "pure"..........(she died in the early 70's)
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  Forscher

  The Scriptures define "pure worship" as follows:

  Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

  James 1:27

  It doesn't take long to see where the Witnesses fall short on that one.

  Forscher
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  yaddayadda

  JW's are indoctrinated to believe that only they are practicing 'pure' worship because all the other religions are contaminated with 'pagan' beliefs etc (trinity, immortal soul, etc). So I think they use the phrase mainly in the sense of their perceived doctrinal purity. As any fool knows, however, JW's also teach a number of false teachings, just like all other religions do. Whether a glass of pure water has 50% poison or 1% poison, it is still impure, and could be fatal.