May you have peace! At the outset, I ask that you please not take offense at my italics and capitals - they are simply my style of writing and for emphasis only; I am not shouting. Okay, then:
I liked your presentation but I'm afraid it does sound a bit like someone just re explaining what the WTS has said.
I truly hope not. I tried to be VERY clear. If I was not, I sincerely apologize; hopefully, I can further clarify here.
How come it's so unclear what the bible is supposed to teach?
Because, “the Bible” is not “supposed” to teach you anything; really, it only contains certain writings (scripture) that bear witness to the One who is SUPPOSED to teach you. It even tells us that. True, it IS a “pedagogue” with regard to the Law Covenant, but the NEW Covenant is taught by the Holy Spirit and none other. That Spirit is the glorified Christ, God’s Word and Truth… who is a SPIRIT:
“However, when that one arrives, the Spirit of the Truth, HE will guide you… into ALL truth…”
“You do not need ANYONE to be teaching you, but the ANOINTING (which is done by holy spirit) from HIM is teaching you about ALL things…:"
It should be easy to understand for humble people like those Jesus taught and accepted him?
Why should the Bible be easy to understand? The compilers of it did not intend for it to be; in fact, they intended just the opposite.
And humility, while an honorable and desirable quality… is not an initially NECESSARY quality. FAITH… is the required quality. When my Lord healed, fed, resurrected, forgave, etc., he did not say to those involved, “Your HUMILITY has made you well”… or “Your HUMILITY is great”… or “Truly, no greater HUMILITY has been found in all Israel.” No, he said, “Your FAITH has made you well”… or “Your FAITH is great”… or “Truly, no greater FAITH has been found in all Israel.” He did not ask, “When the Son of Man arrives, will he truly find HUMILITY in the earth.” Noah, Abraham, Moses, David… none of these were chosen because of their humility. All were chosen… because of their FAITH. The entire 11th Chapter of Hebrews explains that.
And faith… does not mean “regularly attending” meetings/church. That’s… “religious.” It does not mean “believing.” The demons believe… and shudder. It MEANS, first… the ASSURED expectation… of the thing HOPED for. I.e., you KNOW you are going to receive the thing you hoped… and ask… for… which, in this case, is holy spirit. It ALSO means that, for example, if God tells you… through Christ… that it IS going to flood, so build an ark… you do not question the reality of rain or concern yourself with what those who did NOT hear think and believe. Rather, because YOU put faith in what you heard, YOU… EXERCISE that faith… and put it into ACTION. You build the ark because YOU heard Him tell you to do it, and you have FAITH that what He told you WILL occur. Even if it never has before. It is the LACK of faith… that stands between earthling man… and God.
And after such “assured expectation,” faith goes on to mean “the EVIDENT demonstration… OF REALITY… though NOT beheld.” What does this mean? It means that SOMETHING has made the thing hoped for MANIFEST… evidently demonstrated… demonstrated evidence… of what is truly REAL…. even if it is not SEEN (beheld) with eyes of flesh (with its blood).
Most don’t understand this, however, because those who “seat themselves in the seat of Moses,” and presume to teach you… do not possess it themselves! It’s like a man trying to describe what it is like to be a woman… and vice versa. Although you have SOME understanding… you have no true KNOWLEDGE. Thus, they are “blind guides” and mislead others as to what faith is… because THEY don’t know what faith is. They are simply guessing… which is why you, too, are left to guess.
It seems reasonable that proud at heart would be blinded to the "truth" for Gods spirit would not accept these
That’s not entirely true: a proud heart can be humbled; usually, however, such humility results AFTER the “the evident demonstration of [the] reality” has been manifest. I give you two examples: Saul of Tarsus… and Thomas. Both needed some kind of physical manifestation in order to humble themselves: Saul, a voice from heaven; Thomas, the holes in my Lord’s flesh. Thomas even stated that he would NOT believe… unless he saw. But it is my Lord’s words to Thomas that WE are supposed to keep in mind:
“Because you have SEEN me have you believed? HAPPY… are those who do NOT… SEE me… and yet… BELIEVE.”
If you notice, however, he did NOT say… “Happy are those who do not HEAR me… and yet believe.” This is because although we cannot initially SEE him… we can always HEAR him. For faith… “follows the thing HEARD. In turn, the thing HEARD… is the Word of God.” Or, as the KJV puts it (because the NWT is SO way off on this particular verse):
“So then faith [cometh] by hearing, and hearing… by the Word of God.”
but we have a dilemna of a world with millions,possibly billions ,who seem humble but are not apparently accepted by the Lord…
It is not that such ones are not accepted by my Lord. Rather, it is that my Lord is not “accepted” by such ones. They would rather put their faith in something they can see: a pope, a governing body, a pastor… “hired men” all. Who "abandon" God's sheep... to "wolves." I had a witness “sister” even say to me once, in utter frustration when I tried to explain to her how faith works: “But people can’t worship what they can’t see!” She obviously didn’t get the exhortations that we are to “walk by faith and NOT by sight”… and that “the righteous live… by means of faith.” Of course, her position was that she “had faith” because she regularly attended meetings and did what “the Bible” said, which, again, is not faith.
and only those that pretend to be humble and are fairly intelligent IQ wise that seem to pick up the power trip that is being a religious leader and then command obedience to themselves in the name of the Lord
I agree with “pretend to be humble;” however, that they are “fairly intelligent IQ-wise,” is irrelevant: God chooses the FOOLISH things of the world… which can be from among the highly intelligent (if we’re going by IQ numbers), to those severely lacking in intelligence (again, based on the “numbers”) to give His spirit to. Indeed, there are both highly “intelligent” people and those not so much… who have great faith… as well as those who are highly “intelligent” and those not so much… who greatly lack faith.
- should'nt the call be distinct?
The call IS distinct. Very. And sooner or later, we ALL hear it. ALL of us. Everyone one of us. The problem is that we don’t all RESPOND when we hear it. For some, it’s because there are those who have told us (1) God doesn’t speak; (2) if you DO hear a voice, it’s demons; (3) if God called someone it certainly wouldn’t be YOU; (3) God only calls those “worthy”; (4) God only calls those who understand “the Bible”; (5) God only calls from among one religion… and so on. These are all lies; yet, because of our LACK OF FAITH… we believe those who tell us such things… rather than God. Other don't respond because they simply don’t believe God exists and therefore, any such "voice" can't be from Him. In both cases, when the call is heard… it is dismissed.
I took a chance, once… and responded. The rest is, as they say, history. From that time on, I have responded EVERY time… because I now know who it is that is speaking.
I also question your statement that Ministerial servants are men and women
Well, let’s see: Supposedly, it was Paul who first brought up the issue of “ministerial servants,” in a letter to Timothy, yes? There, he gave some suggestions as to how ministerial servants should be (and I say, suggestions, because Paul… is not master over our faith), which suggestions make total sense. BUT… there is another who he actually REFERRED to as a “minister” (in English, Latin and Hebrew), and “servant” (in Greek) when writing to the MEN of the Roman congregation. To these, Paul wrote:
“I RECOMMEND to you… PHOEBE… our SISTER… who is aMINISTER to the congregation that is in Cenchreae, that you may welcome HER in the Lord… in a way worthy of the holy ones, and that YOU… may assist HER… in ANY matter where SHE may need YOU…”
The PROBLEM… is that MOST religion is governed by MEN… and particularly men who don’t have a CLUE as to what a “minister”… or “ministerial servant” is. This is because they have no clue as to why such even existed:
After the initial outpouring of holy spirit (at Pentecost 30CE – not 33CE, a date contrived by the WTBTS to make their "numbers" work!), those with money and possessions came and, in answer to the LOVE of that spirit, gave what they had to share with those who had less or nothing, particularly widows and orphans. Initially, things seemed to be going well, but after a time, the Greek-speaking widows began to complain that they were being “overlooked” in the distribution for the sake of the Hebrew-speaking widows. To ENSURE that the contributions were distributed FAIRLY… 7 men were appointed, by holy spirit, to be OVERSEERS… “of the distribution.” To AID these, other men… and WOMEN… were appointed as “servants” to “minister” to the widows and orphans in need, to see they their portions were delivered to them (as some were infirm and/or bed-ridden) as well as to see to any other needs these might have. And, of course, some HAD to be women… for to have a MAN visit an inform widow… was unacceptable.
So, there were WOMEN also appointed… to “minister to the holy ones”… which is what a “minister[ial servant]” does. They were the ones who saw to the needs of the widows… and, if necessary, female orphans. Phoebe was one of these, and because of this, Paul told the MEN… to help HER however SHE needed it. Which meant that SHE… gave instructions and directions… to THEM.
and that you come on here proclaiming clarity of the bible message given to you ,
Well, proclaiming what I have been given by my Lord, yes. The "bible message"... I'm not so sure.
Is this then a hidden agenda on your part on taking to yourself headship that the bible
Ummmmm…. I have no hidden agenda; what I share is not mine - I am just an instrument; I don't know ANY of this stuff on my own. As for headship... I have no headship… with regard to the Bible or otherwise. Christ is my head and I am merely a member of his Body, and thus, a servant; to him as well as to his Household. And nothing more. Truly, I am a least one in the kingdom. Truly. My seat is SO far down at the end of table... well, let's just say "least one" is very accurate.
and the lord may not wish you to have.
Well, no, my Lord does not wish me to have headship... nor do I think he given me such, under any circumstances. He, did, however, give me faith so that, along with the little I had, I now have a portion about the size of a mustardseed. He also gave me his holy spirit… along with the fruits of that spirit and a couple/few of the GIFTS of that spirit, the most prominent being the ability to “discern spirits.” That I am a woman was, apparently, neither here nor there to him. That I had the faith to hear him… and then obey his direction (which has been to share what he tells me with those who are wishing and thirsting... some of whom are here), seemed to be all that was required.
My gender, however, was totally irrelevant, something the religious leaders should have taken from their perusal of the Bible. For NEVER did God... or Christ... make a distinction of men over women. In fact, Christ kinda set his disciples straight on that matter when he spoke publicly to the Samaritan woman (which the disciples apparently had a problem with) AND... when he appeared FIRST to the women... who stood STEADFAST in their faith... but then to the men... who doubted even them. Had a one of them had a much faith as the women, he would have appeared to them... first.
I respectively await your reply
I believe your sincerity and therefore, have made this response with the same respect...
as just another bewildered ex whose perhaps a little tired of the uncertainness of the promises of religion.
As well you should be: VERY tired. Exhausted, in fact. By the great “loads” and “burdens” they place on men, while they themselves are unable to carry them! Religion is nothing more than a false “light,” disguised to great degrees to look like the True Light, but actually falling way short. Religion… IS a snare… set up by our Adversary, the Devil, to draw those who are the “children of light” away from the True Light, Christ. Oh, I know… they SAY they follow Christ and can/will lead you to Christ. The TRUTH, however, is that they lead you… to themselves. Which is away from Christ.
You have one Leader, dear Woza… and one Teacher. One Fine Shepherd. Christ. The Holy Spirit of God who speaks to us from the heavens… JAHESHUA MISCHAJAH… the Holy One of Israel… who is the GLORIFIED Son and Christ of the MOST Holy One of Israel… JAH… of Armies.
Again, I bid you peace… and ears to hear… if you so wish it.
Your servant and a slave of Christ,
SA
