If you STILL believe in GOD, what do you believe is the RIGHT way?

by Bourne 31 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  Trygon

  1. Is this the last days?

  Don't know, don't care. No where in the Bible does it say we should be plotting to find out.

  2. If so, was a preaching work to be done? If so, in what format?

  People should go to Christianity because they know it is what they want to do, not because they were told to.

  3. If you conclude that "organized" religion is not needed or sanctioned by god, what do you believe was to be the desired method of worship?

  It doesn't really matter. Everyone has their own method, but as long as its towards God it shouldn't matter at all.

  4. Given the fact of the Tetregrammaton's obvious existence, do you believe that the usage (regardless of the uncertainty of pronounciation) of god's personal name is desired of god? And, please, try to rule out a "no" JUST because of the fact that the JW religion generally started the revival of this usage.

  You can call God by whatever name you want, there is nothing against it in the Bible.

  5. Did god and jesus basically expect us to congregate in "loosely" knit congregations ( as described in the book of Rev.) for support and fellowship only, as we await the end?

  No. I believe that God and Jesus did not want us to wait for the end. The end has no given date or anything so what is there to wait for?

  6. If this is the case, then.....generally speaking, does this not mean that "all (christian) roads lead to the same place"......that old saying, which the JW's like to poo-poo, so as to endorse the concept of one true religion?

  I really do not know.
• 

  justhuman

  nice question...
• 

  Bourne

  Thank you all for your thoughts. However, allow me to clarify a few points.....

  First of all, yes, V , in all honesty, I guess you could say that I'm still thinking "inside" the box, as it were. Thus, the confinement of my question to a specific segment of this forum. That said, I still welcome any and all opinions from athiests, agnostics, etc.

  As you can tell, my basic struggle seems to be with the fact that I still find the "solo worship" thing to be a very foreign concept. This, I think, is quite understandable, as any of us who were raised from infancy into this particular faith can attest to. It's just deeply ingrained into me to reach out and desire a concrete, physical method of worship in addition to prayer and meditation on the Bible.

  Secondly, I should say that I also realize that JW's were not the first to revive the use of a personal name of god, just in the "modern" sense. Yet, I am also aware of the argument that there are NO occurences of this name in any manuscripts of the greek scriptures. That is something I'm still mulling over. But, this, I suppose, is a fairly minor problem.

  Thirdly, to others suggesting that I "deconstruct" my beliefs and start from scratch......I have and am still in the process of doing that, both from scratch and from the angle of keeping the christian faith and proceeding from that point onwards.
• 

  R.Crusoe

  As always - it is your own way! Yesterday is not who you are today and so it will be in the future. All you can do is what you feel and think is best for everyone and if you do not know then do nothing. Nothing sometimes lets the garden grow!
• 

  t33ap80c

  I kinda like the way Russell expressed it in 1895 when he said...
  "Believe and obey so far as you understand God’s Word today."

  Don Cameron
• 

  5go

  But, I obviously don't want to "follow" yet another man's interpretation of god's word. Thus the humble request for your sincere opinions.

  Don't follow another holy book come up with your own ideas about God. Become an Atheist which really isn't about disbelief in God or Gods as much as it is about disbelief in current theologies.
• 

  R.Crusoe

  Way2go 5togo! I am an agnostic humanitarian atheist. I believe in a God who knows people must be unable to know if there is a God or not and some will not believe in him even though they suspect he may exist, and that this is how it is intended - for mankind to work out loving, sharing solutions for its own species. That is as much as I've worked out as a certainty for myself. That way whether God exists or not is an irrelevance because people will do their best for each other in any case. What more could anyone want of a human?
• 

  AGuest

  You have a "leader," Christ. You need no other and, indeed, no other was given you. HE... is the Word of God; not the Bible. The Bible is, in actuality, an unauthorized biography of the Most Holy One of Israel, JAH, and His Son and Christ, JAHESHUA MISCHAJAH. It contains some truthful writings (i.e., "scripture" - Moses, Psalms and the Prophets)... and some not-so-truthful writings (Jeremiah 8:8).

  That is why Christ CAME... to "bear witness... to the TRUTH." He came... to show us what God is REALLY like... versus what the "scribes and Pharisees" had depicted Him to be.

  If you want to know God... and be known by God... you must know Christ. For HE is the image of the living God, the exact representation of God's very being. See him... and you "see" God. For he RELFECTS... the glory of God.

  God USED to speak to those belonging to Him by means of the Prophets. NOW... He speaks to us... through His Son.

  "This is my Son, the beloved... listen... to HIM."

  "MY sheep... KNOW my voice."

  God is not dead, dear Bourne, neither is Christ. Both are ALIVE... but spirits. We cannot communicate with spirits by means of our mere flesh. We MUST use SPIRIT... and TRUTH... to communicate with God. That spirit... and truth... is the Holy One of Israel, the Son of God, JAHESHUA MISCHAJAH. It is through HIM that ANY who wish to "come to" the Father... must go. There is not other Way... no other Gate... no other Door.

  I bid you peace.

  Your servant and a slave of Christ,

  SA
• 

  darkuncle29

  Isn't there a scripture about going into your inner room and locking the door and praying to god in privacy, as opposed to praying on a streeet corner like a pharisee wanting to be seen by others? I'm not saying you are a "pharisee", I'm just saying the idea of being a solitary worshiper could do you some good.

  V said it already about you maybe still thinking in the box as it were. I agree with that, and I know its scary and you have no guide or roadmap, but pushing that boundary also may be a good thing for you.

  I think we all have our own path to "God", and organized religion tends to interfere with that path.

  I have to read back, but one of the atheists said something very Taoist, without giving it a label, it just was what it was naturally.
• 

  nvrgnbk

  Thirdly, to others suggesting that I "deconstruct" my beliefs and start from scratch......I have and am still in the process of doing that, bothfrom scratchand from the angle of keeping the christian faith and proceeding from that point onwards.

  How do you do both?

  If you want to make a cake from scratch you can't use the stuff that comes in the box.

  If you do, it's not really from scratch.

  Try to let go of the dogma.