Personally speaking, the only thing unique I see about JWs preaching, is that JWs are pretty much the only group patting themselves on the back for preaching. I swear this is the only religion with weird self esteem issues.
How to deal with "Whoe other than JW are preching today?"
by Simon Morley 54 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
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isaacaustin
Miseryloveselders, they also pat themselves on the back for shunning friends and family members. Truly a warped self-esteem.
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maninthemiddle
Misery: and it doesn't matter how much time you spend teaching others, if you don't write that down and submit it, you don't get a pat on the back.
-or eternal life, evidently.
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Black Sheep
Don't deal with it by discussing it.
Every time a Dub trots out this hackneyed excuse it is to change the subject.
Ignor it.
They are trying to change the subject because they are in the sh!t, so whatever subject you were discussing is the subject you should still be talking about.
Control, control, control.
Control the subject at all times. Accuse them of trying to avoid confronting the issue. Accuse them of trying to fool you by changing the subject.
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StAnn
Debator, you say you use the whole Bible. What do you think about the book of Maccabees? I didn't even know that I had a truncated Bible when I was a JW.
Also, JWs don't "preach" door to door. They sell magazines and hope the person at the door reads them. Asking people if they want to buy a magazine or a book and then later asking them if they want to "study", i.e., memorize what is in that book, is not preaching.
And you're ignoring the fact that Mormons go door to door preaching and that Catholics (Legion of Mary) go door to door preaching when you say that only JWs do door to door.
Regarding charitable works not being preaching, have you ever been to a food pantry run by a church? It begins with a reading from scripture, an application to our time, and prayer. A little bit of preaching about the hope we have in Our Lord. Then it's followed up with Christian charity when people are given actual food, after they've been given spiritual food. Often times, a religious tract or magazine is inserted in the bag of food for the person to read later, kind of like when you "place" a WT with somebody. Usually, these pantries also have a notepad and pen for people to write down any prayer requests. Lots more Christian than selling magazines.
You really shouldn't go around espousing views that only the JWs do the preaching work when you don't have all of the facts.
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Cold Steel
After a few careful (non-DFing) comments and observations he
asks "well who other than JW's are preaching the good news in fullfillment
of Matt 24:14?"The idea of a church acheiving legitimacy through the process of elimination is a dangerous way of doing it. It's like saying, "I went into my bedroom and told the Lord, "Okay, if you don't say anything now, I'm going to assume you want me to build up your Church!
There's the story of three ministers who talk about how they determine what money goes to the Lord and which goes to them. One preacher says he draws a line and whatever falls on the right is the Lord's and whatever falls on the left is his. The other says he does it similarly, but that he draws a circle on the ground. Whatever lands in the middle is the Lord's and whatever falls outside the circle is his. The third one (and you can make it any denomination you wish to despoil), when asked, simply smiles and says, "I just throw the money up in the air and what the Lord catches he can keep!"
The Mormons have an active missionary program going, plus they have a Quorum of Twelve Apostles and claim divine revelation similar to that of the early church. And while the Seventh Day Adventists don't have a robust missionary program, they do have Ellen White, who claimed divine revelation. And there's the Herbert W. Armstrong people who preach the Gospel via the airwaves. I used to watch Herbert W. Armstrong years ago and his group's still out there swinging. The JWs have serious eschatological and scriptural exegesis problems that, to me, would disqualify them as God's one and only church. Their failure to understand the nature of prophecy in general and Armegeddon in particular is enough drop them out of the picture. I also think their belief that the spirit sleeps is horrendously wrong. We have near death experiences that go through all cultures and times, and it's just impossible to discard them.
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agonus
Q: Who else is preaching the good news?
A: ANYBODY who shares their faith and hope in Christ to anybody else, anywhere, at any time. Period.
I'd say it's a fairly simple answer... wouldn't you?
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agonus
Q: Who else is doing The Preaching Work TM?
A: I would say the dubs are pretty much the only ones doing the Methodically-Canvass-A-Small-Tract-Of-Land-Slowly-With-Canned-Sales-Pitch-Like-Presentations-One-Street-At-A-Time-When-People-Are-Most-Likely-Not-Actually-Home(God, We Hope)-For-A-Half-Hour-Then-Go-Have-Coffee-And-Donuts-For-An-Hour-Or-Two work. Yes, that's hard to argue with.
;P
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WTWizard
Since when is it necessary to preach in order to be righteous? Didn't their own Bible say that different people have different gifts? Some people have a way with animals, being able to communicate with them. Others have a way with numbers, being able to figure out complex math problems that would leave others in the dust. Others have a way with communicating with people, and those are the ones that preaching would be better reserved for. Others have a way with logic, and can untangle the Bible and its message. And others have a way with rigging up the Christmas lights, being able to miraculously untangle them or prevent them from getting tangled in the first place. And so on.
I don't understand why they want everyone to preach, or they will be pronounced wicked. That is about like asking someone that is afraid of animals to communicate with them, and judging them vile because they cannot outclass someone with a gift for handling animals. Or, pronouncing you wicked because you happen to be lousy at untangling the Christmas lights and I happen to be very good at it. If you are good at it, fine. But, even their own Bible informs us that not everyone should be a teacher, since teachers will receive a heavier judgment. If you suck at it, you should not be doing it and risking heavier judgment because you do not have that gift.
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agonus
Right. I can't figure out why you have to preach if you're one of those people who comes off as a complete ass and turn people off at the doors (and that's more than a few dubs, no doubt). Is that really what Faithy McSlaveful wants?