AskDuane! Welcome. I'm so glad you are here after only two years in. This means you won't have to waste the majority of your life bowing to the GB if you choose not to. The fact that you are able to think for yourself and post on this site is HUGE! Stick around. The more you try to reason here, the more you will understand how flawed that reasoning is, and you will be able to peel away the layers of indoctrination and figure out what you really think! It's an excellent first step in your journey. So glad you take the GB's warning about 'apostate' sites with a grain of salt. That will really work out for you in the end. NC
Sparlock Drives My Wife to the Brink of Apostasy
by breakfast of champions 83 Replies latest jw friends
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sir82
Askduane:
Welcome!
You will be able to argue your side of the debate with all the "apostates" here, and in most cases your argument will be (to you anyway) airtight and irrefutable.
But....
If you stick around long enough...
Eventually....
There will be one point that you just can't...quite...refute. One little annoying thing, that will gnaw at you at you, and gnaw, and gnaw.....
That will be the thread that unravels the sweater of "the truth"!
So stick around! Please!
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breakfast of champions
CANTLEAVE - we're getting there. . . Slow and steady. . .
NUGGET - you're right, any more pressure is going to be nonproductive. Ill just let her "meditate" on it for awhile.
BLACK SHEEP - I think a set of His and Her Sparlock mugs would be nice. Is there a "Sparlockette"?
ASKDUANE - welcome, and thank you for making this my fastest-growing thread ever!
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Mr Facts
I understand the angle ASKDUANE is coming from and I totally agree with her, the issue of sparlock is about making the right choice, demonstrating our love for Jehovah, listening to him and sticking to him at all times even in matters as insignificant as the sparlock-meme.
When Moses exhorted Israel to choose life, he pointed out three steps that they should take: “By loving Jehovah your God, by listening to his voice and by sticking to him.” Let us examine each of these so that we may make the right choice.
By loving Jehovah our God: We choose to serve Jehovah because we love him. Heeding the warning examples from Israel’s day, we resist all temptations to commit immorality and we shun lifestyles that may cause us to sink into the world’s morass of materialism. We cleave to Jehovah and keep his regulations. Before the Israelites entered the Promised Land, Moses exhorted them: “See, I have taught you regulations and judicial decisions, just as Jehovah my God has commanded me, for you to do that way in the midst of the land to which you are going to take possession of it. And you must keep and do them, because this is wisdom on your part and understanding on your part before the eyes of the peoples who will hear of all these regulations.” Now is the time to demonstrate our love for Jehovah by putting Jehovah’s will first in our life. We will surely be blessed if we choose to do so.
By listening to God’s voice: Noah was “a preacher of righteousness.” Virtually all the people of the pre-Flood world were distracted and “took no note” of Noah’s warnings. The consequence? “The flood came and swept them all away.” Jesus warned that our day, during “the presence of the Son of man,” would be similar. What happened in Noah’s day serves as a stark warning for people today who choose not to heed God’s message.
Those who ridicule the divine warnings sounded by God’s modern-day servants should realize what failure to heed the warnings will mean. Of such ridiculers, the apostle Peter stated: “According to their wish, this fact escapes their notice, that there were heavens from of old and an earth standing compactly out of water and in the midst of water by the word of God; and by those means the world of that time suffered destruction when it was deluged with water. But by the same word the heavens and the earth that are now are stored up for fire and are being reserved to the day of judgment and of destruction of the ungodly men.”
Contrast this with the choice Noah and his household made. “By faith Noah, after being given divine warning of things not yet beheld, showed godly fear and constructed an ark.” His heeding the warning brought salvation to his household. May we prove to be swift about hearing God’s message and then obediently heed it.
By sticking to Jehovah: To ‘choose life and keep alive,’ not only must we love Jehovah and listen to him but we must also ‘stick to Jehovah,’ that is, persist in doing his will. “By endurance on your part you will acquire your souls,” said Jesus. Actually, the choice we make in this regard reveals what is in our heart. “Happy is the man that is feeling dread constantly, but he that is hardening his heart will fall into calamity,” observes . Pharaoh of ancient Egypt was an example of this. As each of the Ten Plagues befell Egypt, Pharaoh hardened his heart rather than displayed godly fear. Jehovah did not force Pharaoh into a course of disobedience but allowed that proud ruler to choose. In any case, Jehovah’s will was accomplished, as the apostle Paul explained regarding Jehovah’s view of Pharaoh: “For this very cause I have let you remain, that in connection with you I may show my power, and that my name may be declared in all the earth.”—
Centuries after Israel’s deliverance from Pharaoh’s control, the prophet Isaiah declared: “O Jehovah, you are our Father. We are the clay, and you are our Potter; and all of us are the work of your hand.” As we allow Jehovah to mold us through our personal study and application of his Word, we gradually put on the new personality. We become more meek and malleable, making it easier for us to stick loyally to Jehovah because we sincerely want to please him regardless oif the situation.
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TD
Mr. Facts,
How do you connect that rambling sermon to the fictional child's toy?
Fiction does not have to have fixed anchor points in reality. Even Jesus of the Bible used the concept of a burning hell as a literary device to make a point. In the JW worldview, does that mean that he believed in a literal place of torment after death or are you willing to grant him a little leeway here?
Similarly, when writers and story tellers who are not JW's depict magic, they are almost never connecting it to 'Satan' and the 'Demons.' It is only the less intelligent among JW's who make that connection by taking the writer's thoughts and shoe-horning them into the JW worldview.
I'm willing to bet that most JW's are smarter than that. I've never met a JW yet who was not a SciFi fan at heart. All of them have been intelligent enough to separate the fictional future depicted by a human writer in a SciFi story with what JW's believe the real future to be. It doesn't mean they can't enjoy the story anyway. That's the essence and fun of make-believe
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flipper
BREAKFAST of CHAMPIONS - I'm really happy for you my friend that this DVD may have spurred your wife to think for herself. Just stay patient. This may just be the start of something much, much better for her and you - and your future together in thinking with free minds. Hang in there ! Peace out, Mr. Flipper
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Black Sheep
For HERS, maybe go with Tinkerbell. What could a JW say to that?
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kurtbethel
B of C: It's good!
AskDuane: I have a few questions about some of the things you shared here.
Yes, the Truth of the matter is this, yes you just might have to get rid of all your video's and tv shows for kids. They are all demon influenced. Sad but true.
That sounds like a serious problem. Could you give me the names of some individuals who have had this problem, and the details of the problems it caused tham?
Remember this one thing, it was wizards of magic that were led by Satan to find the baby Jesus and reveal his wearabouts and as a result all the babies in the land 2yrs old and younger were killed. Magi = wizards = magic = demons.
I am not familiar with this story as it is not in my Bible. Bible Jesus had a visit from some wise men from the east who saw his sign and came to give him gifts and worship. When they found out that Herod wanted to harm Jesus, they too a different route back home so Herod could not find Jesus, they protected him. So the story you are telling about must be about Watchtower Jesus. Could you help me out and tell me where in the publications I can find out about there Jesus and this story?
I see Satan and the demons doing the Real Indoctrination, it's everywhere. Everything about demons, spirits, everything God hates that's listed in the Bible is thrown in your face daily, especially on tv and videos. Why not complain about Satan's World of Indoctrination?
Satan's indoctrination is definitely a bad thing. The Watchtower has said in its publications that it channels invisible spirit beings (Preparation p64) and talks to the dead. (Finished Mystery p144, Watchtower November 1, 1917, Revelation Climax p125) Is this something that a Christian should approve of?
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wha happened?
what the heck was that all about Mr Facts?
Back on topic
That exchange with your wife was kissing cousins to a DA letter. She didn't just dismiss it, it unnerved her. Patience, and honestly, I envy u
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breakfast of champions
MINDSEYE - your comment reminded me of something my wife asked and I forgot to post:
She said "Is it just us? Are we the only ones who see how ridiculous this is?"
I said, "No, I don't think we're alone, but I doubt many will really want to talk about it."
"What do you think ------ and -------- will think when they see it? I think they'll flip. . ." my wife continued to speculate which friends will see this as a load of BS.
I said "We'll have to see the end of the summer when everybody's been to the convention." (we didn't attend our assigned DC)
BROKEN PROMISES & I QUIT - yes, I have to learn not to push too far/hard. This was just such a great experience/opportunity. We did get it as a DVD at the district convention, where they announced future vids will be directly downloadable of jw.org