Anyone Here of the Anointed? (page 4)

confusedjw

Little Toe,

So do you think God called you, while a witness, to be born again? Essentially unrelated to being one of the 144,000 as taught in the WT?

(Unfortunatly my experience with the WT has left me without any spiritual emotion at all, but I'm glad some can come out and still feel connected to God in some way.)

jgnat

confusedjw, to relate anointing as a "privelege" to apply only to 144,000, is a JW doctrine. So there are people here, me included, that believe they are anointed by the Holy Spirit.

cyber-sista

I've never met one that was on an ego trip.
The general rule seems to be that it's a most humbling experience, and leaves it's mark.

I have seen different in some cases. At one time we had a handful of annointed ones in one of my previous congo--mostly sisters in their 40s and a couple of brothers who moved in and out. One sister commented to me that she always observed over the years that these younger annointed ones didn't have good marriages and felt that escaping to heaven was one of their only options to get away from their spouses (this was a sister who was always getting herself in trouble for thinking "out of the box"). Others in the congo did seem to cater to these ones and from what I observed they did become rather puffed up with their positions--always had a lot of advice to offer about what movies we should and should not watch, etc. Seems like many took their advice seriously, because after all they were going to be ruling over them in heaven one day. Hard to think that this wouldn't cause some visions of grandeur among these special "chosen" ones

Narkissos

"Anointed atheist" class. Seriously.

I partook in the Memorial a few weeks before being disfellowshipped. Actually it triggered the whole process (and of course I was aware of that when I did it).

Yet it was not sheer provocation. I guess what happened to me might happen to any JW who comes to take Christianity and the N.T. seriously (as several experiences here confirm). At a certain point I just could not escape that.

I gradually drifted out of this and other systems of belief, so I would no longer call myself a Christian (unless such a paradoxical definition as "Christian atheist" becomes accepted), yet I do think I have basically kept the same "faith" within a modified imaginary structure. This boils down to what Sunnygal wrote perhaps.

SWALKER

It really bothers me that Revelation the 7th chapter is taken literally when everything else in Revelation is symbolic! I can no longer agree that only 144,000 literal ones go to heaven. I DO, however, think that it is a symbol denoting that there is a specific group that are called to heaven. I have no desire to go to heaven as I enjoy the earth too much. But I know there are alot of people that have a tremedous desire to be there with their Savior, and they probably will. (I have a brother who is annointed and I can see a big difference in our feelings toward this subject.) To me it is obvious that God wanted the earth to be inhabited as he sure spent an enormous amount of time creating everything on it! (He didn't just wave a magic wand, that's for sure.) I recently heard a minister on TV saying that God created everything in 6 literal 24 hour days...and I think this causes many people to believe that the earth is no big deal. All you have to do is turn your eyes to the heavens and see all the UNINHABITED planets and stars to realize that God did specifically choose this planet to produce life as we know it. Another clue to the amount of work that was involved is that God decided to take a REST and we are still in this period...thousands of years later! Back to the subject...I think it has to do with what your personal desire is, which is motivated by Holy Spirit and Jesus Christ choosing you to that life. I don't feel slighted in the least staying here to hold down the fort. I enjoy animal life immensely, gardening and my fellow human beings. I would like to see an angel with wings, just once...

LittleToe

ConfusedJW / SWALKER:My understanding of Rev.7 is currently that John "hears" the number, but then "sees" the ones who this represents, and they are innumerable.

This would concur with the Abrahamic viewpoint that those blessed would be as the sand of the seashore.

Fixing this as a literal number seems ridiculous, to me, now. It seems more likely that it's a composite number of a perfect 12 and a "huge" 1000, for each represented tribe.

Cyber:
All I can say is that it's not been my experience.
By their fruits you shall know them...

Narkissos:You already know how I feel on that subject. I hope you weren't offended

SunnyGal:
That wouldn't be the orthodox Christian viewpoint.

LT unorthodox Christian

heathen

Whenever I would ask a dub that question the answer was simply that they are people who feel close to God or that they know just as they know they are male and female . I don't think this is entirely the answer . The WTBTS claims it has the ability to discern what the bible message is conveying and takes responsiblity of explaining what Gods will is to others . They also suggest other things such as the part about meeting the lord in the air something like what moses experienced or like what is mentioned in the new testament and is commonly known as the rapture . I've heard some elude to the gifts of the spirit such as speaking in toungues . The WTBTS also makes very strong claims that they follow the lamb wherever he goes even on earth and thus portraying themselves as the chosen seed that only does what the lamb instructs .

ApagaLaLuz

YES.... I am.....

And how do I know this? I just do okay :)

rocketman

It would be nice to read the Greek Scriptures and feel that they were written directly to us, rather than to the "anointed" only, according to jw teaching.

What I mean is that when I read that portion of the Bible, I never have been able to apply it directly, even though I'd like to. It's as if there's a wall in my mind that says 'not for me except in principle only'. The words lose their fullest meaning in that case.

I was at a funeral some time back (Lutheran) and when the Pastor read the verses, it just seemed to read differently to me, because I wasn't at a Kingdom Hall and processing the verses in the usual manner. That's when it occured to me, just briefly, how it might feel to read those verses as if they actually applied fully to me.

The NT just loses something when you are expected to keep passing it off as being written to someone else.

Anyone Here of the Anointed?

boa