39one of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: "aren't you the christ?
save yourself and us!
40but the other criminal rebuked him.
Thanks Chappie
That was my point - obviously we are speaking NOW, but it doesn't stop us using the expression. Jesus was obviously talking 'today,' but he used the expression "truly I tell you today" anyway.
No big deal (unless one believes in the immortal soul).
tips to keep your testimony from toppling.
by joni hilton
?the reason people fall out of the church is the same reason they fall out of bed: they?re not in properly!?
Hello Randy! How're doing? Fascinating article!
It was one of my mind-blowing moments to discover how similar JWs are to other 19th century Protestant offshoots - LDS, SDA and WCG. What astonished me, despite the differences in doctrine and possibly church life, there was a pattern. As well as attitudes to members reading critical literature there were
legalism,
high control,
asserting they have the Truth while denegrating other denominations especially the Catholic church,
shunning,
dissidents jumped on,
power-mad leaders,
the treatment of women (one case - she had an abusive church-going husband, but was told by the leaders to be a better wife, don't get him mad etc - sound familiar?),
being dependent on the church literature,
sugar-coated church history,
dodgy theology that doesn't harmonize with the Bible,
lifelong members who never really knew the 'Why' of their beliefs,
and there was more!
Here are the sites I found particularly interesting:
www.exmormon.org/whylft56.htm
www.ex-sda.com/cast-out.htm (esp. toward the bottom of the page)
http://sda.truepath.com/mailbox.html
http://ejm.tripod.com/email_001.htm
Religious systems all seem to fall into the same traps!
39one of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: "aren't you the christ?
save yourself and us!
40but the other criminal rebuked him.
What is the difference between the idiom (which admittedly doesn't translate very well into English) "I tell you today..." and what people say nowadays, "I'm telling you now..."?
from the current (uk) edition of 'our kingdom ministry'.
take a close look at paragraph 4. am i the only one who can see the old pattern of the 1980's re-emerging?
i had thought that the watchtower had begun to take a more reasonable approach to the secular education of it's members children yet here they are again in 2004 willing to jeopardise the education these young people receive for the sake of indoctrination and control.. .
I remember staying up till past midnight trying to finish homework. School was over an hour's bus ride away, I'd come home too exhausted to dive right into more work. Then it was dinner, then meeting, then home at 9.30 to start on school work. Fortunately, my parents let me sleep in on weekends instead of dragging me out in service.
The upside to the km article is that the excuse for not doing homework is more inventive than "The dog ate it."
i love the darkness.
i'm so glad that i can now enjoy this music, despite f words...whatever.
edited to get rid of embedded page
They rock.
Wish they wouldn't use the f words, though. They're better than that. (Don't want to offend the seasoned cursers here - it's just the way I am )
reading about people's "fades," i was just thinking: what would happen if someone who was still regularly attending meetings took the opportunity, in handling an assigned part (ministry school talk?
), to announce briefly that they had spent several months investigating the wts's claims and had come to the conclusion that their conscience, and a course of personal and spiritual integrity, required them to leave the organization.
"so i am taking this opportunity to say goodbye, and that i hope that many of you will follow my example in undertaking an honest and open-minded re-evaluation of your faith.
Thanks LittleToe for posting the link. I couldn't find it either. Every situation is different and at least with the way you did it (quite tastefully), the whole congregation got to know what you were doing and why, instead of it happening secretly behind closed doors, where no-one in the congregation would get to know anything thereby kick-starting the rumor mill.
Interesting experience!
reading about people's "fades," i was just thinking: what would happen if someone who was still regularly attending meetings took the opportunity, in handling an assigned part (ministry school talk?
), to announce briefly that they had spent several months investigating the wts's claims and had come to the conclusion that their conscience, and a course of personal and spiritual integrity, required them to leave the organization.
"so i am taking this opportunity to say goodbye, and that i hope that many of you will follow my example in undertaking an honest and open-minded re-evaluation of your faith.
Although it would be sensational, amusing and satisfying to go out with a bang, like in the middle of giving a talk or whatever, I personally feel it would not be loving to family and friends - it would hurt them immensely. "Do to others as you would have them do to you" (even if you feel the people don't deserve it). It's also not about being 'ashamed,' it's about dignity and discretion.
comments you will not hear at the 12-28-03 wt study
review comments will be in black and parentheses ()
wt quotes will be in
Maverick is right - classic sales' techniques.
the most remarkable fact - with a nod to the memory of m mauroy - is that the blood used comes not from men but from cows (and jehovah's witnesses, who reject human blood, really like the idea).
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/connected/main.jhtml?xml=/connected/2003/12/10/ecrlab10.xml&ssheet=/connected/2003/12/12/ixconnrite.html
view from the lab: it's enough to make your blood run cold .
Isn't he talking about the new 'wonder treatment', Hemopure? It is manufactured from stored cow's blood. Their website is interesting - www.hemopure.com
I heard (I don't know how accurate this is) that it was in the experimental stage and that a JW (with the nod form the local HLC) consented to try it and it was successful. (Yep. Go figure.)
I've also heard that it isn't as wonderful as they first thought - not as oxygenating as was hoped, and there were complications.
That's all the info I have.
" men take the lead, women merely "support.".
what contributed to priscilla's zeal and courage?
(luke 8:1-3).. yes, the privilege of doing the marketing, cooking, cleaning up, and laundry of 13 men while they did evangelizing.. wt 12/1/75 p. 717 christian greatness comes from serving.
Judges 4:8-10 "At this Ba´rak said to her: "If you will go with me, I also shall certainly go; but if you will not go with me, I shall not go." To this she said: "Without fail I shall go with you. Just the same, the beautifying thing will not become yours on the way that you are going, for it will be into the hand of a woman that Jehovah will sell Sis´e·ra." With that Deb´o·rah got up and went with Ba´rak to Ke´desh. And Ba´rak began to call Zeb´u·lun and Naph´ta·li together to Ke´desh, and ten thousand men went on up following his steps; and Deb´o·rah went on up with him."
Barak was too sissy to go on his own - he needed a lady with him to 'hold his hand.' Awww. So Debbie said, "I'll come with you, but Jehovah is going to get a woman to do your dirty work for you, because you are so lily-livered."
