Posts by BetterGuyNow

10

Expanse before the flood... will He put it back?

by BetterGuyNow in

i've never wondered about this before, but i've been on this kick about the supposed infallibility of god.. let's consider for a moment that the flood was real.

god had created the expanse of water in the heavens that shielded the earth from the sun.

this is what he considered to be the the right way to build the earth.

BetterGuyNow

I've never wondered about this before, but I've been on this kick about the supposed infallibility of God.

Let's consider for a moment that the flood was real. God had created the expanse of water in the heavens that shielded the earth from the sun. This is what He considered to be the the right way to build the earth. Then comes flood, and now you can see the sky and the water vapor canopy is gone. So would it be expected that after Armageddon, God would put it back to the way it was, the "right" way, or is mankind expected to live forever on an earth that was altered from its original, perfect design because of the badness of every living thing?

Just a side point: I'm a building contractor. If every time I built a project it all turned to crap, after a while someone my question my ability. Flood, Babylon, Jerusalem, Armageddon. I find it interesting that it is the minority of man that are always running for their lives from the majority failure of mankind as a species. I'm only halfway through my first cup of coffee on a chilly Sunday morning and this thought just popped in my head in connection with the destruction of the flood. Figured I'd type it before I thought to much about it.

Hope you're all having a fantastic weekend!

21

Bicyclists

by poppers in

i'm wondering what sort of biking shoes and pedals you are using.

i'm a road biker, so i enjoy speed and distance riding, and am upgrading my shoes and pedals.

anyone have experience with specialized road shoes with the boa stem?

BetterGuyNow

I love the trail there. There are quite a few in my neck of the woods that are nice, too, but I love riding up there. When I lived in California I just rode to work and back, missed out a lot when there, but really didn't start riding for recreation until I moved to WA.

There are no bike shops where I live, and the nearest town with one (Olympia) are kind of commercialish. I like the little "one-of" shops run by people who love what they are doing.

21

Bicyclists

by poppers in

i'm wondering what sort of biking shoes and pedals you are using.

i'm a road biker, so i enjoy speed and distance riding, and am upgrading my shoes and pedals.

anyone have experience with specialized road shoes with the boa stem?

BetterGuyNow

Spectre - I know the place you're talking about! I've never been in there, but have ridden the trail from Gas Works to Kenmore and back several times. I live between Seattle and Portland, so when I go up there with my bike it's just to enjoy a different trail. Thanks for the recommendation. Every time I buzz by I want to go in there, but I'm too busy buzzing by. :-)

7

Wow - Has this been on here before? (It's on Facebook)

by berrygerry in

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BetterGuyNow

I wish I believed in Hell so I could want them to go there.

61

THE IMPONDERABLES TOPIC (Enter at your own risk)

by Terry in

i suggest taking this slowly .

.. consider the difference between taking a poll about an upcoming election and the actual vote itself on the day of the election.. the information gathered about what the vote will be is provisional.

the vote on the day of the election is actual and official.. it is the one that counts.. now, carefully ask yourself what the specific difference--if any--there is between the poll information and the election result as an identical knowledge of.

BetterGuyNow

Terry,

I like reading your posts a) after coffee b) before a long day,not after. You have quite the mind and it takes a bit of mental effort (for me, at least) to follow along but I like reading them. I don't always agree, but that makes no difference whatsoever. You get me thinking (whether I want to or not) and causing someone to really think is always good, regardless of the outcome.

I've been out for 8 years, but only recently have I started questioning the validity of this compilation of human writings known as the Bible. I was so programmed as a born-in to not even question it, I always accepted it as the authority. Obviously that's a common condition of Christians worldwide, not just JWs. I was by no means a dedicated man, but it was what it was, and I just knew my entire life I wasn't going to survive Armageddon, and that was OK - to be otherwise meant I had to trust and believe in an organization I just couldn't get into my heart.

Regarding this matter: I'm just starting to put things together with regards to issues I have with the scriptures. Your post is a little too much to handle for me right now, rather like trying to get an angry cat out of the corner of a room. I might get there a little slower, but I still feel my back arching. Not out of anger, probably not even out of fear - I feel a level of embarrassment at how easily I followed along something I never checked out. Only recently have I started to feel that the book I believed for 40+ years is probably not all it's cracked up to be.

Probably. That's what I can say right now. I appreciate the effort you put into this article of a post. It's a challenge to go from start to finish, and I've only just started questioning parts. Questioning parts means you have to question the whole. And without the whole, that leads to the very existence of things I never considered questioning at the beginning. Like God. Like creation.

Even "out" I never thought I would travel down this road. My trust in the Bible has been apathetic. I always believed it was most likely accurate, but never followed it. I thought that made me a stupid man, having the "road map to life" but not choosing to follow it. Not because I was trying to be adventurous, but because I didn't like the road it told me to follow.

So, where does that lead me? I like your points, and will probably be back to read them. Maybe tonight. Maybe tomorrow. Maybe in a year. You're showing me the finish line, and for me, the gun just went off and I'm not even breathing heavy yet. But I'm also a new runner. I don't know if I'm crossing at a sprint or dragging myself over the line, but the effort between now and when I can wholeheartedly accept these points is what I have to do to make my choices lasting. Is it possible God isn't really there? Sure. If I end up accepting that the bible is written by men without spirit direction, everything they write about is questionable as fiction. For some odd reason, I can't yet accept that. Will I?

Probably.

15

So romantic - Guys, if you really liked a girl, for how long would you chase her?

by fulltimestudent in

a segment from (in english) if you are the one?

one of china's most popular tv shows, it can have up to 50 million viewers.. its chrissie time, so we can be sentimental (smile).. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=teic1sk8epy.

.

BetterGuyNow

I agree with flipper. Playing hard to get is ridiculous. You don't get many chances to find the right person you can be happy with. It's hard enough as it is. If you are mature enough to even be in a relationship, you should already know yourself and what you want. If the person you are interested in doesn't appreciate that, it's time to find someone who does. Life is too short to dote on people that don't respond.

I chased my first wife, an upstanding Witness girl with an elder for a father. I learned later he was instrumental in getting her to "court" me as I was such a good prospect. Had I known this, I would have been grateful at the time. But what it produced was a woman who had no respect for me (which was a serious issue for a guy trying to figure out how to be a Witness husband) and spent more time shopping than with me. I couldn't leave, of course, as that was wrong in "the truth." I spent my entire marriage from '91 - '06 trying to make this girl like me.

My wife now... so different. We met for coffee and were hooked. I never even had to try. We were already a couple. No games. We've been together 8 years, and just celebrated our 6th anniversary last month.

There is no replacing mutual respect, attraction, and interest. Marriage is hard enough without you both playing the same game by the same rules for the same goal.

21

Bicyclists

by poppers in

i'm wondering what sort of biking shoes and pedals you are using.

i'm a road biker, so i enjoy speed and distance riding, and am upgrading my shoes and pedals.

anyone have experience with specialized road shoes with the boa stem?

BetterGuyNow

fiddler - whereabouts are you? I'm in the PNW between SEA and PDX. I have fallen over three times in three years wearing cycling shoes. The first two times were in the first month of riding with them (standard noob: bike was stopped at a light and I forgot my shoe was cleated in). Final time two years ago I had a pebble stuck in the pedal and it wouldn't release.

During this last summer's STP, the screw holding the cleat to the shoe came out of my wife's shoe... she couldn't release the shoe from the pedal, but fortunately she was able to get the other out in time.

But there you go. Between us we have several thousand miles over the last few years, with one complication and four falls, all with the bike not moving. The benefits are pretty great though if you like to ride hard. When you can pull up on the pedal, not just push down, you can either double the effectiveness of your pedaling, or share the effort over two strokes. And I've never lost my footing on the pedal going over railroad tracks or the occasional unavoidable pothole. I never thought it's something I would feel safe doing, but I can't imagine riding a bike without cleats now.

Spectre - Are you still in the area? Time for a tune-up for me, though I think I'm going to be buying a new brifter. The lever for my front derailluer stopped moving (Shimano 105 Flight Deck). At least it was the front! I understand they can't really be fixed, it's just time for a new set. Any idea what would be a comparable replacement now?

DwainBowman - Cool! I'm the same way... I love beer and pizza way too much to look like a cyclist. But I train a fair amount and absolutely love riding, so I make it through. We have a fun ride in Seattle call the Bike and Brews... It starts at a brewery in Seattle, then you ride south about 20 miles through urban trails to another brewery, where you pull a coupon off your bib for a pint. When you're done there, you head back to the first one. Good stuff.

Getting psyched for the Chilly Hilly... Two years in a row I planned to do it and both years ended up with pnuemonia the month before the ride. I'm in the final stages of ankle sprain recovery right now, then it's time to jump on the trainer.

Simon - My first serious road bike was an '84 Raleigh Gran Prix. It was complete still, with the original saddle and those leather straps for the pedals. I've had that bike since the mid-90s, and it's still hanging up in my carport. I've upgraded the brakes and wheelset, though had to retain the original hub for the back, which subsequently exploded on a 50 mile hilly training ride two weeks before my first STP. Had to borrow a bike for that ride. But I do look respectfully at that old Raleigh hanging from the ceiling every time I walk past it.

33

so, what ARE society 'approved' jobs anyway?

by sowhatnow in

obviously they feel a window washer job is a job anyone can do anywhere in he world .

and makes great money, yea right.. so what are all those 'approved jobs?'.

add to the list of any and all building skills, cleaning type jobs.

BetterGuyNow

I find it interesting how jobs thats are acceptable or unapproved can change from region to region, while the reason for the unfavorable viewpoint doesn't. For example, it was consistently preached from our platforms that one should never intentionally schedule work during meeting times. I don't know if my P.O. father ever had a talk about it, but my mother regularly worked every Sunday.

The deal is: we had to be at the meetings because it was a "commandment" and secular work should never get in the way. If we had a regular schedule of work that included meeting days/nights, we weren't waiting on Jehovah, or allowing him to provide.

Curiously, those "facts" - meeting attendence, waiting on Jah, Jah providing - are the same everywhere. It's a small point to take issue with, but it's just still another example to me that men are in control.

12

2014 AGM - Splane and Pyramids

by berrygerry in

just read a comment on a site that said:.

"at the annual general meeting this year at stanley halls it is on tv.jw.org david splane said the pyramid of giza the bible students believed in for calculating time periods were from pagans".

wasted 2 hours watching the am on jw tv.. splane indeed says this, and that br.

BetterGuyNow

Your comment is absolutely right, Steve. It is not right or wrong, it's if the organization says it's right or wrong. We see it countless times through history, with serious things like dates and doctrine, and lesser like attending college, use of the internet, and electronics in the Hall. It's an antiquated system that holds onto its beliefs until it just can't do it and keep followers, and then it changes its viewpoint. Of course, one of the big selling points of the actual truth is that it never changes. They're happy to remind you of this when you're seeing technical changes in other religions, like acceptance of homosexuality in the ranks or female leaders, etc. "Just don't look at us too closely!"

21

Bicyclists

by poppers in

i'm wondering what sort of biking shoes and pedals you are using.

i'm a road biker, so i enjoy speed and distance riding, and am upgrading my shoes and pedals.

anyone have experience with specialized road shoes with the boa stem?

BetterGuyNow

Ressurrecting a post here, but please forgive, I only signed up this week.

I've used the Shimano SPD series for a few years. I original used the style that has the clip on one side and the flat pedal on the other so you could ride with regular shoes if need be. I swapped to the clip all the way around, which looks like old school egg beaters.

They're on a hybrid Specialized Allez Elite with a 105 set. I love them because the shoes are usable when getting that much needed pint after a ride. I've put about 3000 miles on the cleats and they still work great.

Will be putting them to the test here in the PNW soon. Ride season starts and I'll be doing the Chilly Hilly in February. Come July, I'll be doing the STP (Seattle to Portland) double century for my 4th time.