Posts by El blanko

22

The concept of sin?

by El blanko in

ok, here is one that jabs into my mind occasionally.

the concept of 'sin' and the fallen state of man is rather profound and used to blow my mind, especially when paul broke down the concept when writing about the struggle with the fleshly state.

i could relate to those words and it was originally one of the main reasons i moved towards the scriptures (that, and the carrot of living forever of course

The Lessons of Life - Share your "feel good" websites

by Sirona in

jw
friends

which websites do you visit to give you an emotional boost?

i like the following sites: .

one way or another, life will teach you its lessons.

http://www.ferryhalim.com/orisinal/ - not sure this counts when considering your own choices, but it certainly lends itself to a sense of sedation and a removal of immediate problems through distraction.

23

What do you do when you're feeling down??

by Nicolas in

jw
friends

simple question, what do you do when you are feeling down and you think that there is nothing that will make this world better in the future??

we all have different kinds of problems to worry and sometimes, it can put you down.

El blanko

Got up this morning feeling really down - so did the following:

Tidied up my pad, opened the windows to let new air through and the sun shine through.

Put some uplifting music on - The Moody Blues / Candle of Life.

Drank a load of mineral water & ran a bath.

Spoke to a friend over the telephone and then had a bath afterwards and read part of a book.

.... starting to feel a lot better now and plan to get out later and walk.

7

No, really- take it back!

by Insomniac in

jw
friends

this is starting to get creepy.

i keep getting things which don't belong to me, and i have to go around returning them.

in the past 2 months, i was given $120 too much by a bank teller, a loaf of olive rosemary bread was put in my shopping bag at the grocery store (but not charged to me), 2 orders of fries at mcdonald's (again, i was not charged), and then yesterday i bought a dresser at an antiques store, and when it was delivered, the drawers were full of gorgeous antique handbags worth far more than i'd paid for the dresser.

El blanko

Seems like quite a series of synchronicities you have there - what all that means though, hmmm. Its probably personal to you and not for the rest of us.

I know the feeling well.

86

Proof of Jesus existance

by Jew in

.

to all christians, or others, is there any proof of the promised messiah being jesus of nazareth and if so, how can you be sure if he existed?

.

El blanko

Outoftheorg:

Ain't that the truth brother - hehe

20

The END is NIGH??

by Samdownunder in

i watched a fascinating documentary tonight called "the corporation".

it exposed the development of big business in modern day and their greed and corruption of the world.

many of the scholars and experts conceded that by the year 2025, we truly would not have any water left to drink and they discussed the ruination of the rainforests and other important resources as well.

El blanko

http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99996302

Reports like that up there are really heart-warming

20

The END is NIGH??

by Samdownunder in

i watched a fascinating documentary tonight called "the corporation".

it exposed the development of big business in modern day and their greed and corruption of the world.

many of the scholars and experts conceded that by the year 2025, we truly would not have any water left to drink and they discussed the ruination of the rainforests and other important resources as well.

El blanko

Putting the Bible aside for a moment, I do believe that the health of this planet is suffering as a result of collective human greed.

I also can't see many making a determined effort to adjust their lives in order to meet the challenge of a cleaner & safer future.

Often within my own immediate family I will raise these kinds of issues to guage the general attitude within the herd (my family range from working class to lower middle class) and their value system generally speaking promotes their own material growth.

80-90% of my family drive cars and each household aspires to have more than one vehicle on the driveway (one family having 3 cars to date). Each household desires constant upgrades in terms of their material environment - new electronic gadgets, extentions to their property, internal furnishings upgraded every other year etc

Within itself, this is not remarkable and is simply 'the norm', yet these material aspirations existing within my society echo across the planet and register upon available and limited resources.

Then there are issues like food production and consumption to be considered. Intensive farming techniques to meet the consumer demands of cheap meat and related products, which again make us appear from the outside to be little more than pigs with our heads in a trough of swill.

Then the 'subjective' area of the degradation of morality projected throughout the media.

Then we have the wonders of technology being disfigured and channeled into the hideous flesh-churning war machine. We are teaching the world how to tare flesh apart more efficiently.

To my mind, these are dark times and everything I have mentioned so far is truth.

Yet - I also see beauty within humanity.

This world gets me down and raises me up in equal measues

38

MY BREAKFAST WITH A JW THIS MORNING

by Terry in

jw
friends

johnny: "what do you mean?

johnny: "they aren't!

johnny: "yes?

El blanko

Hmmm... all sounds familiar and a typical night in at one of my best friend's house who is currently disfellowshipped. We share a curry and debate into the night. Usually a fruitless exploration of each others belief systems.

As long as we all except that we choose to believe a specific doctrine then there is rarely a problem.

Dogmatism often gets in the way though

Terry, if you pull the rug out from beneath your friend's feet, what will he have to firm his footing?

He raised this particular issue with you by saying that, "Where else can I go to serve God?" I get this constantly with my friend and try as I will, I cannot get him to pick up the Bible and read the scriptures 'plainly'.

The concept of 'one' mediator before God without an organization as a filter simply will not register and that to me is one of the main issues a person faces when attempting to reason with a JW.

22

The concept of sin?

by El blanko in

ok, here is one that jabs into my mind occasionally.

the concept of 'sin' and the fallen state of man is rather profound and used to blow my mind, especially when paul broke down the concept when writing about the struggle with the fleshly state.

i could relate to those words and it was originally one of the main reasons i moved towards the scriptures (that, and the carrot of living forever of course

El blanko

Terry, that sounds plausible - but what if God actually does exist? LOL ! - he may not like your attempt to rationalize his existence.

By imagining that this rescue vastly improves his chances to transcend the reality of chaos (eventual death) man invests every effort of will into wishfully thinking it into existence.

Yep, makes sense.

Although, I still feel there is a 'supreme' intelligence out there - can't help it man - if it's a drug, I need it.

22

The concept of sin?

by El blanko in

ok, here is one that jabs into my mind occasionally.

the concept of 'sin' and the fallen state of man is rather profound and used to blow my mind, especially when paul broke down the concept when writing about the struggle with the fleshly state.

i could relate to those words and it was originally one of the main reasons i moved towards the scriptures (that, and the carrot of living forever of course

El blanko

LT:

Hehe - no worries man. I don't think you are being harsh at all, it's just this form of communication sometimes. I'm a pussycat in real life, although my words here make me sound like a right toffy-nosed twit at times.

Yin/Yang is interesting. The white is the male, the dark is the female(!!). Those pesky women again portrayed as dark energy... hehe. With a wee dot of each colour in the other.

FlyingHigh:

Thanks - I'll bare that in mind - well, try It's the bane of my life - I really do not need other enemies, I do a good job on myself.

MyAuntFanny:

I have problems with the idea of salvation through works OR grace because I can't see how any amount of forgiveness can erase our acts or relieve us of either guilt or payment (in the sense of restoring the balance). Which is sort of what Sirona said.

Grace is supposed to reach further than our works (I think). My Oxford dictionary partially reveals grace as "the unmerited favour of God" and to the Christian that is one key to the inner-workings of the faith.

God is supposed to recognize that we imperfect ones can by no means gain life through our own works and therefore God deems us fit through faith in Christ to gain life eternal and applies his grace to those focused upon the son.

So a JW for instance cannot achieve God's grace through 60 hours marked on a slip of paper

At least that is how I see the Christian faith. I do not really understand another version anymore.

Peaceful Pete:

Social awareness is invaluable for any social animal. Animals appear to show shame and guilt when exposed for doing something understood as forbidden. Our minds evolved with programs to worrry about our image (attractive, valuable, dominance etc) as well as a sense of indebtedness to the clan. These programs are always active but at times get suppressed under the weight of self gratification of primary needs like sex or food etc. It is when we become aware of the conflict within our minds that we feel conflicted or guilty.

That's interesting. I assume you take the evolution route then? I had to read that twice to get the gist of where you are coming from and understand now.

If we take evolution on face value, I assume that excessive guilt may be viewed as a faulty mechanism then and the concept of sin, simply man's way of not taking full responsibility for his actions?