Posts by Hisclarkness

40

Sisters running microphones?

by NikL in

jw
friends

so our sunday meeting was on the 25th (christmas) and my active jw wife and i were out of town enjoying some family time with relatives.. apparently there were many others in our congregation that missed as well.

so few were there in fact that sisters ran the mics.

(actually it was a sister running one of the two mics) a friend of my wife commented to her about how the brothers just aren't stepping up and it "makes her want to cry.

Hisclarkness

It's embarrassing for the brothers, not simply because a woman is doing it, but because all you have to do is put two and two together to now know that this brother was reproved for some "sin". What was a private matter now all of a sudden becomes congregation gossip.

I was privately reproved once and was way too embarrassed to decline conducting a field service meeting or a closing prayer so I just went ahead and did it, all the while feeling doubly guilty. Then you have scenarios where you began avoiding field service all together simply out of fear that you might be the only brother there. Then your F.S. time declines and it's a vicious downward spiral of guilt from there.

21

Is Christianity contingent on belief in a talking snake?

by cobweb in

jw
friends

this is a question mainly for those who are christian as i myself am not:.

to what extent is christianity contingent on a belief in the book of genesis.

i know there are some christians who accept that the creation story is a myth, and maybe the adam and eve story too.

Hisclarkness

Just to follow up on what Simon said; growing numbers of Christians no longer take the bible as the "word of God" so it's not always as simple as an either/or.

I personally know many people who identify, not as "Christians", but as followers of Jesus. That is to simply love God and love your neighbor. Jesus never taught doctrine. Doctrine is simply man's attempt to socialize a belief system. Us against them.

21

Is Christianity contingent on belief in a talking snake?

by cobweb in

jw
friends

this is a question mainly for those who are christian as i myself am not:.

to what extent is christianity contingent on a belief in the book of genesis.

i know there are some christians who accept that the creation story is a myth, and maybe the adam and eve story too.

Hisclarkness

Growing numbers of Christians no longer believe in original sin. Paul used the sacrifice of Jesus simply as a tool to get people off of the Mosaic law.

If if you're a child afraid of the boogeyman in the closet and I set up a teddy bear next to the closet saying, "don't worry, teddy will protect you", the bear is just a tool to get the child's focus off his fear. But the bear has no real power.

Similarly, Jesus' sacrifice was simply a talking point to tell people, "see! You don't have to follow all these laws and sacrifices anymore. Jesus was your sacrifice once and for all".

Jesus never taught forgiveness of sins through sacrifice. He taught forgiveness of sins to the extent that you forgive others. There is no concept of inherited or original sin in the Hebrew Scriptures. That is a later Christian development.

133

Why Are You Here?

by Believer in

i'm wondering why believers remain members of this forum which is clearly hostile to believers.

as one member said, nonbelievers pounce on any semblance of belief like piranhas on prey.

as former jws we should have had our fill of judgmental know-it-alls, but here we are.

Hisclarkness

I come here for the updates as well. By the way, there are very good sites out there for those who still believe.

www.anointedjw.org

www.discussthetruth.com

1

hello i am search jewish jehovah witness origin turc and speak french help my please thanks

by temoin_de_jehovah in

jw
friends

hello .

i am search jewish jehovah witness origin turc and speak french help my please thanks.

Hisclarkness

Salut!

Dites ce que tu veux dire en français. Peut-être qu'il y a quelqu'un ici qui peux te donner un bon réponse!

37

Jehovah Witness vs Jehovah's Witness

by Simon in

being brought up as a jehovah's witness means you are so used to the term that you rarely stop to think about it.. one thing i've noticed is that people unfamiliar with the religion will say "jehovah witness" (no 's) instead which i always found a bit grating.. but watching the us election, something struck me.

people are often referred to as "trump supporters", not "trump's supporters" and so on.

thinking about other things, people would say they were "united fan's", not "united's fans" and so on.. it seems weird that a group would refer to themselves as though it was someone else talking about them (in the 3rd person, if i have that right).. what do you think?

Hisclarkness

Always bugged me too. You are one of Jehovah's Witnesses or you are a witness of Jehovah.

It seems to be one of those weird grammatical exceptions; I dunno. It doesn't sound awkward to say you are a Trump supporter. What about saying you are a Trump witness for tomorrow's case? But saying you are a Jehovah Witness just sounds weird.

9

What's the difference between 'works' and 'fruits'?

by TTWSYF in

my uber jw elder brother used to use jesus's quote "you know a tree by it's fruit" and then would speak about how jws are the only ones going door to door and restoring god's true name.. my niece was the first to point out that those were works and not fruits.

my brother retreated for a few days to contemplate the difference between works and fruits and when he returned to address the comment, he stated that works are fruits.

what's the take from the jw apologist?.

Hisclarkness

The person is known by their fruit, meaning fruit of the spirit: love, joy, peace, long suffering, goodness, faith, mildness, self-control.

25

Is a piano inevitable?

by slimboyfat in

i was at a concert last night and the presence and stature of the piano struck me.

and i thought: if the piano wasn't invented when it was, would it have been invented by someone else instead?

or if there was a world the same as our, except with a different history, would it have pianos now too or would it be modern world, similar in many respects, only without pianos?

Hisclarkness

The piano would have been invented, regardless. To be brief, music theory is math. Musical tones and harmonies can be measured. There is a scientific reason why certain tones sound good together and others don't. Experimenting with different tones on plucked strings led to harped instruments to harpsichords to pianos. It would have happened sooner or later. I was a music major in college.

16

Why Christians cannot be possessed.

by James Mixon in

demons cannot occupy the same place as the holy spirit, satan knows this, and that is why.

he tries so hard to get to people first and his demons or demonic influence control or affect.

that person.. i cannot believe this in still being taught today.

Hisclarkness

Well, I guess since JWs don't believe they have the Holy Spirit in them (are anointed) then maybe they can be possessed by demons after all, lol. By their own definition, they are not Christian. Christ means "anointed one" so Christian means "anointed follower of Christ".

57

Elder Mentioning an "Apostate Problem"

by Simon Templar in

i bumped into a sister that i have known for at least 40 years or so.

we were catching up.

she and her husband have been in the truth for decades.

Hisclarkness

For those who have been out for a while, there is a growing number of friends within the organization who understand that to be Christian is to be anointed and that's why the number of partakers continues to rise. These are not mentally unstable ones. The GB knows this too. It's truly a sad state for people to be labeled as apostates by their own spiritual brothers and sisters for simply joining onto Christ. This house that is truly divided against itself cannot stand for much longer.