Posts by Hisclarkness

41

The ransom makes no sense

by BourneIdentity in

if mankind needed to be redeemed from sin and death, why didn't the redemption happen as soon as jesus successfully lived his entire life without sin and sacrificed his life?

if he was successful, the price was paid and we'd all be living forever.

it's all bullshit, or jesus fucked up and sinned, so it nullified his sacrifice.

The good news of the kingdom that Jesus and his disciples preached had nothing to do with a ransom sacrifice. Think about it - how could it?? The disciples had no idea Jesus was going to die and were heavily disappointed when he did. The good news was only about loving God and loving your neighbor.

The ransom sacrifice was a tool used by Paul to help convert Jews to Christianity. Instead of sacrificing animals all the time, Jesus died once and for all. Therefore you don’t need to sacrifice anymore because Jesus was your sacrifice.

It is similar to when Moses instituted the Law. Instead of sacrificing your babies, you should sacrifice animals. It was a step up in knowledge from previous belief. (The Israelites still continued to fall back into the belief of human sacrifice from time to time).

The ransom sacrifice was a tool but it was never intended to be the cornerstone of the Christian faith. The Christian faith was all about dismantling institutionalized religion and having a personal faith with God while loving everybody as a brother and sister.

18

racism

by Stealth in

jw
friends

having been raised as a jw, racism was something that was never promoted.

i now have a 9 year old that has been visiting her biological grandmother and my ex-wife.

it is my child because i adopted her.

Hisclarkness

Racism is not simply “another point of view” and it is in no way beneficial to subject an impressionable child to racist beliefs and thoughts under the guise of needing to let them see the reality of the world.

It is not my place to tell you how to proceed with your relationship with your parents. But you ABSOLUTELY should proceed with caution when exposing your child to racism. We are not talking about a grown person able to distinguish between right and wrong and make their own decisions about their life. We are talking about a moldable child who is still learning their place in the world.

It scares me that so many here think there is nothing wrong that a child is exposed to racism in the name of differing points of view.

39

Who make up the new memorial partakers?

by jwfacts in

when the doctrine regarding 1935 being the close of the calling was done away with in 2007, it was not unexpected to see the number rise.

over the next few years it went from around 8,500 to 10,500. this seemed to indicate that there were a couple of thousand people that may have felt they had the calling all along, but too shy to profess it.

for the 30 year period between the mid 1978 and 2007, parktakers had barely dropped.

Hisclarkness

When I was still attending meetings about 6 years ago there were 3 partakers in my congregation, myself included.

I started to partake because I simply came to understand that that was my obligation as a Christian and follower of Jesus.

The second partaker was an elder who had also started to partake the same year I did. It turned out that he had been partaking privately for about 5 years previously had had come to the same conclusions that I had reached.

The third partaker was a very well respected older brother who had been partaking since at least the 80s that I know of. He was also a Bethelite in the late 70s to early 80s. Imagine my surprise when I went over to his house one afternoon to talk about partaking and he confessed to me that he had been feeling the same way all these years. It turns out he was part of that “rogue” group in Bethel during the Ray Franz scandal but managed to come through unscathed. He’s remained a faithful witness all these years and would never confess a thing to a single soul unless he knew he could trust you.

Well, once our congregation had three partakers all of a sudden, the elders went on a witch-hunt and formulated some crazy story that we had all conspired together to undermine WT by partaking. The elder, not backing down, was disfellowshipped. I walked away (quick fade) and never went back, and the older respected brother moved to a different congregation. A couple of years later the congregation was dissolved.

I also know a brother who was in our congregation years ago who later switched to a Chinese congregation before moving to China as a missionary serving underground. I’ve been in contact with him since his move and he too is a partaker, having come to the very same conclusions as all of us.

My mother, who is still an active witness, is a partaker for these same reasons. She came to the same conclusions a couple of years after I did. And she too faced backlash from her congregation.

I’m telling you guys, many of these partakers are not crazy. They are just following the scriptures.

39

Who make up the new memorial partakers?

by jwfacts in

when the doctrine regarding 1935 being the close of the calling was done away with in 2007, it was not unexpected to see the number rise.

over the next few years it went from around 8,500 to 10,500. this seemed to indicate that there were a couple of thousand people that may have felt they had the calling all along, but too shy to profess it.

for the 30 year period between the mid 1978 and 2007, parktakers had barely dropped.

Hisclarkness

Waton,

I understand what you’re saying but I believe most of these new partakers are partaking DESPITE WT teachings and not in support of them.

Already the number of partakers has grown so much that it has forced WT to abandon their teaching that the number should be dwindling as a sign of the closeness of the end. And WT was teaching that as late as the early 2000s.

These partakers are not concerned with WT rules or 144,000 theology. They are simply making their faith publicly known.

And yes, there are many MORE who partake privately at home. I also know some of these people.

39

Who make up the new memorial partakers?

by jwfacts in

when the doctrine regarding 1935 being the close of the calling was done away with in 2007, it was not unexpected to see the number rise.

over the next few years it went from around 8,500 to 10,500. this seemed to indicate that there were a couple of thousand people that may have felt they had the calling all along, but too shy to profess it.

for the 30 year period between the mid 1978 and 2007, parktakers had barely dropped.

Hisclarkness

It is too convenient to just say that all the new partakers are crazy or delusional.

Regarless of whether you actually believe the scriptures are true or not, it is a fact that the scriptures teach that all Christians have the same hope and that all Christians should be partaking.

More and more sincere believers inside the JWs are starting to understand this.

39

Who make up the new memorial partakers?

by jwfacts in

when the doctrine regarding 1935 being the close of the calling was done away with in 2007, it was not unexpected to see the number rise.

over the next few years it went from around 8,500 to 10,500. this seemed to indicate that there were a couple of thousand people that may have felt they had the calling all along, but too shy to profess it.

for the 30 year period between the mid 1978 and 2007, parktakers had barely dropped.

Hisclarkness

Vidqun is right.

I personally know many people still in and who have since left who know that the teaching of 144,000 is wrong and that ALL Christians should be partaking of the emblems.

Its that simple. No need to speculate any more than that.

There has been a movement starting in the mid to late 2000s to “awaken” JWs to the true hope held out in the scriptures and many thousands have listened and are partaking as a result.

Again, I personally know many of these partakers and this is the reason they are all stating.

22

Interested in a refresher about the anointed

by frozen2018 in

i've had very little to do with jw's since the early 1990's.

however, i do try to stay a little informed on what they are up to as i have several close relatives who are devout.

i rely on this site to keep me updated.. over the weekend i learned that a couple of my relatives, a father and son, have decided that they are anointed and had some bread and wine at the last memorial.

Hisclarkness

It’s simple. According to the Bible, if you are a follower of Christ then you should be partaking with a view to a heavenly hope. Period. More and more JWs are starting to wake up to this realization and defying Watchtower’s twisted teaching of only 144,000. That’s the reason the numbers have increased drastically.

37

Annual meeting topic

by asp59 in

how many think they will announce in the annual meeting they just gonna have one meeting a week?

if they dont it will be astonishing, amazing and other things..

Hisclarkness

It seems like the annual meeting is going to be the new time and place for new releases. That way they can control the fact that only publishers in good standing will get a copy through the congregation as opposed to just handing them out to anybody who walks through the door at a convention.

286

Supreme Court Rules in Favor of Baker Who Refused to Bake Cake for Gay Couple

by Simon in

seems like such an obviously correct decision to overturn the previous overreach - it should never have been necessary to go to the supreme court but happened because the rights of the religious were being ignored.. as the fundamental level, no one should be able to compel you to work for them or to provide services that go against your beliefs, and certainly not have the government be able to force you to comply.. if this was allowed there would be so many unreconcilable situations that would clog up courts over nonsense.. i also have little patience for these activists that intentionally look to be offended.

it really doesn't do their cause any good to go round looking to make trouble for people.

it's also misguided because it ends up strengthening religious rights over effectively stupid issues.. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/04/us/politics/supreme-court-sides-with-baker-who-turned-away-gay-couple.html.

Hisclarkness

There is still separation of church and state in this country. A “Christian” business could be considered an outlet of the church. Therefore, a “Christian” bakery would not be obliged to bake a same sex wedding cake anymore than the church would be forced to recognize gay marriage. But I imagine you wouldn’t just be able to set up shop and call it a “Christian” store without some actual affiliation with a church.

If you are a baker who owns a bakery that makes wedding cakes and you just happen to be Christian as is in this case then you are obliged to not discriminate.

286

Supreme Court Rules in Favor of Baker Who Refused to Bake Cake for Gay Couple

by Simon in

seems like such an obviously correct decision to overturn the previous overreach - it should never have been necessary to go to the supreme court but happened because the rights of the religious were being ignored.. as the fundamental level, no one should be able to compel you to work for them or to provide services that go against your beliefs, and certainly not have the government be able to force you to comply.. if this was allowed there would be so many unreconcilable situations that would clog up courts over nonsense.. i also have little patience for these activists that intentionally look to be offended.

it really doesn't do their cause any good to go round looking to make trouble for people.

it's also misguided because it ends up strengthening religious rights over effectively stupid issues.. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/04/us/politics/supreme-court-sides-with-baker-who-turned-away-gay-couple.html.

Hisclarkness

Hi simon,

i think the baker could have a “Christian” baker shop. But I don’t think that was the case here. It was simply a bakery that does wedding cakes.

I think I’m being consistent here. Just as an Islamic meat shop couldn’t be compelled to serve pork a “Christian” shop couldn’t be compelled to do something against their beliefs.

The only two things I could say is:

1. The baker’s shop wasn’t a “Christian” bakery. It was just a Christian running a bakery. There’s a difference.

2. People who oppose “gay” marriage on religious grounds are going to have a difficult time in the future if they offer wedding specific services but won’t offer them to gay couples. Again, the government doesn’t recognize “gay” marriage or “straight” marriage; it recognizes marriage. So if someone decides to differentiate between gay and straight marriage then that’s discrimination based on sexual orientation.