Anyway - I am unique - there are no other salad vegetables on this forum.
Posts by Qcmbr
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17Earthquakes - sign of times?
by Qcmbr in8 for nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines and troubles: these [are] the beginnings of sorrows.. is it just me or does the impact of earthquakes seem to be fulfilling end time prophecy (assuming jesus does turn up soon:).
i highlighted in red the ones that are for the last 100 years and also note that the current kashmir stats aren't in but they are over 70000 estimated dead.. datelocationdeathsmagnitudecommentsjanuary 23, 1556china, shansi830,000~8 december 26, 2004sumatra283,106 9.0deaths from earthquake and tsunami.july 27, 1976china, tangshan255,000.
(official)7.5estimated death toll as high as 655,000.august 9, 1138syria, aleppo230,000 may 22, 1927china, near xining200,0007.9large fractures.december 22, 856+iran, damghan200,000 december 16, 1920china, gansu200,0007.8major fractures, landslides.march 23, 893+iran, ardabil150,000 september 1, 1923japan, kanto.
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17
Earthquakes - sign of times?
by Qcmbr in8 for nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines and troubles: these [are] the beginnings of sorrows.. is it just me or does the impact of earthquakes seem to be fulfilling end time prophecy (assuming jesus does turn up soon:).
i highlighted in red the ones that are for the last 100 years and also note that the current kashmir stats aren't in but they are over 70000 estimated dead.. datelocationdeathsmagnitudecommentsjanuary 23, 1556china, shansi830,000~8 december 26, 2004sumatra283,106 9.0deaths from earthquake and tsunami.july 27, 1976china, tangshan255,000.
(official)7.5estimated death toll as high as 655,000.august 9, 1138syria, aleppo230,000 may 22, 1927china, near xining200,0007.9large fractures.december 22, 856+iran, damghan200,000 december 16, 1920china, gansu200,0007.8major fractures, landslides.march 23, 893+iran, ardabil150,000 september 1, 1923japan, kanto.
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Qcmbr
Before this gets a 'rag on Qcmbr' thread look at what I posted and respond to it - not me - I haven't said it is a sign of the times (see the squiggly sign at the end of the topic) I just came across the stats and thought it would be an interesting coversation based around the numbers.
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19
A Cleansing
by Purza inafter many months of letting the junk pile up, me and my husband set out to tackle cleaning up the garage today so that i could start parking my car in there again as the cold weather is coming.. as we were working he said to me "okay these jehovah's witnesses books have to go".
when we first moved in three years ago, i had taken all of my jw books and put them into a storage container out in the garage.
at that point i felt like i was betraying jehovah if i threw out the books.. well three years later and i said "okay, but first we must rip out my name out of them all".
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Qcmbr
Donate them to the local KH - in a big box.
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17
Earthquakes - sign of times?
by Qcmbr in8 for nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines and troubles: these [are] the beginnings of sorrows.. is it just me or does the impact of earthquakes seem to be fulfilling end time prophecy (assuming jesus does turn up soon:).
i highlighted in red the ones that are for the last 100 years and also note that the current kashmir stats aren't in but they are over 70000 estimated dead.. datelocationdeathsmagnitudecommentsjanuary 23, 1556china, shansi830,000~8 december 26, 2004sumatra283,106 9.0deaths from earthquake and tsunami.july 27, 1976china, tangshan255,000.
(official)7.5estimated death toll as high as 655,000.august 9, 1138syria, aleppo230,000 may 22, 1927china, near xining200,0007.9large fractures.december 22, 856+iran, damghan200,000 december 16, 1920china, gansu200,0007.8major fractures, landslides.march 23, 893+iran, ardabil150,000 september 1, 1923japan, kanto.
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Qcmbr
8 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines and troubles: these [are] the beginnings of sorrows.
Is it just me or does the impact of earthquakes seem to be fulfilling end time prophecy (assuming Jesus does turn up soon:)
I highlighted in red the ones that are for the last 100 years and also note that the current Kashmir stats aren't in but they are over 70000 estimated dead.
Date Location Deaths Magnitude Comments January 23, 1556 China, Shansi 830,000 ~8 December 26, 2004 Sumatra 283,106 9.0 Deaths from earthquake and tsunami. July 27, 1976 China, Tangshan 255,000
(official)7.5 Estimated death toll as high as 655,000. August 9, 1138 Syria, Aleppo 230,000 May 22, 1927 China, near Xining 200,000 7.9 Large fractures. December 22, 856+ Iran, Damghan 200,000 December 16, 1920 China, Gansu 200,000 7.8 Major fractures, landslides. March 23, 893+ Iran, Ardabil 150,000 September 1, 1923 Japan, Kanto
(Kwanto)143,000 7.9 Great Tokyo fire. October 5, 1948 USSR
(Turkmenistan, Ashgabat)110,000 7.3 December 28, 1908 Italy, Messina 70,000 to 100,000
(estimated)7.2 Deaths from earthquake and tsunami. September, 1290 China, Chihli 100,000 November, 1667 Caucasia, Shemakha 80,000 November 18, 1727 Iran, Tabriz 77,000 November 1, 1755 Portugal, Lisbon 70,000 8.7 Great tsunami. December 25, 1932 China, Gansu 70,000 7.6 May 31, 1970 Peru 66,000 7.9 $530,000,000 damage, great rock slide, floods. 1268 Asia Minor, Silicia 60,000 January 11, 1693 Italy, Sicily 60,000 May 30, 1935 Pakistan, Quetta 30,000 to 60,000 7.5 Quetta almost completely destroyed. February 4, 1783 Italy, Calabria 50,000 June 20, 1990 Iran 50,000 7.7 Landslides. + Note that these dates are prior to 1000 AD. No digit is missing.
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Qcmbr
Hi JGnat - I agree totally that there are characteristics of christian sects that are more destructive than others (JW shunning for example) - I just like to level the 'cult' playing field - it's a dangerous word.
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Qcmbr
Hi Greendawn - I can make sweeping statements like christianity is a cult because on every indicator of cult behaviour christianity, indeed any religion will register:
Let's look at this clearly.
First and foremost modern christianity is very dissimilar to the Christianity of the Jewish people at Jesus time let's not kid ourselves that our culture, language and interpretation of the bible can recreate the Jewish cult of christianity 2000 years ago. If you went back in time and appeared in a christian gathering in 70 AD I'll bet any money you wouldn't recognise the christians then (you'd consider them apostates by your current view of Christianity) and guess what - they'd probably think you were apostate as well and you'd be cut out of the congregation sharpish. If any christian lives under the mistaken belief that the old world Christians are the same as us then its just plain wrong. Just as modern day christians can't agree with each other so it is historically - all modern days christians feel that the old world christians would look upon their current version as the truth - we ALL quote Moses, Paul and Abraham as though that particular prophet / teacher was part of our congregation and would approve of our interpretation.
So having established that christianity is a wide and diverse set of beliefs through time as well as worldwide we have to ask ourselves when christianity stopped being the Jewish cult of Jesus' day.
1/ When Rome took over? When conversion was often done at the point of a sword?
2/ During the crusades? When conversion was often done at the point of a sword?
3/ Inquisition? That time of great Christian purity? Conversion done on the rack.
4/ During the reformation? When conversion was often done at the point of a gun/sword?
5/ Pilgrims? Fleeing christian persecution and then stealing the Indians land? Witch trials?
6/ During the Millerite / Methodist revivalism? When the current plethora of churches really began to multiply and replenish the earth.
7/ The born again revolution of the last hundred years? Southern baptist moderation and teleevangelism.
Christianity always works/worked upon several key points:
1/ An unseen reward requiring adherance to a system of standards(before the liberal BAs disagree remember you go to church/pray/worship as much as I do)
2/ Fear of eternal punishment (though modern day theology has watered this down apparently without God asking them to)
3/ Rejection of backsliders, apostates and the unrepentant - so providing coercion to remain in the group.
4/ Lovebombing and conversion techniques - Every church does it.
5/ Attempts to alter the way we think by meditation, singing, repetion, narrowed reading lists, regular lessons on how to think and behave.
6/ Financial commitment - NO church operates for free. Time, talents and above all money are required from any congregation.
7/ Charismatic Leaders - Jesus (if anyone wishes to argue)
Does anyone want to really suggest that christianity isn't a cult? -
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Qcmbr
..whoops where did my post end bit go?
Anti-Cult activities are like McDonalds advertising how poor Burger Kings Fries are. The reality is EVERY christian is in a cult they just don't like to think they are and like bullies in the playground bolster their own self esteem by picking on others and the harsh truth for those who do public anti-(insert your least favoured religion) work is that it is as wrong as the think your trying to fight (no I'm not talking about a specific issue such as abuse - I'm talking about the entire religion.) In your own way your just trying to get converts to your way of thinking . JWs try to free people from the world, ex- JWs who picket on the whole anti-JW ticket are doing exactly the same.
Identifying 'cults' and then pointing out why your cult is better than their cult leads to:
1/ Hatred - I'm sure you've all met members of others faiths who were nasty at the door to you becasue of your faith - they ignored you completely.
2/ Extreme behaviour (on both sides) - like delivering leaflets (what the..), holding courses on how to stop such and such a cult and in an extreme example Waco where the govt. and the 'cultists' all did pretty stupid things.
3/ No chance of unifying.
I try to stay away from identifying any particular religion as sick and wrong - mind you those athiests... -
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Qcmbr
IthinkIsee - I followed your link to the BITE page.
LT - Are you just a bit p*ssed that I consider BAs a cult ? :P
I remember a small town where I had just baptised some people and the local born agains did a leaflet drop telling everyone what a cult we were and to stay the heaven away. It struck me as kind hearted on one hand, this desire to stop the lds scourge but then on the other hand:
What the frag where they doing wasting valuable money publicising us when they could have invited people to Christ instead?
Why post lots of lies as well(it wasn't even half truths this stuff was way off beam and could probably have been used in a slander case)? You have to question people's motives when they tell lies. If your going to rag on mormons its much easier if you stick to the truth there's plenty of meat for the 'concerned' christian to chew on.
If you do a quick scout of the official LDS website you'll find a notable lack of comparison charts, refs to why BAs, JWs, Islam, Bhuddism , Catholics etc.. are wrong in fact you'll just find our teachings.
Anti-Cult activities are like McDonalds advertising how poor Burger Kings Fries are. The reality is EVERY christian is in a cult they just don't like to think they are and like bullies in the playground bolster their own self esteem by picking on others and the harsh truth for those who do public anti- -
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Qcmbr
iThinkISee
with the exception of the spiritual parts of the list our schools fit in quite nicely to that cult model. -
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Prayer??? Real or just something we fool ourselves with!
by free2beme ini was thinking about this today and i found a interesting thought in my mind that i thought would be worth considering here.
i should start off by saying that i do not think prayers to god are answered, as it is like making a call to a wrong number.
however, i do think you can fool yourself into thinking they are, in the following way.. let's say you pray over and over asking for this and that and that.
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Qcmbr
I've said something similar before but here is my take on prayer:
Reason for prayer:
1/ Obedience - i.e. prayer is in and of itself a test of faith.
2/ To thank God - this is the part of prayer you wouldn't expect to get an answer for but is perhaps the most fundamental part.
3/ To ask for specific blessings:
i/ Those that are there but require the asking - such as Help in gaining faith, help to overcome an addiction etc..
ii/ Those that are there but require an action as well as the asking - i.e. 'Is the bible true?' Would also require some effort to read it?
iii/ The can I have ones which are often selfish (I'd like good weather tomorrow - unlikely to be answered unless there is some actual reason for them in some divine plan - so no - the Broncos will not win the Super Bowl due to your parayer)
iv/ The requests on behalf of others (Sickness, world peace, partner to 'see the light 'etc..) Which are likely to be answered if the individual(s) being addressed are also of a similar mindset (i.e. prayer isn't a way of forcing behaviour / environmental changes on others.)
4/ This is the biggie - the one 99% of the time I forget and I suspect all praying people have a struggle with this.. To find out the will of God rather than to present my shopping list. This is the one that requires real discipline, quiet, uncluttered thoughts and time - the meditation bit when we can find our path with divine inspiration. This is where understanding dawns and potentials are seen, opportunities are illustrated and dare I say it 'prophetic' events are presented (as opposed to the normal run of the mill daydreams about future possibilities.)
Now looking at this list there are two parts that seem to require an answer to confirm the viability of prayer:
3 and 4
If anyone's experience of prayer is like mine 4 gets neglected, 3i isn't used very often (many of us quite like our lifestyles and behaviour:), 3ii is used a fair amount but then the requisite faith (doing it) is normally lacking, 3iii is used constantly (often like a petulant child with a wish list for Santa) and then 3iv which is normally tagged on with sincere thought but no personal responsibilty (i.e. world peace would be nice but that's the job of world leaders)
Since at least two of the above(3i and 3ii) require action to get the answer and one(4)requires meditation then only 3iii would you expect to receive a direct response to without any personal effort and yet maybe this is the one that most of us would point to as the reason for prayer not working and being a bit of a joke.
Personally I've got answers mainly in two scenarios 4 and 3ii - when I asked for something , got off my butt the answer was normally found in the doing while the spiritual ones that make me a believer were found in the meditative 'what is Your will' prayers.