myelaine

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Posts by myelaine

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  30

  The Pagan Origins of the Memorial Observed by Jehovah’s Witnesses

  by David_Jay in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  “we don’t celebrate holidays because god doesn’t approve of any celebration that is rooted in pagan customs and manmade traditions.” (see here for a similar jw response.).

  if you were once an ex-jw like me, you have probably said something like this out in field service to someone who asked the question: why don’t you people celebrate holidays?

  as the witnesses' official website states in an faq about not celebrating easter:.

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  myelaine

  Wow David_Jay...

  you've been over quite a twisted path. It seems you're in a better place in your life now. I'm happy for you.
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  63

  We Pass the Bread and the Wine Just like in the Bible! But, why is forbidden to eat?

  by lusitano o tuga in

  1. social
  2. humour

  see what bridget azaz did!.

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pzbe5yo7uq4.

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  myelaine

  Thank you for being candid, waton. It's possible that neither of our respective beliefs are tangental to the discussion anyway.
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  63

  We Pass the Bread and the Wine Just like in the Bible! But, why is forbidden to eat?

  by lusitano o tuga in

  1. social
  2. humour

  see what bridget azaz did!.

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pzbe5yo7uq4.

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  myelaine

  I'm not sure what you mean? A passing reference to Passover in the account in Acts? If so, ALL of God's feasts were important and Passover/Feast of Unleavened Bread fell together in the calendar year so I don't know if the Passover would have been given prominence over the other. They were remembered together in the eyes of the nation. The disciples were jewish and had a jewish world view not a contemporary "christian" worldview (as modern christians consider Easter and Christmas huge in their world view) things have changed in the church a whack in the last 1900 years.

  ❤️
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  63

  We Pass the Bread and the Wine Just like in the Bible! But, why is forbidden to eat?

  by lusitano o tuga in

  1. social
  2. humour

  see what bridget azaz did!.

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pzbe5yo7uq4.

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  myelaine

  It is true that mainstream christianity has taken the pagan holiday "Easter" mentioned in Acts and commandeered it for the celebration of the resurrection of Christ BUT there is no biblical mandate to do so. I am somewhat conflicted about the Easter celebration, myself. The resurrection of the Lord is the most awesome thing to happen!!! but scripture AND Jesus teaches that the sacrifice is the event to be remembered. I give and accept grace where this is the concern :)

  xo
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  63

  We Pass the Bread and the Wine Just like in the Bible! But, why is forbidden to eat?

  by lusitano o tuga in

  1. social
  2. humour

  see what bridget azaz did!.

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pzbe5yo7uq4.

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  myelaine

  dear waton...

  I'm so glad you mentioned that!

  It turns out that in their effort to discard any whiff of mainstream christianity, the WTBTS fudged their personal "translation" from the KJ bible. Reading from the NWT we read the account in Acts 12:3 it says that Herod imprisoned Peter during the Days of Unleavened Bread (which falls AFTER Passover) and then in Acts 12:4 it says that Herod planned on releasing Peter to the people AFTER Passover. The KJ bible says Easter...not Passover. The reason for this is because it wasn't Passover that was celebrated, it was the pagan festival of Easter/Eastre godess of dawn (not to be confused with what mainstream christianity celebrates now as Easter. ie: the resurrection of Christ)

  So, Peter did not come upon the disciples celebrating Passover, because it was over...not because it wasn't celebrated any longer.

  love michelle
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  63

  We Pass the Bread and the Wine Just like in the Bible! But, why is forbidden to eat?

  by lusitano o tuga in

  1. social
  2. humour

  see what bridget azaz did!.

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pzbe5yo7uq4.

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  myelaine

  What I find most hypocritical of the WTBTS is their insistence that the apostasy began shortly after the death of the last apostle and yet they cling to some apostate teachings.

  There is evidence in the bible that the 1st century christians kept the torah just as Jesus and the apostles did including the 7th day sabbath. (If that had changed at all then there would have been some mention of it at the Jerusalem council but, there wasn't. There is biblical evidence that the Saturday Sabbath was kept.) In fact it was after the death of the apostles that the proto-Catholic Church decreed that the Sabbath instituted and sanctified by God would be, by their authority, changed to Sunday. Christians maintained the Saturday Sabbath until it became "uncomfortable" to be seen as showing any kind of Jewishness because of the persecution of the Jews by Rome. "At that time, Sunday was the rest day of the Roman Empire, whose religion was Mithraism, a form of sun worship. Since Sabbath observance is visible to others, some christians in the early second century sought to distance themselves from Judaism by observing a different day, thus 'blending in' to the society around them."

  Constantine, who was a sun worshipper, legalized christianity and made the first Sunday-keeping law in AD 313. He enforced this law in the now "christian" empire in AD 321. "On the venerable Day of the Sun let the magistrates and people residing in the cities rest, and let all workshops be closed." (Codex Justinianus 3.12.3, trans. Philip Schaff, History of the Christian Church, 5th ed. (New York 1905), 3:380, note 1.) the Sunday law was confirmed at the Council of Laodicea in AD 364.

  In their OWN Passover dogma as well as their continued adherence to apostate Sunday worship they certainly DO make the word of God void by their traditions of men. Boo...
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  63

  We Pass the Bread and the Wine Just like in the Bible! But, why is forbidden to eat?

  by lusitano o tuga in

  1. social
  2. humour

  see what bridget azaz did!.

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pzbe5yo7uq4.

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  myelaine

  This is the order of the Passover Seder and the story behind why the biblical text shows Jesus may not have partaken of ONE of the cups of wine. His disciples wouldn't have partaken of THAT cup either. Jesus and His disciples would have observed the Passover according to the custom of that day which included a "Cup" that was not mentioned in the OT texts but is spoken of in ancient Jewish texts that instruct that a cup that was to be drunk from 4 times. (Pesahim 10:1..."On the eve of Passover from close to the time of the afternoon offering, on one must eat until nightfall. Even the poorest person in Israel must not eat on the night of Passover unless he reclines. And they must give him no fewer than four cups of wine, even if he receives relief from the charity plate"

  The Last Supper

  At evening Jesus gathered with His disciples and reclined at the table. He said, "I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer." Luke 22:15.
  

  The Seder began as usual with the blessing of the First Cup of Sanctification. This cup has nothing to do with earthly or heavenly hopes.

  everything appeared to be in order as they moved on to the blessing of the Second Cup of Remembrance and recounted the Passover Story referred to as the Haggadah. This cup has nothing to do with earthly or heavenly hopes.

  After the meal

  Jesus continues to the blessing for the Unleavened Bread, but as He breaks it and passes it to His disciples and says,"This bread is My body which is given for you, do this in remembrance of Me." Luke 22:19. This bread has nothing to do with earthly or heavenly hopes.

  They may have reminisced of His earlier mysterious teachings as they heard these words before. "I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever. This bread is My flesh, which I will give for the life of the world." John 6:51.

  Then He lifted the Third Cup of Redemption, and after the blessing He said, "This is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins." Matthew 26:28.

  Everyone who celebrated the Passover took the Third Cup of Redemption. However, Jesus took this opportunity to institute a new covenant; a covenant of grace and salvation because the breaking of the old covenant of Redemption by Israel would incur a "Cup of Wrath and Judgement." (Jeremiah 31:32-34). This cup has nothing to do with earthly or heavenly hopes.

  The Fourth Cup of Praise was the cup they were not to drink until Elijah returned under the usual circumstances but Jesus had already told them John the Baptist was the Elijah to come and the text doesn't say that the disciples partook of this cup or not. It is also unclear whether Jesus partook of it or not either as His statement, "I will not drink again from this fruit of the vine until the day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God." (Mark 14:25) could have been made after drinking from the fourth cup. Either way it has nothing to do with earthly or heavenly hopes.

  The disciples were not yet able to understand everything Jesus was saying to them (John 16:17) but instead of questioning they proceeded on to the regular order of Seder and began singing the Psalms of Praise.

  The Passover Meal is eaten in the evening and is directly followed by the Feast of Unleavened Bread.
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  45

  Official Increase in the Number of Jehovah's Witnesses You Shouldn't Trust

  by David_Jay in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  reports are coming from witnesses that, once again, the number of memorial partakers has risen considerably this past year, 2016. while confirmation is still to come on the exact numbers, the current explanations given for this increase surely causes a dilemma.. imagine the roman catholic church publishing each year the number of members who it felt were mistaken about what they believed in, that this same number of members was likely suffering from problems such as pride or even mental disorders or something along this line.

  this number, by the way, was in the thousands too and growing annually.

  what would you conclude, therefore about the catholic church and its admission?.

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  myelaine

  Someone is officially declared a saint in the RCC if miracles are attested to them. When an ordinary person dies they go to join all the saints that have gone before them, ie: ordinary people/saints (Similar in some ways to the JW 2 class system?)

  the bible teaches that the dead know nothing (about what's presently going on in this realm) and therefore can't help us AND that we are not supposed to pray to or try to make contact in any way with departed familiar spirits. It seems that the teachings of both the WTBTS and the RCC regarding this aspect of the other realm are by guess and by golly...in fact and unfortunately, traditions of men that have made void the word of God.
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  45

  Official Increase in the Number of Jehovah's Witnesses You Shouldn't Trust

  by David_Jay in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  reports are coming from witnesses that, once again, the number of memorial partakers has risen considerably this past year, 2016. while confirmation is still to come on the exact numbers, the current explanations given for this increase surely causes a dilemma.. imagine the roman catholic church publishing each year the number of members who it felt were mistaken about what they believed in, that this same number of members was likely suffering from problems such as pride or even mental disorders or something along this line.

  this number, by the way, was in the thousands too and growing annually.

  what would you conclude, therefore about the catholic church and its admission?.

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  myelaine

  dear prologos...

  you asked, "Talking of Catholics, do they not have saints too? not just all those partaking of communion, but a special class guaranteed to be in heaven? Working in our behalf,"...

  I THINK that the catholic church teaches that once a person dies they can no longer help those on earth. It is those left on earth that can help the departed by asking God to remember their life, accept them into His kingdom and grant them eternal life. It is the continuation of prayer, communion mass and faithfulness from one generation to the next that is the storehouse from which those on earth can draw from (that is why God is asked to remember them)...there is nothing to be drawn from them, ie. working on our behalf, once they are departed. That's what I've gathered from many a ukrainian catholic "divine liturgy of christian burial" and "homily" anyway.
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  8

  A Change in Weather

  by compound complex in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  continual rain, at long last, has ended another typically hot and dry summer, one that gave every appearance of extending far into a protracted indian summer.

  yet, october was unusually wet.

  this thanksgiving week promises daily rain.. an unforeseen sadness is creeping gradually, insidiously into the fabric of my life.

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  myelaine

  dear CoCo...

  Genesis 9:14-15

  xo