My favorite is Joel Osteen. www.joelosteen.com He is not fire and brimstone, rather preaches the good news of the bible. He is refreshingly positive, and proclaims faith and grace, not duty and field service!
POs Son
JoinedPosts by POs Son
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34
Watched TV evangelists for the first time today
by shopaholic ini was flipping through the channels while doing cardio and i decided to hear what a couple of these people had to say.
while i've determined that i'm agnostic, this one guy was pretty good...he was practical and funny.
he made the bible seem more like a good self-help book than a "book laws to be obeyed or else you'll die".
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Can somebody make a copy of this video??
by horrible life inhttp://www.jw-media.org/vnr/2122827332/717263.htm.
can somebody make a copy of this?
is it legal to put on you tube with an introduction?
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POs Son
Anyone notice the little baby angel picture behind the fine doctor? Oh, and I am changing my first name to Doctor.
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JW's, ordainment, mandatory reporting, and culpability....
by avishai induring the vietnam war, the jw's were insistent on stating that pioneers were "clergy" and i don't think they've ever revised that.
now, many states have included "clergy" as mandatory reporters in cases of child abuse, so in the case of jw's, culpability for non-reporting would apply to pioneers (and possibly publishers) as well as elders.
interesting, no?.
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POs Son
Ministers are not ordained or licensed by the civil authorities in the USA. In many jurisdictions, there is a "permit" or "license" to perform weddings which is applied for and generally not denied except for gross violation. (Applying under the Church of McDonalds).
Ministers or clergy are considered "valid" if they are the leader of their own church or religious society. In many cases, a business card, ID card, letter from the board of deacons or directors is all that is needed to demonstrate the capacity. In my home state, the minister need not demonstrate his credentials, rather simply submit the marriage papers after the ceremony. Additionally, weddings may be performed by a "Justice of the Peace", judge, and several other civil officers.
The difference between "ordination" and "licensed minister" are significant. Ordination is the calling one feels from god to act as a minister. Often this is confirmed by letters, a ceremony or similar outward demonstration of this calling. "Licensing" is an act performed by a church body to authorize an Ordained Minister to perform duties of the ministry in accordance with the church rules. For example, the Anglican Church can license a person to act as a Anglican minister, and may revoke that license as it sees fit. The person who was licensed may certainly continue to feel the calling of a minister long after a license is revoked, but may only act on his own, not as a representative of the Anglican Church.
As for titles, the government does not recognize specific titles, but rather examines the actual work of each person or position. Also, they only do this when absolutely necessary, as most legal entities will keep far away from interfering in religious activity. A court would simply look to see that baptized JWs do not take an active part in what is customarily considered a "minister's" duties, performing weddings, funerals, religious rites, teaching, leading, administration of church matters. We could just as easily name the elders "Grandest Poobah's of the Watchtower" and each member "Ordained Minister of the Watchtower" and it would not change either person's standing in the eye of the law.
Want to become an "ordained minister"? Visit www.ULChq.org The Universal Life Church will give you a legal ordination certificate for free. It can be a joke, or it can confirm your real desire to answer the calling. It may also be a quick way to skirt some legal regulation on weddings. Note also that in some states, any person may apply for a temporary license from the state as a "Commissioner of Marriage" or similar title to perform one wedding in a civil capacity. Further, in Maine and Florida, a Notary Public may legally solemnize marriage.
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JW response to NBC news contradicts their support of Michael Porter
by truthseeker inhttp://www.jw-media.org/.
top storyresponse to nbc.
for the sake of the victims in these cases, we are pleased that a settlement has been reached.
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POs Son
Last I recall, all baptized members are "ordained ministers", since JW's do not have a clergy class. Yes??
This means that while only "11 elders were sued", numerous others who are ministers may have been sued or more importantly, charged, arrested or validly accused of abuse. The cover-up continues.
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USA parts not worth visiting
by greendawn infor a tourist that intends to visit the usa and engage in travelling around and sightseeing, what places in that country would you advise will be a waste of time to visit?
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POs Son
This really is an amazing thread! What I have learned from my limited travel of most of this fine nation is that every area has something amazing to look at. I am a New Englander, and really love it here. Honestly, when we choose to vacation, we stay around here. New Hampshire, Maine and Vermont are wonderful scenic areas with enough forest and mountains to satisfy the outdoors-y types, and enough metro areas to find all the modern amenities of life.
I am not a fan of New Jersey or Delaware, and New York city is "amazing", but living just a couple hours away, I have found it to be more of a hassle than anything. NYC and LA are *NOT* the real America. They are extremes in politics, business, capitalism and tourism. The REAL America is Montpelier, Vermont, Boston, Mass, Route 66, the Great Plains (for all you who think flat land is dull, come visit where we have so many trees that sunrise and sunset are half an hour off from your area due to the shrunk skyline).
Along with the other posters, I advise that you localize your trip. You can spend 2 weeks in an area with a car and do very well. Do NOT rely on our public transport for inter-city travel. Amtrak is an expensive, poor performing government entity that is nothing like its Euro cousins. The US is made by and for the automobile...many families have more cars than they have people. Gasoline is half the price of Euro-Petrol, but you will no doubt end up in a larger vehicle than you are used to at home, and will drive longer distances to go places. On a typical one-week jaunt to northern New Hampshire, we usually drive 900-1000 miles.
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Whats under The Scotsman's kilt??????
by The Scotsman inhttp://www.greatscotshop.com/images/cardgreatscotkilt.gif.
feeling a bit cheeky!!!
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POs Son
I always thought the proper question was: "What is worn under a Scotsman's kilt??" to which the Scotsman replies "Why, nothing, its all in good working order!"
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Da- Da- Dit- Da (2 longs a short and a long)
by Gregor inalso expressed as ___ ___ _ ___ morse code for the letter q. when you hear a distant train whistle make this series of sounds it means it is approaching a crossing.. this tradition goes back to the days of queen victoria when it literally meant "the queen approaches, clear the way".
thought you might find this of interest.
it is the kind of information you can use in your everyday life..
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POs Son
On Nokia mobile phone the SMS tone (short message service) is dit dit dit - dah dah- dit dit dit, translating to "SMS" (... -- ...)
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old pink songbook / pamphlet style one
by monophonic inanyone have one of the old pink songbooks?.
or know how much they pop up for on ebay?.
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POs Son
I recall when they switched to the Brown songbook, "Sing Praises...", the song numbers were given from BOTH the pink and brown book, for those who had not yet purchased the new one. For some time, they were limited to songs that were found in both books.
I still have my large format Brown book, along with red pleather slip-cover from Ireland. Im not sure why I kept that after all these years. I even got the CD's of the music years after leaving, telling myself that they were "just good music". I think that the tunes reminded me of some of the good times, not the lies.
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POs Son
I remember, I had worked the late shift night before, so was sleeping in late. My mother called to tell me that the first plane hit, so I went to my computer room, turned on the TV, AM radio to news channel, and fired up the police-scanner radio. Living just 60 miles out of NYC, I was able to hear the fire department radio calls live, it was chaos.
The two most startling moments were (1) seeing CBS TV black out when the second tower got hit, and hearing the mayday calls from trapped firefighters over the radio.
Looks like Bin Laden's folks are in high gear again.... keep your head down and your powder dry!
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Whats the funniest thing you've ever seen happen in the KH?
by shell69 ini remember being a kid and we didnt have the fancy fabric seats, they were plastic stackable chairs all set out in the usual lines.. an elderly bro, rather rotund, farted, the noise so loud and thundering against the plastic seat!
or the time when i must have been about 7, my dad brought his bible study family to their first ever meeting, i had to sit on mums knee.
i recall giving the daughter of the new family a very vigorous v sign during the meeting.
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POs Son
We saw Smurfs running down the aisle at the hall once.