hmike

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Posts by hmike

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  6

  Stumper for Jehovah's Witness.....what does Son of God really mean?

  by A-Team in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  (bible believers only please)

  a jw kept on asking me why do i think jesus was god when the bible says he is the son of god?

  the answer to that really laid into the word "son".

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  hmike

  Following up on Joseph's reply, the Jews would have been fully aware of Psalm 2, and its references to the Son of God:

  Psalm 2

  PS 2:1 Why do the nations conspire

  and the peoples plot in vain?

  PS 2:2 The kings of the earth take their stand

  and the rulers gather together

  against the LORD

  and against his Anointed One. (=Messiah)

  PS 2:3 "Let us break their chains," they say,

  "and throw off their fetters."

  PS 2:4 The One enthroned in heaven laughs;

  the Lord scoffs at them.

  PS 2:5 Then he rebukes them in his anger

  and terrifies them in his wrath, saying,

  PS 2:6 "I have installed my King

  on Zion, my holy hill."

  PS 2:7 I will proclaim the decree of the LORD:

  He said to me, "You are my Son;

  today I have become your Father.

  PS 2:8 Ask of me,

  and I will make the nations your inheritance,

  the ends of the earth your possession.

  PS 2:9 You will rule them with an iron scepter;

  you will dash them to pieces like pottery."

  PS 2:10 Therefore, you kings, be wise;

  be warned, you rulers of the earth.

  PS 2:11 Serve the LORD with fear

  and rejoice with trembling.

  PS 2:12 Kiss the Son, (remember the sinful woman of Luke 7:36-50?) lest he be angry

  and you be destroyed in your way,

  for his wrath can flare up in a moment.

  Blessed are all who take refuge in him.

  For the NT hearers/readers, the OT references to Son of God, Son of Man (Dan. 7:13-14, and various references in I Enoch), Messiah, Son of David, and King of Israel were attributed to Jesus.
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  10

  I went to church for the FIRST time...

  by zeroday in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i was out in california visiting the folks when my father and his wife invited me to their church for sunday services...well being out of the borg for 4 years and a devote atheist i said "why not"... they go to a nondenominational foursquare church...i first asked if this was snake night to my suprise no... so off i went...the service started with a christian rock band playing christian rock for about half an hour (not bad actually) everyone either standing or kneeling with outstreached hands the whole time...then the pastor got up and began his sermon titled:.

  "the right way to die" ok i'm getting a little weirded out here and expect a punch bowl of koolaid to appear at anytime now... not so it was about getting right with god at the time of our death to meet the lord in heaven...all in all a very nice service and very nice people but i did not get the "tap on the shoulder" i was expecting i guess it's for the believing only....

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  hmike

  I did not get the "tap on the shoulder" I was expecting I guess it's for the believing only...

  Could be a seed was planted...
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  65

  KNOWING THE DIFFERENCE between what is real and what isn't.

  by Terry in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  the reality of our life stands in stark contrast to the imagined.. we can imagine whatever we like.

  but, life intrudes.

  and, by life--i mean the unavoidably real events we cannot wish away.. each of us is capable of avoiding unpleasant thoughts.

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  hmike

  Terry, I would agree with about 90% of your opening post. To be fair, everything should be subject to skepticism, perhaps even skepticism itself.
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  5

  Right Brain or Left Brain = Nonsense?

  by TD in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  ....that's the opinion of dr. steven novella, neurologist at yale university school of medicine.

  http://www.theness.com/neurologicablog/index.php?p=27.

  specifically in reference to the spinning dancer illusion, he said:.

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  hmike

  Some other research I've read agrees that this Left/Right distinction is not so definite, but this is one of those areas of dispute in the field of brain studies.
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  22

  The Kingdom Of The Cults....

  by lovelylil in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  by walter martin.

  anyone read this?

  my used copy from amazon just came today.

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  hmike

  VM44,

  Thanks for the link to waltermartin.com. It's good to see his work has been sustained by his daughter and family.
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  22

  The Kingdom Of The Cults....

  by lovelylil in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  by walter martin.

  anyone read this?

  my used copy from amazon just came today.

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  hmike

  The Mormons do not like "Dr" Walter Martin!

  A lot of groups didn't like Dr. Martin. Let's see...LDS, JW, Worldwide Church of God (under Herbert W. Armstrong), Eastern religions and their
  Western transplant New Age groups, on and on. He didn't cut them any slack. He especially targeted LDS and JW because they were the large and influential, and because they misrepresented the Bible's teachings with their mishandling of the texts, and with the teachings in their supplementary books.
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  22

  The Kingdom Of The Cults....

  by lovelylil in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  by walter martin.

  anyone read this?

  my used copy from amazon just came today.

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  hmike

  I often listened to Dr. Martin's radio program, The Bible Answer Man, and I got to see him several times at Melodyland Christian Center and other places. I enjoyed listening to him immensely. He did have kind of a "rough edge" to him—sometimes he seemed harsh in the way he treated objections—probably acquired from all those years of debating about every belief under the sun. He could tell you exactly why you were wrong. I haven't paid attention to CRI since his passing as they have gone in directions he wouldn't have approved of, and they have pretty much dropped him from their heritage.

  Dr. Martin also wrote Jehovah of the Watchtower, probably not available anymore.
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  41

  The Right Brain vs Left Brain test

  by JH in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  the right brain vs left brain test ... do you see the dancer turning clockwise or counter-clockwise?.

  http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,22535838-5012895,00.html.

  at first i saw her turn clockwise, then counter clockwise.......

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  hmike

  The direction changes for me if I focus on the shadow of the landing foot.

  Having taken several RB/LB tests, I come out in the range from 50/50 to 60-left/40-right. I have interests and tendencies on both sides. Sometimes, the two can be in conflict.

  Some recent research suggests the separation of operations into LEFT/RIGHT may not be as well-established as had been believed.
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  71

  ARE YOU PRO-UNION OR ANTI-UNION?

  by Mary in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  would you rather work in a unionized or non-unionized environment?

  the place where i work recently voted 'no', we don't want a union in here (after being harassed by a very large union for the last 5 years).

  there were some who voted 'yes', but the majority of us voted 'no' and those that were pro-union are quite pissed off that the rest of us 'fail to see the light'.

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  hmike

  I've gone just the opposite way of ferret, who posted earlier.

  When I was young and naive about such things, I was anti-union. I thought unions just interfered with productivity and protected the lazy. The way I saw it, employers were doing their workers a favor by providing a job, and if the employee didn't like the work, he or she could just go somewhere else. Now that I've been in the workforce some 35 years, because of what I've seen and experienced, I'm about as pro-union as one can get. I don't begrudge anyone whatever they can legally and ethically get. Several years ago, I took a class in supervision, but I realized I was so biased that I could never work in supervision or management because in any dispute, I would probably side with the employee against management.

  Next time you see a union worker who seems lazy, slack, or rude, here’s something to consider: many times, these workers didn’t start out that way. Years of meaningless, unfulfilling work, possibly dealing with rude customers, with little or no opportunity for advancement, getting no respect for their input, no meaningful recognition, no encouragement, day after day, year after year, creates an attitude of "Why should I bother? I'll just do only what I have to do to keep getting a paycheck." Unions help create specific job duties to protect workers from being told to do something they are not qualified or trained to do, or that is worth more than they are getting paid. But that also prevents the worker from expanding his experience and value. Also, because union workers generally earn higher wages and better benefits, they become "trapped" in the job they don’t like because they can’t afford to get out.

  Economics, outsourcing, and manufacturing out of the country has reduced union power quite a bit. Companies cry they can't afford the higher wages and benefits.

  Once in a while, you find a company that makes its employees' welfare a concern. That's the way it should be.
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  16

  Stephen Hawking

  by lisavegas420 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  what's the story on him?

  i've read some of his bio, but i can't figure out how he got to be popular.

  he's even had at least two guest appearance on the simpson's.

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  hmike

  Stephen Hawking may be one of the greatest scientific minds of all time. The producers of Star Trek: The Next Generation thought enough of him to have Data create a holodeck program where he could play poker with Einstein, Newton, and Hawking.

  Discovery Channel, PBS, and other educational networks present shows about him on occasion. One I saw recently showed that in a poll among his contemporaries as to who the greatest physicists of the last century were, Hawking finished about 20th on the list. Apparently, his contributions to the field are not seen as that significant by his colleagues.

  Hawking has had ALS for something like 45 years. Amazing, considering he had been given two years to live when he was diagnosed. He has been near death on at least a couple of occasions. Even though he has the benefit of the best care available, I wonder if his survival has something to do with his intellect.

  Last year, he got the chance to experience weightlessness in space, and is scheduled to go up again next year.

  What we don't hear much about is the soap-opera-type personal life he has had—his marriage to a Christian in his youth, the stress she experienced caring for him, her involvement with another man (apparently sanctioned by Hawking), her charges that he was a tyrant and manipulator, the divorce, his marriage to his nurse, charges of neglect and abuse, on and on.

  Unable to write, he has had to do all calculations in his head. His electronic speech is very slow and tedious. He has others to help him with his work, as he is totally dependent. What would his life have been like if he had been healthy?