our special assembly day at bristol assembly hall has just finished.
as i've said before in october 07 http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/7/144194/1.ashx regarding the last two day assembly weekend.
the numbers are still down.
You can also wait until you get home and make your donation on the evil Internet -
This is a joke right?
The JWs I talk to always emphasize how the WTS does not actively solicit donations. They even look down their noses at mainstream churches for passing collection plates. Have they always made requests for money?
i received an email from a sister-undercover -apostate saying someone had posted on her anti-jw group that there was a boe dated march 1, 2008 about local kh financial accounts and the wts.. my fading doesn't always let me log-on much and i couldn't find anything under "boe letter" with last month search tool.
has this been discussed?
i stopped by the kh today and checked the board and we had nothing posted (not really expecting to see it posted either).. here is the cut/paste of her email to me:.
I don't think the idea of pooling their $$$ together to get more interest is any type of scandal or devious plot. Any organization would draw the same conclusion. That said, there may be the motive to cover shortfall in income, but again nothing really unusal about that. Anybody in the same fix would do the same.
in bite me's recent post about the virgin birth i raised some serious questions which make us doubt that jesus was conceived by gods holy spirit.
my research over the last few years, since leaving jw's has led me to believe jesus was just a ordinary man, and to me that makes his sacrifice even more powerful.
this post raises similar questions and challenges what we actually know about john the baptist and the part he played in jesus' life.. in islam, john the baptist and jesus are as important as one another and in arabic, the language of the qur'an, john is known as yahya the infinite.
there has not been raised up anyone greater than John the Baptist....and if you want to accept it, he himself is Elijah who is destined to come. (matthew 11:2-14)
Stop reading the New World Translation and get yourself a regular Bible. That alone would clear up a whole lot. Let's look at Matthew 11:14 in a few regular translations:
NASB - 14 "And if you are willing to accept it, John himself is Elijah who was to come.
NIV - 14 And if you are willing to accept it, he is the Elijah who was to come.
KJV - 14 And if ye will receive it, this is Elias, which was for to come.
NLT - 14 And if you are willing to accept what I say, he is Elijah, the one the prophets said would come.
You see, John The Baptist (Elijah) was prophesied about in the OT. (Malachi 3:1, Matthew 11:10). So Matthew 11:14 is confirming that John The Baptist was in fact the prophesied return of Elijah.
a couple of jw friends came yo visit us today and we had dinner together.. at some stage in the conversation, i said that i do understand that an increasing number of jws from developing countries take emblems at memorials because, if we consider that europe and the us compose, together, about 700 million people, there is no good reason why nearly the whole lot of the little flock should be chosen from one tenth of humankind.
it is therefore all too normal that jws from third world counties think that they should have their fair share since jehovah id not partial.
the husband listened attentively and agreed but his wife probably found that we were engaging on a slippery ground and she shortened the visit.
I would like to add that the usual interpretation of "Jesus, the first fruits" is that Jesus was the 1st to be raised from the grave eternally, and transformed from mortal to immortal. (1 Cor. 15:12-58)firstfruits...the word is plural and implies a gathering (the 144,000)
Tula,
You seem to infer that the firstfruits are the 144 000. Do you mean that they lived and have been resurrected (as spiritual beings I suppose) in the span of time between Jesus' stay on earth and his second coming ? Why not, after all, but there's a flaw : I checked with a couple of different versions of the Bible, (BibleGateway.com), not one of them let the reader believe that the firstfruits stand for the anointed disciples, they all read plainly that the firstfruits represent Jesus.What is this denomination that teaches something which seems to be so obviously at odd with the biblical text ?
http://www.suntimes.com/entertainment/books/603143,jacobs101407.article.
within the first months of trying to live by the rules of the bible, a.j.
jacobs started carrying around a portable seat so as not to sit after unclean women (leviticus 15:20).
It's a good thing that Jesus is the one time sacrafice to deliver us from that bondage.
so the bible speaks of how multiple languages came to be in babylon with the tower of babel, you all know the story.
ok so thats the bibles view on languages but what about races?
how are some people light skin others dark?
I have yet another totally different take on the question of race: There. Is. No. Such. Thing.
The concept of race is something invented by ignorant ancient people who thought that human beings who looked different than themselves belonged to a different species.
In reality, isn't this myth of "racial differences" no more than a bit more melanin or a different eye/skin color? I doubt there's a debate about how blue-eyed babies born to brown-eyed parents have mutated.
I know, I know....you're going to say that people of the same race share facial features too. OK, but why attribute that to race? If they have ancestors in common, why should it be attributed to anything but being a blood relative, albeit a distant relative?
I have to agree with you 100%. In fact, the differences between human genes is less than .1%.
so the bible speaks of how multiple languages came to be in babylon with the tower of babel, you all know the story.
ok so thats the bibles view on languages but what about races?
how are some people light skin others dark?
Genetic diversity is a part of our design.
Adam and Eve probably looked like very good-looking Hebrews (educated guess), but they carried the genetic diversity sufficient for all types of skin tones, hair types, etc.
For example: the different breeds of dogs come about through crossbreeding followed by generations of inbreeding, to bring out the desired characteristics that are locked within the genetic code.
That's the point I was trying to make. Also, looking at it from funkyDerek's point of view, we would have to consider the generations between Adam and Noah AND the generations between Noah and Nimrod. At any rate, I believe that all the genetic codes were created within Adam and Eve and have been passed down through the generations.
so the bible speaks of how multiple languages came to be in babylon with the tower of babel, you all know the story.
ok so thats the bibles view on languages but what about races?
how are some people light skin others dark?
That's a good question. Consider Noah and his sons. They were 1 family and within them were all the various genes that we humans have today. At the time of the Tower of Babel, God scattered the various people according to the language He gave them. Each language group migrated to different parts of the world, which I believe was one large mass at that time, but that's a different discussion. Anyway, you get a different mix of dominant genes and over time, with intermarriage between these smaller groups, the dominate genes prevail until you get the various races we have today. Add to that, adaptations to the various environments and you will get additional differences accordingly.
can someone help me out here, i have been going back and forth with the jw study, regarding 586/607, from reading what has been written here and visiting the library.. i have been able to present what i understand.
now he is saying that the jw also were able to locate the date for the fall of jerusalem based on the kings of isreal.
i serious doubt it, he should me the list of jews kings in the "insight on the scriptures" but could tell me how they arrived at the start date for the 1st king.
The Bible gives specific lengths of time for the reigns of the Biblical kings, but does not give calendar dates. They didn't have calendars back then and measured time by things like the number of full moons and how long kings held their throne. However, secular historians have pretty much determined exact dates for the reigns of the Biblical kings from ancient cuneforms that have detailed information about who reigned during certain events and the position of astrological objects, like stars and planets in the sky.
As for the WTS, their dates are completely bogus. Even if you take their starting date of 539 BC, and add of the lengths of the kings' reigns based on the Biblical dates, you don't come up with 607 BC.
Here is some info about the WTS' dates:
http://www.reexamine.org/quotes/607bce-table.htm
http://www.reexamine.org/quotes/607bce.htm
http://www.disfellowshipped.org/607eng.htm
http://www.livius.org/ba-bd/babylon/babylonian_empire.html ** (I believe that the WTS had quoted (or misquoted) a source from this site to try to support their bogus dates. I'll see if I find that info for you).
well i did it today - having said to myself all week i would not go to a church this sunday i decided to go - it became a very moving experience for someone who does not normally get "moved"!.
after removing myself from the jws over the last few years i have started to attend a local church (nazerene - as close to non denominational as we have around here) - i stay un involved with any day to day activities just attend services 2/3 times a month - always have avoided any communion services - till today - having sat quietly by as most in attendance filed through for the wine/bread i felt moved to partake myself - i came to see that jesus had died for me and i can acknowledge this by taking the symbols - after over 30 years of being excluded/not allowed to even think of this involving me - i cried as i dipped my 1/2 inch circle of bread into the glass - returned to my seat and quietly wept - i felt so happy and yet sad too - .
i really cannot explain how i feel now today but wanted to share my days event - i am in a good place today but when things happen as today i really see the negative effects the jws had on our lives - their going beyond the written word dictating a persons daily choices is beyond excuse -.
Hats off to you Patient!!! That's a really big step in the right direction.
