whyizit

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Posts by whyizit

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  26

  What Does Being Spiritual Mean To You?

  by sweet pea in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  right now, to me being spiritual is all about being led by your inner spirit and includes .

  1. being in tune with the goodness within and treating people how you would like to be treated.

  2. being in tune with nature and appreciating the beauty and complexity of the universe.

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  whyizit

  I believe much the same as you.

  Spirituality recognizes that there is a world that is invisible to us and there are powers that we cannot see at work. There are also different types of spirtuality. The type that wishes to decieve and do harm, and the type that wishes to do only good and does so without any deciept whatsoever.

  The type of spiritual person I long to be is the type that manifests the Holy Spirit in the sense of Gal. 5:16 and Gal. 5:25. (The fruit of the Spirit, in my own way.)

  It isn't a steadfast condition. It is something that must be maintained. If you flounder in your spiritual life, you will lose something of it. You can get it back, but as with anything, it takes time and obedience. You have to be willing to pursue it. It's very easy to get side-tracked. That is something I struggle with.

  I take my lead from reading about Jesus. I see in the Bible that He was a Spiritual person. He was NOT religious at all. (See how He reacted to the Pharisees!)

  MY favorite shirt has emblazoned on the front: "Having a religion is against my relationship."

  Following my spiritual instincts, rather than religious rules has truly made me a different and better person.
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  89

  Bums-----What Do You Think of Them?

  by minimus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  have an opinion??

  ?

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  whyizit

  Interesting topic.

  Not long ago there was a talk show that dedicated an hour to a guy that lived on the streets, no vices (drugs or the like), and they gave him $100,000. Within a matter of a few months, he was right back on the streets. He blew it all.

  I think that many who live on the streets, figure that is their lot in life. They are comfortable in their dicomfort. If that makes sense.

  I had a family member who never wanted anything beyond the very basics. A roof over the head, something to eat once a day. That's it! Heating, A/C, a car, even hot water.... was a non-issue. This person was fairly happy too. Lots of people called them a bum, but if they had a dime, they would gladly give it to someone they thought needed it more.

  As long as they don't try to harm anyone, I figure they have a right to live how they see fit. I think they have sharp survival instincts. Smarter than we give them credit for. Efficient living. They don't even get Govt. checks, because they don't have addresses. Grateful for whatever good fortune comes their way daily. If none does today, well, tomorrow is another day!
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  7

  Kingdom Ministry Sept, Holy Spirit, 144,000

  by KW13 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i put all this to my mum yesterday and she didnt like it, she didnt like the thought i got material before the fds shared it, i think she thought this material was created a bit nearer to the time of it being needed, food at the proper time and everything and not that it was sat waiting to be given.. anyway we also chatted about the holy spirit and how the jw's are denied what it could potentially do for them, well she said its abilties arent around today.... i asked about the society and asked if it was a prophet she said yes.

  i then showed her the scripture that showes the gifts of the sprit 1 corinthians 12...prophecy is one of them, so then i asked her what else might still work if prophecy does.

  it showed from that scripture that all the gifts of the spirit that show themselves are equally as important in the eye of god bla bla bla and wow she was stunned.... in the end she resorted to twisting scripture, because as we got onto how the sprit isnt an active force but a real thing she used verse 6 to prove that apparently it was his active force it says god does all these things in men...wtf?.

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  whyizit

  How could there be any openings left when Russell came on the scene in 1880? The book of Acts mentions at least 100,000 saved, and this was the BEGINNING of Christianity!

  Acts 2:41- 2,000

  Acts 2:47- daily saved

  Acts 4:4- 5,000

  Acts 9:42; 17:12, 19:18 - Many

  Acts 13:48- as many as were ordained to eternal life believed

  Acts 21:20- many ten thousands [lit. myriads] NWT (large ref. edition) footnote: tens of thousands *A very large number of both physical and spiritual Jews.

  The Finished Mystery 1917, says there were 861,000 martyrs. Surely a great number of these would have been in the 144,000, wouldn't they?

  If she tries to use the schpeel about the Bible saying there will be a falling away, point out that the Bible says the falling away happens in the END times. JWs claim we are living in the END times NOW. In order to fall away, they must have something to fall away from in the first place.

  Another thing I would point out: The WTS taught that the 144,000 number was closed at 1935. Just about everything practiced by JWs of that time is now considered pagan. (Voting, war, observing holidays, birthdays, etc..., smoking, blood transfusions, no proper name for God, no proper oragnization, Jesus on the cross, worshipped Jesus, believed ALL JWs go to heaven, Christ's return was in 1874, and so on.) Why would God choose people with such pagan beliefs to live and reign with Him?! If the light is getting brighter, why wouldn't He wait until the very end and choose those with the purest doctrines and practices?

  That's a few of the things I would ask about.
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  12

  A Slobering Sentimentalist I Am!!!

  by AK - Jeff in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  in reviewing some letters that i sent in the months following my official da from the cult, i came across this one, an important one, perhaps the most important one to me at the time.

  six months ago i sent it - but it was the culmination of 2 years of rewrites - still not particularly well written i suppose.

  the addressee was my long-time confidant and best-friend, who happens to be my cousin.

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  whyizit

  The paragraph Open Mind highlighted is wonderful!

  I'm saving it and putting it on a postcard. Sending it to my friend. Maybe it will make her think!

  Thanks, Jeff!
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  15

  Does Anyone Hate Titles?

  by choosing life in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  no, i mean detest titles.

  the borg.

  experience has left me with a revulsion to titles.

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  whyizit

  Can't stand titles! I associate them with social climbers, which annoy me to no end.

  I currently have a "friend" (I use that term loosely) who is a big time social climber. We are polar opposites on every issue and I try to avoid her at all costs, but occasionally I get roped in to spending time with her. I know that if it wasn't for some of the wealthy friends I have, she wouldn't have anything to do with me.

  She wants to butt kiss my $$$ buddies so bad, but they know a phony when they see one. She's not the only one who wants to rub elbows with them because of their social status. Which they find obnoxious. They like genuine people.

  I must be as frustrating to her, as she is to me. I'm not getting her into the loop. Poetic justice? :0)
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  18

  Has Anyone Ever Refused To Turn In Their Elder Manual ???? What Happened??

  by Lady Liberty in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  hello friends,.

  inlight of the new post from elsewhere regarding the elders manual, it got me wondering what the elder body would do if a elder refused to turn in their manual.

  i suppose there isn't alot they could do, but has it ever happened to any of you??

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  whyizit

  Whatever you do, PLEASE do not give them ANY of this stuff back! And, if you happen upon older literature, donate it to Free Minds, or another group that helps people to come out of the WTS.

  If you don't want to do that, then put it for sale on ebay! I have bought a lot of great old WTS books and magazines from ebay, and they have been great resources for reaching current JWs.
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  70

  For Christians: Grace vs. Forgiveness

  by AuldSoul in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i have been trying to sort this out scripturally, and would like to get input from christians on how these two concepts differ and/or overlap.

  please be liberal with scriptures to support statements.

  i think there may be others who are trying to figure this out for themselves, too.

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  whyizit

  I read a sign awhile back that said, "Complicated religion is not of God". I truly believe that. The more I ask my JW friends questions, the more coplicated they try to get, even to the point of throwing the original question out the window and bombarding me with unasked for, unneccessary materials. Just the simple facts, that's all I want.

  Here is the best, most simplistic explanation I have heard on the subject of grace.

  You can't do enough good to earn it. You can't do enough bad to lose it. All you need to do is ACCEPT it.

  Accepting it is the key. If you always feel that every gift you've been given has a string attached, then these are not really gifts. If I give my child a $5 bill, he doesn't tell me he can't accept it, because he hasn't earned it. ("Oh, no! I couldn't possibly accept that. Only if you let me mow the lawn. I'll pay you back...) No, way! He knows it is a true gift. He smiles and thanks me, gives me a hug, tells me he loves me! He accepts the gift. More than that, he cherishes our relationship. If he ignored me or disowned me, I couldn't give him any gifts. He wouldn't be receptive. (Yet, I would still love him.)

  That's why I think Jesus told us to come to Him like children. They know how to accept a gift.

  Don't know if this is helpful to you, but it was very helpful to me. As well as many of the verses you cited. Especially Rom.8:15 and Gal. 4:6. I'm not on the outside looking in. I'm part of the family. I can call God my Father. Just like Jesus taught, and like Jesus did. I never called my earthly Dad by his first name. That was what everyone else called him. I was his child. I had a special relationship with him. I called him Dad. Same deal with God. Through Jesus, I'm adopted, now he's my Dad too. (BTW: My earthly Dad would have been very hurt, if I would have referred to him by his name. He loved being my Dad.)
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  14

  A Few Funny Bible Verses

  by JH in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  ok, i found these on the net but i found them funny.... .

  http://www.boerenroem.nl/fbv/blog.html.

  daniel opening windows .

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  whyizit

  Oops! Hit a key I shouldn't have.

  How about the NWT version of Job 6:6?!
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  14

  A Few Funny Bible Verses

  by JH in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  ok, i found these on the net but i found them funny.... .

  http://www.boerenroem.nl/fbv/blog.html.

  daniel opening windows .

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  whyizit
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  15

  jw's bought a restaurant here

  by orbison11 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  a jw's couple bought a restaurant , relatively nice one too, here in town.

  so i am doing my part in spreading the good news about how my son, a member of their church, had his assembly here in my town 3 weekends ago and was not allowed to talk to me due to my no longer beign a jw (and my shop is 2 blocks from the arena they had their assembly in).

  i have not spoken with him in 8 years.

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  whyizit

  What are they going to do if someone orders a "rare" steak? Ha! I hope all the meat is kosher, otherwise they are going to be going against the OT law!

  All kidding aside, there should be some editorials written to your local paper, to warn outsiders about the "inside doctrines" of the WTS. Not saying people should not eat there, but make sure they don't get fed a bunch of mumbo-jumbo on the side. You know some patrons will be ripe for the picking, especially if they go in to dine and they are vulnerable for some reason.