onacruse

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Posts by onacruse

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  50

  How much does a housewife cost?

  by LtCmd.Lore in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  don't take this the wrong way, this is purely out of curiousity.. .

  assuming you are the working man who makes the money, and the wife stays at home and takes care of the house and cooks and does laundry and all that stuff.. no children!.

  how much would it cost to hire someone(s) to do all those things instead?

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  onacruse

  Whatever it is, it's more than I make.

  Hastily editing to add: And way wayyyyy less than she's worth!
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  37

  Will Carnivorous Jehovah Establish A Vegetarian New World?

  by TMS in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  god jehovah has had a preoccupation, if not an obsession with meat.

  although cain worked hard to produce an offering of vegetables, it was rejected because it was not meat.

  priests were instructed to save certain cuts of meat for jehovah, the fatty portions.

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  onacruse

  *** w61 12/15 pp. 766-767 Questions From Readers ***

  Questions From Readers

  ? When, in Genesis 1:30, God says: "To every wild beast of the earth and to every flying creature of the heavens and to everything moving upon the earth in which there is life as a soul I have given all green vegetation for food," are we to understand that this absolutely excludes the idea that any animals ate meat at that time or before that? And on this basis are we to conclude that all animals will be vegetarian in the new world? How, then, can we account for the meat-eating birds, insects, reptiles and other animals with their poisonous fangs, hunting prowess, and so forth, apparently given them at creation and admirably equipping them as meat eaters?

  Genesis 1:30, as just quoted, does not say that God had given "all green vegetation for food" to the wild beasts, the flying creatures and everything moving upon the earth in addition to what meat or flesh they could catch by hunting. The verse just ahead tells us that God said to Adam and Eve: "Here I have given to you all vegetation bearing seed which is on the surface of the whole earth and every tree on which there is the fruit of a tree bearing seed. To you let it serve as food." (Gen. 1:29) We do not understand this to mean that Adam and Eve could eat animals that lived on grass and other vegetation, and that in eating such animals minus their blood Adam and Eve were eating vegetation indirectly, inasmuch as, to begin with, the animals ate the vegetation and then Adam and Eve ate the animals that lived on such vegetation to convert it into flesh. No! But it is evident that God set the perfect man and woman on a vegetarian diet, without suggesting even dairy products.

  First after the flood God specified in so many words that Noah and his family and their descendants could eat bloodless meat or flesh. This indicates that God-fearing men like Abel, Enoch and Noah and his family had not lived on animal and bird flesh prior to the flood. What the ungodly men lived on till the flood we do not know. Abel, Enoch and Noah and his family did not reason in a roundabout manner and violate the Edenic dietary law that God stated to Adam and Eve in Eden, in Genesis 1:29, 30.

  Of course, the Bible says a lot about zoology, but the Bible is no exhaustive treatise on all zoological matters. It therefore leaves in a lower or secondary position the discussing of details about the lower animal creation. It fixes first attention on Jehovah’s superior earthly creature, man, and specializes on that. Hence the facts about wild beasts, domestic beasts, flying creatures and insects are spoken of only incidentally, or in illustrations.

  So, if the Bible itself does not give any answer to these questions about those creatures lower than man, it does not mean that there is no answer to the questions that is consistent with the Bible. It simply means that we are not to preoccupy ourselves with such questions. One big fact we must remember: that we humans are living and all these birds, insects and other animals are living in a system of things that has obtained since Jehovah God legalized man’s eating animal flesh minus its blood. Accordingly, if man has been eating animal flesh and insects for four thousand three hundred years and has teeth that can be adapted to eating such solid food as flesh, it is not strange that birds, insects and other animals should be also living on flesh that they hunt for and catch.

  As to the preflood situation on the diet of man and animals, we may take the situation in Noah’s ark as an illustration. Under God’s instructions Noah and his family were to take into the ark wild beasts, domestic animals, flying creatures and birds, two each (male and female) of the unclean kind, and seven each of the clean kind. Besides this, Noah was to take into the ark every sort of food that is eaten to "serve as food for you and for them." (Gen. 6:19-22) Now Noah had no deepfreeze unit nor any refrigeration installation to preserve processed flesh foods in the ark. The seven sheep, seven bulls and cows, seven goats, two horses, two pigs, and so forth, that Noah took into the ark would hardly have been enough flesh food for the two lions, two tigers and two of the other wild flesh-eating beasts of today to live on in the ark during the flood. Noah was not instructed to carry on a slaughterhouse in the ark to feed the wild beasts with flesh foods. Nor was he told to enmesh tremendous quantities of flying or creeping insects to provide fresh food for the creatures today devouring insects.

  Noah came out of the ark the following year with not less wild beasts, domestic animals, flying and creeping creatures and birds than he took into the ark. It is possible that he had more when he came out, due to the breeding of these lower creatures. Well, then, on what did every living thing in the ark live during those twelve lunar months and ten days, or one full solar year, shut up inside the ark? Certainly not on flesh, nor on one another.

  All those creatures, human and subhuman, were able to live without flesh for a whole year inside the ark. Why could not every one of those living creatures live without flesh during 1,656 years prior to the Flood, or back to the time when God specified to Adam and Eve in Eden what he had given to earthly creatures as food? And if they could subsist that way during the first 1,656 years of man’s existence, why can they not return to that way of life and keep living that way during the thousand-year reign of Jesus Christ and then for eternity? During his millennial reign Jesus Christ as King will have control over animal, bird, insect and fish life as well as over human life. He will regulate it according to God’s will and for the good of all creature life on earth. So we should not think only of the post-Flood side of the question and leave out of consideration the pre-Flood side of the question as if it had no bearing. Let us take the Bible position on the subject and not over-occupy ourselves with merely incidental matters to the extent of wasting time, thought and peace of heart and possibly stumbling ourselves into the camp of the godless evolutionists.

  Simply do not preoccupy yourself with such questions!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
• 
  11

  at the memorial when do the annoited drink of the cup and eat of the bread?

  by grewupJWnoselfesteem78-95 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  when i was jw i never saw an annointed person.... i thought that to be annointed you had to be american....i remember i asked someone at km hall were do the annointed drink the wine and eat the bread ?

  they siad it happens in a back room in private.... is this true?

  i was only young maybe it was just a throw off answer...... i always felt that holding the wine and bread publicly for a few seconds and then passing it on was a direct public denial of yahushua's instruction.........

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  onacruse

  NN:

  I grew up and went to meetings in New York City, where we had an abundant supply of local anointed

  Oh yeah! When I was back there, I made it a point to be at the Brooklyn KH, where about 75% of the attendees were anointed. Now, the bread was not a particularly popular item, but boy could those fellows (and a few ladies) really drain that glass! LOL The servers had to go back to the table several times to get refills.
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  19

  Scanned PDF of The Finished Mystery--Searchable and Bookmarked

  by cabasilas in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  another jwd member has helped me with making the pdf version of google's scan of the finished mystery (1918 edition) searchable.

  i've added bookmarks and a section on the pages that were cut from the 1917 edition to the file as well.

  for those interested, it can be downloaded from this filesharing site:.

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  onacruse

  Thanks, caba! Another valuable set of resources.

  If I may make an observation (in no way intended to diminish the value of the Russel-period info you and others have been pdf'ing):

  Unless I miss my guess, much of this source material comes from the Chicago Bible Students (perhaps also Dawn Publications?). They have both done a tremendous amount of work transcribing what are, as far as I know, the original WTs and Studies.

  But then there are also the Reprints that were done by the WTS (in the early 20s?).

  Insofar as I have compared (to a very limited extent) what appear to be originals with the "official" Reprints, there are here and there minor, but in some cases noticeable, revisionist discrepancies. And those who have access to the actual originals have confirmed that there are such discrepancies between the CBS/DP versions, as well as the Reprints.

  Probably way overkill for what's useful today, but perhaps also an indication of how early on, and continuing to this day, there are efforts to "shine the statue" of Russell, and to subtly minimize some of the many changes in doctrine.

  Of course, I may be wrong in this evaluation, and I would gladly entertain dissenting opinions.
• 
  36

  So For The XMAS thru New Years, I have tried to do this....I need HELP

  by Sparkplug in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  after today i really have to tell you that it was so sweet to come here and see that i had something that someone likes.

  i needed that.

  i can say for everything you like, there is something in each one of you i am sure i see that i admire back and if not, i have not yet spent any time with you.

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  onacruse

  Deckie, thank you for your kind words!

  I'm reasonably sure that you and Mark have talked about how I first started to wade hip deep into the "moderating" pool...it was because of him! LOL

  Mark's always been a bit of a conundrum to me: Witty, smart, and yet sometimes (dare I say oftentimes?) he to this day says things in a way that just grates on my nerves!

  Texans!! Who can explain why they are they way they are?

  We'll give you a call tonight...assuming that you'll be home and not out doin' some bull-riding or clod-hopping...or, something else!

  Craigster
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  24

  Let's all take a much needed vacation

  by Honesty in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  this one sounds nice:.

  http://www.bethel-tours.com/.

  i want to experience this particular facet of the trip:.

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  onacruse

  One thing I was informed of, when I did my one and only tour of the WTS factories, was that whenever a tour was going through, the boys would whip it up to "tour speed," both to show how energetic they were, and to impress the ladies...who were often dressed in such a manner as to make their "interest" in a Bethel boy rather noticeable.
• 
  10

  TurnThat Music Down Boy.....

  by hillary_step in

  1. social
  2. entertainment

  any audiophiles on the board will have noticed how in recent years one has to turn music up past its comfortable level to get a decent balance of sound.. do not feel that this is your imagination, it is not.

  it is by design and designed to suit the ears of young people who think that loud sound is better sound.. http://funl.blogspot.com/2007/06/loudness-war.html.

  this link provides a simple explanation of what happens at the mixing and mastering stage of much modern music production.

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  onacruse

  hs, it may just be me, but R&B just doesn't "feel" good unless it's at near 120 db...relocating organs and liquifying bone marrow! LOL

  And, for all you folks that may not know this: OUTLAW lives in the Bermudas, and all this talk about snow and penguins is just a smoke screen to cover his true identity: Donald Trump.
• 
  17

  I'm back... and OFF of Paxil. But memory loss??

  by Confucious in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  hey friends.... been a long time since i've posted.. some of you will remember me.. i still troll in from time to time.. one interesting thing, i'm finally off of paxil now.

  my depression was real bad after a bad experience at the borg.

  i was on about 40mg for about 5 years - which is a significante dossage.. about a year ago, i started weaing off and six months ago i went completely off of it.. i feel good and very refreshed.

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  onacruse

  Confucious, I was on Prozac for a few years, and it was like a silver bullet. I can't say that I was ever as "happy" as during that time, except for when I was still a "true believer," young, and had the whole world ahead of me.

  After about 4 years, that "glow" wore off, and the doctor prescribed Paxil.

  That was one of the worst weeks of my life. I gave him what was left of the prescription (almost all of it), and told him that I'd never take that medication again. I know some other folks who have had similar negative experiences with Paxil.

  I'm by no means an expert in such matters, but based on my personal experience, I'd be strongly inclined to attribute your memory loss to some as yet unrecognized side-effect of the medication.

  Respects,

  Craig
• 
  53

  How do angels and demons influence mankind?

  by onacruse in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  wts publications, and indeed virtually all religions on this planet, assert that angels and demons have regular influence on mankind, on individual human beings as well as on the general course of human events.. but i've never read anything specific about how they supposedly accomplish this.. do they tweak our neurons?

  do they fiddle with our hormones, thereby making us feel good or bad about a certain course of action?

  do they inject thoughts into our brains, perhaps in such a subtle way that we think those are our own thoughts?

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  onacruse

  Hello distazo.

  Now back to the demons. I think they are 'spirtually' sick. They are made like us, but they are spirits.

  In what way are they "made like us"? By definition, a "spirit being" is not like us mere mortals of flesh and bone and blood (and so say the scriptures). They cannot be seen by mortal eyes, nor can they be detected by any instrumentation. In fact, insofar as the Bible indicates, a spirit being does not even suffer the 'ordinary' ravages of sin: inevitable decline and death of their spiritual organism. They can only be destroyed by Divine Fiat.
• 
  21

  Okay, so what is the significance of 1975 ?

  by Gregor in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  it obviously meant something when it was officially referred to for 9 yrs.

  i know they deny that they implied it would be armageddon, so ok, then what was it all about?

  have they ever brought it up again?

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  onacruse

  This is one of my "favorites":

  *** jv chap. 8 p. 104 Declaring the Good News Without Letup (1942-1975) ***

  "Say, What Does This 1975 Mean?"

  The Witnesses had long shared the belief that the Thousand Year Reign of Christ would follow after 6,000 years of human history. But when would 6,000 years of human existence end? The book LifeEverlasting—InFreedomoftheSonsofGod, released at a series of district conventions held in 1966, pointed to 1975. Right at the convention, as the brothers examined the contents, the new book triggered much discussion about 1975.

  At the convention held in Baltimore, Maryland, F. W. Franz gave the concluding talk. He began by saying: "Just before I got on the platform a young man came to me and said, ‘Say, what does this 1975 mean?’" Brother Franz then referred to the many questions that had arisen as to whether the material in the new book meant that by 1975 Armageddon would be finished, and Satan would be bound. He stated, in essence: ‘It could. But we are not saying. All things are possible with God. But we are not saying. And don’t any of you be specific in saying anything that is going to happen between now and 1975. But the big point of it all is this, dear friends: Time is short. Time is running out, no question about that.’

  In the years following 1966, many of Jehovah’s Witnesses acted in harmony with the spirit of that counsel. However, other statements were published on this subject, and some were likely more definite than advisable. This was acknowledged in TheWatchtower of March 15, 1980 (page 17). But Jehovah’s Witnesses were also cautioned to concentrate mainly on doing Jehovah’s will and not to be swept up by dates and expectations of an early salvation.

  Footnote

  jv sect. 1 chap. 8 p. 104 Declaring the Good News Without Letup (1942-1975)

  For example, the following articles were published in TheWatchtower: "Making Wise Use of the Remaining Time" (May 1, 1968); "Serve With Eternity in View" (June 15, 1974); "Why We Have Not Been Told ‘That Day and Hour’" and "How Are You Affected by Not Knowing the ‘Day and Hour’?" (May 1, 1975). Earlier, in 1963, the book "AllScriptureIsInspiredofGodandBeneficial" had stated: "It does no good to use Bible chronology for speculating on dates that are still future in the stream of time.—Matt. 24:36."

  Question answered, Gregor...so let's move along, eh?

  LOL