Posts by scout575

11

Scriptures You Will Not Hear at the 25-06-06 Church Sermon.

by scout575 in

"but if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye not be consumed one of another.

" ( galatians 5:15 ).

"and withal they learn to be idle, wandering about from house to house; and not only idle, but tatlers also and busybodies, speaking things which they ought not.

scout575

A Paduan: We continue to be divided by a common language. When I refer to 'Christians', I am including Jehovah's Witnesses ( and their 'mother' ). The "wars" that are referred to at James 4:1 are not the same as the, "lusts that WAR in your members." In this verse James is pointing out that the SOURCE of the "wars" in the congregations is the, 'lusts that war in their members'. Clearly, there was severe hostility in the congregations that James was addressing. Not much evidence of the fruits of the spirit here.

AULDSOUL: Many Christians claim to have the 'indwelling' of the holy spirit, and to have the fruits of the spirit. If this were true it would be reasonable to expect to see a marked difference in the personalities of Christians as compared to non-Christians. Having spent many years as a JW, and having had alot of contact with Christians from other denominations ( particularly church pastors ), and having spent many hours reading ex-Christian websites, I fail to see this difference.

I live in a street where there are many Moslem families. Most Christians would say that Moslems don't have the holy spirit, and yet I see no difference between the Moslem families that I know and all the Christians that I know. This adds to my conviction that the 'fruits of the spirit' is yet another Christian myth.

11

Scriptures You Will Not Hear at the 25-06-06 Church Sermon.

by scout575 in

"but if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye not be consumed one of another.

" ( galatians 5:15 ).

"and withal they learn to be idle, wandering about from house to house; and not only idle, but tatlers also and busybodies, speaking things which they ought not.

scout575

"But if ye BITE and DEVOUR one another, take heed that ye not be consumed one of another." ( Galatians 5:15 )

"And withal they learn to be idle, wandering about from house to house; and not only idle, but TATLERS also and BUSYBODIES, speaking things which they ought not." ( 1 Timothy 5:13 )

" From whence come WARS and FIGHTINGS among you? Come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members? Ye LUST, and have not: Ye KILL, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: Ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not." ( James 4:1,2 )

Despite claims of having the, 'fruit of the spirit' ( Galatians 5:22 ), Christians are no nicer or nastier than non-Christians.

13

"These Horrible Remnants."

by scout575 in

"i once tried to get into therapy to help purge the feelings of guilt and unworthiness associated with christianity, but there are few mental-professional resources in the south.

i got where i am on my own, and its mostly out of my system.

its taken years of contemplation, self-analysis, study, and actively seeking growth experiences to do so, but alot of residue remains.

scout575

A Paduan: It seems that we're divided by a common language. When I say: If you are a JW considering joining a church....I'm not encouraging them to stay as JWs, far from it. Rather, I'm encouraging them to, yes, leave the 'truth', but then not to exchange the JW myths for another set of Biblically based myths.

I was a JW for many years, until I disassociated myself last September. I enjoyed life as a JW, but my faith in the Bible gradually eroded to a point where I had no choice but to leave. I now regard JWs as just another branch of the 2000 year old Christcult.

16

Mankind's search for god / What is true from the bible?

by GBSJG in

the previous months i have done a lot of research about the wts and came to the conclusion that it is not the truth.

this however makes me think about what i still believe in.

is there a god?

scout575

GBSJG: These so-called Messianic prophecies, ie those quoted by Matthew at Matthew 1:23; 2:6, 15,18 etc, are simply verses from the OT that are lifted out of context and made to appear to be Messianic. For me, the attempt by Matthew ( at chapter 2:15 ) to apply Hosea 11:1 as a Messianic prophecy fulfilled by Jesus, really takes the biscuit; it is bold-faced spin.

I recently went on an internet forum that is specifically designed for ex-JWs who have become born again Christians, in order to demonstrate how Matthew takes liberties with OT, and I was told that I wasn't permitted to raise these questions. The forum administrator simply deleted my questions almost as soon as I posted them.

If you look at websites that help Jews not to get misled by Christian missionaries, you will find very good expositions of how NT writers misapply OT verses to Jesus. In fact, Jews are hopping mad at NT writers for the way they misuse the OT.

13

"These Horrible Remnants."

by scout575 in

"i once tried to get into therapy to help purge the feelings of guilt and unworthiness associated with christianity, but there are few mental-professional resources in the south.

i got where i am on my own, and its mostly out of my system.

its taken years of contemplation, self-analysis, study, and actively seeking growth experiences to do so, but alot of residue remains.

scout575

A Paduan: Some Chistians ( including JWs ) suffer alot of guilt because of Christianity, and some don't. Alot seems to depend on the individual's personality type. The fact that so many Christians' lives are made miserable by Christianity indicates the man-made nature of it.

I agree that the chance of a JW joining a church is small, but I have come across a number that have done exactly that ( particularly joining evangelical / born again type churches ), and thats why I make these posts.

Whilst, of course, JWs are a church; to any JW lurkers reading my posts, the word 'church' has the connotation of 'Christendom'.

Certainly JWs are Christians. As far as I'm now concerned, anyone who sincerely believes John 3:16, is a Christian. Of course, for every person claiming to be a Christian, there'll be another Christian somewhere accusing them of not being a 'proper' Christian, but rather a hell-bound heretic. To me, this is elitest nonsense.

13

"These Horrible Remnants."

by scout575 in

"i once tried to get into therapy to help purge the feelings of guilt and unworthiness associated with christianity, but there are few mental-professional resources in the south.

i got where i am on my own, and its mostly out of my system.

its taken years of contemplation, self-analysis, study, and actively seeking growth experiences to do so, but alot of residue remains.

scout575

Sad emo: Its remarkable how similar the sentiments of ex-Christians are to those of ex-JWs. I'll quote one for next week's post. I agree with you that this week's quote was a bit vague, but I don't regret using it because my intention in posting these quotes is simply to encourage JW lurkers, who are considering joining a church, to start reading ex-Christian websites and message boards, so that they get a rounded out view of Christianity, and not just the 'spun' version that they may be being exposed to. I would similarly encourage someone considering becoming a JW to read JWD.

Although many Christians ( JWs included ) live contented lives, the fact that many are made miserable by it, despite their best efforts to live by it, does argue against Christianity being divinely inspired. Christianity simply isn't the panacea that many Christians claim it to be.

13

"These Horrible Remnants."

by scout575 in

"i once tried to get into therapy to help purge the feelings of guilt and unworthiness associated with christianity, but there are few mental-professional resources in the south.

i got where i am on my own, and its mostly out of my system.

its taken years of contemplation, self-analysis, study, and actively seeking growth experiences to do so, but alot of residue remains.

scout575

Sad emo: My reply to Greendawn was not a reference back to the poster that I quote at the top. Notice that I refer to "many" Christians having feelings of guilt and unworthiness because of texts like Acts 3:23; I don't say from what source came the poster's feelings of guilt and unworthiness. The poster simply does not say where they came from, other than that they are, "associated with Christianity".

Having spent many hours reading ex-Christian websites and message boards, I know that many Christians do have feelings of guilt and unworthiness because of NT threats of damnation to Christians who don't meet NT demands.

Whilst the poster that I quote is now an atheist he continues to be haunted by his Christian background. The same kind of thing can be found in some ex-JWs who become 'true' atheists, but who still suffer from the 'fall-out' of their years of exposure to the JW brand of Christianity.

13

"These Horrible Remnants."

by scout575 in

"i once tried to get into therapy to help purge the feelings of guilt and unworthiness associated with christianity, but there are few mental-professional resources in the south.

i got where i am on my own, and its mostly out of my system.

its taken years of contemplation, self-analysis, study, and actively seeking growth experiences to do so, but alot of residue remains.

scout575

Greendawn: Whether or not a Christian denomination exerts psychological pressure on its adherents, it is the Christian Bible that exerts tremendous psychological pressure on its believing readers. Whilst many who bear the label Christian may choose to ignore or 'reinterpret' this psychological pressure into something more 'cuddly', the fact is that the NT tells its readers that if they fail to do what Jesus tells them to do, they will be destroyed ( Acts 3:23 ). Is it any wonder that many Christians end up burdened with guilt and feelings of unworthiness? Any religion that can come up with sentiments like those found at Acts 3:23, is a cult.

13

"These Horrible Remnants."

by scout575 in

"i once tried to get into therapy to help purge the feelings of guilt and unworthiness associated with christianity, but there are few mental-professional resources in the south.

i got where i am on my own, and its mostly out of my system.

its taken years of contemplation, self-analysis, study, and actively seeking growth experiences to do so, but alot of residue remains.

scout575

"I once tried to get into therapy to help purge the feelings of guilt and unworthiness associated with Christianity, but there are few mental-professional resources in the South. I got where I am on my own, and its mostly out of my system. Its taken years of contemplation, self-analysis, study, and actively seeking growth experiences to do so, but alot of residue remains. Old habits die hard, but the good news is that they can die. I'm hoping that this community can be a place where I can explore these horrible remnants, and maybe get some guidance on how to overcome them."

This extract is taken from the forum, ex-Christian.net, and can be found in, 'testimonies of former Christians'. The title of the post is, 'Greetings from Newbie', on page one. If you are a JW thinking about joining a church, please read the whole post.

4

Scriptures You Will Not Hear at the 18-06-06 Church Sermon

by scout575 in

"now there was there nigh unto the mountains a great herd of swine feeding.

and all the devils besought him, saying, send us into the swine, that we may enter into them.

and forth with jesus gave them leave.

scout575

"Now there was there nigh unto the mountains a great herd of swine feeding. And all the devils besought him, saying, Send us into the swine, that we may enter into them. And forth with Jesus gave them leave. And the unclean spirits went out, and entered into the swine: and the herd ran violently down a steep place into the sea, ( they were about two thousand; ) and were CHOKED IN THE SEA." ( Mark 5:11-13 )

"For they could not endure that which was commanded, And if so much as a beast touch the mountain, IT SHALL BE STONED, or THRUST THROUGH WITH A DART." ( Hebrews 12:20 )

"But these, AS NATURAL BRUTE BEASTS, MADE TO BE TAKEN AND DESTROYED, speak evil of the things that they understand not; and shall utterly perish in their own corruption." ( 2 Peter 2:12 )

Ugly / Cruel.