Posts by sparky1

74

A call from family - Armageddon this month!

by kaik in

i very seldom receive a call from my jw siblings, i mean seldom.

i can count them on my hand in past 10 years.

while we talk about mom a lot and i am in touch with her, i was very surprised when i received this call.

sparky1

"Because there is a great crowd of people of good will today living who will survive the world catastrophe of Armageddon and enter the world of new heavens and new earth without going down into the grave or ever afterward having the need to die and cease to exist. That means that Armageddon is so near at hand it will strike the generation now living." - YOU MAY SURVIVE ARMAGEDDON INTO GOD'S NEW WORLD 1955 edition page 11 paragraph 7 W.T.B.T.S. publishers

"Not just to live through the coming universal war and to die afterward, but to continue living afterward in God's new world-that is the solidly based opportunity set before people of this generation. That means that many will not die off the face of the earth. They will keep living to enjoy the earth in a paradise condition forever. This earth has had many generations of humankind live upon it; and the inspired saying has been true: 'A generation goes, and a generation comes, but the earth remains forever.' (Ecclesiastes 1:4 RS) Here the generations have been literal, and so the 'earth' here meant is also literal. Many of the present generation of mankind may have the privilege of remaining on earth as long as the earth remains-forever."-YOU MAY SURVIVE ARMAGEDDON INTO GOD'S NEW WORLD 1955 edition page 31 paragraph 1 W.T.B.T.S publishers

This was the book my mother studied to become one of Jehovah's Witnesses. She died in 2000 at the age of 75 in a hospital. A few days before she died she said, 'Sparky, I want to go home. I know Armageddon is just a few weeks away and then everything will be o.k.'

As a wise and prolific poster here is fond of saying: 'Wash, rinse and repeat!' and 'Let's review: IT'S A CULT!'

58

Governing body deceiving members on purpose?

by wwjdnwt in

i was born into this religion.

i was a jw for well over 30 years.

i did much research before i had internet, i compared bibles and prayed deeply to help me to know if this was the truth.

sparky1

"My country, RIGHT or WRONG!"- Nationalist Zealot

"My religion, RIGHT or WRONG!"- Religious Zealot

That's my simplified take on the question.

22

An elder, Chief MD in Honolulu clinic goes door to door. Testimony given at JW convention

by AndersonsInfo in

http://www.pressreader.com/usa/honolulu-star-advertiser/20150725/281848642300889/textview.

it sounds to me like he was a jw before he became a physician.

"kalauawa, who became a jw 31 years ago, said he had to overcome a major conflict between his religious and professional beliefs, because jws are opposed to blood transfusions.

sparky1

20

Angelo Catanzaro

by Room 215 in

jw
friends

i recently heard angelo catanzaro, a rather prominent figure in the organization .. a long-time district overseer and a favorite of knorr's, died recently.

there was some indication that he and his wife figured out ttatt in their latter years and turned "apostate"... .

does anyone out there know what happened to them?

sparky1

Back in the day, I was an acquaintance of Mark and Palma Bigelow (you can read from the obituary that Palma was Angelo's niece) and I even worked for Mark for a short time. To them, Angelo held god-like stature. I would be surprised that even if he knew TTATT that he would turn his back on it. But of course, anything is possible.

Hey Minimus.........do you remember that Sam Belfiore would explain in his talks that his name meant 'beautiful flower' in Italian? And he gave a heart warming talk on 'putting new wine into old wine skins' with his calm and grandfatherly manner. It is because of men like Sam Belfiore, Rudy Sunel, Charlie Sarakin , Dennis Raftopolis and Angelo Catanzaro as well as a host of Bethel speakers, that I wanted to become a Bethelite myself. I wanted to be just like them (Yikes! What was I thinking) In fact, Rudy Sunel was a friend of my mother and when I told him that I was accepted to Bethel in 1974 he was beside himself with joy. If he could only see me now!

36

Band Green Day and JWs

by hardtobeme in

a few years ago i heard of a story about two jw's being at a green day concert.

i think that the witnesses were bethelites.

the person that told me that story said that the band was about to play but they couldn't.

sparky1

Ahhhhhh.......................................the Summer of 1975! After slaving away all week at Watchtower Farms, Gary L. and I headed down to Baltimore in my green '69 Chrysler Newport Coupe w/the green alligator skinned vinyl roof. We picked up a couple of girls from his old congregation and cruised down the Baltimore Beltway racing a Corvette in and out of traffic. Our destination? A JOHN DENVER concert! Great venue, great music and nary a word out of John Denver about Jehovah's Witnesses or any other religion.

63

How dishonest was the Apostle Paul?

by opusdei1972 in

may be some of you will be shocked by this question.

however, when i was studying the bible with critical eyes i detected that paul ( or saul of tarsus) misquoted the hebrew bible in order to get false support for his arguments.

of course, this tricky kind of use of the "scriptures" was not only used by him, but others, like the author of the gospel of matthew got unsupported doctrines misquoting verses.

sparky1

CalebInFloroda,

Thank you for your interest in my post. Isn't Biblical Exegesis one hell of a slippery proposition!? Had the Apostle Paul been a Stoic philosopher writing to Stoics, I might be able to accept your interpretation. Marcus Aurelius explains what you have written about in his MEDITATIONS and I do realize that what you have said about the lack of distinction between 'nature' and the 'natural, social order of things' was indeed the viewpoint of first century Hellenistic and Greek thought. No doubt, the Apostle Paul was familiar with Stoic thought and may even have been trained in dialectics, argumentation and logic. However, he was still of Jewish descent and was 'Christian' in his thought processes. Please see the following meaning of PHUSIS: http://www.biblestudytools.com/lexicons/greek/kjv/phusis.html

63

How dishonest was the Apostle Paul?

by opusdei1972 in

may be some of you will be shocked by this question.

however, when i was studying the bible with critical eyes i detected that paul ( or saul of tarsus) misquoted the hebrew bible in order to get false support for his arguments.

of course, this tricky kind of use of the "scriptures" was not only used by him, but others, like the author of the gospel of matthew got unsupported doctrines misquoting verses.

sparky1

The Apostle Paul was a hack as a theologian, a jackass as a philosopher , blind to the realities of life and ignorant of the 'human condition'.

Case in point:

"Does not nature itself teach you that long hair is a dishonor to a man,.....?" 1 Corinthians 11:14 NWT revised 2013

Nature does not teach any such thing. In fact if a man does not get a haircut in NATURALLY continues to grow long just like a woman's hair would.

One of many 'nuggets of wisdom' from the mouth of the Apostle Paul.

13

Beads and Tight Jeans APPROVED Service Attire For a Brother?

by sparky1 in

many, many, many posters here have wondered what happened to the religion that they were raised in or baptized into 20 or more years ago.

i just got the shock of my life on jw(dot) org.tv!

there is a video testimonial of an american indian witness that was inactive for many years and has now begun to preach again.

sparky1

Would Forest James be allowed to tour Bethel in his 'native' dress?

13

Beads and Tight Jeans APPROVED Service Attire For a Brother?

by sparky1 in

many, many, many posters here have wondered what happened to the religion that they were raised in or baptized into 20 or more years ago.

i just got the shock of my life on jw(dot) org.tv!

there is a video testimonial of an american indian witness that was inactive for many years and has now begun to preach again.

sparky1

Where did you say todays meeting for field service will be held, steve2? Hey, how about after a few calls in service we head up to Patterson for a tour?

13

Beads and Tight Jeans APPROVED Service Attire For a Brother?

by sparky1 in

many, many, many posters here have wondered what happened to the religion that they were raised in or baptized into 20 or more years ago.

i just got the shock of my life on jw(dot) org.tv!

there is a video testimonial of an american indian witness that was inactive for many years and has now begun to preach again.

sparky1

Thanks for your input HowTheBibleWasCreated. I am a long time born-in and ex-Bethelite. You are quite correct in saying that in other countries the Witnesses dress similar to other members of their culture. If you were to watch the video, the Witness is a Native American Indian that lives in the United States in Oregon. You don't see any Native American Indians that have moved to other areas dressing this way, do you? If he wants to keep his beads that is his business but the tight jeans just seem not to be exclusive to Native Americans. Try going out in service yourself in black jeans and see how far it gets you! Do you suppose that he would be allowed to give the public talk at a convention in Portland, Oregon dressed like this?