lost_sheep

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Posts by lost_sheep

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  14

  old light on mediating...

  by lost_sheep in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  blow the dust off your ancient watchtower tomes & delve into the annals (or should that be anals?

  ) of the wts's past... i'm trying to find out if they have ever taught that christ is the mediator for all people.

  recently finding out (after being raised a witness) that they teach that christ is not the mediator for everyone was disturbing to say the least.

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  lost_sheep

  Blow the dust off your ancient Watchtower tomes & delve into the annals (or should that be anals?) of the WTS's past... I'm trying to find out if they have ever taught that Christ is the mediator for all people. Recently finding out (after being raised a Witness) that they teach that Christ is not the mediator for everyone was disturbing to say the least. Just wondering if this is yet another teaching that has changed.

  I can't understand how one can get around these scriptures:
  Galatians 3:20 - A mediator, however, does not represent just one party; but God is one.
  1 Timothy 2:5 - For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus

  Thanks!
  lost_sheep
• 
  21

  Holidays

  by I-follow-the-narrow-path in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  jw's don't celebrate holidays, because they are pagan and would offend jehovah god to partake in them.

  what about the memorial though?

  i mean, why is it okay to celebrate that?

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  lost_sheep

  Glad to hear you're asking questions. I am currently an active JW with serious doubts about the organization. Just remember that the Bible should be the final authority in what we believe. I still use the NWT & i enjoy its rendering of some scriptures, but i personally feel limited in using only it. Don't forget that the Society often quotes from other Bibles. I really like the study version of the New International Version. It uses Yahweh in the footnotes & makes it obvious where the original text had this name. You may be surprised to know that no original manuscripts of the Christian Greek Scriptures/New Testament have Jehovah's name. You can verify that in the Society's own Divine Name brochure. I'd also recommend getting a Kingdom Interlinear Version, also published by the Society. Might be hard to get a hold of, but there are usually some floating around on eBay. Very interesting to see where the original text is reworded in some key scriptures. Sorry about going off-topic. Getting back to the subject of holidays, here are some questions to consider: Does Thanksgiving have pagan origins? Why do some translations mention Job's sons celebrating birthdays? Dogs are mentioned negatively in the scriptures, does this mean we can't have them? How do we decide whether something still has pagan ties? Don't the names of most days of the week come from pagan gods? I agree with what we teach about most of the holidays, but if you take that line of reasoning further, you can exclude lots of things we do today. How do we decide how far is too far?

  Hope i've made some sense to you. Feel free to PM me if you want to talk further. I'm no expert by any stretch, but i have been raised as a Witness & have studied what they teach quite a bit. Just continue researching, & try to accept truth wherever you find it. Don't just accept something someone claims is truth, prove it to yourself thru study of the scriptures & prayer. Acts 17:11, NIV "Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true." May you find truth.

  Christian love,
  lost_sheep
• 
  45

  SECRET DOCUMENTS: District Convention

  by Elsewhere in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  it is time for the district convention so i thought i would share a nice little tid-bit.. thanks to someone who must remain anonymous, we now have the instructions that are given to the speakers at the district conventions:.

  http://www.reexamine.info/docs/district_convention_talk_instructions.pdf (17 kb - small file).

  http://www.reexamine.info/docs/district_convention_talk_instructions.jpg (1 mb - large file, original jpg scan image).

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  lost_sheep

  Nice find Elsewhere! Can't wait to read this!

  lost_sheep (of the keepin' it clean at Psalm 83:18 class)
• 
  38

  greetings from another newbie

  by lost_sheep in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  well... i've finally worked up the courage to get an account & start posting on this site.

  i've been lurking for a couple of months now, voraciously reading all the, mmm, "delightful words of truth" i've found here.

  i'm currently deep in dubdom, so i have to be pretty ambiguous about some personal details, (i'm really paranoid, hopefully that will pass :-/) but my story in a nutshell is: i was born into this religion, baptised in my mid teens, happily married to a wonderful (& thankfully, somewhat open-minded) jw lady, & now, several years later, i'm starting to seriously question some of what i believe.

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  lost_sheep

  Thanks again to all for the wonderful welcome! Some of your comments have brought tears to my eyes. It's so relieving to finally be a part of this fold.

  found_sheep :-)
• 
  21

  Is the WT currently associated with the UN?

  by lost_sheep in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  i know this topic has been beaten to death, i apologize for flogging the proverbial horse again... but someone mentioned a few days ago (can't find that comment now) that the wt still has ties to the un.

  what evidence do we have for this?

  if one of its corporations is still affiliated with the un, seems like that would be quite the scandal.

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  lost_sheep

  Thanks to everyone for all the insightful comments. Especially AuldSoul... you have cleared up all my lingering misconceptions. Very informative posts, as always!

  I realize now that i could have been more specific in my first post... sorry about that. I know that an organization simply being an NGO, by definition, does not imply relationship with the UN. What was scandalous was the WT's association with the UN's Department of Public Information & all the responsibilities that go with that association. As AuldSoul pointed out, it is this UN/DPI Association that is unconscionably hypocritical on their part, going against standards that the WT has published for decades. I hope everyone is now clear on this matter.

  lost_sheep
• 
  21

  Is the WT currently associated with the UN?

  by lost_sheep in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  i know this topic has been beaten to death, i apologize for flogging the proverbial horse again... but someone mentioned a few days ago (can't find that comment now) that the wt still has ties to the un.

  what evidence do we have for this?

  if one of its corporations is still affiliated with the un, seems like that would be quite the scandal.

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  lost_sheep

  I know this topic has been beaten to death, i apologize for flogging the proverbial horse again... but someone mentioned a few days ago (can't find that comment now) that the WT STILL has ties to the UN. What evidence do we have for this? If one of its corporations is still affiliated with the UN, seems like that would be quite the scandal. I would absolutely love to have some hard evidence for this. I've seen the info that recently mentions them as an NGO, but i understand now that that in itself is not scandalous. Anywho, if anyone has any insight on this, i'd love to hear it.

  lost_sheep
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  17

  Gamers

  by EAGLE-1 in

  1. social
  2. entertainment

  .

  ghost recon 3 looks good.been playing american conquest divided nation lately.thinking about getting battle for middle earth 2 soon.. ghost recon 3 may be a good game for those online players.let us hope anyway.tired of raven shield.this may be my next online game.

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  lost_sheep

  Nice to see some fellow gamers on here. The latest Elder Scrolls game, Oblivion, has devoured my soul. (in a good way) Lord that game is addictive. I've lost so much sleep over it. Best RPG in recent memory.

  I enjoy some FPS games too... i play quite a bit of UT2004. Looking forward to 2007!

  Also been playing Shadowgrounds... i was a big Gauntlet fan, & it's essentially a Gauntlet update in a sci-fi setting. Old-school & loads of fun.

  Let us know if you get Battle for Middle Earth 2... i was thinking of picking that one up myself. I play pretty much everything, time permitting. Blasted adult responsibilities!

  lost_sheep
• 
  38

  greetings from another newbie

  by lost_sheep in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  well... i've finally worked up the courage to get an account & start posting on this site.

  i've been lurking for a couple of months now, voraciously reading all the, mmm, "delightful words of truth" i've found here.

  i'm currently deep in dubdom, so i have to be pretty ambiguous about some personal details, (i'm really paranoid, hopefully that will pass :-/) but my story in a nutshell is: i was born into this religion, baptised in my mid teens, happily married to a wonderful (& thankfully, somewhat open-minded) jw lady, & now, several years later, i'm starting to seriously question some of what i believe.

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  lost_sheep

  Forgive my noobness. That last post wasn't meant to be smooshed all together. Trying out some html formatting this time.

  ---

  
  Hmm... I wonder

  if this post

  will be

  better?
• 
  38

  greetings from another newbie

  by lost_sheep in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  well... i've finally worked up the courage to get an account & start posting on this site.

  i've been lurking for a couple of months now, voraciously reading all the, mmm, "delightful words of truth" i've found here.

  i'm currently deep in dubdom, so i have to be pretty ambiguous about some personal details, (i'm really paranoid, hopefully that will pass :-/) but my story in a nutshell is: i was born into this religion, baptised in my mid teens, happily married to a wonderful (& thankfully, somewhat open-minded) jw lady, & now, several years later, i'm starting to seriously question some of what i believe.

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  lost_sheep

  Just wanted to thank everyone for the warm welcome. It is so liberating to finally be talking to all of you! lol. I've been reading so much of this forum, you already feel like friends. Confession, i saved the organization essay & will try to make time to read it tonight. I had been looking for something like that. Thanks a lot! Thanks again... i'll talk to all of you again soon. By the way, if any other lurkers are wanting to join but are worried about privacy, contact me at lost_sheep(at)a n o n y m o u s.to. (just trying to foil the spam bots, take out the spaces & substitute the @ sign, of course)I've discovered some good methods of staying anonymous. lost_sheep
• 
  38

  greetings from another newbie

  by lost_sheep in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  well... i've finally worked up the courage to get an account & start posting on this site.

  i've been lurking for a couple of months now, voraciously reading all the, mmm, "delightful words of truth" i've found here.

  i'm currently deep in dubdom, so i have to be pretty ambiguous about some personal details, (i'm really paranoid, hopefully that will pass :-/) but my story in a nutshell is: i was born into this religion, baptised in my mid teens, happily married to a wonderful (& thankfully, somewhat open-minded) jw lady, & now, several years later, i'm starting to seriously question some of what i believe.

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  lost_sheep

  Well... i've finally worked up the courage to get an account & start posting on this site. I've been lurking for a couple of months now, voraciously reading all the, mmm, "delightful words of truth" i've found here. I'm currently deep in dubdom, so i have to be pretty ambiguous about some personal details, (i'm really paranoid, hopefully that will pass :-/) but my story in a nutshell is: i was born into this religion, baptised in my mid teens, happily married to a wonderful (& thankfully, somewhat open-minded) JW lady, & now, several years later, i'm starting to seriously question some of what i believe. i feel i'm fairly open-minded. i took the WT apologist view for a while, but i'm coming to realize that some things in this religion just don't make sense from any viewpoint. i still have a strong faith in God & the Bible, but i'm open to critical thinking on pretty much everything at this point. due to my personal circumstances, i will usually be checking this forum every day, but i probably won't be able to post very often. i'm not exagerating when i say that EVERYONE around me is a JW... it's hard for me to find time & privacy to post here. *looking over shoulder* i feel my posting on this board is the beginning of a long personal journey... here's to hoping it's a good one! thanks in advance for the acceptance & support i know this fine group of people will offer. lost_sheep