Posts by ElderBarry

6

Holy Laughter Church on CNN News (no joke!)

by Gerard in

last night cnn presented a segment on a sect that calls itself the

movement.

their pastor tells jokes and claims that laughter is a trance controlled by god.

ElderBarry

Hi Gerard. I became a member of an independent Pentecostal Church a few years back and I often experienced "holy laughter." It cam from a much deeper "place" inside of me than regular laughter and was much more satisfying. I felt really good, really cleansed and lifted up afterwards. I'm no longer a Pentecostal but such memories are fond ones. Now, do I have to decide whether this is of "God" or of "Satan"? How aboput I dont play the polarizing game and instead say "It's of purely human origin, from deep within us." In that case, no one is in The Holy and Ideological Right Group under The Leadership Of God ready to do battle with Those In The Wrong Under the Leadership Of Satan. People need to learn to relax more, live and let live, and stop the "either God or Satan" mental virus stuff that will one day lead to Global Thermonuclear War. EB

20

Scriptures You Will Not Hear at the 23-07-06 Church Sermon

by scout575 in

"then that slave that understood the will of his master but did not get ready or do in line with his will will be beaten with many strokes.

but the one that did not understand and so did things deserving of strokes will be beaten with few.

" ( luke 12:47,48 ).

ElderBarry

Hi Gordy. Yes, it condemns slave traders but not the reality of slavery itself. Like all books Der Bibel is a book of its time.

27

What if we wrote letters to the Society.....

by Lady Liberty in

goodmorning all and "happy saturday"!!.

i recently had a very upsetting conversation regarding my stand with my active aunt.

for 4 hours i tried to reason with her on many issues.

ElderBarry

Hi. How about we all just forget the JayDubbery and enjoy the lives we have now? I like coming here and reading everyone's posts, but I have zero desire to become a crusader against the WTS. People who are in the mouth of the Watchtower monster, getting all chewed up, are there by choice. They stay there by choice. They turn a blind eye to your evidence by choice. Their PO is not holding a gun to their head. THEY are holding a gun to their head.

I think this is a Fundamental Insight in getting over, letting go, and moving on. The WTS already robbed you and I of years of our lives that could have been profitably and enjoyably spent doing something else. Why give them even more years of your life by making them your focus once again? None of that Crusader stuff makes any sense to me. EB

48

Why is truth is so hard to find in Bible

by The Dragon in

i have been studing it for years looking for answers....yet for every answer i find there is a counter to it.

the words themselves are twisted by leaders/teachers to fit their personal opinions and adgendas, as well as twisted by trying to rely on our own reasoning to understand them.. a good example would be the way our current system of laws work.. if the supreme court writes a law into the book..say for example.."evil" is anyone who does this....... it is then turned over to a bunch of undereducated enforcers to interpert and judge others they feel are "evil".

they are allowed to accuse and shoot first asking questions later.

ElderBarry

Hi Dragon. I'm a newbie too. How about just surrendering to the fact that the Bible is simply one of the many "holy" books of the world? There are many, and have been many more in times past, and there will be many more in the future. Everyone has myopia when it comes to their own times and their own culture/religion. I have watched people laugh to scorn the holy books of other religions that speak of various heroes or divine beings doing all sorts of impossible things. These people recognize that the holy book of the other guy is simply a book of stories, and they have a good laugh at it with their adult mind and it's critical thinking abilities.

Yet when the same stories are told in their own holy book, the bible, they take it seriously as though all these fantastic tales really happened! This is cultural myopia of the first order.

Therer are some grand tales and beautiful stories in the Bible such as David and Goliath, the Tower Of Babel, The Flood, the Exodus from Egypt, Joseph and his brothers, and a lot more. The NT story of the Jesus God is beautiful too.

Yet there is a lot of insanity and ugliness and spiritual vomit in the bible too and one needs to use discernment. Keep the beautiful stuff but excise the vomit, and in all events recognise you're dealing with a book of stories. Yes, those stories are written on an historical backdrop, but thats all. Ax heads dont float, dead bodies dont get up and walk out of tombs and then fly away without an airplane. You get the idea. It's really soooo very simple but for some reason people make it complicated. EB

119

What's the oddest thing you have eaten?

by PopeOfEruke in

hey i was on holiday last week and we went to a sea-side night market and there was a food stand called "roadkill restaurant".

the motto was "you kill it, we grill it".

charming place.. they had crocodile, buffalo, camel, and kangaroo and emu kebabs.

ElderBarry

I've had chocolate covered ants, fried grasshoppers, some june-bugs, and a bison burger. When I was twenty I unknowingly was eating a bowl of cereal that was swimming with cockroaches. What alerted me was the bitter and greasy taste of the "Wheaties." I have probably eaten other peoples spit, snot, boogers, phlegm, rodent hairs and rodent excreta, various insect parts, an alphabet of chemicals, just as we all unknowingly do over our lifetimes. Hint: Never anger or irritate your server, no matter how nice the restaurant. EB

24

the all knowing god?

by the dreamer dreaming in

dont know if this has been discussed or not...but.... it always bothered me when people claimed that god is all knowing... what exactly does that really mean or can mean?.

after all, according to all, there was some point when only god existed and so its pretty easy to be all knowing when there is nothing to know.. but why should we assume that a being who had no one teach him and nothing to learn from could be anything but insane?.

we should trust god, some have told me, because he made everything and therefore knows everything about what he made... sorry, but that does not follow at all.. my subconscious, apparently, seems to be able to manifest many dreams of very complex things which leaves me puzzled as to their workings not understanding them at all..... the bible shows god to be less than all knowing on many occasions, especially in genesis 18:20-21 where he is going to investigate a report that has come to him.... from where or who we are not told.... but it makes it clear he is desiring to find out if the report is accurate or not... .

ElderBarry

Hi. I think you made a good point. You should not shunt it aside. A being that was alone for ETERNITY past, with no one and nothing to interact with or learn or do is most likely INSANE. Rather than shunt this possibility aside because it creeps us out, we should honestly face up to the distinct possibility that we will one day have to face an omnioptent being that is stark raving mad.

EB

29

Just because we fooled you shouldn't stop you from fooling your kids!

by slimboyfat in

parents are naturally concerned that their children not make the same mistakes they did.

the society seem to be worried about the power of this impulse to protect one's children.

page 161 of the new book live with jehovah's day in mind reads:a dampening of our expectation of jehovah's great day could reveal itself in the advice we give to our children or to others.

ElderBarry

Hi. No one ever put a gun to my head and made me be a JW. I decided to become one. Me. I'm not a "victim." Our society is made up of various Victim Classes. Have you noticed? No one is responsible for their own decisions and actions. Instead, they're victims. This is psychological subterfuge. A way to feel good about yourself in the face of a monumentally stupid decision. It's a face-saving subterfuge.
Even someone born "in the truth" has to decide to be baptized. There's pressure, but no one beats you up or breaks your arm. I get tired of reading how everyone is a victim. I made a stupid decision and became a Jay Dub. Then I made a smart decision and made myself not a Jay Dub. I really do try to relate to the victim mentality but I just can't.

I did the dumb thing then I did the smart thing! Me.

EB

27

Did you think that you knew more ?

by A Paduan in

.

as a jw, were you convinced that you knew more theologically than "those in christendom", yet hadn't really even read the bible ?

more than say, a monk who over a thousand years ago hand wrote one, and read it everyday ?

ElderBarry

Hi. I sure thought so. I knew way more about our history and doctrine than anyone else at the hall. It's one of the things that made me say to myself "I think I smell a rat." I ended up going to Bible collge for several years after my disappearing act. I was and am still technically a JW but I know now it's just an outlandishly weird cult. No, I'm not and never was an elder.

EB

26

Use the Elder's own rules against them......

by AK - Jeff in

the elder's handbook gives specific areas in which tactics might be developed by some to avoid unwanted disfellowshippings - .

the following appears in that manual - .

baptized persons who have not associated for some time .. if you learn of serious wrongdoing on the part of such a. person, the matter should be investigated if it poses a. threat to the congregation's cleanness and welfare or causes.

ElderBarry

Hi Jeff. My job transferred me out of state seven years ago. I took that as the opportunity to make my break. I didn't tell anyone at the hall. Then I simply moved away with no forwarding address. I know this isn't really what your post is about. I'm sorry. I'm not an elder anyway, thats just an alias for the board.
EB

11

Help with info on the Greek word 'Kairos'

by drew sagan in

as many of you know, the bible text at luke 21:8 has become a major issue for me.

i decided that it would be proper to do some more in depth research of the text, as well as the words contained in the text.

this is all going to be complied and put togeather in a letter that i am going to send to the society.

ElderBarry

Hi! I've had a few years studying Koine Greek in Bible college. Kairos literally means "season." It refers to a distinct portion of time having its own special characteristics. Like any word, kairos has contextual nuances. Sometimes it should be translated occasion, period, appointed time, era.

In Matthew 8:29 it should be "before the season to torment us?" I always find these references to torment in the NT interesting.

The best thing you could do is to use your Strongs's and look it up in the Greek lexicon and search out its occurences. There are quite a few, but not so many as to constitute an ordeal.

I hope your letter bears good fruit in the lives of your family.

EB