Jesus is really Michael, the archangel, who also works for the Governing Body?
Cold Steel
JoinedPosts by Cold Steel
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7
So if Russell was the "greater" John the Baptist paving the way for the GB...
by goatshapeddemon in... what does that make the "governing body"????????.
wait for it....... yes, the greater jesus.
they stopped short of saying that in the july 15 wt (all they said was that russell was the greater john the baptist), but what other conclusion is there, especially since now they're going to rule with jesus over the messianic kingdom.. talk about a messiah complex.
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Freemason's & Mormon similarties.....
by Newly Enlightened ini know there is some controversy whether or not c.t.
russell was a mason.
i won't go there.
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Cold Steel
The charge of Freemasonry's association with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has been repeatedly addressed. As for "occult Satanism," these are as baseless as the same charges against the ancient Christians. Jesus for years was associated with the occult and using the power of evil spirits to perform his miracles. One critic notes: " There were the 'Three Wise Men from the East' who 'FOLLOWED THE STAR' to the birthplace of the Nazarene. These 'Wise Men' were mages [The Magi], otherwise known as practitioners of witchcraft, as this is what a mage is." Jesus was represented as a serpent when Israel was smitten by the fiery snakes. Those who looked upon the image were saved, while those who did not perished.
Jesus also was charged (and still is) with blasphemy, with the Jews arguing that he didn't meet the requirements of the Messiah. As new things are revealed, they will all be associated with blasphemy. Jesus was accused of being indolent and a pretender; so was Joseph Smith. Jesus was accused of being a necromancer because he spoke to Elijah, Moses and another prophet, while Joseph Smith also was accused of being a necromancer because he communicated with an angel who once was a prophet. (The apostle John, on Patmos, also was told by an angel that he, the angel, was "of his brethren the prophets.")
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I'M SERIOUS!!!! If you eat cupcakes you will die at the Big "A"
by Gojira_101 ini was just doing dishes not really thinking about anything in particular, and all of a sudden this experience came flooding back and i started crying.. a few years ago i went back to one of the states i lived in to see/visit my friends (before i learned ttatt, i was still a happy borg at this time).. the friends i were staying with had two young girls, one was 3rd grade and the other was preschool.
so one day the father comes home after picking up the older girl (i think she was 7, 8...i'm not sure exactly this was several years ago) and she was all red and looked like she had been crying.
i noticed she had some blue at the corner of her mouth.
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Cold Steel
Look, I like cupcakes as much as anyone, but if Jehovah is going to kill me at Armegeddon I think I'll just have the yogurt pudding packed in my little lunch bag. Nice chicken sandwich with Miracle Whip (because he'll "whip" me if I don't finish it), some corn chips, the yogurt, some angel cake and a copy of Awake! Who needs cupcakes when YOU have the Truth? Besides, why tell the old man it was a birthday? Tell him it was a school project celebrating the sacrifice of children to the heathen god Molech. Tell him the entire class donated blood and they had cupcakes to rebalance sugar levels. Nothing like a cupcake and a little orange juice after giving a pint of blood!
Or better, engage him in a little theological tˆte-…-tˆte. Hand him a Bible and ask him to show you where Jehovah hates cupcakes and birthdays. He'll appreciate your intellectual curiosity and willingness to be taught. Either that or he'll slap "that look" off your face, one or the other. Every family is different.
What this country needs is more honor killings...and psychotropic drugs.
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Disfellowshipped from Bethel??
by gma-tired2 inmy question is it harder to be reinstated if you were disfellowshipped while at bethel.
i have someone who i worry about because of fear what he might do?
he has been denied at least twice even though he goes to all meeting and has tried so hard..
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Cold Steel
It doesn't matter what critics think of the organization, it's the one who has been disfellowshiped who is shouldering the perceived shame. It's like being fired from a job. No matter how critical people are of the company or agency, and no matter how bad the A-holes are who run it, there's still the stigma of rejection. I had a good friend who worked for a very large intelligence agency in northern Virginia. Regardless of how reliable the things are (or aren't), polygraphs are used regularly to gague one's loyalty. My friend was an analyst and shared the office with a guy he'd become friends with -- a fellow analyst. He asked the guy if he wanted to go to lunch one day and his friend replied no, he had a routine polygraph check he had to go to. After lunch, my friend returned to his office and, to his great astonishment, found that his co-workers desk had been completely cleaned out. The guy's case files were gone, as was his personal belongings.
I know quite a bit about how polygraphs work, and more importantly, how polygraphers work. It's pretty much a game of bluffing. The process of having your loyalty questioned in the way it is cannot be described as anything but degrading. You're told you failed when you passed and you're grilled about the stuff you allegedly left out. It's very accusatorial process, and if you're outbluffed, you lose the game, you don't even get to go back to your office to clean out your things; it's all done for you and, of course, no one from the agency is allowed to contact the person, even socially. For all intents and purposes he's blackballed, even if he's totally loyal. My friend left under a dark cloud a few years later and was later featured in one of Paul Harvey's "Rest of the Story" episodes.
Even though he was convinced he held the moral high ground in his own situation, it was devastating for him. I don't know the details, nor have I ever asked him for them, but I did see the effect being fired had on him. In many ways, being disfellowshiped from Bethel is even worse. Not only are you rejected professionally, but spiritually. You're also held up to ridicule, something the ancient church NEVER would have done. Believe it or not, it taught love and compassion and sought to bring people back into the fold. Jesus was very quick to forgive. It was in his nature, and having died for our sins he had a right to forgive. "I, the Lord, will forgive whom I will forgive," he said, "but of you it is required to forgive all men." One of the reasons I would reject the leadership of the Bethel organization is that they do not forgive. There is little compassion, only judgment. The woman who committed adultary and whom Jesus forgave, would undoubtably have been stoned by the GB!
I've heard many such stories from you guys, and it seems the elders are many times just itching to make someone an example. It's the mark of a manmade organization, in that manmade organizations will always reflect the doctrines of man, not God. I can't imgaine Christ ever shunning anyone. In fact, he seemed to actually enjoy being around sinners whose sins were burdens to them. And, as I indicated, he was quick to forgive anyone who asked. Thus, if YOUR church doesn't reflect that internally, you need to examine the path you are on. In the meantime, I'm sure this fellow who was disfellowshiped is suffering on many levels, professionally and spiritually. This isn't the time to give him the silent treatment, but to show compassion and love.
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BTW, has anyone ever published stories reflecting the greatness and compassion of GB members? Has anyone ever written articles saying, it's been my privilege to know and work with these men for years, and I can attest that they are men of God! They treat the gardeners and the janitors with the same respect and love they do for each other! If the answer to these questions is no, then the Holy Spirit isn't with them.
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Anyone taking bets on the number of partakers this year?
by wha happened? ineven with the change to "just domestics", i can't see the number going down.
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Cold Steel
What would the reaction be to someone partaking. If they're passing the emblems, certainly they should anticipate people partaking; otherwise, what's the point? If I were a believer, and a member, I suppose I'd partake. After all, I'd think being a heavenly creature would be a much better future than being stuck in a worldwide garden. If you've ever seen the Stargate series on TV, wouldn't existing as an "ascended" being have it all over having to live trillions and trillions of years as a terrestrial bound immortal? If you think about eternity and can even in a small way comprehend it, you would be able to count every grain of sand on every seashore of the earth billions of times and it would only be a fraction of a second in the long stretch of eternity that lies ahead.
As I understand the JW eschatology, only those of the 144,000 are supposed to partake. Even if one grants the bizarre interpretation the JWs have, who is to say that the number should be dwindling? The number is taken from the entire human race from the beginning of mankind to the end. And though it refers to the twelve tribes of Israel (12,000 from each tribe), we know that Abraham, Issac and Jacob will inherit the Kingdom of Heaven (Matthew 8:11). How is this possible seeing that they were not from any of the tribes of Israel? And doesn't someone living today have just as much of a chance of being one of the 144,000 as anyone else who's ever lived? It's shallow thinking to say people taking the sacrament today are just crazy old coots and wackos.
If someone passed the plate to the next person and that person partook, what would the people on either side of him/her think? Also, how much bread and wine are passed? I've never been to such a service, but if it's a meeting where everyone is acting suspiciously and watching who's taking it, doesn't that kind of defeat the purpose of the ceremony?
Jesus' death and resurrection covered the sins of all men, not just the 144,000; so when the bread and wine are administered in remembrance of his death -- his body and blood -- shouldn't all partake?
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What if you were DF'd for apostacy, but instead of the expected...
by respectful_observer inthis is a hypothethical, so i'm not looking for whether you would ever do this, or "why would you want to subject yourself to this...", but rather, what would happen if some did do this..... .................... you're half of a married jw couple, and you admit to doubts about certain wts teachings and it leads to an eventual disfellowshipping.
but instead of walking away from the kingdom hall forever, you stay put.
you faithfully go to every meeting with your spouse.
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Cold Steel
Better, what would happen if a number of disfellowshiped people went to church and only spoke to themselves, laughed, joked and rounded up kids as though nothing was amiss. I know this is only hypothetical. Also, can one be disfellowshiped for talking to people who are disfellowshiped?
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May 2013 Awake suggests screaming to thwart sexual assault
by ParadiseCircus inthey just can't let it go.... .
they also provide this tip to avoid being raped: "react quickly.
scream.
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Cold Steel
Yes, by all means scream...then shoot him with your concealed .357 revolver!
Okay, here's one for the magazines: In 1976, a TV show starring Paul Sorvino looked at the question of what would happen if a woman raped a man. Actually, the woman does it for a lark. She kidnaps a guy, goes to a quiet spot, pulls a gun on him and has him strip. Then she motions him into the back of her Cadillac, has her way with him, then puts him out on the deserted road buck naked. He subsequently reports the incident, but when they get a look at this beautiful woman, they dismiss it. But then the woman accuses him of raping her. He loses his friends and family and is made a laughing stock. When the jury comes back with a guilty verdict, but before sentencing, the woman approaches the bench, fesses up and Sorvino's character is vindicated.
Now how would the JW magazines handle that?
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Jehovah Got What It Takes To Spawn Mind Control Cults Run By Those Who Have Narcissistic Personality Disorder
by frankiespeakin injust look at this deity: he's all powerful, he's jealous, he falls into rages over trifles, he punishes other for being cruel and unloveing but he himself gets off scott free when he is unloving cruel, challenging him is considered a sin, you cannot worship other dieties, he alway tells the truth(unchallenged), his word is alway truth(not to be challenged), obeying him leads to life disobeying him lead to death, he's blood thirsty but justified, and the list can get quite big.. this type of diety falls naturally in line with those who have narcissistic personality disorder as the diety has it and so he would have drawing power over those that suffer from this or those already worshipping this deity would start to think like him as they work into their thinking his justifications thus giving themselve a green light to entrench their thinking or align their thinking to his disorder.. .
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Cold Steel
Glad you guys got it out of your system. The reality sets in when one begins looking at the details. The myth of a jealous, bloodthirsty, heartless, merciless war god is just the bitter manifestation of atheists and others who are critical of religion. I will concede one point, however. God is not content to live and let live. We didn't come to Earth to just live day-to-day lives and then die, but, rather, to be tested and tried. The monster isn't God, but man without God. Nations that ignore God invariably end up rotting from within. And it always entails men coming out in open rebellion against God.
Just my two cents.
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Don't e-mail DF'd family members - Congregation Reaction (WT 1/15/2013)
by 00DAD indo not look for excuses to associate with a disfellowshipped family member, for example, through e-mail.
- w2013 1/15, p. 16, para.
in the congregation i attend, no one--and i mean no one--commented on the directive to not communicate with df'd family members by email.
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Cold Steel
As an outsider, I'm appalled by such a declaration. The Watchtower cited I Corinthians 5:11 as justification for their unbiblical policy of shunning. So we look up I Corinthians 5:11 and find what Paul's admonition actually was:
I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people— not at all meaning the people of this worldwho are immoral, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters. In that case you would have to leave this world. But now I am writing to you that you must not associate with anyone who claims to be a brother or sister but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or slanderer, a drunkard or swindler. Do not even eat with such people. What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside? G od will judge those outside. “Expel the wicked person from among you.” (Deuteronomy 13:5)
Now this is a general admonition to the church, and is not given by commandment. In fact, most church authorities would take issue with the first portion of Paul's statement and admonish Christians to not associate with sexually immoral people who might sidetrack them from the path of righteousness. But "associate" means to "keep company with" or casual interaction with people such as working with them, doing business with them and so forth. You can't avoid it unless you leave this world. But people who profess to be Christians and are morally impure also are spiritually impure. But what do you do when most people profess to be Christians? You can't avoid everyone.
Ah, but this means members of "the Truth." Okay, but nothing about shunning is mentioned. Paul simply states that Christians should not associate with believers (adelphos) which is translated "brother or sisters" who are sexually impure or who are greedy, swindlers or idolaters. Again, this does not mean shunning! It means that Christians shouldn't keep company with those who meet certain criteria. And to meet this criteria, one must be a believer who is a " whoremonger, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner." Paul says nothing about a believer who doesn't accept certain doctrines, or a believer who has been disfellowshiped because of "apostasy" (as determined by the "faithful and discreet slave," who, if it is the Watchtower Society's Governing Body, definitively say they don't receive revelation from God; merely "light."). Further, the WTS says members shouldn't associate with non-members, or members of other religions. But Paul writes:
If an unbeliever invites you to his house for dinner , and you wish to go, eat anything he serves you without letting your conscience trouble you. ( I Cor. 10:27 )
So it is okay to befriend unbelievers. It appears that the WTS is taking positions that are grossly unscriptural.
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BTW: If Paul advises believers who go to dinner with unbelievers to "eat anything he serves you," I wonder if that includes blood pie?
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How God treated his own prophets
by Dismissing servant ini came to think of thin when talking about ezekiel in another thread.
i recommeny you reading the chapters 3-4 in ezekiel.
but have a look at this from chapter 4 , it is just disguisting:.
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Cold Steel
Ezekiel and Isaiah were not crazy, unhinged, demented or whako. The Lord uses similes to teach and symbols to instruct. Most people assume prophets didn't exist in the New Testament, but in the book of Acts, we read: “ And in these days prophets came from Jerusalem to Antioch. Then one of them, named Agabus, stood up and showed by the Spirit that there was going to be a great famine throughout all the world, which also happened in the days of Claudius Caesar. .. . ” (Acts 11) Also, in Acts 21: “ And as we stayed many days, a certain prophet named Agabus came down from Judea. When he had come to us, he took Paul’s belt, bound his own hands and feet, and said, ‘Thus says the Holy Spirit, So shall the Jews at Jerusalem bind the man who owns this belt, and deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.’”
Apostles tend not to use similes, metaphors or analogies. They’re more forthright, even though they see visions, entertain angels and prophesy. But in the Old Testament, most of the time things that appear disgusting, like the instructions to Ezekiel, make more sense in the culture and the context of the times (read all of Ezekiel 4, not just a few verses). Everything he did was symbolic. What he ate was nutritious, and dung was frequently used for fires (though not human dung). Since he was doing God’s will, one must assume that anything he ate would not hurt him. And lying on his side for 390 days does not mean that he lay in one spot all day long. At any rate, when Ezekiel respectfully protested the dung command, the Lord said, “See, I am giving you cow dung instead of human waste, and you shall prepare your bread over it.”
As for Isaiah, he didn’t walk around buck naked, wearing sandals only. The word “naked” meant “ without an upper garment, like a slave or exile.” Had the people of Jerusalem heeded his words and gone with Babylon over Egypt, they would have avoided the captivity. At any rate, Isaiah was one of the greatest prophets of the Old Testament, and Jesus said, “Great are the words of Isaiah.”