Posts by humbled

17

Winter in China - Snow in Kunming

by fulltimestudent in

kunming (capital of yunnan province in south china, near the border with myanmar) has a reputation of being a city with a climate of perpetual spring.

neither winter or summer is extreme (on average) so its news when it snows:.

(images from people's daily).

humbled

Beautiful pictures. Thanks for taking me on the trip...

2596

The Pastor of my Old Church Tried to Re-Convert Me Yesterday

by cofty in

yesterday evening my wife and i were invited to friends house for new year's eve.

we met them when i was a christian and we have kept in touch.

they had a few other friends there as well, including the new church pastor and his wife.

humbled

flamegrilled,

It doesn't work for me to imagine that picture of a bright pet having a painful procedure done.

See youtube: Louis CK Punches Dog in the Face to Save Her Life-Conan O'Brien

The individual dog has a chance to forgive after a while--but your application is not toward an individual human with a procedure from which they recover..

..I don't think it fits.

2596

The Pastor of my Old Church Tried to Re-Convert Me Yesterday

by cofty in

yesterday evening my wife and i were invited to friends house for new year's eve.

we met them when i was a christian and we have kept in touch.

they had a few other friends there as well, including the new church pastor and his wife.

humbled

cofty,Is the frontline of this thread is experiencing a legitimate shift?

This is very important thread. If there is nothing that stops human suffering,including the prayers of believers, would you let the direction of the OP shift to this question: If the scriptures don't give a clear idea of any god activity behind the scenes, (here's the shift)then why would we trust the Church's Writing department to give us an clear look at the carpenter?

If Church got god wrong, would I have to throw Jesus out ?

2596

The Pastor of my Old Church Tried to Re-Convert Me Yesterday

by cofty in

yesterday evening my wife and i were invited to friends house for new year's eve.

we met them when i was a christian and we have kept in touch.

they had a few other friends there as well, including the new church pastor and his wife.

humbled

new hope, there is nothing that justifies it. Nothing.

Try to put the murdered or the drowned children in the equation of choosing "salvation, accepting jesus as your personal savior". It doesn't fit that theology.

The practical imperative to love others is far more compelling if we are to be the living arms of Jesus. If he overcame the world, then he did it not with theology but by showing us how to live lovingly in spite of it. Reach out to the broken-hearted and the ones in prison....

I do not see any justification for the horror and misery of children.

17

Update from the land of Southern Africa

by LouBelle in

jw
friends

well 2013 is behind me and i'm pleased that it is done and dusted.

it was a hard one, filled with doubt, fear, pain and horribleness.

i was very fortunate to get out of that horrid job and get back into advertising with the fever.

humbled

Been wondering 'bout you--Glad you gave us an update. You fought it out all right. Made me feel good to hear you really got to have a vacation without worries. aaaaahhhhhh!

2596

The Pastor of my Old Church Tried to Re-Convert Me Yesterday

by cofty in

yesterday evening my wife and i were invited to friends house for new year's eve.

we met them when i was a christian and we have kept in touch.

they had a few other friends there as well, including the new church pastor and his wife.

humbled

Caliber, The word "perish" and "destruction/death" are the same word in the Greek. Translations can mislead us--we xJWs should know...

The tragedy of death seems to be that life is over and the opportunity for living the goodlife is done. To live well and lovingly has tremendous value in itself. For what it is worth there is a 3 minute account of the killing of a good man during the Rwanda genocide.

www.rwandanstories.org/genocide/a_good_man.html

My opinion--sudden death is to be feared if we have not understood how to live so as o meet it as this man did. His grandson had his example and so did his killers.......

Edited: nothing mitigates the death of innocent children or anyone... tragedy is tragedy.

2596

The Pastor of my Old Church Tried to Re-Convert Me Yesterday

by cofty in

yesterday evening my wife and i were invited to friends house for new year's eve.

we met them when i was a christian and we have kept in touch.

they had a few other friends there as well, including the new church pastor and his wife.

humbled

cofty, You ask me what Jesus was trying to say here. I read it first when I was certain of an afterlife and judgement. And I know how I read it now.

when I read it now I consider as much of the teachings of Jesus that I know of--including those outside the bible canon. I used the evidence of good people I know who have died in "bad" ways. I read commentaries and research individual words--the words "I tell you, no"--that are said to be the most emphatic and intense expression of the negative. I researched the historical background of the events referenced...But even as I read the many commentaries going back 300 + years I realized that people who peg Jesus as the leader of the "saved" in heaven--These orthodox christians say he emphatically states the deaths reflect no special badness. These people simply died by chance.

And thus far I agree with what Jesus said.

But then the differences show up--with this question: what perishing is there for his listeners to fear?

..and, truthfully, it will be determined by the teachings he has given in other writings.

56

Do You Consider Yourself An "Apostate"?

by minimus in

jw
friends

i don't.. i consider myself a truth teller.. the watchtower society appears to be more "apostate" than even "christendom"..

humbled

Yes.

2596

The Pastor of my Old Church Tried to Re-Convert Me Yesterday

by cofty in

yesterday evening my wife and i were invited to friends house for new year's eve.

we met them when i was a christian and we have kept in touch.

they had a few other friends there as well, including the new church pastor and his wife.

humbled

In finding an equation to plumb the rectitude of god,natural disaster does put humans out of the equation as perpetrators. The result is damning to the image of a benevolent, all-powerful God.

I do not believe in the El-god, the Jehovah of jealous retribution in the OT.

If I unhook from OT Jehovah, how do I read Jesus? The account in Lu. 13:1-5 has Jesus saying that neither man-made nor natural disasters are negative judgements, direct or indirect against humans. (I don't have cut and paste in my limited computer skills).

36

After years of Watchtower fighting the BAN in Russia.....

by Newly Enlightened in

i apologize if this topic was already covered, i didn't have time to look thru several pages of posts.... after several years of fighting their ban in russia.

russian court declares jw's literature extremist:.

http://en.ria.ru/russia/20140113/186483571/russian-court-declares-jehovahs-witness-brochures-extremist.html?fb_action_ids=530487500391762&fb_action_types=og.recommends&fb_source=other_multiline&action_object_map=%5b1377130229215916%5d&action_type_map=%5b%22og.recommends%22%5d&action_ref_map=%5b%5d.

humbled

Well--true, I am also for freedom of the press, freedom to worship, freedom of speech.

I amend my first comments--Don't ban them, just tell them that they can't operate in the country as long as they forbid their members from also being able to read and study the bible without fear of being df'd.