Posts by humbled

25

My experience with the "faithful and discreet slave"?

by Blttex in

who really is the faithful and discreet slave........ .

funeral experience.

i attended my first "worldly" funeral last saturday.

humbled

How simply beautiful that you went there.

An event like that gives the lie to the crooked keepers we used to have.

Maeve

93

Jesus didn't care about chronologies and bible knowledge--why should we?

by humbled in

when i read the gospels, i don't find a bunch of numbers.

i loved that jesus talked in a way that left me wide open to respond to god.

"love god with your whole heart, mind, soul and strength and your neighbor as yourself".

I see you have the Iron Rod. I'm certain a child can see what you are saying. But a lot of rulers have iron rods--and Jesus never told me to watch for numbers--I have to go with Jesus I or Jesus II on this.

I will be on the watch. Since I don't know the day or the hour, sleep will have to wait. Besides, trying to be loving isn't the worst thing--especially if the other disciples are doing the same. It ain't so bad, waiting.

Jesus talked alot, enough that you could catch the sense of what his "voice" would be even if he came in a second coming--like the way the disciples recognized him eventually on the road to Emmaus .

He told us how to know his disciples, by the love they have among themselves. The FDS had numbers and an Iron Rod. they beat me with it. I believe they may have fullfiled the scriptures because they got impatient for the Master to arrive. But the Master may not like what they're doing to folks like me.

Like I said,Jesus talked enough that people caught the sense of what he said--In fact, far from tight numerical equations, he spoke parables! Something clever about that, imo, is that nobody much screwed around with altering his parables. And over the years, archeology,translations, history don't tangle them up. They age well.

Why would a God of love do it different?

If we trust anything in the bible, shouldn't we let the teachings that Jesus EXPLICITLY gave to us be the measure of matters?

How can you not hear yourself? You must know that Jesus brought comfort and healing--to you and me. Why isn't love the key? Jesus said it was.

93

Jesus didn't care about chronologies and bible knowledge--why should we?

by humbled in

when i read the gospels, i don't find a bunch of numbers.

i loved that jesus talked in a way that left me wide open to respond to god.

"love god with your whole heart, mind, soul and strength and your neighbor as yourself".

humbled

Lars, at every critical moment when common folk wondered what to make of Jesus, he never ever gave them numbers.

So the story goes in Lu.7:17 that John the Baptist didn't check his calendar to see if Jesus was the One:"And this report concerning him (Jesus) pervaded all Judea, and all the surrounding country. And John's disciples told him of all these things. And summoning two of his disciples, John sent to the Lord, saying, "Art thou the coming one? Or are we to expect another?"

And having come to him, the men said, "John the Immerser sent us to thee, saying, 'Art thou the coming one? or are we to expect another?'"

And in that hour he delivered many from diseases, and plagues and evil spirits; and he gave sight to many blind persons.

And Jesus answering, said to them,"Go, tell John what you have seen and heard; the blind are made to see, the lame to walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised, glad tidings are announced to the poor; and happy is he who is not stumbled at me."

Once again, Jesus is so lame about saying who he is (just kidding, of course).

He does stuff that little kids could "get". Dummies. Even women.

If the main support for proving who is the Messiah is numbers, history and archeology the more obvious that such evidence can only cause you to do one thing:you just will have to shout louder. And you are obliged to read the next book and the next of a lot of people.

Lars, If you were Jesus, wouldn't you be glad that people loved you for more than your superior bible knowledge? Look at the posts that others have made previously. Don't you see that they "get" the real message-the good news? It is about love.

Lars, will the good news change with the 2nd coming? (sorry-that should be another post)

Maeve

11

Should The Governing Body Seek Psychiatric Help For Narcissistic Personality Disorder?

by frankiespeakin in

http://psychcentral.com/disorders/sx36t.htm.

narcissistic patients try to sustain an image of perfection and personal invincibility for themselves and attempt to project that impression to others as well.

physical illness may shatter this illusion, and a patient may lose the feeling of safety inherent in a cohesive sense of self.

humbled

Dear Frankie,

The GB might be amenable to change if they all got sick together?

Then I will pray that they each and everyone get a terrible case of piles.

Maeve

93

Jesus didn't care about chronologies and bible knowledge--why should we?

by humbled in

when i read the gospels, i don't find a bunch of numbers.

i loved that jesus talked in a way that left me wide open to respond to god.

"love god with your whole heart, mind, soul and strength and your neighbor as yourself".

humbled

Hello.

If the topic is of interest still--I am up for talking!

Why do I give any weight to second-hand Jesus stories? I have observed that there is a nub of reality at the base of most stories. So much so that the most pernicious lies are almost always built upon a fact, a truth.

When I look a the broad tendancy of a happy creature, with a healthy family, in a secure community it is impossible ignore patterns that repeat themselves. I see repeating patterns in the reflexive teaching of Jesus: love your neighbor as yourself, do unto others as you would have them do unto you. My take away is that there is something behind this that I cannot know absolutely--and words, mP, are in short supply to describe. Yet, once anyone sticks a word, a label on that SOMETHING, the wrangling begins and you are likely to be stoned or burned at the stake for thinking about it yourself.

It is hard to consider Jesus and who he is-or was-apart from our indoctrination. We all have our prejudices-can't help it. Who in recent times got to meet him at a wedding feast? Or fishing? Or the like? Of course whoever first told us a Jesus story told us with a little bit of spin-- I heard about Jesus as a little girl through the lense of Catholicism. Catechism. Indoctrination. Hard to shake it.

But maybe Jesus was not so hide-bound.

Jesus is reported to have said at John 7:16,17 "Jesus then answered them, and said, 'My teaching is not mine, but his who sent me. If anyone wish to perform his will, he shall know of the teaching, whether it is from God, or I am speaking from myself.'

I accepted the invitation. It is free from formula and lets me acknowledge or not whether I think there is anything to it. AND it prevents me from creating a RELIGION of my experience. I can only invite others to do the same. No bow-beating.

Because it is relevant, if you like the letters that led to my leaving/expulsion can be accessed through this forum. At the "search" box write: How I left Jehovah's Witnesses/MaeveCourteau. The Bethel response is included.

93

Jesus didn't care about chronologies and bible knowledge--why should we?

by humbled in

when i read the gospels, i don't find a bunch of numbers.

i loved that jesus talked in a way that left me wide open to respond to god.

"love god with your whole heart, mind, soul and strength and your neighbor as yourself".

humbled

Hope to resume tomorrow, S&R. You are no doubt in surgery--

93

Jesus didn't care about chronologies and bible knowledge--why should we?

by humbled in

when i read the gospels, i don't find a bunch of numbers.

i loved that jesus talked in a way that left me wide open to respond to god.

"love god with your whole heart, mind, soul and strength and your neighbor as yourself".

humbled

Sorry for a poor word choice. Though I don't see rage as out of place at times.

Good for you--a doctor? I'm glad for doctors for certain. I start chemo and radiation a little more than a day from now. I love the healing arts.

I am careful not to quench anyone's smoldering flax of faith or however that scripture reads... I, too, read of discoveries and biblical scholarship. It challenges old ideas of the scriptures but doesn't hurt my faith. There is something to the parts of Jesus story that slip past the heavy-handed paws of preservationists.

I got kicked out for refusing to agree that God told Abraham to kill and sacrifice Isaac. I pointed out that, in the first place, the word used in Gen 22 was NOT the word for kill/sacrifice. That if God Had said it then he was a sly and cruel manipulator.

There was no way to avoid a fire storm. All the letters from the first "confession" to the elders to the Bethel response and so on got posted a few years back. I am certain many see it as a WTF issue.

I actually see that all this fiddly-piddly with doctrine, chronology and theology is not where Jesus was pointing us.

I appreciate your honest posting.

93

Jesus didn't care about chronologies and bible knowledge--why should we?

by humbled in

when i read the gospels, i don't find a bunch of numbers.

i loved that jesus talked in a way that left me wide open to respond to god.

"love god with your whole heart, mind, soul and strength and your neighbor as yourself".

humbled

S&R,

I think Jesus would agree that there were some contradictions in the scriptures. He pointed out a problem at Matt. 19:8.Just because a thing was written on a scroll, I don't see that Jesus thought that certain practices of his fellow Jews remotely reflected God's love. Not at all.

I'm not too good at coaxing things out of my computer. I couldn't get the video to work :<

93

Jesus didn't care about chronologies and bible knowledge--why should we?

by humbled in

when i read the gospels, i don't find a bunch of numbers.

i loved that jesus talked in a way that left me wide open to respond to god.

"love god with your whole heart, mind, soul and strength and your neighbor as yourself".

humbled

That is a great solid tear, snare & racket. I mean it! My key board nearly levitated with your rage.

Your remarks will flush me out of hiding for sure.

I have an attitude toward the use of scripture and the way we are forced to BELIEVE that ended my connection with organized religion.

The matters you raise should be addressed one by one in thoughtful posts. They are all great topics.

93

Jesus didn't care about chronologies and bible knowledge--why should we?

by humbled in

when i read the gospels, i don't find a bunch of numbers.

i loved that jesus talked in a way that left me wide open to respond to god.

"love god with your whole heart, mind, soul and strength and your neighbor as yourself".

humbled

Hello, Larsinger,

Jesus hearkens back to Daniel, true. But this connection at Mat. 24:15 says "When therefore, you shall see, stationed on holy ground, that destructive abomination, which is spoken of through Daniel the prophet,(reader attend) "then let those in Judea escape to the mountains." Daniel's numbers are not material to this warning--not in this instance.

As to whether you have convinced me that a life span given in Ps. 90:10 is the equivalent to the Greek or Aramaic word used at Matt. 24:34 --I have no reason to think they are the same. It is your opinion only.

Of course, numbers come up in the bible. My reason not to fasten on to a chronology even if they come up in the bible is they are RELATIVELY unimportant --even to Jesus.

Jesus wasn't against tithing either. But its importance was relatively low in his eyes compared to other things:"Woe to you Pharisees! Because you tithe of mint, and rue, and every pot-herb, but disregard justice and the love of God; these things you ought to practice, and not to omit those." Lu. 11:42

In general Jesus seems to warn us off of overreliance on timetables--AS SO WELL THE WTS/FDS HAS SHOWN US ALL. All the rest of Matt. 24 tells of that sad outcome of a time expectation gone wrong. Spiritual abuse ensues.

Lars, aren't you glad Jesus simply lived so wonderfully that uneducated, dirty or poor he gave us all a certain guide to discipleship that would keep people like myself from being the spiritual slave of my "betters"-better in math, intellect, leisure? "Just as I have loved you, so you also love one another. By this all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love among yourselves."

This is understandable even without a diagram that even a child can grasp it.

It is hard to think that numbers lit much of the wise virgins lamps. Maybe the foolish ones thought that chronology would light their way.