making mole hills into mountains .
we had a wonderful and most exemplary family in our congregation.
they are hard workers, hospitable, caring, generous, suffer with you through hardship, kind, compassionate, and as loyal to the organization as any family could be.
Amazing, you said that the family members were
hard working and hospitable, caring, generous, suffer with you through hardship, kind, compassionate, and as loyal to the organization as any family could be
and then you went on to explain the situation. Well, that family appears to be what Christianity is supposed to be about.
When the brother approached you, he was also 'checking with the elders'. That is the Fear and Guilt that the WTBTS puts on everyone below the GB in the organisation
esther
i was just looking out the window, as it would happen a middle aged woman, or perhaps a young woman worn out with her life walked past.
she stopped on the edge of the mall where my wifes office is, and sat on a bench outside the window.
on close look, she couldnt have been more than late 30's, but probably only 35.. she sat for a while just looking at the ground in front of her, her face just exhibiting that blank look of the world weary.
Deacon, I feel lost, too. Petty? How could it be petty? We KNEW we had the TRUTH. We felt safe in our box, but now we have had our anchor taken away, so we are drifting with the tides, and no longer know which direction we are heading. We have lost the certainty of what the future holds. We know that the belief system we have had for so long was based on shifting sands. Now we have to find our own way. But we have friends here, who have also been through things, maybe not exactly the same, but enough for us to have empathy for one another.
esther
amazings justice points brings me to this point.
elders truly believe that they are appointed by gods spirit.
so when they appoint someone who is:.
Spirit drinking maybe, direction of holy spirit no
esther
ok, so i got my idea from bugeye's wife's thread.
if the wtbts decided to change its doctrine so that the age for baptism was 30 years, the same age as john and jesus, would everyone who was baptised under that age have their baptism invalidated?
if so, what would happen to any disfellowshipped ones whose baptism was invalid?
seven, you say
Please don't give the JW's any ideas. If they start changing things and revoke the disfellowshipped status for those who were baptized under the age of 30, that might mean I would wind up being a JW in their eyes
Now that I have reconsidered, the baptism wouldn't stand. So you couldn't be considered a JW again.
Anyway, just think of how many JWs could be helped because now they could listen to the information we have.
esther
ok, so i got my idea from bugeye's wife's thread.
if the wtbts decided to change its doctrine so that the age for baptism was 30 years, the same age as john and jesus, would everyone who was baptised under that age have their baptism invalidated?
if so, what would happen to any disfellowshipped ones whose baptism was invalid?
Matthew 4:17 says that from that time on Jesus began preaching. This was after he had been baptised and been tempted by the devil. So should JWs under 30 be preaching? Should there be unbaptised publishers? If Jesus left a pattern to be followed by his disciples, first comes baptism, then preaching. Oh no, we all did it the wrong way round, even those of us who were old enough to qualify for baptism by bible standards (30 years old)
esther
ok, so i got my idea from bugeye's wife's thread.
if the wtbts decided to change its doctrine so that the age for baptism was 30 years, the same age as john and jesus, would everyone who was baptised under that age have their baptism invalidated?
if so, what would happen to any disfellowshipped ones whose baptism was invalid?
OK, so I got my idea from BugEye's wife's thread. If the WTBTS decided to change its doctrine so that the age for baptism was 30 years, the same age as John and Jesus, would everyone who was baptised under that age have their baptism invalidated? If so, what would happen to any disfellowshipped ones whose baptism was invalid? Just idle speculation, because, of course, they could never admit to having been wrong to baptise people who did not meet the bible requirements.
esther
can the bible be interpreted correctly only by the watchtower?.
do you believe that the bible was written to all people?
pomegranate, you asked "If you made the mold unflawed and someone else made it flawed, then what?"
It would depend on the circumstances. I would destroy the mold, but if it had been used prior to it being flawed, I would probably make do with what I already had. But if the mold had not been used, I would make another unflawed mold, and then stick around to make sure that this one did not get flawed by anyone before it was used
can the bible be interpreted correctly only by the watchtower?.
do you believe that the bible was written to all people?
pom, you said
Regarding sin, we are born in sin. All of Jericho was in sin. Do you believe all who were destroyed in the flood weren't worthy of that judgement? Or you don't believe that happened either? Curious...How much "sin" does a man have to do in order to be worthy of destruction?
If I made a mold to make something and it was sufficiently flawed for me to want to destroy it and I still used it, I could not then blame what was reproduced for the flaws. So, no, I don't believe that everyone is worthy of destruction simply because they were born.
esther
i have often wondered this.
his sole purpose in coming to earth was to make disciples and the sacrifice.
he knew this.. so why did he wait till 30 yrs of age to dedicate himself to his father?
sixofnine, you say
Francoise, I like the way you write. Fiction. I worry a bit the way you present what Jesus and God did or didn't do as a reality you seem to know.
Isn't that what religion has been doing for centuries.
esther
i have been wondering for a while now:are jw's recognized as such by their public baptism or by .
the service report they turn in every month?.
when i was studying,i was constantly told that to become a jehovah's witness,one had to make a. public declaration by getting baptized.2 1/2 yrs after i was baptized,i was stripped of all my privileges.
Hi Josh, welcome to the board. You asked
I have been wondering for a while now:are JW's recognized as such by their public baptism or by the service report they turn in every month?
A CO once said that you can't be a witness if you are not actually witnessing. This has been the case for a long time, as far as I know.
I didn't know that there was a specified amount of time you were supposed to spend in FS, unless you were pioneering, though. I wonder how the GB came to that figure. It is not scriptural, anyway, and neither is reporting time in FS.
Maybe the publisher numbers are declining because more people are realising that the GB does not have divine direction.
esther
