Posts by Watkins

43

Why is god hiding?

by AK - Jeff in

what god could have done to show himself:.

he could have left incontrovertible evidence of his existence.he could have made it impossibly evident that mankind has been here only 6000 years, not the 200,000 give or take, that fossil evidence supports.

he could have provided evidence through jesus to millions of non-believers, instead of focusing on a small band of fanatical followers eager to point to 'the messiah'.he could at any time, being the ultimate of beings, just simply show himself in the sky, speak to millions instead of to the lonely occasional deluded sheepherder in the desert, or provide miracles to millions of us as observers - part the ocean, cure cancer and announce it from heaven in a clear unmistakable voice, or instantaneously stop starvation and plague in it's tracks.

Watkins

Maybe... the questions and disappointments aren't the faults of God, but of the religions who so wrongly misrepresent Him?

I think He's evident in creation since the evolution theories seem to lack, to me, 'Cause'. Personally I believe "God" was the wonderful intelligence behind the formation of the universes, especially looking at this earth and all it's inhabitants. I respect anyone's choice to believe or not to believe - but I don't think God's to blame here. I think religion - any "organised" religion - puts doctrines and church edicts ahead of the very little stated in the Bible about creation. They've all come up with some pretty illogical and unreasoning theories themselves - none of it God's plan. But they all claim "GOD said it!" and beat you to death with their own holy book if they can't MAKE you believe the exact same way they do. It's my disdain for the extremes of religion - any of it - that makes me so strongly feel that 'faith' isn't in the tangible things we see, feel or know, but in a spiritual and intangible plane that no amount of religiosity can touch. I've known a few atheists and agnostics who will surely be judged better representatives of God than the religionists who've already condemned them - to an eternal lava bath! Lol - there's no freakin' way so much of that crap's true, Jeff! Underneath it all, though - to me - some truth escapes getting dirty - do good for everyone you can, be honest, be loyal to family and friends --- it's your heart that matters. Enjoy life and love it - don't let religion burden you, 'cause that's all it can do. It's not of God and has proven through so much gorey history that it doesn't even come close. God IS, but He is NOT in religion or their woefully lacking picture of Him.

... just a thought...

ps - I guess this is why we don't exchange Christmas cards anymore, huh? - was going thru my addresses the other day and there you were!

4

Are Jehovah's Witnesses the demonic "Angel of Light"?

by The Berean in

for the protection of human beings would it not be important to precisely identify the current threat?.

or do evil spirits not really exist at all?.

.

Watkins

They're nothing concerning Bible prophecy - nothing but one more sect of tens of thousands of sects. Oh, OK, they might be 'something' - if only that they're what Jesus warns us about -

Matthew 23:15
"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you travel around on sea and land to make one proselyte; and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves.

Matthew 24: 23 "Then if anyone says to you, 'Behold, here is the Christ,' or 'There He is,' do not believe him. 24 "For false Christs and false prophets will arise and will show great signs and wonders, so as to mislead, if possible, even the elect. 25 "Behold, I have told you in advance. 26 "So if they say to you, 'Behold, He is in the wilderness,' do not go out, or, 'Behold, He is in the inner rooms,' do not believe them.

But that's all I'm giving them.

48

watchtower site on Facebook, ,,is this stuff for real ?

by lancelink in

i was looking over the watchtower site on facebook this evening, and was just mesmerized by many of the posts.this stuff can't be real (can it)?

nelson birdwell ?

it's like something out of mad magazine, or better yet the onion !.

Watkins

I knew it couldn't be real - the 'Beth Shan' poster used the word "lucky"! Lol, very witty - funny!

15

Daily Mail UK Newspaper article The knock at the door that turned my parents into brainwashed fanatics - and nearly cost my life

by Latte in

jw
friends

thursday, feb 11 2010 daily mail uk.

the knock at the door that turned my parents into brainwashed fanatics - and nearly cost my life.

read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1250078/the-knock-door-turned-parents-brainwashed-fanatics--nearly-cost-life.html#ixzz0feux4vdf.

Watkins

"The group would have been happy for us to have lived on benefits with more time to devote to them."
To my knowledge, 'the group' has generally frowned on sponging off the government to fund a more 'theocratic' lifestyle.
Hmm, not around here - Indiana. If someone needed financial help they were directed to the state welfare office FIRST. Not quite what the first century Christians in Acts did, pooling their resources and dispersing them as needed... quite different.
Remember too, this is her recollection as a child - and maybe her Mum did dress her funny in second-hand dresses?

10

Who or what was Jesus?

by highdose in

given the up coming season i thought this would be a good disscussion.. do you belive that jesus was real?

the son of god?.

a religous cruesader of his day?.

Watkins

^ what Sylvia said

I just read 2 good books for the skeptic, written by a skeptic - Lee Stobel's "The Case for the Real Jesus" and "The Case for Christ". There is so much historical evidence. Faith strengthening for the undecided.

9

To charm a lady: "You've got a POT BELLY & a GI-NORMOUS NOSE!!

by Open mind in

jw
friends

so i was passing the time at the k hall the other day and decided to flip through the song of solomon for old time's sake.. .

here's a couple doozies from old king solomon that should really help the guys score points with the woman of your dreams:.

7:2 "your navel roll is a round bowl."......

Watkins

That cracked me up - thanks for the laugh, esp. you, Farkel!

Melina Kanakaredes has the classic Greek nose - all their goddesses had one just like it, lol. Did you know, om, that she was on the soap opera 'The Guiding Light' years ago, before CSI, where she played a Greek heiress who married a town boy. I thought then and still do think she's a true natural beauty.

In centuries past artists depicted the female form as much rounder and heavier than 'we'(depends who you're talkin' to, I guess) think of as ideal these days. You can't have a voluptuous body without fat, it doesn't work that way naturally. >>> 7:2 "Your navel roll is a round bowl." <<< but that's still funny, and not much of a compliment by today's standards, lol, but it still beats: "Damn, baby - you need lipo!"

4

The Chain Of Command!

by wannabe in

the chain of command!.

is it not true, that any of the twelve apostles of christ could have made the claim to being the 'faithful and discreet slave' of the parable in matthew 24:45, and as such could have claimed to being god's organization,' god's channel of communication,' 'god's spirit directed organization?

it was a revelation for all of the slaves at that time.

Watkins

Good! I have a difference of opinion about this though:

As far as any appointments for mankind in general, Jehovah has offered only two destinies. One, for one class, to inherit immortality in the Spirit realm, as King Priests to 'rule with the Christ for the thousand years', the other to have opportunity to inherit 'everlasting life' under the Kingdom ruled by Christ and his 144,000 anointed Brothers, for life 'on this earth.' {Revelation 5:10;20:6} {Psalms 37:11} All other appointments would be for only the Christ. {Acts 17:11} {Hebrews 1:2;2:7;5:1} It would be the work of the surviving remnant of Christs Spiritual Brothers on this earth at the time of the end, to bear witness, only to the Christ; as the angel in Johns Revelation informed us of: "And the dragon grew wrathful at the Woman, and went off to wage war with the remaining ones of her seed, who observe the commandments of God and have the work of bearing witness to Jesus." {Revelation 12:17} "At that I fell down before his feet to worship him.. But he tells me: "Be careful! Do not do that! All I am is a fellow slave of you and your Brothers who have the work of bearing witness to Jesus. Worship God; for the bearing witness to Jesus is what inspires prophesying."

Do not all Christians have the same 'calling' to bear witness to Christ? Do they not share the same faith? Only if literal Israel consisted of a mere 144,000 citizens would 'spiritual Israel' equal only 144,000 people total. To constitute an entire nation of priests and kings it just seems sensible to me that an entire nation would be more than 144,000. There is no 'little flock' and 'other sheep' now - the binding of the 2 flocks, Jew and Gentile, was accomplished upon Jesus' death. He said he'd make the 2 into one flock - and he did it! Paul went to great lengths to explain how God made the 2 into one body of believers through Christ. However, the WT has twisted things so badly... to claim to be a Christian in the Biblical sense is far removed from their theology. No one knows, before they actually receive their reward, what the reward will be or in what capacity they will serve in the Kingdom - but all believers inherit the Kingdom, as per God's promises to Abraham. In my opinion there are no 'non-anointed' Christians. "One hope, one faith, one shepherd over all" - which also supports your point that we all have the one shepherd as our head. God>Christ>man>woman - there's no GB in there!

I enjoyed your post!

47

HUGE, Faithful and discreet slave SEPARATED from other annointed now!!

by EndofMysteries in

i almost missed this in my last post, but i just realized how important and must list it.

paragraph 14 from jan 15, 2010 wt last article entitled "jehovah's way of ruling vindicated".

"a few anointed members of "the israel of god" still remain, and as jesus' brothers, they continue to act as "ambassadors substituting for christ (2 cor 5:20) they have been appointed as a faithful and discreet slave class to care for and provide spiritual food for annointed ones and a growing crowd of christians, who now include millions having the hope of living on earth forever.

Watkins

It's confusing on purpose - "loyal" Jw's won't even think about it too much because all they have to do is trust the org. and the org's interpretations. *sigh*

Who's feeding who?
***wt95 4/15 p.16***
"If all the anointed as a group, no matter where on earth they live, are members of the slave class, who are the "domestics"? They are the same anointed ones but considered from a different viewpoint-as individuals. Yes, as individuals they would be of the "slave" or they would be "domestics," depending on whether they were dispensing spiritual food or partaking of it. To illustrate: As recorded at 2 Peter 3:15, 16, the apostle Peter makes reference to Paul's letters. When reading them, Peter would be as one of the domestics feeding on the spiritual food provided by Paul as a representative of the slave class."

30

Coptic John 1:1, Revisited

by rmnnoute in

1:1 ?

in the beginning existed the word, and the word existed with god, and the word was a god.. --- dr. lance jenott, princeton university.

http://depts.washington.edu/cartah/text_archive/coptic/coptjohn.shtml.

Watkins

What does 'coptic' mean? Makes you wonder - an 'a' or no 'a' - some versions have 'divine' which I like the sound of but don't think it's original... wow, what a mess that one little 'a' has caused! lol.

24

Jesus' Role as Mediator

by sd-7 in

i just had a thought--never a good sign, right, ladies?--about jesus' role as mediator, as defined by the watchtower society.

i personally experienced a particularly interesting moment with my mother back when i first started to lose faith in the borg.

(i'm actually going to use that term, borg, now because "organization" makes me cringe every time i hear it, even when it's used at work.

Watkins

Yeah, well.... thanks. not, lol. I found what I needed in the search.