Did I kill this thread?! I'm sorry... didn't mean to... Looking forward to hearing others' ideas - yours, too, Terry. Did you have something specific in mind when you asked the question? ~watkins~
Watkins
JoinedPosts by Watkins
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Watkins
One of my best ideas was to put lights inside plastic tubing for outdoor use in landscaping. I kid you not - within 3 years of having that 'million-dollar-idea', MY idea was for sale on Walmart shelves. :( I missed the million-dollar-idea boat that time, I guess, lol.
Most of my ideas have been previously thunk by others, I think. Nothing new under the sun...
watkins
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25
JEHOVAH'S WITNESS STUPID: a special category of ignorance
by Terry inworse than being stupid is thinking you are smart while you are stupid.. i should know.. for many years i was a special category of "stupid"; i was jehovah's witness stupid.. .
what does that entail?
listen and i'll tell you.. ___________________________________________________________.
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Watkins
One good thing comes of it, Terry - humility. It takes a great deal of humility to accept the fact that you were that kind of stupid! It takes humility to start over, ditching all you thought you knew... to find yourself at the bottom - again, crawling slowly upward - yet again... and it requires a certain amount of intestinal fortitude to continue, to persevere.
At least gaining some humility and hidden inner strength by finding out how stupid and gullible we really were is a good reward for having gone through the experience. What we learn from experience is priceless.
watkins
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261
Evolution is Crap, there I said it!
by Crazyguy inok i started another thread and every one jumped on me because i was trying to take the theory of evolution out of the mix and most here seem to believe in it so i will just say it.
the theory of major evolution is crap!
the theory is falling apart.
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Watkins
It CAN be civil - just don't take the uncivil posts to heart - scroll, scroll, scroll. ;) There are so many good and infomative posts on this thread, I think I'm actually learning something!
Yes, those were some of 'the theories within the theory' I was thinking of in my earlier post. I've often wondered why everything(it seems like, literally) must end up at the extreme ends of 2 opposites. And I've often wondered if the real truth of anything might be more towards the middle of the extremes. Not 'fence-sitting', but really being able to discern and appreciate the compatible parts of each argument.
Anyway, that's where I am, evaluating both sides from a middle-view vantage point. The facts aren't even all in, but there's undeniable proof of evolution. BUT, that doesn't negate there being a Cause. Belief in God isn't necessarily proveable to others - it's something we 'know' and 'feel' - a private and individual experience that gives us undeniable proof of God's existence. It doesn't have anything to do with one religion or another or one holy book or another. imho. Much of the evolution debate seems to hinge on what fundamentalists believe about the Bible. I think the literalist view is Crap, there I said it!
In my mind, God created science and they are awesomely synchronistic, not opposing.
I hope, crazyguy, that by throwing out such an aggressive statement in your OP, that you haven't closed your mind to possibilities. By planting yourself at one extreme, it's hard to keep an open mind to the immense potentialities that CAN co-exist in harmony. Let's not be argumentative, but friendly and honest, willing to learn from each other. I understand the either/or thinking, but I assure you, no matter what anyone says, that faith in God does not have to be at odds with also believing that evolution happened/is happening. Why, I'm doing it right now!
What we call 'climate change' is evolution in motion.
watkins
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261
Evolution is Crap, there I said it!
by Crazyguy inok i started another thread and every one jumped on me because i was trying to take the theory of evolution out of the mix and most here seem to believe in it so i will just say it.
the theory of major evolution is crap!
the theory is falling apart.
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Watkins
There are many different theories on evolution aren't there? I mean, it's not just one clearly stated theory - scientists have differing opinions about all things pertaining to evolution. Likewise, there are many many differing views on Christianity, based on opinion.
Evolution challenges 'fundamental' Christianity - those who believe that what was written in the Bible was literally stated fact, end of the story. I'm not a fundy... I believe the Bible was written (a lot) in allegory - it wasn't written by scientific minds for sure. So one can't challenge me by pitting evolution against fundamentalism. It doesn't have to be a fight from opposite corners. I do believe in evolution - and I'm a believer in Christ. I think the 2 lines of thought are completely compatible - in my mind anyway, lol.
I can't be the only one who thinks you don't have to believe one OR the other...?
No one knows for a certainty HOW it all happened - we have a fossil record and the opinions of those who've studied them - and I find some of their conclusions to be very compelling. So I think there is an absolute truth somewhere in the middle. But supporting evolution doesn't automatically mean one has to ditch the Bible, or even blast it. And supporting the Bible doesn't automatically mean one has to confront evolution as if it's satanic heresy. I'm pretty sure we're all wrong on some levels - but I've successfully reconciled the 2 in my own mind. Since there's so much I don't and can't know about either subject I'm not ashamed to say "I just don't know"! I won't spend a lot of time trying to coerce others into my way of thinking, but hey - it works for me and I'm satisfied. I hope you all can find some kind of balance, too. Balance is GOOD.
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Out with the old....
by wha happened? ini purchased a condo late last year and due to my personal schedule, i wasn't able to redo it to my preferance until a few months ago.
all the heavy work is done.
now just replacing electrical outlets, fixtures and such.
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Watkins
I like to think it's all being recycled into something good - like Hallmark birthday wrapping paper! Ha!
Good for you, wha - bet it feels like a load off your back!
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Do Jehovah's Witnesses REALLY believe that their worldly friends, relatives and small children will be slain in the street by god?
by jambon1 ini mean, it's so utterly ****ed up, it's unbelievable.. just think about the nitty gritty of it:.
people that they love & care for who don't share their religion deserve to be killed, left without a grave & eaten by wild animals.
one day, this will happen & they'll be surrounded by billion upon billion of decaying, rotting corpses.
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Watkins
I didn't believe it. Like JeffJ said - there were certain thoughts I just didn't, couldn't, give substance enough to believe. I never viewed God as unmerciful or unjust.
When I said that to my then BIL, who loved to debate the jws who came to his door - he said he'd never heard ANY jw say that - they all said unless he was a jw at Armageddon, he was bird food. I said, and still say - God knows hearts, I don't. Let Him be the judge - let Jesus be the judge - not me.
I have a feeling that MANY don't really believe it, but it's the party line they must push to get converts - otherwise who would EVER become a jw?
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Confessing Sins !.... to Man, Priest. Non - Biblical Teaching ?
by *lost* inis this not one of the statement jw's use against the church.. that it is non-biblical.. .
can anyone add to this, very interesting me thinks.. ( will look it up in more detail and add to it ).
thanks.
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Watkins
Leaving Quietly - YES! I brought those very verses up to the elders - they insisted it is they who REPRESENT the congregation in these matters of confession. Where does the Bible say, "representatives"? NO WHERE! They can't see that their way of handling things makes the whole congregation subject to rumors and gossip and division - when it could and should be a very closely-knit community of people who truly love and share and help each other as equals in Christ. THAT was how the first century believers did it, and it worked fine.
Sure, the RCC has an unbiblical doctrine of confession to priests, BUT the wtbts has an unbiblical doctrine of confession to a judicial committee/elders. Not so different, eh?
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Millions now living will never die - false prophecy yet?
by slimboyfat inrutherford wrote the booklet of that name in 1920. is that definitively a false prophecy yet?
even if everyone who was alive in 1920 survived armageddon, if it was to come today, would that amount to millions of people?
according to wikipedia there are 316,600 people who are a 100 years old or older.
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Watkins
Millions living THEN are now DEAD. Yeah, I'd say it's been shown-up as false prophecy. But of course now it doesn't matter to jws... such old light, right? Keep in step with Jehovah's progressive organisation(in with the new light and out with the old) - which means today's new light will become dim at some point - but, hey - they'll replace it with another new LED blinker... *sigh*. I'm just so glad I don't have to feign interest in it anymore.
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Who get baptized in holy spirit, and when?
by The Searcher inmy wife asked me a very simple, but profound question; "when does someone who claims to be anointed, get baptized in holy spirit?"..
i'd never thought of it before, but it quickly dawned on me that in general, anyone who claims to have the heavenly hope, never had it at their baptism.
they almost always received their 'calling' after several years as a christian.
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Watkins
When and to whom God's spirit goes is a problem the wt created. There is no such division in the Bible - only believers and unbelievers. Most Christians don't worry so much about other Christian's spirituality - it's a given that it's between them and God alone. We prove to God what we are - we don't have to prove it to anyone else because our actions speak volumes.
The 'heavenly call' is FROM heaven - not a call TO heaven. There are not separate 'callings', only one hope - the hope of everlasting life in the kingdom. The wt takes out of context scriptures and conjures up a divided kingdom of 'classes'. Imho, it is NOT going to be like that. In any case - the hope of life is only rewarded to those who've completed their life course, faithful unto death - it's not for here and now in this life - it's what we WILL be, not what we are now.
So the wt is definitely 'running ahead of Jehovah', and they are definitely 'ruling as kings' in their own little kingdom right now. They may have had their reward in full already.