Posts by Musicman

14

comparing WTS with Pharisees

by erandir in

i had a good discussion saturday night with my witness wife about how the society is basically a modern-day version of the pharisees and how jesus condemned them in his day and how he would condemn the society today.

does anyone have any good points or any insight into comparing the society with pharisees?

anything you have would be helpful so i could get my thoughts together and figure out a way to approach this subject with her in the future whenever it comes up..

Musicman

Hmm, comparisons between Scribes&Pharisees and the WTS. I think they're pretty rampant.

Matt 15:1-9 (KJVR): Then came to Jesus scribes and Pharisees, which were of Jerusalem, saying, Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? for they wash not their hands when they eat bread. But he answered and said unto them,

Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition? For God commanded, saying, Honor thy father and mother: and, He that curseth father or mother, let him die the death. But ye say, Whosoever shall say to his father or his mother, It is a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me; And honor not his father or his mother, hes hall be free. Thus have ye made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition.Ye hypocrites,well did Isaiah prophesy of you, saying, This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoreth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.

I think its pretty clear how the "teaching for doctrines the commanments of men" applies to the WTS. I thought it was funny - some time ago I visited the official JW website and on one of the pages it said something to the effect of "We do not impose any extraneous rules on the membership that are not biblical." What a load! I also think there's a valid comparison in the first part of the text - JW's require members to no longer give honor to their fathers/mothers if they should be disfelloshipped, instead to continue in their devotion to the WTS. Also:

Mar 12:38

And in his teaching he said, "Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes and like greetings in the marketplaces

Mar 12:39

and have the best seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at feasts,

Mar 12:40

who devour widows' houses and for a pretense make long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation." (ESV)

What was the last count on cash value of the WTBS's real estate? In the billions, wasn't it? R&F donations going to a good cause, right? -.-

And how about Jesus's long condemnation of the scribes and Pharisees in Matthew chapter 23?

verse 4: "They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on the shoulders of others; but they themselves are unwilling to lift a finger to move them." A variety of meanings can be taken from this, but I'm reminded of the discouragement of higher education, shackling people with regards to their finances while they live very comfortably off of the donations of the rank and file.

Musicman

6

James Book--(reduced in size and bookmarked)!

by Atlantis in

commentary on the letter of james--(reduced to approx.

15mb--bookmarked--and searchable) many thanks to the researcher who took the time to provide this for us!

some of the researchers here may want to "replace" the first copy with this one!

Musicman

I remember when this book came out! I was at an assembly and I saw it at the literature department and got one on the spot. I read it during the rest of the program that day, lol. I've always wondered why they released a commentary like this though... I had never seen anything like it done by the Society. I thought it my be the beginning of a series of commentaries, but I guess not. It was a good read - I think I still have my copy laying around somewhere.

Musicman

78

Have you ever faked a service report?

by Orgull in

it's only my third day here so, go easy on me.

lol.. seriously, my new doubts have made it harder and harder to go in service.

a few months ago, when a new month rolled around, i realized that i hadn't actually gone in service at all the previous month.

Musicman

Lol, wearewhoweare, I don't think that I went out door-to-door for a long time, but I would accompany friends and family on bible studies regularly. Is it a return visit? I'm not too familiar with the English terms, since I was mainly a Spanish congregation member. That column on the slip in Spanish is "Revisitas", so I just figured it was Revisits in English. Oops!

Musicman

69

Any videogamers here?

by R.F. in

this is my #1 hobby.

i have a ps2, psp, and xbox.

i was mainly an xbox kind of guy until they completely abandoned it soon after the 360 was released.

Musicman

I grew up with games, and I don't plan on dropping them any time soon ^^. I had (and still have I suppose, lol) Atari, Commodore 64, Nintendo, Super NES, and a Sega Genesis while I was growing up, each when it came out. When I could buy my own systems, I went for Playstation, which was great, Game Cube and then Playstation 2. I bought an early release PS2 so after a few years I was plagued with the dreaded "Disc Read Error". I broke down and bought a new slim PS2 2 years ago.

Game-wise, I love RPG's. PrimateDave, I though Final Fantasy 12 was great. Nice story, great visuals and music, and very good voice acting and facial gestures! It surprised me, since FF10 wasn't quite there for all the hype it received. If you end up liking FF12, I recommend Star Ocean - Till the End of Time. The game play is pretty similar, only drawback is really long dungeons. I also love rhythm games. I literally wore out my copy of Amplitude back in the day, and I'm quite happy with Harmonix's new releases of Guitar Hero and Guitar Hero 2 (which are both on the way to being worn out).

I was loyal to the Final Fantasy franchise, so instead of WoW, I went for Final Fantasy 11 online. If you don't already have friends to play with online, I don't suggest this game. You need a party or an alliance of parties to do anything really fun, and good luckk finding 6-18+ people you trust with comaptible schedules willing to do something so YOU can get an item, lol. I had some people I knew playing so it was pretty fun for me for a while, but it does get frustrating. It helped alot that my wife was playing with me. I stayed on for about 2 years, as it was pretty cheap entertainment... left behind a pimped out rank 10 level 75 Red Mage, if that means anything to anyone ^^.

Just last week I started playing Maple Story online. Its a 2D platformer MMORPG produced by a Korean company, and its completely free! Well, they make money by giving you the option of buying interesting items from a "Cash Shop", but as far as I've seen, those items are just for looks and don't detract from gameplay. Its good fun so far, but gaining levels seems to be a bit slow.

Hands-down favorite games: Megaman 2 and Final Fantasy 6. Honorable mentions go to Castlevania Symphony of the Night and Final Fantasy Tactics.

Musicman

39

Newbie here...

by BuzbyU in

jw
friends

a bit about myself.. i am 46 yrs olds old, live in chicago area.

i am a dis-fellowshipped jw.

i was in the organization since i was a kid.

Musicman

Hiya Gregg!

Look forward to hearing from you! Chicago area you say? I grew up in Chicago in the Spanish speaking congregations myself, lived around 18th and Ashland at the time. Good to hear from another Chicago-lander =). Picnics along Lake Shore Drive and assemblies at the Hawthorn race track... heh... nostalgia.

Musicman

50

Conversation with street witnessor (?) becomes elder infused

by AuldSoul in

yesterday, thursday, july 26, 2007, a conversation with a street witnessor (isn't that what you would call someone involved in street witnessing?

) got joined by a walk-up elder turned into a great opportunity to witness to several bystanders (who even joined in the conversation).. i began by declining to accept the offer from the elderly woman who held up a "what does god require of us?

i said, "but, verne, you aren't going to the bible.

Musicman

Wow, what a great point! I'm definitely going to store that away for my own use whenever I can. Its interesting how something so obvious in the scriptures simply doesn't come up in the JW training. Thanks so much for that experience Auldsoul!

43

What sends you over the edge?

by restrangled in

jw
friends

there was a recent thread on spelling, sentence structure, etc., that was legitimate, but probably made other's feel stupid.. my question is, what is your personal pet peeve?.

i've got a problem with poor construction inside my home...i hate the trim work, some cut too short so it looks like mouse holes over the floor.

i had my kitchen redone and the layout was so unusual that i can't open a fridge door unless i pull it forward or push it back to open a drawer.

Musicman

My friends have heard me rant about this - my biggest pet peeve is something not fulfilling its primary function. Scissors should cut, dishwashing machines should wash dishes, vaccuum cleaners should create a vaccuum and use that to clean, etc (the "truth" should actually be truth, lol). Real life examples:

A good many years ago I went to a Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant to... well... get some fried chicken. When I stepped up to the cashier to order, she informed me that they were out of chicken. Completely out of chicken. To which I told her that if the product mentioned in the name of the establishment is not on the premesis, its probably a good idea to close the establishment until more comes.

I once ordered a musical score directly from the site that publishes it. They sent it via UPS. The date the package was marked for arrival I was at home all day. At one point, I stepped outside to check the weather, and then 15 minutes later I stepped outside to go check my mail. Well, that's when I noticed the little "We missed you" slip on the door that wasn't there 15 minutes ago. The delivery person didn't even knock on my door for some odd reason. The slip said that they would attempt re-delivery twice more and the dates were marked on the slip. I waited on both dates... but nothing ever came. I e-mailed UPS and the publication site about the incident, and UPS said that I could pick up the package at the local branch. Pick up?? The only function UPS has is delivery, but they want me to come pick up the package. I didn't. The site refunded me the money for the score when it got back to them, and this is the kicker - they refunded the entire price minus the shipping. -.-

AAARRGH

Musicman

4

STUDIO 60 ON THE SUNSET STRIP

by tijkmo in

first episode aired last night in the uk.. brilliant.

.

Musicman

I really loved that show! The first season has already been aired in the states, but the ratings weren't high enough. Mid-season it got replaced with The Black Donnelys (spelling?) which flopped hugely, and Studio 60 went on "hiatus". After the Donnelys bombed, NBC decided to air the remaining episodes of Studio 60 in an odd time slot, and that's the last I heard of it. I have no idea if its being picked up for a second season or not, but it doesn't look good. That's pretty sad, come to think about it... I only turn on my TV for a few shows here and there, and Studio 60 was one of them. >.<

Musicman

78

Have you ever faked a service report?

by Orgull in

it's only my third day here so, go easy on me.

lol.. seriously, my new doubts have made it harder and harder to go in service.

a few months ago, when a new month rolled around, i realized that i hadn't actually gone in service at all the previous month.

Musicman

People not going to meetings yet turning in Pioneer hours? Well you know what that is.... They must have been skipping meetings to preach! The dedication! "I must skip the meeting to go find more people to come to the meetings... yes..." =P Musicman

78

Have you ever faked a service report?

by Orgull in

it's only my third day here so, go easy on me.

lol.. seriously, my new doubts have made it harder and harder to go in service.

a few months ago, when a new month rolled around, i realized that i hadn't actually gone in service at all the previous month.

Musicman

Oh my yes. I'd have to say that service was the first thing to go for me, so I always made up something between 10-20 hours, a few revisits, magazines etc. (I understand that the english congregation average is about 5 hours, while spanish average 7ish? That's why I reported 10-20... I wanted to sparkle a little... don't judge me! 0.0). But seriously, it was hard for me to go out to try and convince people to be JW's when I wasn't sure about it myself.