Posts by StAnn

28

That Martin Luther? He wasnt so bad, says Pope

by Deputy Dog in

from the timesmarch 6, 2008 http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/faith/article3492299.ece according to vatican insiders the pope will argue that luther, who was excommunicated and condemned for heresy, was not a heretic.

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StAnn

Pahpa, yes, the Catholic Church really does believe it is the church founded by Christ, that the Pope is the vicar of christ, and that it and the Orthodox churches are the only ones in apostolic succession. Jesus Christ didn't start a huge group of conflicting churches. He started one. Schism is always considered sin and unity is the best solution. However, the Catholic Church isn't going to change what it teaches in order to woo back the schismatics. It has to be faithful to Christ.

Regarding the history of the Church, read a book called "Triumph" by Crocker, see what you think.

And don't expect perfection from anything on this Earth. If there are people involved, there is going to be imperfection and scandal. The Church started with scandal, i.e., Judas betrayed Christ and then Peter denied him. But Jesus saw Peter's quality and he was redeemed. Fortunately, the early christians chose to focus on Peter and not on Judas. Christ chose flawed and broken people to work with Him and, frankly, no one on this Earth isn't flawed and broken. I think expecting perfection from religious people is a holdover from the JW insistence on perfection. Just because people do things that are wrong, even in the name of religion, doesn't mean God is bad, if people choose to do things their way and not His way.

28

That Martin Luther? He wasnt so bad, says Pope

by Deputy Dog in

from the timesmarch 6, 2008 http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/faith/article3492299.ece according to vatican insiders the pope will argue that luther, who was excommunicated and condemned for heresy, was not a heretic.

.

StAnn

Deputy Dog - BTW, who ever said Luther was right?

28

That Martin Luther? He wasnt so bad, says Pope

by Deputy Dog in

from the timesmarch 6, 2008 http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/faith/article3492299.ece according to vatican insiders the pope will argue that luther, who was excommunicated and condemned for heresy, was not a heretic.

.

StAnn

Deputy Dog -- you got me on Sola Scriptura. I forgot about that one. However, I credit a lot of Luther's problems to the fact that he didn't have access to a lot of the actual writings of the Early Church Fathers, for instance, because of the time period in which he lived. In other words, in may ways, he was poorly catechised. That is the fault of the Church. Luther's fault was that he was prideful. Yes, authority is the issue, you are correct. That's why I became Catholic. It was so weird that, in the ELCA, they would have meetings every year and VOTE about what their beliefs were. I mean, God doesn't change. Truth doesn't change. The Church isn't a democracy.

Even the Lutherans admitted that the Catholic Church was the church Jesus founded, which is why I'm there now. They have their problems, it's true, but I believe this is where the authority lies.

If you want to continue this conversation, lots hope over to Catholic Answers Forums. I don't want to bore the others here.

8

1988-1996 Kingdom Ministries- useful to anyone?

by Odrade in

we're in the midst of a massive de-junking project around here.

before these go into recycling, i thought i'd ask if these are still useful, given that so many years of kms have just been digitized?

i have a complete (i think) set from 10/88 thru 12/96, in one of those ridiculous wt storage boxes.

StAnn

If you plan on ever trying to point out a ridiculous statement in one of them to a JW, I would suggest keeping them. Whenever I try to point a JW to a digitized version of one of their writings, they accuse me of doctoring it. Like I know how. So, they will only accept the real, printed version.

If you don't wish to use them against the JWs, I'd say liner for the bird cage is a great suggestion.

9

Anyone got their meeting cancelled for snow or ice?

by WTWizard in

jw
friends

with the big snowstorm this past weekend, did anyone get their boasting session cancelled?

or, were they foolhardy and so stupid that, even though there was 4 feet of snow and/or the power lines were down, they decided to hold the damn thing anyway?.

StAnn

Years ago, a Service Meeting/Theocratic School was held despite an ice storm. The weather finally deteriorated so much that the meeting was cancelled midway through it. One family on their way home were hit by a truck (an elder, his pioneer wife, and their son.) The roads were so bad that it took over 90 minutes for an ambulance to arrive, with a salt-truck as an escort. One of the parents bled to death waiting for the ambulance and the other lost so much blood that she died a couple of weeks later. Their little boy in the back seat was relatively unharmed. He said that his parents talked to him, trying to calm him, until they lost consciousness. His aunt raised him. All because they couldn't miss a stupid meeting.

We had 15 inches of snow this weekend. I don't know if they had Mass or not on Sunday. I'm not risking my family's life. I don't think God is that unreasonable.

19

omg i feel sick now lol

by KW13 in

jw
friends

http://www.pioneer-service.co.uk/index.php.

look at that lovely site....

StAnn

Finally! Now I know where to shop for my JW mother for Mother's Day! Last year I bought her flowers and she didn't object. Maybe this year I'll get her a blue tract holder....

23

Deluded Witnesses - View Themselves as Temporary " Alien Residents"

by flipper in

jw
friends

when we were once jehovah's witnesses , and after we left jehovah's witnesses,this organization controls it's rank and file members to view themselves as " temporary residents" who are waiting for a better world to live in the future , and are told to not put too much faith or stock in this world because it has nothing to offer them .

in this way the watchtower society controls the individual witnesses view of living towards the future, but not for today - in the real world.

ways that the watchtower society does this is as follows .

StAnn

There was an old man in my old congregation who gave this advice to young people: Plan for the future. If it doesn't come, great. If it does come, you'll be ready for it. He lived comfortably in his retirement and that advice made a lot of sense to me.

21

2007 Memorial Outline?

by V in

anyone have access to this?

i need it for watchtower comments.

wouldn't it be nice to scoop the talk?.

StAnn

V- I tried to download all of your videos but three of them had no sound. I tried it three times. Do you know what I did wrong?

9

" I would take a bullet for you!"

by AK - Jeff in

i recall that statement being made in the car groups of pioneers i was in at times, when we would talk about our 'brotherhood'.

i meant it then.

i ponder it now.

StAnn

Hi, Jeff -

I thought about this with the firefighters at the WTC on 9/11. They probably knew going in that they wouldn't come out alive. However, when they became firefighters, they made a decision that, if necessary, they would give their lives to save others. When push came to shove, they did it. No one made them become firefighters. Self-giving was in their nature.

The same is true for many of our soldiers and sailors.

I think there are two categories of people in this world, givers and takers. You sound like a giver. So, if you saw a person in trouble, even a JW who had mistreated you, you would probably do everything you could to save them. They may not do it for you but that's okay. You're not doing it to be treated well in return. You're doing it because you feel it's the right thing to do.

There are givers and takers in every organization, in every walk of life. The JWs are no different. Just be true to yourself and don't worry about others' motivations.

29

My life flashed before my eyes yesterday.. close call.

by AK - Jeff in

i leave for work later now than i did for many years - i now leave the house at 3:30 am for work.

it is very dark of course.

sunday morning - about 2 miles south of my home, i was traveling a state hi-way, good, dry conditions, probably right at the limit - 55 mph.

StAnn

So glad you're okay. We had neighbors with a struggling farm and they kept fixing their fences with baling twine. Never worked and the cattle were always getting out. Once their bull came up on our front porch and tried to take the front door out with his horns. I'm so glad you didn't hit that bull. You're right, you probably would have been killed. Guess your Guardian Angel was flying as fast as you were driving!