Posts by CandleLight

25

What is the problem with new age stuff?

by loosie in

when i speak to some christians they seem to have a fear of things new age related.. i was speaking to three christians today who i thought are very rational.

i tolf them how my jw friend says the only good thing about getting older was that we are closer to the end of the world.

their response was well the bible says the world is gonna end.. then they started in about oprah endorsing these new age books ( a new earth by eckhart tolle) and how it is so wrong for her to do that.. i was giggling and i said yeah well some people think that obama is the antichrist lol.

CandleLight

Jw's are indoctrinated with alot of fears, including "new age". I don't think they really even know what it is more less how to recognize it in it's true form.

I have seen a tendency in some christian circles to meld in New Age ideas. Kinda a combining of doctrines, trying to make some pieces fit together. I think what appeals to those who love God, about some of the new age teachings is that they find at some level, a bit of truth mixed into the teachings. Finding in that belief system, something they can agree with, they start accepting other things that they may never had agreed with before, and before long, the orginal teachings of Jesus, have been altered by another form of belief system.

New age teachings, and Jesus do not mix. Jesus through the holy spirit teaches us things about him, God, the world around us, and the power that exists there, but the foundation for the two are different. One is earth, creation, self power(new age) the other is Jesus, helping, healing and empowering others through him, not ourselves(rock). One draw energy into oneself(NA).. With Jesus power it flows as his does, outward like a fountain.

I choose rock.

CL

10

For those that believe in the power of prayer/positive thoughts/reiki....

by LouBelle in

jw
friends

a friend of a friend has been in a horrific car-crash.

he has an extremely slim chance of survival as his body has stopped reproducing blood.

if he does survive, he is expected to be a "vegitable".

CandleLight

Loubelle,

I just finished a prayer for him and his family. May they feel God's hand give them strength.

CL

37

My Story - Part 1

by Jeremy C in

i have never posted my personal story about my years as a jw, and my departure from the organization.

i thought that my personal story might be of interest.

it is my hope that some of my experiences and observations might be of help to some of you who have recently left the organization.

CandleLight

Welcome Jeremy,

Your post brought back alot of memories.

I was born in Canoga Park, and had attended Conventions at Dodgers stadiums until we moved when I was a child to KS. (guess what year? yep...1975).

Honestly my only real memories of the Conventions at Dodgers was how huge it was, the seats, and the great snow cones I got to have after the convention.

Look forward to the rest of your story.

CL

20

Looks like I am going to be rich

by loosie in

i got this email yesterday:.

from usman kalid.

dear,.

CandleLight

Loosie,

Looks like you and me both! I got one today from a fine upstanding citizen of Kuwait, Mrs. Solomon! Here is part of her email~

From Mrs naomi solomon,
N°38 Rue Des Martyrs Cocody
Abidjan,Cote d'Ivoire,

Attn:
Dearest One Of God

I am the above named person from Kuwait. I am married to Mr solomon
anthony.who worked with Kuwait embassy in Ivory Coast for nine years
before he died in the year 2005. We were married for many years with
out
child. He died after a brief illness that lasted for only four days.

Before his death we were both born again Christian. Since his death I
decided not to remarry or get a child outside my matrimonial home which
the
Bible is against. When my late husband was alive he deposited the sum
of
(US$2.500million dollars in a Bank in Abidjan Cote d'Ivoire west
africa).Presently,the fund is still with the bank.Recently, my Doctor
told
me that i have serious sickness which is cancer problem.

How very sad..... For the person doing it, and the one who falls for it.

CL

60

Why Adam and Eve were unfairly judged by God

by BreakingAway in

the argument has been made on many occasions that death and suffering are a result of adam's sin.in fact, the bible is so clear on this "fact" that it is one of the few things on which nearly every christian denomination will agree.. "therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned romans 5:12. however, i would like to present the case that god had, in fact, not told adam this very thing, and consequently, adam was unaware of what really would take place upon eating the fruit.notice this verse:.

"but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die.

" gen.2:17. i highlighted the word "you" because this is absolutely critical.why ?

CandleLight

Hi Perry,

Candlelight,
Let me clarify a bit. I do believe that God can put his spirit in whomever he chooses, even before Christ.... I just don't believe that it was offered as a option to "whosoever" (John 3: 16), until the Bood Covenant was offered to all mankind.

I suppose my point was this. What was it that caused men to be able to live almost 1000 years? If we toss out the theory of "closer to perfection", for I feel it was God, not flesh, that gave life, we have to understand the scripture in Genesis 6 a bit different.

As for recieving the Holy Spirit, it seems to me to be completely initated by the Father in the Hebrew scriptures. He found someone favorable to his eyes, or they found favor, and blessed them. Jesus tore down the wall of hostility and gave us the ability to do the following:

Act 17:26

And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, :27 that they should seek God, in the hope that they might feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us, :28 for "'In him we live and move and have our being'; as even some of your own poets have said, "'For we are indeed his offspring.' :29 Being then God's offspring, we ought not to think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of man. :30 The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, :31 because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead."

Peace to you

CL

60

Why Adam and Eve were unfairly judged by God

by BreakingAway in

the argument has been made on many occasions that death and suffering are a result of adam's sin.in fact, the bible is so clear on this "fact" that it is one of the few things on which nearly every christian denomination will agree.. "therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned romans 5:12. however, i would like to present the case that god had, in fact, not told adam this very thing, and consequently, adam was unaware of what really would take place upon eating the fruit.notice this verse:.

"but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die.

" gen.2:17. i highlighted the word "you" because this is absolutely critical.why ?

CandleLight

The premise underlying your reasoning is flawed. Your underlying assumption is that eternal life is the natural state of the human being and that God is interrupting this natural state of things. The truth is the opposite of your reasoning. Decay is the natural state of things and since God is the Source of Life, we are dependant on him to intervene and interrupt this natural state.
In other words, everlasting life is a gift and not a right as you intimate.

I have to agree that everlasting existance is a gift. It is His Spirit that gives us life. The removal of his spirit is what caused men to start to die. Before the Flood God explained he would further remove his spirit and men's life would shorten even more.

Gen 6:3 Then the LORD said, "My Spirit shall not abide in man forever, for he is flesh: his days shall be 120 years."

193

One Reason Why I Worship the God of the Bible

by snowbird in

while this may be construed as a rebuttal to nvr's thread re: why i post about atheism, that is not my intent.. it is my intent, however, to show how i developed a belief in and love for the god of the bible.. my paternal grandfather, who died before i was born, was a baptist preacher, so you could say i cut my teeth on the bible.

i loved having it read to me, and once i learned how, reading it for myself.

i'm convinced that spirituality runs deep in my blood.. i've always had such a strong sense of right and wrong that injustices make me literally sick.

CandleLight

Hi Snowbird,

Interesting thread.

A little timid to join in your discussion however, as claiming Faith in God and Jesus here is asking for arrows. But alas, if I had kept that timidness they would not have kicked me out of the Watchtower.

You stated in your post the Bible is a Revelation on God. I would like to modifiy it a bit, as it is beginning to end, not about God's sovernity, but a Revelation of Jesus.

I think it is interesting to step back and take a look around sometimes. We see creation, fellow humans, animals, season, stars, luminaries. Does what we think, believe, trust in even matter? We are a speck, we are dust in relation to all things. How funny huh. We argue so venhemently with each other about God, being conclusive in our own minds of our rightness, yet who are we?

Well, if you believe in God, we are a diamond. Why? Because we acknowledge him, we believe in his son and look to follow him, his way. He looks upon the creative works of his hands and through our belief in his Son we can have a relationship with the most powerful entity ever. Wow, what an opportunity.

Let's say we don't believe. There is no God, life is by science defintions. The Bible is just a book. We live our lives by that belief and seem settled to do so. And some seem to find happiness in that perspective as maybe gives them peace to the bigger questions that plague their minds.

Now please see, I am stating this from the persepective of a believer. God is there whether we acknowlege him or not. We search for him, he can be found. We don't and don't want too, and he will not be found, because we are not looking. Whether we look or do not, or believe or do not does not change facts of his existance.

Personally, I choose to be one who searches, and I have chosen to search for him through the one who he presented to me as the way to find him, Jesus. He does not force us too, but if we wish he provides a way.

May he bless all on their Journey, for the sun rises upon us all, and the rain gives us food, the flowers joy, and the animals, facination. For the believer in God, we give him all praise and say thank you, for those who don't I guess it is a matter of being glad to have what we need today.

love

CL

38

How do you confront someone abusing their daughter?

by Paralipomenon in

seeing how child abuse has affected many people here, i am hoping for some advice.

we have friends of our family that have it on good authority that a father is abusing his four year old daughter.

he's always seemed rather creepy to me, which is a bit of the problem.

CandleLight

Paral,

Bless you for caring enough to get involved. There are many children who are suspected of being abused, and even those who tell others, and are not helped.

you said:

With alot of suspicions, the grandmother was finally able to pry her granddaughter away for an overnight sleepover and talked to the child in terms that she'd understand. From the conversation, it was very apparent that he's abusing her.

Children at that age, tend to have specific ways of describing the abuse. (My abuse started around the same age) A professional...(police ect.) will be able to identify what she trying to describe, decipher what is going on. I have to say though, I tend to trust gut instinct, and the feelings the child was conveying the most.

If this man is dangerous to his family, have the wife and child at another location when you talk to the mother. Then if she chooses to not return home for her safety she will have the child with her. I recommend not giving the option to her of turning him in. If she doesnt.. you will. She may have alot of fear, and perhaps already know the circumstance but not able to handle it herself, in that the fear, intimidation, and abuse may include her also.

My Prayers will be with you and the Family. May this child healing begin soon. If you want to discuss it more, please feel free to PM me.

CL

38

Anyone else having this problem with Witness Friends and Relatives

by Evidently in

jw
friends

they are all over me with all of these "end of this system of things" signs......earthquakes, cyclones, pestilences, cost of food to lead to food shortages, blah, blah, blah....did they make an announcement at the kh that "this is it!!

" they say that we've never had all of these things happening all at once like we've had the past few weeks...... .

CandleLight

Considering their take on prophecy, (ie. Revelation Book).. I'd say they may be too busy making up new revelations to see the real ones take place.

16

Why bad things happen to good people...

by milligal in

one thing that jw's teach that i can't abide by is that god allows bad things to happen so that he can vindicate his name after satan challenged him in the garden of eden.

if you tell me that god is loving, than you cannot also state that he would allow an earthful of people to suffer starvation, cancer, war and countless other atrocities simply so that he feels better about being challenged.

he's god -right?

CandleLight

Milligal,

No disrespect taken.

On the other hand, if we want to understand something about God, it would be logical to look to the book that talks about him.

Just because we as a human cannot 'see' the answer, or find it logical, does not mean it is not there. Not to offend, but when trying to understand our Father we must relinquish our logic for his, and amazingly his makes much more sense. For example, when trying to explain the concept of being reborn the Nicodemus, and Nicodemus just can't wrap his mind around Jesus explination, Jesus patiently explains,:

Joh 3:12 If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how shall you believe if I tell you heavenly things?

I know, another scripture.. but this thread is about God right?

Love

CL