Posts by thomas15

15

I want to do volunteer work - this is classic

by heybaby in

it has always bothered my how witnesses are discouraged from doing volunteer work because "preaching to them about the truth is the best thing we can do!

" ok, yeah, whatever.

it's true that the bible talks about preaching as being important for christians, but that's far from being the only thing that christians are encouraged to do for their fellow humans.

thomas15

I'm an evangelical Christian and a volunteer firefighter. Also I'm the fire company Chaplain and I get to tell people about Jesus all the time, people who I would never get the opportunity and or willingness to hear under normal conditions. They see the Chaplain pin on my dress uniform or sitcker on my helmet and ask me questions. It's a great ministry for the Gospel.

I'm currently in the process of taking EMT classes and will start running medical calls as a volunteer in January. By the way, I started in the fire service in 2004 when we moved to a new state. I didn't know anyone in my area and decided this would be a great way to meet people. I'm 51 years old and love the fire service service, I've taken over 600 hours of state fire school, certified as a firefighter nationally, state certs in car and truck rescue technician, HazMat operations, swift water rescue, confined space and high angle rope rescue, I have extensive training in pump operations a CDL for driving trucks, so on. You local volunteeer fire company can use anyone and for me it has been very rewarding.

46

who on this boards packing heat?

by 504deist in

jw
friends

i was just wondering who has guns on here and what are they.

i was inspired by john does knife thread.

here's my rundown:.

thomas15

One of the things I love about living in this state (PA) it is a carry state. Sorry to say though, I work in NJ which has the worse gun laws in the nation so I don't carry on work days.

My favorite carry is a Taurus PT140 Mil Pro in 40 S&W. The only drawback is it's DAO. I also carry a S&W 6904 9MM, not as comfy but holds more ammo. One of those cute KelTec 32 auto poodle shooters rounds out the collection. I'm looking for a 38 special snubbie for Mrs. thomas15 to have.

Then there are the rifles and shotguns, don't get me started.

117

How Can an Outed One Find a Study Buddy to Get Reinstated as a JW?

by Spike Tassel in

jw
friends

thomas15

Could someone please explain to me why an individual who was kicked out of the JWs would come to a website made up 99% of ex-JWs who at great personal inconvenience left the JWs and have little nice to say about the JWs, why would that individual come here to ask advice on re-joining the JWs?

I ask, isn't just being on this website, looking around and minding you own business grounds for being kicked out of the JWs? You want advice Spike, there is a book written by a member of the GB, the title is Chrisis of Conscience. Get that book, read it and sleep like a baby.

No charge and yes you are welcome.

Tom

73

What will the JW religion be like in 2015?

by JimmyPage in

jw
friends

over 100 years into the reign of christ and six more years of damage from the internet.

.

what do you envision?.

thomas15

Not to argue with you scotinsw, but i predict the WT will finally come to the conclusion that it is better to loose some pioneers to increase the size of the collection. Cash is what they need, not "busy bodies." The Mormons send out missionaries all over the world and yet it is ok to be a Doctor or Lawyer or sucessful businessman. College is needed for this type of member. The Mormons own Colleges and Universities and are active in the Arts.

73

What will the JW religion be like in 2015?

by JimmyPage in

jw
friends

over 100 years into the reign of christ and six more years of damage from the internet.

.

what do you envision?.

thomas15

Of course I don't have the first hand knowledge of the WT that most here have but as I have said in the past, the WT is looking at groups like the Mormons and saying, "gee they deny the trinity and the diety of Christ just like us. And their members also read the Bible. But notice the cars parked in their parking lot. Mercedies and BMWs as oposed to Chevy Metros so popular in out parking lots. And notice the big old mainline protestant churches in town. They use the New Revised Standard Version with the "incorrect rendering" of John 1:1 and their members still deny the diety of Jesus and look at how much money they get on Sunday".

So with this in mind, I believe the WT will back off policies such as college education and good paying jobs to appeal to the six figure crowd that also hate Jesus. They will also back off the requirement to do field service in lieu of other less obnoxious service or allow paid surrigates to do the field service for those who have importain jobs and little free time.

17

Ephesians

by PSacramento in

ephesians is a letter in the nt, typically supposed to have ben authour by paul to the ephesians but not only the authorship is debated but so is the target audience, the ephesians part not being noted in the earliest available scriptures.. dated at around 8-100 ad and supposedly during paul's captivity, it does gives us some insight into (perhaps) 2nd generation chrisianity and paul's effect on them.. chapter 1 has some passages of note:.

grace is given freely (we are blessed with it) by jesus ( called beloved or the one he, god, loved) -1:6. in jesus we have redemption, forgiveness of sins according to god's grace - 1:7. god's plan is to bring everything ( heaven and earth) together under jesus, god has an (unknown to us) timeline for that.

- 1:10. we have been chosen ( are heirs), predestined according to god - 1:11 and, being the first to have hope in christ, might be for the praise of hid glory - 1:12.. 1:13 -"and you were also included when you heard the word of truth, the gospel and having believed, were marked by the holy spirit with a seal".

thomas15

PSacramento,

Would you be kind enough to propose a reading list of books on textual criticism?

Thanks,

Tom

17

Ephesians

by PSacramento in

ephesians is a letter in the nt, typically supposed to have ben authour by paul to the ephesians but not only the authorship is debated but so is the target audience, the ephesians part not being noted in the earliest available scriptures.. dated at around 8-100 ad and supposedly during paul's captivity, it does gives us some insight into (perhaps) 2nd generation chrisianity and paul's effect on them.. chapter 1 has some passages of note:.

grace is given freely (we are blessed with it) by jesus ( called beloved or the one he, god, loved) -1:6. in jesus we have redemption, forgiveness of sins according to god's grace - 1:7. god's plan is to bring everything ( heaven and earth) together under jesus, god has an (unknown to us) timeline for that.

- 1:10. we have been chosen ( are heirs), predestined according to god - 1:11 and, being the first to have hope in christ, might be for the praise of hid glory - 1:12.. 1:13 -"and you were also included when you heard the word of truth, the gospel and having believed, were marked by the holy spirit with a seal".

thomas15

PSacramento wrote:

Dated at around 8-100 AD and supposedly during Paul's captivity, it does gives us some insight into (perhaps) 2nd generation Chrisianity and Paul's effect on them.

I assume that you mean 80-100 AD? (possible mistake on the cut and paste wiki B. Ehrman). Like Darwin, this is his theory by the way. Not to digress, but just because someone disagrees with the Bible, doesn't automatically mean the only other possible option is Darwin, would you agree?

Back to the quote above, there is literally a ton of reasonable scholarship and research that would say differently. Of course freedom of religion and thought allow for this opinion but for the sake of discussion where are you coming up with this information?

Respectfully yours,

Tom

15

Adam alone for YEARS before Eve's creation

by alanv in

i went to my son's witness wedding on saturday and i was interested in the comment by the presiding oversear that adam was alone for years before god finally brought eve to him.

apparantly he had plenty to keep him busy naming the animals, cultivating the ground and generally getting used to his environment.

i just thought it was funny how after the 1975 failed prophesies they now have to say that adam was alone for years, whereas at the time they said he would have been alone a few months at the most.

thomas15

The Bible doesn't really tell us how long the gap between Adam's creation and Eve. Personally I don't get hung up on the amount of time Adam would need to name all of the animals because I'm not sure he actually named every single species before Eve was created. Also, I don't think anyone knows how many species were in the garden, it may have only been a few compared to the number today. My personal opinion is that things happend very quickly in the garden. Eve appeared very quickly after Adam, maybe only days and the fall also happened (in my opinion) very soon, possibly the same day Eve was made. But that's just my opinion as the Bible doesn't give us the data.

41

Went to a Unitarian Church on Sunday

by free2think in

jw
friends

.

thomas15

Back in the days when I was searching for a church to join, I stumbled upon the local UU church. My wife had a friend who's father was a UU pastor (when my wife was a kid) and really it was an exercise to satisfy my wifes couriosity. Anyway, we went several Sundays, maybe 4 Sundays to see if it offered us anything of value.

The UU church we went to was one of historical significance in the US, one of, if not the first in the country. The basic doctrine is that they draw upon all religions and take what they want from each. It seemed to me though in practice, there is a negative attitude towards Biblical Christianity.

It is not a cult and is very relaxed. It is also devoid of any meaningful teaching. Basically anything goes, sort of like liberal mainline protestant christian churches but well healed at the same time. At the time we went, it was a mix of intellectuals and flower children. For us, it was not enough to hold our attention for even a 1 hour service, but others may find something there.

5

Not Their Fault?

by PSacramento in

a friend of mine say this, " if they had found the answers elsewhere, they wouldn't have turned to the jw's".. i recall my mother mentioning the samething to me when she became a jw, that they had the answers and that no one else did.. answers to questions that other religions just didn't have a "convincing" enought reply to.. of course i asked, "how do you know?

have you asked and researched?".

the answer typically comes back "well, er..yes..not really..or from what i was given by the wt...".

thomas15

I can say as a general rule of thumb, among Evangelical/Conservative/Fundamental groups, there is a feeling of frustration that there is a lack of knowledge and or interest in things such as theology, doctrine and basic Bible knowledge. It is mentioned that this lack of doctrine results in loosing members to cults. From my research on the matter, it seems that the popular attitude rests the blame of churches placing too much emphasis on "show" and not enough on teaching doctrine. Others says that todays Christians are lazy. Regardless of the reason, there is a real lack of sound Biblical teaching in even Bible churches today and this is why the JWs are able to maul "born agains" when they knock on their door.

Personally, as an Evangelical I do not depend on my church to provide me with my religious education. This is my responsibility. It is nice to be associated with a church that places emphasis on doctrine and is a Bible based/Gospel preaching church but at the end of the day, only I will stand before God to make my accounting, not my church or pastor.

One of many popular books out there that attempt to address this situation is by Chuck Colson The Faith: What Christians Believe, Why they Believe it, and why it matters. Good reading for those who are interested.