Mad Dawg

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Posts by Mad Dawg

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  28

  Find refreshment in spiritual things - this weeks tower.

  by Cook My Socks UK in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  i just thought that i would share an observation regarding par 3 of this weeks wt study.

  the paragraph says in part " jehovah's witnesses find genuine refreshment through up building christian fellowship".. .

  i am wondering if any readers / posters on this forum that still do or used to attend meetings have any thoughts on this.

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  Mad Dawg

  I suspect that the purpose of the statement in question is to paint a rosy picture for those reading it that have not been to a KH.
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  14

  Looking for people interested in talking about their faith

  by jratcliff in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  as i am brand new to this forum i am not entirely certain how things are done around here.

  if this post is off topic or unwanted, please feel free to remove it.

  i won't be offended.. i am starting a new theological podcast with a friend of mine.

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  Mad Dawg

  I reccomend that you interview the active JW's after you interview the EX-Jw's. Just for fun, at the end of the interview, pick one question they can't answer (Why does the WTS allow fractions?) and hold their feet to the fire. It is very interesting the way they squirm.
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  62

  "Hell is the Invention of the Church"

  by leavingwt in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  bishop spong, on hell.. .

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sf6i5vszvqc.

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  Mad Dawg

  Here is a look at Hell from a Biblical perspective. Read this link for supporting material for the article below.

  The Divine Inferno

  Hell, I would like to suggest, is evidence not so much of God's justice - though partly that - but rather of His mercy. One might, in fact, complain that God was cruel if Hell did not exist. I realize that may sound difficult, but if you will follow along, I will attempt to make that case as best I can.

  First of all, think of the Israelites' encounter with God on Mt. Sinai, how God revealed Himself in fire, as He did earlier - in some manner or another - with Moses at the burning bush (Ex. 3:2,3). The mountain, we are told in Exodus 19:18, "was covered with smoke, because the Lord descended on it in fire" and "the smoke billowed up from it like smoke from a furnace."

  Later, while Moses was atop Mt. Sinai (Ex. 33:19-23) he asked God to "show me your glory." God consented, but warned him that "you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live." So God shielded Moses in a cleft of the rock and also covered him with His hand while He passed by. This passage graphically illustrates Deuteronomy 4:24 and Hebrews 12:29, which say that God "is a consuming fire."

  Consider also the Mount of Transfiguration, where the face of our Lord shown like the sun (Mat. 17:2), and Saul's encounter with the risen Jesus on the road to Damascas (Acts 9:3,8), where he was struck down, blinded by a blazing light that physically affected his eyes.

  Such passages make me think that it is a very good thing indeed that we now see "but a poor reflection," as Paul writes in I Cor. 13:12. In fact, I can easily understand why someone would not want to see God "face to face," as Paul says later in the same verse.

  But this heavenly vision of fire and brilliance doesn't go away. It appears again and again. In Second Thessalonians 1:7 we read that the Lord Jesus will be revealed in "blazing fire" on the Day of Judgement. In 1 Timothy 6:16 Paul writes that God dwells in "unapproachable light." In Revelation 1:16 John writes that he saw the face of Jesus like the sun "shining in its strength." And in Revelation 21:23 he writes that the glory of God illuminates the new Jerusalem. Also, there are angels with faces like the sun and legs like pillars of fire (Rev. 10:1), and in Heaven we find a sea of fire and glass (Rev. 15:2). Then, in Matthew 13:43 the Lord says that "the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the Kingdom of their Father." If mere believers and angels shine like the sun, what dim and insignificant suns they must be when compared with the blazing, glorious sun that is God Himself.

  Clearly, for some, this is not an inviting vision. But it is coming. Jesus promised a day of judgement (Matt. 25:31-46).

  For those who love the Lord, who are shining as brightly as suns, who have been prepared for this experience by the forgiving grace of Jesus, who wear the proper wedding clothes, that day will be a time of great joy (Matt. 25:210). A wedding feast (Matt. 22:1-13). A meeting with the saints of old (Matt. 8:11, Lk. 16:22). It will be a face-to-face encounter (I Cor. 13:12) with the One whom their hearts have always longed for, and the glory of God will be welcoming and warm and beautiful and loving, like the fresh dawning of a new spring day.

  But this same glory will also be revealed to the ungodly, and for these it will be like flames of fire, burning and agonizing (Rev. 20:14-15). The beauty and glory of God which is perfume to believers is, as Paul writes, the stench of death to unbelievers (2 Cor. 2:15-16). The glory of God - blazing like ten thousand suns - will be unendurable to those who are not prepared for His presence.

  Perhaps, then, God could simply not reveal himself to the ungodly. But in that case they could go on denying Him for eternity, and God is just and will not permit any lie to endure forever. But He is also merciful, and those who are not prepared to stand directly in His presence, those who do not have on the wedding garments, those who do not love and desire Him, will be cast into the outer darkness (Matt. 8:12). And they will need no urging to go!

  Though God's glory is pervasive (Ps. 139:7-8), and though He will no longer let them deceive themselves, He will mercifully shield them from full exposure to Himself, though what exposure they do experience will be to them like a lake of fire (Rev. 21:8).

  Then, just as the rich man in Jesus' parable (Lk. 16:23) could look far back toward heaven and see Lazarus, and as, perhaps, those cast out of the wedding hall into the outer darkness could see something of the wedding feast through the windows, so also may those in Hell be able to look back at the saints of God, appearing for all the world like blazing suns, singing and enjoying themselves in the midst of what appears to those in Hell to be a divine inferno. And though they will know well that they could have been there enjoying God's presence, what they see will be as enticing to them as an invitation to join Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in the firey furnace (Dan. 3). And seeing this, they will, perhaps, flee even further from heaven.

  But suppose a believer from Heaven was to journey to Hell, which - if I understand the parable of Lazarus and the rich man - he could not do (Perhaps because he himself would be blazing so brightly), but if he could, he would feel cold and chilled and would see just the barest hint of light, the distant and filtered glory of God, like a dim star, and he would not understand how that dull glow could cause pain. And he would long to return to the warmth of God's presence.

  Finally, if those in Hell were to ask how long it will endure, it seems that it must last as long as God remains glorious.

  - Brad Haugaard
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  44

  Dearest Tec... re the Rich Man and Lazarus..

  by AGuest in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  the greatest of love and peace to you, dear one!.

  thank you for your kind patience.

  his request to have lazarus dip the "tip" of his finger in "water" and "cool" his "tongue," tells us: there is no water in the world of the dead.

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  Mad Dawg

  I didn't say that the Lazarus that Jesus raised was rich. I said that he wasn't poor. He had his own home and his sister had owned spikenard which was costly. He was raised, but the other Lazarus wasn't. There is no indication that the one had leprosy. No, it is not a strange thing that there are two Lazarus' in the Bible. I know that there are at least two Simons and two Josephs.
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  44

  Dearest Tec... re the Rich Man and Lazarus..

  by AGuest in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  the greatest of love and peace to you, dear one!.

  thank you for your kind patience.

  his request to have lazarus dip the "tip" of his finger in "water" and "cool" his "tongue," tells us: there is no water in the world of the dead.

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  Mad Dawg

  The Lazarus that Jesus raised from the dead was a different Lazarus than this one. Two men with the same name. The Lazarus that Jesus raised was not poor.
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  269

  Have your JW Relatives Explained about Generation/Overlap Change to You ?

  by flipper in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  after reading on the way out's thread about his mom explaining the generation overlap to him it kicked this idea into my head to make this thread .

  i thought it would be helpful to see if anybody here has had jw relatives or friends try to explain this " generation overlap " theory to you as a faded or inactive witness and what happened in the conversations.

  so please feel free to post your experiences.

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  Mad Dawg

  Eggnoggin, telling someone to look it up is not an answer. Daddy, why is the grass green? Go look it up. Doctor, how do I cure this ear ache? Go look it up. Or, are you telling me it is “because the WatchTower said so”? Perhaps, the reason I have not found any mention of a double fulfillment is because there is none.

  THERE IS A REASON I DON’T ASK FOR A STUDY! They won’t answer my questions either!! For all the time I have spent with them, all I get is the same non answers that you give. It is not about liking or not liking the answer – there is no answer. Perhaps, that is why you are dodging the question – there is no answer.

  For someone who claims to be a “walking encyclopedia of knowledge” you don’t know much. An interpretive theory is a METHOD! Get it? A method, by which we understand the Scriptures. What method do you use? To say you have no interpretive theory, is to say that you don’t study or understand the Scriptures.

  You are saying that I can’t understand anything from the Scriptures without the WTS help? How do I know I need their help? They said so! BTW, Phillip spent, what, maybe a couple of hours with the eunuch? After that the eunuch never saw Phillip again. Phillip got him started and left him alone. That is a far cry from controlling everything he thinks.

  As near as I can tell, the WTS answer is this:

  · How do I know that there is a double fulfillment? The WTS said so.

  · How do I know that the WTS society got it right? They are God’s sole channel of information.

  · How do I know they are God’s sole channel? They predicted 1914.

  · How did they get 1914? Double fulfillment.

  · Rinse and repeat.

  I can agree with you on this one point: NO ONE would come to the WTS’s conclusions by simply reading the Bible.
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  269

  Have your JW Relatives Explained about Generation/Overlap Change to You ?

  by flipper in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  after reading on the way out's thread about his mom explaining the generation overlap to him it kicked this idea into my head to make this thread .

  i thought it would be helpful to see if anybody here has had jw relatives or friends try to explain this " generation overlap " theory to you as a faded or inactive witness and what happened in the conversations.

  so please feel free to post your experiences.

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  Mad Dawg

  Ya know, I think I am beginning to see TRIPLE fulfillment of certain prophecies!
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  39

  What is the big plan for the Great Day?

  by Dark Side in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i've been away from the borg for many years now.

  the only information i have about new light/doctrine change/flip flops is from this board.

  so i'm hoping you can help me with a couple of questions i've had since i was a kid.. does the wtbts have a plan for what the jws are supposed to do while the battle of armaggedon is being fought?.

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  Mad Dawg

  It is positively creepy that they call violent death of billions of people a "Great Day".
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  269

  Have your JW Relatives Explained about Generation/Overlap Change to You ?

  by flipper in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  after reading on the way out's thread about his mom explaining the generation overlap to him it kicked this idea into my head to make this thread .

  i thought it would be helpful to see if anybody here has had jw relatives or friends try to explain this " generation overlap " theory to you as a faded or inactive witness and what happened in the conversations.

  so please feel free to post your experiences.

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  Mad Dawg

  You didn't answer my question. Interpretive theory is the method one uses to interpret the Scriptures. As for doing research, I have done much research on the Scriptures and have never come across a mention of a double fulfillment - except in WT literature, but they never give a basis for it. As it provides the foundation for you belief (without it you have no 1914), I am surprised that JW's are unable answer the question. When JW's come to my door, they won't answer my questions. Why should I spend hours in a book study with them if they won't answer my questions?
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  269

  Have your JW Relatives Explained about Generation/Overlap Change to You ?

  by flipper in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  after reading on the way out's thread about his mom explaining the generation overlap to him it kicked this idea into my head to make this thread .

  i thought it would be helpful to see if anybody here has had jw relatives or friends try to explain this " generation overlap " theory to you as a faded or inactive witness and what happened in the conversations.

  so please feel free to post your experiences.

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  Mad Dawg

  And, while you are at it, how do you know that any particular prophecy has a double fulfillment?