Yes. One time he talked to a man in Jerusalem named Jesus and the Jews that heard said, "there was no voice, that is just thunder"
donuthole
JoinedPosts by donuthole
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Make Your Case for God's Existence
by Megachusen inquite a few of the ex-jw's on this site are either atheist or agnostic.
i figured that it would be interesting if the theist side could make their case for god's existence and then non-theists could either debate the points or concede, depending on the arguments given.. so, if you believe in a god, please tell us your most convincing argument for why we should aswell..
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WHAT WAS YOUR AHA! MOMENT THATIT WAS TIME TO EXIT THE BORG?
by freewilly01 ini had a huge light bulb on moment as i wasy in therapy dealing with a nasty anxiety disorder for many years and having a huge trigger in my life finally silenced.
it was almost the last thing that i thought i would end up doing expecially if you asked my wife and myself even a year before our decision to " live " thats how i view it not decision to leave...........it was a decision to live.. .
my therapist psychiatrist asked me who are you?
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donuthole
When I lost my Judicial Committee disfellowshipping appeal - I said yeah I guess I'm done here.
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What did you dream about doing in the "New System"?
by lurk3r inlife in the new system, did you give it much thought?
sure, we would be brought to perfection, and there would be a resurrection, but how about other things?.
in my years growing up and living as a jw, i never really thought about it that much.
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donuthole
A couple of thoughts -- first I thought I would immediately set to work on growing barley and hops and corner the market on beer. I seriously thought about this.
My other thought was to build some kind of amazing sculpture with glass and water running through it ...
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donuthole
I know of young sister who donated blood. She told the elders that while she was donating the blood she prayed to Jehovah asking that he make sure the donated blood be broken down into fractions for Witnesses that might need them. She was disfellowshipped.
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The Spain Branch will pay now to: bethelites, special pioneers, Circuit y Distric and missionaires
by JHK inthe spain branch, now will pay directly to: bethelites, special pioneers, circuit, district and missionaries... with our money!
the congregations must not given money to the full time ministers.
the governing body bank wants to have all money in its hands.
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donuthole
Yes I don't see what is controversial about this. The only thing I'm curious about is if the Branch will directly pass the Social Security tax payment directly to the congregations in the form of a charge or they will continue to foot the bill out of general donations.
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2009 Bearing Thorough Witness About God's Kingdom--PDF!
by Atlantis in2009 bearing thorough witness about god's kingdom--pdf!
(all credit goes to yknot) bookmarked searchable reduced click the link at the bottom of the next page.
http://www.sendspace.com/file/mc7ofr cheers!
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donuthole
Thanks for the file!! I actually asked some random-JW I saw a the gas station today if he had an extra copy. (I didn't know him -- he just had that JW look.) LOL He said he was coming back from his third district convention so he didn't have any of the new releases - they were at home.
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The Spain Branch will pay now to: bethelites, special pioneers, Circuit y Distric and missionaires
by JHK inthe spain branch, now will pay directly to: bethelites, special pioneers, circuit, district and missionaries... with our money!
the congregations must not given money to the full time ministers.
the governing body bank wants to have all money in its hands.
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donuthole
Here is a rough translation with help of Google. Please note I do not speak the spanish.
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June 5, 2009
Greetings brothers,
We are writing to inform you of an arrangement that will enter into force in July 2009. As of that date members of the Religious Order of Jehovah's Witnesses (including bethelites, missionaries, special pioneers, traveling overseers and assembly hall care staff) may not receive any monetary payments or reimbursements for their assignments directly from the congregation or circuit assembly hall. They will receive these directly from the branch. However, the branch will collect those payments from the congregation, or assembly hall circuit correspondent.
How will this system work? The Member of the Order shall note the expenditure to be authorized by the congregation, circuit or assembly hall, as usual. The volunteer will forward the completed letter to the branch, and this is who will pay the expense. Subsequently, the branch will in turn charge of the bank account of the Congregation, a circuit assembly hall for the amount of that expenditure. As you can notice, in essence, the only change is who will pay the cost to the volunteer. Up to now the congregation, or assembly hall circuit paid them directly, now the branch will, although the costs will fall on the Congregation, a circuit or assembly hall, as a branch charge on your bank account.
Two brief examples: a bethel member, or special staff member of an Assembly Hall was invited to present a public talk in a congregation. The congregation wants to help with travel costs. They voluntarily complete a note of spending to be approved by the congregation and they send this letter to the branch. This is the amount paid and then charged to the bank account of the congregation. The Bank sends a note by post with a brief description of the expenditure, which will serve as proof. Another example: the circuit overseer presents to the congregation their expenses during the week of his visit to be reimbursed. As before, he completes a note of spending authorization and sends it to the branch together with evidences. The branch will refund the cost and charge the total amount to the bank account of the congregation.
What is the reason for this change? As of 2009 the branch is taxed on amounts on money given to the members of the Order for maintenance, as "employment income". This includes not only what they receive from the branch, but also from congregations, circuits and assembly hall. Therefore, by centralizing all of these payments at the branch will help to ensure that the statements are accurate and can be submitted on time.A copy of this letter should be stored along with the instructions of accounting. This will allow the accounts servant to also be aware of this procedure.
We are confident that we can count with your assistance. Thank you very much for your understanding and goodwill. Please receive our Christian love and affection.
Your brothers,
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Gems from the new book: Bearing Thorough Witness About Gods Kingdom
by truthseeker insome interesting snippets from the new publication which discusses the book of acts.
bearing thorough witness about gods kingdom.
page 119. today, christ uses the governing body of jehovah's witnesses.
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donuthole
Really would like to see this entire book on .PDF, but from these selective quotes doesn't it seem like they are moving away from speaking generically about the "faithful slave" but more specifically about the "governing body"?
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Why do the JW's say miracles are from Beelzebub
by androb31 inthe jw's claim that modern day miracles (prophesying, healing, tongues) are from the devil.
the following is their reasoning why they believe this (from an article on the jw official website).
this is rather arbitrary when the cited scripture is read.
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donuthole
@androb31
Yeah that was my experience. I was actually assigned a number 4 talk on the Holy Spirit shortly before my being DF'd. At the time I was really looking at the Bible with fresh eyes and it impacted me how little I knew about the Holy Spirit. What did we really know? When someone was sick or going through a trial we might pray for an "extra portion of the Holy Spirit" go to them -- but really what did we expect it to do? -- maybe give them strength to endure or something? After leaving the WT religion I learned more about the Holy Spirit. Not necessarily through study but through different experiences and such.
@chalam
I was looking at that verse you put from Matthew. I'm not going to argue that there aren't counterfeit miracles and also deceiving spirits. It does seem though that this verse is talking more about the character of the individual and not the legitimacy of the work done in Jesus' name. If a wicked man uses the name of Jesus to cast out a demon, well I think that speaks more for the power of Jesus' name than the quality of the individual using it. Another thing that comes into play here is the faith of the individual receiving the miracle. Their heart may be in a good place while the one "working" the miracle might be full of deceipt and wickedness.
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Why do the JW's say miracles are from Beelzebub
by androb31 inthe jw's claim that modern day miracles (prophesying, healing, tongues) are from the devil.
the following is their reasoning why they believe this (from an article on the jw official website).
this is rather arbitrary when the cited scripture is read.
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donuthole
Ok for starts that section of Corinthians does not mention healing (or exorcisms which is often coupled with healing in the Gospels). Those that Jesus sent out in the ministry healed and cast out demons on the basis of his name before they received the Holy Spirit.
As mentioned the section in Corinthians isn't talking about the completion of the Bible but rather the time of the ressurection when we see Christ "face-to-face". Right now we only have partial knowledge but then we have total knowledge. At that time there will be no need for prophecy for all is fulfilled. Even faith and hope do not remain for because when the thing hoped for and held in faith arrive there is no further need to hope and hold in faith.
The only thing that remains is love, God is love, and love is eternal.
The JW's claim to only "know in part", otherwise why the continual "new light". Yet at the same time they would dogmatically claim this scripture is fulfilled. Well if that which is perfect has arrived, why do they still know in part and prophecy in part??
The JW's have little understanding of the Holy Spirit. Honestly think back to your time in the religion, how much did the Holy Spirit impact you? Did you even have understand it? What was the Holy Spirit's part in a Christian's life?
There was a time even in the days of Rutherford where he taught that the Holy Spirit wasn't available anymore since it was only until Jesus arrived. He claimed to be guided by angels. (There are echoes among current Witness beliefs -- the idea that the Angels are directing the preaching work -- compare to how the Holy Spirit directed the preaching in the book of Acts.)
In this the scripture is fulfilled, "they have a form of godly devotion but prove false to its power." The JW religion has none of the power of the early Church. They even routinely deny the Holy Spirit.