Posts by lovelylil2

18

Have any of you been 're-baptised'

by EndofMysteries in

lovelylil2

Stephen,

True. Water baptism and baptism by holy spirit are two seperate things. I did not mean to say people should not be water baptized. I was simply addressing the issue as to whether or not someone needs to be re-baptized if they were baptized into the jw organization. My answer is that depends on the situation.

I was water batpized into the Roman Catholic church when I was an infant. Then I was water baptized into the JW organization when I was in my 20's.

I did not know until the day of my baptism by the jws that it was not in the name of the Father,son and Holy Spirit. I was very perplexed by the baptism Q's that is for sure. The thing is though, that you simply cannot be baptized into allegiance to an organization, no matter what the WT says. Baptism is a spiritual requirement for those who are repentent of their sins and wish to become followers of Jesus. The WT can try to put their own spin on it, but God does not reconize their version of baptism.

What mattered most on the day of my jw baptism was not what the WT said, but whether or not my heart was right with God, and what I personally thought my baptism signified. My heart was right towards God because I was repentent of my sins, which is what water baptism signifies, and I felt my baptism represented my new life as a Christian and the beginning of my walk with Jesus. I did not feel it meant I had to show allegiance to an human organization.

Now Did God accept me even though my last baptism was into an organization according to the WT? I believe he did, and that is because while still a Jehovah's Witness, I was baptized by God's Holy Spirit and became born again. That was God's sealing of me and how he revealed to my spirit that I am part of his spiritual family. Therefore God must have accepted my dedication to him.

I am not saying people should not be water baptized. But many are water baptized and NEVER become real born again believers. They never, for whatever reason recieve the seal of God by the Holy Spirit. Also some people recieve the Holy Spirit prior to water baptism. It is different for all believers. See these texts;

Acts 10:47
Then Peter said, "Can anyone keep these people from being baptized with water? They have received the Holy Spirit just as we have

Acts 19

1 While Apollos was at Corinth, Paul took the road through the interior and arrived at Ephesus. There he found some disciples 2 and asked them, "Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?"
They answered, "No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit."

3 So Paul asked, "Then what baptism did you receive?"
"John's baptism," they replied.

4 Paul said, "John's baptism was a baptism of repentance. He told the people to believe in the one coming after him, that is, in Jesus." 5 On hearing this, they were baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus. 6 When Paul placed his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesiedAnd yet, many of God's people never become water baptized and still have God's spirit on them. Some examples of this are all the faithful men of the OT. There was no water baptism back then but yet, God's spirit was on each one of his holy prophets, king david, solomon, and many others mentioned in Hebrews 1.

We have to remember that the water baptism is one of repentence. We are symbolizing to others that we are repenting of our sins and dedicating our life to Jesus. But it is the baptism by Holy Spirit that is even more important then the symbolic water baptism. That is the true baptism, the sealing of you for God. Once you recieve this, you will know that you have been approved by him. (see Romans 8)

So yes, someone can be baptized like the bible says "with water" but if you already were baptized this way and then recieved the promised Holy Spirit, do you need to do it again? I do not believe so. Why would you when God has already shown you that he has accepted you?

But if it really bothers your conscience that your only baptism was by the jws, or if you haven't recieved the Holy Spirit yet, then yes you should be rebaptized by a fellow Christian or Christian church.

Hope this answers your Q's. Peace to you. Lilly

18

Have any of you been 're-baptised'

by EndofMysteries in

lovelylil2

It doesn't really matter what church denomination you were baptised in if God has baptized you with his Holy Spirit. IF so, there is no need for another baptism unless it really bothers your conscience that you were baptized into the organization.

I struggled with this very issue when I was first out of the WT. But a mature christian brother of mine explained that since I was already "born again", I had in fact been baptized with the spirit of God and water baptism was not needed anymore. The Water baptism is only a symbol of our outward dedication to God for the eyes of men. In other words, it shows our christian brothers and sisters we are in fact dedicating ourselves to God. But baptism by the Holy Spirit is what is needed for the true conversion of a person into God's family.

A person may never have had a water baptism and yet God can baptize them with his Holy Spirit. Likewise, a person may of had a water baptism but never recieves the Holy Spirit.

If you would like to know more about what it means to be born again and how you can tell if you were born again, send me a pm with your email address and I will send you a short essay I wrote on the subject. Then if you still have Q's I can answer them in more detail privately. Peace, Lilly

18

Have any of you been 're-baptised'

by EndofMysteries in

lovelylil2

yes but not water baptized again. Only holy spirit baptized.

6

This one is a doozie............

by Vachi 8 He Is in

a couple weeks ago my outta town dub uncles and aunts came in from philly and of course being that the family is here we all have to go to the we'redumb hall.

the wt topic was about jealousy, and the good parts and bad parts of it.

the first thing i thought of is "is god not jealous?

lovelylil2

My brother has worked as a retail manager for more than 20 years now. I used to do a bible study with his wife. When she started attending the meetings, she once invited my brother to go. It was the night we were having the service meeting. After the meeting on the drive home I asked my brother what he thought about the meeting.

He said to me, "do you mean the sales meeting?". I was floored. I asked him what he meant and he said he runs sales pitch meetings and that the service meeting was exactly the same set up. Right down to giving a demonstration of the product you are trying to sell. And he also said the kingdom ministry was similar to an corporate newsletter about sales his company put out including the information on the current sales pitch and items to offer for the month.

You know I never thought of the service meetings in the same way again.

46

Making Sense of God's Silence

by lovelylil2 in

there is a wonderful 4 part radio program on the plain truth ministries website this week about making sense of god's silence.

you can find it here www.ptm.org just click on radio and you can listen online or download free mp3s of the program.. here is the order of the 4 part series and topics discussed;.

1. is god really there?.

lovelylil2

Jeff,

I thought you may be using an alias.

89

FOR THOSE WHO HAVE LEFT THE TRUTH?

by lgadsden in

jw
friends

jehovahs day comes at this moment and u realize u were in the right place but because of leaving you are now doomed.

would everything gained (temporary) enjoyment worth it?.

lovelylil2

I think Jeff is right.

33

Will religon eventualy disapear?

by highdose in

obviously not in our life time, but i was thinking maybe in a centry from now perhaps?

once the people who were taught creation in school are gone and instead we have people who were taught evoultion instead?

when we have perhaps been able to travel further and deeper into space, will people ask where is god?.

lovelylil2

I hope so. I think all religion is fatally flawed. I am a Christian as many here know. But for me, being a christian is more about having a personal relationship with God then attending a particular church denomination.

The many years I spent in various churches including Catholic, Baptist, Pentecostal, Lutheran and JW, never left me feeling closer to God. Its funny I always felt in the end like my spirituality was lacking. Since leaving and deciding to be "free in Christ", I feel much closer to God. Peace, Lilly

46

Making Sense of God's Silence

by lovelylil2 in

there is a wonderful 4 part radio program on the plain truth ministries website this week about making sense of god's silence.

you can find it here www.ptm.org just click on radio and you can listen online or download free mp3s of the program.. here is the order of the 4 part series and topics discussed;.

1. is god really there?.

lovelylil2

Jeff,

I respect your opinion and I thank you for sharing it with me in such a respectable manner. You are a true gentleman.

Now that I said that, I hope you are really not a chick disguised as a dude for the purpose of this forum, for if you are, my face is going to be reeeeally red!

Peace to you too, Lilly

46

Making Sense of God's Silence

by lovelylil2 in

there is a wonderful 4 part radio program on the plain truth ministries website this week about making sense of god's silence.

you can find it here www.ptm.org just click on radio and you can listen online or download free mp3s of the program.. here is the order of the 4 part series and topics discussed;.

1. is god really there?.

lovelylil2

jeff,

Thanks for your comments. I wasn't asking a question though on this thread. The making sense of God's silence is actually a four part lecture series that Plain Truth Ministries has on their website. I was simply bringing attention to it.

On a personal note, but not to get too offtrack here on the subject, I do not think God is silent. I think he speaks to us in the way the Bible says he does which is thru his creations, thru his word, more importantly thru the life and ministry of his Son Jesus, and thru his Holy Spirit that dwells in all believers.

however, many people who do not have intimate fellowship with God like the church does often ask "why God is silent". That is why the PTM Ministry is addressing that Q this week with their lectures. Which btw for those interested can be downloaded in mp3 form for free.

So again, I personally do not believe God is silent. Peace, Lilly

26

Community Service - why looked down on when it was so encouraged by Jesus

by insearchoftruth in

my wife yesterday was talking about how useless it really is to feed the hungry and provide cold weather shelters since the problem will not go away until the 'new system of things'.. i know that at one time jesus does state that there will be poor always, but a key aspect of his ministry on earth was helping the less fortunate.

how does the wts justify the discouragement of its rank and file from performing acts of community service, when the 'greatest man who ever lived' was so active in it?.

lovelylil2

Stephen,

My thoughts exactly. See my earlier posts. Also building on what Stephen quoted in James, here is another James text that the WT ignores.

James 1:27

Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

We had many widows in our congregation that got completely ignored by all the elders and most others too. That is probably because they did not have much $$$$. There was one widow, a lovely lady who was in the WT more than 30 years, raising all 5 of her children in the org. who would call my husand whenever she needed help with anything because none of the other brothers would assist her. She was labled as a pain in the neck by the brothers. Can you believe that?? My husband would change lightbulbs for her when she couldn't reach them and put her air conditioner in the window every summer. Also do any painting or other chores around her home when necessary. She always appreciated it and became very fond of my family. She was like an adopted grandmother to my kids. She died the year before we left the org. I still miss her very much.

Not only do jws not help people in the world, they seldom help each other in the congregations. This makes sense because their "mother" (org) is selfish too and is a taker, taking millions of $$$ from these same widows and orphans and giving them nothing back in return.