Congratulations. It is always nice to find families that get along.
Posts by JeffT
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2039 years for Mulan and dad!
by Princess inthirty nine years ago today, my parents were married.
i am very greatful for that winter day in 1962!
of course i wouldn't be here if they hadn't married, but more than that i am so lucky to have such wonderful parents who set an amazing example of how good a marriage can be.
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"The Day The Music Died"
by Farkel inin 1972 the great irish balladeer don mcclean introduced the song "american pie.
" it was and still is a classic.
the song is full of symbolism and even to this day almost thirty years after the song was first introduced, mcclean will not reveal the real meanings behind much of that symbolism.. in that song, he sings about "the day the music died.
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JeffT
I also bought into the Buddy Holly thing.
The king was Elvis.
The marching band was the Beatles.
The jestor was Bob Dylan.
The whole thing was supposed to about the shift from "rock and roll" to "Rock" after Holly died.
About the time I became a dub there was a weird little group in Spokane that claimed that the lyrics were all a prophetic reference to Armageddon. For ten bucks or something they would send you a line by line interpretation. I wish I'd sent them the money just for the fun of it. Have to rank right up there with some of the real nonsense in the WT.
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Two views of "Basic Doctrine"
by JeffT inbasic doctrines.
the other night a passage in in search of christian freedom caught my eye.
after discussing how the watchtower targets certain doctrinal matters in the earlier stages of its bible study program for new converts, franz makes this observation:.
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JeffT
Basic Doctrines
The other night a passage in “In Search of Christian Freedom” caught my eye. After discussing how the Watchtower targets certain doctrinal matters in the earlier stages of its bible study program for new converts, Franz makes this observation:
“Remarkably, most Witnesses are so impressed by these initially targeted teachings about the soul’s mortality, hell’s being synonymous with the grave or the death state, and similar points that they think and speak of them as the ‘basic doctrines’ of the Scriptures, teachings forming the principal criteria for identifying the one, true religion.
“Yet one cannot find in the Bible even one chapter devoted to a discussion of such subjects.” (page 419)I agree with this statement. For many years as a Witnesses I congratulated myself about having the “truth” on these and a few other subjects. I still see some on these boards referring to these as “basic doctrines.”
If one asked a mainstream Christian what belief is most central to his religion, you will get an entirely different answer. In fact I don’t even think these are the basic doctrine of being a JW, but will get to that in moment.
From a Christian perspective the central doctrine of the Bible is that God, in the person of Jesus, came to Earth to live among us, experience humanity; and die on the cross, taking all of our sins upon Himself.
This simple and powerful message is lost entirely to the adherents of the Watchtower because the central doctrine of Jehovah’s Witnesses is that God raised up a publishing corporation to be His representative on Earth. Although the Watchtower gives lip service to the notion that Jesus is the head of the congregation, in actual practice the center of power is Bethel. Jehovah’s Witnesses practice an essentially Old Testament religion, and as such the role of Jesus is subordinated to that of the Earthly organization. This is why all matters pertaining to the Watchtower eventually come down to policy, not Scripture.
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Thinking about....UU
by wonderwoman77 inwell all, i have done a lot of investigating in the last week about the uu and i am liking what i find.
i have talked to a member of one of the churches in my area and they have a class in january for new and prespective memebers.
it is a four week class where you discuss your religious journey to this point, learn about the churches history, learn about how the church in involved in the community and then the last one you can sign to be a member if you wish.
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JeffT
I'm glad you found a place you like. Many ex-JW's (understanably)have a hard time continuing their spiritual journey after breaking free of the Watchtower. My wife and I have been attending a large church since shortly before we DA'd ourselves. An ex elder invited us. As Andi said it is good to get togther, even more so when you are there because you want to be, not because somebody makes you.
I got bowled over the day the pastor said "Now I don't want all of you running out of here saying 'we have to believe this' just because I said it." What a refreshing change.
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What was your favorite Christmas gift?
by Billygoat ini'm hoping nobody already did a thread on this.
but who of you were good boys and girls this year?
what was the best thing that santa brought you?
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JeffT
For the second year running my wife and my oldest son got me the same book.
Last year it was "Band of Brothers" by Stephen Ambrose, this year it was "Roosevelts Secret War." Since they know what I like they decided next year to talk to each other.
Slight change of subject, what was the best gift you gave? My wife is getting weekend getaways in mid January and mid February.
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COLLEGE EXPERIENCE/EX-JW-A MUST READ!!!!- DEEEEEP
by Kay Francis ini've always wanted to be a writer, and because of being in the org never got a chance to fulfill my dreams, goals or desires.
now that i'm enrolled in college, english is a requirement and i took english 101 last semester.
in fact, i'm enrolled in the honors program.
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JeffT
Very good piece Kay.
I know there are several other writers out there on this board. I've got 66,000 words of novel in my computer at home, plus some smaller pieces.
Let's all get together some how.
My e-mail addresses are [email protected] and [email protected].
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My first Christmas ornament
by Mulan inlast night we went to downtown seattle, to ride the annual holiday carousel.
(the rain stopped for that whole day, thankfully) almost my entire family came, except for our youngest son and his wife, who work evenings.
so there were 3 of our adult kids and their mates, seven grandkids, the father of one of our step granddaughters, who came from sweden for christmas, and princess' sister in law and husband who came from boston for the holidays........we jammed the elevators!!
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JeffT
The 1988 ornament is ours.
In about ten years you will be able to confound your friends who will be trying to figure out why you got a first Christmas ornament 14 years after you got married.
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Long term effects of drug etc use.
by JeffT infurther proof that the long term implications of.
drugs/procedures must be fully considered..... over the past few years more money has been spent on breast implants, penis implants and viagra than on alzheimer's.
in a few years we will have a lot of people running around with huge breasts and long penises and they won't remember what to do with them.
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JeffT
Yes, I'm Jeff Thomas
I lost your e-mail address during a server upgrade.
Send me something at [email protected]
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Business Territory
by Amazing inbusiness territory in the 1960s and 1970s: when i was first associated in the late 1960s, it was common to see jws roaming the streets of downtown districts, offering the magazines.
sometime in the early 1970s, after i had been a jw for a few years, we worked businesses directly.
this was especially true when certain events were newsworthy - such as the persecution of jehovah's witnesses in malawi.
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JeffT
The wooden Indians are very much in evidence here. There are a couple of older black ladies that stand in front of one of the entrances to the bus tunnel holding up copies of the WT and Awake while they gossip. They seem to be there regularly. I've seen others at different places and times.
It is obviously all about putting time on the reports. They make no effort to actually talk to people.
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Long term effects of drug etc use.
by JeffT infurther proof that the long term implications of.
drugs/procedures must be fully considered..... over the past few years more money has been spent on breast implants, penis implants and viagra than on alzheimer's.
in a few years we will have a lot of people running around with huge breasts and long penises and they won't remember what to do with them.
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JeffT
Further proof that the long term implications of
drugs/procedures must be fully considered....Over the past few years more money has been spent on breast implants, penis implants and Viagra than on Alzheimer's. In a few years we will have a lot of people running around with huge breasts and long penises and they won't remember what to do with them.