Nebraska Nada, leave Titus alone. He was a good guy.
Posts by pirata
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101"Jesus did not die on the cross" (Gunnar Samuelsson)
by Titus in"jesus did not die on the cross" .
a new doctoral dissertation in theology from gothenburg university claims that the bible has been misinterpreted when it comes to how jesus died.
gunnar samuelsson who wrote the dissertation has studied the original texts and sees no explicit references to crucifiction.
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How do I help my best friend who just told me he is gay?
by justwantohelp ina little background for you.... my best friend (a 44 year old baptised jw with a wife & 2 preteen boys) told me a few days ago that he is gay.
to me, not a big deal as i am also.
but, he is so tormented by this with regard to his relationship with god.
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pirata
I know a brother who is gay, but single. Most in the congregation did not know, just the elders I believe. He suppresses it and is treated as kindly as anyone else in the congregation.
As long as the brother is willing to suppress his gay sexuality, he is welcome in the congregation. But if word gets out, there is more than likely to have gossip go around the congregation. Not all members are as understanding as others. As an aside, when the Watchtower classifies pornography for elders to see if someone has looked at unclean or grossly unclean pornography, both gay and straight pornography is put in the unclean (but not grossly unclean) category as long as it is between consenting adults of legal age.
If he wants to explore his gay sexuality, then he will be disfellowshipped. Homosexuality is considered a sexual sin, as are fornication and adultery.
There are no "support groups" per se in the JW religion.
But I am more worried about his wife and family, and really don't have any insights on that kind of situation.
Was he suppressing his gay sexuality at the time he got married?
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Real Jehovah's Witnesses (djeggnog, StandFirm, etc), I'm trying to understand you.
by pirata ini'm an active jehovah's witness.
i've obviously lost my faith, that's why i don't feel bad posting here anymore.
i'd probably be disfellowshipped as a division causing, teaching, apostate, faster than you can say "maher-shalal-hash-baz" (isaiah 8:1), should it be found out that i was posting here and did not repent of the things i've said and stop participating in this forum.
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pirata
@Wontleave: Some back-stabbing, judgmental false brother/sister is with us, watching our every move, just hoping for a chance at glory by turning us in to the elders. JWs police each other; the prisoners are their own guards and every JW knows better than to trust any other JW, because the collective is truly their god.
@Wontleave, JWs are not lying in wait, ready to turn in each other for "glory". I talked to one brother who turned in another brother recently, and he felt really bad about it, but did so out of obligatoin and concern.
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Blondie's Comments You Will Not Hear at the 05-15-2011 WT Study (NEAR)
by blondie incomments you will not hear at the 05-15-2011 wt study (march 15, 2011, pages 12-16)(trust god/end near).
review comments will be headed by comments.
wt material from today's wt will be in black.
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Any JW, please help- I need just one thing!
by moshe in--the name of a real live (not dead) member of the faithful and discreet slave class- someone who has admitted in public they are one of the f&ds and who can verify they have been providing the "meat in due season" for the governing body.
obviously the gb can't be the f&ds, because they are neither discreet nor do they have a position of servitude- no, they have made it plain they are the bosses over jws and jws have to obey their words, as if jehovah and jesus were speaking them, or else they will get the disfellowshiped.
just one verifiable name will do and how you obtained it.. the governing body claims that the f&ds are directing them and the worldwide work of jws, but they have never proven that they have a f&ds class they communicate with- just have one of the annointed call bethel and ask to speak to one of the gb and see what the switchboard operator does with their call.
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pirata
The Watchtower states that that those who provide the deep spiritual food currently live in Brooklyn:
(WT July 15, 2010) When the time comes to clarify a spiritual matter in our day, holy spirit helps responsible representatives of “the faithful and discreet slave” at world headquarters to discern deep truths that were not previously understood. (Matt. 24:45; 1 Cor. 2:13) The Governing Body as a whole considers adjusted explanations. (Acts 15:6) What they learn, they publish for the benefit of all. (Matt.10:27) As time goes on, further clarifications may be needed, and these too are honestly explained.
This is just a guess, but I think this is a member of the faithful slave. I know he lives in Brooklyn:
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An Intro and apology.
by Slidin Fast ini have been an avid reader on this site for a few years and have weighed in on a few topics and introduced a few more without introducing myself.
for this i apologise.
the main reason for my reticence is that being a second generation born in but having been baptised in the 50s i will find it difficult to make an introduction without giving the game away.
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pirata
Slidin Fast, a belated welcome!
If you're intro is late, mine is really late. I still haven't made one yet and probably cannot for a long time.
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Real Jehovah's Witnesses (djeggnog, StandFirm, etc), I'm trying to understand you.
by pirata ini'm an active jehovah's witness.
i've obviously lost my faith, that's why i don't feel bad posting here anymore.
i'd probably be disfellowshipped as a division causing, teaching, apostate, faster than you can say "maher-shalal-hash-baz" (isaiah 8:1), should it be found out that i was posting here and did not repent of the things i've said and stop participating in this forum.
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pirata
Thank you for your detailed reply! I will read over it later on today.
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Real Jehovah's Witnesses (djeggnog, StandFirm, etc), I'm trying to understand you.
by pirata ini'm an active jehovah's witness.
i've obviously lost my faith, that's why i don't feel bad posting here anymore.
i'd probably be disfellowshipped as a division causing, teaching, apostate, faster than you can say "maher-shalal-hash-baz" (isaiah 8:1), should it be found out that i was posting here and did not repent of the things i've said and stop participating in this forum.
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pirata
I'm an active Jehovah's Witness. I've obviously lost my faith, that's why I don't feel bad posting here anymore. I'd probably be disfellowshipped as a division causing, teaching, apostate, faster than you can say "Ma′her-shal′al-hash-baz" (Isaiah 8:1), should it be found out that I was posting here and did not repent of the things I've said and stop participating in this forum. Offline, I keep my thoughts to myself and stick to the "official teachings/understandings" in service or with my brothers and sisters.
@djeggnog, @StandFirm, @ 20571pnt428571, et al (Maze, I'm really not sure if you are a witness):
The Kingdom Ministry articles over the past 10 years make it obvious to me that the Governing Body does not want Jehovah's Witness cowboys doing research outside Watchtower Society Publications, making their own websites, engaging in debates; certainly not without their approval. At least that is how I understand it and how the brothers and sisters that have made comments about such matters understand it
Yet, you seem to be 100% believing Jehovah's Witnesses, confidence in the guidance and direction of the Organization and it's Governing Body, yet don't see a conflict with posting here or doing research outside of Watchtower Publications.
I'm not saying this to criticise, rather, I think that it is necessary for the long term growth of Jehovah's Witnesses to directly address criticisms that can be easly found online. But instead the overall direction lately, at least from my impression, is to keep people away from apostate literature, and not address the objections.
There has been NOTHING in print regarding 587 BCE for over 22 years (and the refutation was weak at best: "But if a Bible student uses those dates when calculating the fulfillment of prophecy, he will simply be confused." w89 3/15 pg.21 par.16). There has never been any refutation regarding the Watchtower's past NGO UN status (aside from the BOE letter which would require a witness to admit to an elder that they've been looking at or listening to apostate material to see it), no refutation of the Malawi/Mexico allegations made in Crisis of Conscience, etc. Refutations of these issues, which I'm sure have "saved" at least some Jehovah's Witnesses faith, have been in the form of the JW cowboys who set up their own websites or participate in online discussions as you do here.
This is compounded by the fact that those have doubts tend to hide it at first. For me it was out of fear. I wanted to make sure that my worship and faith was not misguided, but I did not want to be labelled spiritually weak by going to the Elders to ask for help with these doubts. Was that stupid reasoning? Pride? Perhaps... but with all the printed warnings against looking at "apostate" information, I felt scared to discuss any of the issues I discovered with any of the Elders for fear of being charged with being disobedient to the Faithful slave. I have had Governing Body members come to give talks in my area, and had questions I wanted to ask them (mainly in regards to allegations made by apostates, and some of our interpretations of the Bible), but was afraid to for fear of being investigated after the fact.
Did you go to the elders with any doubts or questions you may have had? Did you right to the Society? What was the response?
By being a Spiritual Cowboy (ie posting here) do you think you're simply ahead of the game (ie. running ahead of the organization)? Immune to apostate reasoning (ie. think that your spiritually will not be affected by feeding, or at least dabbling with, the table of demons)? The publications equate looking at apostate information as not obeying Jehovah and not opposing the Devil. Why doesn't that bother you? I was deathly scared to join up and post here because I felt I was doing something wrong at first
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Blondie's Comments You Will Not Hear at the 05-15-2011 WT Study (NEAR)
by blondie incomments you will not hear at the 05-15-2011 wt study (march 15, 2011, pages 12-16)(trust god/end near).
review comments will be headed by comments.
wt material from today's wt will be in black.
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pirata
Great stuff Blondie. Do you know if there are any online resourced that have the entire introduction for the Rotherham Bible?
Loaded Language in today's study:
Paragraph 1: What a contrast to Jehovah’s servants! Guided by godly wisdom, they know better than to place their trust in this world or its “nobles.”
Why was this loaded language necessary? The message of Psalms 146 is clearly to place your trust in God, not in any men:
Psalms 146 Praise Jah, YOU people! Praise Jehovah, O my soul. 2 I will praise Jehovah during my lifetime. I will make melody to my God as long as I am. 3 Do not put YOUR trust in nobles, Nor in the son of earthling man, to whom no salvation belongs. 4 His spirit goes out, he goes back to his ground; In that day his thoughts do perish. 5 Happy is the one who has the God of Jacob for his help, Whose hope is in Jehovah his God,
But the Watchtower paragraph applies the scripture as meaning not to put trust in worldly men because Jehovah's Witnesses are encouraged to put their trust in the group of men who make up the Governing Body of Jehovah's Witnesses.
*** bt chap. 13 p. 103 par. 9 “There Had Occurred No Little Dissension” ***
When serious issues arise today, let us imitate the fine example of the believers in Antioch by trusting God’s organization and its Governing Body of anointed Christians, who represent “the faithful and discreet slave.”
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showdown at midnight with jw dad
by JunkYardDog inbastard call me up at midnight to tell how great the wt is.wtf i was sleeping.
i gave him a half hour lesson about the cross and how long it took jesus to die.
and how the torture stake would only keep you alive for about less than 30 minutes if that.
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pirata
I take it you are not on good terms with your dad?