The Hiram Key - by Christopher Knight & Robert Lomas ISBN 0-7607-0976-X
I found this book enlightening... it has everything that you could ever hope for in a book... mystery, intrigue, murder, pirates, treasure... and Jesus.
Regards,
Jim TX
Posts by Jim_TX
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26Just read "Who Wrote the Bible", another book recommendation please?
by lookingnow25 ini just finished reading "who wrote the bible" by friedman after seeing someone reommend it on here.
i was enthralled and finished it in record time for myself.
i'd never considered anything that could be called 'higher criticism' before.
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63
Do you believe the Bible is the inspired word of God?
by desib77 indo you believe the bible is the inspired word of god?
have you somehow attempted to prove this to yourself or have you just accepted it?
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Jim_TX
Good points DaCheech,
The one that gets me is the story of Job.
Both God and Satan get into a pissing match about who will win - and use Job as the 'bait'.
Of course Job loses all his wealth, his children, and almost dies.
So - the 'bet' is finally over, and God sez, "See! I win!" then he 'blesses' Job with more wealth, restores his health, and gives him more children to 'replace' the ones he lost.
Excuse me... what loving parent here would be okay with 'replacement' children? Hmmm???
Yeah. A 'loving' god. NOT!
Regards,
Jim TX
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63
Do you believe the Bible is the inspired word of God?
by desib77 indo you believe the bible is the inspired word of god?
have you somehow attempted to prove this to yourself or have you just accepted it?
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Jim_TX
Ahhhhh... but there is a conundrum.
You have to believe in Christ to believe in the bible... but you have to believe in the bible to believe that there was a Christ. Unless you're Jewish.
Plus... I'm not sure I would want to 'serve' a god who has a split-personality like is described in this bible.
In the Old Testament... he goes about destroying all sorts of nations and people - including women and innocent children. A god of vengence!
In the New Testament... he is described as a 'god of love'... (hears a chorus of 'aaaaaahhhhhhhh' from the heavens).
Plus - he is _still_ chomping at the bit to destroy what he considers as 'evil'.
Nope. I don't think I want to 'serve' anyone/thing like this.
Regards,
Jim TX
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63
Do you believe the Bible is the inspired word of God?
by desib77 indo you believe the bible is the inspired word of god?
have you somehow attempted to prove this to yourself or have you just accepted it?
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Jim_TX
The bible is a collection of very well written stories by a group of people who wrote many of them while in captivity to the Babylonians, and had a lot of spare time on their hands - so they went to the local Babylonian libraries and 'borrowed' from the Babylonian myths of their gods and whatnot.
Of course... these enslaved people probably needed a 'library card' to get into the Babylonian library, but it's okay - they didn't tell the lower-class slaves. They were just smarter, and didn't get 'caught'.
Regards,
Jim TX
P.S. In case you didn't gather from the above... No. I don't believe the bible is all holy, or inspired.
P.P.S. If you _do_ believe it is inspired... then answer me as to WHO decided on the set of 66 'books' that make up the bible. (Hint: Man, in about the fourth century.)
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39
THE MOST ANNOYING WT PHRASES!
by tresbella inhey!
ever read the wt and awake articles and get tired of seeing words and prases like "the society's counsel on..."
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Jim_TX
All of the above... and here is one that I heard from my older sister at my mom's funeral several months ago...
"Well, we thought that the 'New System' would be here by now..."
It sounded like a much-repeated phrase... getting old and hollow in its' meaning - and that from her.
Regards,
Jim TX
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60
Convention Drama creeps out JWs?
by ezekiel3 ini am getting news from jws who have attended the district convention that the drama (which is pre-recorded and played to lip-syncing actors) has a demon-possessed woman with a ?demonic voice?.
can anyone confirm this?
it is said to be pretty creepy sound effect and many jws are uncomfortable when they hear it.
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Jim_TX
At one time... didn't they 'sell' these 'dramas' on cassette tape?
About 3 or 4 years ago - when I was still married to my JW wifey, we were visiting some of her friends (also JWs). These folks were sooooo proud of their cassettes... they popped one into a player, and turned it on. It was supposed to be the 'latest' drama - that they had had to watch at one of their assemblies.
I was only half paying attention - but when they played it... dang! it sounded just like one that I remembered from the 60's or 70's.
Oh well...
Regards,
Jim TX
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89
What does your name mean?
by pennycandy ini gave my intro and then disappeared for a month.
just not enough time these days.. anyway .
.. some of your names are self-explanatory, but some definitely have to be explained to be understood.. i'll start.
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Jim_TX
Jim_TX...
It's Comanche for - white man who lives in large state.
Regards,
Jim TX
P.S. The state??? Confusion.
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7
I may be wrong about JWs!
by baysixforme inas i have a court case being prepared with regards to my soon-to-be-ex-husband...i have been considering several options concerning who could be my'witnesses' to the horrific lifestyle that he subjected us to.. one thing for certain is that an elder from my old congregation was very much aware of the despicable acts that my then husband bestowed upon myself and my children.
he would come around on a weekly basis, get the low down on recent events and endeavour to counsel my husband.. that seems to be a long time ago.......but after a solicitors appointment yesterday afternoon, it appears that i may need to recall witnesses from that particular period in our lives to verify my side of the story!.
i started thinking, and although there weren't many that knew of our situation (because we were told not to broadcast it), i knew that certainly, said elder would remember very well.. after some consideration, i rang him, left a message and eventually he contacted me.
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Jim_TX
There's a saying here in the states that goes...
"Don't count your chickens before they hatch."
Translated to your situation - please don't get your hopes up - he may think about what he has to actually write, and decide not to.
Please post if he _does_ give you something in writing. That would truly be a good thing.
Good luck on your court case.
Regards,
Jim TX
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5
For JimTX: Arcosanti Project
by Valis inhi jim!
i thought you might like this if you already didn't know about it.
i found out about it in the july 2004 smithsonian magazine.
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Jim_TX
Valis - Oh. I see.
Well, there are all sorts of housing experiments going on right now.
I could list several folks researching various low-cost domes... interesting stuff.
Much of it is not very practical, though... at least for the average fella... (I consider myself 'average'.)
I have corresponded with one fella who built himself an ECO-Shell 2 dome structure... that is about 12-foot diameter - insulated it with styrofoam bits, etc.
I believe he told me his total cost for doing this - and we're talking a 'home' to live in... of just over 100 sq ft... $1200 for the air-form, and $600 in materials... so, he has a 100 sq.ft. home for about $1800.
I'm not sure I could do that. I'm not talking about the expense... I'm talking about living in what basically is the size of a teepee.
Regards,
Jim TX
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18
Sick of it all!
by Beloved inat least i'm not in denial :) .
i'm a jw along with my parents.
my family has been pretty rough to me, my dad especially.
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Jim_TX
Greetings, and welcome to this forum. I hope you stick around.
First - if you are still living at your brothers' in Canada - you need to try - as best as you can - to get away from there. But you know that already.
Now - to your questions...
"Why is it that JWs can't have relationships out of their religion with parental consent?"
One word - Control.
"God doesn't want hatred. He wants togetherness, but why are we so seperated?"
One word - Control.
"Why can't we speak to those out of our religion?"
One word - Control.
Are you seeing a pattern here?
Regards,
Jim TX