If Jehovah created the world with no disease or sickness, did he create Adam with an immune system just in case, or did he have to recreate Adam with the ability to fight disease after he and Eve sinned?
curious hugs
Joel
if jehovah created the world with no disease or sickness, did he create adam with an immune system just in case, or did he have to recreate adam with the ability to fight disease after he and eve sinned?.
curious hugs.
joel
what are sharks, dolphins and killer whales too eat?.
i was going to add polar bears but that might confuse.
the issue.. the lion king has something in it about the circle of life.. does anybody think thats ever going to stop?
you know placed the following quote in one of his responses.. 'if now the godly man is being saved with difficulty, where will the sinner make a showing.
' what's the answer?
what happened to salvation being a free gift and "come and drink life's water free.
Our faith in love and in the power of exercising love is put to the test every day almost continuously. I think it is like a trial by fire to continue to stand up for honesty and love against the daily onslaught.
Doing so, I believe enables us not only to be ready for any tribulation ahead, but those that we face now.
hugs
Joel
you know placed the following quote in one of his responses.. 'if now the godly man is being saved with difficulty, where will the sinner make a showing.
' what's the answer?
what happened to salvation being a free gift and "come and drink life's water free.
Again You Know and I agree in principle but differ on definition.
I believe god is love, therefore acting in an unloving way is rebellion against god.
You know and most religionists attach complicated agendas to god and his will. Typically this includes the adherence to some type of system or religion that in the end, ends up benefiting those people who are attaching these extra agendas. It can be a material goal or a political goal in promoting a specific group of people over other people.
I think my concept of god is simpler and more useful.
hugs
Joel
you know placed the following quote in one of his responses.. 'if now the godly man is being saved with difficulty, where will the sinner make a showing.
' what's the answer?
what happened to salvation being a free gift and "come and drink life's water free.
Actually,
I agree, in principle, with You Know. Where we differ is in what we believe that we must endure in doing.
You Know believes that one must endure in their relationship with an organization who claims to represent god.
I believe that one must endure in "the way" that one leads one's life
in a loving manner. We can be tempted to fall all this path by materialism, loyalty to manmade governements etc., all of which could move us from showing love to one another by engaging in politically motivated warfare or in accumulating more than our fair share of the earth's resources than we need for a good life, thus not showing love to our neighbor.
I do believe strongly that he who endures to the end in living a loving life is the one that will be saved.
hugs
Joel
one of the most painful things i continue to see here on this forum as well as all the others is that many who want to leave wt simply don't know how to leave and remain "intact" as it were.. i recall talking with jw who "formally disassociated themselves back in the 70s and it was not till the 90s and the net did they finally feel free.
or many who jump up and write a letter off to mo larry and curly (congregation service committee).
while i feel there is absolutely nothing wrong with writing a letter for many it is a matter of.
I am a strong proponent of the drift away process. However, I believe people should begin to construct a new social support system for themselves before they do this.
Going through formal disassociation of disfellowshiping is a continuing acknowledgement that the Watchtower society actually has a right to determine someone's status as a worthy associate, rather than allowing a person's whole life and sets of actions determine this for people close to this person.
So my 3 step process is:
1. Start making new friends outside of the organization.
2. Slowly allow more productive uses of your time to supplant Watchtower-centric activities (join a volunteer organization, take a pottery class, teach a class in something you are knowledgeable about, spend more time reading or improving your home etc. etc. etc.) If and when the elders come knocking just say, I've been busy with these other activities, smile politely at them until they leave.
3. Live your new life to the fullest and be happy.
hugs
Joel
we have never read " officially " about homosexual problems at the.
bethel in new york , but can often read something that the wts wrote .
abouth other religions: .
Sigh,
Homosexual does not equal pedophile. Even if you link them a billion times, it still won't be true.
My bet is, every religion has numerous homosexuals in a variety of roles simply because homosexuals in my experience carry such a tremendous load of guilt that they figure they can ease it by being spiritually active.
Of course, it don't make the desires go away, suppressing them indeed makes them eke out in sometime horrific and harmful ways both to the homosexual himself and to those around him including innocent children.
Homosexuals, like brussel sprouts, are here to stay, like it or not.
Try suppressing a brussel sprout and just see what happens.
vegetablely hugs
Joel
you know placed the following quote in one of his responses.. 'if now the godly man is being saved with difficulty, where will the sinner make a showing.
' what's the answer?
what happened to salvation being a free gift and "come and drink life's water free.
You Know placed the following quote in one of his responses.
'If now the godly man is being saved with difficulty, where will the sinner make a showing.' What's the answer? / You Know
What happened to salvation being a free gift and "Come and drink life's water free. Is it free or not? If there is a price to pay, even through some set of actions, then its not really free is it.
Is it difficult to be saved? I find this conundrum one of the most fascinating in the Bible.
dazed and confused hugs
Joel
for the majority of humans, certain events are surrounded by tradition and ritual.
marriage, the birth of children, entrance into adulthood, and death are all life-events which will be marked by most with a form of religious ceremony.
for the few who have left off affiliation with a religious organization, these events are marked differently - more by tradition than by mystic ritual.
Hi all,
To get us back on topic.
I want my funeral to be a celebration of my life. I want all my friends to bring pictures of the good times we had together and spend an evening remembering those good times.
In my opinion life is about two things, memories and friends. I hope to make many more good ones before I die, but if I die tomorrow I can honestly say I have had more than my fair share of both.
Creating good memories however small they may be is the stuff that life is made of.
nurturing hugs
Joel
if after all the years of being shunned by family , friends , would you forgive or forget them and all the misery they handed you, or maybe let them think about it for somtime before you talked to them again.
of course this can only happen freely if they left the org.