not a captive

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Posts by not a captive

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  76

  Jesus disses corporation-led religion??

  by not a captive in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  we were told that the right corporate "doctrine" makes the right group activity.

  but words attributed to jesus at matthew 7 make me wonder if jesus wasn't discouraging that.

  a small sample--.

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  not a captive

  Love and faith in Christ is the narrow path, imo.

  I like that, because I think that's it,

  Lots to think about. Good night , Sister.
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  58

  The Grandest "witness" that each of us could give to the world looks to be shortly upon us. Will you be there? (In honor of Ray Franz)

  by StoneWall in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  many of us are aware of the stroke that raymond franz had yesterday,.

  that he is on life support and it doesn't look like he is going to pull through.. someone on another thread mentioned if he didn't survive how many.

  was planning on attending his funeral.. to me this deserves its own thread.. .

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  not a captive

  Are you one of Jehovah's Witnesses, B-Rock?
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  58

  The Grandest "witness" that each of us could give to the world looks to be shortly upon us. Will you be there? (In honor of Ray Franz)

  by StoneWall in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  many of us are aware of the stroke that raymond franz had yesterday,.

  that he is on life support and it doesn't look like he is going to pull through.. someone on another thread mentioned if he didn't survive how many.

  was planning on attending his funeral.. to me this deserves its own thread.. .

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  not a captive

  Sorry, blue sapphire, the post is by Paulg123 , someone related to the Franz' .
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  58

  The Grandest "witness" that each of us could give to the world looks to be shortly upon us. Will you be there? (In honor of Ray Franz)

  by StoneWall in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  many of us are aware of the stroke that raymond franz had yesterday,.

  that he is on life support and it doesn't look like he is going to pull through.. someone on another thread mentioned if he didn't survive how many.

  was planning on attending his funeral.. to me this deserves its own thread.. .

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  not a captive

  Dear serenity, Check out the thread "Ray Franz had a stroke today.." it has other information of a supportive and comforting nature.

  Blue sapphire, that same site has Ray and Cynthia's address.
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  40

  I didn't know what a JW was, until I fell for one

  by headoverheels in

  1. social
  2. relationships

  when i fell for him i was completely unaware of his upbringing as a jw and only became aware once he decided to leave a few months back.

  being raised without much of a religious basis, besides the typical western christian exposure, i have researched, read, attended groups, read in this forum, to try to better understand him, and jws, but i am feeling at a loss here.

  he just recently left the jws and now i am experiencing this struggle with him; i am wondering how much of our problems can be contributed to this transition.

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  not a captive

  It's 100%. Get away now.

  Leave.

  All of us either know someone who through it or went through it ourselves.

  Even if you love him.

  He will never be happy and he'll always blame you.

  Absolutely miserable.

  Maeve
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  17

  We need a national story about Ray Franz's life

  by moshe in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  like everyone else here, i am praying for ray to pull through this medical crisis, but i realize the odds are not good.

  i know it's not something people want to think about, their obituary, but i contacted a religion journalist and told her about ray franz, his life at bethel and his books.

  i hope she passes the information on to the rest of the writers on their religion blog.

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  not a captive

  Yes for a big national story but also yes for the little letters to the local papers editor.

  We are now allowed to feel and speak and write. Ray was honest, faithful ,gifted.

  But if he helped us at all, then we can do in a small way what he did.

  WE can point out that sometimes there are people whose admirable acts are the thing that we find hardest to do ourselves. Lose a lifelong reputation in our religious world. But Ray Franz's faith in Jesus was the willingness to follow the Lamb wherever he took him; and that integrity is doing what is right even if you may sacrifice a great deal.

  And Ray and Cynthia did this with kindness and grace. And gave those who found themselves marginalized and shunned by their own faith community information that has helped us heal.

  I intend to write something of this to my local paper here in NW Arkansas.
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  40

  Friends

  by snowbird in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  do you get a warm, fuzzy-wuzzy feeling when certain posters show up on your threads?.

  i most certainly do.. syl.

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  not a captive

  It's like you calling us in from playing outside. And here we come.

  Hi! Sylvia
• 
  76

  Jesus disses corporation-led religion??

  by not a captive in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  we were told that the right corporate "doctrine" makes the right group activity.

  but words attributed to jesus at matthew 7 make me wonder if jesus wasn't discouraging that.

  a small sample--.

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  2. 
  3. 
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  not a captive

  If you find that a slippery answer, Gladiator. Then I am going to say that Jesus talked slippery talk also.

  Mostly, faith is Jacob wrestling with the angel for a blessing. Faithful men and women in old Bible stories were scaliwags in so many ways. But the general thought I take away is that they each had their wrestlings. No one inherits the "winner's buckle" from somebody ahead of them.
• 
  76

  Jesus disses corporation-led religion??

  by not a captive in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  we were told that the right corporate "doctrine" makes the right group activity.

  but words attributed to jesus at matthew 7 make me wonder if jesus wasn't discouraging that.

  a small sample--.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  not a captive

  Dear Tammy, Finding the union is perhaps not a continuing problem as much as a continuing challenge-- the good news is that it keeps us talking and doing what we think the Good News says.

  I think that Jesus modeled for us what we are supposed to do when we get tossed out for being faithful: Don't start a new religion: JOIN ANOTHER CHURCH AND GET THROWN OUT AGAIN! I'm only kinda kidding.

  Gladiator: I have looked at Bible passages the way I picture old trackers searching for clues on a cold trail. A lot may have happened to obscure the trail of Jesus but I'm counting on learning at least the general directionhe was going. That said, the word Logos was a different word than the word used for "the holy writing". Jesus was referred to as the Logos. The word has a meaning that is not much about a single word definition as a thought or concept.

  The inestimable value of Jesus being a living expression of God is most obvious if you are poor and illiterate. The poor and illiterate are so often the very ones who most love to hear the words of Jesus. They take in the Jesus story and his parables. (Parables seem far less corruptible for the poor than the delicate and perishible qualities of a text. A shrewdand faithful listener to the parables will go long toward understanding the gospel without a reference library to help him, imo.). It has always grabbed me that when John the Baptist asked Jesus if he was the One or not, Jesus answered: "Go back and tell John what you hear and see; the blind see again, and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the dead are raised to life and the Good News is proclaimed to the poor; happy is the man who does not lose faith in me".

  I read but I think about Jesus. I'm "semi-literate)
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  9

  "Conformity"

  by inkling in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i am not presenting this as directly relevant, or with an specific angle on the jw issue, so much as just on it's own merits as a really great take on phenomenon of social conformity:.

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=trniufrso8i&feature=player_embedded.

  "we can be self defeating in our conformity: say we have a group of people holding opinion x. unbeknownst to the group, half of them secretly disagree.

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  not a captive

  Another effect of conformity is thatthe ones who pretend to support the prevailing "belief" undermine its value by their poor support of it in fact.