@Jamie
Heart breaking
fader here - last meeting was in autumn 2005. lurker on this site and others.
not one to get all controversial.. typical situation, pretty much a born in and left the church at age 38 and never looked back.. i'm 53 now, parents getting older - late 70s but very active, dad is still an elder.. parents, in laws, brother and brother-in-law still uber active jws.. my family (wife and 2 adult children) out since 2005.. we have stayed close to our parents - we have treaded religion lightly and have had a pretty good relationship and have kept our personal lives and beliefs/opinions separated from them.
this was intentional - as we love them and do not want anything to cause shunning since they are getting older and want to be there for them and we respect their beliefs.. got this letter today.
@Jamie
Heart breaking
please share this question.
why is he spiritual israel not innumerable?.
the literal seed of abraham was innumerable (heb 11:12; gen 22:17; 1ki 4:20).
Waton,
I am somewhat confused by your post.
I agree with you that the 144,000 are an innumerable company...but not that the WTS considers them as having an earthly hope.
fader here - last meeting was in autumn 2005. lurker on this site and others.
not one to get all controversial.. typical situation, pretty much a born in and left the church at age 38 and never looked back.. i'm 53 now, parents getting older - late 70s but very active, dad is still an elder.. parents, in laws, brother and brother-in-law still uber active jws.. my family (wife and 2 adult children) out since 2005.. we have stayed close to our parents - we have treaded religion lightly and have had a pretty good relationship and have kept our personal lives and beliefs/opinions separated from them.
this was intentional - as we love them and do not want anything to cause shunning since they are getting older and want to be there for them and we respect their beliefs.. got this letter today.
Your parents are obeying the dictates of the Faithful and Wise Servant. Association with you will violate Jehovah's instruction and therefore compromise their chances of surviving Armageddon.
They will be permitted to stop shunning you only when you crawl back to Jehovah. Any chance for you to be accepted by your parents before that happens is nil unless, of course, they see what they don't want to see...that their religion is a sham.
My advice is to stand strong and honor their decision to shun you. Your strong stand to avoid contact with them as requested may help them to eventually see the real problem. There is never a reason to beg for acceptance or love or pity. Commit theirs and your situation to God and be strong until they are ready to come to you.
please share this question.
why is he spiritual israel not innumerable?.
the literal seed of abraham was innumerable (heb 11:12; gen 22:17; 1ki 4:20).
Yes, 2 different scenes; one earthly and one heavenly. John hears the perfect number and then turns and sees the actual group.
The hearing and then seeing sequencing is a common literary device used by John to display images in Revelation. For example, John hears the roar of a lion, then turns to see a Lamb.
so proud of this counter that i made!.
very simple yet shows the estimated amount of people that are living that are from the generation of 1914, defined as "all the people who were alive, even just barely being born, when ww1 started".. here's what i assumed:.
10% of the 1.7 billion people alive in 1914 were infants, just children.
"Which makes Jesus and his preaching new kingdom fictional mythology,"
Depends really....on whether or not Mathew 24: 1-35 was fulfilled within the lifetime of Christ's contemporaries ....which is my understanding btw.
so proud of this counter that i made!.
very simple yet shows the estimated amount of people that are living that are from the generation of 1914, defined as "all the people who were alive, even just barely being born, when ww1 started".. here's what i assumed:.
10% of the 1.7 billion people alive in 1914 were infants, just children.
To the original poster.
Don't you think that Jesus was talking about a thriving generation that surely would not pass away?
Even the WTS gave up.un the 1914 generation fulfilling Christ's prophecy.
please share this question.
why is he spiritual israel not innumerable?.
the literal seed of abraham was innumerable (heb 11:12; gen 22:17; 1ki 4:20).
Why do you believe that the 144,000 and the great crowd are not the same group?
fader here - last meeting was in autumn 2005. lurker on this site and others.
not one to get all controversial.. typical situation, pretty much a born in and left the church at age 38 and never looked back.. i'm 53 now, parents getting older - late 70s but very active, dad is still an elder.. parents, in laws, brother and brother-in-law still uber active jws.. my family (wife and 2 adult children) out since 2005.. we have stayed close to our parents - we have treaded religion lightly and have had a pretty good relationship and have kept our personal lives and beliefs/opinions separated from them.
this was intentional - as we love them and do not want anything to cause shunning since they are getting older and want to be there for them and we respect their beliefs.. got this letter today.
My advice is that you accept your parent's decision and do not respond. Let them keep wondering about your reaction since you are supposed to be dead to them anyway.
Just wait until urgent family business requires your involvement and then show them what unconditional love looks like.
Meanwhile if you have faith continue to pray God's blessing on them to come to their senses.
i have started this, then restarted it, and it still sucks to even write this out - but my younger sister passed away unexpectedly last saturday (on my birthday).
i am going through all the grieving emotions, but there is more to the story that i could never and would never talk about to anyone that didn't understand the jw rhetoric.
so...here i am.. my sister has had borderline personality disorder (bpd) for as long as i can remember.
Babygirl
Sorry for your loss and ongoing struggle with your feelings. It may help to remind yourself that it was not your fault that you had virtually no relationship with your sister for the last ten years.
Feelings come and go; they are not necessarily what love is made of. If your sister were still alive and willing, would you still cherish the possibility of a having a good relationship with her? If so, that is love, whether you feel great emotion over her passing or not.
Yes...the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses is unique in that every doctrine that is unique to the religion is extra-biblical.