the watchtower has been known for over 130 years as a great scriptural cherry-picker.
they pick out disparate unrelated verses and combine them to support the wackiest of wacky doctrines.. on the other hand there are many scriptures they almost never address, whether because they contradict wt doctrine or because they simply don't have a clue what they mean or how to spin them to the wt advantage.. one of these is revelation 19:1 that mentions a "great crowd" "in heaven.
" the only time it is ever brought up it is dismissed.
Matt 8:
10 When Jesus heard this, he was amazed and said to those who were following him, “Truly I tell you, not even in Israel have I found this kind of faith!
11 I tell you, many will come from east and west and will feast with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven.
Hmmmmmmm.
i recently ran accross this info.
from what i gather the 21st century will be indeed be an interesting time...... if anyone knows anything more.....it would be truly appriciated...... .
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/baktun.
From the Mayans I have spoken with(they're not all dead 'ya know) it simply means the end of one "age" and the beginning of another "age".
The video posted above is a pretty good explanation of what they mean by the 2012 date.
Fascinating stuff when looking into the various beliefs & cultures around the world.
where do we go when we die?.
there are many very confusing concepts about this subject.
about where we go when we die, and no one i've found to date has really set forth a satisying answer to this question; so i thought i might just employ some of the knowledge i've gained from my own thirty year study of the bible.. where actually would be the most sensible place to begin when dealing with this subject?
Dirt, ern, or if fowl play is involved a ditch/sewer hole/marsh/etc.
writing on a potsherd found over a year ago in qeiyafa near the elah valley has been deciphered by professor gershon galil of the university of haifa.
it is said to be the oldest known extant inscription in the hebrew language.
the potsherd was radiocarbon dated to c. 1000 bc which is around the time of king david.
That's because Hebrew & Arabic are based on the ancient Phoenician (Canaanite) writing system.
very recently, a dear one asked me as to where babylon the greats destruction fit into the timetable i posted as to the chronology of events from immediately after the great tribulation to the culmination of the second resurrection.
at the time, i did not know what to answer as i had not considered the matter nor been given any specifics regarding that event.
before i could write that i did not know, however, our lord stopped me and gave me the answer:.
“24Yes, in her was found the blood of prophets and of holy ones and of all those who have been slaughtered on the earth.”
Um, that has been said about Jerusalem
Matt 23: 32 Go ahead, finish what your ancestors started!
33 "You snakes! You poisonous snakes! How can you escape being condemned to hell?
34 I'm sending you prophets, wise men, and teachers of the Scriptures. You will kill and crucify some of them. Others you will whip in your synagogues and persecute from city to city.
35 As a result, you will be held accountable for all the innocent blood of those murdered on earth, from the murder of righteous Abel to that of Zechariah, son of Barachiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.
36 I can guarantee this truth: The people living now will be held accountable for all these things.
37 "Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you kill the prophets and stone to death those sent to you! How often I wanted to gather your children together the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings! But you were not willing!
38 Your house will be abandoned, deserted.
Jerusalem was burned to the ground by the Roman army. All that remains of that ancient and great city is rubble.
this was always one of the main justifications for me in leaving the wt behind.
i was just wondering how many of you have ever reasoned in the same way.. i have often wondered how jesus christ would react if he came back to the earth now and how he would view the organisation who claim to represent his standards?.
would jesus really want to be associated with paedophilia, false prophecies, shunning, the destruction of families, lies, untruths, hypocritical leaders and the lack of love amongst members?.
Probably something like : When the Son of Man returns will he find true religion on the earth?
NOPE!! Everyone (org religion) has their own "spin" on things ... and they all seem to be power hungry money loving pedo freaks.
Probably why it says that individuals will be wisked away to be gathered and not groups.
leon weaver gave a talk here in england recently at the east pennines assembly hall.
he mentioned the 15 july 2010 wt but did not expand on it.
i had never heard of him but found a photo of him in 2003 yearbook and also noted he was mentioned in coc.
Apostacy as described in the Bible is denying that Christ came in the flesh & was the Son of God.
Apostacy as defined by the WBTS is disagreeing with anything they say.
If we went by JW rules, Paul would be labled an apostate for disagreeing with the Jerusalem group over the issue of circumsizing gentiles. How dare he!
JWs are soooooo screwed up. Its best to ignore thier silliness.
ok another poster just went to the two day assembly and i just went to the one day special assembly day sunday.
at both of them it seems there was strong words against getting married.
they had on the stage a group of young men about three of them an older sister who is not that attractive but she is really nice, of course not brother would give her the time of day, and this older brother who is in his 60's and nice but very strange.. they all went on and on and on about not getting married.
Don't think I've ever read anything in the Bible regarding getting married or having chilins in the NS TM
i decided to update my resume and realized that i have to take out a couple of things.
my pioneer school under education and bible instructor under volunteer experience.
i can't believe i actually put those on there and got hired.
I'd leave them in. Most good companies & even corporations like to hire people who have some 'public service' or 'charity' in their backgrounds. It tells them you care about something other than just yourself & you know how to talk to people. Plus it looks good when they decide to do some charity that you know what you are doing and aren't going to behave like a spoiled brat who doesn't wish to get involved in helping out.
And if you can deliver the keynote address at some internal ceremony .... whoo hoo ... they really love you.
I've done it and have gotten every last job I applied for.
i guess you would have to be kind of old school to have met the guy.
i've only met a current gb member before he joined.
he seemed nice.
I met McMillain(sp?) he was kinda odd but he seemed to know I had some special skill they needed and gave me a Bethel app. (Didn't get to go because elder PO's no skilled son got the spot.)
