Maze

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Posts by Maze

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  93

  Undercover apostates...

  by Maze in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i've observed some forum users here that claim to be active witnesses (even claims to be ministerial servants or elders) while duplicitously supporting apostates online.

  my contention is this; why attend meetings and/or participate in the preaching activity when the second you divulge your apostate thinking into the congregation, you'll be disfellowshipped?

  while this action taken may seem to be harsh, the outworking of events wouldn't be much different in one of christendom's churches.

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  Maze

  I've observed some forum users here that claim to be active Witnesses (even claims to be ministerial servants or elders) while duplicitously supporting apostates online. My contention is this; Why attend meetings and/or participate in the preaching activity when the second you divulge your apostate thinking into the congregation, you'll be disfellowshipped? While this action taken may seem to be harsh, the outworking of events wouldn't be much different in one of Christendom's Churches. If I used a Catholic Church as a platform to proselytize I'd quickly be shown the door and asked to leave. That's why cathedrals, synagogues and mosques are not a part of Jehovah's Witnesses service territory.
  
  With a few exceptions, it's been my experience in 30 years being associated with the Christian congregation, that if a person is not in the Truth for the right reasons, they're not there at all.
  
  He that is not on my side is against me, and he that does not gather with me scatters. Matthew 12:30
  
  The only conclusion to be reached is “undercover apostate” stories are cooked up on the internet for what reason, I don't know. Maybe someone could explain...
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  125

  JWs Not Allowed to Post on Websites?

  by StandFirm in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  this seems to be a favorite topic to bring up to any witnesses who post on any website where there are any opposers, either here or topix or anywhere.. so, here is the one and only place i will be discussing it.

  who can prove that witnesses are specifically told not to post on websites about them?.

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  Maze

  A person can make honorable mention about what the Bible and Watchtower Society states about bad association.
  
  Do not be misled. Bad associations spoil useful habits. (1 Corinthians 15:33)
  
  A person cannot however point this at one of Jehovah's Witnesses like a loaded gun without inadvertently bringing adverse judgment on themselves considering what the Bible (Hebrews 10:26-31; 6:4-8) and the Watchtower Society (Watchtower 08/15/1969 pp. 511-512) says about apostasy.
  
  Besides, all one of Jehovah's Witnesses would have to do to right a wrong is sign off an inappropriate website and never sign back on again or view any associated material.
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  125

  JWs Not Allowed to Post on Websites?

  by StandFirm in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  this seems to be a favorite topic to bring up to any witnesses who post on any website where there are any opposers, either here or topix or anywhere.. so, here is the one and only place i will be discussing it.

  who can prove that witnesses are specifically told not to post on websites about them?.

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  Maze

  Admonishment means a Warning.....Not advice..

  Geezus..

  Is there no end of WBT$ Supporters who can`t read a Dictionary?..

  .................. ...OUTLAW

  http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/Admonishment+

  1. to caution, advise, or counsel against something.
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  125

  JWs Not Allowed to Post on Websites?

  by StandFirm in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  this seems to be a favorite topic to bring up to any witnesses who post on any website where there are any opposers, either here or topix or anywhere.. so, here is the one and only place i will be discussing it.

  who can prove that witnesses are specifically told not to post on websites about them?.

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  Maze

  The Watchtower's Society's admonishment about the internet is simply advice. It is not a sin to communicate on anonymous internet forums.
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  16

  Is this or is it not CANNY DUPLICITY?? "prophets"??

  by Terry in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  you will notice that the watchtower likes to enclose the word prophet in quotation marks when they talk about themselves.. .

  this is canny duplicity!.

  "prophet ".

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  Maze

  Really? I'm unaware of that. May I ask your source on that?

  William Miller’s Prophetic Dream: The Scattering and Gathering of Adventism (pdf)
  
  The interpretation of William Miller's dream as quoted in the early writings of Ellen G. White:

  God sent His angel to move upon the heart of a farmer who had not believed the Bible, to lead him to search the prophecies. Angels of God repeatedly visited that chosen one, to guide his mind and open to his understanding prophecies which had ever been dark to God’s people. The commencement of the chain of truth was given to him, and he was led on to search for link after link, until he looked with wonder and admiration upon the Word of God. He saw there a perfect chain of truth. That Word which he had regarded as uninspired now opened before his vision in its beauty and glory. ... He regarded the sacred Word of God with joy and with the deepest respect and awe. The Great Controversy, Page 229
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  63

  How Many of Them Do You Know About?

  by clarity in

  1. watchtower
  2. child-abuse

  after flipper's thread about the wt child abuse cases, i started to think about how many children i know of personally who have been sexually abused by a jw!.

  as someone who is not especially 'in the know', it's amazing that i do know five of them.

  one who was a small baby, at the time!.

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  Maze

  The elders report to the local authorities if there's a mandatory reporting law requiring them to do so, or if they believe a child's welfare is at stake. Even if a congregation member is repentant and there's a mandatory reporting law, the elders still report it.
  
  w97 1/1 p. 29 Let Us Abhor What Is Wicked
  
  Depending on the law of the land where he lives, the molester may well have to serve a prison term or face other sanctions from the State. The congregation will not protect him from this. Moreover, the man has revealed a serious weakness that henceforth will have to be taken into account. If he seems to be repentant, he will be encouraged to make spiritual progress, share in the field service, even have parts in the Theocratic Ministry School and nonteaching parts in the Service Meeting. This does not mean, though, that he will qualify to serve in a position of responsibility in the congregation.

  ---

  In 30 years, I know of one instance where there was a pedophile in the Christian congregation. He was unrepentant and was abusing his own children. When the elders acquired knowledge of the dangerous man they immediately contacted the local authorities. The man's children were placed in the Christian congregation instead of being placed in the foster care system. The male pedophile was incarcerated and imprisoned. To those that buy into the idea that demographically, there's a higher number of pedophiles in Jehovah's Organization in comparison with other demographics, what are these statistics based on?

  As a comparative example:
  
  http://www.wsws.org/articles/2002/mar2002/chur-m29.shtml
  
  The crisis over sexual abuse by members of the priesthood underscores the profoundly reactionary and anachronistic character of the Catholic Church as an institution. Its corrupt and hypocritical officials, living like kings, preach against sin and vice, oppose birth control and abortion, inveigh against homosexuality, enthusiastically advocate censorship and intellectual repression, universally ally themselves with the powers that be and generally make life miserable for tens of millions of people.
  
  There are a host of questions bound up with the abnormal psychology often found in the priesthood that are beyond the scope of this article.
  
  Every aspect of the sexual abuse crisis—the pain and suffering of the victims, the misery and sexual dysfunction of the priests, the callousness of Church officials—suggests a diseased institution whose practices and beliefs run counter to elementary human needs and inevitably breed the unhealthiest of psycho-sexual climates. The Catholic Church’s essential being flies in the face of modern society.
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  16

  Is this or is it not CANNY DUPLICITY?? "prophets"??

  by Terry in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  you will notice that the watchtower likes to enclose the word prophet in quotation marks when they talk about themselves.. .

  this is canny duplicity!.

  "prophet ".

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  Maze

  A prophet is a person who is bestowed with a supernatural ability. For example, the apostle John was a visionary. A visionary is a man who had visions from God regarding concealed or future matters. The Hebrew word for “visionary” is cho·zeh′, from cha·zah′, meaning “behold; vision.” Cha·zah′ and its derivatives are employed with reference to seeing visions. John recorded what he saw in the Bible book of Revelation (A Revelation to John).
  
  William Miller of the Seventh-day Adventist Church claimed a prophetic dream from God bestowed him with the power of prophecy in the same manner recorded in Daniel 2:29-45 where the Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar received a dream vision from God as interpreted by Daniel. Daniel himself had a dream from God in which he beheld four huge beasts coming up out of the sea, these creatures representing human governments. (Da 7:1, 3, 17)
  
  The Governing Body, nor the associated faithful and discreet slave has ever claimed the supernatural ability of prophecy in the same manner as faithful men of old.
  
  "Our own views are not prophecy, but interpretations of the holy prophets of old." (Watch Tower, October 1890, page 8)
  
  Prophecy may be an inspired moral teaching, an expression of a divine command or judgment, or a declaration of something to come. Prediction, or foretelling, is not the basic thought conveyed by the root verbs in the original languages (Heb., na·va'′; Gr., pro·phe·teu′o); yet it forms an outstanding feature of Bible prophecy.
  
  The hysteria about Jehovah's Witnesses and false prophecy is directly related to Armageddon. Opposers of Jehovah's Witnesses believe Armageddon is a false prophecy. With this in mind, what you're really doing is condemning the holy prophets of old, not Jehovah's Witnesses.
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  11

  Man's Indefinite Domain

  by Maze in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  the purpose is that you may walk in the way of good people and that the paths of the righteous ones you may keep.

  for the upright are the ones that will reside in the earth, and the blameless are the ones that will be left over in it.

  as regards the wicked, they will be cut off from the very earth; and as for the treacherous, they will be torn away from it.

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  Maze

  I think it is important to understand that when cherry picking scriptures for getting the proper exegesis of them you must place them within the context of when they were written.

  Contextual apparatus: I can only come to grips with two when interpreting the Bible.

  1. The thinking and social environment of the Bible writer. All Scripture is inspired of God and beneficial for teaching, for reproving, for setting things straight, for disciplining in righteousness, that the man of God may be fully competent, completely equipped for every good work. (2 Timothy 3:16-17) The means or agency for the inspiration of “all Scripture” was God’s holy spirit, or active force. That holy spirit operated toward or upon men to move them and guide them in setting down God’s message.
  
  2. There's also context in associated scriptures to consider. There are more than 125,000 marginal (cross) references in the New World Translation. These citations demonstrate that there is at least a second witness to almost every Biblical matter. A careful comparison of the marginal references and an examination of the accompanying footnotes will reveal the interlocking harmony of the 66 Bible books, proving that they comprise one book, inspired by God.
  
  

  And of course this would not be complete without prayer and asking God to supply you with Holy Spirit in your understanding.

  
  
  A person cannot receive God's Spirit outside of Jehovah's Organization.
  
  

  In short those verses are not in any way linked to a paradise kingdom government.

  
  
  How can you say these verses are not in any way linked to a “paradise kingdom government?”
  
  And he laid his right hand upon me and said: “Do not be fearful. I am the First and the Last, and the living one; and I became dead, but, look! I am living forever and ever, and I have the keys of death and of Ha′des. Revelation 1:17-18
  
  And he went on to say: “Jesus, remember me when you get into your kingdom.” And he said to him: “Truly I tell you today, You will be with me in Paradise.” Luke 23:42-43
  
  “And in the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be brought to ruin. And the kingdom itself will not be passed on to any other people. It will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms, and it itself will stand to times indefinite; forasmuch as you beheld that out of the mountain a stone was cut not by hands, and [that] it crushed the iron, the copper, the molded clay, the silver and the gold. The grand God himself has made known to the king what is to occur after this. And the dream is reliable, and the interpretation of it is trustworthy.” Daniel 2:44-45
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  11

  Man's Indefinite Domain

  by Maze in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  the purpose is that you may walk in the way of good people and that the paths of the righteous ones you may keep.

  for the upright are the ones that will reside in the earth, and the blameless are the ones that will be left over in it.

  as regards the wicked, they will be cut off from the very earth; and as for the treacherous, they will be torn away from it.

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  Maze

  The purpose is that you may walk in the way of good people and that the paths of the righteous ones you may keep. For the upright are the ones that will reside in the earth, and the blameless are the ones that will be left over in it. As regards the wicked, they will be cut off from the very earth; and as for the treacherous, they will be torn away from it. Proverbs 2:20-22
  
  http://niv.scripturetext.com/proverbs/2.htm
  
  Thus you will walk in the ways of good men and keep to the paths of the righteous. For the upright will live in the land, and the blameless will remain in it; but the wicked will be cut off from the land, and the unfaithful will be torn from it. Proverbs 2:20-22

  The righteous themselves will possess the earth, And they will reside forever upon it. Psalm 37:29

  http://niv.scripturetext.com/psalms/37.htm
  
  The righteous will inherit the land and dwell in it forever. Psalm 37:29
  
  There are many other scriptures that use the word “land” or "earth" in identifying man's indefinite domain. The writing of Proverbs was completed in 717 B.C.E. This was long before the fundamental scientific understanding of the earth as a spherical planetary body in a solar system of nine planets. Some translations aside from the New World Translation use the word “earth” instead of “land.”
  
  http://kjv.us/proverbs/2.htm
  http://kingjbible.com/proverbs/2.htm
  http://drb.scripturetext.com/proverbs/2.htm
  http://websterbible.com/proverbs/2.htm
  http://yltbible.com/proverbs/2.htm
  There's only one organization that teaches humanity will reside indefinitely in their natural habitat (the earth). How should Proverbs 2:20-22 and other scriptures that specify the earth (or land) as man's eternal home instead of a supernatural dimension like "heaven" be understood?
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  151

  Introducing Myself

  by StandFirm in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  hello to jwn!

  this is standfirm.

  i mainly post on the topix jehovah's witness forum, but i decided to give it a try over here also.

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  Maze

  Welcome Standfirm. With a second witness to Biblical matters, now I can remain mild-tempered and lowly in mind.
  
  “Happy are the mild-tempered ones, since they will inherit the earth. Matthew 5:5