Posts by bats in the belfry

14

THE SEASON IS NEAR AT HAND!

by justmom in

jw
friends

well ......here we are agian.

april 5th 2012 memorial season.. now, for many many of us here that know and understand what the wtbs really is and...what it isn't, the truth, you may wonder why would anybody want to put themselves out there and actually go the kingdom hall this year ?.

for me and my family who have been disfellowshipped for fourteen years for disagreeing and standing up for the real truth (they called it apaostacy) and my husband partook of the emblems for many years inside as a witness.

bats in the belfry

Feeling so sick: "It turns the stomach not to partake"

In rare cases some unforeseen circumstance, such as illness or travel complications, might prevent a Christian from attending as he or she had planned. What should be done in such a situation?

During the celebration unleavened bread and red wine are passed, and those who have been anointed with God’s holy spirit and chosen for life in heaven partake. (Matthew 26:26-29; Luke 22:28-30) If one who has each year been partaking is this year confined to a sickbed at home or in a hospital, elders of the local congregation will arrange for one of them to take some of the bread and wine to the sick one, discuss appropriate Bible texts on the subject, and serve the emblems. If an anointed Christian is away from his home congregation, he should arrange to go to a congregation in the area where he will be on that date.

In view of this, it would only be under very exceptional circumstances that an anointed Christian would have to celebrate the Lord’s Evening Meal 30 days later (one lunar month), in line with the command at Numbers 9:10, 11 and the example at 2 Chronicles 30:1-3, 15.

Those who are of Jesus’ “other sheep” class, with the hope of everlasting life on a paradise earth, are not under command to partake of the bread and the wine. (John 10:16) It is important to attend the annual celebration, but they do not partake of the emblems. So if one of them is sick or is traveling and thus not with any congregation that evening, he or she could privately read over appropriate scriptures (including the account of Jesus’ instituting the celebration) and pray for Jehovah’s blessing on the event worldwide. But in this case there is no need for any additional arrangement for a meeting or a special Biblical discussion a month later.

w93 2/1 p. 31, Questions From Readers

44

Pioneers Bearing No Fruit

by TOTH in

jw
friends

my father in law's sow has been a pioneer for what...twenty plus years now?

she has yet to see any of her studies progress to baptism.

i know this is an excellent thing but to jw's you would think it would be tragic.

bats in the belfry

Although it is a free gift they are trying to make their salvation more sure. To promote that thinking the following lines were written about carving out that glorious career of pioneering:

Salvation cannot be earned by attendance at meetings or in any other way. It is free, a gift from God. Yet, Jehovah God does require efforts on our part if we are to receive his gift of everlasting life. (Romans 6:23) What are they? For one, vigorous exertion in his service!

w86 1/15 p. 10 par. 2 / Exert Yourselves Vigorously

Endurance and godly devotion work together in helping to make our salvation sure. By displaying these precious qualities, we can carry on faithfully in our sacred service to God. Even when under trial, happiness will be ours as we experience Jehovah’s tender affection and blessing because we have endured and are practicing godly devotion. (James 5:11) Moreover, Jesus himself assures us: “By endurance on your part you will acquire your souls.”—Luke 21:19.

w02 7/15 p. 14 par. 20

7

Need help locating WT quotes aginst private research etc...

by Aussie Oz in

i have spent a bit of time in the wt cd and forum search looking for passages where the wt soc discourages personal research as i have seen a number of references to this on the forum.. i find lots of pro research using the soc publications naturally.

encouraging the r&f to use all the publications etc.... perhaps i am just not using the right search words.

where can i find writings against one spending time with encyclopeadias, the internet and reading the bible alone etc.

bats in the belfry

At the Governing Body We Do the Research So You Don’t Have To.™

7

WT Sunday march 16

by bobld in

i cannot believe how stupid jw are and their reasoning.they miss the point that the lord jesus christ done away with the mosaic law.they live in the o/t of ritualistic practices of worship which is daily sacrifices of killing animals for sins=to wbts practices of going from door to door.that was just a shitty article.. why did the old foggie waste their resources of offering the best fat sheep for their sins.why not obey and not sin,they new the law.i know not to drink and drive so i do not have to pay the price because i obey the law.. and the wt comments like we have make sacrifices and it costs us something for our service to god,ie car,gas effort going from door to door..

bats in the belfry

They are full of ambivalence in their statements. Only a couple of paragraphs earlier in the same chapter of that aforementioned book they say this:

7 Those who argue for continuance of certain features of the Law do not fully appreciate that a righteous standing with God depends, not on one’s works of the Law, but on one’s faith in the value of Jesus’ sacrifice. (Gal. 3:11, 12) They feel that a person must prove himself righteous by such works—something that is impossible for sinful humans. It is, indeed, important to do works in obedience to commands of God and Christ that apply to Christians. (Jas. 2:15-17; Matt. 28:19, 20) These are a means of demonstrating our love and faith, and lack of them would indicate that our faith was dead. But we cannot earn salvation no matter how hard we work. No salvation from sin and death would be possible without the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Thus eternal life is a gift from God through Jesus Christ, an expression of extraordinary undeserved kindness and not payment for our works.—Eph. 2:8, 9; Rom. 3:23, 24; 6:23.

8 When the issue involving application of the Mosaic Law to Gentile Christians was presented to the governing body in Jerusalem in the first century, their decision was in harmony with these facts. They recognized that Jehovah was not requiring Gentile believers to perform works in obedience to the Mosaic Law before holy spirit was poured out on them. The decision of that governing body did list as “necessary things” certain prohibitions that were in harmony with that Law, but these were based on the Bible record concerning events that predated the Law. So there was not an imposing on Gentile Christians of a responsibility to conform to the Mosaic Law or some portion of it but, rather, there was a confirming of standards recognized prior to Moses.—Acts 15:28, 29; compare Genesis 9:3, 4; 34:2-7; 35:2-5.

United in Worship of the Only True God (1984), chap. 19 p. 148, 149

3

Grace vs. Undeserved Kindness

by bats in the belfry in

just doing some research on the wt lib cd - - wow, the balls these people have is just unbearable.. .

is not the new world translation of the christian greek scriptures verbose, for instance, in using catches sight of for sees at 1 john 5:16 and undeserved kindness for grace?j.

s., united states.. .

bats in the belfry

Just doing some research on the WT Lib CD - - wow, the balls these people have is just unbearable.

? Is not the New World Translation of the Christian Greek Scriptures verbose, for instance, in using “catches sight of” for “sees” at 1 John 5:16 and “undeserved kindness” for “grace”?—J. S., United States.

You do not state whether you have studied the koiné Greek of the Bible or not, but, if not, then, because of your unfamiliarity therewith, the way the New World Translation Committee renders some Greek verbs and terms and expressions in English may seem strained to you or verbose. But not so according to one acquainted with the Greek. The Greek verb rendered “catches sight of” in the New World Translation is in a peculiar tense of the Greek language, the aorist, and refers not to a repetition of acts or to a continuing action but to just one instance of the act. The use of the present tense of the verb “see,” namely, “sees,” as in the King James Version, does not bring out accurately the singular meaning of the verb here in the aorist tense, the catching of a person, as you say, red-handed, in the act.

Likewise with the expression “undeserved kindness.” It is simply because people do not understand the meaning of this Scriptural Greek word in its several uses that the New World Translation Committee made the meaning unmistakable by the use of the above expression. In English the word “grace” has fourteen or more different meanings. Which one does it mean, as at John 1:14 (AV), “full of grace and truth”? Does it mean there “gracefulness”? Or “favor”? Or “the grant of temporary immunity”? Or what? The New World Translation leaves no doubt as to the meaning but renders it “undeserved kindness,” in keeping with the context, as, for instance, the succeeding verse 17.

So we appreciate the New World Translation for its attention to detail and its sincere effort to bring out the exact shade of meaning of the original koiné Greek rather than bring out a slipshod translation with an equivocal meaning.

w56 7/1 p. 415

30

is death a transition?

by soft+gentle in

jw
friends

all spritiual views welcome.

i'd also like to know if the bible presents death as a transition and if it does so more than presenting it as a complete end..

bats in the belfry

... from the "conscious" to the "unconscious state", perhaps ? ! ? (Ecclesiastes 9:5)

45

Memorial Invitation official first day today

by OneDayillBeFree in

well it's that time of year again and the invitations to another pointless memorial aka reject jesus party is now in full swing.

even though it's only the first day i'm already more than sick of it!

this is the first year i am fully mentally awake for the memorial season, and honestly i'm so sick of it all!

bats in the belfry

If you have received too many invitations from the sales desk, here is an idea for the afternoon to enjoy with your kids:

16

I saw this on Wiki about the 'dubs and i was surprised by it's accuracy

by wha happened? in

i know people were poo pooing wiki earlier and i agree with some of thr comments, but this article is interesting.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/eschatology_of_jehovah%27s_witnesses.

bats in the belfry

Please:

Do not forget to send the Wikipedia link to all the interested ones.

16

I saw this on Wiki about the 'dubs and i was surprised by it's accuracy

by wha happened? in

i know people were poo pooing wiki earlier and i agree with some of thr comments, but this article is interesting.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/eschatology_of_jehovah%27s_witnesses.

bats in the belfry

"While the Internet is a convenient and quick source of vast amounts of information, our researchers do not rely on blogs or poorly documented Web entries written by unidentified or unqualified persons. For example, Wikipedia, an online encyclopedia, warns that some articles on its own site “contain significant misinformation, unencyclopedic content, or vandalism,” adding that “users need to be aware of this.” Thus, the Writing Department looks to standard reference works, articles written by recognized experts, and books produced by respected publishers."

2011 Yearbook, pp. 9-10

Well, at least Wikipedia as a research tool flags misinformation, deletes inappropriate and derogatory remarks, and is very well cross-referenced. That's more than what I can say about the WTBTS literature, especially when they start self-grandeurizing by 'TRACING ALL THINGS WITH ACCURACY’.

Btw, when doing Wikipedia research the GB puts out a general advisory “to be aware of this” misinformation. So, just as you have seen misinformation in various Awake! and The Watchtower magazines - go ahead, check it out: Eschatology of Jehovah's Witnesses (caveat emptor).

24

WT June 15 on jw.org

by Gayle in

just scanned thru quickly,,same stuff i think mostly,,dan.

chapter 2,, world powers illustrations,,re-statements of 1914 & 607,,. by the time the lords day began.

in 1914,pg 15.

bats in the belfry

Sorry, it is: WT June 15, 2012, page 31 / mea culpa!