Punkofnice
William Barclay is one of my go to writers. His "book of Acts" commentary was one of the finest accounts I ever read.
LostintheFog1999
JoinedPosts by LostintheFog1999
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Love - the Identifying Mark of Real Christians?
by LostintheFog1999 inthe jws are fond of quoting john 13:35 that love is the identifying mark of the true religion claiming that only they have this love among themselves.
they love each other.. i was reading the gospel of luke today and thought about the words of jesus luke 6:32-35 niv, “if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you?
even sinners love those who love them.
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Love - the Identifying Mark of Real Christians?
by LostintheFog1999 inthe jws are fond of quoting john 13:35 that love is the identifying mark of the true religion claiming that only they have this love among themselves.
they love each other.. i was reading the gospel of luke today and thought about the words of jesus luke 6:32-35 niv, “if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you?
even sinners love those who love them.
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LostintheFog1999
The JWs are fond of quoting John 13:35 that love is the identifying mark of the true religion claiming that only they have this love among themselves. They love each other.
I was reading the gospel of Luke today and thought about the words of Jesus Luke 6:32-35 NIV, “If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do that."
It made me think what is so special then about this mark of love in John 13:34, 35? Big deal, Jesus says in Luke, everyone - good, bad, or indifferent - all show love to each other.
So I looked at some church commentaries and settled on this one as an explanation - "Maybe the primary way to live out the meaning of John 13:34-35 is to SERVE. If we want our love to be visible then we have to serve people. We have to place others over ourselves. If Christians stay centered on themselves and their own needs they will leave Jesus behind. They will miss out on the incredible life that God has and will fail to make any meaningful impact. The heart of the Gospel centers around service.
If you want to live out this verse seek ways you can serve the people around you. It doesn’t have to be something huge; often small gestures make big impacts. In a world that is increasingly self-centered a selfless people will stand out."
Now that makes sense to me. And it is a million miles away from the restricted JW thinking of only loving the people inside your religion. I mean, come on that isn't about service.
Service is things like - feeding the hungry, helping the homeless with warm clothes and hot food, helping people who have to choose whether they can afford to heat their homes, telling people about the gospel of Jesus, etc. Service is about practical christianity in action. That sort of love DOES identify Christ's followers. People we can see busy in the community helping their neighbours and strangers without the proviso that they must study books before they're going to be offered any meagre help.
It clearly isn't pointing towards the insular selfish witnesses who center everything around themselves only... and have clearly left Jesus behind.
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Sunday January 15 is my 76th birthday. I answer some of your questions.
by Terry inhappy birthday 2 me!!.
sunday is my 76th birthday and i know that you want to know how it "feels" to have outlived my usefulness, to have lost my natural beauty (being reduced to wrinkles and flab), and constantly walking into a room not knowing why i'm there.
you also are curious as to how i can continue to find a reason to live since none of my kids think my opinions have any possible value, most of my facebooks friends i wouldn't recognize if i tripped over them on my way into starbucks, and my monthly expenditure on bird treats exceeds u.s. spending on the military.
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LostintheFog1999
Hi Terry
Happy birthday to you.
You make a difference and the world is better for you being in it. Keep feeding the birds.
LitF99.
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"Beyond the Wound" - Healing from Religious Trauma.
by LostintheFog1999 inthe symptoms of religious trauma are similar to those suffered by people who have lived in a war zone or in abusive environments.
beyond the wound is a new online conference on religious trauma that begins sunday (jan. 15).
including, but not limited to, jehovah's witnesses.. https://religionnews.com/2023/01/12/religious-trauma-conference-beyond-the-wound-equips-survivors-for-recovery/.
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LostintheFog1999
The symptoms of religious trauma are similar to those suffered by people who have lived in a war zone or in abusive environments. Beyond the Wound is a new online conference on religious trauma that begins Sunday (Jan. 15). Including, but not limited to, Jehovah's Witnesses.
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News Report about CSA.
by LostintheFog1999 inhttps://www.lowellsun.com/2023/01/09/editorial-jehovahs-witnesses-abuse-scandal-is-a-reminder-to-end-cover-up-culture/.
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Serena Williams allegedly baptized this weekend
by neat blue dog in.
not sure if this is fake news or not..
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LostintheFog1999
So where's the photographs of all the other people who were baptized at the JW pool?
I mean we read in James about not showing favouritism to the wealthy people over the poor ones.
Not that I ever saw evidence of it in our previous congregation since those with the riches and lifestyle seemed to get congregation positions bestowed upon them a lot faster than the hardworking blue collar folk.
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bringing up the 1954 Walsh Trial
by enoughisenough ini went back into this forum a little ways and found quite a bit of discussion on the walsh (1954) for those newly out or those who don't know of what i write, you should really check it out.
anyone who is a jw or studying with jw should see material from this trial.
my take away...the printed materials of the wtbts were to believed over the bible and if you didn't believe the wt teachings over the bible, ( even though they admit to false prophesy )you would be disfellowshipped and deserving of death.
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LostintheFog1999
If this post from enoughisenough has piqued your interest and you want to know more, you can find the full 800+ page transcript of the Walsh Trial here online.
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Somehow I think nobody read the memo!
by LostintheFog1999 ini came across an old notebook of mine when we were spring cleaning our attic space.. for some reason i had written down these two references from older wt magazines.. reading over the two of them now i can only think that elders didn't pay any attention to the message either at the time or since.
*** w75 8/1 p. 474 par.
14 elders presiding in a fine way ***.
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LostintheFog1999
I came across an old notebook of mine when we were spring cleaning our attic space.
For some reason I had written down these two references from older WT magazines.
Reading over the two of them now I can only think that elders didn't pay any attention to the message either at the time or since.
*** w75 8/1 p. 474 par. 14 Elders Presiding in a Fine Way ***
"14 All the elders should appreciate their position in relation to the other brothers and sisters in the congregation.
They are not spiritual bosses or spiritual policemen. They do not have to pry into the lives of other members of the congregation or concern themselves with the personal problems of every brother and sister."
*** w66 9/1 p. 539 A Provision for Spiritual Help in Times of Need ***
"It is important for those in the congregation to appreciate why this congregation committee exists. These men should not be viewed as spiritual policemen to be feared. True, the overseer and the two other brothers on the committee watch out for the spiritual welfare of the sheeplike ones in their care, but they are to do so as loving shepherds, tenderly, and not in an arbitrary and dictatorial manner. They are not bosses, but are servants."
Chance would be a fine thing! Especially the 1966 quote about judicial committees not being like spiritual policemen. It's ironic seeing words like "tenderly" in the same paragraph.
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Why Do JW`s still use the Name Jehovah ,when they admitted in the Aid Book that it is not the correct pronunciation of his name ?
by smiddy3 inisn`t that an admittion that they don`t have the "truth" ?
about god ?.
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LostintheFog1999
I read an interesting book about the sacred name of God. A bit long winded in places but I thought the arguments against the English language name Jehovah were sound. Especially with chapter 10. Here's a link to the free book on Issu:
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Have you ever been on a congregation picnic?
by LostintheFog1999 inwere you ever on a congregation picnic?
i was on several occasions.. the arrangements were often announced from the platform after the closing song and prayer by the last elder up on the platform.. sometimes it was included in the service meeting announcements as "on saturday we're meeting at 10.00am at the kingdom hall for field service, and after field service for anyone who wishes, especially for the younger ones, we will be having a congregation picnic meeting at the beach carpark on seaview road.".
well, according to the new elders manual you won't be hearing those words again.
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LostintheFog1999
Were you ever on a congregation picnic? I was on several occasions.
The arrangements were often announced from the platform after the closing song and prayer by the last elder up on the platform.
Sometimes it was included in the Service Meeting Announcements as "on Saturday we're meeting at 10.00am at the Kingdom Hall for Field Service, and after Field Service for anyone who wishes, especially for the younger ones, we will be having a congregation picnic meeting at the beach carpark on Seaview Road."
Well, according to the new Elders Manual you won't be hearing those words again. Lol.