Londo111

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Posts by Londo111

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  40

  To my fellow believers

  by PSacramento in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  will you take responsibility for yourself?

  will you give yourself to our lord?.

  or will you follow man?.

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  Londo111

  I meant 'James notes', not 'James not'. Human imperfect at work again!
• 
  40

  To my fellow believers

  by PSacramento in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  will you take responsibility for yourself?

  will you give yourself to our lord?.

  or will you follow man?.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Londo111

  AGuest,

  I agree that Christ is the ultimate image of God, as the preexistent Logos, as the perfect man Jesus, as the risen Savior.

  But in harmony with what Chalam said about Genesis 9:6, James 3:9 says, "With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God."

  James not the conundrum that our imperfect human nature produces. When certain humans committed atrocities such as the Holocaust, the Inquisition, and the Crusades, they were yielding toward their imperfect, fallen nature. Even so, many humans display divine qualities, otherwise they wouldn't be redeemable.
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  19

  Does being a JW and having a felony up your value in the kingdom hall?

  by 2tone in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  maybe this has been previously been discussed.

  in my area in the us.

  it seems that jw men that are felons or have served time seem to have more value.

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  Londo111

  Oops. On the above post I meant conscientious not contentious.
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  19

  Does being a JW and having a felony up your value in the kingdom hall?

  by 2tone in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  maybe this has been previously been discussed.

  in my area in the us.

  it seems that jw men that are felons or have served time seem to have more value.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
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  Londo111

  Out of curiosity, what is the crime-de-jour that seems most attractive?

  My apologies to all the ladies as to what I am about to say...

  But from what I've observed, many JW females are very shallow and judgemental--especially if they are pioneers. My mother loves the "bad boy", got engaged to one, and married another. To be fair, neither were ex-cons--but they are "bad" in there own way. She still to this day hates nerds, which is ironic, since that is what she produced (me). From having observed my best friends search for a mate, there were few more contentious or spiritual then he, the available JW females were never satisfied. Typical attitudes were, "Oh so you are a servant who puts 15 to 20 hours of service in a month, gives great talks--why aren't you an elder? Why aren't you a pioneer? Why aren't you going to Bethel?"

  It reminds me of what Jesus said, " With whom shall I compare this generation? It is like young children sitting in the marketplaces who cry out to their playmates, saying, ‘We played the flute for YOU , but YOU did not dance; we wailed, but YOU did not beat yourselves in grief.’"
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  18

  Analysis of the Book of Daniel

  by Londo111 in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  i had hoped one or two others were about to start a thread on the book of daniel, springing off from the nwt conversation, but alas, nobody has yet.

  therefore, i thought i'd start one--i hope that was not too presumptuous of me.

  personally, i have nothing meaty to contribute to this thread, only questions and gut feelings.

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  Londo111

  Leolaia,

  I'm sure I speak for some people here, but it would really be interesting to see the results of your research. Even though you are not done with what you have, it might work out for the best, since releasing it piecemeal would be best for digestion.
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  23

  Do You Agree That Being A JW=Never Growing To Your Full Potential?

  by minimus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  soooo many witnesses that i knew of had great potential to be somebody, to do something in their lives and instead, they simply existed in a way of life that never really ever gave them back anything in return.

  so sad, when you think of the waste!.

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  Londo111

  I agree--especially for those of us who are Born Ins.

  Many put thier life on hold, because somebody told them that the "due time has approached" and the only way to survive was loyalty toward a group of men, which was the equivalent to loyalty toward God. I believe that Christianity is about living the best way of life now, both for one's neighbor and oneself, and leaving eternal rewards for when they come.

  Some have walked away from the love of their life because they were "worldly" and forced to attempt to settle with those incompatible with them on so many levels.
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  40

  To my fellow believers

  by PSacramento in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  will you take responsibility for yourself?

  will you give yourself to our lord?.

  or will you follow man?.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Londo111

  Designs,

  I am sorry. I didn't mean to offend. I might be wrong about this, but I have heard there were two schools of Pharisees, one legalistic, the other liberal, so much so that some have speculated Jesus may have been of the latter.

  The cycle of Legalism is certainly not confined to the Pharisees, but was reborn with the rise of the Christian Hierarchy that reached its zeenith in the Catholic Church, and once again reborn in Protestants traditions, such as the Puritans. Later, it was reborn in the WTS and other Fundamentalists. As they said on Battlestar Galactica, "All this has happened before. All of it will happen again." The same cycle gets reborn, because the same human condition persists.

  It is not to say there are not decent people among the Pharisees, Catholics, Puritans, Witnesses, ect...but often the emergent organizational system does not allow them to flourish.

  Again, my apologies. I hope what I said didn't make things worse.
• 
  40

  To my fellow believers

  by PSacramento in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  will you take responsibility for yourself?

  will you give yourself to our lord?.

  or will you follow man?.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Londo111

  Regardless of my own personal salvation, this is my prayer for my fellowman, no matter what path of belief or unbelief they follow, that when the time of judgment comes, "During the agitation, to show mercy may you remember."--Habakkuk 3:2.

  The Pharisees were insistent on purity, doctrinal and otherwise. They judged anybody who did not conform as worthy of everlasting punishment. In this regard: 'Jesus said to them: “If YOU were blind, YOU would have no sin. But now YOU say, ‘We see.’ YOUR sin remains.”'--John 8:41.

  In regard to knowledge, Luke 12:47-48 says, "Then that slave that understood the will of his master but did not get ready or do in line with his will will be beaten with many strokes. But the one that did not understand and so did things deserving of strokes will be beaten with few."

  And for those outside the Judeo-Christian framework, Romans 2:15, 16 says, "They are the very ones who demonstrate the matter of the law to be written in their hearts, while their conscience is bearing witness with them and, between their own thoughts, they are being accused or even excused. This will be in the day when God through Christ Jesus judges the secret things of mankind, according to the good news I declare."

  I know many will disagree and I could well be wrong about a few things here. But I am done with dogma. I am weary of trying to reconcile a God who is love with an Angry Tyrant who will destroy (or Torture) anyone eternally who does not conform to one line of thought and practice.

  If we are human, then we are in the image of God, and therefore, I believe we should be able to look within, and discern that God is reasonable, fair, merciful, not a Pharisaical stickler. If we would show understanding to those who we feel are blind, or at least, believe differently, how much more so would God?
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  18

  Marginal Notes in the 'Shepherd the Flock of God'

  by Londo111 in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  elders of the jeroboam/conscious class, .

  it is my understanding, correct me if i am wrong, that during the km school, the instructors have elders write notes in the margins of the shepherd book, notes that legal does not want in print, and perhaps by extension, extra tidbits they don't want leaked to the public and/or average witness.. .

  can you share some of these from the latest km school?.

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  Londo111

  In retrospect, I wish I had recorded mine. But I was a believer then. The Judicial and Appeal process help fix that.
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  18

  Analysis of the Book of Daniel

  by Londo111 in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  i had hoped one or two others were about to start a thread on the book of daniel, springing off from the nwt conversation, but alas, nobody has yet.

  therefore, i thought i'd start one--i hope that was not too presumptuous of me.

  personally, i have nothing meaty to contribute to this thread, only questions and gut feelings.

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  Londo111

  I had hoped one or two others were about to start a thread on the book of Daniel, springing off from the NWT conversation, but alas, nobody has yet. Therefore, I thought I'd start one--I hope that was not too presumptuous of me.

  Personally, I have nothing meaty to contribute to this thread, only questions and gut feelings. When I was a Witness, this book of the Bible, above all others, seemed to be the central well of Witness doctrine. I think the Seven Gentile Times teaching has been thoroughly debunked in the analysis of when Jerusalem fell. And it now seems that the Witness starting point for the 70 weeks, namely 455 BCE, is completely off and there is no valid way around the evidence.

  Of course, the question becomes whether the book of Daniel was written by Daniel, or during the Maccabean revolt or even the Hasmonean civil war. For the last few months, my gut has been leaning toward the later, but I will endeavor to keep an open mind.

  In regard to the 70 weeks, some of the explanations make sense to me…yet I have never heard a fully satisfactory interpretation that has leapt at me. For instance, that the Word went forth to rebuild Jerusalem in 587 BCE with Jeremiah, as well that the 7 weeks or 49 years culminate in the coming of a Messiah, that being Cyrus, make sense. But the ending point doesn't quite feel right. Of course, there are other explanations.

  Since the Gospels have Jesus quoting Daniel, if the prophetic parts of Daniel were written in the time of the Maccabees or later, then that calls parts of the Gospels into question, unless we hold that the Maccabean or Hasmonean writer was partly inspired. Of course, many will hold to the possibility of the Gospels being called into question quite empathically because of this. Nevertheless, I feel the evidence should be examined, and the truth of the matter be followed, no matter where that leads.

  I am done with dogma…whether religious or anti-religious and every other shade of dogma there is. Therefore, it is my hope that a fair, open discussion can be had here, without it descending into a verbal fights and character assaults.