Prayers are ascending, nojw.
May all the love shown on this board feel real and present with you in the days ahead -- whatever they bring.
(((((Hugs)))))
outnfree
outnfree
JoinedPosts by outnfree
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24
HELP!!!! Tina & Esse found new lump this morn.
by nojw86 inhi guys, you have so supportive with asking about me, need some air words right now, leaving in ahour for emerg.
prayers laughs anything will do.
regards.....nojw ... forgive any misspelled words just to shaky to type.
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outnfree
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12
Pass the red wine for me
by wasasister intonight, i would have attended the memorial, if my witness daughter had asked me to go.
during the two previous yearly occasions, i was inactive, but i went with her because it seemed to mean a great deal to her.
she has either given up on me, or the event does not mean what it once did to her.. i was thinking about another memorial, one i would rather celebrate.
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outnfree
Beautiful tribute, wasasister!
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outnfree
Both your pics are lovely!
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30
1975 New Info
by AlanF init means that within relatively few years we will witness the fulfillment of the remaining prophecies that have to do with the "time of the end.".
the lead article "the finest work on earth" in the october 1967 km (p. 1) continued the theme of preaching with a sense of urgency:.
the sense of urgency was effective in getting some students to make a decision.
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outnfree
Just wanted to add my thanks, Alan, for a splendid post!
I studied in '72-'73 but somehow didn't catch on that Armageddon was supposed to be THAT close around the corner! I met my husband in '74 and stopped studying for another 10 years, but my sister who was studying DID become disillusioned with the Society during that time. I guess she was still paying attention and grasped the implications.
Before she died in '93 (I had been baptized 4 years)she told me not to put too much faith in the WTS hierarchy, but rather to model my life on Christ and I wouldn't go wrong.
Pity I didn't listen sooner!Thanks again for the enormous amounts of research you do and share
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Interactive timeline of JW history
by Simon insomeone was asking me about my timeline so for those who have not seen it: http://www.jwtruth.com/jwt/timeline.asp
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outnfree
Thanks SO much, Simon. The site is great and will prove useful to many. I didn't know it was there, but see that a great deal of time and effort was put into it. (AS was put into this board.) Thanks again.
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HELL !!!??? NO....
by thinker insomething my wife said to an active relative a while back made me think that the watchtower really missed an opportunity.
she told him "i don't believe it's the truth, and if it is at ammagedon i'll just be dead.
but, at least i'll have enjoyed my life.".
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outnfree
Don't know now if I believe in hell[fire] or not! It's one of the many things I'm reexamining.
However, I have said the same thing as Thinker's Wife, that if Armageddon comes and I'm not making it into the paradise, I'll just be unconsciously rotting away somewhere. At least (I was sure then) I wouldn't be burning in hell for all eternity. (I was a Bible student at the time and had met my husband and abandoned the Society.)
BUT ten years later ... I had my first child (with that wonderful guy I loved more than the Society's rules on dating non-Witnesses). And the Watchtower Society teaches that when the children are little the parents' being believers sanctifies the children. As my husband was never a Witness and only a nominal Catholic, it all fell on me to save my children's lives. After all, a Mom wants the best for her children. Isn't the "best" paradise? So I began studying again and was associated with the Witnesses for the next 15 years or so, baptized 11 years ago, DA'd last month.
So, my contention is that the WTS doesn't really NEED hellfire, to make their adherents fearful -- at least not the married ones with little children. What parent wants to be responsible for their children losing out on everlasting life? Not taking that responsibility seriously could mean a death sentence for one's children according to the Society!
This is the pressure that kept ME in the borg for so long. It's also the reason why my children are (mercifully) able to forgive me for my errors. They know that I did it because I loved them so much I wanted paradise for them. I still do. I just know it's not the WT version and that life outside the org. can be very good indeed.
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Just getting Started..
by Casper inhi everyone........i love this site...!!!.
i just recently found it...and it feels so good to hear.
people talk about things that have been buzzing around in.
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outnfree
..
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16
Obituary Pioneers
by LovesDubs inthings have gotten desperate in the us for the borg.
they lowered the hours required by the pioneers to 70 and there was this little surge in the number of pioneers and yet there was a negative "increase" in this country.
so...desperate times call for desperate measures.
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outnfree
LovesDubs has it pretty straight, actually. Which means not straight at all, of course!
Thanks to Osarsif, I knew exactly where to go to get the article in question for Joelbear. However, it's VERY confusing! (Why didn't I SEE that -- rather than merely 'sense' that -- at the time?!? LOL)
And now, when I try to "import" my research into this message, I cannot get the contents of the clipboard to paste here. So, joelbear, I'm going to e-mail you the info.
For all you others, it basically says:
The parable of the sheep and the goats is all part of the answer to the question "When will this be...?" and that the judgment of sheep and goats is yet future. It will be done by Jesus and his angels after "the Son of Man comes in glory." [My! aren't we getting more and more orthodox!] The sheep, however, are STILL those who are considered righteous and who have supported Jesus' brothers (the FDS). They are sheep because they have consistently, over a period of time, rendered assistance to Christ's brothers. "Such ones who are alive when he comes to judge the nations will be judged as his sheep." Of course, "Noah, Abraham, and other faithful ones count among the 'other sheep' who will inherit life in Paradise under God's Kingdom."
And if you are confused, asking yourself as Paragraph 12 of the study article does: "If the other sheep are now preaching the good news with the anointed and aiding them, why would they ask, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty, and give you something to drink?' (Matthew 25:37)" "There could be various reasons. This is a parable." (NO LIE! I KID YOU NOT! That's what it says!)And who are the goats? Same as always: "Preferring the wicked world, goatlike ones reject the Kingdom message, whether hearing it directly or indirectly (1 John 2:15-17). Of course, in the final analysis, Jesus is the one appointed to render judgment. It is not for us to determine who are sheep and who are goats. -- Mark 2:8, Luke 5:22, John 2:24,25, Romans 14:10-12, 1 Corinthians 4:5."
"What, though, does this fresh understanding of the parable of the sheep and the goats mean for us?"
Well, CERTAINLY NOT a let up in the preaching work!!! : "While the judging as describe in the parable is in the near future, even NOW [emphasis theirs]something vital is taking place. We Christians are engaged in a lifesaving work..." blah, blah, blah!
Seems to me that the writer of the info in Osarsif's post above got it right. The only thing that this "new light" -- oops! -- "fresh understanding" does is to highlight the fact that the WTBTS is another False Prophet, because their understanding of the parable was wrong all along!
But hey! "THERE COULD BE VARIOUS REASONS."
outnfree
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10
Fresh Watchtower *LIE* revealed ;-(
by Focus infirst the 1880 teaching:-.
"the seventh trumpet .. reaches to 1914.. christ entered upon the official work of king in 1878.. but what becomes of the idea of those who now oppose us in these things, that christ does not come into possession of his crown, until after this day of wrath?
will they not be compelled to admit for consistency's sake that the harvest and the treading of the winepress must be located away beyond 1914?
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outnfree
Splendid!
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Obituary Pioneers
by LovesDubs inthings have gotten desperate in the us for the borg.
they lowered the hours required by the pioneers to 70 and there was this little surge in the number of pioneers and yet there was a negative "increase" in this country.
so...desperate times call for desperate measures.
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outnfree
No, joelbear,
>It is no longer considered to be the separating work [.]
Give me a day to find the Watchtower study that clarified this. I believe I actually attended that one, so it must've been prior to November 2000. Basically: no one can read hearts, the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the heavens and Jesus and his angels will do the separating.
I'll look for it and post later.outnfree