The Searcher

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Posts by The Searcher

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  38

  "Strong hope enables us to resist apostates and their gangrenous 'empty speeches.'"

  by cedars in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  those obviously aren't my words, they are from the latest study edition of the watchtower (april 15th, 2013) page 11.. .

  it's nice to know that, not only are we "mentally diseased" - we are also now "gangrenous.

  " since the society seems to enjoy using medical terms to insult us, are there any bets what the next published insult will be?

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  The Searcher

  In imitation of past "foretellers of events", I'd like to make some predictions that I feel could be enacted by the "glorious ones", "the serving priesthood on earth", the self-appointed "FDS", aka - the "Governing Body" - "soon"!!

  1. Any brother who repeatedly accesses "apostate" websites and/or repeats information found on such, will face judicial action for doing so.

  2. All copies of the WT CD should be destroyed and only the Watchtower Online Library be used for research. If you do not have access to the WOL, perhaps a loving brother or sister will allow you to share their internet.

  3. In view of the prudent downsizing of the worldwide organization's facilities, we ask every body of elders to consider doing likewise by merging with one or even two nearby congregations, thus utilizing one Kingdom Hall more effectively for everyone's needs. Your co-operation in this will be blessed.

  4. The Bible speaks of "one's surplus offsetting another's deficiency". Considering how God's earthly organisation is being financially penalised because of all those bad pedos, we ask all who can, to pledge as much of their surplus as they can to assist our worldwide preaching work.

  5. To all BOE - With immediate effect, if elders become aware of a brother having committed any criminal act, the Bible counsel at Romans 13:1,2 must be adhered to, and the authorities notified immediately. Do not call the Branch Office for "advice", because no one there is "qualifed" to deal with criminal acts anymore! (OK, this one's never gonna happen!)
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  29

  My Story

  by nolongerconfused in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  well...where do i start.... i was raised in the truth...always knowing that there was nothing better out there besides the wt...however, recently i have a made a determination to not go "anywhere"...in all of my almost 35 years of being part of this "organization" i can honestly say i never read the bible as i do today...my "personal" study of the bible has more meaning today than it ever did...after reading the bible i have found many inconsistencies in the wt organization...i hold no grudges or hard feelings towards anyone in the organization, including the so called governing body...i just believe that human imperfection has taken it's toll on this organization...however, that is no excuse to act as a false prophet or assume things that only belong jehovah and his son...the bible is the truth, and jesus said such truth will set us free...i served as a pioneer all of my youth, and served as a ms...as of today i don't partake in that kind of manmade "service"... i'm truly against monthly time reports, special titles of service, asking for donations, judicial committees, among other things...some people may ask why?...well, none of these things are biblical!...some have told me, well the gb is now the faithful and discreet slave...and i say, as determined by who?...nowhere in my personal reading of the bible does it say that there was or there would ever be a gb...this group of men was self appointed...anything self appointed or self made up is definitely not discreet or faithful...jesus never ever appointed such a group.... a family member of mine passed away 2 years ago...he was never a "witness"...but i did preach to him once in a while so he "knew" about god...he just never wanted to be part of this organization...yet, when he passed away i was told repeatedly by the brothers and resurrection publications that i will see him in paradise... i thought to myself, but jehovah is the only one that determines or says who will resurrect (weather heavenly or earth)...i always thought...we as men are nobody to classify or determine that being part of a certain "organization" is the only way to salvation...jesus never said such thing...yet some may say that jehovah has always used an organization giving an moses and the israelite "organization" as an example...but then i say, well jesus is the end of the old covenant...we don't need an organization to be our mediator between us and the true god...jesus is the only mediator.... i could just say so many other things, but i felt like sharing this with all of you...as i cannot share this with any family members or brothers since i would be considered an apostate...i truly believe god is the only judge and i will hold myself accountable to him and no one else.... thanks for reading.... .

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  The Searcher

  Welcome NLC - as you continue to explore, you will discover other Bible truths which contradict WT teachings, such as "new scrolls".

  They ain't "new", they aint gonna be "wonderful teachings", and they most certainly ain't opened up during the 1000 year reign!!

  I am astounded that after many years, I only last year read the account in Revelation 20:1-12 and discovered the lies told about "new scrolls".

  There are far bigger lies for you to uncover.

  Enjoy your new journey thru the Scriptures, Brother!
• 
  15

  $3 Billion Lawsuit

  by The Searcher in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  could this have any bearing on current changes at brooklyn?.

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  The Searcher

  Could this have any bearing on current changes at Brooklyn?
• 
  86

  Fallacy of Baptism "in Holy Spirit"!

  by The Searcher in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  the following comment taken from the march 1st 2013 watchtower, is nothing new.

  to witnesses the world over it's a basic teaching which even the kids understand; "humans with heavenly prospects have been baptized in water and with holy spirit and are thus spirit-begotten disciples of jesus.

  " (john 3:3, 5) (both at the same time??????).

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  The Searcher

  @BOBCAT

  "Jesus' discussion of being born from water and spirit (John 3) gives no indication that there would be one without the other" - sums it up nicely!

  No two-tier baptism and no two-tier Christians. Unless of course you search for "other sheep" on the Watchtower Library, (in Watchtowers) then it becomes very clear that there are 1st & 2nd Class Christians, with the 2nd Class being ever so grateful to the 1st Class for allowing them to tag along in the glory of the 1st Class!!

  Spiritual groupies???????

  The arrogance and pomposity exhibited is stomach churning!

  Test the inspired expressions!!
• 
  86

  Fallacy of Baptism "in Holy Spirit"!

  by The Searcher in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  the following comment taken from the march 1st 2013 watchtower, is nothing new.

  to witnesses the world over it's a basic teaching which even the kids understand; "humans with heavenly prospects have been baptized in water and with holy spirit and are thus spirit-begotten disciples of jesus.

  " (john 3:3, 5) (both at the same time??????).

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  The Searcher

  The following comment taken from the March 1st 2013 Watchtower, is nothing new. To Witnesses the world over it's a basic teaching which even the kids understand; "Humans with heavenly prospects have been baptized in water and with holy spirit and are thus spirit-begotten disciples of Jesus." (John 3:3, 5) (Both at the same time??????)

  So what? Well, if like me you are an active Witness, ask yourself (or an elder if your foolish enough!) these questions - "After someone's Bible Study got their first baptism - (in water only) - when did their second baptism in the Holy Spirit take place when Jehovah decided they would be a future ruler with Christ?

  In the modern era, those who have claimed to have the heavenly hope, never got "the calling" or the Holy Spirit until several years after their water baptism, and yet virtually everyone in the 1st century received the Holy Spirit when they repented and were baptized in water, just as the apostle Peter stated at Acts 2:38 - "Repent, and let each one of YOU be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for forgiveness of YOUR sins, and YOU will receive the free gift of the holy spirit.

  Quite clearly, (from the Bible evidence) everyone who repents and gets batized, receives the Holy Spirit at their baptism. Nowhere in the Greek Scriptures is there even a suggestion that only heavenly-hopers receive God's Spirit - either at their baptism or later!

  Ephesians 4:5 says that "there is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and one God.." Which part of "one baptism" is hard to understand?

  There would not be two different baptisms for "two classes" or a two-stage baptism for an elite group.

  Test the inspired expressions!
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  2

  Essential For Salvation

  by The Searcher in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i read a post yesterday regarding 'salvation', and it contained a watchtower reference from the 1980s which said that the 'other sheep must not forget' that their salvation is dependent upon their association with god's visible organisation on earth.. i forgot to make a note of the reference, and despite using different search words, i cannot find the watchtower on the cd rom.

  can someone please help me find this particular statement?.

  many thanks for your efforts.

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  The Searcher

  Thanks JWFACTS - these are worthy of noting too, but the quote I saw went straight for the jugular by stating that salvation is dependent on staying close to the Org. So much for ignoring Psalm 146:3!!
• 
  2

  Essential For Salvation

  by The Searcher in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i read a post yesterday regarding 'salvation', and it contained a watchtower reference from the 1980s which said that the 'other sheep must not forget' that their salvation is dependent upon their association with god's visible organisation on earth.. i forgot to make a note of the reference, and despite using different search words, i cannot find the watchtower on the cd rom.

  can someone please help me find this particular statement?.

  many thanks for your efforts.

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• 

  The Searcher

  I read a post yesterday regarding 'salvation', and it contained a Watchtower reference from the 1980s which said that the 'other sheep must not forget' that their salvation is dependent upon their association with God's visible organisation on earth.

  I forgot to make a note of the reference, and despite using different search words, I cannot find the Watchtower on the CD ROM. Can someone please help me find this particular statement?

  Many thanks for your efforts.
• 
  90

  Several Sites Are Down

  by Juan Viejo2 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  in case you have noticed, several websites that are managed and administered by me are down.

  at this moment i do not know specifically why, but my hosting company (secureserver.net) tells me only that it is due to a "copyright infringement.

  " i do not even know which of the 30 some sites might actually have the claimed infringement and so far all i've been told is that there is a claim and that i have to email a certain group and they will get back to me.. i have no idea when these sites will come back on line.

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  The Searcher

  Many thanks Blinders;

  As regards this comment - "the elders should investigate

  every allegation of child sexual abuse" - only a few months ago I was having a discussion with an elder & his wife about the cases of pedophilia in the UK several years ago.

  I looked him in the face and told him that no elder is qualified to deal with or investigate an allegation of sexual assault on anyone, and that the Branch Office workers were also not competent to handle criminal matters. I then said that elders don't need advice from anyone - just help and encourage the victim to report the offence ASAP to the police - they are the experts who will establish the truth of the matter - not elders!!

  His lack of comment, in view of the BOE letter, speaks volumes now!!

  Any elder with an ounce of decency and Christian conscience, should stand down rather than comply with the directives in that letter!
• 
  90

  Several Sites Are Down

  by Juan Viejo2 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  in case you have noticed, several websites that are managed and administered by me are down.

  at this moment i do not know specifically why, but my hosting company (secureserver.net) tells me only that it is due to a "copyright infringement.

  " i do not even know which of the 30 some sites might actually have the claimed infringement and so far all i've been told is that there is a claim and that i have to email a certain group and they will get back to me.. i have no idea when these sites will come back on line.

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  The Searcher

  I downloaded the PDF document containing all the BOE letters from 1981 - 2012 - but the mysterious letter which caused the fertilizer to hit the air-circulating implement is not included for some reason.

  Can someone point me in the right direction, to satisfy my curiosity, but mainly to give me further ammo for future reference?

  Thanks for any help.
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  20

  Is the Trinitarian view point correct based on this passage-Titus 2:13?

  by I_love_Jeff in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  titus 2:13- "while we wait for the blessed hope-the appearing of the glory of our great god and savior, jesus christ, " .

  the part in question lies at the end of the passage "...of our great god and savior, jesus christ,".

  *granville sharp's rule-when you have two nouns, which are not proper names (such as cephas, or paul, or timothy), which are describing a person, and the two nouns are connected by the word "and," and the first noun has the article ("the") while the second does not, *both nouns are referring to the same person.. this, as far as i know, has been an ongoing argument among trinitarians and non trinitarians for a very long time.

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  The Searcher

  I always thought that the Athanasian Creed stated that "the three are co-equal and co-eternal".

  Have I got that wrong - that they are simply of the same "nature", as the angels would be also?