Posts by Perry

6

I just downloaded the whole AJWRB site into the brains of two 18 year old spanish pioneers

by Shawn10538 in

jw
friends

i just happened to see them walking along a few stops before my bust stop, so i got off early to see if i could catch them.

then i ran into someone i knew, but i still was able to catch up to them.. i told them who i was and that i work with ajwrb.

they of course haven't heard about it, but i invited them to go on and check it out.

Perry

Good work!

43

Is it me or is that ewatchman guy way too negative?

by Inisc in

jw
friends

has everyone heard of him, robert king?.

i occasionally have a look on his site, at times when im not sure what i believe.

i'm sliding towards atheism but i'm not completely sure either way.. the more reading i do of things of a scientific nature, the more i edge towards no god, but i like to analyse both sides of an idea.. anyway, whenever i read anything on kings website, it just seems he is a bit of doomsday cultist himself, i mean he has all these links to conspiracy sites, and all manner of negative scary articles about nuclear war and famine etc.

Perry

He even tried to get in nice with me when he first started his new front. Amazing!

I remember You Know. Really LONG posts. There was also a poster here for a while known as Amazing. You are not suggesting that they were one and the same are you? Maybe I read into this statement wrong.

15

Still confused after all these years,,,

by marriedtoajw in

as you guys can see i don't post as much as i'd like to.

work hours and little family time don't allow me enough time to do it.

as i've stated on some of my previous posts, also under the user name sahara, i still get confused after all of these years being married to a jw.

Perry

I can't get over how little I really knew about this faith and how I allowed my wife's belief in it to over rule all of my natural instincts to do, I don't know, something. I question what I could have done differently to keep her from getting hooked in like the rest of her family.

Others are correct. God divinely appointed you to be the shepherd of your family. There are many VERY important questions that WTism carefully avoids and does not address. Here's a list of a few. Hope it helps.

37

You're Never Good Enough

by Ding in

i've talked with a number of jws who have commented that they feel like failures -- that they're never good enough.. if that resonates with someone reading this post, please realize that you are by no means the only one who feels like that.. in fact, the whole wt system depends on keeping jws feeling that way.

the gb wants you to feel that way.. think about it.

you are always reading or hearing about someone who puts in an extraordinary number of hours in field service or someone who goes out more than you do despite having twice as many challenges and responsibilities.

Perry

Good thread Ding!

Could it be that the problem is with the WT system and not with you?

Could it be that the WT religion is a counterfeit Christianity, that it's legalism, not liberty, that it's anything BUT "life everlasting in freedom of the sons of God"?

Please consider that the key to the Christian life is Jesus Christ and his pardon and forgiveness, NOT some "theocratic organization" with its never-ending demands and guilt-trips.

Amen to that. The Watchtower belief system is a religion without a Savior. Jesus is not the Mediator of the great crowd according to the Watchtower; and Jehovah's Witnesses begrudgingly will admit that they have no part in the New Covenant.

Salvation is BELIEVING in Jesus Christ

Salvation is trusting or believing in, by faith, that Jesus Christ paid for your sins with His blood on the cross of Calvary.

"He that BELIEVETH on the Son hath everlasting life:. . ." John 3:36

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever BELIEVETH in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." John 3:16

We are NOT saved by WORKS

The Bible makes it clear that OUR WORKS has nothing whatsoever to do with our salvation.

We don't receive it by our works — and we don't keep it by our works!

" NOT BY WORKS of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us,. . ." Titus 3:5

"For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: NOT OF WORKS, lest any man should boast." Ephesians 2:8,9

Salvation is a FREE GIFT

Salvation is the free gift of God. If we had to work to keep it — it would not be a free gift — and God would be a liar!

". . . the GIFT of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." Romans 6:23

". . .by the righteousness of one THE FREE GIFT came upon all men unto justification of life." Romans 5:18

Salvation is a NEW BIRTH.

Salvation is not enduring or a process, but an event in time. Salvation is a NEW BIRTH. Just as your first birth happened on a certain time and day, so does the second birth.

"(For he saith, I have heard thee in a TIME accepted, and in THE DAY OF SALVATION have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted TIME; behold, now is THE DAY OF SALVATION.)" 2 Corinthians 6:2

"Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be BORN AGAIN, he cannot see the kingdom of God." John 3:3

"Being BORN AGAIN, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever." 1 Peter 1:23

You become a CHILD OF GOD

Once you are born again SPIRITUALLY — you become a child of God.

"Beloved, NOW are we the SONS OF GOD, . . ." 1 John 3:2

"For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of ADOPTION, whereby we cry, Abba, FATHER." Romans 8:15

Nothing can SEPARATE us from our Father

Just as nothing can "negate" your physical birth, nothing can "negate" your spiritual birth.

My children will always be my children. We may have troubled times. Our fellowship may be broken, but our relationship can never be broken. They will always be my children. Nothing or nobody can change that!And once you are born again spiritually — God becomes your Father — nothing or nobody can change that! Your fellowship may be broken, but your relationship can never be broken!

"For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, SHALL BE ABLE TO SEPARATE US from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 8:38

"My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand." John 10:29

Jesus will NEVER leave us

Jesus promised He will never leave us. Jesus could not say this if there was even a chance of losing our salvation.

". . .for he hath said, I WILL NEVER LEAVE THEE, nor forsake thee." Hebrews 13:5

". . . and, lo, I am with you ALWAY, even unto the end of the world. Amen." Matthew 28:20

We already HAVE eternal life

When the Bible speaks of possessing eternal life, it speaks in the present tense (hath, have, etc.) — SOMETHING WE ALREADY HAVE! If we had to work or endure to keep our salvation, this could not be true.

"He that believeth on the Son HATH EVERLASTING LIFE:.. ." John 3:36

"These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that YE HAVE ETERNAL LIFE,. . ." 1 John 5:13

"Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, HATH EVERLASTING LIFE,. . ." John 5:24

Jesus will NOT cast you out

". . . him that cometh to me I WILL IN NO WISE CAST OUT." John 6:37

We are COMPLETE in Jesus Christ

"And ye are COMPLETE IN HIM, which is the head of all principality and power:" Colossians 2:10

We are PERFECTED FOR EVER

We are "perfected for ever" by Jesus Christ. How could the Lord say such a bold statement if we had to earn or keep our salvation?

"By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ ONCE FOR ALL. . . For by one offering he hath PERFECTED FOR EVER them that are sanctified." Hebrews 10:10,14

We are PRESERVED in Christ Jesus

"Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, to them that are sanctified by God the Father, and PRESERVED IN JESUS CHRIST, and called:" Jude 1

"And THE LORD. . . WILL PRESERVE ME unto his heavenly kingdom:. . ." 2 Timothy 4:18

We are KEPT by the POWER of God

"Who are KEPT BY THE POWER OF GOD through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time." 1 Peter 1:5

"Now unto him that is able TO KEEP YOU from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy," Jude 24

We are saved to the UTTERMOST

"Wherefore he is able also to save them to the UTTERMOST that come unto God by him,. . ." Hebrews 7:25

We are SEALED until the day of redemption

"And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby YE ARE SEALED unto the day of redemption." Ephesians 4:30

". . .after that ye believed, YE WERE SEALED with that holy Spirit of promise," Ephesians 1:13

What about the BACKSLIDER?

What about the "backslider" or somebody that forsakes the Lord? The Bible says he will suffer loss (rewards, etc.) — but he himself shall be saved!

"For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is. If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: BUT HE HIMSELF SHALL BE SAVED; yet so as by fire." 1 Corinthians 3:11-15

We become the BODY OF CHRIST

"For we are MEMBERS OF HIS BODY, of his flesh, and of his bones." Ephesians 5:30

"Now ye are the BODY OF CHRIST, and members in particular." 1 Corinthians 12:18

What if we later — BELIEVE NOT?

Our salvation is so secure — even if we BELIEVE NOT after we're saved, because we become part of Him (the body of Christ), ". . .yet he abideth faithful: HE CANNOT DENY HIMSELF."

"If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: HE CANNOT DENY HIMSELF." 2 Timothy 2:13

But what if I sin an awful sin?

1 Corinthians 5 reports of an awful sin in the church. And even though Paul commands ". . . To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh" — Paul still speaks of that person being saved — ". . .that the spirit MAY BE SAVED. . ."

"It is reported commonly that there is fornication among you, and such fornication as is not so much as named among the Gentiles, that one should have his father's wife. . .To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit MAY BE SAVED in the day of the Lord Jesus." 1 Corinthians 5:1,5

To lose your salvation — makes God a LIAR

With all the PROMISES from God to KEEP you, to SAVE you, to PRESERVE you — to even suggest you could lose your salvation — is to call God a LIAR!
". . .he that BELIEVETH NOT GOD hath made him a LIAR; . . ." 1 John 5:10

Why do people doubt their salvation?

They trust in feelings rather than the word of God.

"He that trusteth in his own heart is a fool:. . ." Proverbs 28:26
They are confused by the simplicity of salvation.

"But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, so your minds should be corrupted from THE SIMPLICITY that is in Christ." 2 Corinthians 11:3
They trust in tradition or church teachings rather than the word of God.

"Making the word of God of none effect through your TRADITION,. . ." Mark 7:13
They trust in their own righteousness.

". . . and all OUR RIGHTEOUSNESSES are as filthy rags;. . ." Isaiah 64:6
They misapply and misunderstand scriptures.

They misapply scriptures such as Matthew 24:13, Hebrews 10:26 to the church age of grace, when they doctrinally apply to the tribulation or the millenium.
They have NEVER been saved.

"Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven;. . ." Matthew 7:21

Christianity isn't about joining some church. It is about throwing in your lot with the Lord Jesus Christ who rose from the dead and is alive forevermore. I may at times be unfaithful, but the Lord is ALWAYS faithful. He's a good shepherd.

23

The Shunning - New Movie

by 00DAD in

have any of you seen the recent movie, the shunning?

it was written by beverly lewis and directed by michael landon, jr. .

here's the storyline: .

Perry

We'll watch it tonight ...thanks for the tip!

186

Questions From Thinkers

by Perry in

how do you explain david's graphic portrayal of jesus' death by crucifixion (psalm 22) 1000 years before christ lived?.

how do you account for the odds (1 in 10 to the 157th power) that even just 48 (of 300) old testament prophecies were fulfilled in jesus christ?.

in what sense was jesus a "good man" if he was lying in his claim to be god?.

Perry

Flat Accent

If there is no God, how do we explain human longings and desire for the transcendent? How do we even explain human questions for meaning and purpose, or inner thoughts like, why do I feel unfulfilled or empty? Why do certain experiences deliver shuch short term satisfction? Where does my conscience come from? Why can't I live up to my conscience; if indeed it is my "self" doing the willing? Why I tell myself, "I will not lie" and then I go on to lie, is it my "self" that is in control or the sin that dwells in me? What can prevent or get rid of this phenomena?

Why do we hunger for the spiritual, and how do we explain these longings if nothing exists beyond the material world?

Why don’t we see more atheists like Jean Paul Sartre, or Friedrich Nietzsche, or Michel Foucault? These three philosophers, who also embraced atheism, recognized that in the absence of God, there was no transcendent meaning beyond one’s own self-interests, pleasures, or tastes. The crisis of atheistic meaninglessness is depicted in Sartre’s book Nausea.

What can explain why some make absurd claims like "no evidence" when presented with any evidence (the telelogical, cosmological, ontological and moral arguments?). Why must some obfuscate the facts they are presented with ludicious questions like "what facts?" or "are you serious?"

Is atheism meaninglessness epitomized when deconstructed as simply narcissitic behavior?

9

Religion's simple recipe for authoritarian and absolute CONTROL of the "dumb sheeple"

by Fernando in

the bible is god's infallible word.we are god's only and infallible representatives.

we are always right no matter how wrong we are.thinking for a minute about the outcome achieved using these premises, they simply can't be true and reflective of god's intent with the bible, and the reality of the bible's current content and condition..

Perry

I can go right into Genesis, and not three full chapters in I realize that Jehovah is trying to enslave mankind by withholding the right to make decisions, and Satan is my Savior (not Jesus)

WT Wizard,

Do you now have or have had any children? Parents tell their children things to do and not do all the time BECAUSE THEY LOVE THEM. It matters not one whit whether or not the small child understands the reasoning behind such statements like "don't listen to strangers".

Explain why this practice is OK for humans, but not for God in your view.

Furthermore, Satan makes a poor father. He wants all the glory as God, but none of the responsibility that accompanies such a position. You will die and your satanic "savior" has no power over death. Jesus conqueored the grave. Death has no hold on him. He possesses the title deed to LIFE and offers it freely to "whosoever believes" .

Belief is a choice. Our first parents chose not to believe and sin and death ensued. God has made a legal provision so that the very action that delivered an inheritance that we didn't ask for, is the very same action that gives us an inheritance that we don't deserve. John 6

28 Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God?
29 Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.

186

Questions From Thinkers

by Perry in

how do you explain david's graphic portrayal of jesus' death by crucifixion (psalm 22) 1000 years before christ lived?.

how do you account for the odds (1 in 10 to the 157th power) that even just 48 (of 300) old testament prophecies were fulfilled in jesus christ?.

in what sense was jesus a "good man" if he was lying in his claim to be god?.

Perry

26

Who has "reverted back to apostate [Christian] doctrines"

by biometrics in

if you were a jehovah's witness have you "reverted right back to the apostate doctrines that commentaries by christendom"?.

"from time to time, there have arisen from among the ranks of jehovah's people those who, like the original satan, have adopted an independent, faultfinding attitude...they say that it is sufficient to read the bible exclusively, either alone or in small groups at home.

but, strangely, through such 'bible reading,' they have reverted right back to the apostate doctrines that commentaries by christendom's clergy were teaching 100 years ago...".

Perry

Not Calvary Chapel..... just a little home-based ministry to JW's and Mormons by two Christians. Everyone goes to different churches but ALL have the Lord in common. This is unity not uniformity.

21

Psychopaths, atheists and agnostics

by Fernando in

a naughty attention grabbing heading i admit - i'm sorry, just couldn't resist.

obviously we all know atheists and agnostics have nothing in common with psychopaths.

in fact i would hold that atheists and agnostics generally have better functioning consciences than religionists.

Perry

Great Topic Fernando.

I think there is a soulish conscience and an intellectual or bodily conscience. Since man is constituted of both, they both have this feature. God puts the conscience in the soul. This is what people mean when they say something like, "deep down he really knows that is wrong".

Generally, I believe we are born with a soulish conscience and the other one is learned.