Posts by Perry

40

Leave it in Jehovah's Hands - Your thoughts?

by berrygerry in

leave it in jehovah's hands.

is there a more disgusting phrase in jw land?.

the abuse, harms, thefts, suicides, family destruction - leave it in jehovah's hands.. why would anyone with a more than 2 neurons say, "oh that makes sense," we do not need to change or intervene in any way.. sooner or later, god will take of things.. .

Perry

I spent 20 years as an elder (off and on) but after the 1995 "generation" change, forced by the expiration date of the 80 year generation, I began to have very serious doubts, not just the normal jw doubts that all jw's have. I began to question just about everything and especially the many changes regarding 'blood fractions', more 'generation' changes, FDS is now the GB, etc. I was suffering from advanced cognitive dissonance and basically quit attending meetings and no FS at all.

Hi EU2BD,

That November 1995 issue of the WT is what did it for me too. I suffered a lot as a 12 & 13 year old when the end didn't come in '75. It took until I was 23 to trust again. Then at age 32 that generation article came out and so did my anger at the WT for presuming to speak in the name of God so presumptously. I immediatley rented my house out and moved off to get a university education. It was about another 8 years before I could trust God. When I finally did, I realized that really trusting God, apart from religion was totally foreign to me as a being, not just as an x-jw.

This realization came as quite a surprise because I was totally committed to "doing good" according to the watchtower for 8 years. Even though I had left the WT, I was still proud of what I thought was belief in God during my years of whloehearted service. Through a re-reading of the bible, I slowly came to realize that my WT experience was just another of my many rebellions against God and the gifts he had been trying to give me for a long time.

God is good.

24

I just had fun giving a talk!

by OneEyedJoe in

so, unfortunately, i'm still on the tms and had a talk tonight (in front of a co, no less) and the talk was on the subject of adultery.

in the source material there's reference to "spiritual adultery" i.e.

idolotry or when israel had alliances with pagan nations.

Perry

I'm still on the TMS and had a talk tonight (in front of a CO, no less) and the talk was on the subject of adultery.

Ten years after leaving the WT and attending a bible believing church, I have yet to hear a sermon on "Adultery". Why do JW's have to be continually reminded of things that EVERYBODY (even the world in this case) agrees is wrong?

40

Leave it in Jehovah's Hands - Your thoughts?

by berrygerry in

leave it in jehovah's hands.

is there a more disgusting phrase in jw land?.

the abuse, harms, thefts, suicides, family destruction - leave it in jehovah's hands.. why would anyone with a more than 2 neurons say, "oh that makes sense," we do not need to change or intervene in any way.. sooner or later, god will take of things.. .

Perry

Excellent advice if you have made peace with God through the blood of Jesus.

Very bad advice if you have not.

WT Wizard: my experience with God has been the opposite as you fear. 10 years ago I was poor, single at 40 and miserable. After making peace with God and presiding wisely over the gifts he has sent my way. I have a wonderful family, a very profitable business and much more joy and peace in my life. But like I mentioned above, this is really bad advice while we are still God's enemy with only Judgment to look forward to......which we all were as Children of Adam at birth.

26

Parousia (again)

by leaving_quietly in

i noticed this during the wt study on sunday.. 1 cor 15:23: "but each one in his own proper order: christ the firstfruits, afterward those who belong to the christ during his presence.

"the greek word for presence is "parousia", which needs no explanation here as to how wtbts views this word versus the rest of the world.. what i noticed was the striking contradiction made just a few verses later.. 1 cor 15:51,52: "look!

i tell you a sacred secret: we will not all fall asleep in death, but we will all be changed, 52 in a moment, in the blink of an eye, during the last trumpet.

Perry

The sudden "depature" or rapture or 'snaching away" of Christians in not a new teaching. The rapture is taught in the NT and was believed by early Christians:

Ephraim The Syrian

Ephraim (306 AD – 373 AD) was made a deacon in the church in Syria in 338 and later became the bishop of Nisibis. Although he was made a “saint” in the Roman Catholic Church, he was not involved in Catholicism and did not even live in the Roman Empire until the final years of his life. The book Pseudo Ephraim was one of his still existing works. It was called “Pseudo” because of later dispute over authorship. However the book’s one reference to the rapture is very compelling:

In his work, On The Last Times 2, he wrote:

“Why therefore do we not reject every care of earthly actions and prepare ourselves for the meeting of the Lord Christ, so that he may draw us from the confusion, which overwhelms all the world? .....

Or do you not believe unless you see with your eyes? See to it that this sentence be not fulfilled among you of the prophet who declares: “Woe to those who desire to see the day of the Lord!” For all the saints and elect of God are gathered, prior to the tribulation that is to come, and are taken to the Lord lest they see the confusion that is to overwhelm the world because of our sins.

Cyprian
Cyprian (200 AD – 258 AD) – Cyprian was Bishop of the church in Carthage. During his short stint as leader of the church, he guided the flock through intense persecution at the hands of the Roman Empire. In 258 AD after spending seven months of confinement to his home by order of Roman authorities, he was beheaded for his faith. Several of his works still exist today.

In Treatises of Cyprian he wrote in describing the end times Great Tribulation:

“We who see that terrible things have begun, and know that still more terrible things are imminent, may regard it as the greatest advantage to depart from it as quickly as possible. Do you not give God thanks, do you not congratulate yourself, that by an early departure you are taken away, and delivered from the shipwrecks and disasters that are imminent? Let us greet the day which assigns each of us to his own home, which snatches us hence, and sets us free from the snares of the world and restores us to paradise and the kingdom.”

58

Window-washer is the cover of Feb 2015 WT, "How to enjoy your work!" Hahaha!!

by EndofMysteries in

.

after all the jokes and satire on this website about jw's only being able to amount to window washers and house cleaners, the cover page of "how to enjoy your work" showing a window washer and cleaner in the back ground.

i almost wonder if some awakened, still-in, from this site is part of the writing department or illustrations and put that in there as an inside joke for us?.

Perry

Window Washing looks to be a great "stepping stone" type job. Pays many more times than an hourly gig.

Not so much fun when you are 50+ though.

128

900 Top Scientists Sign Statement Skeptical of Macro-Evolution

by Perry in

we are skeptical of claims for the ability of random mutation and natural .

selection to account for the complexity of life.

careful examination of the .

Perry

What exactly do you mean by language in this context Perry ?

You suddenly have a problem with language? You didn't have a problem with a language definition before I asked you about the DNA lanuage code, did you?. Now all of the sudden, you are having a language crisis. Oh dear.

I will go back to ignoring you Cofty. Or, you can man up and answer the question. Or, contrary to thousands of scientific characterizations you can along with Vivane and OTWO simply declare in a state of imagined majesty that DNA is not a code and therefore conclude in your own abyss that the question is not valid and therefore not worthy of your answering. Which is it?

128

900 Top Scientists Sign Statement Skeptical of Macro-Evolution

by Perry in

we are skeptical of claims for the ability of random mutation and natural .

selection to account for the complexity of life.

careful examination of the .

Perry

So Cofty, Where did the DNA code language come from?

118

Christian Pastors ORDERED to Marry Gays or Face JAIL TIME & FINES $$$

by oneyeopen in

o.k just worked out how to start a new post/thread, just came across this and wanted to share with anyone that may be interested.. http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/oct/20/idaho-citys-ordinance-tells-pastors-to-marry-gays-/.

coeur dalene, idaho, city officials have laid down the law to christian pastors within their community, telling them bluntly via an ordinance that if they refuse to marry homosexuals, they will face jail time and fines.. read more: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/oct/20/idaho-citys-ordinance-tells-pastors-to-marry-gays-/#ixzz3ibe4kyvq follow us: @washtimes on twitter.

.

Perry

Western fainess demands that God does his job after we are done here. In fact ANY sense of JUSTICE demands this. Otherwise, there is no justice and there is no God.

While we are here, Christians are mandated to love others not like themselves , and as far as humanely possible, get along with people and love them as we love ourselves.

118

Christian Pastors ORDERED to Marry Gays or Face JAIL TIME & FINES $$$

by oneyeopen in

o.k just worked out how to start a new post/thread, just came across this and wanted to share with anyone that may be interested.. http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/oct/20/idaho-citys-ordinance-tells-pastors-to-marry-gays-/.

coeur dalene, idaho, city officials have laid down the law to christian pastors within their community, telling them bluntly via an ordinance that if they refuse to marry homosexuals, they will face jail time and fines.. read more: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/oct/20/idaho-citys-ordinance-tells-pastors-to-marry-gays-/#ixzz3ibe4kyvq follow us: @washtimes on twitter.

.

Perry

People like MASH will seek to mash anyone in their way unless confonted. They have little sense of fairness and seek destruction. People can no longer take Western notions of fairness for granted.

Vivane,

In Europe churches are starting to being forced to perform same sex unions in a Christian Church.

118

Christian Pastors ORDERED to Marry Gays or Face JAIL TIME & FINES $$$

by oneyeopen in

o.k just worked out how to start a new post/thread, just came across this and wanted to share with anyone that may be interested.. http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/oct/20/idaho-citys-ordinance-tells-pastors-to-marry-gays-/.

coeur dalene, idaho, city officials have laid down the law to christian pastors within their community, telling them bluntly via an ordinance that if they refuse to marry homosexuals, they will face jail time and fines.. read more: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/oct/20/idaho-citys-ordinance-tells-pastors-to-marry-gays-/#ixzz3ibe4kyvq follow us: @washtimes on twitter.

.

Perry

It will be difficult to stop 'singling you out', you see homophobia is not really acceptable behaviour.

MASH,

Your ridicule is all you got. Your ridicule is meaningless, so bring it on. It would not matter one iota if you scream your ridicule at the top of your lungs. It will not stop the fact that homosexuality is condemned by God and that virtually NEVER in the history of the planet has ANY society married such unions. There is no record of even the Sodomites doing such a thing.

I truly have compassion for anyone trapped in sexual sin. But the answer is not coddling them:

"Have you not read, that

He who created them from the beginning made them male and female

, and said, 'For this cause a man shall leave his father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife; and the two shall become one flesh'? Consequently they are no longer two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate." - Jesus

...He condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to destruction by reducing them to ashes, having made them an example to those who would live ungodly lives thereafter.... (2 Peter 2:6)

The position is clear for Christians. It makes no difference what a smaller authority says Christians should or should not do. Christians expect to be singled out for their godliness.

In The Criminalization of Christianity:

The Talmud’s writings reveal that “before the Flood people started to write marriage contracts between men, in other words, homosexual ‘marriage,’ which is more than homosexual activity – it’s giving an official state stamp of approval, a sanctification … of homosexual partnership.”

In fact, he said, “the writings indicated that it wasn’t even so much the ‘straw that broke the camel’s back,’ but that the sin in and of itself is so contrary to why God created the world, so contrary to the order of God’s nature, that God said then and there ‘I have to start all over … to annihilate the world and start from the beginning. …’”

Rabbi Spero went on to say, “Even in ancient Greece they did not write marriage contracts between men. There was homosexuality, and it was wrong, but there was not an official ‘blessed’ policy. … Marriage is ‘sanctification’ (not simply a partnership).” He said to confer the title of sanctification and holiness upon this behavior is “probably one of the greatest sins of all that one does against God’s plan for this world.”

The one time it happened was: “During the days of Noah.” When I first heard this, my mind immediately went to a verse I’ve heard many times but never with such relevance. The verse is found in Matthew 24:37. It reads:

As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.