Posts by Perry

28

Part of Growing Up - Saying Goodbye to Invisible Friends?

by doubtfull1799 in

i don’t remember having any invisible friends when i was a really little boy, i don’t know if such a thing actually exists, i’ve only ever seen it in movies?

of course it might have looked to others like i was talking to someone on occasions, but i’m sure it would have just been me talking to myself.

the thing is though, i got introduced to an invisible friend in my pre-teens, and i kept the relationship going well into adulthood.

Perry

For me, the jury is still out on that one. I am struggling to accept that a creator wants to be found and wants a relationship with individuals when he makes it so hard to find him and when so many organisations use mistruth, manipulation and deceit

God is easily found. You find him at the end of yourself. In Mt. 25: 26 & 27 Jesus offered everyone a deal. People have free will to accept or reject. Very easy to understand.

As far as organizations using manipulation; why blame God for that? Free will allows for this, otherwise how would you know people had free will?

And I find there to be no difference. I have experienced just as many successes and failures, rewards and setbacks, commendations and complaints as I did before. And what I have learned is that THE ONLY PERSON these experiences were dependent on was MYSELF!

The bible is clear that God has NOTHING TO DO with those that are not in Christ. Because we as JW's rejected Christ (the new covenant), we might as well have been Hindu or whatever.

Romans 8 : 9 "if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his"

Just sayin' that we didn't give God much of a chance by rejecting his Son, so prayers were definitely impeded by our disobedience as JW's,, not to mention our idolatry in reckoning the Wt as "the truth" the sole channel of communication, Ark of Salvation etc. etc., etc.... and other heretical boasting... ad nauseum.

The worthlessness of our prayers as JWs is powerful testimony.

50

Pharaoh tries to kill all male babies - later Moses orders the very same thing!

by George One Time in

so many things that i just discoved about the bible.. .

so from the book my book of bible stories, we all know how little moses was saved from a cruel pharaoh.

of course the king of egypt was afraid that those cute little babies would endanger his empire eventually.

Perry

Here's a well reasoned treatment of the subject.

This action/atrocity by the Midianites is an intensely sordid and depressing tale, of greater scale than even that of Sodom and Gomorrah, and of greater anti-Hebrew malice and calculating treachery than even that of the Amalekites…The removal of this exact sub-culture (without impacting the Moabites or the rest of the Midianites—for good or ill), while mercifully sparing a very large number of innocent young girls, yet without sparing the guilty Israelites, seems neither cruel nor unfair nor unwarranted, given the horrendously dehumanizing character of this crime, and given the unavoidable consequences of conflict upon children in the ancient world…

Article

29

Stephen Lett looks like a crazed maniac in the March JW broadcast

by jambon1 in

jw
friends

are people taking this man seriously?

.

he looks genuinely mentally ill. .

Perry

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9R5xDf61-8I

28

Part of Growing Up - Saying Goodbye to Invisible Friends?

by doubtfull1799 in

i don’t remember having any invisible friends when i was a really little boy, i don’t know if such a thing actually exists, i’ve only ever seen it in movies?

of course it might have looked to others like i was talking to someone on occasions, but i’m sure it would have just been me talking to myself.

the thing is though, i got introduced to an invisible friend in my pre-teens, and i kept the relationship going well into adulthood.

Perry

Good question!

Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness.

As JW's, we did not believe God, but stubbornly clung to our families and man-made (WT) idols instead of believing God.

Abraham on the other hand left his family and his fathers' idols and believed that God had a plan for him when he was asked to separate himself from both of those and go to a different land.

It makes no difference as to the historical timing of Jesus sacrifice for the payment of the death penalty on each of our behalf, because without believing God, we wont accept it.

Had Abraham been alive after Jesus death, he would have believed God when he told him to "eat" and "drink" for the forgiveness of sins.

We all here disbelieved God in regards to his instructions concerning the forgiveness of our sins and refused the New Covenant, and hence could not be friends with God.

Belief is a prerequisite for friendship/obedience.

12

Idea and system of belief

by S K Ditta in

by way of a general question: can a system of belief outlive the disintegration of its core ideas?

how and why??.

urge you to reflect, and post freely.. your thoughts are appreciated without bias..

Perry

Some people state in their corporate bylaws or articles of incorporation, that if and when certain core ideals of the association are no longer adhered to, that the organization should be disbanded.

Otherwise, the system outlives it purpose.

28

Part of Growing Up - Saying Goodbye to Invisible Friends?

by doubtfull1799 in

i don’t remember having any invisible friends when i was a really little boy, i don’t know if such a thing actually exists, i’ve only ever seen it in movies?

of course it might have looked to others like i was talking to someone on occasions, but i’m sure it would have just been me talking to myself.

the thing is though, i got introduced to an invisible friend in my pre-teens, and i kept the relationship going well into adulthood.

Perry

If you think that you had an imaginary friendship with God as a JW, you are right. .

For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement.

Outside of the New Covenant (the one we were denied access to) there is no friendship with God, real or imagined.

he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink it, all of you;
For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.
- Mt 25:26 & 27

22

A major misadventure!

by Bungi Bill in

jw
friends

hi, everyone.. i haven't posted here much in quite a while, but having just been laid low by injury, i'll likely be a frequent visitor for some time to come!.

two weeks ago, i was involved in a workplace accident that left me with my lower l.h.

leg fractured in three places (the tibia and fibular both broken clean through, plus another crack in the "neck" of the fibular for good measure!

Perry

Oh dear! Well, looking forward to your contributions here.

Maybe time to watch Bob Ross episodes on Netflix and do those paintings many always wanted to do?

Speedy healing!

11

Scriptures that now have such a different meaning?!

by stuckinarut2 in

it struck me that so many of the scriptures that the society uses to condemn others, can actually apply to them!.

when we read them without the application that the society enforces, they can make you have that "ah-ha!

" moment.... for instance, how about:.

Perry

As a kid, I remember a lot of porch signs that read NO PEDDLERS.

"for we are not peddlers of the word of God as many men are"

There: That should clear up any confusion. Says right there that we are not like those other guys.

102

Any atheists here? Have you come to terms with your new reality?

by kpop in

jw
friends

alone, without my safety net of "god" being there to remember me when i die.

after much consideration, examining science, history and using logic, i have come to the conclusion that there is no "god" at least certainly no loving, personal "god.

" shortly before my final conclusion was reached, i read an excerpt from an expression attributed to marcus aurelius, .

Perry

The dead experience nothing therefore they don't lose anything. Death doesn't harm the dead.

That is what the WT taught us. But it is not biblical.

Rev. 6 - I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held: And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth? And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellowservants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled.

Clearly death doesn't mean annihilation of consciousness like the WT teaches. From the above verse, you can deduce that souls have their original identity (mind), have emotion, & memories.

The definition of death isn't non-existence. It means that the soul and body are separated when the body "sleeps" or stops functioning. That is the biblical definition of death.

The greatest hope of atheists, which they have no empirical data to support: is that when they die, their consciousness will stop. It is a vain, unfounded hope.

Unfortunately, they fail to realize that this was never part of the original design. We were created in the image of an eternal God, that we might fellowship with him forever.

Without Jesus, they will experience eternal separation from God, their second greatest wish.... that is until they actually get what they want. But, then it is too late. Eternal, conscious loneliness (outer darkness.) And, that is a best case scenario. Other scriptures suggest much worse, forever.

Can you definitively prove that:

There is the bible, there are millions of NDE and Terminal Lucidity cases that suggest this. And, I have personal experience that leaves no doubt for me that the soul absolutely can function without the body.

102

Any atheists here? Have you come to terms with your new reality?

by kpop in

jw
friends

alone, without my safety net of "god" being there to remember me when i die.

after much consideration, examining science, history and using logic, i have come to the conclusion that there is no "god" at least certainly no loving, personal "god.

" shortly before my final conclusion was reached, i read an excerpt from an expression attributed to marcus aurelius, .

Perry

kpop,

Are you sure that when you die - nothing?

After studying this topic for many years, I am convinced that the greatest threat to my well-being isn't death, cults, atheists, political parties, or taxes etc. The greatest threat to me is: unending consciousness after death.

Imagine eternity, alone, bored, separated from anything that might be considered "good". God is good. No heat, no laughter, no human touch, no cool water, no art, no beauty, no love; just barren nothingness... experiencing only yourself for eternity.

My mother recently died. Because I am so brazen as to enter into Christian belief apart from the Watchtower, my father and elder brothers didn't even call me while she was in hospice. (Previously, this wasn't a problem when one needed to borrow some money)

When I found out a month later, by only the sheer power of the Holy Spirit was I able to calmly sit down with my father and get the details of what happened....without so much as feeling the slightest bit of anger with him. (plenty of anger at other times, that's for sure).

Because of this, I was able to hear the bone-chilling story of my mother's demise. My mother's soul was in deep distress before her passing. The doctors had her drugged up with double the amount necessary to knock someone out. Yet, she would "break out" of her listlessness at times and scream out.. "I don't wan't to die!"

She would "break through" at other times and yell out other fears shortly before her death. She was experiencing what is know as "terminal lucidity". It is quite common for patients to be completely coherent shortly before death.... even if their brain has been destroyed from Alzheimers, cancer and the like.

How can someone be lucid when their brain is all eaten up with cancer, Alzheimer etc? This is powerful evidence of the existence of the soul (mind) that survives the demise of the body.

This is consistent with what the bible says. We were made in the image of an eternal God. So, in order for us to enjoy him forever, the soul is eternal.... even in the case of the body being destroyed.

Just do a search on - TERMINAL LUCIDITY

You'll find all kinds of data on this.