It is not "NO baptism NO drivers license". It was just an illustration to show that if a person is old enough to be responsible to drive a car, they are also old enough to think about their responsibility towards God. But in the end it's THEIR decision as Morris says, it is a PERSONAL relationship with God and a dedication to God symbolized by baptism and isn't "because the parents say so" or anyone else for that matter.
Nitty-Gritty
JoinedPosts by Nitty-Gritty
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Need advice
by Darkknight757 inhi.i've been pouring over this site for the past few days looking for some advice and i hope there is someone here that can help a guy out.
i'm desperate.....short bio: i came into the organization after high school and shortly after married a wonderful girl who was born-in.we have been happily married now for nearly 20 years and things were well until 2015 hit.
by the way, i currently serve as an elder and have the ""privilege"" of being the "watchtower overseer".. either here nor there, we were told we would never have children but late last year my wife became prego!!
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The Bible can help JWs to stop judging homosexuals. Try this method.
by DATA-DOG ini ask, "did god cause evil?
god did it!
whether they answer with #1 or #2, you've got them.
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Nitty-Gritty
@Data-Dog
You are right ,most JWs are not homophobic. And from my experience many accept that it is part of imperfection, i.e. nature or nature/nurture combo. So I don't really see why you need to try that argument with them because as you say, as with any other imperfection, God is allowing it. The imperfection that is. How a person acts on it is what matters to God. As for judging people who live that life style, it is up to God to judge them. However when a JW unrepentantly practices that life style, they will be disfellowshipped, just like a person who practices any other lifestyle condemned by God, as per 1 Cor 6:9.
I know you are alluding to the GB being homophobic, in reference perhaps to the infamous "tight pants" remark. But whatever the case may be, no WT literature nor the website gives that impression. This from the website "the Bibles answer": ....."While the Bible disapproves of homosexual acts, it does not condone hatred of homosexuals or homophobia. Instead, Christians are directed to “respect everyone.”—1 Peter 2:17, Good News Translation. Can a person be born homosexual?The Bible doesn’t comment directly on the biology of homosexual desires, though it acknowledges that we are all born with a tendency to go against what God commands. (Romans 7:21-25) Rather than focus on the cause of homosexual desires, however, the Bible prohibits homosexual acts". etc..
http://www.jw.org/en/bible-teachings/questions/bible-about-homosexuality/#?insight[search_id]=e10b2506-96bb-45f8-8155-6df95d7d2769&insight[search_result_index]=0
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You? Armchair Activist Wanted - Looking to form a Team of Letter Writers/Researchers
by mrmagic inare you interested?
looking for a team of armchair activists;.
purpose: to connect everybody to everybody and to get them to connect the big picture about wtbs which is that it is suspected that watchtower has a child pedophile/child porn ring within it.
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Nitty-Gritty
Yeah, it gets worse when you zoom in! -
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You? Armchair Activist Wanted - Looking to form a Team of Letter Writers/Researchers
by mrmagic inare you interested?
looking for a team of armchair activists;.
purpose: to connect everybody to everybody and to get them to connect the big picture about wtbs which is that it is suspected that watchtower has a child pedophile/child porn ring within it.
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Nitty-Gritty
"Everywhere we go we are surrounded by child sexual predators".
Apparently there are 298 child sexual predators living within a mile radius of my zip code! Just great!
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Nitty-Gritty
Oh and P.S. you are very unlikely going to have congregants say from the Catholic church calling the commission to say they were abused by one of their parents are you? -
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Nitty-Gritty
@ possum, what does that tell you? Institutional abuse is where the "leaders" abuse the "lay" children, as in elders abuse children who are not their own. Incest on the other hand is in the family. Much much harder to deal with as the family itself, including the victimized children find it much harder to disclose, and do so much later in life. Also, it is very common that the wives or children may not want to report to the police. (this is the case of people who are not JWs). It is much harder for elders to "control" what goes on in the privacy of family life, and just because a family claims to be JW by name, does not automatically mean they are JW in deeds. In contrast in other religious institutions child molestation involving the congregants is never dealt with, child molestation is only dealt with at the level of pastors and priests. The fact that the numbers of child molesters in the RC involved anyone who crossed the paths of JWs made the numbers large. Only a small percentage were elders or min servants, hence not so much a case of "institutional" abuse. -
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London Bethelites Are Agitated!
by The Searcher ina source has informed me that a relative who's in london bethel has said that a number of bethelites there are very uncomfortable and embarrassed because the branch has received "quite a few letters" querying why members of the governing body were wearing flashy rings and jewellery on some of the monthly broadcasts, but on the broadcast when the g.b.
asked for more money from the congregations - their gold and jewellery was not on display!.
will probably emerge one day wearing sackcloth, begging for yet more donations..
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Nitty-Gritty
That's ridiculous, some ware more "bling" than others. Anthony Morris is the bling wearer, and he was still wearing his tie pin, two signet rings and a "gold" watch in the broadcasts following the one "asking" for more money. True, when Stephen Lett presented the "asking for money video" he lost his pinkie ring, but he still had his "gold" watch". .In any case, I would not consider wearing rings, tie pins, cuff links and a watch as a display of wealth, that's just silly. -
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Where's this going? American soldiers call on Jehovah
by fulltimestudent inthe song is 'days of elijah,' and the bit i'm referring to is about half way through, as they sing, "there is no god like jehovah":.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hjz_ilp9c5a.
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Nitty-Gritty
You guys are funny, first you say God’s name is not Jehovah and that the JWs have got it all wrong. Then when the Marines sing it you say “see JWs aren’t the only ones who use it” (JWs never said they were, but they’re the only ones who use it consistently). Whatever the situation, you are able to turn it around to bode negatively for JWs. But that goes for everyone and everything. Whatever truth there is, someone somewhere will dispute it. That’s called opinion. But that does not mean there is no truth.
We must be careful that opinion does not crowd out the truth.
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NWT is soooo inaccurate....
by iwasblind inhi this is for the lurkers.. please start reading from another translation and use tools like www.biblehub.com to verify the differences you find.. biblehub has an interlinear and a strongs concordance and heaps of dictionaries and commentaries.. you don't have to be a translator but you can clearly see how the watchtower bible and tract society has changed the bible to devalue jesus, to support their idea of a paradise earth hope for christians and many other false doctrines.. i could never understand why the jw's where attacked when they chose to translate the bible - now i know.. seriously people, there are a lot smarter people than me on this forum and heaps of research.
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don't be afraid of the truth!.
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Nitty-Gritty
@jhine
You don't know if the apostles didn't include Jehovah or equivalent in their wrings as the original manuscripts no longer exist. Apostasy crept into the christian congregation pretty soon after the last of them died and by the 3th century the teaching of the trinity was in full swing. The oldest known NT manuscripts are about 150 years after the last of the Apostles died. These do not have the divine name in them. In fact apparently there are no existing NT manuscripts with the divine name, not even where quotes are made from the OT where the name does appear, which is very strange. This is the reason why some scholars such as prof. George Howard believe that the divine name WAS included in the original writings of the apostles, because when you are quoting a scripture (from the OT) where the divine name obviously appeared (as in the dead sea scrolls) then the same name should appear in your quote otherwise it wouldn't be a quote. Another scholar ( Prof. Wolfgang Feneberg) makes a logical observation "He [Jesus] did not withhold his father's name YHWH from us, but he entrusted us with it. It is otherwise inexplicable why the first petition of the Lord's Prayer should read: 'May your name be sanctified!.........in pre-Christian manuscripts for Greek-speaking Jews, God's name was not paraphrased with kýrios [Lord], but was written in the tetragram form in Hebrew or archaic Hebrew characters. . . . We find recollections of the name in the writings of the Church Fathers".
In any case, your argument that including the name Jehovah in the NT means a word was added is not true, a noun was substituted with a name. Nothing was added.
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Why would Jesus have to ask God in the Lord's Prayer, to not lead us into Temptation, but deliver us from evil..?
by Tater-T in..... and then willingly be lead into temptation .
he knows that's how a good god operates, so the first thing he does when installed as heavenly ruler... .
he casts the ultimate tempter to the vicinity of the earth... so he can do it as much as possible.... has anyone ever noticed this flaw in the almighty ... he has to be told to do what is good , then doesn't do it ... man what a tool.. i guess he really does love us... lol.
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Nitty-Gritty
Why would he have to ask?? ..... and then willingly be lead into Temptation
The temptation is there regardless. Jesus's request was for God to help people resist Satan's temptation. "and deliver them from the wicked one"he casts the ultimate tempter to the vicinity of the earth... so he can do it as much as possible...
Nothing to do with him being able to do it as much as possible. There is no difference between Satan having access to heaven and then being cast out and no longer having access. Satan can tempt the same wherever he is. Revelation says woe for the earth because of Satan's anger because he knows his days are numbered, not because he is in the vicinity of the earth.
The issue which started this whole process of temptation etc. was the question whether mankind could live successfully independent of God. And could humans remain faithful to God despite Satan.