leaving_quietly

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Posts by leaving_quietly

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  23

  Should I hit send button as is? Change? Or just hit delete?

  by Lied2NoMore in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  so after being deleted because of my comment on her instagram post by my sister-in-law i got a text from her stating she didn't want a debate on instagram and the scripture i posted would not apply to satan, they are worried about me, go see elders, return to jehovah, or else you won't get life, etc etc.... i'm ready to respond with the following reply:.

  so....hit send?

  make changes?

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  leaving_quietly

  There are some cases where it is better to keep silent. Attacking their religious leaders does more harm than good.
  
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  16

  Drama at the RC

  by leaving_quietly in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i sat through part 1 of the drama yesterday.

  i thought they did a fairly decent job with it, except for the weird questions asked up front by an ancient guy asking "how do you know jehovah's witnesses have the truth?

  " that has absolutely nothing to do with how he was convinced jesus was the messiah.

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  leaving_quietly

  Where was the RC you were at (if it is okay to tell me)?

  Tacoma, Washington, USA

  I re-read the account... there was more that they got wrong. In the account, they rushed Jesus out to the mountainside to push him over the cliff, but in the drama, they tried to accost him in the synagogue and he escaped there. (Luke 4:29,30)

  Sheesh!
  
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  13

  Acts 15... common decision making or peace treaty?

  by StarTrekAngel in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  acts 15, along with the fds parable, are the basis for the existence of the modern day gb.

  it is not difficult for anyone who is beginning to study the bible with jws to see this and be utterly convinced of the matter.

  even after learning ttatt i had a hard time departing from the idea that a centralized body of administration may have existed then and may need to exist now.

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  leaving_quietly

  For Paul, it wasn't a question. He didn't go to get a decision. Instead, he went to make them see that he was not wrong, and that he was doing what he was entrusted by the Lord to do.
  

  Gal 2:2: "I went up as a result of a revelation, and I presented to them the good news that I am preaching among the nations. This was done privately, however, before the men who were highly regarded, to make sure that I was not running or had not run in vain."
  

  
  Gal 2:4-5: "But that matter came up because of the false brothers brought in quietly, who slipped in to spy on the freedom we enjoy in union with Christ Jesus, so that they might completely enslave us; 5 we did not yield in submission to them, no, not for a moment, so that the truth of the good news might continue with you.
  
  

  Gal 2:6: "But regarding those who seemed to be important—whatever they were makes no difference to me, for God does not go by a man’s outward appearance—those highly regarded men imparted nothing new to me. "

  The letter sent out by those in Jerusalem starts out almost as an apology:

  "The apostles and the elders, your brothers, to those brothers in Antioch, Syria, and Ci·liʹcia who are from the nations: Greetings! Since we have heard that some went out from among us and caused you trouble with what they have said, trying to subvert you, although we did not give them any instructions..."

  Keep in mind that it WAS a decision from Jerusalem. It's even referred to as such in Acts 21:25. But, it HAD to come from there since that was where the JEWS originated from, and this Christianity thing was originally from the Jews. Paul was seemingly teaching an apostasy from Moses, so there was disruption (Acts 21:21). And that disruption was causing a problem. So, there needed to be some decision from somewhere. It wasn't a centralized body, though. It simply was from the place that was central to the Jews, and since the nations were starting to be gathered in, it makes sense that a decision came from the Jews there regarding that particular matter. After all, it was FROM there that false brothers were insisting that ones get circumcised.

  Now if there truly was a centralized body in Jerusalem, then why was Paul sent out from Antioch on all three of his missionary journies? And why was it in Antioch that the name "Christian" was first used "by divine providence"? (Acts 11:26)
  
  
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  16

  Drama at the RC

  by leaving_quietly in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i sat through part 1 of the drama yesterday.

  i thought they did a fairly decent job with it, except for the weird questions asked up front by an ancient guy asking "how do you know jehovah's witnesses have the truth?

  " that has absolutely nothing to do with how he was convinced jesus was the messiah.

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  leaving_quietly

  I sat through part 1 of the drama yesterday. I thought they did a fairly decent job with it, except for the weird questions asked up front by an ancient guy asking "How do you know Jehovah's Witnesses have the truth?" That has absolutely NOTHING to do with how he was convinced Jesus was the Messiah. But, I digress...

  I caught something... a bit nit-picky, I know, but thought I would point it out. When they showed Jesus reading from the scrolls in the synagogue a prophecy in Isaiah that applied to him, after reading, I expected Jesus to sit down, then say, "Today this scripture that you just heard is fulfilled" as per the account in Luke 4:20. But he didn't. Instead, the Jesus in the drama stepped to the side of the podium and said those words. I don't even recall him handing the scroll to any attendant, but I wasn't focused on that, so maybe I missed it.
  

  Yes, I know this is nit-picking, but for an organization that is constantly harping on "accurate knowledge" and where individual members criticize movies for not following the Bible accounts exactly, this seemingly small thing irritated me. Sure, the drama embellished on some things, but when it's clearly stated in the account one way, there's no justification for taking liberties to portray it another way.

  Just my two cents.
  
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  54

  This just happened within last 15 mins......

  by Lied2NoMore in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  i saw an instagram post showing a short clip of a talk being given in one of our southern states.

  the talk clip showed speaker making the statement, "jehovah doesn't want anyone to know satans real name, jehovah hates satan so much, he doesn't even want his name mentioned" .

  i posted in comments: matt 5:44-48 with the full scripture rendered from niv.

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  leaving_quietly

  SE USA?

  No, complete opposite side of the country, NW USA. Must be a manuscript talk.
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  20

  OK so the GB are shaming Bros who don't "reach out" but would they ever consider this?...

  by purrpurr in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i note on here the feedback from the currently ongoing conventions that the gb are heavily trying to guilt and shame any brothers who are not ms or elders.

  i agree with most posters who reckon this shows just how thin on the ground they are for ms and elders but... my question is.

  how comes that even though they are so desperate they still will not allow women to fill those roles?

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  leaving_quietly

  Paul is somewhat contradictory in his thinking, I thn. I mean, look at Romans 16:1:

  "I am introducing to you Phoeʹbe, our sister, who is a minister of the congregation that is in Cenʹchre·ae." (NWT)

  The word here for "minister" is the same word used at 1 Tim 3:8 for "ministerial servant."
  
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  54

  This just happened within last 15 mins......

  by Lied2NoMore in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  i saw an instagram post showing a short clip of a talk being given in one of our southern states.

  the talk clip showed speaker making the statement, "jehovah doesn't want anyone to know satans real name, jehovah hates satan so much, he doesn't even want his name mentioned" .

  i posted in comments: matt 5:44-48 with the full scripture rendered from niv.

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  leaving_quietly

  This was at the RC, likely, as it same sentence was spoken at the RC I was at today. They said he had other names, like Belial, meaning "Good for nothing".

  I thought to myself: What about Lucifer? Isa 14:12 calls him "O shining one" in the NWT, which means Lucifer, which means "light bearer". Other translations call him "Day Star".

  And so what if we don't know his REAL name? We don't know God's real name, either. All we have is YHWH.
  
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  40

  Massive Growth in Dub Numbers???

  by 1rebelheart in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  so, i left about 5 years ago and at that time, the official ruling on number of members was a little over 6 million.

  i google jw out of boredom the other day and find they are now claiming 8 million members.

  sooooo.... hold on 2 million increase in 5 years?

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  leaving_quietly

  Most here realize the vast majority of growth can be attributed to children of JW parents. Eventually, those children become parents themselves and have children. And those children become parents and have children. By now, there's lots of second, third and fourth generation JWs in here. Reminds me of the lily pad riddle. Solve this and you'll understand the "massive growth".

  There is a pond with lily pads in it. Every day the amount of lily pads in the pond doubles. (2,4,8,16,32, etc.) If on the 30th day the pond is completely full, on which day was it half full?
  
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  7

  Some physicists believe our universe is a giant hologram

  by EndofMysteries in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i wasn't entirely serious on older posts that our whole universe could technically be a computer simulation and this next thing isn't claiming that but it seems to nudge it closer to that possibility.

  as taken from here http://www.vox.com/2015/6/29/8847863/holographic-principle-universe.

  "the idea isn't that the universe is some sort of fake simulation out of the matrix, but rather that even though we appear to live in a three-dimensional universe, it might only have two dimensions.

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  leaving_quietly

  Computer... end program
  
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  9

  New Thoughts about the "three-fold cord" that is not easily broken and what it means....

  by Muddy Waters in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  got to thinking about this the other day.... you know how the wts uses a scripture from ecclesiastes (ecc.4:12) to say how important it is to have jehovah in your marriage -- that a two-fold cord is easily broken or pulled apart, but a "three-fold cord is not easily broken".

  they then go on to define exactly who and what jehovah is and what exactly this love & marital arrangement means and how you properly show and demonstrate it, and blah blah blah and all the things jehovah (through his organization) says are so necessary and important for a happy marriage (from their special bias and agenda, the preaching work!

  - and meeting attendance & preparation, and studying the bible together and the husband taking the lead, and all that jw filler which they define and obligate for others to do -- they define every term and behavior and expectation to the nth degree.. then it occurred to me, that the scriptures simply and always say, "god is love.

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  leaving_quietly

  This is a verse that is so, so, so misapplied. It's generally applied to marriage, right? Husband, wife, Jehovah? This was a recent research session for me. Let's see what it's REALLY talking about:

  Eccl 4:7-12
  

  I turned my attention to another example of futility under the sun: 8 There is a man who is all alone, without any companion; he has no son or brother, but there is no end to all his hard work. His eyes are never satisfied with riches. But does he ask himself, ‘For whom am I working hard and depriving myself of good things’? This too is futility and a miserable occupation.
  9 Two are better than one because they have a good reward for their hard work. 10 For if one of them falls, the other can help his partner up. But what will happen to the one who falls with no one to help him up?
  11 Moreover, if two lie down together, they will stay warm, but how can just one keep warm? 12 And someone may overpower one alone, but two together can take a stand against him. And a threefold cord cannot quickly be torn apart.
  

  Notice, there is no mention of a husband and wife here, but "son or brother", yes. And what does the threefold cord apply to? Defending oneself. Hard to defend yourself by yourself. Easier with a second person. Much easier with a third. This has NOTHING to do with marriage and having Jehovah as the third cord.