leaving_quietly

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Posts by leaving_quietly

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  137

  Mouthy has Passed Away

  by Simon in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  update on mouthy (grace gough)this is graces granddaughter.

  i wanted to send an update that today my beautiful grandmother passed away - surrounded by friends and family.

  - may 22 1927 - sept 2nd 2016. mouthys_granddaughter.

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  leaving_quietly

  Oh, dear. Sad to hear this. Was wondering the other day how she was doing. My condolences to the family.
  
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  103

  JW and the Sabbath

  by Andromeda in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  hello brothers and sisters and truth seekers,.

  i am an active jehovah's witness.

  i don't believe in 1914 and i'm tototally against their way of dealing with abuse cases.

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  leaving_quietly

  What, exactly, does it mean to "observe the Sabbath"? I have a post on another forum with essentially this same question.

  I get that the Sabbath means no work. Great. A mandatory day of rest. Okay, then, what does it mean to "rest"?

  Isa 58:13 says you can't pursue your own interests on the Sabbath (which, BTW, was the first mention of that rule in the Bible.)

  So, if you can't work and you can't pursue your own interests (which I would equate to doing stuff like reading, hiking, learning a musical instrument, playing video games, watching a movie, even studying the Bible to enrich your understanding) then exactly what is one supposed to do on the Sabbath? This is what I don't get.
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  5

  Audiobible NWT

  by TheWonderofYou in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i took a look a the org video about the new audiobible and the production process.. most disturbing for me is that the voice of bro.

  jackson seems to be always the voice of jesus throughout the bible.

  he was the gb member who made the appearance in the australian child abuse commission.. i dont like his voice as jesus and will never listen to the audio bible therefore.. what me wonders much is, how much work those sis and bros do to identify similar speakers in the four gospels so that always the same speaker speaks and how they handle that.. to cover the whole bibel 1000 speakers have been identified and will be trained in reading correctly.. some questions are if the bible says that jehovah speaks, did he really speak himself or something else or if a passage says that the apostel said something, who of the apostels was it actually?.

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  leaving_quietly

  This kind of multiple-speaker audio bible is something new.

  Maybe they got the idea from here:

  http://www.thewordofpromise.com/
  
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  80

  Keep the meeting going! (even if somebody's dying)

  by TimeBandit in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  this is a true story.

  it's about a sister named henriette venema.

  she was a very loyal jw.

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  leaving_quietly

  I've witnessed this twice in my life... no death, fortunately, but ambulance called, older ones taken out, meeting continued even while paramedics were doing their thing. The most recent one was within the past year. I was appalled, especially being awake.

  I would be appalled if family members stayed at the meeting and did not go to the hospital.

  The last time this happened, only one family member went to the hospital. The rest stayed. Double face-palm!!!!
  
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  51

  Why are anniversaries allowed but not birthdays?

  by hyperpen in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  the scripture quotes aside, i was always told that we don't celebrate birthdays because that is a celebration of the self, which has no place in jehovah's organization.

  then why celebrate anniversaries?

  anniversary celebrations are about the joining of two selves, isn't that twice as selfish?.

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  leaving_quietly

  Simple. Have you ever read about someone being beheaded on their anniversary? I rest my case.

  Heh... This reasoning from WT is ridiculous. In the first account, the chief baker and cupbearer were IN PRISON with Joseph because they "sinned against their lord, the king of Egypt." (Gen 40:1). On Pharaoh's birthday, the cupbearer resumed his duties and the baker was killed. Why? Apparently, Pharaoh carried out capital punishment. The baker did SOMETHING to warrant being put to death. Maybe during their time in prison, it was discovered that the cupbearer was not at fault, so was exhonerated, while the baker had to bear the punishment of death.

  In the case of John the Baptist, Herod's birthday was simply "a convenient day" for his wife to carry out her nefarious plans. (Mark 6:21)
  

  Interestingly in the case of Pharaoh's birthday, both the baker and the cupbearer had dreams three days prior that Joseph interpreted accurately. Where did those dreams come from? Where did the interpretation come from? Did God care that it was Pharaoh's birthday, or did God use that fact to attempt to assist Joseph?
  
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  51

  Why are anniversaries allowed but not birthdays?

  by hyperpen in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  the scripture quotes aside, i was always told that we don't celebrate birthdays because that is a celebration of the self, which has no place in jehovah's organization.

  then why celebrate anniversaries?

  anniversary celebrations are about the joining of two selves, isn't that twice as selfish?.

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  leaving_quietly

  ""There are but two such celebrations mentioned in the Scriptures, one of the heathen king Pharaoh of Egypt, in the days of Joseph, and the other of [Herod,] whose birthday cost John the Baptist his life. In the Bible there is no instance of celebrations of birthdays by any of God’s people."—The Golden Age, May 6, 1936, page 499." God's Kingdom Rules! (2014) p.105

  WBTS logic:

  Birthdays = bad because the Bible shows them in a negative light

  Bethel = good even though the Bible shows it in a negative light (1 Kings 13:32; 2 Kings 10:29; 2 Kings 23:19; Jer 48:13; Hosea 10:15; Amos 3:14; Amos 4:4; Amos 5:5,6)
  
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  25

  Study article: "Go, and Make Disciples.." is a hot mess

  by Sanchy in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  so i hooked into meeting via phone this week to listen in and was shocked at the absurdities mentioned in the study article (2016 may watchtower: "go,..and make disciples of people of all the nations").

  the answer is obvious—only jehovah’s witnesses.

  the answer the missionary priest gave in no way proves that jws are the only ones "preaching the good news".

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  leaving_quietly

  ...After his resurrection, Jesus addressed hundreds of his disciples and told them: “Go, therefore, and make disciple

  Really? What does the Bible REALLY teach?
  

  Matt 28:16-19: However, the 11 disciples went to Galʹi·lee to the mountain where Jesus had arranged for them to meet.  When they saw him, they did obeisance, but some doubted. Jesus approached and spoke to them, saying: “All authority has been given me in heaven and on the earth. Go, therefore, and make disciples of people of all the nations...
  
  
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  16

  Am i reading this right...? The preaching work is done??

  by Nobodyspecial in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  im sorry if this has been addressed, i have not seen any topics on this yet.. the wt for today seems to state, quiet plainly, that preaching work is done.

  para 14,15 the question asks:.

  "what proves that jehovahs witnesses have fulfilled jesus' prophecy with regard to the scope of the work?".

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  leaving_quietly

  Not the first time they have said this. I haven't read today's article, but this was printed in w95 9/1 pp.17-18 par. 17. (emphasis mine)
  

  Looking forward especially to our time, Jesus said: “This good news of the kingdom will be preached in all the inhabited earth for a witness to all the nations; and then the end will come.” (Matthew 24:14; Mark 13:10) Has this prophecy been fulfilled? Indeed, it has.
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  17

  Revelation 5:9,10 and the 144,000

  by Darkknight757 in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  i hesitate to ask this question.

  during some recent research on youtube i came across a few videos explaining how watchtower manipulated revelation 5:10. revelation 5:10 "you have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our god,and they will reign on the earth.”" -niv.

  the nwt13 renders this verse: 10 and you made them to be a kingdom+ and priests to our god,+ and they are to rule as kings+ over the earth.”.

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  leaving_quietly

  I agree with Saename.

  I would also point out that WTBTS only uses verse 9 and 10, but conveniently skips verse 8. Verse 8 is VERY important.

  "When he took the scroll, the four living creatures and the 24 elders fell down before the Lamb, and each one had a harp and golden bowls that were full of incense. (The incense means the prayers of the holy ones.)"

  WTBTS teaches that the 24 elders ARE the 144,000. However, verse 10 says, "and you made them to be a kingdom and priests to our God." The four living creatures and the 24 elders are not talking about themselves, but some other group.

  Verse 9 also is important. "And they sing a new song, saying: You are worthy to take the scroll and open its seals, for you were slaughtered and with your blood you bought people for God out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation,"

  There's two points here:

  1. "They sing a new song" - This seems like it would be the 144,000 because they too sing a new song. But, wait! There's a key difference. Rev 14:3 says: "And they are singing what seems to be a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and the elders, and no one was able to master that song except the 144,000, who have been bought from the earth." So, here you have the four living creatures and the 24 elders in Rev 5:8 singing, but in Revelation 14, it's the 144,000 who are singing BEFORE the four living creatures and elders. AND it's only the 144,000 who could master that song. This means that the song sung in Revelation 5 is NOT the same song sung by the 144,000.
  
  2. Where are the 144,000 taken from? From the 12 tribes of Israel, 12,000 from each. Where do the great crowd come from? From all nations and tribes and peoples and tongues.
  
  

  Incidentally, the Kingdom Interlinear has a chart in the opening cover.
  

  
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  10

  "New Heavens & New Earth" (Why The Need For New Heavens?)

  by NoMoreHustle in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i have been thinking about this phrase lately "new heavens & new earth".

  the new earth piece i guess i can see that one...... (still not really sure about that one) .

  but why the need for "new heavens"?

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  leaving_quietly

  We've resurrected an old thread, but it's relevant. I've been thinking about this a lot lately, too. There are several references to "new heavens and new earth" and the "re-creation" and "I am making all things new".

  Isaiah 65:17 has the first reference to "new heavens and new earth." Here, God says: "Look! I am creating..." The Hebrew word for "creating" is the same work used in Genesis regarding when God created the earth. This seems to me to be a physical creation.

  The idea I've been toying with is: what if this really was a NEW heavens, that is a completely new universe, or a new extension of ours? And what if this really was a NEW earth? Why would Revelation 21:1,2 have anything to do with the CURRENT earth if God was making a new one? A fascinating thought to me.
  

  If you've seen the moving "Knowing" with Nicolas Cage, that's something that was explored a little. You realize it at the end of the movie. Not the best movie there is, but definitely an interesting twist on the end of days and this new earth concept.