James Brown

Joined

• started 4 topics
• posted 1,399 times   see topics posted on
• send a message

Posts by James Brown

• 
  40

  Why did Satan want to kill Jesus?

  by FaithfulBrother in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  why would satan have wanted to kill jesus if jesus' death would defeat satan and save mankind?

  why would satan enter judas at the last supper and get judas to betray jesus, leading him to his death, if this death is what defeated satan?.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  James Brown

  For sometime I have thought God and Satin are the same person just as God and Jesus are the same

  person, they are part of our educational, maturing team on this journey.

  God is in control and everything else is just a prop to display this control.
• 
  15

  The KNOW-IT-ALL: what makes them tick?

  by Terry in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  we can hardly get through a week on planet earth without an encounter with a know-it-all.. this none-too-rare creature is ever ready to volunteer to enlighten us in our apparent ignorance.. the know-it-all tells us we are wrong (implying they are right) and sets us straight.

  and the best part?

  we can barely finish a sentence when the know-it-all corrects us!.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  James Brown

  Remember when you and I knocked on stranger's doors and peddled THE TRUTH?

  What made us so sure other than our own sense of rightness?

  I didn't know any better, plus a combination of guilt, shame and doing what your told. I was born in the organization.

  Then 1976 came and freed me. I thank God or fate for 1976.

  Also I had this delusion that someone wouldnt go through the trouble of printing a magazine or a book if what

  the magazine or book said was not true.

  I only knew it all from 1973 to 1976.

  Then I became an observer watching the greatest show on earth.
• 
  27

  What's a Good Standard for Right and Wrong?

  by Perry in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  1. if you say that reducing harm is a valid standard because that is what people want, then how are you not committing the logical fallacy of begging the question by saying that what people want, is what makes something morally right?.

  2. if you say that reducing harm is a valid standard of morality because that is what people want, then how are you not promoting an arbitrary standard since it is based on peoples subjective feelings and desires which change?

  3. if reducing overall harm is the standard of morality, then should a nation that is being attacked by another nation not practice self-defense, since by defending itself it may very well increase overall harm to both nations?.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  James Brown

  A good standard for right and wrong is: If you do something and doing the thing causes you to go to

  jail, then that thing is wrong.

  Situational ethics, the law of the land.

  Thats a starting point for gurus in training.
• 
  41

  What did your personal big AHA moments look like when you saw through a LIE or suddenly understood a TRUTH?

  by Fernando in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  "what is an aha moment?

  it's a moment of clarity, a defining moment where you gain real wisdom - wisdom you can use to change your life.".

  (from a financial services company - http://www.ahamoment.com/what-is).

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  James Brown

  My aha moment is: life/reality is stranger than you think.

  Life/reality is stranger than you can think.
• 
  69

  "some were led to believe that the end would come in 1975"

  by Sour Grapes in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  last week a young elder giving the public talk made.

  the statement that "some were led to believe that the.

  end would come in 1975, but aren't we so thankfull.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  James Brown

  I remember about 73, my grandfather told me I was wasting my time with those magazine salesmen.

  He said they had a history of false predictions about the world ending.

  I couldnt believe him, I thought he was from the devil and here he was an angel of God warning me,

  and I wouldnt listen.

  In 1973, I had never heard of any failed prophecies, that was before the information age.
• 
  69

  "some were led to believe that the end would come in 1975"

  by Sour Grapes in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  last week a young elder giving the public talk made.

  the statement that "some were led to believe that the.

  end would come in 1975, but aren't we so thankfull.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  James Brown

  I graduated high school in 71 and I pioneered because the world was going to end in 75.

  I felt the same pressures you did, I was a ministerial servant and married.

  Who wants to be considered weak and lacking faith?

  Its a shame we were around such a sorry bucnh of loosers.

  One point you are making is how things get twisted.

  Things get twisted in every aspect of human life, the JW's dont have a monopoly on being dingbats.

  People cant remember 2 weeks in a row let alone from one presidential election to the next, I think people in America

  are nurtured to have short memories. Or maybe you and I remember because we have been there and done that,

  while a young person is inexperienced.

  You must be retirement age, I can tell you have a lot of sour grapes from the JW's. I do too.

  I'll be bitter till the day I die. Some days are better some days are worse.

  Your example of the young elder saying we drew the wrong conclusions, which I have heard many times

  since 1975 sets me off, but his arrogance and ignorance will probably kick him in the rear, which is no

  great consolation prize to you or I.

  I have 2 elder brother in laws who would still say today, I drew the wrong conclusions

  about 1975 and that is why I'm not a witness any more.

  But personally, I know they are both full of baloney.

  Side point, what are you doing still going to the meetings in 2012? I escaped back in 83.

  Escaped with a lot of heavy baggage.
• 
  12

  Thinking can undermine religious faith, study finds.

  by whereami in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  thinking can undermine religious faith, study findsthose who think more analytically are less inclined to be religious believers than are those who tend to follow a gut instinct, researchers conclude.those who think more analytically are less inclined to be religious believers than are those who tend to follow a gut instinct, researchers conclude.

  (uriel sinai / getty images / april 26, 2012).

  by amina khan, los angeles times.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  James Brown

  I worked as a tool maker, making tools out of steel with tolerances of a thousandths of an inch.

  I thought that was rather analytical work, reading and interpreting blue prints and making a precise product.

  I worked with a fellow who was a born again Christian, he could figure out how to make anything out of steel precisely.

  He could fix anything on a car. He could analyze any problem and solve it.

  And he had a faith in Jesus and the bible that was unmoveable. Whenever I would present him with a challenge to

  his faith or the bible, he could analyze the challenge and present a logical explanation supporting faith in Jesus.

  So while someone wrote an article saying thinking can undermine faith.

  I have seen first hand where a thinker thought and was a man of faith.
• 
  15

  Where To By Crisis of Conscience

  by binadub in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  maybe this information has surfaced here before, but if so it is worth repeating periodically:.

  a couple weeks ago i was shocked after doing a google search for crisis of conscience when it brought up amazon with four distributors selling the book in soft-cover for collector prices between $169.95 us to over $650, with only 4 copies available.

  hard cover was not available new, and used copies were being sold for over $50-75.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  James Brown

  Amazons got a load of them used starting at 23$.
• 
  15

  The very WORST and BEST places to find out what the Bible REALLY teaches?

  by Fernando in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  worst - religion/ists (pharisees, sanhedrin/gb, ruling religious clergy class).

  best - direct from the source (our heavenly father, his son, the holy spirit, john 14:26; 15:26; 16:13; 1 john 2:27) by pursuing their full and counterintuitive "unabridged gospel" message to all humans (rom 10:16,17; isa 61:1; john 8:36).. next best - spiritually strong persons of faith (acts 8:12,26-40, especially verse 35).

  your thoughts, suggestions, websites, videos, constructive criticism, quotes - anyone?.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  James Brown

  In my opinion the best place to find out what the bible really teaches is to read it cover to cover.

  Anything else is a cop out in my opinion and your setting yourself up to blame someonelse

  when you find out what it really says.
• 
  29

  Need some good parenting advice...

  by diana netherton in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i have a son who will be 20 in may.

  he's, by all accounts, what you would consider the.

  "perfect child.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  James Brown

  I have 60, I have raised a son as a witness, I escapped when I was 34, I got him out when he was 10.

  When I got him out, I appologised for my mother raising me a witness and I tried to reprogram my son, while at the same time

  reprograming myself. I Escaped in 83 which was 8 years after the proof was in the pudding, 8 years after 76, the big lie.

  I told my son, when he was 10 you need to get an education to survive in this world, I encouraged school, sports.

  I encouraged my son to have a facination with the world, We had a radio shack trs 80 computer, I encouraged him

  to play sports and coached and managed his teams.

  My son joined the Navy at 18, which shocked me, I wasnt crazy about it, but I didn't let him know and I encouaraged

  and supported him.

  The Navy made him more of a man then he already was, it taught him to handle anything and excel.

  He came out with a masters degree in medicine.

  I tell you that to tell you this.

  Its too late to put the horse back in the barn.

  Your son is 20, he has been an adult for 2 years already.

  You raised him to be a good worker, and concientious.

  In my 60 years on the planet, I'm not sure where motivation comes from.

  Strike that, I could write a paper on motivation, and there are many articles and books on motivation.

  But, your son is in his 2nd year of adulthood, your seed planting and cultivating time is over.

  After my son turned 18, all I could do was encourage him to do what he wanted to do.

  But I did give him many gifts of motivational tapes in his formative years.

  Tapes on success, happiness, getting ahead in life.

  In life you pretty much have to get ahead or you will be swept away by the current.

  I dont know what you can do about your dilema in the short term.

  If you want to try to rebuild the engine of an adult man, I'd suggest Nightengale Conant

  http://www.nightingale.com/

  Tapes/ cd's/ audio files by zig Zigler

  Dennis Waitely

  Wayne Dyer

  Anthony Robbins

  Brian Tracy.

  These sources of mental protein will have a combative effect against the negative programing

  of the Watchtower agency, which you havent mentioned being the problem.

  It might have nothing to do with the problem, your son may have lived a very comfortable life and

  now he is complacent which is a problem humans face.

  Most humans are sheep.

  Some break out of the pack and become something else.

  From your leading paragraph, it doesnt sound like your son has a problem, it sounds like you do.

  I'm trying to say that in the kindest possible way.

  Look over the Nightengale Conant catalog and decide if you can find a loving gift to give your son, to help

  with your problem.

  I think you have been a wonderful mother.

  In raising my son, my wife was wonderful, but she being a JW had nothing to do with any kind of positive

  adolesent programing of my son.

  Good luck.