i used to dread seeing a witness coming toward me.
now i am quite comfortable and hope that they may say something to me..... does your blood pressure rise when you see a jw coming toward you?
?.
I still don't like it when i encounter them. They think that now you're out you're supposed to have problems or some other negative things that affect you, and thats not the case, but i dont like that they automatically think those things when they see me so i try to avoid them.
@Tom harley, who do you see as your mediator?
https://www.jw.org/en/publications/jw-meeting-workbook/april-2017-mwb/meeting-schedule-apr10-16/encourage-inactive-christian/.
this is part of the clam meeting this week.. how contradictory is it?.
first, they instruct people to avoid inactive ones and to shun them and to treat them the same as da'd or df'd ones, .
this is part of the CLAM meeting this week.
how contradictory is it?
first, they instruct people to avoid inactive ones and to shun them and to treat them the same as DA'd or DF'd ones,
and then this week they instruct to encourage them and to help them come back and try to associate with them...
appears to me, you can't have both?
what would be the intention of the GB behind these seeming contradicory messages?
mrs phizzy and myself will be eating out, sure in the knowledge we will not have jw's using the same restaurant.. i may have a cigar along with my brandy at the meal's end to celebrate my (our) freedom..
In the past I have only visited the memorial three times, but tonight I will not go, despite having received a lot of calls and texts from certain people in the cong. I will probably just be reading a book instead of going.
Djeggnog, can you explain to me who is your mediator?
“we don’t celebrate holidays because god doesn’t approve of any celebration that is rooted in pagan customs and manmade traditions.” (see here for a similar jw response.).
if you were once an ex-jw like me, you have probably said something like this out in field service to someone who asked the question: why don’t you people celebrate holidays?
as the witnesses' official website states in an faq about not celebrating easter:.
Good to read from the Jewish perspective. David Jay, if I may ask, how could you ever have been trapped by the teachings of the JW's with your extensive knowledge about all doctrines and teachings of the Jews?
1 corinthians 10:13. no temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind.
and god is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear.
this verse is in correspondence with 1 cor.10:13 and james 1:13. job will not be tempted beyond what he can bear, and it will not be god tempting him.. then in verse 16, this is being said:.
1 Corinthians 10:13
No temptation has overtaken you except what
is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted,he will also provide a way out so that you can
endure it.
James 1:13
When tempted, no one should say, “God is
tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone.
1 Cor. 10:13 says that we will not be tempted beyond what we can bear. James 1:13 says the temptation does not come from God.
When reading the book of Job, some questions arise when taking into account the two verses mentioned above.
Job 1:12 The Lord said to Satan, “Very
well, then, everything he has is in your power, but on the man himself do
not lay a finger.”
This verse is in correspondence with 1 Cor.10:13 and James 1:13. Job will not be tempted beyond what he can bear, and it will not be God tempting him.
Then in verse 16, this is being said:
16 Another messenger came and said, “The fire of God fell from the heavens and burned up the sheep and the servants, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!”
If this fire truly came from God, it would violate what is being said in James 1:13. Is the messenger here mistaken?
Also, the servants are being killed here, but were they predestined to die due to Satan’s plan with Job? Does it then count as temptation? Nobody can bear death, does this violate 1 Cor. 10:13?
17 While he was still speaking, another messenger came and said, “The Chaldeans formed three raiding parties and swept down on your camels and made off with them. They put the servants to the sword, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!”
18 While he was still speaking, yet another messenger came and said, “Your sons and daughters were feasting and drinking wine at the oldest brother’s house, 19 when suddenly a mighty wind swept in from the desert and struck the four corners of the house. It collapsed on them and they are dead, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!”
What is the source behind this mighty wind? Ephesians 2:2 tells us that Satan is the ruler of the power of the air, but does this mean this wind comes from Satan? If so, then they are also being killed because of the plan Satan has for Job.
Job does not suffer beyond what he can bear, from his perspective it is okay. But from the perspective of his servants, his sons and daughters, they died for the plans Satan had with Job. What they encountered, were they tested/was it temptation? If so, were they being tested beyond what they could bear?
20 At this, Job got up and tore
his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship 21 and said: “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and
naked I will depart.
The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised.”
Was Job here mistaken?
22 In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing.
Verse 21 says that God has taken away, and verse 22 says God was not charged with wrongdoing. From Jobs perspective, if God was behind this, what he seems to suggest in verse 21, then was this not a violation of James 1:13?
lately i have been studying some basic christology and jesus in the old testament and why first christians believed jesus was god in the flesh.
really interesting stuff.
i am not really sure if i fully understand it but i do now realize why pastors go to university and bible school for a number of years and also how their beliefs are not just based on a few verses that can be edited in the nwt.
Steel
''I do believe Jesus being a physical manifestation of God in the flesh in both the old and new really holds more credibility if the scriptures are sincerely studied.''
I agree very much
Before I came into contact with the witnesses I always believed in the Trinity,
But the witnesses were at that time very convincing, and changed my mind. For a couple of years then, I was convinced that the Trinity was false.
Currently I am taking an extra course on the university taught by a protestant theologian, and he explains it wonderfully, and like you say, if the scriptures are sincerely studied, the trinity becomes more and more clear.
By reading more of the scriptures it becomes more obvious.
For instance when you read Romans 10:9 and Romans 10:13, together with Yoel 2:32. In the Old Testament it referred to God, whereas in the New Testament it refers to Jesus.
Matthew 4:7 Jesus is being tested by the devil and says: Do not put the Lord your God to the test.
All the verses that precede this sentence are about the the temptation of Jesus by the devil. This verse would in my opinion not make sense if Jesus is not a physical manifestation of God.
God is the invisible power that presented himself to us by means of Jesus, who was God manifested in the flesh.
wednesday, march 29.
if a man takes a false step before he is aware of it, you who have spiritual qualifications try to readjust such a man in a spirit of mildness.—gal.
kindness can help you to deal with a conflict of loyalties.
Nice observation.
What are your current beliefs if I may ask?
I currently am inclined to follow the teachings of Protestant Arminianism.
fictional apostate takeover campaign.
stage #1.. what if in a town that had a particularly large amount of apostates and ex-jw's, over a period of a few months, they started going to a small congregation.
either pretending they were bible studies or just returning jw's, they got good standing in the congregation, priveleges etc.
Spyvsspy89
have you considered visiting a psychiatrist?
i was thinking about this.... in my congregation, i was literally the only one with universitary education, out of a cong from around 110 people.... and we're very close to a very big university, which makes it even weirder.. on the other hand... sooo many here with their own business, mostly small cleaning businesses.
cleaning windows, or cleaning somewhere else... painters.... all have jobs that do not require any education level, cos they never had a decent education.. how is the composition of the jw people/congs that you know about?.
how many painters... cleaners... compared to people with jobs that require higher education?.
I was thinking about this...
in my congregation, I was literally the only one with universitary education, out of a cong from around 110 people...
and we're very close to a very big university, which makes it even weirder.
On the other hand... Sooo many here with their own business, mostly small cleaning businesses. Cleaning windows, or cleaning somewhere else... Painters.... All have jobs that do not require any education level, cos they never had a decent education.
how is the composition of the JW people/congs that you know about?
how many painters... cleaners... compared to people with jobs that require higher education?
And how many people do you know that are being told they better not go to university?
edit: the majority of the pioneers here does not even work, but receives money from the government.
is it true, as bro jackson testified to the australian royal commission, that people can leave the religion freely?.
in my own case, yes.
i just stopped going and was never announced as ''no longer one of jw's''.
I have never been baptised, so I have officially never been a JW, just an unbaptised publisher (or is this also already viewed as being a somewhat full JW?).
Never having been baptised as a JW technically means I cannot leave them since I never officially joined them. However, even without being baptised, I am being shunned now because I do not attend any meetings and do not participate in any activities, like preaching.
