i just wanted to take a survey.
let's not let this get into the same old same old debate of atheism vs belief.
just respond with "atheist" or "believer" or "maybe god exists".
Originally RCC, former JW, bad boy for a while, currently non affiliated, non denominational Born Again Christian (NOT American pseudo evangelical/political crazies) with a preference towards amillennialism/partial preterist eschatology and occasionally church of my new wife's choice Baptist.
Shalom, I joined here a couple of weeks ago, and have enjoyed the updates on the Borg. ;)
sorry if anyone has already posted on this but i did not see anything related in the few pages of active topics i checked.. last saturday i went to an oil change facilty and one of their perks is they give you a copy of the current usa today while you wait in your car.
on page 8a is a full page ad titled "liberty of conscience threatened.... a national sunday law will be established as the mark of the beast.".
the article then goes on a typical adventist rant about how saturday, not sunday, is the real sabbath established by god.
It could be a good alternative when the WBTS falters soon. They will be going back to their demoted founder's roots.
i currently am a jw and my parents are too.they seem either confused or dislike it when i raise questions and recently, when i questioned them about 1925 and 1975, i've been told it's changed due to "new light.
" i don't remember nor do i have very much knowledge of "new light.".
this "new light" just dosen't sit with me and neither do the false prophecies.new light first of all, breaks a scripture in deut.
All light has one goal from Jehovah's point of view. Jesus came to over come Satan, sin and death. The light and life of Christ and his written word is Jehohah's gift to lead godly life.....NEW light and Truth is eternal. It never changes, it may be enhanced, but never changes and it's goal is to enable us To lead a Godly life, otherwise its useless and man made church rules and doctrines of men.
1 John 5:9-13,
1 thessalonians 5:21
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thanks!.
.
love healthworker.
@healthworker *** To stand on our own to feet, alone, and to choose to live by love and honesty is a struggle. Wish you well! Love Healthworker****
Thank you for your encouraging words. I agree it is a struggle, however, we have a great salvation working within us under grace, and any discipline in life is to conform us to the intended perfect image and should be the goal of any Christian org./Church to bring disciples us to maturity to stand on own two feet as we walk by faith and NOT by sight. Hebrews 5:12, Ephesians 4:1-14
13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:
14 That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceived
Hebrews: 13:
Therefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people through His own blood, suffered OUTSIDE the gate. 13 So, let US GO TO HIm OUTSIDE THE CAMP, bearing His reproach. 14 For here we do not have a lasting city, but we are seeking the city which is to come.
thanks!.
.
love healthworker.
The purpose for humanity from the beginning was and is to be made in the image of God. Based on the Christian Greek Scriptures handed down to us, from the ORIGINAL And Only GB, (Paul to the gentile) (James, Peter etc to the Jew), it was further revealed that this was made possible when mankind in Christ died and was resurrected to a New Creation, to a higher quality of life as conceived from eternity.
Our future is the wonderful freedom of being a child of God in eternity, however, the New Life starts now, the fruits of the Spirit is a witness of this treasure in clay pots, as we find pasture and seasons of refreshment in Christ, enabling us to lead a Godly life without Jewish law or church legalism.
Shalom
Psalms 8:4-6, Ephesians 1:4-10, Hebrews 2:8-12, Romans 5:14, Romans 8:21.....
i was just on the new jw.org site and i have to say, they've done a good job.
it looks pretty sleek and is easy to navigate.
the production values of their magazines (in particular the photos) seems to have improved since i last spent much time on the site.
Friends, the information contained in this little tract will be somewhat alarming to many readers. It is presented in the prayerful hope that it will enlighten sincere Jehovah's Witnesses about the tactics of their Watchtower leaders.
The Watchtower Society has a special policy towards outsiders. Those who question the Watchtower teachings are considered "opposers" and are treated in a special way. 1 The Society actually teaches Jehovah's Witnesses to coverup or lie about certain facts. They call this tactic -- Theocratic War Strategy. The Watchtower instructs Jehovah's Witnesses:
"As a soldier of Christ he is in the theocratic warfare and he must exercise added caution when dealing with God's foes. Thus the Scriptures show that for the purpose of protecting the interest of God's cause, it is proper to hide the truth from God's enemies." 2
When curious people examine the Watchtower's history, they find numerous facts that the present day Society tries to cover up. For instance, Watchtower leaders are very embarassed that the Society's founder, Charles Russell, was nearly worshipped by Watchtower followers for many years. Since the modern day Watchtower believes that Russell taught many falsedoctrines, they go to extremes to cover up his history.
They deny that the Watchtower ever wrote a biography of Russell's life. In the Watchtower's hisotry book, Jehovah's Witnesses in the DIvine Purpose, page 63, we read this question:
...is it true that you have never published a biography of Pastor Russell?
THAT'S RIGHT. Jehovah's Witnesses admire the qualities he possessed as a man,
but were we to give the honor and credit to Pastor Russell, we would be saying that
the works and success were his...
This is a good example of the Watchtower's own use of Theocratic War Strategy, not only on the public, but also on Jehovah's Witnesses themselves. When we check the record we find that the Watchtower DID publish the Biography of Pastor Russell in five successive years, 1923 through 1927! 3
Thus we find the Watchtower practiing it's belief that it is proper to deceive people. But, they say this really isn't lying. WHy? Because the Watchtower Soceity has a different definition of "lying" than most of us. In their book, Aid to Bible Understanding, under the word "Lie," we read:
"Lying generally involves saying something false to person who is entitled to know the truth..."
Of course, it is the Watchtower leaders that decide who deserves to know the truth!
DO YOU DESERVE TO KNOW THE TRUTH?
________________________________________
1 Qualified to be ministers (1967 edition), p. 197.
2 Watchtower, June 1, 1960, p. 352.
3 The Divine Plan of the Ages, Studies in the Scriptures,
Vol. 1, 1925-1927 editions, pp. 1-30
Witness Inc.
Home | Missions | Ordering Materials | Answering Jehovah's Witnesses | Watchtower News | JW Communication | Contact Us
http://www.witnessinc.com/theocratic_war.html
i was just on the new jw.org site and i have to say, they've done a good job.
it looks pretty sleek and is easy to navigate.
the production values of their magazines (in particular the photos) seems to have improved since i last spent much time on the site.
i was just on the new jw.org site and i have to say, they've done a good job.
it looks pretty sleek and is easy to navigate.
the production values of their magazines (in particular the photos) seems to have improved since i last spent much time on the site.
The Watchtower Theocratic War doctrine, which teaches that it is appropriate to withhold the truth from “people who are not entitled to it” if it will further the Watchtower’s interests (Reed, 1992; Reed, 1997, p. 129; see also Franz, 1971, pp. 1060-1061, and Raines, 1996c). In the Watchtower’s words, Witnesses are required to “use Theocratic War Strategy” against any and all persons who have a “wolf-like disposition,” defined as anyone who does not accept the Watchtower as God’s organization and the head of God’s people. All other religions are defined as evil and of Satan (Franz 1991;Watchtower May 1,1957, pp. 285-286 and p. 288 — this latter article was censored in new Watchtower reprints).
Reed defines Theocratic War Strategy as “hiding truth from persons not entitled to it—i.e., lying to outsiders when deemed necessary” (Reed, 1995, p. 40). He adds the Watchtower defines lying as “...deceiving outsiders to advance the organization’s interests. Falsehoods presented to God’s enemies are not considered lies, due to the state of war existing between God’s forces (the JWs) and Satan’s (the rest of the world).” In the words of Kotwall (1997, pp. 1-2) the Watchtower’s teaching “to lie and deceive in the interest of their religion is Scripturally approved. They call such lying theocratic war strategy.”
Wilson says:
"Although a basic belief of Jehovah’s Witnesses is that liars will receive eternal death with no hope of a resurrection, exception is made when it comes to lying or pretending to be someone one is not if the purpose is for the good of the organization. An example of this sort of deception that I had personally experienced was the time a Witness friend invited me and several other Witnesses to her house when a Witness missionary was visiting her, as he was to give a slide presentation about his work in Israel … To protect the facility and the other Witnesses who were to live there, the Society instructed this missionary to pose as an eccentric millionaire who has a fetish about being clean, and to inform any inquirers that this was his own house that was being built. This story was fabricated to cover up the real purpose of the building—that of being a Watchtower factory having bedrooms with sinks in them to house the factory workers. This incident was another example of theocratic war strategy." (Wilson, 2002, p. 249)
Jehovah’s Witnesses do not always lie outright, but they often lie according to the court’s definition—not telling “the whole truth and nothing but the truth,” which means the court requires the whole story, not half-truths or deception. The Watchtower claims to condemn lying, but only lying as they define it, namely “saying something false to a person who is entitled to know the truth and doing so with the intent to deceive or to injure him or another person” (Franz, Vol. 2, 1988, p. 244, emphasis mine). The purpose of the oath is to discourage evading the truth by being truthful only in a narrow way.
i was just on the new jw.org site and i have to say, they've done a good job.
it looks pretty sleek and is easy to navigate.
the production values of their magazines (in particular the photos) seems to have improved since i last spent much time on the site.
i'm doing a blog post on dedication and baptism.
is there a comprehensive list of the books needed to study and the years in effect?
i was baptized in 1992 and i think one of the books were united in worship...(blue book).
I was told by elder 1, that it was my personal decision between Jehovah and me NOT a church or organisation. (that was very encouraging)
Elder 2 stressed its not just knowing Gods personal name but what that name means....That's was very profound.
Elder1, led the protests from our Irish cong. outside the org. In brookyln in the aftermath of the disfellowshiping of Ray Franz.
Shalom.
