Posts by THE GLADIATOR

17

Is field service a biblical requirement?

by Listener in

there are two classes of jws - the annointed/chosen ones/those with the heavenly hope and the great crowd/other sheep/those with earthly hope.

this makes it quite difficult to determine as to whether jesus was giving directions to either the annointed or both classes.

but the org does distinguish at times as to the authorities given to them (the annointed) and therefore the directions they may impose on the other sheep.. there is an interesting article about witnessing and who's responsibility it is.. from the watchtower 2004 3/1 para 20. the great crowd of other sheep have imitated their anointed brothers.

THE GLADIATOR

Field service is a term that is normally applied to engineers. The Watchtower society's funding had come from its literature selling operations. Anyone familiar with cold canvassing, will be aware that the terms they use are straight out of American cold selling manuals.

Now the tower has had to stop asking for a fixed price from the public in order to maintain their tax free charity status. The members still have to pay for literature, even the magazines they give away. The congregation has to pay for all pamphlets ordered. So the presses keep rolling and the dollars pour in.

The congregations and kingdom halls do not belong to the Watchtower society. The Watchtower society is first and foremost a commercial publishing company that specialises in cold selling. They trick unpaid workers into distributing literature at their own expense, with the false promise of a reward that has never been delivered.

All this has nothing to do with Jesus or Christian ministry. Its all about the Watchtower societies worldly empire and their old testament, Hebrew desert god, Jehovah.

202

"Birthdays rob the glory of God"

by sabastious in

humans are unique.

each one is unique in his/her own regard.

like your thumbprint, your life is unlike any life in existence.. .

THE GLADIATOR

debator

I have never hankered after the greed and over-indulgence of these feastdays. The innocence of youth is soon lost in the excesses of later years with these celebrations.

Debator has made a good point here. Every birthday celebration I have been to has involved drunkenness, binge eating and sexual excess of the most depraved kind. Greed and self destruction are stamped right through these pagan occasions. The sacrifice of virgins is what finally brought me to my senses.

These excesses have robbed me of my youth, vitality, Adonis looks and innocence. The worse part of it all is that this time could have been spent pre-studying my Watchtower for the pre-study.

64

Asked a co-worker to join Egg and me for my BD dinner...

by White Dove in

he's a guy and upon request, he gave me his e-mail address so he could give me a yes or a no to my invitation to join us tonight for dinner.. after i asked him if he'd like to join us, he snickered and said i don't know.

give me a couple of hours to think about it.

i asked him four hours later if he had decided, yet, but he hadn't even thought about it yet.. i said that it's not a test question, no right or wrong answer.. he asked where and i said it's a nice place uptown.. he said that he needed to think about it because of the dress up thing.. i said he didn't need to dress up, that just slacks and a nice shirt would do.. that was two days ago, and i haven't heard back from him, yet, although i did e-mail him so he could let me know.. i'm the wheels for the evening, so i needed to know so i could pick him up, or not.. does no answer (seems like avoidance) mean no, or is there some other excuse that might (wanna say rescue his ass but won't say it) be plausible?.

THE GLADIATOR

Happy Birthday Wishes - White Dove!

It could be that he thinks the term 'a nice place uptown' is a coded way of asking him for the Kama Sutra.

He may not be ready to go uptown just yet. Perhaps you should start off with a walk in the park.

202

"Birthdays rob the glory of God"

by sabastious in

humans are unique.

each one is unique in his/her own regard.

like your thumbprint, your life is unlike any life in existence.. .

THE GLADIATOR

debator Trying to lump together personal birthdays with the religious festival of Christmas is disingenuous.

It is true to say that birthdays 'have absolutely nothing to do with God or his son Jesus.' They are about people enjoying celebrating their birthday and being made to feel special for one day each year! Wedding anniversaries are celebrated for the same reason. These are secular occasions, celebrated by people of all persuasions and are part of our culture.

The Watchtower society is not adverse to embracing cultural customs, even though they have pagan origins. Among other pagan customs accepted by the Society are wedding receptions, wedding cakes, the lighting of candles, white wedding dresses, bridesmaids, wedding rings, ear- rings, honeymoons and so on.

Strangely, the throwing of confetti is singled out as pagan and strictly forbidden. The wearing of a beard is heavily frowned upon. Are you aware that shaving is a totally pagan Egyptian and Greek custom, adopted by the Romans, but unheard of among Israelites and the early Christians?

The early Christians disagreed over which festivals and customs they should observe, so Apostle Paul said: “Therefore let no man judge you in eating and drinking or in respect of a festival or of an observance of the new moon or of a Sabbath.” (Colossians 2:16 - NWT)

Whatever the origin of our various customs, it is how they are viewed today, and the motive behind observing them in the present that is relevant. Folk law, custom and heritage, impinge on every aspect of life, even the language we speak. So how do the Watchtower Society decide on these matters with such inconsistency, and why are such opinions made into law?

202

"Birthdays rob the glory of God"

by sabastious in

humans are unique.

each one is unique in his/her own regard.

like your thumbprint, your life is unlike any life in existence.. .

THE GLADIATOR

The Bible only records two birthday celebrations. Pharaoh of Egypt had all the first-born babies killed on his birthday, and Herod Antipas had John the Baptist beheaded on his. The Society argue that out of respect for those that lost their lives on birthdays, their members should avoid happy celebration of their own birthdays and those of their children. Anyone who disobeys is disfellowshipped.

The other reason given is that birthday celebrations “exalt” the one whose birthday it is and makes him or her the centre of attention rather than God. (The Truth That Leads to Eternal Life - Page 146)

These seem rather vague reasons for expelling members from the “spiritual paradise” costing them their chance of everlasting life. As there is no scriptural prohibition against celebrating birthdays, what is the charge on which offenders are disfellowshipped? Well, on the occasions that I witnessed members being expelled in this way, the charge of apostasy was used!

You may wonder how throwing a birthday party for one’s child or attending a party to celebrate the birth of Christ can be deemed apostasy? Well, as the Watchtower Society has decided that its members must not recognise birthdays, to do so is an act of disobedience towards them and a challenge to their authority. The charge then is one of apostasy against the Society. As they believe that they speak for God himself, the offence is viewed as disobedience towards God.

I am sorry if you find it difficult to follow this reasoning but so did the friends of mine that were disfellowshipped on this charge. Their crime was to hold a small private birthday party for their little girl. The little girl in her excitement told the child of another Witness. This child’s parents duly reported the infringement of the rules to the elders. Both parents said they felt they had done nothing unscriptural but were disfellowshipped the same week and then shunned by the congregation. They were so appalled by their treatment that they remained outside the organization and decided to prayerfully seek “the truth” elsewhere.

If the elders were not to stamp out such conduct, just think of the consequences. The idea could catch on and children throughout the Witness movement could suddenly find themselves celebrating their birthdays and being made to feel special for one day each year!

As with so many other Society rules it may be only a matter of time before the rules are changed. This will be of little comfort to those parents who were thrown out for breaching Society law or the children who have grown up without ever having a birthday party or attending one held by their friends.

8

THINKING is a matter of BALANCING extremes

by Terry in

our consciousness is like the economy.. if a flow and a balance between extremes is maintained we profit emotionally and materially with well-being and satisfaction.. after all, if you earn more than you spend you have a profit to invest.. if you spend more than you earn you choke in debt and spiral downward.. .

change is constant.

it is the one feature of life you can count on without fail.. .

THE GLADIATOR

Markfromcali

Good comments - right on topic.

Or practise not framing things at all, and just be with things without any kind of perceptual filters.

So hard to achieve this state of mind. Making a practice of this can lead to peace of mind and freedom from habitual attitudes and responses.

11

"Fault finding attitude"

by sabastious in

this term is always used in articles about apostasy.. it find it wholly ironic that the wt accuses anyone of having a fault finding attitude.. you ever have someone accuse you to your face of a trait that is blatantly their own?

this would be a case of that.. the wt does almost nothing but bring up faults inside their organization and out.

they never miss an opportunity to find fault in the witnesses daily lives as well as slander any outside organization they can even in menial ways.. -sab.

THE GLADIATOR

The watchtower Society's very existence is dependent on finding fault.

If the world of mankind is not faulty, then what justification is there for Armageddon?

If Christendom is not at fault, what reason is there to leave and climb on to the life-raft that only they can provide?

If we are not born in to this world, already at fault, what reason is there for anyone to join them and seek redemption?

8

THINKING is a matter of BALANCING extremes

by Terry in

our consciousness is like the economy.. if a flow and a balance between extremes is maintained we profit emotionally and materially with well-being and satisfaction.. after all, if you earn more than you spend you have a profit to invest.. if you spend more than you earn you choke in debt and spiral downward.. .

change is constant.

it is the one feature of life you can count on without fail.. .

THE GLADIATOR

Terry everyone should carefully read what you have written several times and then again. Your advice is priceless.

This is a wake up call and right now that's just what I need.

130

Are you interested in Bible Congruence?

by sabastious in

does the bible have to agree with itself for it to have lasting value?.

-sab.

THE GLADIATOR

Shelby, thank you for your comments. I have not taken offence and have not asked for, nor desire, an apology. It would take a great deal more than words on a forum to offend me. With regards to ‘fellow Christian,’ the comment refers to the Christian fellowship that you belong to.

I am not going to start quoting chunks of redundant threads in an attempt to give examples of ‘twisting my words.’ What you tend to do with me and others, is dissect a post line by line and add so many words of your own, that the intention of the original post becomes distorted. You seem to view comments from people who don’t share your exact views as hostile, even when they are intended to be supportive or constructive.

It’s only recently that I have started reading your threads due to their prominence on the board. As you receive so much attention, it could just be that I am guilty of trying to touch the hem of your outer garment in the hope that I might share some of the action. It seems I may be guilty of the very things I have accused you of, including a lack of humility. The significance of that is not lost on me.

It’s not my intention to lecture you or act like an unelected board moderator. My motive has been to help you be more aware of yourself and your motives but I have failed to convey that to you through my words. In future I will refrain from making personal comments, either critical or supportive. That does not mean that will never comment on your subject matter.

Instead I will concentrate on analyzing my own motives; ask what my reason for being here is and examine the flaws in myself. In short I shall mind my own business.

Peace to you.

130

Are you interested in Bible Congruence?

by sabastious in

does the bible have to agree with itself for it to have lasting value?.

-sab.

THE GLADIATOR

AGuest You have twisted my words on a number of threads and denied that you are trying to instruct others in the way of the lord. Now you start trying to correct, educate and berate PSacramento one of the kindness and most sincere fellow Christians on the forum.

Soon your only support will come from forum administrators who seek to minimise the damage you are doing to yourself. The damage you do to your cause is another matter.