i had dinner tonight with a woman that i knew in my old congregation growing up.
she was an elder's wife, and i was friends with her daughter.
she has written a new book that is being published by prometheus books and is being released in january 2002. she will be doing upcoming radio interviews to publicize the book, and i'll post more information when i have it.
That's wonderful news--praise to God for another awakening!
I'm curious Stacey, you say you hadn't had contact with her in 11 years--how did you two get in contact with each other now? Did she find you or did you find her? Also, since you were friends with her daughter, what's her standing? Is she in or out of the WTS?
we are made in god's image and he is a person, not just some invisible, omnipresent force.
here is some more research for those who love to ask questions yet won't do the digging.. the bible consistently portrays god as a passionate individual, whose inner experiences of love, compassion, grief, delight, joy, peace, anguish, and moral outrage at atrocity dwarf ours in the extreme.
the bible makes no apology for this, but rather exults in the living one, in contrast to the dead and lifeless idols that surrounded its writers.. one scholar put it thus:.
Sunstarr:
I am a Christian also. And yes, all good things come from God--I feel the hurt you feel also in thread's like this. Some days I want every person to understand of how great Jesus Christ is, that he is the giver of life, he is salvation and help them see the love he has for creation, but that can never happen. My husband and I had a deep discussion last night about faith and that there's a bigger spiritual battle going on that we have no control over. We do our part to share the gospel (2 Cor. 5:20--"We are Christ's representatives, and through us God is caling you. We beg you on behalf of Christ to become reunited with God"), but then we leave it to the Holy Spirit.
After leaving the JWs, I have such a love for people now, it's awesome! People are totally and completely free to believe as they want to believe, they accept Jesus or they don't. It's such a wonderful freedom, I don't feel like I have to "convert" everyone I met like when I witness to them now. I share Jesus, let them see him in me and move on. No "are you coming to the Kingdom Hall with me?" It's so great. Jesus said "Those who believe in me will do the things that I am doing." It's so simple.
Just wanted to share my joy, though this is off topic from the thread. Bye! :)
perhaps you recall the instance in the bible where samson made a wager with the philistines that they couldnt guess his riddle.
as it turned out they wheedled the answer out of him by his fiancee, but the point is that they had a wager.
since the underlying assumption of the apostasy is that we are not living in the last days of this system of things, and that this world is not facing anything remotely like the biblical apocalypse, at least not any time soon, in the spirit of such antagonism, i would like to propose a similar wager.
You Know: I'm curious why you are making predictions on your own accord, going against The Watchtower Bible and Tract Society? If you went to the elders in your congregation with this nonsence, they would disfellowship you.
Why do you hide your trader side from your own organization?
Print out this thread and give a copy to everyone in your Kingdom Hall. See how fast fast YOU KNOW would turn into YOU GONE.
I see through you.
this is a matter i have wrestled with.
who are the people of god, where are they to be found.
i feel that there are some within the watchtower organization as there are in other churches.
From Bob's Girl:
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My heart tells me that this God who could be so loving and so diverse would not create these differences and then offer only one path to Him...
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There are two differant thoughts here. You are right...God does celebrate diversity, we see it in humanity and in earthly creations. Praise to God for not making our life dull! :)
For me, I remember that God is much like my Dad. As a kid, he took me on trips, gave me gifts, played with me, etc., but when it came to discipline, he was serious and there was no varations of what was right and wrong--what's right and wrong IS right and wrong. God does want us to enjoy life by giving us diversity in creation, he wants us to have fun, but He is serious when it comes to how we live it and what is needed for salvation.
He makes it clear that Jesus is that path for salvation. Rom. 12: 5 says "...even though we are MANY individuals, Christ makes us ONE body and individuals who are connected to each other." God made us differant, but those differences fall under the umbrella of the one path of Christ. My husband speaks often of the 'essestials of Christianty', and it is agreed that there are essestials based on the Bible that a religion must believe in (and JWs don't have those) to be considered not a cult or false religion. Check out the mission statements of certain Christian churches--you'll notice a common thread about who and what they believe about Jesus. Things that are up for disagreement and debate--what happens in the end times, etc., that are not salvation issues are certainly up for various reasonings and that goes on in many churches. But NOT salvation issues. Anyone please e-mail me and we can discuss those salvation issues.
The bible repeats over and over oneness in Christ. Eph. 4:4 says "There is ONE body and ONE spirit. In the same way you were called to share ONE hope." Since Eph. 5:30 says "We are parts of His body." That means each person is differant, but that oneness in Christ must exist.
from the traffic i am receiveng from my website many xjws are tryiing to seek a relationship with jehovah and jesus, but don't belive the wt has the truth on what the bible teaches.. i have a club on yahoo for such xjws who exist.
it is called christian ex-jehovah's witnesses.
it is my ministry which is a christian out reach to jehovah's witnesses.. it is a postive, christian based group.
Great post! Having Christ in your life after the WT is a wonderful and enriching thing.
after much soul searching, i've decided to abandon this board.
i have learned a great deal, and what i've read has expanded my view.
so as i leave, i'll not be sorry for the time i spent here.
Sounds great Troubled! Hope to see you back one day soon! :)
What's "I LOVE PANTS THAT DON'T WEDGE"?? I was laughing so hard...talk about being creative...you guys are crazy! *LOL*
Joelbear/Radar: It's basically summed up with faith or non-faith.
I have faith in Jesus and the Bible based on creation, history, etc. That's me. If you don't have that faith, that's you. I can't bash you for it, I don't condemn you, I don't hate you, that's how you feel and I accept that.
No since arguing the un-arguable (is that a word??) since our foundations are on two totally separate starting points.
No anger, just no point in the mini debates on this particular thread about something we are totally opposite on! I'm moving on. :)
after much soul searching, i've decided to abandon this board.
i have learned a great deal, and what i've read has expanded my view.
so as i leave, i'll not be sorry for the time i spent here.
Goodbye Troubled!
I think you are a very kind person and I hope you will still visit the board from time to time.
Please take care...and don't take it as an offense but I will pray for you because you have a geniune heart and warm spirit. Hopefully you and your husband can finish the vacation you were on last week sometimes soon. Please take care!
With Love, Vienna :)
Mat. 9:32, 12:22, 17:18 and various accounts in the gospel show Jesus ordering out demons from people. He has power over them that the demons recognize and respond to, and as James 2:19 says, they "tremble with fear."
"The Spirit says clearly that in later times some believers will desert the Christian faith. They will follow spirits that deceive, and they will believe the teachings of demons." (1 Tim. 4:1) This is clearly going on, in light of the Ouija board and other forms that detract people from Christ. Jesus came in order for people to see God and in believing and putting faith in Him gain life. The message is not any more clearer than that.
over the weekend, various publishers/congregations were.
instructed to go out in service for a "special work".. some congregations received letters from circuit overseers.
emphasizing immediate use of old awake magazines with articles.
quote from Troubled:
My husband and I were on vacation when we heard about the disasters at the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. We cut our trip short and returned home.
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Did you fly home that same day? How hard was it to get flights out? You must of been pretty nervous to be on a plane after that had just happened. I feel your pain and sadness ((hug)). I'm glad you and your husband made it home okay.
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My thoughts after talking to my JW dad and reading posts from current JWs is that there are many Witnesses who feel truly awful about what happened on Tuesday. Going out in field service, they honestly feel they are doing an important work in comforting people.
That makes me the saddest of all.
To think that there are JWs who are encountering people at the doors and in light of what has happened this week--because people who don't know their bibles can't tell false from truth--they might be caught up in this false religion. Jesus makes that very clear in the bible--you need to receive Him in order to have etneral life. And knowing that people might be taken in by JWs at this emotional point in our history and not going to the true Jesus makes me want to cry all over again.
My hope is that people who are looking to God for answers not get caught up in the emotions of the moment, but do research and investigate what who the true God is and put faith in THAT God. I'm so sad my father is in a false religion, a cult, which is full of good people who don't understand (or care to investigate) truth.
If you have the right Jesus, you're right for all etnerity. If you have the wrong Jesus, you're wrong for all etnerity. Make no mistake about it. The JWs have the WRONG Jesus--as a Christain ex-JW, some days my heart is so heavy when I think about that that it makes me sad beyond words. Lives are at stake in our beliefs, because there is life beyond this earth.
