Posts by Surreptitious

7

Quality Of Life Musings..

by Englishman in

jw
friends

when we were witnesses, we didn't worry much about the quality of our lives.

we were concerned for our survival, and for the survival of our loved one's, but we didn't pay much attention to our own personal happiness, believing that our desires for material things and delights were satanic in origin.. things are different now though!

after i departed the jw's it took me many years to appreciate that being in a loving relationship with a special person, is not, in itself, enough, whether that "special person" is our god or our lover, and that there was much more required in our lives before we can feel a sense of contentment.

Surreptitious

Matthew 6:34

18

Something to get off my chest!

by obiwan in

well i've been here for over a year now and it's been great, extremely helpful.

i have made new friends and found a place where i feel i belong, people with like minds.. anyway, 6 months before i started posting here my life was in the crapper or so i thought.

i have maintained an assumption here that i'm single.

Surreptitious

Obiwan, you dirty rat! You summa batch! This whole time I thought you loved me. This whole time I thought there was a future for us. Why? Why why why? How could you do this to me???? I'll never forgive you. Uh.......wait a second.....I may have the wrong person here......... nevermind.

34

Do FULL MOONS....make men horny?

by gumby in

jw
friends

yes ,yes, this is an odd topic for me i know but i just gotta ask!

it seems a full moon does somthin......i mean really does somthin!.

whats the deal?

Surreptitious

The question is, does a full horn make men moony?

41

What was he doing?

by Ariell in

jw
friends

for those of you who believe in god, and i know this may sound like a silly question, but what was he doing before he created jesus, the first thing he ever made.

we're talking an eternity here.

zillions upon zillions of years.

Surreptitious

Why couldn't god have created billions of planets each with billions of inhabitants. If only one of them stayed loyal to him then the question of universal sovereignty would have been solved without all the suffering.

He did. The universal sovreignty issue has been settled in those universes.

why doesn't he just spell out "There Is A God" in the clouds in the sky

Some would say that he has done just that.

147

586/587 the K.I.S.S. approach --- no VAT4956, Ptolemy, Josephus needed

by Alleymom in

nabonidus -- 17 years.

nebuchadnezzar -- 43 years.

nabonidus -- 17 years

Surreptitious

Marjorie,

Your posts were as Jimmy Walker would say, DY-NO-MITE!!!

The facts are irrefutable and you have a writing style that is fluent and easy to read and understand.

I understand where IW is coming from. There are many who operate (and will continue to operate) on "blind faith" regardless of....well, regardless of anything. This of course does not make them right and I don't think that IW was trying to say that. Just that as the old adage states, "You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink."

This in no way negates the information that you presented. It was and remains quite excellent. I hope to hear more and more from you!

Syrup

29

The Bibles Viewpoint - Does God Change?

by Surreptitious in

the bibles viewpoint.

does god change?.

anthropologist george dorsey described the god of the "old testament" as "a savage god.

Surreptitious

Aztec did WHAT with a Huitzilopochtli???

29

The Bibles Viewpoint - Does God Change?

by Surreptitious in

the bibles viewpoint.

does god change?.

anthropologist george dorsey described the god of the "old testament" as "a savage god.

Surreptitious

The Bible’s Viewpoint

Does

God Change?

ANTHROPOLOGIST George Dorsey described the God of the "Old Testament" as "a savage God." He added: "Yahweh is . . . utterly unlovely. He is the God of plunderers, of torturers, of warriors, of conquest." Others have reached similar conclusions regarding the God of the "Old Testament"—Yahweh, or Jehovah. Thus, some today wonder whether Jehovah was in fact a cruel God who eventually changed his character to become the loving and merciful God of the "New Testament."

Such an idea about the God of the Bible is not new. It was first propounded by Marcion, a semi-Gnostic of the second century C.E. Marcion repudiated the God of the "Old Testament." He considered that God to be violent and vindictive, a tyrant who offered material rewards to those worshiping him. On the other hand, Marcion described the "New Testament" God—as revealed through Jesus Christ—as a perfect God, a God of pure love and mercy, of graciousness and forgiveness.

Jehovah

Meets the Challenge of Changing Conditions

God’s very name, Jehovah, means "He Causes to Become." This implies that Jehovah causes himself to become the Fulfiller of all his promises. When Moses asked God his name, Jehovah elaborated on its meaning in this way: "I shall prove to be what I shall prove to be." (Exodus 3:14) Rotherham’s translation puts it this way: "I Will Become whatsoever I please."

So Jehovah chooses to become, or proves to be, whatever is needed to fulfill his righteous purposes and promises. An evidence of this is the fact that he bears a wide array of titles and descriptive terms: Jehovah of armies, Judge, Sovereign, Jealous, Sovereign Lord, Creator, Father, Grand Instructor, Shepherd, Hearer of prayer, Repurchaser, happy God, and many others. He has chosen to become all of these—and much more—in order to carry out his loving purposes.—Exodus 34:14; Judges 11:27; Psalm 23:1; 65:2; 73:28; 89:26; Isaiah 8:13; 30:20; 40:28; 41:14; 1 Timothy 1:11.

Does this mean, then, that God’s personality or standards change? No. Regarding God, James 1:17 says: "With him there is not a variation of the turning of the shadow." How could God meet the challenge of varying circumstances while remaining unchanging himself?

The example of caring parents who shift roles for the sake of their children illustrates how this is possible. In the course of a single day, a parent may be a cook, a housekeeper, an electrician, a nurse, a friend, a counselor, a teacher, a disciplinarian, and much more. The parent does not change personality when assuming these roles; he or she simply adapts to needs as they arise. The same is true of Jehovah but on a far grander scale. There is no limit to what he can cause himself to become in order to fulfill his purpose and to benefit his creatures.—Romans 11:33.

For example, Jehovah is revealed as a God of love and mercy in both the Hebrew and the Christian Greek Scriptures. The prophet Micah of the eighth century B.C.E. asked about Jehovah: "Who is a God like you, one pardoning error and passing over transgression of the remnant of his inheritance? He will certainly not hold onto his anger forever, for he is delighting in loving-kindness." (Micah 7:18) Similarly, the apostle John wrote the famous words: "God is love."—1 John 4:8.

On the other hand, in both parts of the Bible, Jehovah is presented as the righteous Judge of those who repeatedly, grossly, and unrepentantly violate his laws and harm others. "All the wicked ones [Jehovah] will annihilate," said the psalmist. (Psalm 145:20) In a similar vein, John 3:36 states: "He that exercises faith in the Son has everlasting life; he that disobeys the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God remains upon him."

Unchanging

in Qualities

Jehovah’s personality and cardinal qualities—love, wisdom, justice, and power—have not changed. He told the people of Israel: "I am Jehovah; I have not changed." (Malachi 3:6) This was some 3,500 years after God’s creation of mankind. True to that divine statement, a close examination of the Bible as a whole reveals a God who is unchanging in his standards and qualities. There has been no mellowing of Jehovah God’s personality during the centuries, since no such mellowing was needed.

God’s firmness for righteousness, as revealed throughout the Bible, is no less nor his love any greater than it was at the beginning of his dealings with humans in Eden. The differences in his personality seemingly demonstrated in various parts of the Bible are in reality different aspects of the same unchanging personality. These result from the differing circumstances and persons dealt with, which called for different attitudes or relationships.

Hence, the Scriptures show clearly that God’s personality has not changed over the centuries and will not change in the future. Jehovah is the supreme embodiment of constancy and consistency. At all times he is dependable and trustworthy. We can always rely on him.

32

l'escargot

by Englishman in

jw
friends

how do you prefer your escargot's?.

with butter and garlic sauce or without?.

i like them with butter and garlic with a sprinkling of parsley too.. englishman.

Surreptitious

So this snail goes down to the local Datsun dealer and falls in love with a brand new 240-Z. He says, "Listen, I'd like to buy this car and I'm paying cash but I wonder if you could do me a favor? I am a snail after all so could you take the Z off the side and replace it with a big S?" The dealer says, "Sure thing! Anything for a cash customer!" So the car is fitted with the big S, the snail pays his money, hops in the car and roars out of the parking lot at 90 MPH. The dealer looks at his partner and says, "Man! Would you look at that S car go!"

45