Posts by JamesThomas

160

"The organisation is imperfect, but it doesn't affect my relationship with Jehovah"

by Alive! in

i've noted active, devoted jw's state the above.. and, it's not a problem for me to remain trusting of god, i just don't trust religions or men.. recently, a member of this forum stated that he remains an active jw, in the family of god's people, wanting to encourage and do good - whilst recognising that the pastoral leaders (the gb) have shipwrecked the faith of many, being unsound scripturally etc, etc.. stop and think about this - the bible says to not follow after those who lie and hurt the faith of "little ones".. the pharisees were accused of traversing over lands and expending much energy to make a single convert - only for that convert to end up worse of than he started off with.. it's one thing to not believe this is the 'truth' and feeling the awful pressure of managing ones life, trying not to lose ones family.. it's quite another thing to declare oneself to be a christian believer of god's jw household, and somehow believe the god of love would use corrupt liars to parade as jesus' brothers in the urgency of last days.

really?

and, to then visibly promote faith in corrupt men, and try to bring converts into a place where the rulership is wrong.. some of us are dying from hurt here.......give me a break..

JamesThomas

When people surrender their life to a primitive tribal deity created by ignorant sheep herders thousands of years ago, don't expect any sane activity to follow.

12

Christ in You The Hope of Glory:Being Realized

by hopeofglory in

the mystery of the ages was revealed to the gentiles 2000 years ago.

the mystery is "christ in you, the hope of glory" (colossians 1:27).

the churches do not and never will teach this even though it was revealed to the gentiles.

JamesThomas

The mystery of the ages was revealed way before 2000 years ago. Restrictive time tables and names is only a product of the story-telling mind.

That said, Hopeofglory, I feel your core message is a very noble one. However, the language of Christian mysticism is extremely awkward and often contradictory. Why use the Bible and its phraseology in an attempt at a pure message when the book itself is so full of crap? It is also an extremely confusing exercise in non-duality via duality.

What you are trying to convey ultimately has nothing to do with religion or belief systems at all, so why use language that is overly loaded with preconceived concepts and strong held beliefs? Why muddy the waters? Saying nothing, may be more productive (IMHO).

Perhaps it is best to focus on ourselves; and if we see we are standing on a soapbox delivering an earthshaking message, it is likely a huge ego at play, and we have made no real progress at all.

Better to be like a salt doll thrown in a river.

Does this make any sense?

16

The Bible Does Not Say - But ...

by berrygerry in

painfully reading an article of may 15, 2015 (extra-simplified edition) and again observed this phraseology: the bible does not say, but .... so, did satan hope to tempt her with the luxurious palaces of pharaoh and abimelech?

did satan think that she would betray her husband and even jehovah by marrying one of those kings?

the bible does not say, but it is very likely that the devil would have been overjoyed if sarah had lost the opportunity to become part of the messiahs family line.. .

JamesThomas

There are 33,000+ different Christian denominations and likely no two interpret the words in the Bible the same. Little wonder so many run to the Bible for “truth” as you can pretty much adapt it to say whatever you want it to.........but then – that's pretty much the antithesis of truth.

10

With Jehovah's HELP

by B4Right in

how many times have you said that phrase?.

how often have you heard it in conversation with the friends?.

how often have you heard it in talks?.

JamesThomas

When we, like most people, confuse thoughts and beliefs generated by the mind as 'reality' then asking help from a imaginary deity created by ancient desert tribesmen may appear to make sense.

However, if we have let-go all beliefs and ideas regarding a God/Truth/Source, and have awakened to the indescribably genuine and vibrant presence of Life in and around us, then there is no reason or need to reach-out to the make-believe.

10

A Toast to Windchimes

by DarioKehl in

i recently researched on jw dot org why toasts are not allowed.

in the article, they candidly admit that wedding bands also have pagan origins, but their modern understanding trumps this fact since they serve another function: signifying whether or not a person is married.

same with neck ties, i guess (although their pagan origins were not mentioned in the article).

JamesThomas

When we replace the living reality of life with ideas, words and beliefs from a book(s) or magazines, then our 'life' becomes extremely narrow and subtracts most everything.

A wise question may be: in what ways am I doing that now?

48

The shift: from follower to wanting to leave

by paradisebeauty in

this week has been the week when my whole way of thinking shifted.

i still cannot believe how this can happen so fast.

over a period of seven days i went from not even imagining that i could ever not be a witness to wanting to get out of this organisation.. .

JamesThomas

Paradise,

You wisely mentioned your “shift in thinking” and “change in ideas”. Will you be content with exchanging old thoughts and ideas for different ones, or is there a deeper change or 'awakening' ahead?

As a JW we derive a great deal of our identity from the words (thoughts and ideas) written on the pages of the Bible, and other peoples interpretations of these words. As non-JW's we generally formulate our identity out of more or less different interpretations, thoughts and ideas. Our story may change, but we remain living a story.

Perhaps it is time for the real shift; or at least know that there is such a thing.

7

JW unwittingly shares article PROMOTING pot smoking

by cappytan in

jw
friends

so, my wife is surfing facebook today.

comes across a post by a jw "friend" of ours titled "8 scientific reasons you should never smoke weed.".

it turns out to be an article actually showing evidence to the contrary!

JamesThomas

Could the "friend' have been aware of the playful subterfuge, and just posted it for fun?

24

Impossible conversation: Jesus and Nicodemus: YOU MUST BE BORN AGAIN

by Terry in

i am a member on new testament scholar bart ehrman's blog, and the professor is currently outlining a new book he is writing about false memory and the life of jesus.. an interesting post occurred today in which he gives an example of a very famous scripture,.

example of a false memory of jesus teaching i turn to a famous passage in the gospel of john, jesus dialogue with nicodemus (john 3:1-15).

nicodemus is said to be a jewish leader who comes up to jesus and affirms that jesus must come from god because of the great things that he said to have done.

JamesThomas

Perhaps the core problem with religious beliefs is that all they amount to are memories. Memories being mere mental concepts that are results of some mental activity weaving a story that we then unquestionably accept as 'reality' or 'truth'. In other words, they are make-believe imagery, light-years removed from Reality. But we insanely keep embracing and supporting them as if they are genuine.

It's so simple, no one sees it. We live, blind to existence.

24

"What will I do if I leave Jehovah's Witnesses ?"

by Balaamsass2 in

whenever we visit the board we see a lot of angst among jehovah's witnesses who are just learning the tatt (the truth about the truth).

hey, don't feel bad, we had it at one time ourselves.

"angst means fear or anxiety (anguish is its latinate equivalent, and anxious, anxiety are of similar origin).

JamesThomas

OUTLAW, you said more in one word, then I did in all my mumblings.

24

"What will I do if I leave Jehovah's Witnesses ?"

by Balaamsass2 in

whenever we visit the board we see a lot of angst among jehovah's witnesses who are just learning the tatt (the truth about the truth).

hey, don't feel bad, we had it at one time ourselves.

"angst means fear or anxiety (anguish is its latinate equivalent, and anxious, anxiety are of similar origin).

JamesThomas

We may find at the root of the causes of personal angst around leaving the Witnesses – other than personal family ties and social issues – is the mental dynamics of our cherished beliefs about 'God'.

Can it be seen that all religious beliefs regarding a 'God', are nothing but that? Nothing but beliefs?

Beliefs are only mind-generated concepts and ideas that are far removed from the reality of life and existence. So, my suggestion as to “what will I do?” is to first clearly see that every thought you have about what is “Truth”, and/or what is “God”, in nothing more than an abstract mental construct, and not genuine reality at all. Not Truth. Then, it may become obvious what you do next.

What you do from then on is spend less time in your mind and its thoughts and conceptual notions about life, and spend more time with LIFE.

You can not imagine the weight that leaves you when you let go of all the massive mental collection of “what life is all about”, and silently just be with life instead.

Find out what it is like to really be present and attentive to the embrace of nature in and around you. Let it fill the void in you that caused you to create a make-believe “God” in the first place.

Be still, and know...