Posts by Island Man

38

Walk into your Kingdom Hall and tell us what you saw !

by RULES & REGULATIONS in

this was me driving into the parking lot and into the kingdom hall:.

every week the same brothers and sisters are late getting to the meeting.

elders are talking with other elders ( who always have notes and folders in their hands).

Island Man

Elders dutifully giving token greetings to everyone at the hall. Brothers and sisters do the same. Then they all go over to their own particular clique members to engage them in conversation.

Gratuitous, plastic displays of affection that boastfully scream: "See how loving we are? That proves we're the true religion!"

Then there are the reading comprehension exercises that we all did back in primary school. The paragraphs are read then people "answer" questions by just re-reading what was just read in the paragraphs. How stimulating!

11

February 2014 Kingdom Ministry (KM - 02/2014 PDF)

by WatchTower87 in

news!!!.

http://adf.ly/aggvc km - 02/2014 pdf.

instruction: press the 'skip ad' button top right, you should then see the download screen more easily.

Island Man

When engaging in public witnessing using a table or a
cart, publishers should not display Bibles. However, they may
have Bibles available to offer to individuals who request one
or who demonstrate sincere interest in the truth.

What's all that about?

I have a feeling it's all about them wanting to advertise the organization. WTBTS literature advertises the supposed insight and knowledge of the organization. The bible advertises God and Jesus. Since their ultimate objective is getting people into the organization, the bible must take a back seat to the organization's literatrash.

29

Who is the FDS class from midweek meeting....last night

by Legacy in

last night we had our midweek meeting.

the bible reading was from "who is doing jehovah's will....the part where they asked who was the fds.

i thought because of the past sept. wt, every hand would go up....all you heard were crickets.

Island Man

Also even though the brochure is from 2012, it seems to already be in line with the then-future new light in its ambiguous description of who the slave is.

That brochure was realeased in 2012. The new light on the faithful and discreet slave was first made public at the annual general meeting in October of 2012. It is very possible that the governing body had come to the new understanding months before revealing it at the AGM, and therefore possible that the brochure was deliberately written in a vague way as to not contradict the new understanding that was about to be revealed.

23

Have JWs and other Christians completely missed the point of Matthew 24:4-8?

by Island Man in

many people think those verses are suggesting that the wars, earthquakes, food shortages, etc are all a sign that the end is imminent.

however, a careful examination of the context seems to suggest that jesus was actually forewarning his followers not to draw such a conclusion from such events.

see this interesting article on the subject:.

Island Man

Rattigan350:

To ask whether anyone missed the point, one must know the point as a reference.

What makes your reference any better than anyone elses?

From the context, it is apparent that the point of Matthew 24:4-8, was to caution his disciples against drawing wrong conclusions about the imminence of the end based on natural and social upheavals. Cautioning his followers against being misled by premature proclamations of the end, was clearly uppermost on Jesus' mind when answering his followers. What makes my reference better? It more accurately harmonizes with the entire context of Matthew 24 and recorded history (In case you haven't noticed, great earthquakes, wars, food shortages, pestilences, etc have all been relatively ubiquitous recurring incidences for many centuries now and yet the supposed end that they're supposed to portend (according to the traditional interpretation of those verses) has not occurred yet)

36

What are the best questions?

by MissyM in

jw
friends

what would you say are the best questions to ask a jw which they will not be able to answer and may make them question their beliefs?.

what (if you are a former jw) made you question the "truth"?.

Island Man

"You know, the Reasoning Book has a very interesting section on False Prophets and how to identify them. But I found one thing odd: Nowhere in that entire section is Deuteronomy 18:21,22 cited, quoted or discussed. It's hard to believe it was just a mere oversight because Deuteronomy 18:20 is discussed! So why did they go out of their way to omit discussing verses 21 and 22?"

36

What are the best questions?

by MissyM in

jw
friends

what would you say are the best questions to ask a jw which they will not be able to answer and may make them question their beliefs?.

what (if you are a former jw) made you question the "truth"?.

Island Man

"In luke 21:8, Jesus told his followers not to go after those claiming "the time is at hand" (according to ESV). You know, C.T. Russel actually made predictions to that effect. In fact he even wrote a book with such predictions entitled "The Time Is At Hand!". How exactly does Jesus' warning not apply to following him and following an organization started by him and which went on to make other "time is at hand" predictions long after his death?"

36

What are the best questions?

by MissyM in

jw
friends

what would you say are the best questions to ask a jw which they will not be able to answer and may make them question their beliefs?.

what (if you are a former jw) made you question the "truth"?.

Island Man

"Since God's spirit directed imperfect bible writers to record a flawless collection of books - the bible - don't we have valid reason to expect that a spirit directed organization of imperfect men would also publish flawless spiritual food? Why is Jehovah's spirit incapable of doing for the organization what it did for imperfect bible writers of old?"

29

Who is the FDS class from midweek meeting....last night

by Legacy in

last night we had our midweek meeting.

the bible reading was from "who is doing jehovah's will....the part where they asked who was the fds.

i thought because of the past sept. wt, every hand would go up....all you heard were crickets.

Island Man

I will go tonight and see the reaction. LOL.

23

Have JWs and other Christians completely missed the point of Matthew 24:4-8?

by Island Man in

many people think those verses are suggesting that the wars, earthquakes, food shortages, etc are all a sign that the end is imminent.

however, a careful examination of the context seems to suggest that jesus was actually forewarning his followers not to draw such a conclusion from such events.

see this interesting article on the subject:.

Island Man

Many people think those verses are suggesting that the wars, earthquakes, food shortages, etc are all a sign that the end is imminent. However, a careful examination of the context seems to suggest that Jesus was actually forewarning his followers not to draw such a conclusion from such events. See this interesting article on the subject:

http://meletivivlon.com/2012/12/18/wars-and-reports-of-wars-a-red-herring/

7

Never to be forgotten statements by Christians!

by fulltimestudent in

jw
friends

.

" to assert that the earth revolves around the sun is as erroneus as to claim that jesus was not born of a virgin.".

cardinal bellarmine, 1633.

Island Man

fulltimestudent, I think that history has vindicated Cardinal Bellarmine. Read his statement again very carefully. Read it the same way you would read a smart alec statement like this refuting flat-earthism:

"To assert that the earth is round is as erroneus as to claim that there isn't a pink elephant floating around in this room." (In other words, it is not erroneous to assert that the earth is round. )

In the same vein, it could be argued that, rather than asserting the heliocentric theory to be false, Cardinal Bellarmine was comparing the validity of the heliocentric theory with the validity of the claim that Jesus was not born of a virgin. He was unwittingly accurate in his comparison. History has turned his statement born out of ignorance and naivety into a great work of snynicism, where he posthumously validates the very thing he sought to discredit.