is there anything that you miss, since you don't belong to the jw's anymore?
friendship, family, or maybe just the feeling of belonging to some groupe that had you dreaming of a better world?
Having the future mapped out in a neat package. and yes the hope of never having to die. Now I have to study and research on my own. I don't have it spoon fed to me anymore. I had to grow up. Darn. But being grown up is not so bad and the uncertainties of life make life more of an adventure, so all in all its o.k. It's sort of like missing being a child and being taken care of by your parents. But we all have to grow up.
Loris
if you had to describe the faithful slave, information disseminating arm of the organization as having a singular, human personality, what would that personality be like?
would it not be that of a nagging mother?
how many "warnings" about apostates, the internet, satan, worldlies, workmates, people met while on vacation, satan, working too much, not putting forth enough effort, the media, slowing down, satan, entertainment, satan satan satan, etc.
Hi Dan, What you wrote reminded me of what I read in Chuck's Studies in the Scriptures. He was pretty far out in some of his "studies" but they do interest me in an historical sort of way. The WTS could learn from him if they examined his ideas. (oops they claim to be his spiritual decendents don't they) anyway, He was talking about how a virgin could not be a mother. (except Mary of course) Obviously the WTS missed this point.
Rev. 17:5 ) And let it not pass unobserved that both Romanists and Protestants now freely own the relationship of mother and daughters, the former continually styling herself the Holy Mother Church, and the latter, with pleased complacency, endorsing the idea, as shown by many public utterances of leading Protestant clergymen and laymen. Thus they [D29] "glory in their shame," apparently all unmindful of the brand which they thus accept from the Word of God, which designates the Papacy, as "the mother of harlots." Nor does the Papacy, in claiming her office of motherhood, ever seem to have questioned her right to that title, or to have considered its incompatibility with her profession still to be the only true church, which the Scriptures designate a "virgin" espoused to Christ. Her acknowledged claims of motherhood are to the everlasting shame of both herself and her offspring. The true Church, which God recognizes, but which the world knows not, is still a virgin; and from her pure and holy estate no daughter systems have ever sprung. She is still a chaste virgin, true to Christ, and dear to him as the apple of his eye. (Zech. 2:8; Psa. 17:6,8) The true Church cannot be pointed out anywhere as a company from which all the tares have been separated, but it consists only of the true "wheat," and all such are known unto God, whether the world recognizes them or not.
religious systems claiming to be either the espoused virgin or the bride of Christ, and yet courting the favor and receiving the support of the world, at the price of disloyalty to Christ.I like this quote, too.
For those who would obey this command to come out of Babylon, there is but one place of refuge; and that is, not in a new sect and bondage , but in "The secret place of the Most High"--the place or condition of entire consecration, typified by the Most Holy of the Tabernacle and Temple. (Psa. 91) "He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most [D44] High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty." And such may truly say in the midst of all the calamities of this evil day, "The Lord is my refuge and my fortress, my God: in him will I trust."
Here is a link to Chuck Russells "studies"
http://www.divineplan.org/studies/htdb0108.htm
I can't seem to control the font color. Now the underline is stuck.
Loris
check this out.
http://www.christianitytoday.com/le/2003/003/19.7.html .
jw's are the most likely to leave.
Check this out
http://www.christianitytoday.com/le/2003/003/19.7.html
JW's are the most likely to leave. I wonder why? Couldn't be lack of love. They say Jesus' followers would be known for their love.
Loris
last night i watched the abc special on the 40th anniversary of king's "i have a dream" speech.
a memory came back to me of the last district convention i attented.
it was in west palm beach (anyone ever been to the leake teepe?
I moved to Tampa in 1969 from California. The congos were segregated then (for safety's sake) I was appalled when a visiting speaker from Plant City, Florida made a reference to the N***** brothers in his talk. There were no "qualified" brothers in some black hall's so white elders were assigned. It really creeped me out (but not enough to leave).
Loris
i've often felt that the most objective person in a situation is the one who has no stake in the outcome.
this holds true to religious issues as well.
we all know freddie franz translated john 1:1 as "the word was [a] god" and the rest of the christian world flew through the roof.
Recently I posted my thoughts on this subject. I agree with Herk on this one. I feel that John was not refering to a person at all. The error begins with capitalizing the "W" and translating the particle as "him" instead of "it"
http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/10/57079/1.ashx
Jehovah promised, gave his word, that Abraham’s seed would come and the nations would be blessed. The promise was at long last flesh and his name was called Jesus. "The word [of God] became flesh, he lived among us, we saw his glory, the glory that he has from the Father as [the] only son of the Father, full of grace and truth." John 1:14 NJB
In the style of the Genesis account, And God proceeded to say, "Let the Messiah come to be." And there came to be the Messiah.
In the beginning the word was spoken and throughout the ages the word continued to be in the heart and mind of God, not forgotten. In fact it could be said that since the thing spoken in the beginning was such a sure thing and it was of such importance to him, that God was the word. Just as it can be said that, "God is love." and that "..God is light" 1 John 4:8, 1 John 1:5
Benjamin Wilson wrote The Emphatic Diaglott, an interlinear Greek to English translation. I personally feel that it is one of the best. He trusted the International Bible Students Association Watchtower Bible and Tract Society to publish it in 1942. Probably he hoped that it would become widely distributed. Foolish man. (Sorry I digress.)
Using Mr Wilson’s translation I present for your thoughtful consideration John 1:1. (he left ‘logos’ untranslated, I used ‘word’ in its place)
"In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and God was the word. This was in the beginning with God. Through it everything was done; and without it not even one thing was done, which has been done. In it was life; and life was the light of men. And the light shone in the darkness and the darkness apprehended it not."
John 1:14 reads "And the word became flesh, and dwelt among us, - and we beheld his glory, a glory as of an only-begotten from a father, - full of favor and truth."
Two simple things are different in this translation. The capital ‘W’ is not there and the Greek particle ‘autos’ is translated ‘it’ instead of ‘him.’ There is no justification for the ‘W’ or the ‘him’ except preconceived opinion and belief. An enormous amount of misunderstandings and arguments have been caused by those two small differences!
My two cents
Loris
i am disfellowshipped and recently went to the kh.
i have an older brother (32 yr) who i was very close with who desperately wants me to get reinstated.
or that i can't babysit your child.
Your reasoning is just as convoluted as that of the WTS. Makes perfect nonsense. There have been a few here that have been successful with a nullification of baptism route. Do a search. If you can prove that your baptism was invalid using their silly rules then go for it. That would make you a worldly unbeliever just like 99% of the worlds population. J-dubs talk to them every day.
Loris
i left the jw's when i was 19. it was not easy.
my father was an elder, i had an older brother who didn't seem that "spiritual" who was just very frightened by my father.
my father and i were especially close and no one expected me to leave.
Welcome Jill. Happy to see that you found what is important to believe in - yourself.
Yes the story was long but if you had left any part of it out we would have missed so much. Thanks for being long winded.
Be so very thankful that you woke up from the really bad dream so early in life. Some of us were not so fortunate. But that does not prevent even us oldsters from kicking up our heels in delight at our freedom.
Loris
" genesis 3:15 njb .
god had spoken; jehovah-jireh (jehovah will see to it).
" 1 kings 8:56 njb .
Sorry if it is too deep for some of you guys.
It was just a wild thought that I had, which I chased down. I have known people who get all wrought up about John 1:1 as though their life depended on whatever interpretation they held dear. My thought was, what if the original words were misunderstood all along. What if the verse is not referring to Jesus at all. What if it was the word of God and nothing more. There are at least a dozen scriptures that read "the word of God" and it is not referring to Jesus as a person. It is referring to the thing spoken by God or the sayings of God transmitted to humans and written down as scripture.
Translators of the Bible have for centuries, as long as there have been translators, slanted the translation to fit whatever pet doctrine they believed in.
I have other wild thoughts but I can see that the crowd here is not into deep Biblical discussion. That's ok. Some have been so burned by religion that the very thought gives them chills.
I went into the WTS because I like Biblical research and I thought they were into it too. NOT!! Just because I found out they lied is not going to dampen my desire to know all I can on the subject.
I love the whole lot of you on this board anyway. There is such a mix of likes and dislikes and personalities. A fun place to visit.
Loris
my..........very..... easy.. method ..just.... speeds... up.........naming... planets.
mercury ..venus... earth.. mars ....jupiter .saturn.... uranus... neptune.. pluto .
..and in the correct order from the sun!.
Mary Visits Every Morning Just Stays Until Noon Period
Mercury ..Venus... Earth.. Mars ....Jupiter.. .Saturn.... Uranus... Neptune.. Pluto
Loris who knows only clean acronyms.
we went out to eat with my daughter and husband tonight and on the way back i counted the churches on the 16 mile streach of road home.
there were 18 churches that were on this one road.
can you imagine the money that goes to pay the preachers and buy the buildings?
The poorer the community in the south the churchier they are. I spent a year in Arkansas and I have never seen so many churches. We would be driving down a dusty back road exploring the area and there in the middle of nowhere would be a little one room church. Less than a mile farther would be another one.
Loris
