"he is the image of the invisible god, the firstborn of all creation; because by means of him all [other] things were created in the heavens and upon the earth, the things visible and the things invisible, no matter whether they are thrones or lordships or governments or authorities.
all [other] things have been created through him and for him.
" (col. 1:15-17, for context.
Designs: Progress in religion by heretics - trying to get my head around that one.
Every service I attend ends with "Go therefore to people of all nations, teaching them to obey ('observe' is a NWT red herring) all the things I have
commanded you. Go then in peace, to love and serve the Lord." No additonal progress (not sure what you mean by progress) or extras needed. The sayings
that lead to eternal life have already been spoken.
i just found out that a good friend of mine has past,after a long sickness.
she had the strength and the moral fibre to call herself a servant of the most high.
don,t look into your own inflictions for it is a path well traveled lited with broken life's but look at the good that you can do right now.
Sorry you are mourning the loss of this lady.
I am preparing for the inevitable death of my aged jw mother who is very frail due to alcohol addiction.She has shunned me and her only grand-daughters for the last 2 and a half years. I will not go to her k hall funeral or join the jw mourners at her graveside but will place some flowers there later that same evening with a card reading,
"My mum, who died faithful to 7 men in Brooklyn".
It really annoyed me when my mother would menacingly ask within 2 minutes of visiting her, "have you DONE the days text?" or "we DO the days text in the evening". What constitutes 'DOING' it', I ask myself? The majority (I have to admit, me included) just read it in 20 seconds flat to be able to bring a point of it up with their service partner to show that they had indeed DONE it. Then enjoying the superiority feelings if the other hadn't.
The inevitable asterisk at the bottom of a watchtower paragraph, "see wt 15/4/00(2) paras 5,6." Then an elderette or spinster with arm stretched immediately heavenwards dying to be picked because they had 'researched' it. Groan inwardly.
Or elderly, poorly educated Sis Dimwit who had looked up the word 'exacerbate' in the dictionary and then merely repeated the definition word for word and nothing else for her answer.
We took to doodling in the margins during the wt 'study' for ages before we left. A firm favourite was a Furbie drawn to perfection by my husband saying, "mmmm boring....."
I wonder what wt 15/4/00(2) paras 5,6 actually says? Or was it written 4/15/00...
watchtower uses the following twisted logic to equate receiving a blood transfusion, with feeding on blood:.
feeding is sometimes done by injecting nutrients intravenously.. blood transfusions are carried out by injecting blood intravenously.. therefore the intravenous injecting of blood can be equated with feeding intravenously.. hence, true christians refuse blood transfusions in order to obey the biblical command to "abstain from blood".. now notice how the same kind of twisted logic leads to the equating of an invasive examination by a gynecologist, with sexual intercourse:.
sexual intercourse is often done by inserting the penis into the vagina.. certain invasive examinations by a gynecologist is done by inserting an instrument into the vagina.. therefore such invasive gynecological examinations can be equated with sexual intercourse.. hence, true christians refuse such gynecological examinations that are performed by someone to whom they're not married, in order to obey the biblical command to "abstain from fornication".. it's the same kind of twisted reasoning, isn't it?
By the same token, a pregnant jw should therefore request a caesarian birth or it may be concluded
she is a paedophile. Vomit-inducing watchtower cult.
http://bayfiles.net/file/1jpu5/qhxxxl/w_e20141115.pdf.
select "premium download".
(thanks breakfast of champions).
"He will send out his angels and they will gather His chosen ones, even from one end of the universe to the other". "At the coming of the Son of Man, two men will
be in the field: one will be taken and one will be left". Amp bible. How the heck do jws equate with this? - its even in their lousy NWT for God's sake.
Jws don't even hold the hope of going on the 'Jesus ride'. They look like here like they've been 'rounded up' and are being made to listen to a set of less than joyful rules.
- oh yes, the new world order has indeed 'arrived' for them.
i believe in god but i'm not sure of anything....what about you?.
Believer. Tendency 'strengthening'.
please don't take this the wrong way if your battling weight problems, that's not what this thread is meant to talk about.
i am asking this question because jehovah's witnesses claim they have "the best way of life", "god's blessing", "the truth" and are trying to change the habits of healthy people by turning them in to their own makings.
i watched people who were great athletes turn all their muscle in to fat because we would get a elder or circuit overseer make remarks they were spending too much time "working out" and "bodily training is beneficial for little".
I remember the result of a survey done in the 90s, which concluded that the highest rate of M.E sufferers (Chronic Fatigue Syndrome - can be extremely debilitating) was shared between one other group (forgot who) and female Jehovah's Witnesses aged 18 - 40.
We had 3 female sufferers back then in the cong. (One genuine case, she was bed-ridden - the other two seemed able to turn it off and on at will - one used to lie on a reclining bed-chair at the back of the k hall, then when the meeting ended, folded it up herself and drove herself home. The other also lay flat out for the 2 hours she was occasionally present as well. As she was my sister-in-law, I know she found it quite easy to sit on a hard backless bar stool all evening at the pub getting rather 'plastered').
Alchoholism is a real hidden problem too. My 84 year old mother, a jw for 57 years has been an alcoholic for the last 40 of them (since my Dad died - she was convinced she would 'have him back' within a couple of years. The PO used to visit her around 11am off the ministry and she used to hide her glass of whiskey- one of several a day - between her armchair and the sideboard! This must still happen. I used to 'counsel' her on her drinking - it was so frustrating, she used to slur whilst glaring at me, "I can find my nosshe with my indecks finger, zo I'm not drunk".)
I knew at least three more, one a girl of 19 (she happily recovered very quickly when an MS asked her out (good job that prior he had never 'worked' with her on a Saturday morning as her breath could have ignited a match) - they eventually married). Also two married women in their early 40s. One of these had sadly contacted Hepatitis B via a forced- upon- her BT when she was a child. She married at 19 but due to her medical condition she 'had' to wait until the Noo Sistem to have kids. Hit 40, could have adopted in the meantime but resolutely declined - convinced one day 'soon' she would have her own, then suddenly realised at that age she may possibly never become a mother either way and spiralled into deep depression and alcoholism. The other was a circuit 'Barbie' in the 90s, who one day woke up and it was her 40th birthday. At 18 she thought she would never see 25. Now she herself had an 18 year old daughter and wore tighter dresses and higher heels than her daughter whilst they both 'paraded' at the assemblies, still trying to 'compete'.
in the 80's and 90's (maybe even earlier) i remember hearing lots of witnesses talk about "demon attacks".
whether it was someone studying the bible who then started having strange things happen in their house to people bringing stuff home from yard sales and getting personal attacks and horrible dreams resulting in them dystroying stuff they brought home or getting rid of it.. .
i also remember hearing a sister say she had to pray in a home with a study because the study started to get attacked.
Mikado: We are simply pointing out the impossibility of it being demons.
Yeah, just keep telling yourself that.
"he is the image of the invisible god, the firstborn of all creation; because by means of him all [other] things were created in the heavens and upon the earth, the things visible and the things invisible, no matter whether they are thrones or lordships or governments or authorities.
all [other] things have been created through him and for him.
" (col. 1:15-17, for context.
If you are a person who does not believe in the doctrines of Christianity, the bible, God etc that's fine with me - hope you found what you personally were seeking.
However, it makes me smile when I observe some unbelievers who go to great pains (and not a little time and effort) to discredit Jesus, Paul and the bible etc by QUOTING Jesus, Paul and the bible! This should be against the rules of the dissent game. Your arguments must be bible-free to keep it fair. If you believe the bible to be a total crock of manure from Genesis to Revelation, you cannot then also cherry-pick verses to use to add fuel to your anti fire because what you find there seems to underscore your 'argument'.
I believe 'evolution' (perhaps its not called that any more) to be baloney but don't start quoting from various at-odds-with-each-other-theory 'bibles' on the subject to fuel dissenting speech aimed at its adherants. I couldn't care less what's written in them and their authors, because I'm not in the least interested in the subject and therefore don't own or down-load any.
But if this 'belief' system floats someone else's boat then let them sail it. They studied what they studied and became convinced. Christians have done the same (convincing themselves personally) to build their own faith structure. Why should this bother unbelievers so, who themselves have left the 'God business' behind?
this was one of the things that first got me thinking.
i noticed how in books like "draw close to jehovah" they paint god as a loving, warm, just god who does not desire any to die.
i could not love him at all, let alone with my whole heart.
Cofty: You used the word "nice"! Your 360 degree turnaround regarding Jesus shocks me to the core. But if you're happy.....live and let live.
