Posts by bebu

52

Where are you going when you die?

by Mystery in

a questions that has been on my mind for 20+ years that i have been away.. and more recently - a friend of my sons was killed.

he ask me "mom where are you going when you die?

" i am worried because if you die, i don't know where you are going.

bebu

I recall an interesting illustration. Suppose an unborn child was trying to figure out what use there was for his developing arms, legs, eyes and ears. In a small, dark womb there is no place to run, nothing he could create, see or hear (except dimly). To this child, being born could be a fearful event, leaving what is familiar. Yet, what doesn't make sense in the womb makes sense for our lives after being born: our legs were not useless, afterall; neither are our eyes, ears, and hands.

Likewise, I think that we are able to choose in this life whether we wish to gain wisdom, to follow and value righteousness, and to choose the path of loving those who we come across in our lives. These traits, if we wish to "develop" them, are what make us capable of enjoying life with God after we die. How could we expect to suddenly enjoy righteousness, when on earth we scorned it? God honors the choices we make in our hearts.

I believe that Christ is the firstfruits of the dead, and the door has been opened now for anyone at anytime/place, to enter heaven if their deepest desire is to seek truth, justice, righteousness, and love. Those are the ones who can love God; it isn't a theological test.

God recognizes our hearts, and in that moment we see him, we will understand our hearts as well. I think that our reaction to God will instantly be either one of utter love, or desparate fear, no matter what our background might be. We make the decision daily, whether we will be born healthy or stillborn, in God's world. (We didn't get this chance to choose the first time 'round.)

This might explain (as someone pointed out earlier) why so many keep connecting (in some way) the need for goodness to having salvation. I see it this way: God knows we don't have goodness--so all He asks is that we WANT it, so He can give it to us. And we have to be able to humble ourselves, to admit we don't have it, and do so yearn for it.

Sorry for the long post.

bebu

14

Do you Represent God or a Magazine Company ????????????????

by nightwarrior in

the question of whos faith , built the j.w organization ,as we know charles taz russell the founding member, whom started the organization,what did he beleive in,why was he considerd apostate ,what conections astrology of and pyramidology led him to use the pyramids as defining the dates jehovahs witnesess recognise as being evident in there calculations,did jesus use the stars to calculate any significant events pertaining to mans future, why was the founding farther terminated by the society, why were most of his written works suddenly deemed apostate,e.g the aid book ,used when i came into the truth or so called truth ,what is the difference between a magazine printing company and the modern day watchtower organization, one claims to work in gods name ,the other doesnot make any claims at all.. is your faith in jesus or the organization /???

check out the founding farthers history,.

as you owe it to yourself.are you really serving jehovah or just a magazine money mad organization.

bebu

Thanks Ed, Gamaliel, and Minimus! I really appreciate your time and help. I will find out if my neighbor has this book at all, and find out what she thinks about it... just to find out if she has any opinion...

Hey, Gamaliel, I really enjoy all your posts! You have invaluable insight. And I especially appreciate how respectful you are of everyone, even those you disagree with. You chose a good moniker.

Mrs N: I have often wondered how people could equate a periodical with the the eternal Word of God. And then turn it into a business... !

bebu

14

Do you Represent God or a Magazine Company ????????????????

by nightwarrior in

the question of whos faith , built the j.w organization ,as we know charles taz russell the founding member, whom started the organization,what did he beleive in,why was he considerd apostate ,what conections astrology of and pyramidology led him to use the pyramids as defining the dates jehovahs witnesess recognise as being evident in there calculations,did jesus use the stars to calculate any significant events pertaining to mans future, why was the founding farther terminated by the society, why were most of his written works suddenly deemed apostate,e.g the aid book ,used when i came into the truth or so called truth ,what is the difference between a magazine printing company and the modern day watchtower organization, one claims to work in gods name ,the other doesnot make any claims at all.. is your faith in jesus or the organization /???

check out the founding farthers history,.

as you owe it to yourself.are you really serving jehovah or just a magazine money mad organization.

bebu

Am I reading this right??

Do you mean to say that the WT has published books that they now consider apostate?? Or is that an overstatement? THAT IS AMAZING, if true.

Not having the JW background, there are some books I don't recognize yet. The ones Gamaliel mentioned are among them.

Could someone clarify this for me? And, could you give dates as to when these were published, and when they were called "apostate"?

Thanks so much,

bebu

11

I took Communion today..........

by Dawn in

jw
friends

.

it felt very weird not passing the plate on empty handed - almost like those dreams where you are in school and realize you have forgotten your clothes

bebu

Congratulations, Dawn!

I read my husband the thread up till now, and reminded him that JWs aren't supposed to take part in the communion unless they KNOW (somehow!?!) that they're of the annointed.

His response, "Wow, they take 'Passover' quite literally, don't they?!"

I'm glad that you are enjoying your rights as a member of the body of Christ! (((hug)))

bebu

16

Wanted: King of the North

by metatron in

employment opportunity for aggressive candidate.

"king of the north" needed to fufill fading hopes of apocalyptic cult.. applicant should be aggressive, willing to discipline actions to pre-recorded.

prophecy and able to assume risk of total destruction by most heavily armed.

bebu

ROFL Metatron and NameWithheld!!!

77

Your most powerful spiritual saying is?????

by anti-absolutist in

jw
friends

we all go through times of stress and sad times.

what is a simple, yet profound saying that you have reminded yourself of to make these troubling times easier?

you don't have to believe in a literal god, just that there are higher thoughts within us that we all are able to draw from.. the one that has worked the best for me is: .

bebu

Welcome, adrift! And good post.

Sadie, my thoughts are with you. Your friend is right about accepting what we cannot change to be probably the hardest thing to do... I hope God gives you hope and strength daily for this difficult journey.

My own favorite "saying"(?) is, "Love Never Fails." It is something I can really meditate on when I'm facing trials, making choices, or just trying to understand it ALL. It is not trite, though it has been used like a cliche. I believe in God, who is/has/will always show an unfailing love. ...Words cannot ever adequately portray the truth of how Love really never, never ever fails.

bebu

13

Posted in another thread but need to share this b/c it still upsets me

by berylblue in

jw
friends

sorry for being so self indulgent...i've been meaning to post this but had reached my limit, so i put it in another thread.. this still upsets me.

i don't know why it should...perhaps because i am, as my ex-husband stated, self-absorbed and childish.. but as part of my therapy, i present to you..... the car.

i don't drive and never have.

bebu

JamesT is right. Let it go. ...I think you have still come out miles ahead, if you are out of the org, and all that is in it.

Similar, but different: My husband was treated unfairly by employers in the past, and he is a professional. What helped me out (with all the anger at the injustice) was to remember Jacob and Laban, and how God blessed Jacob regardless of how many times Laban cheated him. Today, we look back and see ourselves being led out safely to better situations, whereas those who were dishonest toward him suffered worse than we ever did.

Another thing that has helped me a lot in frustrating situtations is meditating on Psalm 37.

Keep smilin, Rosemarie! You'll be okay!

bebu

26

Why do you still believe?

by flower in

someone posted on another thread a comment that i found interesting.

something like once you find out the truth about the 'truth' its impossible to stop there and not question everything as far as religion and the existance of god.

i'm sure most of us that were raised in the watchterror org and have found out that we were decieved our whole lives have examined this subject at some point.

bebu

The thing that keeps me from pitching faith in simply God's existence is the miracle of creation around me--I just can't believe this was some cosmic accident.

The thing that keeps me from pitching the Bible is that I find it actually speaks to my soul; other religious works I've read sometimes have good teachings, but they have never gripped me anything like the Bible does. Sometimes I'd imagine that I'd like to just set it aside for good... but then my soul gets absolutely parched for it, both OT and NT. I really love it all.

The thing that keeps me from pitching faith in Christ is that I keep finding it too hard to disprove the assertion that he not only died but was resurrected. (Eg., 12 guys who suddenly became powerful witnesses unto the death; Paul's unexpected conversion; their miracles--and the fact that that miracles still continue today--etc.) So, if Christ is dead, then my faith is in vain. Which means I'd better be sure about this point... Also, if you disbelieve in Christ, then you should be absolutely sure he's was never resurrected!! That's where it all stands or falls, really.

bebu

41

Kicked out of JW site

by Nordic in

what i did was tell my wifes story on the site, not only did they delete the post but also kicked me out.

so now i am df from the site, they are so loving.

nordic

bebu

outnfree,

Thanks for giving the information for Nordic so kindly. I have read the posts. It is very tragic.

bebu

32

Babylon the Great is NOT false religion.

by proplog2 in

jw
friends

this is the short argument against the watchtower interpretation of babylon the great.

(btg) .

) the watchtower claims that babylon the great is the world empire of false religion (wefr).

bebu

proplog2,

Interesting thoughts. I am not going to even try to defend the US as some sort of holy country with a mandate from heaven. I think the US, along with every country, has made many bad decisions which cannot be whitewashed. Real harm to the ordinary peoples is a serious consideration.

That said, I think that there is still a unique description about BTG that just hasn't been fulfilled by the US. If you talk blood-guilt in general--well, which country in history ISN'T? What about the millions killed under Ghenghis Khan or Stalin? To be honest, the WT is the only place which I've EVER heard that has made this whole passage turn on just "blood-guilt", and I have to admit I just don't have much stock in their angle here to begin with. What I mean is, the WT is so famous for leaving out so much relevent information when they pontificate about "who is what"--They talk about the 144,000, and ignore COMPLETELY the description given by the Bible (whether you want to interpret that passage literally or symbolically, they miss the mark either way); they talk much about "bloodguilt", but they have completely ignored a very precise description of this bloodguilt. So, if you want to assume that there is a BTG, it can't (I think) at this point be the US.

I personally think it will be another political power in the future, which supercedes the US in economic strength, and uses this power especially to crush Christians.

And rocketman is right. It is always possible to take parts of the Bible and make them say whatever you want. The easiest parts to do this with are apocalyptic literature, like Daniel and Revelation.

Why didn't God just make it easier for us?? Even Jesus seemed to have the same style.

MT 13:10 The disciples came to him and asked, "Why do you speak to the people in parables?"

MT 13:11 He replied, "The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them. [12] Whoever has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. [13] This is why I speak to them in parables:

It just looks like if we really want to know God, we'll have to not expect Him to drop everything in our lap; we'll have to make our own effort to move toward Him. We need to be responsible for whatever we DO know.

And if prophecy "don't fit", don't force it to. Take a break! This is what I think.

(I also think you poor ex-dubs, especially, need a good, long rest from thinking about Armageddon, Babylon the Great, and the scarlet beast! I know I would still be emotionally exhausted if I had to recover from all of that constant panic and frenzy... )

My very humble 2 yen. And ye'll get no more yen from me!

Have a great day!

bebu