You could also be abashed at the JW's attempt at watering down the faith! Why, doesn't she believe these truths at all? Is she ashamed? Tell her that you'reproud to be a JW and proud of the truth!
bebu
Posts by bebu
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29Somebody Help!!
by RichieRich in93. god will destroy all non-jehovah's witnesses at armageddon.
-in conversation jws call watchtower headquarters "the society".
2. watchtower study.
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7
Dog saves women
by Golf inthis morning's news highlight.
a women lost control of her car and she ended up 50 yards away from the highway.
she was thrown through the car's back window in a semi-conscious condition.
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bebu
Is there a link to a news story about this?
bebu
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82
More thoughts on Satan the Devil
by lovelylil inthe other day, we were discussing whether satan is a real person (fallen angel) or just the personification of evil.
i was trying to see people's thoughts on this topic because many christians i know claim satan is not real.
even clergy today teach this.
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bebu
If we drive carefully due to our NATURE it isn't really a decision based on alternative choices.
It is if we are aware of those choices and have the opportunity to make them.
Religion makes us out to be sinners by NATURE. The nature of a sinner is to sin, after all and the wages of sin is death. That, the bible tells us, is WHY we have to die.
But, the CHOICE to overcome our own nature comes from where?
It lies OUTSIDE ourselves. God GIVES us the ability to choose a godly nature, we are told.
To those whom God does NOT give this choice only destruction can follow.
The "natural" starting point of the innocent or a sinner isn't necessarily their ending point. Freedom of choice, plus the grace of God, allows either to end up wherever they prefer. Freedom of choice cuts both ways. It gives a lot of fallout in both directions.
Denominations argue about the difficulty of reconciling free choice with the sovereign choices of God. It seems a lot like how our scientists talk about things that are beyond the reach of a microscope or telescope, so the ideas are always incomplete--and always will be for our understanding. Nonetheless we find that many models scientists present, even though they sometimes conflict or seem absurd, are useful and true from certain, if not all, standpoints.
I have to get going and so I can't say more in response for a long while. SORRY.
bebu
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44
Faith in God and the Church - Part 1 of 2
by Amazing inpalmer: i don't know.
i mean, for me... i need proof.. palmer: proof.
ellie: yes, very much.. palmer: prove it.. [source: http://www.turning-pages.com/contact/machine.htm].
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bebu
I finally got God to answer me, and I finally learned how to listen to how he communicated.
I think a good thread to develope might be dealing with different ways God can communicate (talk) with us and/or work/influence our lives. It might be in ways we have never even contemplated. Of course in the past there have been dreams, visions, angels, and other people whom God has used. Anything else?
I think such a thread would be good as well. What conditions have made it possible for God to speak, or for us to finally be able to hear? Again, that's for another thread. I am enjoying this one very much, btw.
bebu
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82
More thoughts on Satan the Devil
by lovelylil inthe other day, we were discussing whether satan is a real person (fallen angel) or just the personification of evil.
i was trying to see people's thoughts on this topic because many christians i know claim satan is not real.
even clergy today teach this.
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bebu
So, you are saying that "good" and "evil" exist as concepts apart from God? God can choose to do "good", or he can choose to do "evil"?
I am of the mind that goodness is God's nature, and though the possibility exists to act outside that nature, He does not. It is my nature to keep myself alive, a nature I think God put into most living things. I don't know if this is an appropriate example, but if I drive on the highway near a cliff, and it is my nature to be safe, I will not choose to drive over the edge because I understand it will be 'wrong' to my nature. God eternally stays to the right (for driving in the US, that is!).
Who determined what exactly is good, so that God could thus do it? Who determined what is "evil", that God has chosen not to do? Who sets the standards that God follows?
God is said to be perfect in wisdom, so I would say that it is inherent in His own nature as well. That is, His understanding of the current situation and all possible scenarios.
I think goodness primarily has to do with God's disposition toward humanity--that He is concerned about our well-being (iow, He loves us) and takes our lives as seriously as His own. He wraps our fate with His, so that all that we do affects Him, and all that He allows in our lives is ultimately from His being able to see all possible scenarios like a chessplayer sees moves on the chessboard, except thru every possible game, for each person and for humanity as a whole.
The yardstick that humans and God use are similar in principle but different in size. That is, to act such that, as far as one is able to see, the results will be benevolent is "good". God's horizons are bigger, obviously, but His choices are only for our eternal good--again, because He knows all the parameters.
Does that make sense?
bebu
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32
TIME FOR ANOTHER LAUGH!
by Dansk infeel free to post your jokes here!.
a man sees a sign in front of a house in luton: 'talking dog for sale.
' he rings the bell and the owner tells him the dog is in the back garden.
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bebu
Loved the dog joke, esp.
Hey Ian, nice to see you here. Hope you're feeling well!!!!
bebu
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82
More thoughts on Satan the Devil
by lovelylil inthe other day, we were discussing whether satan is a real person (fallen angel) or just the personification of evil.
i was trying to see people's thoughts on this topic because many christians i know claim satan is not real.
even clergy today teach this.
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bebu
Let me focus on these two comments/questions.
1) How can an omnipotent God, utterly incapable of committing any evil act, create beings "in his image", but those beings DO have the capacity for evil? When God was alone, evil did not exist. He creates other beings, and BAM! suddenly they are capable of evil. Where did that evil come from?
When God was alone, He also had freedom of choice of good/evil, and this is what He gave to humans. God always has known the difference between good and evil, and has always been able to choose. Jesus reflected this freedom in Gethsemane in particular. It is hard for me to grasp that God has eternally had complete freedom, even freedom to do evil, but has never chosen it.
To become like Himself, mankind was granted the same freedom. The story of the garden says that freedom was there, and temptation was extremely small--only one tree's fruit to worry about; and no physical temptation to eat the fruit from hunger, the only temptation came from jealousy/envy of God's position, and distrust of God's motives.
It seems to me that the Holy Spirit is given to people so that they can share God's nature of goodness, and still keep the freedom of choice, because freedom of choice is an integral part of the process of who we become. Freedom is a kind of catalyst.
I am convinced that God knows how to have his cake and eat it too. He certainly grasped the dangers, the costs to us and Himself, and the final results. He knows the results for us will be worth the process, and part of our process is regaining trust in God's motives, and to trust Him that the results--that we become just like Him--will indeed be worth it. No mind on earth can conceive what that may be like.
2) How can a God of perfect love and justice design a universe in which billions of innocent beings suffer from the actions of others? Wouldn't it be far more loving and just for the evil actions of "Person X" to only affect "Person X"? Why
Humanly, we know it is right to try to limit what ill effects that we can. But how do you know that God hasn't limited consequences as much as allowable, or is best? Everyone sins, and part of sin is that someone else gets hurt. Not all sin can be categorized as "this doesn't involve anyone else"; in fact I don't think any of it can. Our reality is that we are all connected to each other, that we are relational. We didn't get the option of being able to isolate ourselves utterly so that our sins will just pain ourselves. We get to have the full effect of what sin can do in our lives, and to read about it in newspapers too.
There are many kinds of pain in life, but suffering at the hands of malicious or indifferent people are the worst imo. In that crucible we are allowed to make responses to that pain, responses that can overcome the evil that brought that pain. We can forgive our enemies, we can make choices that involve sacrifice if needed. We can refuse to hate or take revenge. None of these greater choices could exist if we were permanently separated from each other in hermetically (sp?) sealed spaces. These are all related to our freedom of choice as well, and they shape our spirit.
Suffering injustice is not a shallow issue. If our trials are significant, then our subsequent choices are also significant, even wildly significant. By our choices we do the very thing you said should be done, which is to limit the effects of evil. We can, Jesus said, overcome evil with good, and be like God in this way.
ALL IMO.
bebu
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82
More thoughts on Satan the Devil
by lovelylil inthe other day, we were discussing whether satan is a real person (fallen angel) or just the personification of evil.
i was trying to see people's thoughts on this topic because many christians i know claim satan is not real.
even clergy today teach this.
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bebu
What I do not like, because I cannot understand it, is why He can't be held responsible for any it? He made everything, including good and evil ('cause either he is the creator or he isn't, right?), so why do the rest of us, through NO FAULT of our own pay the consequences for something WE DID NOT DO?
It seems to me that God did pick up all the slack in a sense, for ALL of it--the stuff we could control and the stuff we couldn't. Jesus was innocent of sin, but took responsibility for the sins of the world.
The NT says that "Christ was chosen before the creation of the world" (1 Pet 1:18-20)--so it appears that God absolutely knew that the gift of free will, the ability to choose against God, would be exercised. He knew before the creation of mankind that a cross was ahead for Christ... and yet, still went forward. Why?? On our earthly plane, it will never make sense. But love is not bound by logic.
He knows something that we don't. And part of the necessary process for that something is our need to bridge the gaps with faith--faith that comes from the times we have seen and known Him clearly.
bebu
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20
Back after 3 months
by greendawn inhi and wishing you all a happy new year though somewhat belatedly.
i am glad to be back after 3 months, i had no internet connection for most of that time, but as from yesterday i have one at home, and i see that most of the familiar names, as well as some new ones, are still posting here.
all is going well there is a lot of work, i acquired a powerful network of friends, lost a lot of weight since last june 20kg (44lb) to be exact, and i moved into a new better home.
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bebu
Hey, I was wondering where you went! Sounds like you've been doing lots of good things. So you're excused.
"Failed and Disgraced Servant" is soooooo on target. Poifect!!
bebu
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8
1969 Awake on Education becomes a video, Youtube
by Wasanelder Once inhere's a video of the 1969 awake article entitled, what future for the young?.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yplcgdx-vrm.
take a look,.
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bebu
I just wish the audio wasn't a scrambled voice. Otherwise... Excellent!!
bebu