I was going to respond on that thread but felt it was better to start a new one. I am not picking on you but a number of things you, and other witnesses, have said concerns me. I'm sure there are a number of mistakes in this thread but have no desire to read over and edit. I still have a pumpkin pie to make for tomorrow.
so much scepticism i am currently not practicing but i can admit i am not in a good spiritual standing at the moment but whati can testify to is that nothing will give you more joy and happiness than serving god.I agree that if one lives their life as God wants and you conquer each weakness (with the help of the HS) it’s a wonderful feeling. For many the sceptism is not with God, but with the org. They are two different things regardless of what the GB says. To deny the org isn’t necessarily to deny God. I think many here have been so hurt by this org that they equate the org with God’s character which is the furthest from the truth.there is nothing like the feeling what you get from doing the right thing by god.
As MrsJones has stated, Jesus is the Mediator or "middleman" between God and man, no one else. An elder, a pastor, a parent is there to guide but they aren’t mediators or middlemen.to put it simple elders and parents are just the middlemen, at the end of the day its god u have to reach out to, rather than focus on the imperfections of men that we all are regretably endowed with.
The problem I have with this statement -imperfections of men - is that when a "worldly person" makes a mistake or commits a sin they are wicked. When a witness makes a mistake or commits a sin he has imperfections. I have heard this from my own mother; that somehow witnesses are morally above wordly people. I’ve seen it on this board - witnesses claiming that they are morally superior.
The reason parents cry in some cases and put pressure upon their children is because they are scared for them because the world is a scary place to which their is no hope.
Yes, the world can be a scary place. You can prepare a child but you don’t have to scare them to death, saying that everything outside of the org is an evil place and that you can only find safety within the org. As the latest Pedophile Settlement attests, there isn’t anymore safety within the confines of the org. Don’t think that the witnesses are the only ones with a hope. Christians also have a hope of eternal life but as a Christian I believe there is one hope for all.
There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all, and through all, and in all. Ephesians 4:5-6
I did not go and join the "cult" as you call it because jehovahs witnesses forced me or blinded me, i was baptized out of love for god because i was inspired by his word!
I was baptized a few years ago. According to GB would my baptizm be invalid because I wasn’t baptized as a witness?
Baptism is an outward sign of your dedication to God. You personally make a commitment, then as an outward sign to other people in the congregation you get baptized. Just like a wedding ring is an outward sign that you are married. The wedding ring itself doesn’t make you married, just as a baptism itself doesn’t make you a follower of Christ. Baptism in itself doesn’t save you. In the early church people were immediately baptized when they believed. They didn’t have to go through a lengthy program, as with this org, to become baptized. When you are baptized it is an outward showing that you belong to Christ, not to an org. I believe if one isn't baptized but have made that commitment you still belong to Christ.
and jehoavahs witnesses are the only religion that follow the BIBLE and all its entirety the best of human understanding, not just bits as other religions do.
As jgnat has stated, how many religions have you studied without the blinders of the org? To state that only the witnesses follow the bible is totally wrong and sadly I think I know where you get your information from. I have been to a number of churches and from what I see they all read the bible, they all have bible studies at the church or at peoples homes. Many take their faith very seriously. I don’t believe that any church or org has a monopoly on Truth. Only Jesus does. All fall short, all make mistakes. Some make more mistakes than others.
I believe that the Jehovah Witness Org does not follow the bible, they follow the NWT, their own unique version of the bible. Compare different versions, KJV, NIV, etc with the NWT and soon you will find discrepencies. If the Jehovah Witness Org is the ONLY true church why is it (as minimus stated in one of his threads) that the Catholic Church was used to put the bible together. Why, if the JW have been around since Abel, would God not use them to put the Bible together?
you see people can say they said this or you said that but no one is perfect and the true instructor is the bible, i do not let Men govern my thoughts the bible is my guide.
choose to believe witnesses or not but the real truth lies within in the bible.
Many claim that the bible is their guide but who’s interpretation of the bible do you accept?
The best thing is not to pick at peoples imperfection but to look to the cause and message behind it.
I personally have found that the people to be the most critical have been the witnesses themselves. They claim that they are persecuted. They are the only ones that have the truth, they are the only ones who read the bible, they are the only ones who interpret the bible accurately, are the only ones preaching, they are the only ones that lead moral lives, they are they only ones who have love among themselves. Yet what I personally see is people from all walks of life, from different religions who try to live moral lives, who read and study their bibles, who try to love one another, who speak of their faith to others, yet they falter because they’re broken. We’re all broken to some degree (some more than others) But to claim that one has Truth over another is so untrue, so wrong.
im not attending meetings at the moment or doing much ito that degree but the thing is that i know whats best for me ive had an insight to many religions and none fit as well as jehovahs witnesses and their relativity to god, they are the closest to god that anyone could endevour to become.
so yes indeed they are the middlemen because they are there to help and support you and offer you what you need and provide that connection to god via the bible,
but yes there is no one but you jesus and god when you approach god in prayer and by no one else will you have life but these, but this doesnt mean you disrespect the system and arrangements put in place by our heavenly father
Again, you state that you have an insight to many religions and none fit as well as jehovahs witnesses. Where did you get that information? I I I I remember my parents telling me that they had studied other religions yet it was through the eyes of a witness. To find out about another religion you need to get information outside of your org.
Where in the bible does it say that a system organization was put in place by God. If that is so why couldn’t it be that the Catholic Church isn’t this system even with it’s imperfections? Both the Catholic Church and the Watchtower have imperfections, both claim they are the sole Truth. Just because the org, or the Catholic Church says it is the sole truth doesn’t make it so. Jesus is the Truth.
For people who were told they will die or smited, this indeed is put bluntly and im sure anyones point of view is horrible, when you were told this did you write to the governing body of jehovahs witnesses? did you write to the watchtower? and ask them because they are the true source,while elders are appointed by a body they are also imperfect and make errors, when you are told horrible things of death by parents that is not the organizations fault the fault lies with the parents handling of the facts this only shows that they lack tactfulness,
I’ve never been a witness but my understanding is that elders speak for the Governing Body. They have outlines and they can’t sway from that. Are you saying that the Governing Body is above making mistakes and if a mistake is made it’s the elder that is at fault? What is the official word from the GB regarding death? My understanding is that the literature states that those who are not witnesses in good standing will be destroyed? Is this incorrect?
referring to this as a gunman and a bankteller is completley inappropriate you are not threatened to be killed by anyone you are warned that your course of action could lead you to become harmed just as a weather warning is sent out to people who are continuing to ignore it even though are storm is coming.sad reality is people scorn it and people say nah wont happen wont happen we will be okay but the truth is the storm comes and takes there lives, how much would their viewpoint have changed on the situation if they had a chance to change their path im sure they would. but youve only got one chance
A lot of people do scorn end times. Can you blame them? How many times has this org cried wolf. Jesus said, for good reason, that no one would know the time of the end because many people, if they knew, would continue to live their lives like no tomorrow. People need not be concerned about the end times. All of us has an end time when we die. That is what we need to be concerned about.
When there is a storm coming there many places where a person could seek shelter. The problem with the above statement is that the org says that they are they only place where you can find safety.
I think God gives us so many chances. Only he knows our hearts. I think many will be shocked by who will be saved. Who was Jesus angry with, the Pharisees, the tax collector, the prostitute, his disciples? It was always the pompous ***** who thought they knew it all, not the down trodden and broken. Look at the Prodigal Son. Everyone sins, everyone makes mistakes, but when we confess our sins, when we belong to Him, we are forgiven, over and over again.
"I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him." John 14:6-7
There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one. Romans 3:10-12