Does God Command Christians To Go From Door To Door Preaching The Gospel?

by Bangalore 144 Replies latest jw friends

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  NewChapter

  How many times have you had a face to face conversation with someone telling you the 'good news about Jesus' in a public place?

  Well because I worked downtown in a semi-large city, I had this happen quite often. Sometimes, if they had that maniacal look in their eye, and I realized they had been released without a home, I would just cross the street. The ones that heard the voices were the least trouble though--often caught up in a conversation with god/christ and they didn't seem to mind if I didn't respond. There was one guy who seemed kind of normal, and he would preach for a minute or two at the bus stop, then he'd start playing his guitar and singing. He had a lovely voice, but the problem was he'd sing the same verse over and over and over. I don't know, maybe those were the only chords he knew. A group from a home would be there at that time getting on a bus, and they used to dance and listen to him.

  There was one particular guy who would freak me out cuz he'd jump at me from around corners and startle me and yell, "You need Je SUS". Then there was this guy that would go over to the fountain when it wasn't on. It had these steps that worked well as a stage. He'd kind of tap dance and preach. There are plenty spreading their message at the women's clinic around the corner. They hold signs and ask all to pray. And one time, we had this neighbor that got kind of nutty and talked to God a lot. She'd have whole conversations with him in front of us. One time, she stood at the top of her stairs with a jar of pickles or something, and when her husband got home she yelled "Now Jesus!" and smashed it over his head. He was not seriously wounded, but it took 9 police officers that time to get her into custody.

  Then there was this other guy we knew who heard God's voice. He also saw miniatures of my husband everywhere, about 6 inches high and many of them, that would all tell the guy to call my husband. Sometimes you had to turn the phone off. But he was fine when he took his meds.

  To answer your question, it has happened to me a few times in public.
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  still thinking

  Oh...I didn't realise I could count that type of thing as witnessing New Chapter....LOL...in that case.....the christians are VERY busy with their work and doing a fine witness to Jesus.
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  NewChapter

  Well it's the most common type. It's weird. The unstable never come up to me and talk about space aliens, or Nessie, they always want to talk about Jesus. What is it about that belief system that attracts so many with mental health issues? I wonder if in Iran they come up and speak about Mohamed.

  Anyway, it certainly attracts them for whatever reason.

  I saw a really cool video that explained all of the reasons people hear voices. It doesn't always mean mental illness, but the explanations were fascinating. Apparently, we all have the brains to hear voices, and many circumstances can bring it on. How each person interprets the voice really depends on their worldview. This goes on all the time, and everyone is convinced that the voice is exactly what they identify it to be. As it turns out, there are some pretty compelling scientific explanations for the phenomena. It's a money maker too! I was stunned. People are always writing books about it and telling others how to hear the voice. I had no idea.
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  freydo

  Today the last genetic remnants of the "Lost Tribes" along with some heathen and SOME paganized x-tians I see being gathered for an anti-typical Exodus and are identified by the REAL names of the Creator and His Messiah, as a sign and a seal, and who keep their commands - ie - the Tanakh that explains the Messianic Epistles and vice versa. In this way, "ALL ISRAEL is going to be SAVED." But the nations and their religious inhabitants "will rage" because "they have not a love of the truth that they might be saved." And when the carnage is over, "Law will go forth from Zion(Jerusalem) and from New Moon to New Moon and Sabbath to Sabbath, all nations will come to worship the King and observe the "Feast of Tabernacles." And any who do not, YAHWEH The Creator will cause no rain on their land. Zechariah 14:18, Isaiah 66:23, Revelation 14:1, 12:17, Romans 11:26, 2Thesalonians 2:10, Psalm 46:6
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  Bungi Bill

  stillthinking,

  I am going to go ahead and answer what you posed as a rhetorical question - i.e. "How many times have you had a face to face conversation with someone telling you the good news about Jesus in a public place?"

  That used to be a common occurrence in Central Christchurch during the mid-1970s, and it was by no means unknown there during the decades after that, either. (When I lived in Christchurch between 1997 - 2001, they were still active about the CBD most Friday evenings). Also, these ones actually talked about Jesus, rather than merely attempting to offer literature (and little JW literature has much to say about Jesus, let it be noted!) Furthermore, unlike those ones mentioned by NewChapter, none that I recall ever sported the "Thousand Yard Stare."

  As for calling "when they are at home"; very much in the industrialised countries, the only time people are at home is at night. Call then, and you only succeed in frightening them (I had several such bad experiences like that, thinking - like you were suggesting - that I was doing the right thing by calling when they were home, only to have people think that I was a home invader).

  Mine was not the only experience like that, either.

  Bill.

  PS: Like you, I no longer believe in a god of any sort, either.
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  still thinking

  Freydo...where do you get that stuff? Oh, that's right, the bible.

  Must be true then, because the bible says so.

  Today the last genetic remnants of the "Lost Tribes" along with some heathen and SOME paganized x-tians I see being gathered for an anti-typical Exodus and are identified by the REAL names of the Creator and His Messiah

  How do you know it's today? And if there were 'genetic remnants' I would suggest they would be far from just remnants, they would be numerous. Those genes manage to get around. Have you heard about the population explosion? Why are you mixing scientific language with bible quotes? Does it make your claim sound more real?

  The real name huh? In who's opinion? And how do you know YOU have the real name (whatever that is)?
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  mP

  Jesus has two major comments about preaching, most say he only came to preach to the jews. The exception to this is Mat 24 where he says to tell all nations. We now have a quandry, where Jesus contradicts himself, or Mat 24 is an insertion. Surely Jesus would not be stupid enough to say and teach his disciples to only save Jews and then change his mind. If we read the scriptures the apostles obviously were of the opinion that Jesus told them not to talk to gentiles. This racist attitude of course made the jews back then extremely unpopular. We can see similar attitudes amongst the muslim fanatics like the Taliban who want to kill everyone who is not one of them. Its of course no surprise this is exacttly what the jews did in teh first century. Naturally the Romans could not allow these possessed demonic people to go around killing everybody else in the country who would not join them. This is exactly what happened, and is the reason that Titus and Vespasian had to come to Israel to save it from the demonic troublemakers.
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  still thinking

  I wonder why they did it on Friday nights Bungi Bill. It was the same in Auckland. Lets face it, Friday nights were full of drunk people in the city. Why did they target drunks?

  And as for people not being home...they knocked on my door and I was.

  Now, I am not suggesting people actually go door to door, I think thats probably quite a dangerous thing to do in this day and age. BUT, it does put others who call themselves christians to shame when they claim to be witnessing to Jesus and their god. Maybe thats why JW's come across as very genuine to people who don't know they are a cult. Because they are out there actively telling people about their god. (not just drunk people either)..LOL

  Sure, I know many do it because they have to and hate it, in fact, my study lady even told me one day that she wished her 'faith' was as strong as mine because she doesn't think she would have joined the religion if she hadn't been born into it, she said she wasn't very spiritual. Hows that for a witness? LOL.

  Just as well Jesus didn't feel that way when he talked to strangers and crowds. And just as well his deciples followed his example, otherwise if they had just gathered and not spoken to people, that belief would not have gone very far at all.
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  Fernando

  Very few organisations work as hard as the Watchtower to keep people ignorant of the "good news" according to Paul, Moses, Isaiah and Psalms.

  Their false claim to be "publishers of the good news" is venomously schizophrenic and psychopathic.

  Surely the message stands or falls on content and intent rather than where it is delivered?
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  mP

  Fernando

  Xian has been evolving every since the beginning. Every scumbag, opportunist and power hungry thug has changed and used the bible to their advantage. Thats why we have 30000+ xian religions today.