The biggest mistake. (page 3)

joey jojo

The main job of any religion is to convince people that they can cheat death by following the rules of their particular belief system.

Everything else is designed to control.

LV101

Iriddle80 - thanks and I apologize but I do recall reading some of your posts and one about your prayer experiences re/your son.

Feel free to post your "cow" story or better ones -- I'm curious now.

lriddle80

Ok, my cow story. It's very silly, but so am I!

I had been learning about the role that faith plays in prayer.

I was taking a walk and there was a field of cows (I am in Florida) and I decided to put this to the test (to pray with faith/belief). The cows were far away.

I looked intently at the cows and prayed in my head "see Christ in me and come to me"

Well, they seemed to move closer, but maybe I was seeing things.

I prayed with more belief. Come to me, cows. Come to Christ, your maker.

Then! A cow suddenly runs toward me, back and forth and jumped all around!! What??

I start laughing and really enjoying the moment, not even believing what I was seeing!!

I suddenly remember a recurring dream I have had where animals are jumping all around me and I laugh in my sleep when I have it. (Also, I had a small story about when I was a kid and I would get very excited when seeing cows, so it's just so appropriate!)

Now, later as I start thinking about it, I think maybe the cow was mad or something and I mentioned it to my friend. She says that cows only jump around when they are happy!

It's a silly story, but when I prayed with faith, something happened.

A short time later, I went through tremendous suffering concerning my son. Did my faith hold up? The first few months, it did. Then I suddenly took up watercolors and other art and immersed myself in it and tried to abandon God. But it was really, I was testing God to see if he would lead me back. Then the second wave of suffering came.

I was angry. At God, at my lot in life, everything and I knew all the platitudes. I saw a therapist. And I prayed for my husband and my marriage, I fasted.

And then, one day I prayed and bravely voiced my feelings to my husband and something happened - he listened. What??

For the past 4 or more months, our marriage is stronger than ever! He prays with me, he has conversations about God with me, he is different with our son, we are new. I am new.

I have been praying for God to change my husband's heart and he did it! Through me? I don't deserve it.

The Bible is true. God rewards faith. I proved it over and over. It's not because I am good or particularly more obedient than anyone else. My motives are as selfish as anyone elses. But I believe him. Things happen. And he lets me see.

And I feel like John who says in 21:25

" Now there are also many other things that Jesus did. Were every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written"

OnTheWayOut

I believe that mankind had mostly outgrown any literal belief in their own stories. They pretty well knew that myths were told as entertainment or to remember the constellations and because they didn't have much else in the way of stories except gossip.

The gatherers of the Bible, I believe the same was true for awhile. But somewhere in there, priests of one kind or another messed it all up. Compare Christianity to Islam or eastern beliefs- they still retain much of that idea that their stories are just stories.

LV101

Iriddle80 - I enjoyed reading the share. Question - are you aware that cows can be dangerous -- especially ones with calves and can become very protective and even attack people! I hope there was a fence between you and the cow! WOW. Bulls aren't the only danger.

Do you think there's any chance your therapist helped you with assertiveness/strength re/your marriage or believe it was all just prayer and faith? I appreciate your viewpoint.

lriddle80

There was a fence!

The therapist helped me, but also my mom and another friend helped me not be a doormat.

I believe prayer/belief/ God helped my husband to listen and he changed his heart and gave me extra courage to know that I wasn't alone in the fight!

RayoFlight2014

Hi Half banana,

I recognize you from the exjw yuku forum.

You are an archeologist if I remember correctly?

This us such an interesting topic to me.

Your insights into the history of the gods of archaic early humans is well above my level of comprehension, but I'm trying to keep up.

I would love to explore more about this subject of the historical beginnings of the gods and their relevant timelines, how they link to or depart from the religious traditions and evolve into or become other gods.

Are there any websites or books you could recommend that provide a comprehensive but easier to navigate timeline and explanation of how we can know where it all began (say 100,000 years ago ) through to modern day?

I find El's relationship to Asherah, Baal, yahweh, Hadad, El Shaddai etc. Intriguing. But what came before the bull headed god?

The mind boggles.

Thanks in advance.

RayoFlight2014.

RayoFlight2014

Iriddle80,

The cow was probably Asherah; as this wife of El, mother and consort of Baal and yahweh was referred to.

lriddle80

I doubt it!

Half banana

Hi Rayof Flight, I am not an archaeologist but have spent a lot of time doing prehistoric archaeology with palaeontologigists, archeologists and geologists among others, all connected to an Oxford college.This was after leaving the JWs and trying to catch up on lost time wasted with the Borg.

What was your name on Yuku?

It is becoming clearer that Yahweh had a female consort called in the Bible Ashera whose stone relief, and often smiling image, is found in museums containing artefacts of the Levant which includes the British Museum. My understanding is that at an earlier time in Canaan it was the father of Yahweh, El who was originally and more famously partnered by Ashera. She was linked to one of the many goddesses of the night like the more prominent Astarte was. The Israelites after 1200 BCE and more likely at the time of the economic expansion of Israel in the 8th century BCE, played down the role of El but nevertheless attributed his consort Ashera to also be the consort of Yahweh. It was a status thing! This was before the great purge of "foreign gods" leading to henotheism ( the worship of one god among many).

Anyway here is a link on the gods of Canaan which has to be recognised if one is ever to begin to understand the story of the OT.

https://www.dhushara.com/book/god/canaan.htm

The biggest mistake.

Share this