Thanks, Flash,
your insights and commentary are 'spot on!'
It is amazing, that we did not see this when we were faithful JWs. But the light keeps getting brighter.Great, stilla,
hope to thank you in prson at the wisconsin fest
For a minute there I thought you meant in prison. Let us know if you need taxi service.
Lovely, jgnat,
Until my hubby can prove to me that the WTS is a loving organization
Based on how he has been treated, I don't know how he will do that. It is like an abused child hoping that somehow daddy or mommy won't beat them today.
Welcome Sugarbritches,
How did you find JWD? I'm always happy to hear from readers. I can be lax in responding due to my physical limitations. I get some of my best insights from comments from people like you.
You are great and I feel fortunate to have discovered your work here on this forum.
Good point, willyloman,
But, as you've clearly shown once again, the milk provided by "mother" is NOT unadulterated.
My dictionary defines adulterated as "...to make inferior (or) not genuine by adding a harmful...substance...."
The WTS writers are experts at doing just that.
I enjoyed reading how your family escaped the WTS. Much the same here with my husband following me out.
Hey, Zeke, and thanks for all your help.
Who would be the modern equivalent of "the princes" who "have sat against me"? Could the princes have been a part of "God's nation" Isreal? Does that not point to the FDS?
9 We may be fond of Gods reminders, but what if "princes" speak against us for some reason? (Psalm 119:23, 24) Today, people in authority often try to force us to put human laws above the law of God. When there is a conflict between the demands of man and the will of God, what will we do? Our fondness for Gods word will help us to remain faithful to Jehovah. Like Jesus Christs persecuted apostles, we will say: "We must obey God as ruler rather than men."-Acts 5:29.
11 Hezekiah, who may have written Psalm 119, chose "the way of faithfulness." He did so even though he was surrounded by false worshipers and may have been ridiculed by members of the royal court. Very likely, his soul was sleepless from grief because of such circumstances. (Psalm 119:28) But Hezekiah trusted in God, was a good king, and did "what was right in Jehovahs eyes." (2 Kings 18:1-5) With reliance on God, we too can endure trials as integrity keepers. -James 1:5-8.
Zeke, you might notice how first the WTS says these princes are people outside the congregation yet in paragraph 11 says the princes could have been fellow Israelites. The WTS calls the elders princes.
w99 6/1 p. 9 "Gifts in Men" to Care for Jehovah?s Sheep ***
Notice the prophetic description of these elders, or "princes": "Each one must prove to be like a hiding place from the wind and a place of concealment from the rainstorm, like streams of water in a waterless country, like the shadow of a heavy crag in an exhausted land." (Isaiah 32:1, 2)
EvilForce,
I'm consistently amazed at the putrid, lukewarm, inane, blathering of the WTBS
There is no longer one person writing the articles. They are very carefully controlled. There is a lot of cut and paste nowadays. There are no qualified writers on the GB and the helpers compete with one another and are afraid of making a mistake that might lose them their position. So they cut and paste and go the middle ground to be safe. Fred Franz could be outrageous but at least he was entertaining. I knew of many JWs that looked forward to this articles and talks to see what he would say outside the WT box. Reading the magazines from the 50's, 60's and 70's and comparing them to those since 1980 is educational too. You can see the effect of the Big Apostasy Scare.
Hey Rocketman,
Only Jehovahs Witnesses, those of the anointed remnant and the "great crowd," as a united organization under the protection of the Supreme Organizer, have any Scriptural hope of surviving the impending end of this doomed system dominated by Satan the Devil. (Revelation 7:9-17; 2 Corinthians 4:4)
Btw, a direct contradiction to this statement at their web site:
Do they believe that they are the only ones who will be saved?
"No. Millions that have lived in centuries past and who were not Jehovah's Witnesses will come back in a resurrection and have an opportunity for life. Many now living may yet take a stand for truth and righteousness before the "great tribulation," and they will gain salvation. Moreover, Jesus said that we should not be judging one another. We look at the outward appearance; God looks at the heart. He sees accurately and judges mercifully. He has committed judgment into Jesus' hands, not ours"
Yes, I knew that but thanks for bringing it here to share. Let me add another contradictory statement.
***
w75 12/15 p. 753 The Kind of Persons Approved for God?s New Order ***We know that the "great tribulation" that is without parallel in human history is just ahead for both Babylon the Great and her political destroyers. (Matt. 24:3-22, 37-39) This global tribulation is meant to destroy them, not us, for it comes from the hand of the God whom we worship. It will destroy the symbolic "heavens and the earth that are now," this old order. (2 Pet. 3:7) All the same, it will bring with it a climactic test of our faith in God and our devotion to him. Only Christian witnesses of Jehovah who successfully pass this test will survive and come forth like fire-refined gold for God?s use in his precious new order.
Survival book chap. 12 pp. 92-93 Identified for Destruction or Survival? ***It would be a serious mistake to conclude that if a person tries to lead a "good" life and if he shuns religions that are doing things clearly condemned in God?s Word, nothing more is required of him. All who hope to survive into the "new earth" must also be unmistakably identified as worshipers of Jehovah. (Revelation 14:6, 7; Psalm 37:34; Joel 2:32) This message is conveyed in a vision given to the prophet Ezekiel before Jerusalem was destroyed in 607 B.C.E.
Dear Honesty, Next week will also feature those who have drifted; haughty, ungodly people/apostasy; half-hearted ones, lukewarm, professing Christians; not being independent; being stumbled; lost sheep.
Thankyou, Blondie and I can't wait for next week when the WT Study has so much personal meaning for me.
Personal meaning for me too. The WTS always lays the foundation to beat the sheep in the first article, and comes out swinging with the guilt/shame club in the secnod. Hi, ithinkisee, Do they believe that they are the only ones who will be saved?
"No. Millions that have lived in centuries past and who were not Jehovah's Witnesses will come back in a resurrection and have an opportunity for life. Many now living may yet take a stand for truth and righteousness before the "great tribulation," and they will gain salvation. Moreover, Jesus said that we should not be judging one another. We look at the outward appearance; God looks at the heart. He sees accurately and judges mercifully. He has committed judgment into Jesus' hands, not ours"
Actually the answer is still "Yes" technically. They say more people will be resurrected and have a chance to become "JEhovah's Witnesses" (still their one channel to be saved). Then they say others may make a stand for the "Truth" (again, their one channel) right before armageddon.
Then they say (but based on their previous two sentences - don't really mean) that technically Jehovah looks at hearts and he may see something humans can't.
Actually, the WTS makes it very clear in many articles, that only dedicated, baptized JWs will survive.
km 10/87 p. 8 Help Others to Dedication and Baptism ***Only those ?marked? for salvation will survive into Jehovah?s new system. (Ezek. 9:2-6) How happy those who submit to this ?marking? for survival will be because of their dedicated relationship with Jehovah God, as symbolized by water baptism!
Thanks for all the encouragement and comments. As one poster said, they read the magazines more now that they have left the organization than when they attended. Love, Blondie
