in the mid 1990s the wtbts backed-off just a little bit on its stance about higher education publically while it was still discouraged unofficially.
now, all of a sudden they are publically clamping back down.
and coincidentally they are clamping back down just as ben schroeder was entering his final year or years at columbia law school.
mm interesting theory.. I wouldnt put it past them...
Kinda like , (well not really, but sort of), politicians here in Australia, trying to debolish free education and putting ridiculous fees for University Studies, when the reason they are politicians now is because they got a 'Free' education at a university level..
is there any such thing as a church or group that gathers together to study the bible and share information without ramming it down everyone's throad and trying to disfellowship anyone who doesn't agree?.
i'd love to eventually attend a bible study group where an exchange of ideas can be had without everyone getting offended or defensive.
sort of like here, but different.
I run a youth group for kids 15-17 y/o's in my church, we have discussions and meetings every week about different bible topics. We have an understanding, that for most questions that come up , there are no 'right or wrong' answers (most) , we support each other and respect people's opinions...
A lot of churches (well at least in Australia) run small groups like this.. These Groups are designed to promote discussions on the bible and to provide close knit support from people that are similar to you.
They are both certain denom and non-denom. My church is a baptist church, but we are more like a non-denom church, we basically dont do anything 'traditional' but we still worship God. I am sure if you look around your area , and ask around you will find churches both non-denom and denom that run small groups like this. You just have to find out that you are comfy in ... good luck...
according to the wts if we do not produce acts of good work (feild service, attending 5 meetings weekly, circuit and district assemblies etc), we are not worthy of salvation.
according to the bible, we attain salvation through god's undeserved grace ( or kindness in jw lingo).
what i am looking for is scriptural proof that will shoot down the first and support the latter.
I am not sure if anyone said this before, but it seems prettly simple to me.. Galatians 2: 19-21
Especially verse 21 ..
NWT version
As for me, through law I died toward law, that I might become alive toward God. 20 I am impaled along with Christ. It is no longer I that live, but it is Christ that is living in union with me. Indeed, the life that I now live in flesh I live by the faith that is toward the Son of God, who loved me and handed himself over for me. 21 I do not shove aside the undeserved kindness of God; for if righteousness is through law, Christ actually died for nothing.
NIV Version
19For through the law I died to the law so that I might live for God. 20I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. 21I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!"
'THe law' is referrring to all the things that the Jews had been taught had to be done to be saved.. ..
It is simple, no , "if you look at it this way", or " it means this" or "some people think it means this"...
Plain and simple... If Righteousness could be gained by doing works then CHRIST DIED FOR NOTHING...
You can only be saved by Grace or " undeserved kindness" , which ever you look at it.. you can only be saved by that, not by works.
i know that this is a morbid topic, but i often wonder what kind of funeral that i should have.
i mean, i'm not associated with any religion.
i don't want a preacher there speaking about the afterlife or trying to recruit followers.
there only thing I want to request is a song called " I can only imagine"... there is a couple of versiosn to it, but the one I like best is by a band called Mercy Me.. Great Song.. I have told my missus and family thats the song they have to play for me...
a farmer has 3 bulls, a big old bull , a medium size young bull and a baby small bull.
the big bull has 10 of the cows on the farm for his 'entertainment'.
the medium size bull has 5 cows and the baby one, being young and amateur only has 2 cows.
Thanks... for welcome..
being reading for ages, just havent posted till now..
a farmer has 3 bulls, a big old bull , a medium size young bull and a baby small bull.
the big bull has 10 of the cows on the farm for his 'entertainment'.
the medium size bull has 5 cows and the baby one, being young and amateur only has 2 cows.
A farmer has 3 bulls, a big old bull , a medium size young bull and a baby small bull. The big bull has 10 of the cows on the farm for his 'entertainment'. The medium size bull has 5 cows and the baby one, being young and amateur only has 2 cows.
One day they overheard the farmer talking about bringing in a brand new bull. This upset the bulls quite a bit and in anger the old bill bull anounced " WELL this new buy isnt going to have any of my cows".
The medium size bull replied " WELL, I've worked hard for the cows that I have, this new bull isnt getting any of my cows.".
The third baby bull , trying to keep up with them, said " Well he aint touching any of my cows. I am going to be the biggest bull here one day and he is not going to get any of mine"..
Then one day a couple of weeks later,a trucked pulled up at the gate of the paddock. The 3 bulls gathered around hoping to catch a glimpse of the new guy in town. Then the whole earth moved.. The Truck started to shake from side to side, steam coming out of the doors of the truck with every shake. What could this be thought the bulls? and then they saw him.. out of the truck, the biggest, fattest, meanest , baddest looking bull they could imagine come huffin and puffin out...
The old big bull, trying to hide his fear exclaimed " Ooh well I guess, he can have a couple of my cows, if he wants... "
The middle size bull said " Well he can , umm , he can have all my cows if he wants.. "...
the they both look over at the small baby bull... ..to their surprise the small baby bull , is gnarling and kicking dust around and spinning around in circles and bucking around.. and sniffing and huffing and puffing in the direction of the new massive bull.
The two other bulls tried to reason with him...
"forget about it" said the old bull, "it aint worth it".
The medium size bull also tried " what are yo doing? you are still young, you can have lots of cows later on.. just give this bad a$$ mudda all your cows ... now..."
the little baby bull replied..
" I don't give a $#@T about the cows" said the little bull... "I am just making sure he knows that I AM bull.. !! "
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downloaded e-sword recently, with about 50 different translations and commentaries.. which translation do you prefer, and why?
Its not 'funny' with its translation. Its just that it was made with 'todays' english in mind. So sometimes it feels like you are just reading a newspaper article, from yesterday, instead of reading the bible.
In Australia there is a Good News bible , Australian Edition..
Its has words like Crickey in it..
dancing is a nice way to express feelings and let out steam.
do you like dancing, do you know any good dances?
unfortunately i am very awkward at dancing though i tried to learn some latin a couple of times because i like latin music.
being Latino, I love to dance. Always had the moves , just didnt know the steps, so a couple of years ago, a friend of mine from work and I said that we should try Salsa and we did.. We are pretty good now.
I am now currently involved in a performance group with my class. Although I have been a bit lazy lately, I am still in and we are working on routines to perform places...
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downloaded e-sword recently, with about 50 different translations and commentaries.. which translation do you prefer, and why?
NIV.. just cause its probably the most accepted version, that and the King James Version, but KJ is too hard to understand...
i threw everything away except the bible (which i now know is crap), the songbook and reasoning from the scriptures ( to use against them... primarily the conversation stopper part).
so many posters seem be able to access jw info easily and quote it... i wonder if i should have kept everything.
at the time, it was a way to start over and commit to never going back.
I was cleaning out my old car yesterday afternoon, and I found a Jdub book in the back seat.
I dont even know what it was, I just grabbed it and gave it to the missus (it was her mums), who knows how long it has been sitting there for.
I told her off, for leaving it in my car...
