let's be serious - if you really want people to have faith and to be able to now absolute truth why not perform miracles.
why not make the bible a blank book and when you open it, it addresses you personally in writing of course.
for instance it says, "hey confusedandalone this is what i need you to do.
Personally when I look at a living conscious being (especially my children), I see a miracle.
Of course I also struggle with the presence of suffering, evil and darkness.
I have personally test driven the road map that leads in an opposite direction, and found it does work, and that we have only begun to scratch the surface as to possibilities.
it is amazing how clear everything is when you just except yourself for whoever you are and not try to live up to a certain expectation.
since i have been out i have received my ba in psychology and now i am in grad school working on my ma in counseling therapy.
and one of the things i have learned since being in school is that i believe people try to use jesus as an escape for unhappiness.
The religious Jesus, a counterfeit created by the Pharisees (ruling religious clergy class) as a tool to further their agenda, is in many respects opposite to the real Jesus.
the jws stopped by my house a couple weeks ago on a saturday morning.
i knew that with others most likely waiting for them out in the car they probably did not then have much time to engage in any serious conversation.
so i let them talk while i feigned interest in what they had to say.
Personally reading Greg Gilbert's definition of "the kingdom" in his 2010 book "What is the gospel" was a great help in understanding how the "good news about the Christ" related to the "good news about the kingdom" (Acts 8:12, the only scripture in the Bible to mention both) after decades of Watchtower obfuscation and misdirection:
"The kingdom is God's [eternal, victorious and] redemptive rule, reign and authority over those redeemed by Christ".
let me share one possible way:.
say you're out in the ministry with another asleep jw and it's your turn to speak to the householder.
you can steer the conversation in such a way that you can talk about the pharisees' unreasonable interpretation of the sabbath law and how it was contrary to what god intended.
Excellent strategy and well written.
Any committed person could use this approach to slowly and patiently open the mind of anyone suffering from Watchtower Stockholm Syndrome.
Carefully sensing if their cult identity is being roused, one could speed up or slow down.
Not a job for anyone desiring overnight results.
The trick is also to get the cultist into the driving seat of their own awakening process on a topic they are passionate enough about to spend hours researching until they know it so well that they can see all the angles of any potential attacker (Watchtower Stockholm Syndrome Enforcer).
what goes through a jw mind when they're sitting in a home with two 8x10 pictures of christ hanging from the wall?.
anything?
do they care?
They recoil inwardly - not realising they have been taught to reject Jesus and the message about him.
can anyone here, lay person or professional describe or give insights into the effects the following has on a child?.
when my friend, the middle child of 3 siblings, was five years old, his mother took him by the hand and led him to the house where his father was having an affair with another woman.
she opened the door to confront her husband who was actually in the act of having sex with the other woman, and deliberately exposed her young son to this drama.. .
Traumatic for sure.
On the upside he does have time on his side, and can choose his future, if good friends and good therapy help him come to terms with the past, and eventually move on.
true story.
so was cleaning out an old storage unit on family property.
i happened upon an old audio casette case full of audio watchtowers.
WBTS mind games - when one considers that the Watchtower is run by the god of religion and king of the demons.
if i have a addiction to cocaine, gay-porn and rock-and-roll, where does the bible indicate i need to confess my sins to the elders instead of confessing my sins here and have members pray for me?
whose brain-child was this idea?
i would rather confess my sins to you because the elders are not known for keeping their mouths shut.
What Oubliette said.
the jws stopped by my house a couple weeks ago on a saturday morning.
i knew that with others most likely waiting for them out in the car they probably did not then have much time to engage in any serious conversation.
so i let them talk while i feigned interest in what they had to say.
Well done Christian guy.
You and your new "friends" may be interested in this heavily understated "admission" that the WBTS and their followers have been teaching a false gospel for many decades:
Watchtower library online:
wol.jw.org/en/wol/s/r1/lp-e?q=%22good+news%22+sin*+%22give+little+attention+to+a+key+aspect%22&p=doc
Or go to http://wol.jw.org and search for "located in the same article":
"good news" sin* "give little attention to a key aspect"
...to my boyfriend, we're going to have one of those weddings ('gay' weddings to the straights).. although my jw family know i'm gay, and not going to meetings, only one of my sisters has sussed the situation.
but i think after 3 years it's about time i told them.
especially if sometime in the future i'll turn up with a (gay) wedding ring.
I'm delighted for you frogonmytoe.
What could be better than love and commitment in today's world.
Best wishes to you both, on life's journey.
Fernando
PS - Never mind those who currently only have ignorance and prejudice to offer instead of insight and compassion.
