Posts by ShadesofGrey

I have a relationship with Christ. I have also studied the history of the Bible. I believe that it is true and has been protected by God all these years.

I am sad that people do not have Christ in their lives. I can't imagine going through this without Him. I couldn't and I certainly wouldn't be full of joy like I am, but I am not afraid for them. I believe that God's justice is perfect and that He has set an example for us in the OT and in the NT. Will God come and judge people based on their reactions to how imperfect men have tried to teach them about God? If people are not Christians receiving a reward, then are they going to go to eternal torment in hell? Two categories and nothing in-between? How could that be? Did every restitution for sin in the OT include the death penalty? Did Jesus speak of 2 slaves or 4? What could he mean that when the faithful slave is rewarded and the wicked slave is punished, there are two more groups of slaves, there are slaves beaten with few strokes, and those beaten with many?

Look at the context of the scriptures that speak of weeping and gnashing teeth. Are these burning in hell? What are they upset about?

Luke 13:28 “There will be weeping there, and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but you yourselves thrown out. People will come from east and west and north and south, and will take their places at the feast in the kingdom of God. Indeed there are those who are last who will be first, and first who will be last.”

Luke 12:41 Peter asked, “Lord, are you telling this parable to us, or to everyone?”

42 The Lord answered, “Who then is the faithful and wise manager, whom the master puts in charge of his servants to give them their food allowance at the proper time? 43 It will be good for that servant whom the master finds doing so when he returns. 44 Truly I tell you, he will put him in charge of all his possessions. 45 But suppose the servant says to himself, ‘My master is taking a long time in coming,’ and he then begins to beat the other servants, both men and women, and to eat and drink and get drunk. 46 The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he is not aware of. He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the unbelievers.

47 “The servant who knows the master’s will and does not get ready or does not do what the master wants will be beaten with many blows. 48 But the one who does not know and does things deserving punishment will be beaten with few blows. From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.

35

Why have you remained theists?

by Silent_Scream in

i realize many on this forum are atheist, and theres many threads to show why.

some believe creationist lack knowledge or understanding and that we are too ignorant to realize there isn't a creator.. i have studied (not in depth) first year college science, and am studying medical/health currently.

i am also very interested in astronomy, and have learned a little in that area.

ShadesofGrey

This is the first x-JW forum I have posted in. I have been talking a lot about my walk with Christ, but not in response to a thread that asked atheists for their viewpoint. Can we offer each other mutual respect on this forum, or should I go elsewhere?

16

If you are remotely interested, I reread the Gospel of John!

by TimothyT in

.

the following scriptures all taken from john point to the fact that jesus christ is the only saviour of the people on this earth.

there is no mention of organisation or any other form of salvation within this book.

ShadesofGrey

Oh, White Dove, you are so right. I don't stake my life on the Bible either. How profound of you!

I have no idea how to keep track of this thread so that I can read through those scriptures that Anony Mous posted tomorrow. Can anyone help me?

17

Learning to pray again

by Cinciguy74 in

so, one of the things that is catching me off guard is that i have forgotten how to pray.. as a jw we were all told to pray, but when we really look at it, the prayers are just as structured and mind numbing as those of the catholic church reciting the rosary.

what caught my attention was stephen at act 7:59 where he calls on jesus (not jehovah) to receive him.

he prayed to jesus.. yet, as a jw, the prayers you always here begin like this: "jehovah god, our loving heavenly father..." and end in "in jesus name, amen".

ShadesofGrey

As a JW if anyone ever said that God answered their prayers I was either very confused because he never answered mine, or because since they weren't JWs God couldn't possibly answer their prayers, since they weren't approved by Him, or I simply did not believe them. "Yeah right, coincidence, or part of that ignorant drivel about "working in harmony with your prayers", yeah, that works pretty good huh? I prayed that I would go out in service and then I did! LOL! You just fulfilled your own prayer. But now I have an entirely different view. My prayers are answered now, every time I pray in faith and need. I don't pray to put God to the test, but when I pray in need, the need is taken care of. And each time, I did nothing. You can see my post about that here: http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/watchtower/bible/216558/1/Why-have-you-remained-theists#4125674

So on to the topic of the OP. I have also had to learn how to pray and at times it can be difficult. I do still fight it. There are many words and patterns that cause me to slip back into the JW mode of prayer and I have to fight it. I ask God to help me to fight it. I have had to read the Bible before I pray. I have also quoted scripture in my prayer to be sure I would have it right. I started out praying to Father, because that is what Jesus taught. I have also prayed to My Lord and My God, because if Thomas was commended for it, then it must be okay. People prayed in the OT and the NT. It helps to read their prayers. I have also asked others to pray for me because I felt that my prayers were flawed somehow (in the early days).

Not just Stephen but John and Paul and others also prayed to Jesus. "Come Lord Jesus!" I have found many times that praying to Jesus comes more naturally to me and I am comforted by 1 John 2:27. As JWs the names and titles of God were broken for us. :( I can also switch to praying to the Father just as Stephen did. Here is a link about prayer that really helped me:

http://www.bible.ca/ntx-praying-to-jesus.htm

Please don't let me offend you as I do not know where you are in your walk, but one thing that really helped me was researching the Living Water that Jesus spoke of to the Samaritan woman in John 4 and John 7:37. What did they need to do to receive the Spirit? Know to whom they were speaking and ask Him for it. :)

The two biggest thing that are helping me with my prayers right now is studying God's name and studying the manifestations of God. I have also found that reading Genesis chapter 18 and other passages in the OT I see that sometimes YHWH is speaking of God, plain and simple, the God who manifests Himself to us in three ways, and other times the name YHWH is referring to Jesus. In studying God's name I have found that Jehovah is not really any more accurate than LORD and that "name" means something other than "name" in the Bible. Try reading http://www.seekgod.ca/htname.htm and http://www.seekgod.ca/htwhatsinaname.htm

Your sister in Christ,

SOG

16

If you are remotely interested, I reread the Gospel of John!

by TimothyT in

.

the following scriptures all taken from john point to the fact that jesus christ is the only saviour of the people on this earth.

there is no mention of organisation or any other form of salvation within this book.

ShadesofGrey

The Bible is readily available to Christians to use, so why don't so many of them use it to become Christlike?

One cannot use the Bible to become Christlike, that can only be acheieved through communion with Christ. Just as the Father is in the Son and the Son is in the Father, Christ is in me and every other born-again Christian. The problem is that there are many people who are trying to be Christians that do not have Christ in them. They don't understand, just as you don't understand. Thus they use the Bible and the Church the same way Jehovah's Witnesses use them. To become Christlike, they must be born-again and continue walking in the Spirit.

1 Peter 1:2 "through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to be obedient"

7

What would you say in reply?

by outsmartthesystem in

i am in a discussion about jeremiah the 25th chapter.

(and jehovah "calling to account against the king of babylon and against that nation") my argument is very basic.

how did god call to account against the king of babylon (thus supposedly ending the 70 years of desolation) in 537bc.....2 years after babylon fell?.

ShadesofGrey

First of all, Cyrus was called Jehovah's anointed one.

Secondly, ask them when did Jesus return? Then ask when was Jesus in his temple inspecting the faithful and discreet slave? Even better, write down the questions and their answers. Then have them read Matthew 24:23-27

23 “Then if anyone says to YOU , ‘Look! Here is the Christ,’ or, ‘There!’ do not believe it. 24 For false Christs and false prophets will arise and will give great signs and wonders so as to mislead, if possible, even the chosen ones. 25 Look! I have forewarned YOU . 26 Therefore, if people say to YOU , ‘Look! He is in the wilderness,’ do not go out; ‘Look! He is in the inner chambers,’ do not believe it. 27 For just as the lightning comes out of eastern parts and shines over to western parts, so the presence of the Son of man will be. --Matthew 24

37

Who will give us meat to eat?

by AGuest in

jw
friends

to the household of god, israel... and all those who go with... may you all have peace!.

man, it's pretty tough out here in this "wilderness", isn't it?

hot, dry, dusty... no meat... only the wretched manna and lukewarm water.

ShadesofGrey

Did the Most Holy One of Israel really call His Household out of "slavery"... only to leave it to perish in the "wilderness"?

This is such a good reminder! If God has delivered us from the org was it so that we could wander in the wilderness forever?

because that usually works with folks here - they know the WTBTS is BS and so easily buy that everything else is, too"...

Doesn't work with me, though...

Yes. It will never work with me. You can think you are disproving the Bible or creation in many different ways, but my God is here with me. You can't prove that He doesn't exist any more than you can prove that my husband or my kids don't exist. So if you find a "contradiction" in the Bible, it doesn't matter. My God is here.

I say this, not as an argument, but rather to explain my feelings. I had many different circumstances that led me to God, and after receiving His prescence (yes his presence, but that is inside of me, not what the WT would have you believe) I have had to hold on to God, and ask Him not to let me go, so I know that it is difficult.

35

Why have you remained theists?

by Silent_Scream in

i realize many on this forum are atheist, and theres many threads to show why.

some believe creationist lack knowledge or understanding and that we are too ignorant to realize there isn't a creator.. i have studied (not in depth) first year college science, and am studying medical/health currently.

i am also very interested in astronomy, and have learned a little in that area.

ShadesofGrey

Thanks N.Drew. I have noticed your posts, so I am not ignoring you. It did take me a while to figure out how to find active topics.

Oh, and back to the Silent_Scream about Bible transations: The New King James Version that I have lists similar scriptures at the end of a passage. So after you read Philippians 2:9-11 the NKJV has Isaiah 45:21-23 listed so that you can look it up. That is what I like about it. I read other versions, but this is the only translation that I have that includes references like that.

Thanks El Nunya. I absolutely agree.

I think that I am a theist because of the way I got out of the org. I started looking into Creationism, wanting answers that made sense instead of the contradictory hokey-pokey that the org teaches. I was warned by JW friends that Creationism is a part of Babylon the Great. What I came to understand is that secular sources are a form of Babylon the Great as well. They have their own religion. They worship naturalistic science and conformism. When my questions were answered I started to open my mind to Christians. Maybe they had something going for them and JWs weren't the only ones being used by God. Then when things didn't make sense I was not afraid to ask my Bible questions on Christian forums and search for the answers on Christian websites. Some JWs that leave start out afraid of anything apostate including all of Christendom don't get answers to their Biblical questions.

I will never allow men to come between me and God. All organized religion is Babylon the Great. We have to cling to Jesus instead. Once we accept the baptism of the Spirit from Jesus we don't need any man or group of man to teach us anything about the Bible. Matt. 23:8-10

"But the anointing that you received from him abides in you, and you have no need that anyone should teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about everything, and is true, and is no lie—just as it has taught you, abide in him."-- 1 John 2:27 1st Timothy 2:5 couldn't be any clearer or to the point, Jesus Christ is the ONE MEDIATOR between God and mankind, the one and only greater Moses.

35

Why have you remained theists?

by Silent_Scream in

i realize many on this forum are atheist, and theres many threads to show why.

some believe creationist lack knowledge or understanding and that we are too ignorant to realize there isn't a creator.. i have studied (not in depth) first year college science, and am studying medical/health currently.

i am also very interested in astronomy, and have learned a little in that area.

ShadesofGrey

Oh the Living Bible Paraphrased led me to Jesus. I read mostly the New King James Version for study now. I also have several other versions to compare, and just started the One Year Bible (it has a section from the OT, a section from the NT, Psalms and Proverbs every day, I love it). Bibles are free at Goodwill.