Just the one "S" will do, Jeff!
BTW like your musings - I love those times of reflection - even if they are at 3 in the morning, eh?
as i drove thru the countryside this morning at 0300 on my way back from work [i was supposed to report and found that i had been scheduled for another vacation day, so back home i went], i drove past the kingdom hall and began to meditate in the utter absurdity of what these poor souls believe about themselves.
they arrogantly are duped to accept that the devil, the ultimate evil in all the universe, has selected them as target.
i drove past tens of thousands of people in that short drive, yet this small cluster of people believes that they alone are worthy of his attack.
Just the one "S" will do, Jeff!
BTW like your musings - I love those times of reflection - even if they are at 3 in the morning, eh?
i know this may not be anything new to some, but it may be helpful to consider this:.
the witnesses claim that god has always had an organisation or a 'mouthpiece' on earth i.e.
he has always dealt with his people through an organisation of some sort, much like a f & ds is taught today by the wts.. ok, that's nothing new, but consider this: if jesus in 1919 selected the "bible students" from amongst all on earth to be his channel, then it begs the question, who was "the channel" before 1919?.
Apparently he wasn't up on all his doctrines either
Seems to me......
that most dubs don't know all the Witness doctrines, even though it's in their publications which they've closely studied (not!)
i know this may not be anything new to some, but it may be helpful to consider this:.
the witnesses claim that god has always had an organisation or a 'mouthpiece' on earth i.e.
he has always dealt with his people through an organisation of some sort, much like a f & ds is taught today by the wts.. ok, that's nothing new, but consider this: if jesus in 1919 selected the "bible students" from amongst all on earth to be his channel, then it begs the question, who was "the channel" before 1919?.
I know this may not be anything new to some, but it may be helpful to consider this:
The Witnesses claim that God has always had an Organisation or a 'mouthpiece' on earth i.e. He has always dealt with his people through an organisation of some sort, much like a F & DS is taught today by the WTS.
OK, that's nothing new, but consider this: If Jesus in 1919 selected the "Bible Students™" from amongst all on earth to be His channel, then it begs the question, Who was "the channel" before 1919?
If it were not the early WTS, then who was it? Surely not Christendom!!!
Yet that is the 'official' answer that Mrs Ozzie received from the Australia Branch when, as a querying dub, she raised that question. Yep, folks, they 'say' that in fact it was Christendom, or more precisely, the Roman Catholic Church which was still His channel. They can't say anything else, for they blindly accept the Bible canon without ever giving a thought to who was responsible for selecting the books of the Bible canon. After all, it certainly wasn't Chuck Russell or Joe Ratherflawed !
These anomalies, nay contradictions, seem to be comprehensively ignored when the modern WTS speaks of the Bible canon on its website:
Lesson 1
How You Can Find Out What God Requires
What important information is contained in the Bible? (1) Who is the Bible's author? (2) Why should you study the Bible? (3) 1. The Bible is a precious gift from God. It is like a letter from a loving father to his children. It tells us the truth about God—who he is and what he stands for. It explains how to cope with problems and how to find true happiness. The Bible alone tells us what we must do to please God.— Psalm 1:1-3 ; Isaiah 48:17, 18 .
2. The Bible was written by some 40 different men over a period of 1,600 years, beginning in 1513 B.C.E. It is made up of 66 little books. Those who wrote the Bible were inspired by God. They wrote his thoughts, not their own. So God in heaven, not any human on earth, is the Author of the Bible.— 2 Timothy 3:16, 17 ; 2 Peter 1:20, 21 .
3. God made sure that the Bible was accurately copied and preserved. More Bibles have been printed than any other book. Not everyone will be happy to see you studying the Bible, but do not let that stop you. Your eternal future depends on your getting to know God and doing his will despite any opposition.— Matthew 5:10-12 ; John 17:3 .
Anyone raised this with your congregation elders? What answer did you get?
Cheers, Ozzie (freedom lovers class)
FREEDOM MEANS NOT HAVING TO WEAR A TIE
it's been lots of fun.
thanks simon and co. thanks to the many forum members who posted life saving information.
without it, i would still be part of the collective.
seeker4: Yep, it does seem 'strange', doesn't it?
exwitless: The thought crossed my mind too.
having been a long time dub - from the age of 5 to the age of 48 - i did not ever plan on retiring in 'this system of things'.
by the time i figured it out, it was a bit late to develop a career plan, get an education, and get the retirement savings in order.. there is still some time - and we will do what we can to assure the best retirement we can.
i am currently 52. but one of the options i am considering is a move to an economically viable location.
Also, med-tours are offered a lot in Thailand because they do have some top notch health care at far less than the US has, so you might want to check out those websites.
Forget the websites - they can so easily distort. I can only repeat (as Jeff knows already) that it's not unwise to rely on medical care in Thailand.
A problem too that arises, how do you evacuate to whatever country you choose when a medical emergency arises?
AK-Jeff:
As you know, Jeff, we faced this ourselves (evacuation in a medical emergency) and all the horrors accompanying "just getting out of there".
Mrs Ozzie and I chose Singapore but when we eventually arrived, we felt that after the ordeal of getting there we might as well get an overnight flight to Sydney - all of this with heavily disguised multiple injuries!!
In Thailand, as in the whole of SE Asia, you face tropical diseases that you've never met before. Despite vaccination, there are some that you cannot prevent being infected with - just last month a good friend of mine who's lived there for about ten years, fell sick with dengue fever - now that's not nice but it's endemic in the region.
having been a long time dub - from the age of 5 to the age of 48 - i did not ever plan on retiring in 'this system of things'.
by the time i figured it out, it was a bit late to develop a career plan, get an education, and get the retirement savings in order.. there is still some time - and we will do what we can to assure the best retirement we can.
i am currently 52. but one of the options i am considering is a move to an economically viable location.
Jeff,
I think you already know my thoughts. Suffice to say that Viet Nam would be preferable over Thailand for me and is definitely on my wish list - I even have a place to live there - but it doesn't seem practical. From our experience (of Mrs Ozzie and I) health care is definitely a consideration. Forget the glossy brochures - healthcare in SE Asia is non-existent for our needs. You must plan to be evacuated to Singapore. Do not, repeat, do not, rely on Thailand as adequate medical care.
Other than that, I'd say that there's nowhere I'd rather be than SE Asia.
cheers, ozzie
in recent conversations with several of the local jws, including elders, a number of recent decisions by the watchtower leadership have provoked questions of the types that most jws lack the temerity to ask:.
--- what is really behind the decision to recast production of the watchtower magazine into two versions, one an ``insiders only" edition and the other for public consumption?
besides reducing the volume of printing (the ``privileged" edition intended solely for jws would naturally be produced in much smaller quantities than the ``public" version, is there any reason to suspect that the gb seeks to shield its core kool-ade message to the initiated from scrutiny by a less indoctrinated and therefore a more-likely-to-be critical public?.
And yet there are still people who say it isn't a cult!
Good to see ya, Roomie.
it's been a long time since i posted here but i often read your messages when ian (dansk) logs on.
as most of you will know, ian will be going back into hospital on monday for an allogeneic stem cell transplant and will be away from the forum for a good few weeks (hopefully he'll be back home within 4-6 weeks).
last time he was in hospital many of you sent messages to his ward and i know they cheered him up immensely.
my cousin, childhood playmate, best friend in the world.
i miss her everyday.. in loving memory.
sharon mcdaniel kennedy.
lmao sorry but i dislike the evil president.
who does he think he is coming over to oz and expecting us to close down a city, put on hundreds of police and spend millions of dollars for his protection.
thousands of lifes have been lost because of this freak.
Does John Howard have every nut on the planet out to kill him?
Probably not. I wonder why?
Really, obssesive Bush-hatred is an interesting psychological phenomenon worthy of serious study.
That's missing the point. The objection is with closing a whole country for a day!! If things are really that bad for the poor guy, he should stay where he feels safe but, honestly, how over the top can this be? Of course, it might be hard to think of shutting down New York for a day but that's what's happening here. That's the offense, not any silly Bush hating or whatever a paranoid merry can might think.