JOHN BUTLER

 

Yes  Ephesians Ch 5 is most interesting. As is verse 1 of chapter 1 which reads:-
1  Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus through God’s will, to the holy ones who are in Ephʹe·susa and are faithful in union with Christ Jesus:
We note it is to the Holy Ones. Not the earthly class.
Chapter 5. v1 says : as beloved children, The children of God are the Earthly class.
However v 6 says : 6  Let no man deceive you with empty words, for because of such things the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience. 
The sons are the Anointed that receive the inheritance. So are the 'sons' of disobedience the Anointed that do not serve God properly ? 
As for your final sentence, you choose how you accept them. 

James you are so funny i don't know what to believe and what not to believe from you. I'm not saying you tell lies but you make it all sound like a joke. I'll have to just pass it by because i honestly don't know how much of what you say is supposed to be taken seriously. 

Yes indeed, I do speak of Strong's. It is not unknown to anyone of what is implied when the Strong's are brought up, mainly when it comes to a correction of occurrences, the normal ones or the special ones. For instance, as per our last discussion regarding nakedness or an ambassador, the Strong's tell you which verses/passages uses the word, and what the meaning of that word used there entails, moreover it triumphs any understand of man in the process. Furthermore, it can be used to I.D. a Biblical Violation in Hebrew/Greek easily.
You have the Word of God in your hands. Read it daily. Research it. Observe it. Recite it. And then some. Learn of the teachings of the apostolic church Jesus built and then maybe you can learn something.
If a child can do it, in fact, if Jesus as a child can obverse and read the Shema Yisrael, the Old Testament, so can you.
In doing so you become knowledgeable, can memorized and recite a verse and or passage, the very context of it orally from memory even like remembering a part from a movie.
It is not burdensome unless you make it. This goes hand in hand with following the commandments and what is being asked of you, as a Christian under the New Covenant.
It does not hurt to learn a little Greek and or Hebrew, if I can recommend someone, I recommend Hebrew Professor Jeff A. Benner, with his information give it a few months, you will know quite a bit of Hebrew.

I am a very gentile, kind, considerate person who speaks in a low tone of voice, never argues, and tries to be helpful to every one.
Everywhere around me is a secure, safe space that people can depend on for succor and refuge. Pleasantness and peace surrounds me, and mine.  People of evil intent avoid me, and I avoid them. 
I have lived and worked in areas where sandbags and barbed wire coiled up on the front porch was normal, and hotels on the second floor had to have drapes pulled to keep from being shot at.
I consider such things as part of life, and it does not upset me at all.  I just make sure I am careful, and do not confront anyone, and keep a "thousand yard stare", for potential danger.  
I am 72 years old, and never been in trouble with any gang or government, never arrested, and never questioned by police except for one time when I was taking some pet turtles to the James River, in Virginia.
Perhaps my general appearance helps in some way ... as I am 6'-6" tall and weigh 287 pounds, and carry a silenced 9mm handgun with a green laser in a shoulder holster under my left armpit, and two extra magazines and a Mark VI Vietnam era bayonet under the right one., and a .38 cal. handgun in my pocket ... all completely "street legal", with appropriate "paperwork".
I also carry several cans of dog food, and bottles of water in the trunk of my car, in case there are any stray dogs that look hungry.
When I went out in Service in high crime areas with a bunch of Sisters, I have heard them across the street say to each other ... "Don't worry, Brother Rook is watching over us."
That makes me smile, because I was.
 
 

I am a compulsive reader, and Newsaholic.  I have at my disposal trillions of facts to extrapolate, investigate, and see every side of.
Since you have admitted you do not even read newspapers, you are living in a very serious self-imposed handicap at not seeing the funny side of most everything.
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"I felt sorry for a man who had no shoes,
Until I met a man who had no feet"   - Unknown
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Wow, someone rattle your cage ? You are joining forces with S.M. ?
You are counting me amongst violent people ? Just because i am an Ex-JW you think I'm a gangster ? 
Climb down off your high horse for a moment. If you are a JW you sure don't sound like one. 
I never said England was peaceful. I said "I'm so glad I'm here in a peaceful part of England"  I know what happens in other parts. My brother and sister live in our hometown of Reading, just 30 miles from London. I visit occasionally but only stay for the shortest of time. 
I also wasn't suggesting that S.M. practised Voodoo. I was suggesting that Voodoo was practised in the area where he lived, as he seems to know about such things. 
As for me 'following' anyone else, you are totally off course. You seem to be suggesting that anyone that is an Ex-JW must be part of a movement of some kind. How wrong you are. I am not that weak. I do not need holding up by others. I am my own man. 
I have no thoughts of JW's having firearms. i have no thoughts of JW's harming others physically. BUT i do have thoughts of the GB and JW Org harming people spiritually. 

You are missing the point. What you follow is the GB's interpretation of the scriptures. And the GB say they are not inspired of God's Holy Spirit. So what you follow is the GB that guess about things after they themselves read the scriptures. And as I've said, the GB even make note that they might not be right. 
So for instance, you go on the ministry with a magazine or book to offer to people, but the information in those publications is only guess work by the GB. So it may not be true. You could in fact be offering lies. 
If you teach direct from the Bible that is much better, but you have to have an accurate knowledge of God's word. 
You follow your GB through your elders. You do Not follow God through Jesus christ. 

Thanks. Now I understand your specific point.

funny, SM calling me "cryptic" .... so here i am not alone :)))))))))

You are missing the point. What you follow is the GB's interpretation of the scriptures. And the GB say they are not inspired of God's Holy Spirit. So what you follow is the GB that guess about things after they themselves read the scriptures. And as I've said, the GB even make note that they might not be right. 
So for instance, you go on the ministry with a magazine or book to offer to people, but the information in those publications is only guess work by the GB. So it may not be true. You could in fact be offering lies. 
If you teach direct from the Bible that is much better, but you have to have an accurate knowledge of God's word. 
You follow your GB through your elders. You do Not follow God through Jesus christ. 

Wow, someone rattle your cage ? You are joining forces with S.M. ?
You are counting me amongst violent people ? Just because i am an Ex-JW you think I'm a gangster ? 
Climb down off your high horse for a moment. If you are a JW you sure don't sound like one. 
I never said England was peaceful. I said "I'm so glad I'm here in a peaceful part of England"  I know what happens in other parts. My brother and sister live in our hometown of Reading, just 30 miles from London. I visit occasionally but only stay for the shortest of time. 
I also wasn't suggesting that S.M. practised Voodoo. I was suggesting that Voodoo was practised in the area where he lived, as he seems to know about such things. 
As for me 'following' anyone else, you are totally off course. You seem to be suggesting that anyone that is an Ex-JW must be part of a movement of some kind. How wrong you are. I am not that weak. I do not need holding up by others. I am my own man. 
I have no thoughts of JW's having firearms. i have no thoughts of JW's harming others physically. BUT i do have thoughts of the GB and JW Org harming people spiritually. 

My point is that we should have a little talk about the term "inspired".
First we should come up with an answer on what type of "inspiration" the GB speaks. As for the religious people who govern the believers, then we can safely assert that GB actually claims that they are not inspired by the divine spirit. 
In what sense of inspiration? In the sense of what is often used for written Bible text and its source, these are verses like - 2 Peter 1:19-21 and 2 Timothy 3:14-16. GB denied such divine inspiration for written and verbal text that coming from GB members mouth, or in extension, all what is produced as "spiritual food" by means, with help, through WT Company or JW Organization as god's chosen organized people who doing His will.
Now let us see something about word "inspire" (and all forms that come from this one).
few from dictionary:
 to make someone feel that they want to do something and can do it
 to make someone have a particular strong feeling or reaction
 to give someone an idea for a book, film, product, etc
to fill someone with confidence and desire to do something
If something or someone inspires something else, it causes or leads to it
 As we can see to be inspired can came from various sources. And all sources are normal (if they are normal :))))). If you as JW member listen to Conventional program and hear some bro or sis how they are happy in missionary service, how they meet many interesting people, saw beautiful scenery of nature and  many more and after you heard that you want to be missionary .... Who INSPIRED Who? Nothing is wrong to be INSPIRED. 
If you read some book, watching TV, movie and something move you aka inspired you to say something, to do something ... it means you are INSPIRED. If God from heaven tell you to say, to do something, it means you are INSPIRED.
When GB of JW say how they are not INSPIRED what that means? Not inspired by spirit of God, not inspired by other people spirit , not inspired by own spirit??
How ever they claim, state, quote how they are not inspired, they are in fact want to say how GB is not RESPONSIBLE for nothing have been said and written. That is main reason for defending themselves with phrase "we are not inspired". 
Inspiration is divine gift. And was given to all people. Or better to say some will found that and some will used that.  :))) Not only for religious purposes!!!!!!!!!!!

So exposing people for Child Abuse now becomes 'persecuting my own brothers and sisters' does it ?
Exposing the GB for their heartless rules, their false information and misguidance becomes 'persecuting my own brothers and sisters' does it ? 
Well Jesus was accused of much that wasn't true about him. So accuse me of what you will. God himself will sort out whichever Organisation HE wishes to use, be it the JW Org or not. But if it is the JW org then it will need a lot of cleaning out first. Meanwhile you can carry on being a puppet if you wish, but not a puppet for God, only a puppet for the GB. 

You talk of the Nation of Israel. They were God's chosen people. Not by their choice as individuals though. So it cannot be compared to the JW Org. The JW Org is made up of individuals that have made a choice to be in that Org. The Org is supposed to be like a New nation. A safe place, a hiding place from the storm of the world. It should be 'looked after', watched over and guided by men of pure hearts. But it isn't. It's an organisation of dictatorship with the threat of death if a person disobeys. Spiritual death at first, then physical death at Armageddon, ( if you believe what he GB says ). 
You said 'so you leave because of wrong doing of a few in power'. Let me remind you of Hitler. He was in power, but why ? Why did he have such power ?  Because people feared him and so they did as they were told. They were his puppets. Hitler could not have done as much on his own. It was because he had so much of Germany under his control and they 'did just so', obeyed his every command without thought or feeling for others. It is the same in the JW org. The Elders are in fear of the GB. The GB are the hitler of the Org. So the Elders are the puppets of the GB, and in turn the congregants are in fear of the Elders, so the congregants are the puppets of the Elders. That is why the JW Org is not pure and clean. If you pollute a river from its source, that pollution will run down through the whole river, polluting all in its path. So it is with the JW Org, the pollution starts with the GB and it runs down through. 
You are saying to me then, why not be part of this pollution ? Why not invite other people into this polluted Organisation ? 
I think you will now understand why I left it all. Well you will understand if you want to, but if you want to continue to be blind then so be it.  

This discussion has been an eye-opener!
I always wondered why Santa Clause gave those mountains of presents to "good" little boys and girls, and a whole industry was made having their pictures taken on Santa's lap.
I should have been suspicious when I heard that Department Store Santa say "Have you been a GOOD little girl, Ho Ho Ho?"

Who is the 'we' in these cases ?  In Australia it seems they had been collecting information about the Pedophiles in the Org for over 50 years. And in the USA in 1997 the GB started to collect info about the same thing. Though I would think that unofficially the GB had been collecting info for as long as Australia Org had. So to presume that the GB / Org 'assumed that kids lie and elders tell the truth' seems a bit far fetched. 
And the bit about 'built into the system for decades'. Do you mean built into the JW Org from the GB ? 
And it's back to, Why wouldn't the GB and its legal departments hand over all the information to the authorities in the USA? It's not a question of the legal standing surely, it's a question of what is right in God's eyes. 
They even tried to resist here in the UK, but gave some of the info' eventually. Did they give all the info' in Australia ?  Why has each country acted differently ? It's God's standards that need to be upheld not legal standards of each country. 
And, are things the same now ? The two witness rule still applies doesn't it ?  They can accuse two adults of opposite sex of committing fornication with no witnesses, but will not believe a child or its parents when abuse has taken place. 
And it seems they don't even think about two people of the same sex having a sexual relationship. Brothers can live in a house together, go anywhere together and no questions. But if one brother and one sister should dare to go anywhere together they are accused of fornication. Very old fashioned human way of thinking. Not scriptural at all. 

@JOHN BUTLER First/Second Epistle of Paul to Timothy also known as The First/Second Epistle of Paul the Apostle to Timothy
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Epistle_to_Timothy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Epistle_to_Timothy Yes all text is inspired, but at the same time it is also best to know who wrote what and when.

Probably Paul......

Most people would succumb to the bystander syndrome/effect, even police officers and military personnel. They will not do anything because it can put them in danger physically and even cause them their life, example, a situation I posted before of a man who jumped in to stop a fight, he sends up getting a pool Stick jammed into his head, another situation whereas a child saved someone only for him to get killed, another whereas a man was shot and killed in front of his family and kids and I am pretty sure even JWs know this for I did post that one JW stumbled upon child prostitution, he was unable to do anything because the people recognized him in the neighborhood and knew where he lived his friends and family, should be taken action, he would have been dead, or his loved ones and it is not unknown to anyone what gang members who are affiliated in the practice will do to their victims, even mobsters too.
Because of things like this people succumb to this effect, although most succeed, the high risk is there, and it goes on all realms of violence, abuse, corruption, etc.

I think there are going to be a LOT of very profound surprises!

Thanks for respond. Question is very hard to answer in full measure, with complete sincerity and openness. But, this is not environment to be completely open on every aspects of own private life. I truly appreciated your sincerity John and contribution you made by brave comments and experience you went through.  
First and only sincerity one must show, 
is in front "mirror"  when we looking own face, literal and spiritual. Would we go so far and tell some "secret" feelings and thoughts? It requires more faith and courage than of many who have been called "people of faith".
"The Truth". How widely meaning and many areas are covered in this word. 
 
 
 

When Abram heard that his relative had been taken captive, he called out the 318 trained men born in his household and went in pursuit as far as Dan. 15 During the night Abram divided his men to attack them and he routed them, pursuing them as far as Hobah, north of Damascus. 16 He recovered all the goods and brought back his relative Lot and his possessions, together with the women and the other people.

For some of us there are emotions / feelings in between Love and Hate. 
We should love our neighbours, but can't say a i do. I tend not to get involved with my neighbours, but i do consider their feelings when i do things outside of the house. So in my opinion showing consideration is a way of showing love, but in an indirect way. 
For some people, those that have had a good upbringing and have been shown love, it is probably easier to show love to others. But when life has kicked you down for more than half a century then showing love becomes more difficult.  God understands all this of course, but never expect people to understand. 
I show 'love' to some people by just completely ignoring them. Well it's better than doing them harm  .
Hate, I think we all hate something or someone at times. We are all sinners and fall short in many ways. 
But you know the things i hate, no need to repeat them again. 

A family in a house is to God, as a litter of puppies in a box is to us.