TrueTomHarley

13 minutes ago, Otto said:

I agree, what 1 says about it another contradicts...because its a man made idea and designed to confuse.

I like to write. This is from a book I penned a while back:

If I am returning to the car after a long and productive return visit, I will nonetheless say to Tom Pearlsnswine upon entering: “I can’t believe that person won’t admit that Jesus and Jehovah are different!” I pretend not to notice as he reddens – you should see him! You can almost see the steam coming from his ears: “You kept me waiting an hour to argue the Trinity?!”

4 minutes ago, JW Insider said:

It has been typical of AllenSmith, J.R.Ewing, Gnosis Pithos, etc., to rely on a kind of "word salad" or various other types of "plays on words" and twisted and incorrect meaning of words.

I have misinterpreted the remarks - or did I? - of these guys so many times that I have given up. That is not to say it is intentional, though it could be. But it might also be from coming from a very different part of the world or from using English as a second language. 

I also like, somewhere in the meeting last night, the synopsis of God's dealing with Israel:

'I let my people get beat up because they were too bad for too long. But then the nations said: 'Look! God can't protect his own people!' So I beat them up too. And I brought my own people back just to show them.'

It's no more complicated than that with the great God of all creation? No. It's not. Sometimes we overthink things.

Though his wisdom surpasses all understanding and we can see only the fringe of his outer garment, when he chooses to relate to humans, he is breathtaking in his mundane common sense. He's not ashamed of it. He glorifies it.

59 minutes ago, Otto said:

I confess, I don't understand the trinity at all, what is the oneness?

I confess that discussions of trinity instantly lose me. I have never seen anyone yield on any point.

7 hours ago, J.R. Ewing said:

Then, perhaps, the understanding of “revision” made by Christ to the Jewish laws can be understood, as it is done, in modern times.

The 'higher critics' who assume scriptures are human writings until proven otherwise say the same about Paul revising Jesus's teachings. They have him essentially founding another religion. I wonder how that factors in with those who carry on about Rutherford succeeding Russell, or Knorr succeeding Rutherford.

On the other hand, regarding someone on a much lesser level who caused considerable unnecessary chaos in the family, when a C.O. tried to soften it as Jehovah sending just the right personality at just the right time, I said 'Look. I know the line. I'm perfectly willing to spin it and even view things that way - God works with people. But I also want to call a spade a spade. The man is an unbalanced nut.'

Later when my daughter asked the C.O. about his conversation with her dad, the latter replied: "He was ... frank."

I trust no one takes this thread as encouragement to trust in God, ignore warnings, and tough it out. The thread is a joke. Does Donald Trump talk to hurricanes? Have his hotels even been flattened? He lost a shingle or two somewhere - i don't know the damage, but nothing is flattened.

As for Branson the Atheist - well, that's another story.

I'll add a few other points to 'Why Remain a Witness when Bad things happen?' - all gleaned from this week's meeting. These verses all came up for comment.

'For we are God's fellow workers. You are God's field under cultivation, God's building' - 1 Corinthians 3:9

it's nice to be in a field and to feel yourself cultivated for the better. Outside of the Christian congregation, you are on your own. There is little to help you become a better person and much to impede you. Some aspects train the mind but almost never the heart, and training of the mind is a mixed blessing unaccompanied by a trained heart: "Sam Harris gave yet another TED talk in which he asked: “Can We Build AI Without Losing Control Over It?” The answer is no; you’ll screw it up like you screw up everything, like you drove Albert Einstein to say 'if I had known, I would have become a locksmith.'"

In God's organization, all you have to do is go with the flow and you will be automatically improved. If you step on the gas, all the better. Of course, you must avoid the piss pots of 2 Timothy 2:20.

I like, too, how the priests of Ezekiel 44:23 will instruct the people about 'the difference between what is clean and what is unclean.' People don't know. We live in a time where what is good is said to be bad and vice versa. The young have been sold down the river by the old, who have swooned over every means of the trickery of men and every wind of a faddish teaching. Their 'students' reap what they have unwittingly sown and suffer for it, yet, stuck with only the moral compass of this system of things, never know why. The Governing Body sees to it that the Bible's teachings are undiluted and its beneficial doctrine preserved at the meetings of Jehovah's Witnesses.

Of course, the meeting did not go without a hitch. The Largatherins made a fuss, insisting on their own teachings as they always do. Harvey and Irma Largatherin are - let us not mince words here - blowhards, pure and simple.

What is this confidence you have placed in the god of Florida? Have the gods of Barbuda, St Martin, and the island where that nutty atheist lives, been able to deliver those trusting in them so that you should say “the god of Florida will deliver me?” And in case you should say ‘Donald Trump will deliver me,’ have I not flattened the hotels of Donald Trump?

Now, is it without authorization from Donald Trump that I come? Donald Trump himself spoke to me, saying “grab them by …” well – you know what he said.

1 hour ago, JW Insider said:

Do you have family among the Witnesses, any close friends still in the congregation?

"By sheer accident one fine blogging day I came across Brian, a Witness youngster who’d decided that the home team was wrong and that the atheists were right. The atheists! So he figured he’d better tell the Watchtower off. He had his letter of disassociation posted right there on the internet, building up courage to submit it to the elders. The letter contained six “blatant Watchtower errors.” He was worried about the consequences but brave enough to face them. Atheists were in the background egging him on:

"‘You could be with us! Forget the fountain of youth; we have the fountain of death! Fifty good years, and then you’re gone! No God to suck up to! No elders telling you what to do! You can be free!!!!!!!!!!’

"But it wasn’t the atheists who would face the consequences of Brian telling the brothers to take a hike. “What is that to us? - you must see to it!” the chief priests told Judas before he hanged himself. Formal disassociation would mean that few, if any, Witnesses would speak to him afterwards. Would the atheists be there for support? Or would they let him twist in the wind? Brian was not sure exactly how matters would unfold.

"So I told him. And I suggested how to better submit his letter. Shorten it. Delete five points. If any one of them is enough to justify jumping ship, why include them all? That’s just the atheists stoking the fire. Offer just one point, and then you have the option of discussing more at any subsequent meeting; you haven’t locked yourself in that way. ‘Look, it’s not a good decision, but if you’re going to do it, you might as well do it right.’ Furthermore, I challenged two of the points. Not vigorously, not condescendingly - indeed, the specific facts were not incorrect, they were just skewed in a peculiar atheist light. ‘Here’s another light in which you might see them,’ I wrote.

"Next thing you know, Brian has hit the books, uncovered the atheist ruse, torn up his letter, and deleted his blog, leaving the atheists shaking with rage! Trust me, I had no idea such a thing was going to happen. I was even a little sorry about it; I’d looked forward to commenting a few times on his site. They’re slippery, those atheists are, ignoring 2nd Peter 2 and the ‘Enemies’ campaign, masquerading as saviors of the human race. I don’t like them, and they don’t like me. One of them said online that I reminded him “of the ‘too clever’ Witnesses that were in love with themselves.” How did he know?"

I love when the highbrow guy suggested Doc Martin has Asbergers, as he obviously does. Doc shut him down instantly. 

2 hours ago, JW Insider said:

If I were a judgmental person I might even suspect alcohol, too

Good l**k on that.

On 8/31/2017 at 4:50 PM, Alessandro Corona said:

I left 3 days ago. Even though I still have faith in Jehovah and Christ, Jesus.

Perhaps you should return. Are they represented anywhere else? Does anyone else even use Jehovah's name?

Leave him alone!!! He may be an apostate, but he's a NICE apostate - um - I guess. What has he been saying lately?

No offense, Shiwiii - forgive me if I misunderstand you - but it seems you are being obtuse. I said more than once that they have 1000 years to work up to a position they do not occupy now, even if we assume their warfare is physical.

14 minutes ago, Shiwiii said:

This just proves that the whole not going to war thing is made up by men,

Go off to war then if you think it is such a great idea. No one here is saying you can't.

2 minutes ago, Shiwiii said:

it is more about the fact that jw's do NOT go to war and kill. How will they then if that is the stance now? 

As I say, they have 1000 years to work up to a new position. Moreover, how much is physical warfare on their end is unclear. Surely this forum has proven a genuine battleground, yet not a punch has been thrown.

It's 1000 years off. If things 100 years in the past do not interest me overmuch, neither do they 1000 years in the future. Maybe even JTR's points will factor in somehow. Dunno. I'll worry about it when I get there, assuming I do.

1 minute ago, Shiwiii said:

So how can this be if they do not go to war?

The bad ones will have 1000 years to work up a head of steam. You don't think that's enough time?

On 8/31/2017 at 2:21 PM, Shiwiii said:

If the 1000 year reign is AFTER Armageddon, and then this battle takes place at the end of the 1000 years, who exactly is fighting who according to jw's? I mean, doesn't the society state that ONLY jw's will be saved after Armageddon? So if all that there is left is jw's, then who do they go to war against? 

I would guess it is those who have developed a complaining and challenging spirit - even a belligerent spirit - against those who have not, the same as can be seen today. 1000 years is a long time for it to take hold - it will take a while for memory of Armageddon to fade. In the first century outright rebellion broke out the instant the apostles died.

In other words, it will be JWs against jws.

7 hours ago, James Thomas Rook Jr. said:

Yes, previous threads did answer those concerns, and yes, I did not like them, because ....

... I WAS LOOKING FOR CORRECT ANSWERS.

I feel that everyone who does not agree with me is a hater and a Nazi. It's a great world I live in.

7 hours ago, Nana Fofana said:

He was nearly 80 when he began "serving without pay", i.e. retired, and -NOBLY- still kept an eye on things.  I'm very sorry that you don't appreciate him properly like I do

I have the most information on him than any living person. Yet even I can say almost nothing as to his personality. A few deeds remain, that is all.

To me it indicates the futility of this system. When one dies, they are very soon forgotten.

If only it blew hot air. Many here could go down there and fill up.

Let's go surfing now - everyone is learning how - come on and safari with meeee -

When my wife applied to regular pioneer, she was unprepared for the question about objectionable - or is it unsuitable for a Christian? - music. Never one to blow things away, she answered that she does listen to it sometimes. "Well," she explained later to some elders, "if the Beach Boys come on and sing 'Wouldn't it be nice to live together,' I do not turn off the radio. This appeared to satisfy them. "We've never had someone answer this way," they said, looking befuddled.

On the night that her appointment was announced, I approached those elders. "You're making a big mistake! How can you allow her privileges?! She does nothing but listen to rap all day and heavy metal all night! I expected you brothers to straighten her out!"

 

AI translations are always choppy, often poor. Smart though scientists may be, they cannot outdo Jehovah's 'handiwork' at Nimrod's DIY project.

2 hours ago, James Thomas Rook Jr. said:

TEST: Where is the scriptural basis for overlapping generations?

How about ONE example

James! James! James! James! Hold the ladder steady.

You hammered the exact same taunt repeatedly in a previous thread that addressed it at length, with answers that you did not like. But that does not mean they were not answers.

6 hours ago, Nana Fofana said:

Edwin A. Fisher (1847-1948): A civil engineer and native of Massachusetts, he built railroads before going to work for the city of Rochester in the 1890s. There he was given the task of supervising the construction of a second gravity-flow conduit that would bring additional water from Hemlock Lake to the city. As city engineer, he also oversaw the construction of the Cobbs Hill Reservoir and other projects. Though he retired in 1926, he served as a consultant to the city without pay with the title of Engineer Emeritus until his death at age 101.

Yes. That is great grandpa. And I am like him in one notable regard. sigh...

I also serve without pay.

He was not in the truth, though. None of my family is. To find one that is, you must go all the way back to Noah.

On 9/1/2017 at 11:40 PM, Anna said:

You mean trail of course...

Does that mean I never get top prize again?

Actually, either one works: trail or trial. How often does that happen? What a beneficent library @The Librarianruns!