TrueTomHarley

It is pretty much like that now. The Great Courses lecturer Luke Thomas Johnson observes how Christians “would not even perform the minimal political gesture of offering a pinch of incense to the gods.” To Christians it was religious. To everyone else, it was “political”—not a big deal. The polytheistic world back then had no problem in itself with Christians bringing in another god. There was always room at the table for another god—pull up a chair. The problem was that once He was seated at the table, he ordered all the other gods away. All of the other gods were willing to share their worshippers. If you worshipped Baal, he had no problem if you also worshipped Dagon, for example. And if some human came along like the Emperor who also wanted to be worshipped, it was not a problem with anyone but the Christians. Their God was the only one to spoil the party with his insistence upon exclusive devotion. That is the practical manifestation of “exclusive devotion” that only Christians fretted about. For that reason, charges abounded that Christians split up families One member alone became a Christian and suddenly there appeared a host of seemingly inconsequential things that they would no longer do—it put a strain on families. One cannot listen to these courses without the thought occurring that early Christians were persecuted for reasons exactly parallel to those of Jehovah’s Witnesses.

Here you go, Your Holiness, how’s this one for flippant? I spun this into a post of its own: “It’s embarrassing when you say the world is going to end and then it doesn’t. How are you going to shake off that one? Jonah was so nonplussed that he hiked outside Nineveh to sit and sulk. (Jonah 4:1-5) Robert Luccioni addressed such problems when he advised “strengthening your spiritual core.” Disturbed at a prior organizational “dogmatic statement?” What if you had heard Jesus himself make one? “Most truly I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in yourselves,” he said. (John 6:53) He lost a lot of disciples that day. “This speech is shocking—who can listen to it?” they said, and stomped off. They might have done better had they strengthened their spiritual core—hang around to see how it played out. The trick is not to try to sanitize the present. It is to desanitize the past. This is what Luccioni does as he considers a few biblical blooper scenarios, like when Jesus’s disciples failed flubbed up expelling a demon that was causing great havoc to a child—and the scribes were making hay out of that failure. “They failed? Isn’t that their job?” he envisioned spectators being stumbled over it. (Mark 9:14-18) In the same way should modern-day “disciples” fail in some aspect of their job—well—some are stumbled. How about the brouhaha over 1975? Might that not cause ones minus an enduring spiritual core some problems. Vic Vomodog trots out this faux pas repeatedly. Answer his question once and he repackages it and runs it through again. What a humiliation it was. Could it happen again? There are two ways to answer this question: “No.” As Mark Twain said: “A cat that sits on a hot stove will never sit on a hot stove again. Nor will it sit on a cold one, for they all look hot.” “Yes.” Are you kidding me? It was 6000 years countdown from Adam per Bible chronology. AND, coupled with the 1000 year reign of Christ to commence after Armageddon. It doesn’t call to mind the 6:1 sabbath arrangement of God? Especially given that one day to God is as 1000 years to mankind? Yes, yes—days to years is apples to oranges—still, its close enough. It is the 1000 to 1 that sticks. Come now. You think they’re going to snooze through that one? They’re the watchman, after all. It’s an irresistible type/anti-type situation. Given the monumental alignment of the planets, it’s a wonder they didn’t make the call far more forcefully than they did, instead of merely stating it was a possibility, which some zealots presently escalated into a probability. They have to make a call on something like that. It is a sorry watchman, peering through the gloom, high up in his perch, that sounds the alarm only when the prow of the approaching ship smashes through the gunwale and pinches his toes. “No.” The above is actually reassuring. Because such monumental circumstances will not repeat for a long, long, time—and it took such monumental circumstances to put the call on the back burner that some moved to the front. Three or four years after 75, I recall some rep saying, “We’ve sailed past all the markers.” What can that mean except, “We’re done?” No more calls like that—until the next time—but there shouldn’t be a next time, for that kind of a setup doesn’t happen everyday. Now we get things like “deep in the last days,” the “end is just around the corner,” and “the last of the last days.” No sense in holding out till “the last of the last of the last of the last days” Last of the last is enough. Everyone gets one failed end-date call within a lifetime. It’s in the rules. It’s a sign of staying alert. Jump the gun in the race and do they shoot you with it? No. It’s not a big deal. They just start the race over.” https://www.tomsheepandgoats.com/2020/11/1975could-it-happen-again.html

Please don’t tell me you’ve escaped into a world in which there is no flippancy. Next you’ll be saying that peace, brotherhood, and mutual respect are the default conditions in the overall world.

“Is it still a God dishonoring sin to eat turkey on Thanksgiving day?” From the turkey’s standpoint, yes.

You almost think that she would use her talents to root out villainy and solve a few problems in her country instead.

Not only did I try. I did. Not only was it not “sick.” It was apropos. It’s called getting the overall picture and not just zeroing in on what you want to see. You were saying it yourself not five posts ago. You can and they can’t? Hold out for the last of the last of the last of the last days if you like. You’re welcome to try. And what of this diatribe of yours that the ‘true anointed’ is to manifest itself (out of nowhere) in but a few years max? Is that not you asserting we are in the last of the last?

Yes. And they’ll continue to trot out 1975 again and again. It’s the technique. Answer the question and the rascals merely repackage it and run in through again. Nonetheless, @Anna, with better motive, asked if it was likely such a thing could ever happen again. There are two ways to answer this question: “No.” As Mark Twain said: “A cat that sits on a hot stove will never sit on a hot stove again. Nor will it sit on a cold one, for they all look hot.” ”Yes.” Are you kidding me? It was 6000 years countdown from Adam, per Bible chronology. AND, coupled with the 1000 year reign of Christ to commence after Armageddon. It doesn’t call to mind the 6:1 Sabbath arrangement of God? Come now. You think they’re going to snooze through that one? They’re the watchman, after all. It’s an irresistible type/anti-type situation. Given the monumental alignment of the planets, it’s a wonder they didn’t make the call far more forcefully than they did, instead of merely stating it was a possibility, which Charlie presently escalated into a probability. They have to make a call on something like that. It is a sorry watchman, peering through the gloom, high up in his perch, that sounds the alarm only when the prow of the approaching ship smashes through the gunwale and pinches his toes. ”No.” The above is actually reassuring. Because such monumental circumstances will not repeat for a long, long, time—and it took such monumental circumstances to put the call on the back burner that some soon moved to the front. Three or four years after 75, I recall some rep saying, “We’ve sailed past all the markers.” What can that mean except, “We’re done?” No more calls like that—until the next time—but there shouldn’t be a next time, for that kind of a setup doesn’t happen everyday. Now we get things like “deep in the last days,” the “end is just around the corner,” and “the last of the last days.” Why not see if you one can hold out till “the last of the last of the last days?” Everyone gets one failed end-date call within a lifetime. It’s in the rules. It’s a sign of staying alert. Jump the gun in the race and do they shoot you with it? No. It’s not a big deal. They just start the race over.

Yes. No

This is called hearsay and gossip. It is not a noble quality to simply post dirt having no idea whether it is true or not. Did I tell you that the Pope got caught sneaking a nuclear bomb into the Mormon temple? If true, this is very bad.

It will always be in the name of whatever the abusers are involved in. But we are molded by our experiences, and that is a very bad one. One might almost say “Thanks for sharing.” It lends an insight.

It is by no means unusual for parents to yell at their children. It might not be the norm, but it is common. Back in the day, it was by no means unusual for parents to “beat” their children, especially in the form of spankings. Nothing was more unremarkable. I am the only Witness in my family. You have to go back almost to Noah to find another. My dad’s father was so harsh that his oldest son determined he would not be like him, and did not discipline his kids at all. Believe me when I tell you, there were some hell-raisers among them. My dad did not swear off discipline. Spanking was not uncommon, and a belt was sometimes used. “Just wait till your father gets home,” my outmaneuvered mom would say. She’d rat on me the second he walked through the door, and then it was one bad experience for me. But this was routine among families—I think more common than not. “Spare the rod and spoil the child”—it was as common for people to say that as the pledge to the flag. Sometimes parents were just doing their best to raise kids, trying to forestall bad habits. Sometimes they were abusive themselves. Sometimes they were working through their own issues. It is good to forgive. It leads to a healthier life. And yes, it goes the other way as well. But you can’t control what another does. You can only control what you do. I remember Cora, decades ago, tearing into a newspaper editor after he’d run a story of some felon and had taken pains to highlight a Witness connection. “You would never have done that were he Catholic or Lutheran,” she said. The fellow reflected, “You’re right,” he said, “we wouldn’t,” and apologized to her. There are a lot of damaged people around.

If you do not teach your children values, it does not mean that they grow up free and unencumbered and, when of age, select their own values from the rich cornucopia of life. No. All it means is that someone else will teach them

The political equivalent of this is known as QAnon.

No, no—you misquoted me. I did not say “spiritual betters” in an absolute sense. I said they are your spiritual betters, because they actually do things in furtherance of the good news and are not merely non-stop bile towards the doings of others. They are your spiritual betters—not necessarily those of faithful ones in general. One could almost endure you if you acknowledged their faith and work. Similarly, one could almost endure you if you pointed to something better, or even equal. But no! All it is is non-stop vitriol on those actually doing something in the work of the Lord, while doing nothing yourself—or at least nothing that you reveal.

I think you vastly overrate your contributions here.

I haven’t done that yet. (Didn’t know it was possible) But perhaps I should. After all, there is nothing new under the sun.

That’s one more than I am. Who’s the 2nd?

I didn’t actually say that he didn’t belong here. I said that if he remains, he may decide to rethink his approach. He is not wrong, you know. The Bible uses words like ‘stupid” in a moral sense, not one of mere intelligence. It is more that, as you say, there is little use in a thread that just becomes one of name-calling.

You give me far too much credit. I just thought your printer must have run out of ink.

A relative of mine whose name I forget went into real estate about that time. His firm’s motto was “We reap, but we do no sow.” He snapped up all these houses for a pittance—it was always easy to talk down the price—“sell quick before everyone else does!”—and he is living the high life in Monaco today.

Quick, someone do a word efficiency analysis, and tell me If Emma Rose will not win hands down for conveying maximum content in minimal words, a skill we should all strive for.

It may be that @derek1956will reassess whether he really belongs here. I am not sure that any of us really do, but to remain one must have a certain imperviousness, an overall strategy, and unflappability. One cannot respond to things as though personally. I know where he is coming from, though. It is initially shocking to see ones taunting the Most High, all the more so when they purposefully make themselves obtuse about how God works with and through humans. The fact that they have nothing to offer that is better doesn’t phase them in the slightest, as they do nothing but condemn the GB, their spiritual betters. No, you don’t go calling people rats and idiots, nor judge just who is to die, for that is not our place. But he displays righteous indignation, a Godly jealousy toward those who would condemn ones working tirelessly in His name, imperfect though they may be, while they do nothing themselves. He won’t be criticized for this, though he may come to rethink the nature of his participation, or even whether he thinks it is advisable. Anything you put on the internet remains forever. It is also instantly buried, so any gaffes need not be overly regretted—still, it does remain forever.

“C’est la vie” said the old folks, it goes to show you never can tell.”—Chuck Berry

I have even put the finishing touches on the Peace & Security prophesy that I floated by the other day: https://www.tomsheepandgoats.com/2020/11/uniting-the-four-fundamental-prophesies-of-naturemade-possible-with-trumps-defeat-a-parody.html

I’m not sure what you mean by clear. As stated, I was baptized in 73 and I thought it very possible, even likely, that the end would come in 75. But as the year dragged on and there was no end I do not recall any sense of letdown (let alone betrayal). “Oh, well, I guess it comes later,” I said. It might have been different had I sold a house or made major changes. But then again, life throws stuff at us all the time. You suck it up and carry on. As to the “offending” brother, did he even have a house to sell at any time in his life? People do their best and sometimes are wrong. “Sign here, kid—I’m gonna make you a star!”