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Diakonos

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  1. You are thankful for the covering up of falsehoods ? If the"spirit directed organisation" gets it wrong one has to ask, where was the spirit?
  2. In my mind there is no difference. There is no transparency as to finances in the organisation except at congregation level. The very fact that a financial report is read out at a religious meeting assumes that by so doing those in attendance will be "motivated" to give. It is passing the plate covertly.
  3. As printing is reduced it will become easier to rewrite all the embarrassing statements online that never materialised.
  4. Indeed others also believe that Jesus and Michael are one and the same, however they also believe that Jesus is God the Son, although they didn't always hold to that belief. In the Finished Mystery, Russell, if indeed it was Russell, wrote that Michael was the Pope and his angels were the bishops ?
  5. One thing that has always puzzled me is this: what happened to the spirit creature Michael when Jesus was conceived/born as a human? We are told that Jehovah transferred Michael's life pattern into Jesus in much the same way as God will do for those who are resurrected. This would mean that when Jesus was alive on earth there was no Michael in heaven. As we do not believe that humans have a spirit, in the accepted sense of the word, the question remains, what happened to Michael during Jesus earthly presence?
  6. This hardly answers the question Melinda does it ? The problem is, as Gerrit Loesch said in the November broadcast, is that the GB are still roving about !! If the slave can err in doctrinal matters and organizational policies, as stated in the February 2017 WT, we can never be certain from whom the teaching has come. Jesus or men ? Jesus does not give out false information or wrong dates. Research what JF Rutherford said Bible students could confidently expect in 1925. The GB have therefore been guilty of doing what the scriptures warn us against in 1 Cor 4:6 6 Now, brothers, these things I have applied to myself and A·polʹlos for your good, that through us you may learn the rule: “Do not go beyond the things that are written,” so that you may not be puffed up with pride, favoring one against the other.
  7. I really didn't know whether to laugh, cry or throw my hands up in despair when we discussed this at last night's meeting. The answers that were given during these paragraphs and the response of the study conductor really showed to me how, as a general rule, we are such a non-thinking and illogical group of people. 5 As we saw in Chapter 2 of this book, the Bible Students spent decades pointing out that the year 1914 would be significant in fulfilling Bible prophecy. However, at that time they believed that Christ’s presence had begun in 1874, that he had begun to rule in heaven in 1878, and that the Kingdom would not be fully set up until October 1914. The harvest would extend from 1874 to 1914 and would culminate in the gathering of the anointed to heaven. Do mistaken ideas such as these cast doubt on whether Jesus was guiding those faithful ones by means of holy spirit? 6 Not at all! Think again of our opening illustration. Would the premature ideas and eager questions of the tourists cast doubt on the reliability of their guide? Hardly! Similarly, although God’s people sometimes try to work out details of Jehovah’s purpose before it is time for the holy spirit to guide them to such truths, it is clear that Jesus is leading them. Thus, faithful ones prove willing to be corrected and humbly adjust their views. It is also upsetting that the governing body, in instances like this, always speak in the third person. How much more humble would it be for them to say ; "Similarly, although we, the faithful and discreet slave sometimes try to work out details of Jehovah’s purpose before it is time for the holy spirit to guide us to such truths..." Any comments ?
  8. Bringing someone to righteousness does not make the bringer a mediator between the person and God. If you conduct a Bible study with an individual and that individual abandons an immoral lifestyle and subsequently lives their life by God's standards you can say that you have had a part in turning or leading that person towards righteousness. However, you have not become a mediator between that person and God. The simple Biblical fact is stated at 1 Tim 2 : 5 there is only one mediator between God and men and that is God's son, Jesus Christ.
  9. Warwick didn't built itself. As for the child abuse payouts,well the media have covered that. My main point however was the fact that the context of those scriptures shows that the contributions were to assist the brothers who were materially suffering. When was the last time your congregation contributed money to feed your starving brothers? I know my congregation has never done that.
  10. According to paragraph 15 in Chapter 4 of the book Gods Kingdom Rules the time had come in 1931 for Jehovah to allow his Bible students to adopt his name. 15 By the dawn of the 1930’s, our brothers had acquired a proper view of the importance of God’s name, a clearer understanding of the work God had assigned them to do, and a deeper insight into the main issue to be settled. Now, Jehovah’s time had come to give his servants the honor of publicly bearing his name. To see how that came about, let us consider some past events. Apparently Jehovah didn't mind them still using the cross or having a seemingly wrong date for Christ's parousia.
  11. The organization often uses the scriptures from 1 Cor 16 and 2 Cor 8 to appeal for us to make contributions to the world wide work. However, as you read these verses in context the contributions that were collected were for the material needs of fellow Christians who were undergoing poverty and famine. I am in no doubt that many of our fellow Christians in this world would welcome material assistance, especially in some of the poorer countries. Instead millions are spent on making the organizations headquarters into a palatial residence not to mention the millions that have already been paid out in settlements regarding sexual abuse cases !! I strongly feel that this is an abuse of those scriptures, making them say what the writer and ultimately the divine author did not intend. Agree or disagree ?
  12. I see where you are coming from. The standard of righteousness is Jehovah's and his standards do not change. The verses in Romans are applied to Abraham because of his faith in Gods promises. Righteousness was credited to him in the same way as it was credited to 1st century Christians and also to those who have faith in the ransom. According to the authority of the scriptures you cannot have 2 different applications of being declared righteous. I realize that thinking along these lines may seem to muddy the societies teachings however the recent WT study highlights how "the slave" can err in doctrinal matters. As lovers of truth we must rely on the authority of Gods word.
  13. According to Romans Chapter 4, a person is declared righteous by God through their faith in Christ. The society makes a distinction between the righteousness that was reckoned or credited to Abraham and the righteousness that is counted to the annointed. According to the publications Abraham's righteousness made him a friend of God whereas the annointed are declared righteous for life as God's children and heirs of Christ. However as I read Romans Ch 4 I came across these verses regarding Abraham, especially verses 23 and 24 20 But because of the promise of God, he did not waver in a lack of faith; but he became powerful by his faith, giving God glory 21 and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to do.+ 22 Therefore, “it was counted to him as righteousness.”+23 However, the words “it was counted to him” were not written for his sake only,+ 24 but also for our sake, to whom it will be counted, because we believe in Him who raised Jesus our Lord up from the dead.+ As I read these verses it struck me that Paul saw no difference in Abraham having righteousness "counted to him" and 1st century Christians having righteousness "counted to them" .As verse 23 shows this is the same declaring of righteousness with the same resulting promise. I tried to research those verses in the Watchtower Library but strangely enough there were no direct references to explain them. Any thoughts on these verses ?
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