"Nourishing Spiritual Food"?

[Shiwiii]

On 1/2/2018 at 8:14 AM, James Thomas Rook Jr. said:

Remember ... these over-reaching and presumptuous men, greedy for power, and money and influence  ...were  nevertheless at that time "The Only Game In Town", as far as God showing favor to human mortals.   Same thing today.

This, while true in ancient biblical times because we are told by God's word, is only a prop created by the gb/wt. The same can be said of each and every religious organization on the Earth today, if their followers will believe it. You see, the wt/gb have been saying they are "the only game in town" for so long, some people actually believe that they are. Its only those who choose to challenge that theory, who actually see that it is self professed and not "written in God's word". 

 

On 1/2/2018 at 8:14 AM, James Thomas Rook Jr. said:

The Watchtower of January 19th is incredibly important in that regard ... for people of discernment.

This is wt talk at its finest. It poses the reader in the position of either you agree with the wt or you have no discernment. 

Question the answers JTR. 

[TrueTomHarley]

1 hour ago, Shiwiii said:

You see, the wt/gb have been saying they are "the only game in town" for so long, some people actually believe that they are.

Who is the other game in town? Show me. Tell me how you know. Tell me what they have to show for themselves.

JTR will doubtless follow you and he'll make a lot less trouble here. Seriously. They way he carries on, we would all be pleased to be rid of him. Show him the other game. Don't just say that the doers aren't doing it right. Show him someone else who is doing it right. Show us what they are doing. Be specific.

[James Thomas Rook Jr.]

 

1 hour ago, Shiwiii said:

On 1/2/2018 at 11:14 AM, James Thomas Rook Jr. said:

The Watchtower of January 19th is incredibly important in that regard ... for people of discernment.

This is wt talk at its finest. It poses the reader in the position of either you agree with the wt or you have no discernment. 

Shiwiii:

You got what I said completely backwards ... The people who have discernment are NOT the authors of the article .... It will be  the ones who read, and discern what is being said  "between the lines".

I am not one to believe ANYONE at face value, ... and I do recognize self-agrandisement fluffery when I see it.

I do not believe Jehovah's Witnesses are "The Only Game in Town", because the WT says so ... I believe it through process of elimination.

They (and 'we") ARE really the "Only Game in Town"

Deeply flawed ... arrogant... and clueless to the point of embarrassment about reality where the rubber meets the road ... naive to the point of absurdity ..... but the CORE Truths are available nowhere else .... at least since Sir Isaac Newton died about 400 years ago.

Jehovah is blessing his people... not BECAUSE of it's Leadership ... but in spite of it.

The article we will be studying this weekend is heavily nuanced in RESPONSE to the "elves getting uppity", and recognizing that Jehovah's Chariot, and the Circus Clown Car are not the same.... still not perfect... but getting better due to powerful OUTSIDE forces.

There is the expression ... "You do not fight a war with the Army you WANT .... you fight a war with the Army you HAVE."

And if you are a fan of the book "The Peter Principle", you know that in any society, Leadership gets elevated to the point it either becomes incompetent, or irrelevant.

Even Jesus and his parents had to flee to Egypt for awhile, during the "Crazy Years".

This is why people with experience, and discernment will recognize what is really going on in that WT article, as well as what is ostensibly being said.

 

[Shiwiii]

10 minutes ago, TrueTomHarley said:

Who is the other game in town? Show me. Tell me how you know. Tell me what they have to show for themselves.

JTR will doubtless follow you and he'll make a lot less trouble here. Seriously. They way he carries on, we would all be pleased to be rid of him. Show him the other game. Don't just say that the doers aren't doing it right. Show him someone else who is doing it right. Show us what they are doing. Be specific.

Why be so quick to align with a group? Is it that group mentality that makes it impossible for many to just simply come to Jesus? 

Jesus is the WAY, the TRUTH and the LIFE. The org is not the "truth" nor the way and they claim life exclusively to whom they deem worthy, placing themselves in the seat of Jesus. Why is there a need for wt mags and awake mags when the Bible is sufficient? It has been for centuries, until a group decided it wasn't enough and put people in boxes and made hoops for them to jump through. 

 

[James Thomas Rook Jr.]

No one has ever accused me of being "Brother Watchtower".

[Shiwiii]

3 minutes ago, James Thomas Rook Jr. said:

You got what I said completely backwards ... The people who have discernment are NOT the authors of the article .... they are the ones who read "between the lines".

for that then I apologize. It IS wt speak though and you have to admit that. 

 

4 minutes ago, James Thomas Rook Jr. said:

I do not believe Jehovah's Witnesses are "The Only Game in Town", because the WT says so ... I believe it through process of elimination.

How can this be demonstrated beyond "I just know"?  And please read my answer to Tom as it applies here too.

 

5 minutes ago, James Thomas Rook Jr. said:

Jehovah is blessing his people... not BECAUSE of it's Leadership ... but in spite of it.

Is He blessing by means of exposure to the practices and cover ups of the abuse rampant throughout the org? It certainly appears that way in these last 4 years. 

 

7 minutes ago, James Thomas Rook Jr. said:

but getting better due to powerful OUTSIDE forces.

what are these outside forces? news media and governments holding the flashlight on them to force the changes that should have happened long ago? 

 

9 minutes ago, James Thomas Rook Jr. said:

This is why people with experience, and discernment will recognize what is really going on in that WT article, as well as what is ostensibly being said.

point being is why should such an article (magazine) be the focus instead of the Bible itself and the practices written within it?  

[Shiwiii]

4 minutes ago, James Thomas Rook Jr. said:

No one has ever accused me of being "Brother Watchtower".

But isn't that, when it all boils down to it, you are? 

[James Thomas Rook Jr.]

12 minutes ago, Shiwiii said:

22 minutes ago, James Thomas Rook Jr. said:

You got what I said completely backwards ... The people who have discernment are NOT the authors of the article .... they are the ones who read "between the lines".

for that then I apologize. It IS wt speak though and you have to admit that. 

YES... the term I use is "Pubspeak", or "Publications Speak", for Orwellian reasons.

12 minutes ago, Shiwiii said:

22 minutes ago, James Thomas Rook Jr. said:

I do not believe Jehovah's Witnesses are "The Only Game in Town", because the WT says so ... I believe it through process of elimination.

How can this be demonstrated beyond "I just know"?  And please read my answer to Tom as it applies here too.

Experience, and insight.  My carefully considered and heavily educated personal opinion, rationally derived.

12 minutes ago, Shiwiii said:

22 minutes ago, James Thomas Rook Jr. said:

This is why people with experience, and discernment will recognize what is really going on in that WT article, as well as what is ostensibly being said.

point being is why should such an article (magazine) be the focus instead of the Bible itself and the practices written within it?  

Job security for old men and their personal "empires".  They have billions of dollars to "play with" ... and could not live on $256 a week Unemployment compensation .... and they know it.

 

12 minutes ago, Shiwiii said:

22 minutes ago, James Thomas Rook Jr. said:

but getting better due to powerful OUTSIDE forces.

what are these outside forces? news media and governments holding the flashlight on them to force the changes that should have happened long ago? 

YES

Acknowledgment of REALITY is why I have never been accused of being "Brother Watchtower" ... I keep my various fantasies in separate mental boxes with high walls.

 

 

[Shiwiii]

4 minutes ago, James Thomas Rook Jr. said:

YES... the term I use is "Pubspeak", or "Publications Speak", for Orwellian reasons.

I agree, but I think many don't even realize the speech coming out of their mouth isn't their own. 

5 minutes ago, James Thomas Rook Jr. said:

Experience, and insight.  My carefully considered and heavily educated personal opinion, rationally derived.

As it should be. All should have that freedom to examine and choose without fear. 

 

7 minutes ago, James Thomas Rook Jr. said:

Job security for old men and their personal "empires".  They have billions of dollars to "play with" ... and could not live on $256 a week Unemployment compensation .... and they know it.

and this is acceptable? This is the best game in town? If that is true, then there is no game  It's all a shell game made by man that cannot be won. By the admittance of those "outside influences" making the changes that should have been, are you not then acknowledging that the org has not been guided by God? 

 

[James Thomas Rook Jr.]

I look at the results at the bottom, not the juggling act at the top.

It's not a perfect system ... neither is the United States Marines ... but if your sense of rightousness and duty compels you to be either a Theocrat, or a Marine .... you have to put up with the error ... or you have no "Army" ... at all.

I have been chewed up and spit out by the clueless,  like many people.

And more than most, because I really push the envelope, constantly.  Always have.

In the "Fog of War", sometimes you get " killed "  by your own people ...

It's called "Friendly Fire" on the battlefield.

IN the REAL world ... STUFF HAPPENS.

Everyone "reaching out" for privileges of authority rise until they reach their own levels of incompetence.

This is not proprietary to Jehovah's Witnesses .

It is part of being human.

ALL HUMANS

 

[TrueTomHarley]

51 minutes ago, Shiwiii said:

Why be so quick to align with a group? Is it that group mentality that makes it impossible for many to just simply come to Jesus? 

What are the practical manifestations of people 'coming to Jesus?' 

Why do some who have come to Jesus love Trump? Why do some who have come to Jesus love Hillary, and hate Trump?

Perhaps you could convince @AlanF he should come to Jesus.

[James Thomas Rook Jr.]

It was once said that Hillary worshiped Satan, which is of course not the case.

Satan worships her!