How a Christmas song would lead me to believe that our 1914 teaching must be right after all.

[JW Insider]

7 hours ago, TrueTomHarley said:

“Baptism, which corresponds to this, is also now saving you…” (1 Peter 3:21)

I thought the WT study on Sunday was perfect. It was about readiness for baptism, but the primary theme was about stripping off the old personality and putting on a new Christian personality. People complain about the idea that we tie baptism to an organization. But the primary intention is alway about doing our best to meet the standards of Jehovah's heavenly organization, an organization that only INCLUDES an imperfect earthly part. Also, I don't think that anyone would complain that an Amish baptism is meant to identify you as part of an Amish church, for example. All well-organized churches keep membership roles.

But back to the WT article. It should be clear that baptism discussions are never about an organizational focus. It's always more about our Christian personality. I don't think even the die-hard WTS haters would find a thing wrong with last Sunday's WT article.

[Patiently waiting for Truth]

6 hours ago, TrueTomHarley said:

Though the crazy faux-anointed person here appends scriptures to her comments for tonnage, she can never find the relevant ones, as you have.  

Tom, the answer seems to be that you do not try to reason on the things @Witness says because you have decided that you wil not agree with anything she says. So be it ,it's your choice, but you make it so obvious of whom you will reason with and who you will not. It seems a bit 'blind' to me as I tend to read and think on every comment i can, allbeit in a hurry some days. Yes I know I disagree with most, but only after fully reading the comments. 

6 hours ago, TrueTomHarley said:

So even Patiently Sitting on his Hands, that piece of work, who thinks he will not survive Armageddon and assumes that gives him the stature to advise others….well, maybe he is right and he won’t survive and still I’ll see that dodo on the other side someday, in which case I’ll take back the bad things I’ve said about him and maybe he’ll do the same with me.

On a daily basis I don't think on if I will survive Armageddon or not, I don't find it important. God's plans for the Heavens and this Earth through Christ are important. It's about perspective I suppose. My hope, which seems different to others, is that I will die naturally long before Armageddon happens. I'm 72 and in honesty i don't want to see 90. I don't want dementia, i don't want someone having to feed me or bath me. So hopefully i will die, then Yeshua will decide if I should live again. But there are people that i have not forgiven and cannot forgive, hence i think i will not be forgiven. The scripture about a man who was forgiven his debt but would not forgive some one else who owed him money always sticks in my mind when this topic comes up, so it's nice when the topic does not come up. But of course if we are both there 'on the other side' we will willingly rejoice together and probably laugh at all weve said about each other. 

[Pudgy]

… even better than “42”!

[Matthew9969]

13 minutes ago, Pudgy said:

… even better than “42”!

Is the thought helmet requiring freshly squeezed lemon juice to work.

[Patiently waiting for Truth]

3 minutes ago, JW Insider said:

People complain about the idea that we tie baptism to an organization.

The Ethiopian Eunuch. Acts 8

³⁶ And as they were going along the road they came to some water, and the eunuch said, “See, here is water! What prevents me from being baptized?”^[b] 38 And he commanded the chariot to stop, and they both went down into the water, Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him. 

Ah but Philip was just about to baptise him and then he thought, "Hey i haven't asked him fifty questions yet and i haven't judged him to say if I think it's ok for him to be baptised" 

9 minutes ago, JW Insider said:

It should be clear that baptism discussions are never about an organizational focus.

This is a joke of course. 

10 minutes ago, JW Insider said:

I don't think even the die-hard WTS haters would find a thing wrong with last Sunday's WT article.

 

11 minutes ago, JW Insider said:

It was about readiness for baptism,

But we know who decides the 'readiness' in the JW Org, and it isn't God or Christ. The Elders, once again exert their 'power' over people. 

As an off shoot from this, i do wonder if just anybody could baptise anyone else. For instance, if a person was not part of a 'religion' but was a Christian, could they baptise others to become Christians ?

What gives the Elders 'authority' to baptise others ? 

[Patiently waiting for Truth]

17 minutes ago, Pudgy said:

… even better than “42”!

OK, so i admit i have no idea what your number 42 means. Will you explain please. 

[Arauna]

24 minutes ago, JW Insider said:

focus. It's always more about our Christian personality. I

Yes, we also have learnt before, that just like 144, 000 are sealed those who will receive the earthly promise will also be marked by the one with the inkpot - and the Christian personality will be the criteria.  Ezekiel 9. 

[Arauna]

29 minutes ago, Patiently waiting for Truth said:

But there are people that i have not forgiven and cannot forgive, hence i think i will not be forgiven.

To forgive a great sin against you is surely the one act that jehovah would appreciate and reward.... so work on it.  Your everlasting life is important to all of us. 

[Srecko Sostar]

On 5/9/2022 at 6:42 PM, Anna said:

I would say they are the same in that particular context. If someone is uneducated and only interested in basics, they are not going to be open to other ideas to be able to make an informed decision and therefor accept or not accept the good news. But Jehovah can read hearts, so he knows how the person might have reacted if their circumstances were different....

As we read this report we do not see any need for “informed consent”. Jesus does not conduct a “biblical study,” he does not condition the acceptance of the doctrine for an act of grace and “salvation” toward these people.
When Jesus, to the one who returned to give thanks, said; "Go, your faith has saved you," then we may wonder what and how long the leper should have learned about God? How long did it take to change his personality to become “Christian”? How many new doctrines did he have to accept? ...,

Those lepers showed interest in basic, good health. This did not stop Jesus from showing them goodness.

Luke 17

¹¹ Now on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee. ¹² As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy^[b] met him. They stood at a distance ¹³ and called out in a loud voice, “Jesus, Master, have pity on us!”

¹⁴ When he saw them, he said, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were cleansed.

¹⁵ One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. ¹⁶ He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him—and he was a Samaritan.

¹⁷ Jesus asked, “Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? ¹⁸ Has no one returned to give praise to God except this foreigner?” ¹⁹ Then he said to him, “Rise and go; your faith has made you well.”

[TrueTomHarley]

1 hour ago, Patiently waiting for Truth said:

OK, so i admit i have no idea what your number 42 means. Will you explain please. 

It’s the 42 anointed who met together after they were ordered not to in order to baptize without asking each other a ton of questions.

[Pudgy]

2 hours ago, TrueTomHarley said:

It’s the 42 anointed who met together after they were ordered not to in order to baptize without asking each other a ton of questions.

It was a fair question.

”42” can be googled.….. best understood by reading the book it came from … “The Hitcher’s Guide To The Galaxy”. by Douglas Adams.

You may be able to get it free by searching for it by name + .pdf.

OR…. You could download THIS ONE.

 

Hitchhikers Guide.pdf

[Thinking]

6 hours ago, Arauna said:

To forgive a great sin against you is surely the one act that jehovah would appreciate and reward.... so work on it.  Your everlasting life is important to all of us. 

We need to do the best we can at this time…..I have come to the realisation that Jesus forgave those who REPENTED…..everyday ask Jehovah to help you with the anger and resentment ….it works!!!