stuff
by i just witnessed to a kid here for about a half hour, very cool. he saw me studying for the b/s and asked what I was doing. turns out, this kid says he is christian but follows the bible exactly. he says he has no denomination, but some people might call it fundamentalist. like, he doesn't celebrate christmas (although he does celebrate birthdays). i have to be careful because he has a very good knowledge of the bible, i've really never talked to anybody like this before.
He pretty much agreed with everything I said, he was kind of confused by Revelation (who wouldn't be though), I'm thinking of giving him a Revelation grand climax book... i'm psyched because he wants to continue our discussion later. I wish I had my reasoning book here though.
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AWESOME MATT!!!!! Definitely give him a Revelation book. Heck, give him a knowledge book, reasoning book, and a slap on the butt! Maybe find out what Bible he uses...not that you can't teach the truth from any Bible...
Matt, you're the man! I'm saying a prayer for you right now (I wish I could send my reasoning book to you by email). Oh, and if you need to, go to Watchtower.org for anything you might need articles on. Jehovah will give you holy spirit if you ask for it, and you won't need to worry about this kid knowing the Bible so well.
he doesn't use the NWT but he uses a version that has God's name in it, he knew God's name, and he knew the whole LORD in caps thing too which was surprising
That's so awesome! did he say he wants to get baptized yet? if not, why not? what, you didn't teach him enough yet? why not?
being that he is so strict in his beliefs, do you think he wouldn't want any extra-biblical literature, or would he care?
i think he probably would...
would what?
accept our literature
some ppl need to have the details spelled out for them...
D-E-T-A-I-L-S
Got it? Good!
I think..as the first step to talking with him..you should introduce him to Ezabel.
that'd be a big mistake, cause then he'd talk to weirdos like you! (or me)
funny, i actually had showed him ezabel yesterday. just from a programming perspective
Something cool happened to me today while I was studying for B/S. I had just given a Bible to my coworker who had asked me for one. We were sitting in the lunchroom. She was eating and talking with this other woman. The other woman asked me what I'm studying in school. I explained that I was preparing for a religious discussion. It's interesting how, if you approach a person (or in this case, they approach you) in a very informal way you can end up giving a really great witness. Anyway, this girl told me how she was really impressed at how intently I was studying and that it must be really interesting because she had to call me a few times to get my attention.
that's so awesome! We truly do have an awesome privelege!
I just have to work on my informal witnessing confidence. he asked me why we don't celebrate birthdays and why we would celebrate anniversaries, and i was a little shakey on that. i said i could look into it and get back, and he's like "why do you need to research it, just answer my question". not in a mean way, but he just expects me to know what i believe in, which is understandable... looks like i better polish up a bit.
There's a part in the Service meeting called "prove yourselves ready". This is one more reason why we need to be ready!
That's a tough one. I STILL don't think I really understand that. Share with me whatever understanding you come to.
are you serious...wow.
birthday = pagan - (see bible under "DEATH OF JOHN THE BAPTIST")
anniversaries = celebration of WEDDINGS, something instituted by Jehovah. Commemorating an anniversary is a good thing.
However..renewing vows...is unecessary.
well thanks for saying it so nicely lol
However, some witnesses do have strong feelings that we should not celebrate anniversaries. Their reasoning is that, we do not celebrate birthdays because we don't want to give excessive honor to a creation as opposed to the Creator, hence we would also not want to celebrate anniversaries since they do the same thing. I'm not saying I feel this way, but we should respect our brothers' conscientious decision not to celebrate anniversaries.
he's right, we should respect our brothers' consciences...
...unless they're stupid enough to feel that way about anniversaries!
then we should be swift about kicking them in the eye. ;)
That's why it always confused me.
hm, well then how would you respond to this:
But Jehovah instituted birth and life, so why not celebrate that as well? Same reasoning as your reasoning on wedding anniversaries.
good point....
apostate!
j/k haha.
i didn't see a response! newbie!
no, i said good point cause you stumped me.
anyone else?
you think you're really clever, don't you.
well. let's see. no one faithful in the bible is mentioned as celebrating their birthdays. EVER. no one from moses to jesus to any of the apostles.
"oh...well...no one celebrated birthdays back then".
Not quite. Obviously Herod did. And so did Pharoh. So ask yourself - why are only unfaithful people mentioned as celebrating their birthdays?
(PSSSST...guys...this is ALLLL in the school brochure)
Hm, I don't seem to recall any faithful servants mentioned in the bible celebrating their annivs. either...
sure you do. An anniversary is merely a yearly observance of something.
All the Israelites celebrated the passover on a yearly basis.
ZING!
by the way, ian is the world's biggest cheater. no householder would have looked at the WT CD (for XP) before asking these questions.
Page 68, Reasoning Book:
Birthday Definition: The day of one's birth or the anniversary of that day. In some places the anniversary of one's birth, especially that of a child, is celebrated with a party and the giving of gifts.
Do Bible references to birthday celebrations put them in a favorable light? The Bible makes only two references to such celebrations:
Gen. 40:20-22- Pharaoh's birthday
Matt. 14:6-10- Herod's Birthday
Everything that is in the Bible is there for a reason. Jehovah's witnesses take not that God's Word reports unfavorably about birthday celebrations and so shun these.
What is the origin of popular customs associated with birthday celebrations:
... (don't feel like typing out both)
The greeks believed that everyone had a protective spirit or daemon who attended his birth and watched over him in life. This spirit had a mystic relation with the god on whose birthday the individual was born. The Romans also subscribed to this idea..This notion was carried down in human belief and is reflected in the guardian angel, the fairy godmother, and the patron saint..The custom of lighted candles on the cakes started with the Greeks..Honey cakes as round as the moon and lit with tapers were placed on the temple altars of Artemis..Birthday candles, in folk belief, are endowed with special magic for granting wishes..Lighted tapers and sacrificial fires have had a sprecial mystic significance ever since man first set up altars to his gods. The birthday candles are thus an honor and tribute to the birthday child and bring good fortune...Birthday greetings and wished for happiness are an intrinsic part of this holiday...Originally the idea was rooted in the magic...Birthday greetings have power for good or ill because one is closer to the spirit world on this day- THe Lore of Birthdays
Of course..that makes anniversary celebrations (at least the definition does) seem evil.
yeah but - the Oct 15, 1998 Watchtower Questions from Readers had this VERY question (don't think no one else would find it, Ian) -
Many of Jehovah's Witnesses observe wedding anniversaries. A birthday is an anniversary of when you were born. So why celebrate wedding anniversaries and not birthday anniversaries?
"The Bible directs us to commemorate the date of Jesus? death, not the anniversary of his or anyone else?s birth. Doing so accords with Ecclesiastes 7:1 and the fact that how a faithful person?s life turns out is more important than the day of his birth. The Bible has no record that any faithful servant celebrated his birthday. It records birthday celebrations of pagans, linking these occasions with cruel acts."
and also-
What about wedding anniversaries? In some lands it is common for husband and wife to take note of the anniversary of their entering the marital state, an arrangement that God originated. (Genesis 2:18-24; Matthew 19:4-6) Certainly, the Bible does not put marriage in a bad light. Jesus both attended a marriage celebration and contributed to the pleasure of the occasion.?John 2:1-11.
It thus would not be strange that a couple might on their wedding anniversary take time to reflect on the joyfulness of that event and on their resolve to work for success as a couple. Whether they focus on this happy occasion in private, just as a couple, or they have a few relatives or close friends with them would be for them to decide. The occasion should not become a mere excuse for a large social gathering. On this occasion Christians would want to be guided by the principles that apply every day of their lives. So whether one takes note of a wedding anniversary or not is a personal matter.?Romans 13:13, 14.
you didn't do any work! i did all the work! (and malibu helped)
he he he... you said "performed" he he he
hahaha...
Dude, Beavis and Butthead went out with the 90s.
uhhhhhh... some people are stupid... huhuhhhuhuhh heheheehe
ehhh YYYYEEEEAAAHHHH!
you know what..i'm sure you knew the answer, sometimes you gotta just start talking and the answer will flow.
if it doesn't...say "let me explain it this way"...and start agian.
it's called Holy Spirit
i remember there was a readers question dealing with the fact that we celebrate anniversaries and not birthdays. it was good. it opened my eyes cuz i never knew why anyone would come to that conclusion. never entered my mind before.
i was thinking about it today::: i always try to put myself in situations like if i didn't know anything about the truth and it was presented to me this way;would i respond?
if someone sees ezabel how would i explain it to them?
well, you CERTAINLY wouldn't say it was a giant JW message board...
(i did that once and got reprimanded)
Aren't fundamentalists very into science as well? Maybe you could share some articles with him...sometimes it's a bit overwhelming to place a book right off the bat. What do you think you might do?
i think i'll just keep talking to him at this point, see how it goes
keep talking at instead of to him. people appreciate that more.
haha... that explains alot about you ian.
hey that's great dude! major pats on the shoulder for that
shoulder?! i'd pat his rump! that's right i said rump!
wat's wrong with saying rump? *gets attacked by mad pigeons*
i had a call once lije this with a kid in school. but when he found out w did not believe in the trinity he stopped speaking to me. i tried giving him the trinity brochure. but he did not except it
real good cameron! way to go!
the kid here doesnt believe in the trinity, he believes in the resurrection and understands the relationship between God and Jesus.... why isn't this kid a witness??
yo, maybe he is one, but he's just playing you to see how good you know your stuff
i did that once when i lived in allentown. i lived outside of my own territory. so they came to my door and for like 5 minutes i drilled them about everything from the trinity to ezekiel's temple vision. it was perfectly evil. and so much fun. i did it till i actually started laughing out loud b/c they were so stumped by the ezekiel thing. you should have see their faces... SOOO FUNNY!!!
oh also... this kid doesn't celebrate christmas because he can see that it is not biblical... what the heck??
and i also started talking to this other kid who said that he used to study... i'm gonna get these guys into the truth!!! (or at least rack up tons of hours and RVs!!)
that's so cool. think about it, this guy could be the next pioneer, Co, Elder, etc. and plus you'll have aided someone into the truth. how cool is that?
yeah, it's always awesome when you come accross somebody who's wordly, but, from their own reasoning, and studying of the scriptures, have come to see through false doctrine, on their OWN....it's rare, but, awesome
...those are the people that come into the truth with a vengeance. they find what they've always been looking for.
yeah, roll up into the organization like fireballs...& then become elders & chastise the heck out me....haha, j/k
this is what you should do.. you should invite him to a huge christian party.. but.. when he shows up.. it's just you two.. and when he walks into the door you're like " ohh man... everyone cancelled last minute " and he'll be like " ohhh thats fine.. i just wanted to chat " and then.. as he's chatting you should do the macarena.. and if he says " what is that mate" ( assuming his austrlian ) you can say " i dont know.. the spirit moves mee " and then you can discuss exactly what that spirit is.
tree huggers!