New Reading Material for the month of July! 2016

Welcome to my world, my beautiful readers. I truly hope that you are doing well. Busy? Here, we have been very busy, very occupied, but right now, I wanted to share with you this months reading material for July from jw.org. It is of particular interest to me, just as previously, we learned about translation, as this deals with the Bible its self.

I have a question: Would you not agree that if the Bible is from God, it should be able to survive any attempts to destroy it? Please read with me Isaiah 40:8 -

8 The green grass dries up,

The blossom withers,

But the word of our God endures forever.”+

This series of articles discusses the fascinating story of the Bible's survival. Please enjoy the following reading material.

THE WATCHTOWER NO. 4 2016

The Bible—A Story of Survival

Over the centuries, all kinds of threats could have destroyed the Bible or its message.

Why is its survival significant?

A Story That Matters

No other book has shaped the beliefs of so many people over such a long period of time. But can the Bible be trusted?

The Bible Survived Decay

Bible writers and copyists used parchments and papyrus to record the Bible’s message. How have such ancient writings survived until our day?

The Bible Survived Opposition

Political and religious leaders have tried to prevent people from owning, translating, or reproducing the Bible. None succeeded.

The Bible Survived Attempts to Alter Its Message

Some unscrupulous individuals have tried to alter the Bible’s message. How have their efforts been detected and foiled?

Why the Bible Has Survived

What makes this book so special?

Did You Know?

What was unusual about Jesus’ dealings with lepers? On what grounds did Jewish religious leaders grant a divorce?

Is a World Free of Violence Possible?

Individuals have been helped to abandon their violent ways. What motivated them can also motivate others.

I Failed Many Times Before I Succeeded

How did one man overcome his addiction to pornography and gain peace of mind?

The Most Useful Comparison You May Ever Make

Thousands of Christian denominations are divided by conflicting doctrines and differing views. So how can you determine who is teaching the truth?

The Bible will show is the way.

What Does the Bible Say?

Could God be using some faith-based organization to draw people to him?

Such good information. I would like to hear what you think about the Bible and the above information.

Please, feel free to share this blog.

Jehovah’s Witnesses—Who Are We?

Hello, and welcome back, my beautiful readers.

Here in my neck of the woods, we are doing our best to stay cool. My garden is showing me some fruitage of my labor, and we have already taken the pontoon out 3 times, verses once last year! (I don't care who you are, that's just wrong. :-) )

So the other day, I got this Tweet: Sender - sound like the watchtower, they shun you if you question the cult teaching, and research what they talk about. Then a follow-up tweet: do your selfe a favor, and understand instead of accepting stupid lies from a cult like http://JW.org So I asked: Hi, why do you call it a cult? The response to my question: Becourse it is defined as a cult, try to look it up, and see what a cult is ;)

So, I did, I looked it up, and I have something to say about that, but I am gunna really do some research and really make my blog on this subject of a 'cult' a matter of prayer. IN THE MEANTIME ---

Jehovah’s Witnesses—Who Are We?

We come from hundreds of ethnic and language backgrounds, yet we are united by common goals. Above all, we want to honor Jehovah, the God of the Bible and the Creator of all things. We do our best to imitate Jesus Christ and are proud to be called Christians. Each of us regularly spends time helping people learn about the Bible and God’s Kingdom. Because we witness, or talk, about Jehovah God and his Kingdom, we are known as Jehovah’s Witnesses.

If you have ever gone to the jw.org site, (which, by the way, is a beautiful website designed to help you find answers to life's big questions, using the Bible,) the above statement is found on the home page. I know that many people have questions about Jehovah's Witnesses. They have these questions primarily because what they do know of them comes from sources that are unreliable, having had gotten their information mostly by word of mouth. Take me for instance, I know nothing of the Amish, except what I've heard, and really, how accurate is it? I guess that if I want to know more about the Amish, I should ask them. I have a reader who concluded that I am one of Jehovah's Witnesses, and want to know more. So I was asked. I even love the questions. Excellent questions that show forethought and a genuineness to get the facts.

1) What is the difference between Jehovah Witness and the mainstream Christian Churches.

2) What is it that they believe differently?

Let us focus on the questions:

Q 1). What is the difference between Jehovah's Witnesses and the mainstream Christian Churches?

A: I took the liberty of doing a little research from the jw.org website of our Bible Based publications to help me answer that question. AWAKE! AUGUST 2010 Under the subheading Are Jehovah’s Witnesses Protestants, Fundamentalists, or a sect? there was an excellent explanation that I thought fitting for the first question. The opening paragraph reads: Jehovah’s Witnesses are Christians, but they are not Protestants for the same reason that they are not Catholics—they recognize certain teachings of those religions as unscriptural. For example, the Bible does not teach that God—the very personification of love—tortures people forever in a fiery hell. Ezekiel 18:4. Nor does it teach that humans have an immortal soul, (Romans 6:23,) or that Christians should meddle in politics. —(John 15:19; John 17:14) —

After reading this, one might conclude that it answers both questions 1 and 2. And you would be correct. The second paragraph in the above mentioned article is equally informative: “Fundamentalism is a broad movement within Protestantism in the United States,” says The World Book Encyclopedia. Some Fundamentalist organizations “have adopted social and political positions based on a literal use of Biblical texts.” That definition does not fit Jehovah’s Witnesses. As mentioned, they abstain from politics and do not impose their views on others by political or any other means. Rather, they converse with people, usually one-on-one, using reason and convincing evidence, in imitation of the early Christians.—Acts 19:8. However, with there being 19,000 major religions out there, I defiantly do not know how they all believe.

Jehovah's Witnesses are different from other religions in that, our beliefs are based on the teachings found in the Bible, not the teachings of man that are traditions and have no Bible Backing. If it is not in the Bible, it is not something to be preached. Another difference is that we remain separate from the world, so we do not get involved in politics, participate in wars, which is something I have seen a lot of Mainstream Religions do. And just so you know, I have only scratched the surface on the difference.

This, I have found, is equally informative. Who Are Doing Jehovah’s Will Today?

I have enjoyed this opportunity to answer questions about my Faith, and the God that I love, Jehovah. I welcome your continued questions.

And as always, feel free to share this blog.

Does Everything Happen for a Reason? (Part 7) Did God know that Adam would sin?

Welcome back, welcome back, my beautiful readers.

OOOMMMGOODNESS! June is almost over, well, getting down there towards the end. I hope you are having a great summer. I we have been busy busy busy here. Busy, and getting a whole lot of nothing done, so it seems. Ha.

Fate

Definition: An inevitable and often adverse outcome. Fatalism is the belief that all events are determined by the divine will or by some force greater than man, that every event must take place as it does because it has been predetermined.

Not a Bible word or teaching

I am so glad that upon reasoning from the scriptures, it is possible to answer the question: When God created Adam, did he know that Adam would sin? After asking myself that question about Adam, I found that a feeling of unfairness set over me, unfair that we were 'possibly' doomed from the start. How about you? What do you think? When God created Adam, did he know that Adam would sin? I would genuinely like to know what you think.

OK, from the Scriptures, here is what God set before Adam and Eve: 28 Further, God blessed them, and God said to them: “Be fruitful and become many, fill the earth+ and subdue it,+ and have in subjection+ the fish of the sea and the flying creatures of the heavens and every living creature that is moving on the earth.” (Genesis 1:28) We have probably all heard this scripture many times. It is a well used and familiar one. Growing up, I remember hearing it often. Here's another thing that God set before Adam and Eve: 16 Jehovah God also gave this command to the man: “From every tree of the garden you may eat to satisfaction.+ 17 But as for the tree of the knowledge of good and bad, you must not eat from it, for in the day you eat from it you will certainly die.”+Genesis 2:16, 17.

photo from: www.shutterstock.com

Here's the question I put to you... Would you encourage your children to undertake a project with a marvelous future, knowing... knowing from the start, that it was doomed to failure? Would you? Would you warn them of harm, while knowing that you had planned everything so that they were sure to come to grief? Would you? I think you already know the answer to that, aye? Here's another question for you to think about... Is it reasonable, then, to attribute such to God? I'm just asking.

I like this scripture in Matthew 7:11 - Therefore, if you, although being wicked, [or, “bad as you are,” NE translation], know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more so will your Father who is in the heavens give good things+ to those asking him!+Jehovah gives good gifts y'all... good gifts.

If God foreordained and foreknew Adam's sin and all that would result from this, it would mean that by creating Adam, God deliberately set in motion all the wickedness committed in human history. He would be the Source of all the ward, the crime, the immorality, the oppression, the lying, the hypocrisy, the disease. I don't know about you, but my God is better than that, and I hope that your God of the Bible is Too! But the Bible clearly says:

4 For you are not a God who takes pleasure in wickedness...+ Psalms 5:4.

Yep, that's the God of love that I know.

And here's is something else to think about... How could God be the Source of all the bad on the earth, then inspire this writing? Psalms 11:5 5 Jehovah examines the righteous one as well as the wicked one;+He* hates anyone who loves violence.+God hates anyone who loves violence, so he surly is not the Source of it! We can take that to the bank, because "God... cannot lie." (Titus 1:2) He just cannot lie!

I love that I can draw comfort from the scriptures and find the God of love that I was always taught

Comfort from the Scriptures

about, but when growing up, was conflicted when God was blamed for the bad in the world. While I was not taught he was the Source, I did wonder why God was blamed! I couldn't help it. It just didn't make sense to me. I see now that the conflict lies in incorrect teachings that 'Blame' God, when clearly the scriptures say other wise. On the contrary, "from oppression and from violence he (the One designated by God as Messianic King) will redeem their soul, and their blood will be precious in his eyes." ... Psalm 72:14 ...Precious... Let me say it again... Precious... That means a lot to me, I hope it does to you as well.

And as always, we have heard many many many times that 8 Whoever does not love has not come to know God, because God is love.+I John 4:8. He is a God of love, not one who sets us up to fail.

So again, I ask, When God created Adam, did he know that Adam would sin? Did God set him up to fail? I go back to my original statement, "Unfair that we were doomed from the start." We, as loving parents would not do that to our children, how much more so that the God of Love would not doom us from the start. Everyone wants to be treated fair, we get that from our creator, in who's image we were created, that sense of justice. I guess that is why this final scripture makes sense to me:

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5 He loves righteousness and justice.+ Psalm 33:5.
Additional information can be found here:Did God Know That Adam and Eve Would Sin?

Does Everything Happen for a Reason? (Part 6) Does God’s ability to foreknow and foreordain events prove that he does this regarding ALL THE ACTIONS of all his creatures?

Hello, and welcome back, my beautiful readers.

It's mid June. How's the weather treating you? Good, I hope. I put in a bit of a garden this spring, and it is the one thing I've got going on that I am kinda good at, if you like weeds. Ha ha ha.

Fate

Not a Bible word or teaching.

The more research we do into the scriptures, the more knowledge we gain. On the subject of 'Fate' I have realized that there are a lot of people who believe in it. I guess for some, it would be easier to place the blame elsewhere, be it others and not themselves, which it sometimes is, being in the wrong place at the wrong time, which it sometimes is, or that there is an evil in the air, which it sometimes is. But what kills me is when God is blamed, WHICH IT IS 'NEVER!'

Life's water is free. You must
choose to drink it.

Let's examine this question, though: Does God’s ability to foreknow and foreordain events prove that he does this regarding all the actions of all his creatures?

Choice is not foreordained. As brought out in Revelation 22:17 - "Let anyone hearing say: 'Come!' And let anyone thirsting come; let anyone that wishes take life's water free," it is left to the individual.

And there is no forcing of individuals to pursue a prescribed course. That point is brought out, again, from the Bible, this time at Romans 2:4,5: "Do you despise the riches of his kindness and forbearance and long-suffering, because you do not know that the kindly quality of God is trying to lead you to repentance? But according to you hardness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath and of the revealing of God's righteous judgement." NO, there is not forcing individuals to purse a prescribed course, but there is accountability for what one does. As for accountability, I'm sure you've heard this expression: "If you can't do the time, don't do the crime." What does that tell us? We are accountable for our actions...WE.

And my last thought on this one comes in the form of a question. Would a just and loving God encourage people to do what is right, in hope of a reward, if... if he knew that they were foreordained not to succeed? Well, Zephaniah had something to say about that. Let's, together, read it at Zeph. 2:3: "Seek Jehovah, all you meek ones of the earth... Seek righteousness, seek meekness. Probably you may be concealed in the day of Jehovah's anger." Now.. don't freak out about the word 'probably' in that verse, cuz the 'probably' means that's it's UP TO US to do the right thing. Jehovah has set the standards, and it's us to us to follow...UP TO US!!!

Here's an Illustration: The owner of a radio can listen to the world news. But the fact that he can listen to a certain station does not mean that he does. He must first turn on the radio and then select the station. Likewise, Jehovah has the ability to foreknow events, but the Bible shows that he makes selective and discretionary use of that ability, with due regard for the free will with which he has endowed his human creation.—