AletheiaRivers

JW's haven't admitted they were wrong. They are masters at spin control. For example: they predicted the end would come 1914, then it didn't, so they had to say that Christ's Kingdom "came invisibly." They then predicted the end would come in 1975, which of course it didn't. They applied spin control by saying that they "never said it." It was never clearly stated in print (and so they can say they never officially said it), but it was said by leading members of the organization in public speeches, which can be found in recorded form. JW's have been wrong so many times that they had to come up with a good explanation for it. Now they have "gradual truth" or "gradual understanding." They don't have to admit they were wrong (really) and it gets them off the hook for future mistakes.

Where does the holy spirit fit in?

Actually no, JW leaders don't claim infallability with their truth claims. They have "light" that gets "brighter and brighter" as the "day draws near." So, if "present truth" contradicts "previous truth," it's because it was veiled in darkness. We ex-JW's like to call it the "blinking light" theory.

Sometimes, yeah. My vote in the last presidential election was more of a vote against Bush, than a vote for Kerry. I would vote AGAINST Rice. (Sheesh, I never thought I'd hear myself saying that I'd vote against any woman that ran for President. ) However, if McCain runs, I would vote FOR him, for sure.

I dunno what it is about Hillary. I just don't like the woman. I don't have a good reason for it. I might vote for her depending on who she was running against.

I'm an Independent, and I score "centrist" on all the political party tests. I vote for the candidate and not the party. I'd probably vote McCain over Hillary. (Who IS running next term anyway?) As far as the thread title, the board has a glitch that does the capitalization screw-up thingy. You'd have to put periods between the letters U.S.A. in order for it to stay capitalized.

It's difficult to know what a religion of Jesus means though. A person might start with Matthew, Mark and Luke, (maybe James) and then factor in Judaism. I think you'd end up with a "Messianic Jew" - or a Jew who believes Jesus was the Messiah. Thing is, Jesus didn't fulfill all the Messianic qualifications, so what is to be done about that? Sorry, I'm rambling. I just got up and need more coffee. Coming from a mystical/perennial perspective, it's the "high" Christology of the early church that makes Christianity universal. Welcome to the board! You're posting just fine.

Yeah, me too. That is pretty much what has kept me from going. As I was discussing with a friend recently, I'll probably go to the Episcopal church close to where I live. It's "high church," and they have classes all the time (religion, art, poetry) which might offer me some of what I yearn for, and yet leave me the "experience and reasoning" portion of my faith intact. Would have loved to be a fly on the wall if you had.

I perked up because of the phrase you used. Classic Christology in the orthodox sense. It has me wondering what you MEAN by that? I'd consider myself as having a classic Christology, perhaps even in the Orthodox sense. (At least I'm thinking about it.)

THAT caught my attention!

I watch way too much TV, but luckily, since at any given time about 50% of what is on is repeats, I'm not actually watching all the shows all the time. Sunday: Desperate Housewives Monday: Surface (only 3 more episodes) & CSI Tuesday: NCIS, House and Law&Order Weds: Lost and Invasion or CSI Thurs: Smallville and CSI Frid: Ghost Whisperer and Monk I'll put Dead Zone back in my to watch list, when it comes back on. I'll watch Cold Case or Without a Trace from time to time too. Just in case you think all I do is watch TV, in my defense I DVR them and we watch them when we get the time. If I had to choose what ones I couldn't give up, it would be Lost, House and Monk. "It's a jungle out there, disorder and confusion everywhere. No-one seems to care, but I do. Hey! Who's in charge here?"

Whoo hoo! Party! Happy Birthday.

I'm still willing to give it a few more weeks, if they don't cancel it. I think of how horrible Star Trek TNG was the first year, but I stuck with it and am glad I did. But I second Cynthia: Bring back Joan! Although, I am really enjoying Ghost Whisperer. Of course, I love all things supernatural, including "Supernatural."

Hey, don't go picking on my 150 proof Smirnoff. Kidding, I'm a tequila gal myself. Sigh, Patron.

Yeah, I went on a resurrection spree the other night, trying to stir up some conversation. Oh, and PS - Let me know when you get that sermon fleshed out. I'd love to read it.

I've never heard that one! Cool!

"I am lying at this moment."

I love sacredspace.com. I haven't visited in a while and will have to rectify that. Just in case anybody else gets lost by looking up the verse, it's actually Acts 10:34, 35 "The Message" says: 10:34Peter fairly exploded with his good news: "It's God's own truth, nothing could be plainer: God plays no favorites! 10:35It makes no difference who you are or where you're from - if you want God and are ready to do as he says, the door is open.

You are a wise, wise woman Cynthia.

So a blind man walks into a bar, sits down, orders a drink, and asks, “Anyone want to hear a blonde joke?” Bartender says: “Before you tell that joke, you might want to know that I am a blonde lesbian bartender in a lesbian bar, the person on your right is a blonde black belt, the person next to her is a blonde bouncer. On your left is a blonde Ph.D physicist, and the person next to her is a famous blonde feminist author. Are you sure you want to tell that blonde joke?” And the blind man says “Nahhh! I don’t feel like explaining it five times.”

http://mosnews.com/news/2006/01/16/brother.shtml “Alien” Embryo Removed From 35-Year-Old Man’s Back A 35-year-old tractor operator, Igor Namyatov, has undergone surgery to be relieved of what had initially been diagnosed as a tumor, but turned out to be the embryo of his unborn twin brother, the Komsomolskaya Pravda daily reported Monday. Doctors said the embryo belonged to Namyatov’s unborn brother who had spent 35 years in the body of the patient. Namyatov’s fellow villagers doubted the explanation given by the doctors. Some even surmised the object removed from Namyatov’s body was an extraterrestrial organism. “It is a pity they have removed it. They should have waited to see what would become of it later on. That would have been a great scientific find,” one of the villagers said. The “little brother” first made himself known when Igor was 15. At that time the boy complained about pains in his back, but doctors played down his complaints saying it was only a harmless fatty tumor. Twenty years later the pains came back. The doctors decided to operate at once. They were genuinely surprised to see that the tumor was in fact an embryo with little legs and hands. A forensic expert summoned to the village to investigate refused to probe the incident saying it was clear anyway that the object was an underdeveloped embryo. Igor Namyatov refused to leave the embryo at the hospital for further research.

Why do men pee standing up? God was just about done creating man, but he had two things left over in his bag and He couldn't quite decide how to split them between Adam and Eve. He thought He might just as well ask them. He told them one of the things He had left was a thing that would allow the owner to pee while standing up. "It's a very handy thing," God told them, "and I was wondering if either one of you had a preference for it." Well, Adam jumped up and down and begged, "Oh, please give that to me! I'd love to be able to do that! It seems like just the sort of thing a man should have. Please! Pleeease! Give it to me!" Eve just smiled and told God that if Adam really wanted it so badly, he could have it. So God gave Adam the thing that allowed him to pee standing up. Adam was so excited he just started whizzing all over the place - first on the side of a rock, then he wrote his name in the sand, and then he tried to see if he could hit a stump ten feet away - laughing with delight all the while. God and Eve watched him with amusement and then God said to Eve, "Well, I guess you're kind of stuck with the last thing I have left."What's it called?" asked Eve. "Brains", said God

It's actually the poetry language style (thee, thou) of the KJV that I like the most. Psalms just doesn't sound right in any other version. The reason I don't use it anymore is because of the translational errors.

I quote this a lot, but I'm going to do it again anyway: "Let God be God in you."

Fits right in with the tower of Babel story.