xjwsforChrist

No. It's like talking to someone who speaks a weird foreign language that sounds like English but isn't.

That's how I feel. I couldn't see anything wrong with what you complained about. Nothing at all. I was actually being completely genuine and open, and that jolly well does feel pretty poor, to be totally open and slammed down yet again.

Try it some time.

Please keep rereading my post until you perhaps 'get it'?

Loz x

_________________
"This is my son. LISTEN to Him!"

I am now going to bed. It's late.

Well, there is your answer as to why some might want to post something in private... or have a private room... and you once participated IN a private room. But the private room section of the board is explained fully under that section.

So... moving on...


Peace,
tammy

Yes, dear Char, I did (peace to you!).



Yes, I did.



The Members Section, yes.



All members, no.



Most likely, yes.



In addition to the forum guidelines, each Section includes an explanation of its purpose and content, luv. No tricks.



"Grades"? No... There are two kinds of viewers, though: those who register (members) and those who don't (lurkers). If we don't count trespassers (folks who're banned but re-register under different names. And bots. But we don't count bots, I don't think.



What if I told you that there are members that I don't like and lurkers that I do? Would that mean something/make any difference? That would be a ridiculous statement to make, though, wouldn't it? Let me make this one, then: YOU'RE being ridiculous, dear Char.



And yet, you wonder why I might choose not to post something on the open board. Here we are having to suffer yet another on of those silly discussions... over where I am CHOOSING to make a post. Not WHY (no, we conveniently get to ignore THAT)... but where. You might understand the "where," though, luv... if you would condescend JUST A BIT... to understand the WHY.



I could be wrong, but I don't see anyone expressing DISfavor... but you. And I understand that. What I DON'T understand is why YOU would even want to bother with stuff I make up and use out of context verses to support. I don't get your interest... at ALL. Surely, you're interested in truth... and pulling things out of one's hat is NOT truth. Nor is taking Bible verses out of context. Nor is trying to pass off WTBTS propaganda and rhetoric as coming from Christ. Since this is what I do, I cannot... FOR THE LIFE OF ME... understand why you would even CARE... WHAT I post... let alone WHERE, including on this board.



Sigh. And here I really thought it really couldn't get any sillier...



At times, yes, I can see that. At others times... well, let's just say it's a little HARD to see. More often, I see an overgrown schoolgirl stamping her foot and hurling ad homimen epithets because she's isn't getting/things aren't going her way.



Then perhaps you should start acting like it... and consistently. Right now, I'm beginning to wonder, NOT if you're dotty (I truly don't think so), or perhaps just victim of some kind of... "medication." Maybe prescription. Possibly liquid. Perhaps distilled. Because your memory lapses are either classic... or mind boggling.

I realize there's absolutely NO point in asking you to go back and re-read all of the threads/posts pertaining to this matter. Because you've read them. Every one of them... and more than once. You know what they say... what YOU've said. You're just choosing to be silly but, unfortunately, I'm too old, tired, and interested in TRUTH... to play with you.

SO... I'm just gonna take my "ball"... and go play with some other kids. 'Cause I can.

Peace to you, though... and may it be in the way Christ gives it, truly!

YSSFS of Christ,

Shellamar

I was INVITED into that private room. I had nothing to do with the arranging of it. And the person who created it was trying very hard to pour oil on troubled waters. His intention was entirely to try to heal a very bad situation, nothing at all of his creation.

His contributions here were always totally oriented towards peace, and his presence was a valuable asset to the board. His is one of several voices who are missed.

Well, Shelby, I think I am nearly twenty years older than you, from the various indications you've given of your age. I am taking you to be in your very early fifties.

I understand that you noted that I had queried your use of the word "silliness" and that you're flinging it out there and trying to annoy or hurt me. Yes, it is annoying, because it's frustrating that someone denies or doesn't recognise the genuineness of what I was trying to say. And yes, it is hurtful, because I was participating genuinely.

I am very sorry indeed that somehow I have been unable to phrase my thoughts well enough for you to understand what I've been saying. I am not sure why my mention of quoting bits of the Bible so often has upset you so much. Evidently, clearly, it has. I certainly wasn't trying to hurt you or upset you. I really was not. So I am very sorry that you thought I was trying to do that, and even more sorry that words of mine have, unintentionally, done so. I don't do that.

I thought you had been trying to explain something to me, and I was simply trying to explain why justmom's post on page seven had spoken to me so well, and Loz's also at that point, and I have been trying to answer both of them.

Perhaps I have misunderstood what has been going on here? I didn't start the Hallowe'en thread but I thought it was becoming a rather useful vehicle where even you and I had some similar views. Because, as I said earlier, I suspect, and actually have suspected for some time, that there are many areas where you and I probably see eye to eye. Probably, too, we might under different circumstances, get on very well.

I get very tired in the evenings. I can no longer stay up late as I used to. Now it's first thing in the morning and I'm trying very hard to phrase things so that I can't be misunderstood.

I am sorry that I've upset you. I absolutely was not trying to. I do find big chunks of Bible quotations off-putting because it is not the way I have ever approached the Bible. I do find it reminiscent of the WT, because in encountered that style there, not only in their publications but in the style of presentation adopted by the otherwise good and pleasant people in the local JW congregation. So my brain kind of glazes over at first sight. However, I always go back and re-read it all. Always.

Oh LOL!!!!!!! I've just reread your hilarious bit I'll try and repost here:



Calm down, Shelby! "Victim of some kind of "medication". Possibly liquid. Perhaps distilled."

I literally laughed out loud as I took that barb in.

Bless you! I see!! Lightbulb moment!!! You're trying to indicate that you think I drink and get drunk!!!!! ROFL!!!!! Oh, dear, dear Shelby, you are really in a mess inside, aren't you?! Many would call that kind of statement spiteful, malicious or worse, especially from someone preaching the love of Christ.

But it was priceless! Absolutely priceless! Unforgettable! If only you knew how utterly ridiculous, and how very revealing of yourself that was. But actually, it is sad, and it makes me feel very sorry for you. You must have been very hurt in the past for you to resort to that kind of writing here, and, if you only knew it, at so very much the wrong target.

I have perhaps a glass of wine at Christmas. And I think actually that last Christmas was in fact the last time I had any alcohol. Let's see: I don't take, and have never taken, not even once, recreational drugs of any kind and I haven't ever smoked.

How about you? No. I won't ask such questions of you. Oh! And I'm not "victim", as you so revealingly put it, of medication, either.

It makes me just all the more sorry for you that you think that kind of thing is OK to think, let alone say. But as with all such attempts, it's backfired on you.

Such a pity, Shelby. I thought of you very much a few weeks back when my middle son and his wife and his daughters, two of my grandchildren, spent ten days in San Francisco. In the normal way, if you were friendly. I would have sent you the details and you would have met some of the nicest, friendliest people you could imagine. They are now in the States for some long time as he is now working in America. I'll be watching those girls grow up courtesy of Skype! But as it is, there really wasn't much point, was there.

So sad, Shelby. So very sad. So sad that you, who preach Christ, should actually behave like that. Bit I think you did it because you are hurting, and so I am smiling in a kindly way as I write this, and I won't bear a grudge, because I don't. I see someone lashing out because they're hurt inside.

You might care to ask yourself why I'm here. I came because I saw Christ here, shown me by the unpleasant things being said about some of you on the atheist forum. Read that bit again, one more time. That's what drew me. I still see him here, but almost certainly not in the way you assume or expect.

Why do you think I am here? Have you stopped to think? Try not to deafen your mind with paranoid assumptions. I am so sorry that you are so hurt but you are obviously looking for and determined to find hurt because you are not actually seeing what's in front of your face.

Try asking Christ. Stop trying to hurt, and try to see what is actually happening underneath all the words, in your heart. Just try. Be still, and listen.

And we shall see what we shall see.

*chuckle* oh, I love it! The thought of me knocking back the hard stuff! Wonderful!!!!!!! that's made my day! Hilarious!

Char I don't think you realise how oddly you're coming across. Over the past months many options have crossed my mind. I too wondered if it was alcohol related. Even, if is there some mental confusion going on. That sounds harsh but your behaviour is extremely odd so very often, based on what you post and how you fail to grasp the sense in posts made to you. There appears to be so much repetition and even forgetfulness of that repetition. Your tone can veer randomly between friendly and antagonist without any seeming rhyme or reason.

I must admit that I am concerned about you, and for you.

Loz x

_________________
"This is my son. LISTEN to Him!"

I love it!

Totally hilarious. Two of you now think that I hit the bottle!



Loz, dear Loz,



Well, thank you for your concern. I see that you feel comfortable employing ad ignorantiam reasoning, autoepistemic reasoning and argument, and also the type of writing or speech when, lacking a good argument, a speaker or writer chooses to attack the character or honesty or even the sanity of the one they see as their opponent. It is sometimes known as ad hominem. In this instance, it's hard to see why you'd bother with any of that, as I am not trying to sell you any idea, I'm not preaching at you, I'm not doing anything like that.

I am, however, deploring the newly-evolved or created two-tier forum membership. This is a forum open to the public who can't, however, see items in the Members Only area. That's normal. Nothing wrong with that, although in most reputable forums non-members can read everything but need to register to post. However, even gaining membership doesn't solve the problem here, as the membership is divided into the in-crowd and those who are considered the hoi polloi. I am clearly one of the hoi polloi. Only the superior class have the privilege of being able to get to where anything of real interest is.

Hmmm. Sounds more and more like the Watchtower, doesn't it?

You and Shelby can attack my character if you want to, Loz, if it makes you feel better or stronger or somehow more worthy. As always in these cases, pointing the finger at someone merely emphasises the four fingers you are pointing back at yourself. These latest posts are really saying an awful lot about you.

But a great big thank you for giving me the laugh of the day, if not the week, in suggesting I drink!!!!! Oh, it's wonderful! Made my day! I shall definitely be sharing that one, it's too good to keep to myself!

What a great need you have to try to attack and hurt those you don't like, professing love and Christ's presence in your head at the same time! What do you think that says about you?

But if you'd read the paragraph that relates to WHY any here would use private rooms, that I wrote last night... If you'd read it and absorbed its meaning...then you'd fully understand and would actually SEE why one would want to take a serious spiritual thread into a private space that exempted people who take issue or exception repeatedly and nonsensically. Such behaviour clouds the gems received from Christ, and detracts from their value, as well as insult the sharers.

Instead of which, off YOU go on another ad hominem yourself!

Loz x

_________________
"This is my son. LISTEN to Him!"

Oh, I understand your thinking, Loz. It's very transparent.

I just see your thinking for what it is.

Silliness. The word of the day, courtesy of Shelby. It is empty thinking.

Could be and yes, dear Char (mornin' and peace to you!)... but not sure what that has to do with anything. Except maybe to better explain your inconsistencies.



No, dear Char; I am using it because it is the only non-malicious word I can think of that appropriate describes what is occurring.



I KNOW, huh?! VERY annoying. Sucks sometimes, DON'T it?? I hear you, girl - I know just what you mean!



Okaaaayyyy? I just try to over look the pain when that happens to ME (because I am ALWAYS genuine, contrary to what some, perhaps even you, try to intimate). I know I can be sensitive, so I try not to ASSUME the person is TRYING to hurt my feelings but perhaps is just ignorant. Of the topic being discussed... AND what they're doing. S'why I still engage YOU, luv (wink!).



Yes, me, too, as to you! I don't always know that IS the case with me (trouble phrasing MY thoughts), as MOST seem to think they're pretty clear. Your words seem to indicate you do, too... but I'm not so sure. Because you almost always peg me wrong. But... ah, well... what can you do? Perhaps try... try, again. So... here we are!



It hasn't upSET me, dear Char. I find it... curious. I also find it curious that if you TRULY think SO, you still have interest in what I would deign to post. On the open board OR elsewhere. Makes NO sense to ME.



Okay, who's using WTBTS lingo... and reasoning... NOW? LOLOLOL!



I can accept that. Thank you!



I wish I could accept THAT... but your last comment makes me... mmmmmmmmmm... skeptical. You know, that whole "fool me once," thing. Let's just put that on the shelf for now, shall we?



Ummmmmmm... what????? What does this have to do with either of THEM? You went off on BOTH of them, for which THEY have since engaged you. OUR discussion, yours and mine, is an entirely different matter. At least, it is for ME. It isn't about any other poster or your interchange with them, dear one. It's about my prerogative to post WHAT I want... WHERE I want... for WHOM I want. Which seems to be causing you some consternation.



You THINK?? Almost from post one, I'm afraid.



And we do, some. Which is absolutely okay with ME. But YOU seem to need us to have similar views on EVERYTHING. Unfortunately, we don't. I can live with that. Not sure you can, though, given your comments when I disagree with YOU.



Could be. I find that the only time we DON'T... is when I disagree with you.



But see, that's the thing, dear Char: NO ONE here misunderstands YOU. YOU are the only misunderstanding... SEVERAL people. But you don't SEE that; rather you think YOU are being misunderstood. You are not. YOU are misunderstanding. Or... you're just being obstinate (for whatever reason you need to be).



I accept your apology... but we'll have to shelve the other part, for now. Because I'm not really SURE, just yet, what you're TRYING to do.



But that's YOU, dear Char. You are HERE... among people who GET using Bible quotations. Whether big chunks or one verse. YOU... are HERE. Now, if we came where YOU are... and did that... among people who approach the Bible like YOU do... you MIGHT have some basis for your comments. Not NECESSARILY... but MIGHT. Depends on the PURPOSE of the forum where YOU were. Yes?



Reminiscent, perhaps, because unlike a lot of folks, they DO use/read the Bible, yes. Unfortunately, their rampant misunderstanding, misinterpretation, and so misUSE of the Bible has perhaps sullied your impression of ANY use/reference to its contents. But that's on YOU, dear one - NOT on those who use it ACCURATELY... as they are GUIDED to do by Christ, the Holy Spirit, THROUGH holy spirit.

Now, I/we GET that you (and others) don't GET that... but that, too, is not OUR problem: it is yours.



Yes, I know you do! Absolutely! It is why you routinely leave off discussions... MANY times: BECAUSE you GOT it and underSTOOD it. But... your PRIDE won't let you ACKNOWLEDGE that... and your FEAR (fomented by your stint with the WTBTS folks) won't let you put FAITH in that! And so, you routinely veer off from the REAL discussion into (very) silly arguments to try and deflect AWAY from those truths, thinking no one will SEE what you are doing. And perhaps most DON'T. But... our dear Lord does. And HE reveals it to those who are able to discern. Which most of us here are.



I didn't mean it as a barb: I am TRULY concerned that something IS affecting your lucidity... because you swing from one pole to the other... SO often... and SO quickly! Often within the same post! I KNOW you're a highly intelligent lady, so it's actually pretty WEIRD to watch. There can be no other explanation... except that perhaps you're lying - you ARE (very) angry and DO intend to hurt. And I don't think you are or DO. I think... you're afraid. And sometimes fear manifests itself in a similar way as anger. My children and puppies have taught me that.



Perhaps many would. If they were TRUTHFUL, however, and read your posts, I don't think they would. They might say, "Ooh, Shel, did you really SAY that?!"... to which I would say, "Yes, I did... because it's the truth, and we ALL are thinking it!".... to which THEY... if they are TRUTHFUL... would say, "Well, yeah, that... or SOMETHIN'... 'cause it's OBVIOUS somethin's goin' on there with all of those inconsistencies, forgetting what she posts, attacks, and silly comments... but I wouldn't have had the courage to SAY it, girl! But glad YOU did, 'cause SOMEONE needed to!" I realize that MOST wouldn't be that honest with you, luv... but I would be.



No, I think I was dead on. This set of comments shows it, IMUO.



Then perhaps it's some other kind of medication, dear one. I just shared what it LOOKS like. My apologies if it isn't alcohol (not that I said it WAS).



Alcohol? Not at the moment. But I do enjoy a nice martini every now and again. Those usually compel me to call (almost) everyone I know and tell them how much I love them and are overjoyed that they're in my life, though. And regardless of the hour, sometimes, depending on who it is.



I don't think it backfired, luv. And I realize that the "proper" thing to SAY is that it isn't proper for folks to THINK such a thing, let alone SAY it... but we're both grown women, so let's be honest: of COURSE folks think such things. Many... and often. Especially when it's TRUE. Again, some don't have the courage (or, perhaps as in MY case, foolishness) to say it... but you surely don't believe you're right when you say people don't THINK it about some... based on some kind of manifestation to makes it a suspicion. C'mon... put your "I'm a proper lady" melarkey away - we're about TRUTH, you and I... right? I am.



Would'a, could'a, should'a, dear Char. If you WOULD'a... and COULD'a... then you SHOULD'a. You DIDN'T... so, I'm thinking you wouldn't have. So, don't try to use your dear family to try and hurt my feelings. Won't work. My feelings are controlled by what some dear one says they WOULD'a done... some weeks BACK... to support some silly position they feel they have NOW.



Then perhaps that's why you're lashing out, dear Char: hurt... and fear. I am not the one who hurt you, though, luv. The RCC hurt you, which is why you ran to the WTBTS... which subsequently ALSO hurt you... which is why you ran back to the RCC. Sort of a like a pin ball. I have shared with you that there is a PERMANENT "resting place" for your... mmmmmmm... "ball." That you don't HAVE to be batted back and forth. Which I am SURE is painful.



I KNOW why you're here, luv. YOU are the one missing THAT point.



No, because HE is not HERE. You saw his BODY, here, yes. Yet, you keep fighting those of us who are part of it.



If that's what you think "drew" you... then you don't know Christ, luv. But I am sure you see him reflected here, yes. Of course you do... because OUR light is part of HIS Light. So, yes... you WOULD see that.



Again, I KNOW why... and I didn't have to stop and think about it, dear one - I was TOLD. Because I ASKED. As I do with ALL who come here and engage.



Not really sure what you mean; I absolutely don't think you're here for an untoward purpose. I KNOW you're here... to LEARN. What you COULD have learned directly from Christ, had to you followed HIM when you left the RCC (looking for "truth"), but was misled to follow a false "truth." As was most of us here, for some time, whether brief or extensive.



I did. Now, I exhort you... do the same. Please.



Oh, Lordy... did YOU just say that??



Indeed. I already do... but I absolutely look forward to the time when YOU do. The heavenly host will rejoice! I certainly will, as I am SURE many others here will, as well!



Glad I could give you a chuckle, dear one. 'Cause it often sounds like you could use one! LOLOLOL!

Okay, off to see what else is "doin'" on the board, then to fix dear hubby some brunch!

Peace!

YSSFS of Christ,

Shellamar

As I said, you're really in a bit of a mess.

One thing, I didn't leave the Catholic Church and I wasn't "looking for truth". You know that because I told you, but I've noticed several times that you forget what doesn't fit in with your preconceptions.

The Watchtower and its minions love to flatter people, telling them they're seeking truth. Then they try to reinforce that message in the usual manipulative style. It's taken you in, that's clear. You didn't even understand what was wrong with the very title "Keep yourself in God's Love".

I'm going to leave it there. You are currently a sad person, Shelby. Your need to control everything is so obvious. I am not attacking you. If you let those spiky defences down you might find the world not so much against you as you thought.

There's no point in trying to explain anything to you because you think you display Christ and that he speaks through you. Flinging accusations at me as you have has spoken against you far more than I ever could. And I'm not going to play follow-my-leader by answering phrase by phrase in your style.

I hope you'll feel a bit better soon and that you enjoy being shut in your room looking out on the world. Let down your doors and you might find a lot of really decent people out there, real Christians who never ever speak as some, not all, do here, following their leader.

You DID leave the CAtholic Church. You SAID you left them. YOU said it. I can go find the post for you if you need to SEE that you did say that. But again, you forget what you have said (in this case, I believe you have convinced yourself that you never left the church, and so convinced yourself of a lie), and then you blame us for remembering what you said before.




There is nothing wrong with it. Jude SAID it. Your issue then, is with Jude.

Jude 21

Keep yourselves in God's love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life." (NIV version, but you can look it up in other versions... and so NOT a nwt/wts version)

So why do you have a problem with that verse?


Flinging accusations against someone else is not going to deflect from that. Might fool some... but I don't know how it can even fool you. It is RIGHT THERE; black and white; JUDE said it.



This is something that you need to reflect upon, and ask Christ about. Relying upon HIM for understanding, and not yourself or those who have taught you that this statement is incorrect. Something you CAN do... if you choose and go to Him.


Peace to you,
tammy