The more you study in depth via multiple sources and with differing viewpoints, the more you realize how little we really know. There is some mystery and faith required in belief in God. This results in humility.
Those who study in depth via a single source with one viewpoint believing they have already determined it is truth, have closed their minds to actual truth. They may believe that the answer to all of their questions is contained somewhere in a set of certain books that explain the Bible correctly. Subconciously, they may fear that looking at something outside of their experience might disprove their views or they have been TAUGHT and CONTROLLED to not go outside of their literature boundary for study. The danger is that they may then believe that they know a lot about doctrines which may result in spiritual pride.
One main Scripture that appeals to study in the Bible is used by the LHMM to justify their focus on study...
2 Tim 2:15 "Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth."
Unfortunately, the word "study" here only appears in the King James Version. Other translations are "Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved...", NIV and "Be diligent to present yourself approved to God..." NKJV So "study" isn't even the primary meaning of this text.
Another place in the Bible talks of the Bereans who did study the Scriptures to see if what Paul said was true...but the Paul they were verifying wasn't Paul S.L. Johnson.
Acts 17:11 "Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true."
Paul's message directly related to the Gospel "explaining and proving that the Christ had to suffer and rise from the dead." (Acts 17:3) He did not preach about types and antitypes and himself other than relating his personal story which was a powerful tool to reach people for Christ.
The LHMM focus is on knowledge. It is the thing that separates them from other Christians. "...Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up." 1 Cor 8:1
Bible Study has it's place in a balanced Christian life, but the focus should not be on STUDY but LOVE. That is the greatest commandment.
"Be warned, my son, of anything in addition to them. Of making many books there is no end, and much study wearies the body. Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man." - Ecc 12:12-13
"Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself." -- Matthew 22:37-39
Some things are just not very complicated. Living for Jesus can be boiled down to two principles: (1) love God with everything I am and have and (2) love others and treat them like I would like to be treated. Not too hard to understand. Living it is the challenge.
Of what PRACTICAL value are the doctrines that you hold so tightly? Is it just about being right? Do you fear studying literature that may disagree with your assumptions?
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Actually. I did study some other religions and not just the doctrines associated with the LHMM and I attended some other groups and churches. I also have many friends who are Christians of different flavors and I completely respect them. I have found though that the reverse is not always true. Other Christians think we are going to hell which they believe is eternal torment. And they think we are going there simply because we don't believe their way.
So...for all the love they focus on (and they are loving people I know), they still would consign me to being tormented forever simply by belief, whereas the Bible doctrines brought to light by Russell and Johnson show that everyone has the opportunity for everlasting life, no matter their belief, and that Jesus died for everyone, not just Christians in this life.
Additionally, I know no one else that can explain old testament scriptures like Johnson did. Most Christians I encounter don't even pick up their Old Testament. They don't know what to do with it. They don't see the restitution of all things. So many things in the old testament relate to the Kingdom on earth. They see only the New Testament and the call to the Church.
I think the reason that LHMM people become so tight and protective is that they are a small (say minority) group in the big mainstream of Christianity and they are often mistreated for their beliefs. This causes them to hunker down and be protective of belief. That is quite understandable, because the mainstream Christian world is only one of acceptance and love (as you say), if you believe in all the main credal doctrines. Sometimes this can lead to not being open to discussion with others because you know the discussion will go nowhere. It can also lead to defensiveness.
Love is the most important thing, but love without knowledge is just a love with no direction. What kind of love to you give - to whom? and why? What are your logical boundaries? Who do you associate with and why? These are all important. Love is an important general principal but without knowledge you might say you "love" someone and think still for example,think they deserve "hell." If you know that there is no hell of torment and only the grave with a chance for all - isn't that a more genuine form of love - to believe everyone has the opportunity - buddists, hindus, muslims....?
I believe the current issues in the LHMM are related more to being like typical churches - where there is no discussion and someone from the top just says this is the way it is - the people who decide doctrine or the Pope. Questioning is not acceptable.
Generalizing Christians into categories is difficult. In my personal experience, I have run into more Christians that are very grace filled. They do not focus on the negative. They want to love people into loving Jesus. They are not so concerned about what God has planned for those that do not accept Him...just that it is not to be desired. Some even agree with the annihlationist viewpoint.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annihilationist
If you have not found anyone else that can explain the Old Testament well besides Russell and Johnson, then your experience with Christian pastors or speakers is limited. In our experience, we have found that others have expounded on the real and practical application of the Old Testament to our life in way that positively impacts those that hear it. The lives of Moses, Joseph, and so many others (see the post concerning Ruth and Naomi) offer lessons that are relevant to our lives. The types of their lives taught by Johnson and studied in detail, offer almost no value other than a historical perspective on one person's life and works.
The reason many churches focus on the New Testament, is because it DOES apply to us and was written for us...as the Church. If people in the LHMM are mistreated for their beliefs, it is unfortunate and the common denominator in all this is imperfect people on both sides. But that does not make the LHHMs beliefs any more correct. It does fuel the feeling that one is being justly persecuted for the sake of righteousness.
Knowledge is important but love is more important. Boundaries need to be formed to protect people. Certainly, you will feel more comfortable with people that believe more like you do...but the LHMM takes this to an extreme that isolates them.
The current issues in the LHMM are also related to the nature of the "movement" which is autocratic. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autocracy
There are no checks and balances regarding the person at the top. He has the authority to appoint who he wants, publish anything, and ex-communicate at will. This power leads to corruption. Most churches have a board or group of elders and members that vote regularly to help keep things in check. It is ironic that Johnson became himself a mini-pope in the way he ran the movement (actually an organization). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organization
To the Me person. I'd like to be a little frank with you.
My comments are based on my experiences, and my experiences alone, which I don't think you can judge. I especially don't appreicate this comment that you made: "If you have not found anyone else that can explain the Old Testament well besides Russell and Johnson, then your experience with Christian pastors or speakers is limited." You have no idea how many Christian pastors I have listened to, or how many churches I have been to. You are thus making a judgement call on my experience with doctrine and other Christians. You really can't make that statement without being judgemental.
Frankly, it is straight out obvious that other Christians do not know about restitution, and that is the thing I love the very most about the doctrines available from Russell and Johnson. I LOVE that I know that the physical earth is not going to be destroyed, and that we will get back what was lost in the Garden of Eden. That makes so much more sense than that everyone is going to heaven. That is part of the restitution piece that such a big part of the Old Testament, which Christians I know, have no idea about.
I also LOVE that I know that Christ actually died for me.
I don't believe the other Christian churches have a corner on love. I feel that they are sometimes more zealous in their outreach to others. I would agree with that. Churches have divorce care groups, addict support groups, etc. Those outreach things are very nice. I have found with my Christian friends, and I have MANY Christian friends from various denominations, that there is definitely a limit to discussion and how they view you.
For example, a friend of mine found out that I do not believe God and Jesus are one physical being. I did not attack his beliefs in any way. In fact, I went out of my way to tell him that I respect his Christian walk and that he has helped me a lot. I told him this is what I believe and why. I told him I was not trying to change him. By the way, this discussion came up incidentally. I did not try to bring it up - it just came up.
When he found out what I believed, he stopped talking to me about Christian things. He will talk to me, but he treats me differently now, as if I am no longer a Christian to discuss with, like he did before. This is not the first time I have experienced such a thing. And by the way, this same very good friend of mine, only carries the New Testament. He never carries the Old.
I am not longer affiliated with the LHMM per se. I am one of the many brethren affected by what is going on in the movement right now. If you want this to be a forum open to people's experiences who are no longer associated with the LHMM, then you need to respect the experiences they have even it is not what you have experienced.
I do agree that the LHMM movement has become narrow in how it is dealing with people. There is mistreatment going on and people being labeled, etc. I think it has become more like a sect in terms of how it is dealing with things. That does not make the doctrines themselves wrong.
Also, I never said that being persecuted made my beliefs right. They're right in my mind because I've looked at the scriptures, the idea of harmony and logic, and compared it to other choices out there. And, I DID actively compare it to other choices. I actively attended other things.
I don't understand your point of love is the most important thing. It's as if you're saying that knowledge is so secondary that whatever you believe, it's okay as long as you love. What if you don't believe in Christ at all? You have to believe in Christ for your ultimate salvation. God also places much value on knowledge and wisdom. The book of Proverbs is all about that. God talks about how we need to "prove all things." He wants us to be sure of our beliefs. Our beliefs are the foundation for our love. If I believe that Jesus died for everyone, then I have a foundation for my love.
I don't like the behavior the LHMM right now. It's like the Salem witch hunts. That doesn't mean the beliefs are wrong though.
I apologize if I have appeared judgmental. It is not intentional.
I believe it is NOT obvious that other Christians do not know about restitution. Some do. It is not a focus of most churches because...as the church...the promise is heaven. But what is heaven? Many Bible scholars would define it as "the new heavens and earth"...which includes a restored earth. They do not see the physical destruction of the earth but a restoration to what was lost. I have heard this preached several times in other churches. It is not unique to the LHMM...but a conclusion that can come from studying the Scriptures.
The limit in fellowship with other Christians comes often with the difference in view of the Trinity that causes you to be labeled as a cult by some. In other cases, it comes from a healthy fear of things connected to the Jehovah's Witnesses and Russell as their supposed founder. This is a human condition and difficult to overcome.
I do fully respect everyone's personal experience and believe that God is working in your life. I also think that the majority of LHMM associates are not familiar with theological discussions outside of their group. You are to be commended for going outside the limitations of the group. But in that also you are going against what Johnson and Russell promoted as correct.
The point regarding the importance of knowledge is taken directly from Scripture. God commanded us to love as the greatest commandment. He did not command us to fill up our brains with the most details possible. (Often the things studied by the LHMM are of no practical importance or benefit.) God could have made the Bible crystal clear and not open to different interpretations. He didn't. Why not? Possibly, the reason is to allow for faith and love to be exercised.
Thanks for commenting here. I hope some of the words shared are a blessing. It is difficult not to get caught up in negativity because ultimately, I believe, after experiencing the LHMM, that it was a negative experience. There is some good, but overall I would not recommend it to anyone. I want to help save people some pain if they are considering it at all.
That is my personal experience. I also know that no church (or person) is perfect...but some are better than others.
To love someone is to learn what pleases them and what offends them. The Bible makes clear what offends God. That is what it means to love God with our whole heart soul and mind. You have simply erased everything beyond the word "love" What is involved in loving God is knowledge of what is right or wrong in His view and obeying from the heart, out of love for Him. to do anything else supports Satan's stand against God.
Knowledge of right and wrong is very practical and should be studied. Knowledge of chronology, deep doctrine is not necessary to love God or others. It can't be...even those that were closest to Jesus when he was on earth were ignorant of many doctrinal details. What did Jesus say was most important? There is only one Scripture that points toward extensive "study" and it is a mistranslation.
Knowledge of what God requires is not about being right. The more a person gets to know or understand the likes and dislikes, the things that offend, the more we are able to get along. It has to do with teachings that are not true about God, these are offensive to Him. That is what should concern us.
Jn 4:24 states that we must worship in truth…..this is too simple for some or people want to decide what that means. God has told us what he wants….truth is certainly a big part of worship that God accepts.
Jesus said that the Jews worshipped what they knew. Jn 17:1-3 shows we need knowledge to gain everlasting life. More is required, but Jn 17:3 says that knowledge of the only true God is also needed.
The Bible states that we need accurate knowledge, that is what will unite true Christians.
E·pi′gno·sis, a strengthened form of gno′sis (e·pi′, meaning “additional”), can often be seen from the context to mean “exact, accurate, or full knowledge.” Thus Paul wrote about some who were learning (taking in knowledge) “yet never able to come to an accurate knowledge [“a real knowledge,” TC; “a personal knowledge,” Ro; “clear, full knowledge,” Da ftn] of truth.” (2Ti 3:6, 7) He also prayed that ones in the Colossian congregation, who obviously had some knowledge of God’s will, for they had become Christians, “be filled with the accurate knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual comprehension.” (Col 1:9) Such accurate knowledge should be sought by all Christians (Eph 1:15-17; Php 1:9; 1Ti 2:3, 4), it being important in putting on “the new personality” and in gaining peace.—Col 3:10; 2Pe 1:2.
Proverbs 11:9 states: “through knowledge the righteous escape.”
Are all religions really acceptable to God?
Judg. 10:6, 7: “The sons of Israel again proceeded to do what was bad in the eyes of Jehovah, and they began to serve the Baals and the Ashtoreth images and the gods of Syria and the gods of Sidon and the gods of Moab and the gods of the sons of Ammon and the gods of the Philistines. So they left Jehovah and did not serve him. At this Jehovah’s anger blazed against Israel.” If a person worships any thing or any person other than the true God, the Creator of heaven and earth, it is evident that his form of worship is not acceptable to Jehovah.
Mark 7:6, 7: “He [Jesus] said to them [the Jewish Pharisees and scribes]: ‘Isaiah aptly prophesied about you hypocrites, as it is written, “This people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far removed from me. It is in vain that they keep worshiping me, because they teach as doctrines commands of men.”’” Regardless of whom a group profess to worship, if they hold to doctrines of men instead of the inspired Word of God, their worship is in vain)
Rom. 10:2, 3: “I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God; but not according to accurate knowledge; for, because of not knowing the righteousness of God but seeking to establish their own, they did not subject themselves to the righteousness of God.” People may have God’s written Word but lack accurate knowledge of what it contains, because they have not been taught properly. They may feel that they are zealous for God, but they may not be doing what he requires. Their worship is not going to please God, is it?
Is it true that there is good in all religions?
Most religions do teach that a person should not lie or steal, and so forth. But is that sufficient? Would you be happy to drink a glass of poisoned water because someone assured you that most of what you were getting was water?
2 Cor. 11:14, 15: “Satan himself keeps transforming himself into an angel of light. It is therefore nothing great if his ministers also keep transforming themselves into ministers of righteousness.” Here we are cautioned that not everything that originates with Satan may appear hideous. One of his chief methods of deceiving mankind has been false religion of all kinds, to some of which he gives a righteous appearance.
2 Tim. 3:2, 5: “Men will be . . . having a form of godly devotion but proving false to its power; and from these turn away.” Regardless of their outward professions of love for God, if those with whom you worship do not sincerely apply his Word in their own lives, the Bible urges you to break off such association.
I agree with all those Scriptures as well. No one here said that "all religions are good" or that "all religions lead to salvation". What we did try to state is that there is not a one size fits all set of doctrinal statements or beliefs that ensures salvation. There is also not one easily identifiable organization where all the good people are. The main requirement for salvation as the Bible states it is the acceptance of Jesus Christ as your Savior which leads to a relationship with Him. Relationship trumps religion.
James 1:27 Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless.....
religion that God accepts, defined in the scriptures for us as stated above. When a person accepts His acceptable form of worship they are united with others who do as well. Malachi states "And you will again see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between those who serve God and those who do not." 3:18
Some on this blog feel that they know what the main requirement is for salvation the scriptures above show that Jehovah is the center of what is accepted. He privided the ransom. We cannot accept the ransom without accepting the Provider. That is the difference between the servants of God and all others.
Knowledge is actually just as important as love. Without knowledge we cannot really have the love that the Bible speaks of.
Rejecting lies about Jehovah and Jesus shows that we love God. we cannot use love as a passive feeling that does not have a direct influence on what we see the Bible commanding us to do.
Those are good verses. The Bible is clear that true worshipers can be identified by love AND the conduct or actions that it produces. It should produce the basic same conduct from all humans that honestly want to do God' will.
That's the problem here. Love would unite people to serve Jehovah. it would not allow for support of the wars of this world. Most religions claiming to be christian actually support wars. Not the real christian love since Satan is the ruler of the world and its wars. 1John 5:19
That scripture in Judges says alot. They left Jehovah, did what is bad in His eyes(conduct and knowledge)The study results are in.....we need accurate knowledge to show that we love God!
Ephesians 4:5,6........One faith
Matthew 25 identifies conduct towards Christ's brothers. Knowledge is required to know the difference between the sheep and Christ's brothers.
I never said that we should throw knowledge out the window...it, however, is "less important". It has to be. Please define "accurate knowledge" and how you would determine its accuracy. Is there one source of correct Biblical interpretation? If so, how did you determine that source?
E·pi′gno·sis, a strengthened form of gno′sis (e·pi′, meaning “additional”), can often be seen from the context to mean “exact, accurate, or full knowledge.” Thus Paul wrote about some who were learning (taking in knowledge) “yet never able to come to an accurate knowledge [“a real knowledge,” TC; “a personal knowledge,” Ro; “clear, full knowledge,” Da ftn] of truth.” (2Ti 3:6, 7) He also prayed that ones in the Colossian congregation, who obviously had some knowledge of God’s will, for they had become Christians, “be filled with the accurate knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual comprehension.” (Col 1:9) Such accurate knowledge should be sought by all Christians (Eph 1:15-17; Php 1:9; 1Ti 2:3, 4), it being important in putting on “the new personality” and in gaining peace.—Col 3:10; 2Pe 1:2.
I would like to hear what authority invites the views of the trinity or any other statement in this blog.
E·pi′gno·sis, according to Greek scholar Thayer, means “precise and correct knowledge.” And in the verb form, it means “to become thoroughly acquainted with, to know thoroughly; to know accurately, know well.” W. E. Vine states that e·pi′gno·sis “denotes exact or full knowledge, discernment, recognition.” it expresses “a fuller or a full knowledge, a greater participation by the knower in the object known, thus more powerfully influencing him.”
why is knowledge less important?
Ephesians 4:5,6 refers to one faith. The Christians in the first century only had one faith.
They did not have splinter groups. The apostasy introduced splinter groups that adopted twisted teachings. The “dark ages” saw many teachings adopted from false worship. That one faith is the one we should try to identify today.
2 Timothy 3: 16 “God breathed scripture is for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness…..that we may thoroughly equipped for every good work” We see here how important knowledge is in serving Go d. teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness all point the need of knowledge of the truth.
Romans 15:4 the Bible would give good and bad examples of how a Christian should worship God. The Old Testament is full of God’s people adopting false gods and false teachings, things that Christians could do and lose their relationship with God.
John 8:31-32 Jesus taught love. He also taught when to look for signs of his presence and many other illustrations that would guide the conduct of his followers and identify them as separate from the world and as his true followers.
Proverbs 1:7
Some examples of knowledge that is required.
What is baptism and why is it necessary?
When are the last days? The last days of what?
Who or what is Babylon the Great?
We have to know so that we can get out of her! We would also be obligated to show the evidence for understanding this to others to let them use free will to serve God.
What is the ransom? What is the value of it? Who paid it? Who accepted payment? What was being repurchased?
What is the world that Jesus and his followers were to be no part of?
As long as we have love the truth of these and many other passages are not vital as the Bible states they are?
Great scriptures. I think you may be missing the point. The premise of the article is "Knowledge is less important"...not unimportant. But then what is the knowledge here required for? Is the knowledge required for salvation? Is it required to have any sort of relationship with God? If so, what scriptures point us to those conclusions?
How can we say that we love God and then worship Him any way that we want or interpret?
Worship should be based on scripture as His way, not for us to pick and choose as though eating at a buffet. This is what I feel is missing from this blog. People have left LHMM, have also left accurate words of truth that they learned from LHMM. The accurate words of truth are the very things that keep Jesus followers as one.
We have to have to be able to answer the questions above for ourselves and others with the Bible.
You then make the assumption that the LHMM has all the truth. How do you determine that? The LHMM is not God's ordained organization on the earth. Johnson and Russell were not the only source of truth. Even if you said they were...then are Gohlke, Jolly, Hedman, and now Herzig also the main source of truth? We must use our minds to rightly divide and know what is truth and even then it will be a process that goes on our entire lives. In the mean time, God still loves us and we should widen our fellowship to include all those that profess Christ as their Savior. Russell even said that all that was required for fellowship was belief in Christ as your Savior. The rest are details and less important.
I did not say that LHMM had all truth. Jesus followers did not have all of the truth. When issues arose over acceptable worship the congregations looked to the older men for direction, what would be proper for a christian. That meant that the understanding of what it meant to be a christian and someone who is following Christ. They made the changes to be in agreement with all in the congregations. Mt 7:21-23 shows that professing Christ as their Savior would not be enough
I read the #2 "Meg" comment.
I have to say that I found the same reaction to not believing the trinity. Many people change how they treat me when they find out that I believe differently.
These are people who are strong “Christians”
That is why accurate knowledge is vital. It causes humans to make the needed changes in the face of a world influenced by Satan and his demons. Who God is and accepting Him is one huge teaching that Jesus made clear during his earthly ministry and therefore was to be part of the ministry of his followers.
We cannot adopt another teaching into “christianity” that has been around in false religion for thousands of years and believe that God will say ”that’s o.k. just have love and accept the ransom and be nice.”
Jehovah is the only true God or the trinity is the truth, they cannot both be right. We need to worship God in truth; He is actually looking for people who will worship in truth. This truth ties directly into our salvation.
To lie about God is what the Devil did in the garden of Eden. This is not acceptable to God!
We need to know the truth, it is vital to our accepting the ransom and what it stands for.
If we do not understand the ransom our dedication and baptism cannot be acceptable to God.
Romans 10:13-15 calling on the name of Jehovah will be saved. Paul highlights how important knowledge is to our beings saved. Without those sent forth to preach the Name how can anyone be saved. We have no right to discount these verses, they remind us of Jesus command to make disciples, teaching them what Jesus taught. This is how God could call out a people for his name. Acts 15:14 Emphatic Diaglott
In the verses stated it does not provide a list of specific doctrines that must be understood and agreed to in order to be saved. It stresses following Lord. The basic premise remains...specific knowledge is less important than a relationship with God.
"Specific knowledge is less important than a relationship with God"
With respect I have to say that this statement is difficult for me to understand.
Over the few years of my very short life as an adult, I have found that to have a successful relationship with anyone especially a mate, we need specific knowledge. I have seen this with many people. When the knowledge of what makes a person feel good, what offends, we cannot have a good relationship unless we act on that knowledge. Love would motivate us to want to learn what the Bible says offends God and what makes Him happy with us, and adjust our conduct and way of thinking in such a way so as to draw close to Him. Jn 17:3, Eph 4:02-24
I completely agree. To know someone better, you are able to love them better...and we should study...but in situations where doctrines are difficult to understand or come to a complete conclusion on their truthfulness we should not blindingly take the word of Russell, Johnson, or any other LHMM teacher as the authority in correct interpretation.
One thing that I believe would offend God the most is when leaders use His name and authority to "put people in their place". This is exactly what Johnson did by claiming to be the Epiphany messenger. He abused his position and hurt people in the process. Continuing to follow his teachings in light of that abuse is one of the biggest dangers in the LHMM. Even today, the LHMM continues to separate people into classes of higher or lower importance through "Youthful Worthies" or "Consecrated Epiphany Campers". When people say that they can pick and choose what they want to agree with regarding Johnson's teachings they are going against his own teaching because they do not possess the authority or ability to do so...they are not of the high calling class as was Johnson in his view.
That is why knowing who Jehovah is and that Jesus worshipped Him and taught his followers to do so is important. The knowledge of Jehovah's identity His personality, the truth about Him is revealed in the Bible and is vital to having a close relationship with Him.
1 Tim 1:3 As I urged you when I went into Macedonia, stay there in Ephesus so that you may command certain people not to teach false doctrines any longer 4 or to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies. Such things promote controversial speculations rather than advancing God’s work—which is by faith. 5 The goal of this command is love, which comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. 6 Some have departed from these and have turned to meaningless talk. 7 They want to be teachers of the law, but they do not know what they are talking about or what they so confidently affirm.
8 We know that the law is good if one uses it properly. 9 We also know that the law is made not for the righteous but for lawbreakers and rebels, the ungodly and sinful, the unholy and irreligious, for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers, 10 for the sexually immoral, for those practicing homosexuality, for slave traders and liars and perjurers—and for whatever else is contrary to the sound doctrine 11 that conforms to the gospel concerning the glory of the blessed God, which he entrusted to me.
The Lord’s Grace to Paul
12 I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength, that he considered me trustworthy, appointing me to his service. 13 Even though I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man, I was shown mercy because I acted in ignorance and unbelief. 14 The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.
Interesting how the Bible does show the relationship of love and doctrine.
This is a blog to attack the Bible Standard. LHMM has had the info to show no trinity, hellfire and immortal soul…..among other issues that Russell found before himself.
That being said. I have been asking questions to the Bible Standard that have been expressed on this blog. I have been ignored when I have been specific about certain concerns that I have. Not even a response to something that may be a difference of opinion. I have asked for an explanation of certain watch tower subjects without an answer. To some degree the blog raises serious questions about the “organization”
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