Quote (mikeboll64 @ Sep. 23 2013,11:03)Also from another thread:Quote (mikeboll @ 64)Quote (942767 @ Sep. 22 2013,14:22)Ok., Mike, I am wrong and you are right…………Now if everybody would just post these words the second they realize they are disagreeing with ME – things would go a lot more smoothly around here!         (Just kidding, of…[Read more]

Quote (t8 @ Sep. 23 2013,09:02)Further he humbled himself. That is the opposite of exalted.If it said he exalted himself, then we would assume that he started at a lower position, but for some reason, when it says that he humbled himself, it now suddenly doesn't infer that he started in a higher position.But I will argue for JB2U for a sec and say…[Read more]

Quote (t8 @ Sep. 23 2013,08:54)But a being has a form and may also be an image of something.If HE existed in the form of God, then HE alone signifies existence and form means form/nature/external appearance according to the concordance I checked out at least. Does it matter if it didn't say being at all, because he existed in a form or certain…[Read more]

Quote (mikeboll64 @ Sep. 23 2013,06:55)From another thread:Quote (942767 @ Sep. 21 2013,19:02)Quote (mikeboll64 @ Sep. 22 2013,15:17)So you realize that “was existing/existed” is implied from the past tense form of the rest of the statement, right?We agree that all the things Paul mentioned in verses 6-11 had already happened in the past, despite…[Read more]

Quote (mikeboll64 @ Sep. 23 2013,06:36)Quote (jb2u @ Sep. 22 2013,12:26)This is my point Mike. You can not just take a verse and say..”see, it says this so that is it.” You have to look at the context of the verse.Okay.  But now address the fact that no man has ever seen God at any time, yet Jesus said that he had seen God.He couldn't have seen…[Read more]

Quote (mikeboll64 @ Sep. 23 2013,06:34)The teaching in Phil 2 is that we also be willing to sacrifice the good life we have to do God's will by helping others.Jesus was living high on the hog, but emptied himself and began a much lower existence as a servant to others.  THIS is the mind we are also to have in us.This “point” of yours needs no…[Read more]

Quote (mikeboll64 @ Sep. 23 2013,06:22)Quote (jb2u @ Sep. 22 2013,12:13)Quote (mikeboll64 @ Sep. 23 2013,04:32)Quote (jb2u @ Sep. 22 2013,09:34)I do not believe that Elijah ever at any point stopped existing as Elijah. So, it will not be a preexistent being..It will be Elijah, just as he always was!!So when Elijah again comes to the earth, will he…[Read more]

Quote (mikeboll64 @ Sep. 23 2013,06:16)Quote (jb2u @ Sep. 22 2013,12:18) Quote (mikeboll @ 64)I'll put it a different way:  In what form WAS Jesus existing when he didn't (past tense) consider equality with God something to be grasped?He was “in the form of God.”  Do you see how the word “was”, that we BOTH used, applies?  Do you see how that wo…[Read more]

Quote (mikeboll64 @ Sep. 23 2013,05:56)Quote (jb2u @ Sep. 22 2013,12:10)Well, I'd say forever, everlasting, permanent..ALL mean eternity.I agree that all those things also mean “eternity”.  What I'm trying to show you is that “owlam” never in scripture means any of them.English translators often render “owlam” as “everlasting” or whatever, but…[Read more]

Quote (mikeboll64 @ Sep. 23 2013,05:49)Quote (jb2u @ Sep. 22 2013,12:00)What he “emptied himself of” was His OWN desires, His OWN will, His OWN thoughts, etc.Where in Phil 2 can we read that, jb?Where does it say that Jesus was filled with desires of his own, but emptied himself?It doesn't say directly what He emptied Himself of, BUT we know it…[Read more]

Quote (mikeboll64 @ Sep. 23 2013,05:48)Quote (jb2u @ Sep. 22 2013,11:58)Quote (mikeboll64 @ Sep. 23 2013,03:28)Obama, although he was the President of the U.S., came under scrutiny concerning his U.S. citizenship.Now please DIRECTLY answer this very simple question:Does the fact that Obama WAS President WHEN he came under scrutiny say ANYTHING AT…[Read more]

Quote (mikeboll64 @ Sep. 23 2013,05:44)Quote (jb2u @ Sep. 22 2013,11:56)AND THEN WAS MADE IN THE LIKENESS OF MAN (this one threw me……..I appreciate your openness and honesty in this post.  But your own words say it all, jb.  You have admitted that the words “and was made in the likeness of a human being” simply don't fit into your u…[Read more]

Quote (mikeboll64 @ Sep. 23 2013,05:08)Quote (jb2u @ Sep. 22 2013,09:53)It is not in John 1:18It is in John 6:46Not that any man hath seen the Father, save he which is of God, he hath seen the Father.Actually, it is a combination of them both, jb.If 1:18 says no man has seen God AT ANY TIME, and Jehovah Himself told Moses that no man can see Him…[Read more]

Quote (mikeboll64 @ Sep. 23 2013,04:38)jb,Was Jesus existing in the form of God when he didn't consider equality with God something to be grasped?  YES or NO?This is a flawed question..Jesus NEVER grasped at being equal with God; so, to ask if Jesus was existing in the form of God before not doing something that He never did just does not make…[Read more]

Quote (mikeboll64 @ Sep. 23 2013,04:32)Quote (jb2u @ Sep. 22 2013,09:34)I do not believe that Elijah ever at any point stopped existing as Elijah. So, it will not be a preexistent being..It will be Elijah, just as he always was!!So when Elijah again comes to the earth, will he have pre-existed this second earthly appearance?  YES or…[Read more]

Quote (mikeboll64 @ Sep. 23 2013,04:28)Quote (jb2u @ Sep. 22 2013,09:34)Again, since he IS Elijah..he will come in his own spirit..NOT the spirit OF himself!!Doesn't “his own” mean the same thing as “of himself”?I would say there is a difference between..Elijah returning to earth..and John the baptist coming in the spirit of Elijah.

Quote (mikeboll64 @ Sep. 23 2013,04:16)Re-read MY post.  The Hebrew word “owlam” NEVER means “from eternity”.  In some cases, like Ps 90:2, we can imagine it means “from eternity”, because we all accept that Jehovah is indeed “from eternity”.But like I said, read the NWT when in doubt:Psalm 90:2 NWTBefore the mountains themselves were born, Or y…[Read more]

Quote (mikeboll64 @ Sep. 23 2013,04:01)Which carries more weight?  One who continually SAYS he would admit it when he is wrong?  Or one whose track record SHOWS that he has admitted when he was wrong?You haven't been here that long, jb……… but both me and t8 have many times adjusted our understanding of scriptures because of something we've b…[Read more]

Quote (mikeboll64 @ Sep. 23 2013,03:43)Quote (t8 @ Sep. 22 2013,05:42)Chronologically speaking to say that he emptied himself right after he existed in the form of God, is one way to get that concept across. I mean it strongly suggests that he emptied himself of what was just mentioned, otherwise if emptying yourself stands alone, (no particular…[Read more]

Quote (mikeboll64 @ Sep. 23 2013,03:28)Quote (jb2u @ Sep. 22 2013,09:06)Your belief is..John WAS rich (but gave up his riches and became poor)but made himself of no reputation, working beside the poor.This is where you're slipping, jb.If I say, “John, although he was rich, worked with the poor”, the word “was” does NOT speak one way or the other…[Read more]