New Jersey DC most bizarre article i have seen yet
'Deliverance at Hand!' click for images Cherry Hill Courier Post, NJ - 3 hours ago
After decades of warning that the end of the world -- as well as its religious, political and commercial systems -- is coming, Jehovah's Witnesses to many ...
'Deliverance at Hand!'
Reporter and Jehovah's Witness discovers messages, dedication at group's annual convention
Tuesday, July 11, 2006
After decades of warning that the end of the world -- as well as its religious, political and commercial systems -- is coming, Jehovah's Witnesses to many sound more like Chicken Little, who professed the sky was falling when only an acorn had dropped on his head.
Stand-up comedians, screenwriters for film and television and many others have poked fun at their door-to-door preaching, but thousands across the globe have accepted their Bible-based teaching or stopped long enough to listen to their message.
I was raised as a Witness and have attended our annual district conventions for more than 30 years. Themes always have emphasized virtues such as godly devotion and other Christian qualities.
However, I found the 2006 convention theme, "Deliverance at Hand!," unsettling because of its implications of doom and encouraging because of our belief that God will soon usher in a new world order under the rulership of his resurrected son Jesus Christ.
A sobering warning message was repeated in detail in the final talk, "Keep in Expectation as Jehovah's Day Draws Near," at the Philadelphia gathering. Speaker Steve Lett said the beginning of the end would be marked by "great tribulation," a supernatural phenomenon that would "pale in comparison" to World War II and the Bible account of the flood.
In a rare move, a crowd of more than 8,000 agreed to a seven-point resolution that declared their resolve to intensify their preaching effort, remain loyal to God and Christ and resist worldly views that often run contrary to Bible teachings.
I left more resolved to deepen my understanding about Jehovah and his word.
Witnesses truly care about how their conduct reflects on their God, Jehovah, and that's the reason I purposefully left my wallet with $34 and an old university student ID card in one of the men's restrooms on the convention's opening day.
I claimed my wallet and its entire contents from the lost and found the following morning.
Convention-goers said they enjoyed the fellowship, increased their Bible knowledge and listened to strategies for applying their beliefs to their personal lives through interviews, skits and a Bible drama Sunday that featured costumed performers.
The three-day program will be repeated the next three weekends at the Liacouras Center at Temple University. In total, roughly 32,000 Witnesses from South Jersey, Delaware, Pennsylvania and Maryland are expected to attend one of the four weekends in July.
In her 60 years as a Witness, Diane Warren, 83, of Camden, can't recall any convention focusing so much on the end of the world.
"It's kind of scary because this might be the last assembly. It kept you on the edge of your seat, really made you pay attention," Warren said.
Richard Kieve, 58, of Pennsauken, said the convention talks strengthened his faith and inspired hope in God's kingdom, a government that Witnesses believe is the permanent solution for mankind's problems.
"That's the only thing we have to look forward to in this troubled world," he said.
His wife, Maria, said Bible knowledge is lacking today. Of 150 co-workers, only three correctly answered that King Solomon was the Bible writer who coined the term "capable wife." Moses and Abraham were the other two choices.
"No wonder Jehovah gives us extra time to continue preaching because people don't know," she said.
Milagros Torres, 31, of Camden, was one of 51 people who were baptized Saturday.
The mother of two said her love for her God, Jehovah, moved her to dedicate her life to him.
"I want to do right by my children. I have two boys and I want to be in paradise with my two boys," Torres said.
Jessica Carson, 19, of Camden, said she dedicated her life to God to show her appreciation for what he had done for her. She grew up without her father and found positive role models in older males in her congregation. "I felt loved in other ways. That was the biggest gift he could have given me, to fill that space I was missing."
Reach Wilford S. Shamlin at (856) 251-3346 or [email protected] reporter contact don't forget claims to be JW
[email protected] editorial page editor best bet
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by DannyHaszard 20 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
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DannyHaszard
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DannyHaszard
Witness convention to focus on ‘Day of Reckoning'
Frontiersman (subscription), AK - 43 minutes ago
By JOEL DAVIDSON/Frontiersman. MAT-SU - The world is coming to an end sooner than you might think, say local members of Jehovah's Witnesses. ... Jehovah's Witnesses boasts a 6.6 million worldwide fellowship. In recent years, however, membership in the United States and developed European counties has remained stagnant or dwindled. The “Deliverance at Hand” conventions are meant to reverse that trend. -------------------------- ....According to Statistics Canada, there are 155,000 Jehovah's Witnesses in Canada, down 8.1 per cent from a decade earlier. There are some 6.6 million in the world. Witnesses find joy in baptismal pool
Hamilton Spectator, Canada - 4 hours ago
One of 100 people to be baptized in a portable swimming pool at the 2006 District Convention of the Jehovah's Witnesses at Copps Coliseum on the weekend, a ... Dean Raddick took the plunge Saturday and has never felt better. One of 100 people to be baptized in a portable swimming pool at the 2006 District Convention of the Jehovah's Witnesses at Copps Coliseum on the weekend, a grinning, dripping, shivering Raddick sprinted for the change room a new man. "I'm really happy I did it now," said the apprentice machinist from Dunnville as he emerged from the pool. "I grew up a Jehovah's Witness and I figured, at 23, I may as well get baptized. "I'm going to do the best I can for Jehovah." Across the way, Eva Ampofo stood grinning and clutching a camera. She'd just elbowed her way into the crowd surrounding the pool to snap a picture of a friend emerging from the pool. "This is a good occasion," said Ampofo, of Brampton. "They've dedicated their lives and, from here on, they're basically making the truth their own." The midday baptism ritual is the emotional highlight of the annual gathering that draws 10,000 to 15,000 believers to Steeltown. Attendance peaked at 12,500 yesterday for a midday full-costume Biblical drama, said convention overseer Robert Alton. The well-heeled faithful came from across the Golden Horseshoe, the men wearing suits and ties, the women in dresses and skirts. Well-scrubbed youngsters sported frilly dresses and pint-size suits. Jehovah's Witnesses subscribe to biblical literalism and believe in the imminent coming of the kingdom of God following the battle of Armageddon, a term from the book of Revelation describing the final battle between good and evil. They do not celebrate their own birthdays, considering such celebrations a glorification of the individual rather than of Jehovah, or God. They call themselves witnesses in reference to biblical passages, such as Isaiah 43:10: "You are my witnesses," declares the Lord, "and my servant whom I have chosen ..." They are forbidden from using images during worship and from any involvement with spiritism. They do not have a particular Sabbath as they regard all days as holy. Instead, they attend five meetings per week, ranging from a lecture to sessions studying church documents. According to Statistics Canada, there are 155,000 Jehovah's Witnesses in Canada, down 8.1 per cent from a decade earlier. There are some 6.6 million in the world. -
DannyHaszard
Want do something? Waco Texas this is highest ranked article at the moment and sensitive to David Koresh legacy possibly productive reporter contacts for activist About 40,000 Jehovah's Witnesses to meet Central Texas
Waco Tribune Herald, TX - 3 hours ago
In Central Texas in the summer, few things are more certain than the annual arrival of thousands of Jehovah’s Witnesses for a five-weekend series of ... [email protected] reporter [email protected] opinion editor [email protected] news editor [email protected] letters to editor -
Stealth453
They spin this shit so hard, my kids are dizzy.
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Hellrider
Jessica Carson, 19, of Camden, said she dedicated her life to God to show her appreciation for what he had done for her. She grew up without her father and found positive role models in older males in her congregation. "I felt loved in other ways. That was the biggest gift he could have given me
I`m sure she did...
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LDH
"I grew up a Jehovah's Witness and I figured, at 23, I may as well get baptized. "I'm going to do the best I can for Jehovah."
if this kid 'grew up' a JW and didn't get baptised till 23, he's clearly "spiritually weak." There's hope for him yet! LOL.
Notice it wasn't a recruit from their door to door sales?
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DannyHaszard
'The Day of Jehovah' a Book Released Today
PR.com (press release), NY - 4 hours ago Syracuse, NY, July 11, 2006 --(PR.COM)-- Asked about the recent scandals plaguing the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society and a number of Witnesses leaving the sect, Derrick Whitt has this to say: “I am not so surprised because Jehovah’s Witnesses had this coming to them and the world is beginning to see cracks on the Watchtower and it is increasing growing; this is where I am going to make their hole bigger by helping them leave…and they say that there is no way out of it.” ---------- Danny Haszard comment~All i can say is taken from the song by Sting and the the Police,''don't stand so close to me watchtower leaders" Hosea 8:7 they have sown the wind…reap the whirlwind -
sir82
can't recall any convention focusing so much on the end of the world.
I suspect our 83-year old sister may not be able to recall what she had for lunch last Tuesday, much less even the title of a single talk from any convention she's ever attended.
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DannyHaszard
Talk about this and more on the Courier-Post forums! Danny's got us up click general discussion
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DannyHaszard
Dee: Apocalypse – not now, not later, not ever
Austin American-Statesman (subscription), TX - 32 minutes ago
... site, "abhota.info," lists more than 300 predictions, with dates in every century from the 700s, including the Millerites of 1844 and Jehovah's Witnesses in ... COMMENTARYDee: Apocalypse – not now, not later, not ever
James H. Dee, LOCAL CONTRIBUTOR
Tuesday, July 11, 2006 A recent story in the American-Statesman's Insight section ("A savior soon? Some think so," July 2) reprises a very old — and deeply false — theme, the unabashedly self-centered belief of various religious sects within Judaism, Christianity and Islam that a Messianic figure will arrive "soon" and bring about "the end of the world" through a climactic battle of Good against Evil. (One wonders mischievously what would happen if all three suddenly appeared at the same moment.) Most of these traditions date from the last century BC and the first century AD, when many "apocalypse/revelation" texts were written in various ancient languages (part of the mass of texts called "Apocrypha"), along with several dozen Coptic texts in the "Nag Hammadi Library," discovered in Egypt in 1945. They reflect the political and religious turmoil of an era that culminated in the Jewish Rebellion of 66-70 and the catastrophic destruction of Jerusalem. Foremost among them, of course, is the book called Revelation in the New Testament, attributed (wrongly, most scholars say) to the author of the Gospel of John and dated (with greater probability) to about 96-97. If I could go back in time and use a literary neutron-bomb to keep one ancient book from surviving to the present day, Revelation would be the obvious choice. Its bizarre and feverish visions have haunted and warped Christian thinking for 1,900 years, and they have led to countless false predictions — and dangerously delusional fantasies. In fact, the first Christian generations almost performed that service for us: In his excellent and lucid survey, "From Jesus to Christianity," University of Texas at Austin professor Michael White notes, "In the early centuries the book of Revelation was quite controversial and not uniformly considered scripture. It was not received into the Western canon until 393-94 CE." (Common Era, aka AD) Bruce Metzger's authoritative "Canon of the New Testament" quantifies White's generalization; by 1980, scholars had identified 2,328 Greek manuscripts with the four Gospels and other New Testament texts, but only 287 of them have Revelation. That disproportion reflects widespread disputes about the authenticity and meaning of Revelation, in particular, whether to interpret the text literally or allegorically. One of the earliest crises in the church developed as it became evident that Jesus was not going to return, as seemingly promised (for example, Mark 9:1), within the lifetime of the Apostles and their contemporaries. Perhaps chastened by that initial embarrassment, mainstream Christian thought has preferred to view Revelation nonliterally; but over the centuries, innumerable splinter groups and deranged individuals, ignoring Jesus' statement, "Ye know not the hour," have chosen the literalist option, loudly proclaiming, "The End is Near" — only to have nothing happen. An entertaining Web site, "abhota.info," lists more than 300 predictions, with dates in every century from the 700s, including the Millerites of 1844 and Jehovah's Witnesses in 1914, up to Y2K hysteria and a few 21st century dates. So far, the batting average is .000. The "lunatic fringe" is usually harmless, but, as both "abhota" and the Insight story show, world leaders such as President Reagan and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad have expressed (very different) apocalyptic beliefs. There are Jewish groups that want to bomb Jerusalem's Dome of the Rock as a prelude to building the "Third Temple" — an act which would provoke unimaginable fury throughout the Muslim world. Still others, as noted in the story, regard with equanimity "the slaughterhouse hope" of millions being killed in disasters and cosmic warfare, because they themselves will be saved by "The Rapture." These unfulfilled fantasies, whether silly or sickening, are shamelessly egotistical: The end of the world will happen "in my lifetime" — no matter how often that wish has been frustrated in the past, and no matter that Planet Earth has existed for about 4.6 billion years and will spin for billions more. That chronological enormity that utterly falsifies the myopic time-scale of most ancient mythologies, especially the 6,000-year span once promoted by literalists (which, counting from 4004 BC, should have ended in 1996). There is also an egregious ethnocentricity in presupposing the "Divine Election" of the Hebrews as the only "People of God" — an opinion conspicuously not shared by their ancient Mediterranean neighbors. Three religions notwithstanding, Jerusalem is not the focal point of cosmic history; Athens and the Hellenic world offer a saner model for humankind. Here's my prediction, though I won't live to see it verified: The apocalyptic world-view, regardless of denomination, is and will remain completely false, and no authentic Messiah will ever appear — not tomorrow, not next month, not in a hundred trillion years. Dee, a retired classics professor, lives in Austin. [email protected] http://www.statesman.com/search/content/feedback/letterseditor.html?http://www.statesman.com/opinion/content/editorial/stories/07/11dee_edit.html letter to editor online form
