truthseeker, Was the convention held in a Watch Tower Publishing Corporation owned convention facility? Or a public building? If it was a public building, were there any vending machines?
Sunday Notes at the District Convention An emotional plea to young ones
by truthseeker 50 Replies latest jw friends
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garybuss
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yaddayadda
Thanks for posting these. So no 'new light' huh?
Did you take any notes on Saturday? -
brinjen
How's the headache?
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Pistoff
Thanks, TS.
I am sure that the WT is sensitive to what "apostates" say about them constantly, that they are not really a christian religion. So, crank up the references to Jesus.
The problem is, the study of Jesus life and death is NOT conducive to building good little witnesses.
Jesus HATED human religious authority. When he spoke of the pharisees and sadducees, he did not speak of them in kind terms, or say that they were abiding by the spirit of the law but needed to improve their regard for the lowly.
He said they were hypocrites, sons of snakes, sons of Satan. He blasted them every chance he could.
Did Jesus obey HIS elders, even though he did not understand them??
UM, NO. He humiliated them by the use of questions when they came after him.
"Offspring of vipers, how can YOU speak good things, when YOU are wicked? "
“Why is it YOU also overstep the commandment of God because of YOUR tradition?"
"YOU hypocrites, Isaiah aptly prophesied about YOU, when he said, 8 ‘This people honors me with their lips, yet their heart is far removed from me"
"Blind guides is what they are. If, then, a blind man guides a blind man, both will fall into a pit.”
And by the way, that terribly corrupt system that Jesus lived in? Apparently, Jesus had more freedom of speech than the average witness who gets df'd for even questioning the sex abuse scandal or the UN membership.
So all in all, much better for the WT to stick with OT examples for illustrating their DO or DIE attitude.
If a person really studies Jesus life, and internalizes his message, he might never go to church again.
One of Jesus' messages was that NO ONE should lord over another in a spiritual way. He stated that we should call no one father on this earth. Does the WT really think that he meant this literally? He was saying that no one man, or a corporation acting as a "channel of communication" should be viewed as speaking God's thoughts.
After all, that is what the WT is saying. But instead of saying, GOD SPEAKS THROUGH US, they say:
Jehovah's channel of communication.
Sounds less crazy, eh? -
jgnat
I vote against a malevolent intelligence running the show. The WTS could just have easily have stumbled across a proven formula, and are too set in their ways to change it.
If they were really smart, they would actually provide exciting things for their youth to do.
Rather than telling their youth to eat their wheaties and call it exciting.
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Blueblades
TS. We appreciate your taking the time to tell us about your three uneventful days. Thanks for your tireless effort.
Blueblades
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blondie
Young JWs and those unbaptized, minor family members required to participate gradually leave when they cut the financial and emotional ties.
A talk was given not too long ago by a "prominent" brother that out of 10 teenagers, that 9 had left "the truth" in the last 5 years. Some just had never been baptized and stopped going when they moved out of the parental home. Others were df'd for "moral" reasons. But most just drifted away after baptism finding friends at work, at school, in their non-JW family, and neighbors.
A CO visited the elder bodies and told them that except for the increase in the foreign language congregations, the US would be posting negative numbers.
Few JWs make return visits and "conduct" bible studies. After all, eternal life is not based on converting anyone to being a JW. Even if you converted no one, everlasting life in paradise is assured if you attend a few meetings each month and put in at least 1 hour a month on a time slip to the secretary.
Blondie
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WTWizard
The orange and the apple? How are you to tell the trees apart without having any fruits? Actually, it's quite easy if you know what apple leaves and orange leaves are supposed to look like. And the shapes of the trees, the bark, the blooms, any buds, etc. In fact, it's quite easy to tell them apart. Oranges are evergreen and grow where it is relatively mild; apples are deciduous and need substantial cold to develop properly.
How can different individuals be told apart from each other? Easy, stupid Almighty Jehovah. Those who have had a lifetime of crap experiences and few or no good ones are going to turn out crap; those with favorable experiences and that are educated to make the wisest decisions are going to turn out best. It doesn't take fruitage to tell that: abuse a baby non-stop, and you can expect a rotten tree. Treat that baby well and provide stimulation and education, and that same baby will become fine.
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Mary
Speaker gives illustration of how over the years, a cup of coffee used to be 50 cents and now it is a $1, but, the thing that bothers him is the coffee cup has shrunk from 20 oz to 16 oz.
Uh, correction: a cup of coffee used to be only about 5 or 6 oz. What passes for a "small" cup of coffee now used to be considered "large". Can't these guys even get a simple illustration right?
Are we short changing Jehovah by giving him less?
Where does Jehovah say that his servants have to attend 5 meetings a week or go out knocking on doors Saturday morning? Nothing there in either the OT or the NT of any 'faithful' ones practicing these manmade rules.
If you stay on the sidelines, you’ll find the ministry boring.
You don't say.
Being in the truth can be incredible exciting! I guarantee your life will be more exciting if you play the game – team up with a pioneer, comment at the Watchtower. The truth is as exciting as you’ll make it. Get in the game!
Oooooh yes, I just used to find it soooo exciting when I was 10 years old having to sit at the Bookstudy while they studied Babylon the Great Has Fallen!, all the while looking outside at the kids playing road hockey, bicycling, basketball. I just really felt sorry for them that they were missing out on such excitement and felt really honoured to be there!!
What are our priorities? Education, career, recreation?
Yes, yes and yes.
This is the greatest organization in the world!
I'm pretty sure Hitler said the same thing about the Third Reich in one of his public speeches.
Speaker uses illustration of an apple and an orange tree and says how would we know which was which if neither tree had fruit. Compares to Jesus’ parable of the tree producing fine fruit and the other being burnt down for being unproductive.
What a stupid illustration. Are they trying to say that only ONE of these fruits can produce 'good fruitage'? Obviously, a rational person could reason that just because two fruits are different, doesn't mean that only one is "good" and all other fruits are "bad". Besides, there are plenty of other religions that send missionaries out to preach and who get a hell of a lot more converts than the WT does. What a bunch of numbskulls.
And a classic – Do not let fear stop you from examining the true religion!
Ya.......just don't examine it TOO closely, or you'll find yourself sitting in front of a 3 man Kangaroo Court waiting to DF you.
Many lands which had formerly banned the dubs are now opening their doors, or are at least criticizing those governments which did ban them. Example – European Court of Human Rights found Georgia guilty of restricting freedom of religion
Can they ever mention another country besides Russia?
Many of you here are wondering what’s happening with the French tax case. This was mentioned and the speaker said France wants a back tax of $50,000,000 which the Society consider unfair. The Society exhausted all attempts to persuade the French government to consider otherwise and are now going to the European Court of Human Rights. A decision is expected this year – so stay tuned.
Gosh, surely Jehovah wouldn't let his sole channel in the universe be burdened with a $50,000,000 tax debt when they've got all those victims of pedophilia to pay off! How unkind is that of Him!!
Sounds like a typical Bore-fest. I'm going to go one day this year too, just so I can post notes here.......oh lordy, I'm not looking forward to it.