Memorial: Loaded language used to guilt inactive treading on Christ'

by truthseeker 9 Replies latest jw friends

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  truthseeker

  Oops! Accidentally clicked the post button before I finished the title.

  Well, just got back from the memorial. The numbers were a third down for the second time in a row. We used to get over 300; now it's a little over 200.

  The speaker mentioned the "little flock" and said how there were only 9,000+ in 2007.

  He then said something I had not heard before.

  When the Israelites left Egypt, a vast mixed company went with them who were likely Egyptians.

  So two groups made the Exodus.

  This supposedly parallels the two groups that Jesus spoke of - the anointed ones and his other sheep, or the great crowd.

  How on earth does one make the jump from the Exodus to then?

  What I found interesting was the heavily loaded language used to guilt those who were inactive and still came to the Memorial.

  The speaker said that "some of you here tonight are regular at meetings, some of you here we saw last year..."

  To show "appreciation for the ransom sacrifice" we need to be at our meetings.

  We should not miss meetings which is as good as trampling on the Christ's shed blood.
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  The Last Nephilim

  What I found interesting about our memorial t
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  The Last Nephilim

  What I found interesting about our memorial talk was that the brother went into how salvation is a free gift that can't be earned! I thought I was dreaming! A member of the anointed giving the memorial talk is actually saying that we can't earn our salvation, that it is a free gift of undeserved kindness!! I was drooling with anticipation that the next words out of his mouth would be that we are not required to go door to door...
  Instead, he said that we have to be deemed "worthy" by Jah to receive it. How do we do that? By "exercising faith", which is to be actively seeking to do the things God wants us to do. Then- and only then- do we "qualify" for this "free" gift...
  NO KIDDING!!! We can't earn it, but we have to do something first in order to be worthy to have it offered to us??? I don't see a difference there... That's like telling a prospective employee that an entry level job requires no prior experience, but during the interview you tell him that he has to work for a week before you can tell if he's "worthy" of getting the job!
  Attendance was 197 this year. Can't remember what last year was, but I do remember that it was also below 200. In years prior we never had a problem packing well over 200 people in during the memorial. I was shocked that we didn't break 200 last year, but somewhat pleased that we didn't this year. Go figure...
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  Honesty

  Different month

  Different year

  Same 'ol tiring BS from the "Faithless Diseased Slave" and their puppets
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  WTWizard

  We should not miss meetings which is as good as trampling on the Christ's shed blood.

  As if refusing to partake wouldn't be trampling on the Christ's shed blood as well.
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  Grammy

  We should not miss meetings which is as good as trampling on the Christ's shed blood.

  As if refusing to partake wouldn't be trampling on the Christ's shed blood as well.
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  Mary

  What I found interesting about our memorial talk was that the brother went into how salvation is a free gift that can't be earned!.......... I was drooling with anticipation that the next words out of his mouth would be that we are not required to go door to door.......Instead, he said that we have to be deemed "worthy" by Jah to receive it. How do we do that? By "exercising faith", which is to be actively seeking to do the things God wants us to do. Then- and only then- do we "qualify" for this "free" gift...

  Yep, they basically said the same thing at mine: How salvation is a "free gift" from Jehovah but the only way we "qualify" for this "free gift" is by doing all the "works" that the WTS lays out for us (whether or not these 'works' are found in the bible or not).

  It kind of reminds me of one of those companies that phone you to tell you that you've won a free trip to a tropical island, all expenses included. Then when you go to collect your prize, you find out that in order to qualify for this "free prize", you have to indeed hand over or invest some money in whatever it is they're trying to promote.

  Last time I checked, this is called "scamming" or even "fraud" yet it is exactly what the WTS does.
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  blondie

  *** w81 4/1 p. 11 Celebrating the Death of the Greatest Man Ever on Earth *** Today, near the end of this doomed system of things, there is only a remnant of Christ’s disciples who are heirs with him of the heavenly kingdom. But their annual Memorial celebration is of vital interest to a growing crowd of persons of all nationalities. These are very happy to get the invitation to attend the celebration of the Lord’s Evening Meal as celebrated by the remnant of spiritual Israelites, who are in the new covenant and also in the Kingdom covenant. These also have turned their backs on this Devil-controlled world and are marching along with the remnant of spiritual Israelites toward a better Promised Land, God’s new system of things under the kingdom of Jesus Christ and his 144,000 joint heirs. These were foreshadowed by the vast mixed multitude of non-Israelites that left demon-controlled Egypt on that first Passover night, throwing in their lot with the departing Israelites and taking up the worship of Jehovah God. (Ex. 12:38) This "vast mixed company" went through the Red Sea with the escaping Israelites and became witnesses of Jehovah’s deliverance of his people there and became sharers with them. Over this they too could rejoice!

  *** w99 8/15 p. 27 Benefiting From "the Grain of Heaven" *** The majority of those who benefit from Jesus’ ransom will enjoy everlasting life on a paradise earth. "A great crowd" of these—prefigured by the "vast mixed company" of aliens who joined the Israelites in their Exodus from Egypt—will survive the coming "great tribulation" that will rid the earth of all wickedness. (Revelation 7:9, 10, 14; Exodus 12:38) An even greater reward is enjoyed by those whom the Israelites themselves foreshadowed. The apostle Paul described these ones, numbering 144,000, as constituting the spiritual Israel of God. Their reward at death is a resurrection to life in heaven. (Galatians 6:16; Hebrews 3:1; Revelation 14:1) There Jesus will give them a special kind of manna.

  *** w89 9/1 pp. 14-15 pars. 15-16 Organizing Now for the Thousand Years to Come ***

  15 Hundreds of years before David’s time, when the Israelites left Egypt, they did not rush out in a mad scramble but departed in an orderly manner. This indicated good organizational work on the part of their mediator, Moses. A great crowd of non-Israelites went out with them, choosing to throw in their lot with the people of the miracle-working God, Jehovah, who was mightier than all the gods of Egypt. Despite many hardships, some time later this "vast mixed company" having goodwill toward Jehovah’s chosen people was still with them in the awesome wilderness of Sinai. (Exodus 12:37-51; Numbers 11:4) Along with the Israelites, that mixed multitude evidently entered the Promised Land under the leadership of Moses’ successor, Joshua, for God ordained that provision be made there for such alien residents.

  16 That vast mixed company from Pharaonic Egypt prefigured a great crowd of the 20th century. They are not spiritual Israelites but are other sheep of the Fine Shepherd, Jesus Christ. With the anointed remnant, they look forward to complete deliverance from antitypical Egypt, the world system of things of which the Greater Pharaoh, Satan the Devil, is the god. (John 10:16; 2 Corinthians 4:4; Revelation 7:9) But what must they do to survive the violent destruction of Satan’s old world and enter the promised new world under the Greater Joshua, Jesus Christ? (2 Peter 3:13) They must keep in line with the organizational arrangements of the nucleus of Jehovah’s visible organization, the anointed remnant.

  *** ip-2 chap. 4 p. 48 par. 5 "You Are My Witnesses"! ***Jehovah’s watchcare has also extended to the "great crowd" of "other sheep," who have joined God’s spiritual nation. (Revelation 7:9; John 10:16) These ones were prefigured by the "vast mixed company" that made the Exodus from Egypt along with the Israelites and also by the non-Jews who returned with the freed exiles from Babylon.—Exodus 12:38; Ezra 2:1, 43, 55, 58.
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  Borgia

  Truthseeker,
  
  I've heared that one before. This is based on Hebr 10:25,26 where the rendering of epi - sunagogai gives a regular religious meeting in the context of trampeling on Christs sacrifice. IMO, this text has nothing to do with sunagogai, being a regular meeting, given the fact that it contrasts a visit to the temple to make atonement for sins with the word: epi - sunagogai, being THE top level meeting. Hence, in Christian perspective, eucharist = weekly meeting. In terms of the JW perspective, a yearly endeavour.
  
  Cheers
  
  Borgia
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  Witness 007

  Everlasting life IS A free gift..........like those gifts you win on the phone......then they ask you to sign a 24 month mobile phone contract and 6 months later when the bills start to role in you want out but you can't go!