Blonde ....somehow I just knew you'd have the answer. Do you know when they stopped starting every main W.T. article with JEHOVAH...very large artistic "J".??? No prize is being offered for the right answer...but fun, huh? Pink.
Blondie's Comments You Will Not Hear at the 5-18-08 WT Study (WISE)
by blondie 21 Replies latest jw friends
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yesidid
Thanks Blondie, I Iook forward each week to your astute comments.
You put this so well:
imperfect--term the WTS uses to excuse the serious flaws of elders and the organization. But imperfection is not a loophole for organizations other than the WTS.
Thanks again
yesidid
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Billy the Ex-Bethelite
Thanks Blondie ! Clearly, Writing is trying to 'mildly' address some problems that are ripping apart bodies of elders, quick builds, congregations, and circuits.
para 9: ... If a small fire broke out in your house, would you douse it with oil or with cool water? Pouring oil on the fire would make matters worse, whereas dousing it with cool water would likely bring the desired result.
Does this illustration seem totally bizarre to anyone else? How exactly would it happen that "a small fire broke out in your house"? House fires are fast and deadly. Would you mildly walk to the fridge for a bottle of 'cool water' to extinguish the now engulfed living room? How about if it's an ELECTRICAL fire? Yeah, pour water on it. ZAP! Or, if it's a kitchen grease fire? Duh, oil floats on 'cool water' and will spread the fire more.
Looks like they're trying to train the dubs to die in a house fire.
para 13: ...when a Kingdom Hall is being built, differences of opinion might arise.
Replace the "might" with "will". The RBCs have plenty of problems arise.
para 14: ...the visiting circuit overseer agrees and joins in the recommendation that he be deleted as an elder.
The secret is out: HOLY SPIRIT IS NOT INVOLVED IN THE APPOINTMENT PROCESS !!!!!! It's all a matter of personal opinions which can, and do, vary among bodies of elders and individual COs.
B the X
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searcher
14. Another example might be if elders in a congregation observe that one elder, though having served for some years, now clearly does not meet the Scriptural qualifications. Noting that the brother has received specific counsel in the past but has failed to improve, the visiting circuit overseer agrees and joins in the recommendation that he be deleted as an elder. How will he view that? Will he accept the elders' unanimous conclusion and Scriptural counsel in a spirit of humility and mildness and be determined to meet the Scriptural qualifications so that he might serve again? Or will he harbor resentment and jealousy over no longer having the privilege that he once had? Why would a brother act as if he qualified as an older man when in reality he did not? How much wiser it would be to show humility and be understanding!
Or will he harbor resentment and jealousy over no longer having the privilege that he once had? .......................and start posting BOE secrets on JWD
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boyzone
Thanks Blondie
I loved this reply too
imperfect--term the WTS uses to excuse the serious flaws of elders and the organization. But imperfection is not a loophole for organizations other than the WTS.
Summed their double standards and hypocrisy up beautifully - well done
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BluesBrother
Thank you Blondie.....The article is really encouragement to all to be mild spirited . There is nothing wrong with that idea...I wonder how many dubs will be hoping that their elders take good notice of the advice.. It is a fact that the WTS is an organization like any other and it needs motivators & organizers - men with "type A " personalities. Those people are not usually blessed with a mild spirit. Human nature takes over. men with a mild unassuming nature do not often get far.
The article is an indictment of themselves since the footnote to par 4 indicates that it is primarily addressed to elders
BTW ..I had never noticed the change from Jehovah's witnesses to Jehovah's Witnesses. Thank you
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blondie
Hi Tweetie. Are you the same Tweetie that posted on some "jw" DBs in the past. I read the articles a paragraph at a time making brief notes. Actually it is not as in-depth as in the past. I'm just an oldtimer and most of this I lived through and don't need to research much. I figure it isn't much different than people who write autobiographies and their abuse, the imprisonment during the Holocaust, etc. Book reviewers have to review badly written books all the time.
Hey WTWizard, I actually believe and have observed that the WTS attracts people who want someone to do their thinking for them. That way they can't be held responsible for their beliefs.
Pistoff, doesn't that remind you of the religious leaders saying that the man who Jesus was planning to heal had sinned and was responsible for his illness? Proof positive that God had nothing to do with selecting that man as an elder.
Thanks, Atlantis. Thank you for your prompt provision of online copies of many of the WTS publications.
inthepink, the WTS also at one time used the phrase "Jehovah's Christian Witnesses" and dropped it due to a group "patenting" that name and to avoid confusion with an "apostate" group. Last use was in 1986. Also, the WTS has scaled the term "worldly" being attached to people.
*** km 4/79 p. 4 Announcements ***
Is it appropriate to have a Kingdom Hall sign saying: “Kingdom Hall of Jehovah’s Christian Witnesses”? So there will be uniformity, the Society encourages all to make their signs read: “Kingdom Hall of Jehovah’s Witnesses.” (See October 1978 Our Kingdom Service, page 3, paragraph 5.)
Thanks for the input, wheream. I appreciate any points I missed or failed to expand on. Our individual experiences add to the view.
Thanks for sharing that, bronzeifist. My experiences too have had the Spanish congregations dissed.
It is true, R Crusoe, that we cannot know that which is outside ourself until we know ourselves and take responsibility for that. Then we can examine outside information. But jws are trained or were looking for someone or some group to do their thinking for them. The exceptions in the WTS are pressured to let the WTS do the thinking for them.
Hi, yesidid. Thanks for your contributions to JWD, your special insight and access. I can say though that I no longer attend the meetings.
Good points, Billy. I know that there are battles between the congregations, the RBC, between the elders, and the elders and the rank and file. Animosity lingers for years.
Hey searcher, actually the real problem are elders who can't take the lying to and the abuse of the rank and file any more and ask to step down. The CO said that 25% of the elders step down each year and there are few to step up to the plate cause there are so few MS because so many male jws are either leaving or staying just under the wire of "qualifications." In one congregation alone, 8 ex-elders and 5 elders. None of the exes were ever going to "reach out" again. 6 years later, they are still ex-elders despite efforts to recruit them.
Hi, boyzone, a perfect example of how the WTS speaks out of both sides of its mouth.
Hello, Bluesbrother, the elders are told they are the "mighty men," "gifts in men," and have more holy spirit than the rank and file (despite the official written WTS doctrine). How can they be mild with a swelled head?
Love, Blondie
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OnTheWayOut
"respect for his standards"--as interpreted by the WTS. For example, where in the Bible does it say that Christian men cannot have beards?
God's ways and standards--as interpreted by the WTS.
I love how you isolated those phrases. I can't imagine how many times I read
right through such garbage. Now I easily see that "His standards" are printed
in the pages of WT literature, way beyond the Bible. -
AnnOMaly
This footnote is worth remarking on:
"* The context indicates that James had first in mind the older men, or 'teachers,' of the congregation. (Jas. 3:1) These men should certainly be examples in displaying godly wisdom, yet all of us can learn from his counsel."
Bearing in mind the primary application is to those who are responsible for teaching the congregation, I thought it interesting that when the article got to discuss James 3:14, it focussed on the jealousy and contentiousness part, but didn't refer to the part that says: "do not be boastful or hide the truth with lies" (NJB).
Funny that, don't you think?
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Ruth Eeker
Thanks Blondie! Good Comments as per usual.
Loved this one:
14. Another example might be if elders in a congregation observe that one elder, though having served for some years, now clearly does not meet the Scriptural qualifications. Noting that the brother has received specific counsel in the past but has failed to improve, the visiting circuit overseer agrees and joins in the recommendation that he be deleted as an elder. How will he view that? Will he accept the elders' unanimous conclusion and Scriptural counsel in a spirit of humility and mildness and be determined to meet the Scriptural qualifications so that he might serve again? Or will he harbor resentment and jealousy over no longer having the privilege that he once had? Why would a brother act as if he qualified as an older man when in reality he did not? How much wiser it would be to show humility and be understanding!
Q. 15. Why do you feel that the inspired counsel of James 3:15, 16 is so important?
15. Granted, there are other ways that a similar attitude could appear. But whatever situation develops, we must work to avoid such traits. (Read James 3:15, 16.) The disciple James called such attitudes "earthly" because they are fleshly, devoid of spirituality. They are "animal" in that they are the product of fleshly inclinations, similar to characteristics of unreasoning creatures.
Such attitudes are "demonic," for they reflect the disposition of God's spirit enemies. How unfitting for a Christian to display those characteristics!So if an elder or someone tries to contest an unfair "ruling" by the CO or Elder body they have a demonic attitude....Talk about brainwashing!!!!