2009 "Keep On the Watch!" Convention Preview (page 5)

blondie

Have they ever done anything like this before?

Yes, they have, usually indicating that the rank and file are unable to answer the questions put to them at the door and by non-jw family members (not able to research the WTS publications or ask the elders either).

donny

It's unbelievable how some things never change.

I agree completely! I have not been to a convention since 1993 and yet I feel like I have never left after reading the program summary. I will be so thankful to not be there!

Don

undercover

“You Know Neither the Day Nor the Hour – Why?”

“Know that the end is near”

Ironic how the talk claiming that the end is near follows the talk on not knowing when the end is...

Looking at most of these titles, I get the feeling that the Society is going to start a new push on how close the end is. They've been bleeding for several years now and the rank & file seems to have lose the intensity of expecting the end in a very short time. They've got to create a sense of urgency and a slight tingle of panic to keep the sheep from wandering too far from the shepard.

I thought we might have been coming up on a time when the Society might start to mainstream the JW religion but it looks like we can forget that now.

snowbird

I could draw up one of those programs and have the whole thing done in about a couple of hours!

The thought of sitting through that makes me reach for my Valium.

Sylvia

sir82

They've got to create a sense of urgency and a slight tingle of panic to keep the sheep from wandering too far from the shepard.

Yeah, but how long can that "sense of urgency" last?

And after 130 years of "very soon now", how do you ramp up urgency without setting a hard, or even soft ("generation of 1914") date?

It doesn't seem to make sense - shouldn't they be preparing their flock for the long haul? You can't keep up a sprinter's pace over a marathon course.

It's frickin' 2009 now...with still no identifiable "King of the North", with a United Nations with even less influence than in the past, how can they "sell" a sense of urgency?

Dagney

Got a little shiver reading through that. I remember seeing a drama of the prodigal son at Dodger stadium, with the son walking in from right field...lol. Oh well.

Welcome! And thanks for posting the program.

AnnOMaly

Symposium: "Watch Out For Satan's Traps"
"The Fire"
"The Pit"
"The Snare"
"The Trap that Chokes"
"The Trap that Crushes"

Reminds me of that Alice In Wonderland poem:

"Beware the Jabberwock, my son!
The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!
Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun
The frumious Bandersnatch!"

tictoc

Its all on the family these days, every CO visit its about the family, prayers, they always pray for the families. The single ones that have remained faithful for years without family are swinging from trees. Its so obvious that the org; gets most of the percentage by young ones being baptized, being bought up in the truth, they desperately need these young ones. Recruits, bethel work, pioneering, reaching out, elders, those being made elders these days look like they have only just finished high school. the best have left.

Fifteen minutes thats all anyone needs to report a month, so as not to be inactive, add all those that do that it puts the percentage up and looks good at the end of the year. The wTs is in damage mode, they are sinking.

Black Sheep

“KEEP ON THE WATCH”

Jesus Christ emphasized the need for his followers to remain alert and on the watch respecting his coming to execute judgment against the wicked system of things. He did so by likening the disciple to a doorkeeper whom his master commanded to watch for his return from a trip abroad. “Keep on the watch,” was Jesus’ wise admonition.—Mark 13:32-37.

The “Divine Purpose” District Assembly did much to engender a sense of urgency and an attitude of heightened spiritual watchfulness on the part of Jehovah’s Christian witnesses. Throughout the United States, Canada and the British Isles upward of eighty-five such assemblies were held from June to August, 1974. These gatherings certainly helped God’s people to recognize just where they are living in the stream of time.

1975 yearbook

Where were they in 'in the stream of time."?

Take a yearbook to the arsembly and ask the oldies who were around in 1975. Better still, ask some kids.

2009 "Keep On the Watch!" Convention Preview

LouBelle