Jesus said: "You received free--give FREE" So, did he not know?

Not to defend the JWs here, but I don't think there is anything wrong with them accepting donations for literature. Someone has to pay for the stuff to be printed....well, granted, it would be better if they weren't printing it at all, but from their POV.

Biblically, Jesus wasn't talking about accepting donations to cover the cost of literature or the cost of operating the church when he said "You received free, give free" at Matthew 10:8. He was sending the disciples to perform miraculous works such as healing the sick, raising the dead, cleansing lepers and casting out demons. That is what they were not to charge for. There are references to show that Jesus and the disciples accepted support for their work from those who approved of or assisted in what they were doing (e.g., Luke 8:1-3). And the concept of financial support of the ministry is brought up again and again throughout Acts and Paul's letters. In fact, pretty much the whole chapter of 1 Corinthians 9 is a discussion of, essentially, the need for a paid ministry. The WTS quotes verse 15 of that chapter out of context to argue against the idea of a paid clergy, since Paul, after making the case FOR a paid clergy, then in v. 15 he says that he personally did not accept support from the Corinthians so that nothing would interfere with his message. The JWs take his unusual exception in this single case and try to make it the standard for all leadership, ignoring everything else Paul wrote in the chapter.

Tater-T

Terry... this is your shortest post ever.. are you feeling OK?

when I left was 87 they had just discontinued asking for money for the mags.. I was at bethel on a two week deal, and a bro told me that the royalties from the MEPS program they got from IBM was the reason ... they would never need money again...

I didn't know other wise till now and I guess the IBM royalties was a Lie

mouthy

Neonmadmad < Why do you call yourself that. YOU are FAR from mad
You are so right in your response.
Tater! I was kicked out in also in 1987.

Surely you are not suggesting the Faithful & Discreet would lie????

Tater-T

Tater! I was kicked out in also in 1987.Surely you are not suggesting the Faithful & Discreet would lie???

yep !!kick to the curb in 87 or 86 ... 87 yep !!! lol it's getting foggy!!good year to leave

have you heard of this royalty thing too...

WTWizard

They do more than accept donations. They hound for them. Putting debit or credit card machines at a$$embly hells, and then creating a fake deficit for the last session to get people in debt with more donations, is not acceptable. Neither is shoving pledge forms in people's faces and then expecting them to be filled out and signed by Brother Hounder--I once had that happen to me.

Once upon a time, there was a new Kingdumb Hell project for our congregation. They did one pledge form, and I pledged what I thought was reasonable at the time. Not only did that end up creating hardships because joke-hova thought it could get that amount despite its creating financial problems of several kinds for me, but I got nothing but bad luck for my money. After a few months, I quit donating. If joke-hova was going to be snotty with me when I donated, I wouldn't donate any more.

Jumping 5 years later. They had another pledge form for the same project, and they shoved one in my face. I took it home and "forgot" to fill it out. After joke-hova's snotty attitude with the last one, there was no way that thing was getting another coin of no value out of me. I "forgot" it at home and went to another boasting session, and they expected me to hand in my pledge form right in front of the hounder conducting the book study. I know the hounder would have looked at the amount and harshly condemned me if I didn't donate that amount until doomsday. Instead, I got another form shoved in my face, with the demand that I fill it out right in front of the hounder. I told the scumbag that, unless I could do it without being coerced, they weren't getting anything at all because I didn't want to do it "to please man". (I didn't want to please joke-hova, either, after the way that thing treated me last time). I took the second form home, and missed a few boasting sessions after on purpose.

I know they were going to take virtually everything I was making and they didn't view as absolutely necessary. I put something like 100 toilet papers a months, they would say "But you make so much more than you need. Cut your cable, stop getting records and other things for fun, and put the money in the fund". And it was to be open ended, meaning no end. I didn't see a terminus on the pledge form indicating that this was for a fixed period or until the place was paid for (bleeds and all). There is no way joke-hova is going to get access--these days, even if they issue a court order for me to donate, I will simply buy whatever amount of silver the pledge would have bought and claim that as "miscellaneous expenses; don't try eliminating because you will create undue hardship".

And they won't be getting any of my silver after the dollar becomes toilet paper, either. The religion isn't worth toilet paper--let alone one that insists on giving free.

Mall Cop

Who was it that carried the purse

Terry

Herbert W. Armstrongs Magazine was mailed out FREE for many, many years (The Plain Truth).

How did he do it without charging?

Are we saying Jehovah wouldn't "provide" the means?

Terry

Terry... this is your shortest post ever.. are you feeling OK?

I'm taking Minimus lessons!

NeonMadman

Herbert W. Armstrongs Magazine was mailed out FREE for many, many years (The Plain Truth).
How did he do it without charging?
Are we saying Jehovah wouldn't "provide" the means?

Armstrong's literature was paid for by the oppressive tithing system he imposed on his members, demanding as much as 30% of their income to be given to the church. The initial 10% was mandatory. It was submitted directly to headquarters, and one could be disfellowshipped for failing to tithe. The second tithe was for the purpose of attending their "festivals" (parallel to the Jewish holidays, but really more like JW conventions). Any part of the second tithe not spent in actually attending the festivals was to be donated to the church. And the third tithe was collected every three years for "widows and orphans," but subsequent research has shown that it mostly went to pay for Armstrong's opulent lifestyle.

For God to provide the means for any ministry doesn't mean he would drop cash from the sky. People giving donations to a ministry is a completely legitimate and biblical way for it to operate. Most churches operate on such a basis, as do many secular organizations as well. So what if the WTS also solicits donations for their literature? Even though it's printed by slave labor, there are still costs involved that need to be covered. There are a lot of good things to criticize them for, but I don't think this is one of them.

Jesus said: "You received free--give FREE" So, did he not know?

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