Strange Memorial Talk

by OnTheWayOut 11 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  OnTheWayOut

  Memorial time is almost here. I have posted this story before, but I love it. Feel free to post your odd Memorial (or other related) stories here.

  An elder from my congregation told the audience during his Memorial talk about the plagues on Egypt and ended with the firstborn of Egypt dying. He was quite vivid and said that Moses confronted Pharoah one last time and told Pharoah that his own acts decided for Jehovah what to do to Egypt, then he announced the tenth plague.

  That's when I recognized that he wasn't using his Bible or WT literature to come up with his plague information. The guy was using the movie, THE TEN COMMANDMENTS.
  
  The following week at an elders meeting, the elders were all saying how they liked his talk so much and how much the JW audience liked it. (They really did love how he made the conversations between Moses and Pharoah come alive.) I was biting my tongue for awhile until I was asked, "Bro. OTWO, did you like the talk?"

  I said how it wasn't really accurate, that what the brother said was in THE TEN COMMANDMENTS, but not in the Bible. The elder who gave the talk insisted that I was wrong. I didn't intend a showdown, but I said, "SO SHOW ME in the Bible or even in the Watchtower (our real Bible) where anything he said about the plagues was written." He wouldn't do it. Even though that elder never admitted his mistake, the other elders did look it up and told me in confidence that they thought something was wrong. Eventually, from whispers, everyone knew after-the-fact, that he had delivered a talk to a few hundred people (several congregations together) based on THE TEN COMMANDMENTS.

  The elder who wouldn't admit his mistake ignored the whispers and treated me as if I had never said anything about it.
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  punkofnice

  I bet he's a COBE of CO now!

  I heard the talk this year is more about NOT taking the 'emblems(R)' than anything else. I can't wait to hear the validity or not of this.
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  sir82

  I heard the talk this year is more about NOT taking the 'emblems(R)' than anything else. I can't wait to hear the validity or not of this.

  I've seen the outline.

  Actually, compared to prior years, it seems they have lightened up a little on this.

  It's still a prominent part of the outline, but only maybe 5 or so minutes, as opposed to 10 or 15 in years past.

  Now that "the anointed" have been completely marginalized (no longer considered to be "the faithful and discreet slave"), I suppose the GB doesn't feel the need for quite so extreme persuasion to not partake.
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  cantleave

  I gave the talk in 2009 just as I was waking up. Our congregation was the only one in the world to sing the wrong opening song!
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  punkofnice

  sir82 - Thanks
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  suavojr

  cantleave

  You were an elder?
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  00DAD

  "All right, Mr. DeMille, I'm ready for my close-up."
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  Bobcat

  CantLeave:

  I gave the talk in 2009 just as I was waking up. Our congregation was the only one in the world to sing the wrong opening song!

  I did too. It was my first year partaking also (because I was waking up). I gave some of that experience here. (Post # 596) I think I got the song right, but I subtly reworded the outline to conform to my then understanding of matters. As fas as I can tell, no one from the congregation picked up on the rewording. But, amazingly enough, a goodly number of visitors partook also. One server had his entire plate emptied.

  One thing I can say about the Society; they've done a heck-of-a job indoctrinating the congregations. This week a sister gave the sister's part on the school (#2 ?) which was about the memorial. She told her householder that 'the command to partake only applies to a very small group specially selected by God. But all Christians are under command to observe the memorial.'

  I ran into the sister in the lobby when no one else was near and told her that 'there was a hole in her logic, but not to worry, I didn't think anyone else noticed it.' She asked what it was. I told her she said the command to partake was only for a few, but all were commanded to be present. But in the gospel account (she used Mark's) there was only the one command, and it was about all partaking.

  She couldn't see what I was talking about. And at that point I thought I had better not press for her to understand better.

  She was using the same command twice. First saying it only applied to a few. Then saying it applied to all. And yet never realizing herself that she was doing this! And as far as I could tell, not a soul in the Hall ever noticed either.

  Take Care
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  just Ron

  Every one should go and partake. Then say when questioned that Jehovah is making a new 144,000. When that number has been reached then the end will come.

  just Ron
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  OnTheWayOut

  Cantleave, I gave the talk in 1999 and the guy in my opening post did it the following year. We had a rule that last year's speaker would be the chairman and backup speaker. I kind of wondered if I was going to have to go whisper to the P.O. that his talk was way off on accuracy and have him step down.

  But you know how much people would whisper about that. The "Ten Commandments" part was only a few minutes and then he was back on track, so I never said anything that evening.

  In 1997, our Memorial speaker mentioned Comet Hale Bopp which was prominent that year. He said that this was the one thousand nine hundred and sixty-fourth (or something like that) Memorial ever (as if they were held every single year since Jesus started them) and to consider the possibility that this could be the last because the 1914 Generation is getting old, the 20th century is almost complete. He went on to mention a question about whether Comet Hale Bopp could be the "celestial sign" mentioned in some scripture.