by OrangeBlossom 36 Replies latest jw friends
Where in the bible were there ever meetings?
The Master said:
"For where there are 2 or 3 'gathered' together in my name there I am in their midst."
Gathered together for 'association' is VERY different from gathering together for a 'meeting.'
Peace to you,
Aaron
typical day in the life of a jw (rank and file, no less)
-rise and shine. thank jehovah for another glorious day that you get to work at your lovely janitorial job
-shower and hum a few bars of that kingdom melody that has been stuck in your head since meeting last night
-dress, eat, burn your tongue on your coffee,(curse to yourself then feel guilty. silently apologize )and hop in the car. remember to read daily text before you leave driveway
-toil away at your mopping and garbage emptying for at least 8 hours
-return home after hard day at work to dirty house and hungry family
-try to pick up around the house, make dinner, feed the animals, do your personal study, field phone calls, catch up with family, help with homework, do laundry, and prepare for the meeting
-go to meeting and sit like a zombie for 2 hours. keep bible open so when you nod off it looks like you are reading scriptures
-associate within the spiritual paradise for at least a half hour after meeting
-drive home, walk in, put on pajamas and pass out
-start at beginning and repeat every day
this list didn't even count the time spent in field service, which almost always is in the weekend plans. when you don't have any time for yourself, you don't have any time to question the borg.
on a permanent break,
riz
G'day all,
kes,
The much quoted Hebrews 10:24, 25 may also be the most mis-quoted! If you look at those verses in context and see that the writer is talking about "drwaing near to God"(verse 22) and not neglecting it.
OrangeBlossom:
Whether the meetings will be reduced is an interesting speculation. What we observe, however, is that the meetings are becoming poorly attended. The 'casual attendance'(irregular) rate of 25-30% of the Witnesses' midweek meetings is about the same as the declared statistics of Australian churches generally. In the past, the borg may have boasted that the true Christian congregation is so much better than the churches of Christendom in their appreciation of spiritual things (i.e. meetings). No longer is that the case in Australia. With changed lifestyles it seems that the midweek meeting is due for a change.
My own viewpoint is that one congregation meeting per week plus a weekly book study is sufficient. For the past couple of years the Theocratic Ministry School has included many topics that could easily be covered in Public Talks. Many of the topics are 'Christian living' type talks. This is particularly true of the Instruction Talk. No longer is this truly an 'instruction talk'. Similarly with the Public Talk. It has long since ceased to be talk for the public.
suggested meeting format:
Sunday Meeting - don't call it Public Talk and Watchtower Study, just have a congregation meeting with the W/T and one or two Service Talks included. Some Announcements and songs. And that's it. What else do we need?
Congregation Book Study; held in private homes during the week.
Them's my thoughts. But whatever they do, I ain't goin'!
Cheers,
Ozzie
Didnt know they reduced the pio hours -
$hit better get back to the meetings and start to pio
That would be such cool fun
Can anybody tell me why there are 5 meetings a week?
Where and why did such a format start.
It is not even hinted at in Heb 10 about a set number os times to gather as my daughter has pointed out to the local elders many times, but none of them can come up with an answer.
Can anyone out there?
I'm getting the impresion from reading these posts that you all are not appreciating
the meetings. I mean they are for our benifit after all. AREN'T THEY?!?
Where else can we be fed such fine spiritual food?!?
How else would we have known that those who saw the events taking place in 1914
would be alive to see the new system come?
Oh. Wait a minute. That was BAD spiritual food.
How about.................................................................................
I guess I can't think of any fine spiritual food being fed at the meetings.
Never Mind.
neyank
I think each of the five meetings provides a different facet of control, which makes it difficult to determine which one or how they could actually reduce them.
I'm sure they are struggling with this as well, as they have long proclaimed EACH meeting as essential and vital. They certainly could reduce meetings and put more substance into each one. There is little substance to them and it is merely the ROUTINE of going to meetings and shallow repetition of basics and the created group feeling that keeps everyone in the loop. Of course, any "substance" to the meetings would destroy their own teachings eventually.
I think meetings are particularly stressful because every day you wake up and it was a meeting night, it was always in the back of your mind the whole day. It's like you couldn't get that meeting monkey off your back. The same if you had a meeting part. For days or weeks many are tormented by this talk they have to give in the back of their minds. Then there's the stress of field service. How can you look forward to Saturday morning unless you weren't going out in service?
I don't think people realize just how stressful the routine, especially meetings is until you cut them out yourself. When people ask if I will ever go back to meetings, I just say "Why? I feel great".
Path
JanH:
The surest sign of a mainstreaming would be that the requirements for field service and meeting attendance is lessened. So far, the only sign this is happening is the lower requirements for pioneers, and that may not be so important. Rather, it can be a sign the WTS wants to inflate the pioneer numbers after a decline.
I am fairly certain it's to inflate the numbers, after harping (boasting) for so many years about the number of hours spent in the magazine peddling business field ministry I think the society is trying to hide how much their numbers are actually dwindling.
Anglise:
Can anybody tell me why there are 5 meetings a week?
I have often wondered does the society intentionally keep witnesses so busy so they don’t have time to think. Really as a witness your life gets completely tied up in witness stuff so eventually that is all you have. No time for hobbies, education, family outside the org, etc, etc, and this isolation makes leaving impossible for some people. I have often wondered is this an intentional attempt to gain more control over the rank and file or just a by-product of their fanaticism?
Jelly
May I PLEASE ask you:
WHERE, o where in the scriptures does it say you get "spiritual food" at the meetings?
Where in the scriptures does it say there were meetings. Not just 'gatherings of association,' but actual conducted meetings?
The utterance of my Lord is recorded for you in John 6:55 where HE HIMSELF said what was spiritual food.
He said:
"For my flesh is true food and my blood is true drink."
"He that feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood remains in union with me and I in union with him."
You want to be 'in union' with Christ, yes? What does he say you must 'eat and drink' in order for that to occur?
He also said:
"This is the bread that came down from heaven so that ANYONE may eat of it and not die. He that feeds on this bread will live for ever."
This is the 'spiritual food' that God has given us to eat and drink so that we can live forever.
You plan to live forever, yes? Jesus said you must eat his flesh and drink his blood to do it. Do you plan to "live forever" some 'other' Way?
The NWT says what his flesh and blood is in the cross references in John 6:53. It WILL take you to Matt. 26:26-28 and 1 Cor. 11:24, 25. Listen to what the spirit says to you when you read them. For THAT is our spiritual food that the Father has given us so that we can "eat of it" and NOT die.
Peace to you,
Aaron
OB - isn't it past your bedtime?
BADASS
