"Help at the Right Time"

ozziepost

Coming your way this week at your local Kingdom Hall is a Service Meeting part entitled "Help at the Right Time".

This is based on a Kingdom Ministry article that equates the local elders' "concern" for their flocks with that of the apostle Peter's words in his second epistle. Unlike Second Peter however, the elders' are to be concerned for getting inactive ones into the field ministry. The whole thrust of the article is to make "a special effort to assist those who are not currently having a share in the preaching work".

This emphasis should not surprise observers who have long claimed that the Witnesses preach a salvation based on works, whereas Christians proclaim a salvation gained by God's grace alone. in this the Dubs are no different to other apostate faiths who base their increases on urging their members to greater and greater efforts.

But if you'd like to hear more, it's the second part at this week's Service Meeting. Sounds like more of the same to me.

Cheers, Ozzie

blondie

Ozziepost, I always wonder what it means to reactive someone? Is the goal meeting attendance or really just 1 hour a month in the propaganda work? After all, one is not counted as inactive for not attending meetings but for not turning in any time for 6 months. Could a person miss all the meetings and still turn time in and be counted as active? What about people in nursing homes, rehab houses, hospitals or prisons who never attend meetings. Can they turn time in?

How do the elders keep them active? Assign a publisher to study with them and go with them in the propaganda work for a year maximum?

Then what prevents the same old reason that led to "inactivity" to crop up again. Have the elders and the others in the congregation reached out a hand in friendship or has the person been marked as "weak" spiritually and dangerous to associate with.

I know a sister who signed up to auxiliary pioneer after 2 years of not turning in time. She made her hours (50) but did not turn in any time for the next 5 months turned in 1 a month. She was not inactive and averaged almost just over 9 hours a month. Is this the kind of publisher they want to reactivate?

I know 2 sisters that auxiliary pioneer the 2months the CO comes and then average 2 hours a month for the other 10 months. That's 120 hours, a yearly average of 10 hours monthly. Looks good on paper, put is it productive proganda work?

How "encouraging" is it to have the elders and the other publishers ignore you for 11 months out of the year and then just before the memorial, a sudden rush to call on you (unannounced usually). Does this show individual and specific concern and love? Especially from men who have no time for you at the meeting even if YOU make the effort to seek them out. Too many administrative things, or "Here comes that brother/sister who whines all the time."

The WTS has many good words but no actions to back them up.

James 4 (NLT) 17 Remember, it is sin to know what you ought to do and then not do it.

Blondie

gumby

How "encouraging" is it to have the elders and the other publishers ignore you for 11 months out of the year and then just before the memorial, a sudden rush to call on you (unannounced usually). Does this show individual and specific concern and love

This is the same as the elders calling on "weak ones" ....just before the CO arrives so theit "reporr" will look good.

It's the same as all the elders and servants getting their haircut.....before the CO arrives so they will look proper when he gets there. Elders make their "best" comments at the study when he is there too.

So much of the dubs life is for show, and to make "records" look good. This is why many leave......all talk and not enough love and genuiness within the ranks.

Gumby

Blueblades

Wife got a call last week from bethelites tuesday evening.They never come out on tuesday evenings.They wanted to talk to me ,encourage me etc.What made them think I needed encouragement?

Then the blizzard came,no one called to see if we needed help.How discouraging!Back to tuesday evening ,it looked like a blitz on the weak and inactive ones! I was not home to repeat the same story over and over to them.

When I served we had a program called snow crew relief.It was to call all the ones who needed help to remove snow ,get salt for ice,food etc prior to the snow falling,not after the storm.

Where is this program now?" Help at the Right Time " as long as it's not physical time consuming hard labor that takes up their time,,just words to get you to "Get Shaking Boss".

Elsewhere

I know a sister who signed up to auxiliary pioneer after 2 years of not turning in time. She made her hours (50) but did not turn in any time for the next 5 months turned in 1 a month. She was not inactive and averaged almost just over 9 hours a month. Is this the kind of publisher they want to reactivate?
I know 2 sisters that auxiliary pioneer the 2months the CO comes and then average 2 hours a month for the other 10 months. That's 120 hours, a yearly average of 10 hours monthly. Looks good on paper, put is it productive proganda work?

Wow... that never occured to me. That would certainly explain why they want people to auxilary pineer at least once a year.

BluesBrother

Could a person miss all the meetings and still turn time in and be counted as active?

Yes , Blondie. Most congs have one or two "shut ins " that turn in a report due to informal witnessing but cannot make the meetings due to ill health

We had a brother who had become a dub while in the local prison . He was an enthusiastic witnesss and turned in both sizeable hours and bible study reports. When I was the Secretary I found copy letters to the Society asking if they could recommend him as a M/Servant ! The reply was not encouraging.

A friend of my wife is an older lady. She never gets to the hall. Her local friend takes her out on the work as she can and so she regularly reports. Do the elders visit ? Don't make me laugh

plmkrzy

the elders' are to be concerned for getting inactive ones into the field ministry.

Yep, to hell with what ever might be causing them to be inactive, move'm out...head'm out...raw hide

The whole thrust of the article is to make "a special effort to assist those who are
not currently having a share in the preaching work".

and forget about those who need a ride to the doctors office, unless of course the are a pillar in the congregation. I can literally count how many witnesses there were in each and every congergation I ever attended and then some, who were not afraid to reach out and lend a helping hand, regardless of how many hours in field service one put in.

Some congergations were better then others, but out of 150 people in one stop one would think, I would anyway, that more then 10 or 15 or even 20 people would qualify as a good neighbor.

Do the elders visit ? Don't make me laugh

growing up with a father for an elder and having the elders at my house almost as much as I was at my house, I never thought about the time they spend visiting people.

But that is so true, I bet they spent at least 50 hours a month in my garrage drinking beer and telling jokes.

Francois

Seems their "concern" is for the number of hours and number of dollars being reported to theWTBTS. It says nothing about the individual publisher, and whether nor not s/he might be ill, or having problems of another sort. It does not say anything about checking on the person, as opposed to checking on the person's output to the benefit of the society.

As we know, the publisher might be sitting at home over a loaded gun as the only perceived solution to years of depression, or a host of other probems we all face. Do we see any concern for the publisher as a human being in their own right? Absolutely not. The individual publisher disappears into something no more important that a mere cog in a machine.

How warm and caring they all are. It is comforting to know that nothing's changed in the 25 years since my departure from this spiritual ghetto.

francois

"Help at the Right Time" - to do what?