2003/2004 Special Assembly Day report
Theme: Serving Jehovah with a Complete Heart
Brief note: No new light this year, but a couple of new changes I have not seen before. Seems that they know people are sick and tired of doing more, so now they are encouraging us to examine our figurative heart (with the aid of watchtower publications as provided through the faithful and discreet slave class).
Attendance:
this year last year difference of
am 3,760 4,065 -305
pm 3,732 3,944 -212
Number baptised: 13
Well, here is my SAD (Special Assembly Day) report.
Morning Session
---------------
I got up early and left to get to the assembly hall in good time. After arrival I found a seat near to the front, so I could listen without distraction.
It's amazing how much noise 3,000 people can generate when they are all chatting away.
9:45 Music begins - why I wonder for only 5 minutes, when the gates open at 8:30am?
9:50 Song and prayer
10:00 Examining Our Figurative Heart
How have we been doing since the last 6 months? The speaker likened the illustration of a doctor who uses a stehoscope to listen to a heart and compared that to Jehovah who examines our figurative heart.
We were encouraged also to examine our figurative heart.
For example, are we bubbling over with zeal? (In other words are we doing more in the ministry and setting pioneer service as our goal?
Am I studying thoroughly for ALL my christian meetings?
In the congregation, we know the answers the elders want to hear, but are we concealing our true thoughts and feelings? (For example, do we tell the elders we enjoy going to the meetings when we really find them dead boring?)
Tools to encourage the examination of our figurative heart.
1) Deep personal study
2) Attending precious meetings to fortify our hearts
If we accept Jehovah's provisions through his organization, we can examine his heart. (Note that we have to accept provisons - who said Jehovah actually gave us these provisons. Can the FDS prove that what they give us are Jehovah's provisions?)
10:15 Helping Others To Serve Jehovah With a Delightful Soul
Another talk about the joys of having a Bible study. We were encouraged to pray incessantly for a Bible Study. (I always found this concept of praying for a study odd - some witnesses prayed for years and never got a study, others were inundated with them. I thought we were supposed to find sheep like ones, not God find them for us. If this is the case, that means Jehovah changes peoples hearts by making them want a study just to 'bless' the prayer of a publisher who also wants a study.)
Point was made that millions of tracts and books and magazines are placed every month, yet the number of studies is comparatively few.
We were encouraged to ask ourselves - Am I Bible Study conscious? (In other words, are we just content to place literature and not recruit people?)
Remember that Jehovah is the hearer and answerer of prayers.
10:40 Drawing Closer to Jehovah
Another talk based on last years release, 'Draw Close to Jehovah'
Have we personally read this publication yet? (As well as the mags, brochure, books, daystext, daily Bible reading, weekly family study, weekly personal study, prestudy for all meetings and prestudy for the ministry, not to mention study with the kids)
10:55 Song No 132 and Announcements
Finally, a chance to stand up and stretch my legs. The morning session went by pretty fast. Announcements - special request not to chew gum and thanks to all the parents who prevent their children from putting chewing gum on the seats and carpet.
Also, we are mindful of the expenses incurred in organising an assembly like this. (Brothers, can you get your wallet out?)
11:05 Guarding Our Hearts in a Troubled World
A guest speaker gave this talk. More 'do more' philosophy and examining every motive we have for doing anything. He mentioned that the time mention in Luke regarding 'men becoming faint out of fear about the expectation of things coming upon the inhabited earth' is now here.
Which is really strange, because it should be the expectation of things coming on the earth, not the things happening on the earth. There is some confusion about what Jesus actually meant - seeing the sign of the son of man or terrorist acts happening on earth.
TV is a distraction. Brothers, some families have completely got rid of their TV? Hint hint.
Do the maths: No TV= no VCR, no DVD and no Playstation
Also, if you have a job which pays well and you get ahead, but you miss meetings, is Satan blessing you? I thought this was a starnge thing to say, because people who knowingly worship the Devil are not often treated well by him, so why would Satan bless Jehovah's Witnesses??
We should look to older, spiritual men in the congregation to help us, if we feel that 'Satan is getting to us.'
11:35 Dedication and Baptism
the most boring 1/2 hr talk ever - the only time I ever listened was for my baptism day.
12:05 Song No 143
Finally, after all that I can eat - but not in the auditorium if we can help it. Please remember to thoroughly empty your can of coke before you put it in the correct recycling bin.
Afternoon session
-----------------
1:25 Music
another 5 minutes
1:30 Song No 59 and Experiences
need I say more?
1:45 Watchtower summary
I wish every Sunday meeting had a Watchtower summary. This was yet another Micah=our day prophecy. Apparently, if we are leading a double life and/or practice sin wilfully, Jehovah will not bless us in the ministry, and all attempts to preach will fail.
So how do child molestors get to go door to door then?
All those elders who post here and go to meetings, is Jehovah blessing your efforts in the ministry? And what about the teens who conduct Bible studies and yet lead a double life.
2:15 Extend a Helping Hand
--------------------------
This one really caught my attention. I have never seen people who admitted they were formally inactive be interviewed as to why they became inactive and what happened to bring them back to the fold.
A sister was interviewed who said she became inactive because she was laid off and had bad health. What spurred her to come back to the congregation?
Those loving friends and their phone calls and visits.
A brother was interviewed about the same question - didn't want the help at first, but eventually decided to go back to the Kingdom Hall.
Main thrust of this talk, is that we can become so occupied with out ministry and our 'spiritual routine' that we fail to see that some of the friends are missing from the meetings, or rarely seen in service.
Do you think we can see a need in this area?
Jesus told Peter to 'feed my little sheep' three times.
Be alert and interested and sincere.
Yes, and this is true - if we see someone who isn't 'smiling all the time' at the Kingdom Hall, ask if there is anything we can do to help them. Help them to understand why you are positive in the ministry and help them to see how they can become positive in the ministry too.
Remind them that their happiness is not contingent on them having good experiences in the ministry or having a bible study. (This contradicts the earlier talk about all those millions of pieces of literature placed only generating a few studies.)
Finally, serving Jehovah with a complete heart obligates us to help those who are weak.
Real friends don't walk away when there is a need?
So then, how many of you here had your 'real friends' walk away when you needed help and weren't smiling all the time at the Kingdom Hall?
The strange thing is - this talk was only 15 mins long. They spend 6 hours talking about our figurative heart and not leading a double life and only 15 mins helping those in need. Talk about priorities.
2:30 Help your children take delight in Jehovah
This was a real cracker. Do you take full advantage of all the provisions as provided though the faithful and discreet slave to help rear your children.
The point is made that we should not listen to socialogists or child behaviour studies. Just read the timely publications from the faithful slave and everything will be OK.
And what will help children delight in serving Jehovah?
1) Regular Bible study with your children. Do your children 'see you' read the Bible daily and the magazines?
2) Do your children see you regularly attend Christian meetings?
3) Does each child have his/her own study book and bible and all the publications at the meeting?
sidenote - children should not have coloring books or play with toys or read comics.
4) Does your child go to the toilet during the meeting? Point was made that if a child can sit through a movie for 2 hours, they can sit though a meeting for 2 hours without going to the toilet.
5) Help your children give 'meaningful comments' at the meeting.
Unbelievable.
Some children were interviewed
Each child described how Jehovah and their parents helped them to give meaninful comments at the meeting. One young sister said that 'Jehovah provided her with the Bible, watchtower and awake magazines.'
The follwing just made me feel ill. One brother, who was asked a question the other two interviewees were not asked - 'How old are you?', to which he replied 'I am 11 years old.'
This 11 year old brother told the audience how he gave meaningful comments at the meeting and then told us that he was baptised that day. The audience gasped and clapped.
Jesus was 30 years old when he was baptized.
2:45 Song 86 and Announcements
This bit gets interesting. They had the accounts report. We were praised for helping to meet last years deficit. Then they tell us there is a deficit of $11,000. Could we see to it brothers that we give freely?
One recalls a post a few months ago how the brothers would deliberately siphon off funds to other parts of the world wide work in order to create a deficit.
Hearing this made me more convinced than ever, that the only real pupose of an assembly day is just to make money.
2:55 Maintain a complete heart in serving Jehovah
Rare to have a full hour talk these days. Needless to say, my lunch was playing havoc with my ability to stay awake, and I did not glean anything remotely interesting from this talk.
3:55 Final song and prayer.
Finally, it's all over. Nothing new, the same old do more. For them to have a 15 min part on helping inactive ones, and actually interviewing previous inactive ones is a landmark. I have never seen this before. Clearly, their is a silent epidemic of people doing the slow fade, as is evidenced by some of the life stories I have read about here.
Funny thing is, as I was leaving, you couldn't help but notice a line of contribution boxes staffed by brothers right before the exit doors.