Service Meeting week of September 12, 2005

TheListener

Song 29

10 min: Local announcements. Selected Announcements from Our Kingdom Ministry. Use the suggestions on page 8 (if appropriate for your territory) to demonstrate how to present the September 15 Watchtower and the September 22 Awake! Other realistic presentations may be used. Have an elder give one of the presentations and a youth give the other. After each demonstration, highlight some good aspects of the presentation.

20 min: "Use Your Time Wisely." * Invite audience to comment on how they arrange to set aside time each day to read the Bible. Encourage families and individuals to use the May 2005 Our Kingdom Ministry insert to schedule spiritual activities.

15 min: "Conducting Progressive Bible Studies." * Audience discussion based on parts 1 and 2 of the insert. The August 2004 Our Kingdom Ministry, page1, may also be consulted. Why is it important to prepare thoroughly each time you conduct a Bible study? What does this involve? Invite the audience to relate how they have applied the suggestions provided. Conclude by commenting on the shaded box at the top of the first page of the insert.

Song 110 and concluding prayer.

* Limit introductory comments to less than a minute, and follow with a question-and-answer discussion.

defd

Song 29

10 min: Local announcements. Selected Announcements from Our Kingdom Ministry. Use the suggestions on page 8 (if appropriate for your territory) to demonstrate how to present the September 15 Watchtower and the September 22 Awake! Other realistic presentations may be used. Have an elder give one of the presentations and a youth give the other. After each demonstration, highlight some good aspects of the presentation.

20 min: "Use Your Time Wisely." Invite audience to comment on how they arrange to set aside time each day to read the Bible . Encourage families and individuals to use the May 2005 Our Kingdom Ministry insert to schedule spiritual activities.

15 min: "Conducting Progressive Bible Studies." Audience discussion based on parts 1 and 2 of the insert. The August 2004 Our Kingdom Ministry, page1, may also be consulted. Why is it important to prepare thoroughly each time you conduct a Bible study? What does this involve? Invite the audience to relate how they have applied the suggestions provided. Conclude by commenting on the shaded box at the top of the first page of the insert.

Song 110 and concluding prayer.

* Limit introductory comments

See we do encourage BIBLE reading. Not only WT reading! Thanxs 4 the props

carla

I think that should read, 'Read only the OT'. Futher reading of the NT may make certain brothers & sisters realize that the wt is ungodly and unbiblical. One needs only to read the scriptures printed already in your literature provided by the unfaithful and indiscreet slave. One may however choose to see if the script already cited is in the Good Book, therefore making 'sure of all things'.

sir82

See we do encourage BIBLE reading. Not only WT reading! ;Thanxs 4 the props

Then why, on page 3 of the insert considered in the very next meeting part, is a "Bible study" explicitly defined as "studying the Bibe along with one of the approved publications" (followed by a list of the 3 "approved publications")?

I.e., if I open & read the Bible, and systematically discuss it with my neighbor, but do so without the guidance of one of those approved publications to explain the meaning of what I really read, then per the WT definition, I am NOT "conducting a Bible study".

AlmostAtheist

See we do encourage BIBLE reading. Not only WT reading!

I remember many times being encouraged to read the Bible. The TMS has a regularly scheduled Bible reading, and I believe they added a second scheduled reading that isn't even commented on during the meeting. Their building has "READ GOD'S WORD THE HOLY BIBLE DAILY" plastered across it, doesn't it?

I don't think it's in question that Bible reading is encouraged. But when it's read through a Watchtower lens, you can't help but see what you expect to see. For instance, in justifying their "reinstatement" practice, they present 2 corinthians 2:6,7

This rebuke given by the majority is sufficient for such a man, so that, on the contrary now, YOU should kindly forgive and comfort him.

As a JW, I read and read that verse and completely understood it. We DF, we shun; they get the picture, they come back. When they come back -- no doubt as a result of our 'sufficient rebuke' -- we kindly forgive them. (Which is not actually true, since we place them under "restrictions" for months or years and trickle "privileges" back to them... but I digress)

Now that I'm not a JW, I see something new when I read this verse. I see the phrase "given by the majority", which presupposes the existence of a "minority" that did NOT choose to rebuke the individual. Paul knew that for whatever reason, some in the congregation had chosen not to shun this man. He didn't say "And by the way, make sure you DF all those 'minority' idiots that didn't shun when we told 'em to." He didn't mention them at all. Apparently what modern day JW's call DF'ing didn't exist in the first century organization. Instead, it was a decision by individuals to shun or not, based on the conduct of the person in question and not on an announcement from the podium.

I read the Bible for 20 years, but I never saw that point until I took off my Watchtower-certified safety glasses. Imagine what else I missed!

Dave

TheListener

There are two talks on the TMS that have bible reading. The first talk is the bible highlights. The brother discusses the weeks bible reading assignment. The second talk is the #2 student talk. The brother assigned reads the assigned text with no comments. Admittedly the #2 student talk is sometimes a bible reading and sometimes a few paragraphs from a recent WT is assigned to be read instead. The school schedule can tell you which week is which.

TheListener

Oh and also.

I believe the society does encourage bible reading. But, they encourage reading the portion of the bible that will be discussed at the TMS that week. That way if any verses aren't completely understood by the dub or perhaps cause questions, they can be dealt with head-on during the TMS.

AlmostAtheist

There are two talks on the TMS that have bible reading.

Yeah, but in addition to those two I could've sworn there was something called the "supplemental Bible reading" that covered a different section of the Bible than the weekly Bible reading. And I thought it was longer, too. It was challenging for me as a JW to keep up with the schedule as it was, so I didn't pay much attention when something called "supplemental" came along, but I really thought I remembered it existing.

I haven't been to a meeting in over a year, maybe they've dropped it. Or maybe I made the whole thing up!

Dave

TheListener

Sorry AA. They do the the supplemental bible reading, and yes it's more chapters than the regular weekly bible reading that's covered in the bible highlights. However, there is no talk based on the material covered in the supplemental bible reading; it's a merely a format to assist the dubs in reading the entire bible in a shorter time period than the weekly bible reading would provide.

Wasanelder Once

Song 29 “Forward You Nitwits”

10 min: Local annoyances. Selected Annoyances from Our Kingdom Ministry. Use the suggestions on page 8 (if annoying for your territory) to demonstrate how to present the September 15 Watchtower and the September 22 Awake! Other aggravating presentations may be used. Have an elder give one of the protestations and a youth give the other. After each demonstration, highlight some good aspects of the cute little skit.

20 min: "Use Your Time Good." * Invite audience to comment on how they do not set aside time each day to read the Bible. Encourage families and individuals to use the May 2005 Our Kingdom Ministry insert as scratch paper to schedule vacation activities.

15 min: "Conducting Progressive Bible Studies." * Selected audience participation discussion based on parts 1 and 2 of the insert. The August 2004 Our Kingdom Ministry, page1, may also be wrong. Why is it important to preview thoroughly each time you conduct a Bible study? What does this involve? Invite the audience to relate how they have ignored the suggestions provided. Conclude by commenting on the shady box at the top of the first page of the insult.

Song 110 Be Begrudging and concluding prayer.

* Limit introductory comments to less than a fortnight, and follow with a question-and-answer dissension.

Service Meeting week of September 12, 2005

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