AnnOMaly

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Posts by AnnOMaly

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  25

  Short Online Course (Free) on the Fall and Rise of Jerusalem in 587BCE by Tel Aviv University

  by digderidoo in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  for those interested in the fall and rise of jerusalem in 587bce tel aviv university are offering a short 6 week online course through coursera in october 2014.. i have done a couple of coursera courses, they are always of the highest quality put together by scholars of whatever the subject matter is about.

  universities tend to offer these as tasters and short introductions into their specialities.. you can get the information on the following link the fall and rise of jerusalem | coursera.

  emory university are also offering a course through coursera on the bible's prehistory, purpose, and political future starting may 26th the bible's prehistory, purpose, and political future | coursera.

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  AnnOMaly

  Neil!

  There's some unfinished business between you and Jeffro on THIS THREAD . Just another reminder.
• 
  34

  I be a walkin......

  by out4good3 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  across that stage tommorrow dressed in graduate garb picking up a masters degree.. .

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  AnnOMaly

  Congratulations!

  Which field?
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  103

  Additional BOE Letter: Please Be Advised that Further Direction Will Soon be Sent to the Bodies of Elders...

  by TTATTelder in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  dear brothers:.

  we are writing as a follow-up to the letters dated january 24, 2014, and march 29, 2014,. to all congregations regarding the adjustments now underway to accelerate construction of king-.

  dom halls and assembly halls.. .

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  AnnOMaly

  Even Jehovah's Holy Spirit is having trouble keeping up with the GB!

  Perhaps adding some booster rockets to the celestial chariot will help it catch up.
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  103

  Additional BOE Letter: Please Be Advised that Further Direction Will Soon be Sent to the Bodies of Elders...

  by TTATTelder in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  dear brothers:.

  we are writing as a follow-up to the letters dated january 24, 2014, and march 29, 2014,. to all congregations regarding the adjustments now underway to accelerate construction of king-.

  dom halls and assembly halls.. .

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  AnnOMaly

  If a survey is needed to determine the amount that can be contributed for local congrega-
  tion expenses, this should be taken after reading the March 29 letter to the congregation during
  the local needs part.

  Is there no bit about each publisher in every cong. having to be surveyed?

  http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/jw/friends/279682/2/Theyve-made-us-debt-FREE#5006930
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  103

  That does it ! I'm leaving ! ! !

  by Billy the Ex-Bethelite in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  leaving the university with my degree!.

  exams are finished and it's just a matter of days before i walk.. i was certainly stressed about doing this.

  i'm older than my classmates and armageddon was sooooo close!

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  AnnOMaly

  
• 
  59

  "They've made us debt FREE !!!"

  by gingerbread in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  so proclaimed the brother that read the wt letter tonight that explained the new kingdom hall funding arrangement.. everyone in the hall claps .... well, like it was the last talk on the district convention.. he says 'what bank would wipe out a debt of $200,000 ???

  only jehovah's organization!

  isn't this wonderful !!!".

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  AnnOMaly

  Yes - AnnOMaly.

  Any congregation who had (earlier in the week) agreed to a 'resolution' to send a lump sum every month is now "on hold". The new letter states that each publisher in the congregation will get a 'survey' slip to fill out.

  

  Wow!

  (Um, any chance of making this supplementary letter available to view?)
• 
  59

  "They've made us debt FREE !!!"

  by gingerbread in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  so proclaimed the brother that read the wt letter tonight that explained the new kingdom hall funding arrangement.. everyone in the hall claps .... well, like it was the last talk on the district convention.. he says 'what bank would wipe out a debt of $200,000 ???

  only jehovah's organization!

  isn't this wonderful !!!".

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  AnnOMaly

  I can't believe the Legal/Finance Dept haven't factored in the potential long term loss by forgiving the loans. It must be one of the reasons they're grabbing any surpluses from every cong., circuit and region so that they can invest and get decent returns instead.

  After the letter was read the brother said that there was a change in that method (they had received a NEW letter of instructions on Wednesday). All congregations must take a survey - with each publisher/family committing to a monthly contribution.

  gingerbread, are you saying there was an addendum to the letter we've seen? Whether the Hall was mortgaged or not, ALL congs must do the survey?
• 
  59

  "They've made us debt FREE !!!"

  by gingerbread in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  so proclaimed the brother that read the wt letter tonight that explained the new kingdom hall funding arrangement.. everyone in the hall claps .... well, like it was the last talk on the district convention.. he says 'what bank would wipe out a debt of $200,000 ???

  only jehovah's organization!

  isn't this wonderful !!!".

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  AnnOMaly

  There's a shiny, new KH, less than a year old in my area and the congs using it are by no means well-off. They got a hefty loan from the WTS. At the time it was all in the planning stage I thought it was going to be a HUGE financial burden on them for the next decade or so - how were they going to manage to maintain the payments? They're going to be jumping for joy over this letter and, as sure as eggs is eggs, donations are going to dwindle ... and they still get to enjoy their shiny, new KH!
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  25

  Short Online Course (Free) on the Fall and Rise of Jerusalem in 587BCE by Tel Aviv University

  by digderidoo in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  for those interested in the fall and rise of jerusalem in 587bce tel aviv university are offering a short 6 week online course through coursera in october 2014.. i have done a couple of coursera courses, they are always of the highest quality put together by scholars of whatever the subject matter is about.

  universities tend to offer these as tasters and short introductions into their specialities.. you can get the information on the following link the fall and rise of jerusalem | coursera.

  emory university are also offering a course through coursera on the bible's prehistory, purpose, and political future starting may 26th the bible's prehistory, purpose, and political future | coursera.

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  AnnOMaly

  Cross-referencing - http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/jw/friends/263816/1/What-are-these-free-classes-good-for-The-Fall-Of-Jerusalem-By-Tel-Av-iv-U#.U2tpn4FdXYk

  Thanks for another heads up. The 'Fall and Rise of Jerusalem' one is tempting.
• 
  59

  "They've made us debt FREE !!!"

  by gingerbread in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  so proclaimed the brother that read the wt letter tonight that explained the new kingdom hall funding arrangement.. everyone in the hall claps .... well, like it was the last talk on the district convention.. he says 'what bank would wipe out a debt of $200,000 ???

  only jehovah's organization!

  isn't this wonderful !!!".

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  AnnOMaly

  OK, so thinking out loud:

  The branch can scoop up congregations' surplus funds, so there's a nice influx of cash for the WTS;

  If the resolved amounts can't be met, there's to be no soliciting of funds but the cong. will be reminded of (guilted about) their pledges.

  HOWEVER, rather than the equivalent of the KH loan being paid indefinitely, could it be that the resolved monthly contributions to the Construction work would drop off in the long term? Here's why:

  The letter says that if the cong. already has a monthly loan repayment, the elders propose a resolution to at least meet that monthly repayment (no confidential survey taken beforehand - it's only the Halls that don't have loans or current regular payments to the Construction work that take the confidential survey - besides, before a cong. took out a loan with the WTS, a survey was done beforehand anyway). Every May the elders convene to review how the cong. is doing meeting their resolved amount and if it is still realistic for them.

  I see this possible scenario. A cong. with a loan/mortgage feels they've had it wiped - that's what p. 1 of the letter says, after all. Whoopee. The elders propose a new resolution matching the monthly loan repayment. But because the pubs. think they don't have to pay back the debt any more, they become less motivated to keep up their donations like before. May comes along and the elders find that, for the previous few months, there has been a shortfall and reminders (guilting) from the stage has done little to address the problem. So they decide to take a new financial survey; publishers pledge less to the Construction work, and a new resolution for a lesser amount is proposed and carried. Next year, rinse and repeat until donations reach some sort of equilibrium well below what was resolved in the 1st year of this new arrangement.

  Does this scenario fly? What do you all think?