There have always been people that leave, it's just always been far out paced by people who join. You can search posts going back 15 years in this board predicting the end of the watchtower is near. In that time JWs nearly doubled in number. It's like some people went from thinking Armageddon is near to the watchtower end is near.
sloppyjoe2
JoinedPosts by sloppyjoe2
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12
If You Continue to do Bad, Sooner or Later You Will Get Caught.
by John Aquila inwhen one person finally spoke out that she was raped by cosby, no one believed it.
then another person came out and the line started getting drawn in the sand.
you now had two groups of people.
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12
If You Continue to do Bad, Sooner or Later You Will Get Caught.
by John Aquila inwhen one person finally spoke out that she was raped by cosby, no one believed it.
then another person came out and the line started getting drawn in the sand.
you now had two groups of people.
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sloppyjoe2
I guess I am going to be the one that takes the other side of this. I don't understand why there is always this constant speculation or belief that the end of the watchtower is near or we are on the brink of some mass awakening. As someone who still attends meetings at times, the complete opposite is what I see. Everyone still thinks the end is close. No one talks about or has even mentioned child abuse. And everyone is rejuvenated and abuzz after the convention. I've only known 2 people in over 30 years who left because they no longer wanted to be a jw. We just had two halls split in the city as well. This is all in the United States. So unless there is something going on somewhere else, I sure don't see it. -
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The 1995 Generation Change
by sloppyjoe2 ini was just a teenager and have a vivid memory of sitting in a chair doing a microphone for the sunday meeting.
everyone was commenting that it didn't mean the end was far off, and it didn't change the condition of the dead, or the 144,000, or the trinity so we should still remain faithful.
this is my first memory as a kid being just a teen that i ever had a single doubt.
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sloppyjoe2
"There are many reasons to have complete trust in the slave class. First and foremost, Jesus has appointed them over all his precious "belongings." This is a clear indication that he has complete trust in them." Organized to Do Jehovah's Will (2005) p.18
Sometimes I wonder if people even read these magazines...as Ricky already pointed out, complete trust in the slave class was because they were appointed over all of christ's precious belongings...except, now no the weren't!
*** w13 7/15 p. 8 par. 19 “Tell Us, When Will These Things Be?” ***
Finally, we examined why Jesus’ arrival to appoint the faithful slave over all his belongings did not occur in 1919 but will take place during the great tribulation.
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7
Disfellowshipping Votes
by sloppyjoe2 infor current and former elders.. when sitting on a judicial committee, was a unanimous vote required in order to df?
if the answer to above is "no", what happened when 2 were for df and one wasn't?
what happened when 1 was for df and 2 werent?.
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sloppyjoe2
For current and former elders.
When sitting on a judicial committee, was a unanimous vote required in order to Df?
If the answer to above is "no", what happened when 2 were for Df and one wasn't? What happened when 1 was for Df and 2 werent?
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How do you know Satan didn't inspire the Bible?
by Coded Logic injws believe that satan knows things about the natural world (like how it was formed).. they also believe that satan can influence events (even fulfill prophecies).. the bible is the source of great confusion and the vast majority of christians (2.2 billion people) believe it but do not have "accurate knowledgetm".. from the jw point of view, wouldn't it be more likely that satan inspired the bible than an all loving god?.
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sloppyjoe2
To be fair God said they would die if they ate the fruit. The fruit did not kill them, in fact the bible even shows that if God had let them continue eating from the tree of life the would have still lived forever. So eating the fruit did not bring sin into their body and their body did not start to die, it was when God would not let them eat from the tree of life.
Genesis 3:22 And the LORD God said, "The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever
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Who resurrected Jesus from death?
by James Mixon ina friend received this email from his jw brother.
they have not been close since.
his brother became a jw.
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sloppyjoe2
If I were to promote the trinity, my reply to the JW would be that while Jesus was on the earth he was not at and did not have the same level or power that he had prior to coming to earth. Hebrews 2:9 said he was made lower than the angels while he was on earth. Now that he is in heaven, is he still lower than the angels? No, so obviously he obtained a much higher level once he became a spirit in heaven. King of kings in Revelation, and all authority in heaven and earth had been given him. IF I was going to waste my time debating with someone. -
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The 1995 Generation Change
by sloppyjoe2 ini was just a teenager and have a vivid memory of sitting in a chair doing a microphone for the sunday meeting.
everyone was commenting that it didn't mean the end was far off, and it didn't change the condition of the dead, or the 144,000, or the trinity so we should still remain faithful.
this is my first memory as a kid being just a teen that i ever had a single doubt.
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sloppyjoe2
I was just a teenager and have a vivid memory of sitting in a chair doing a microphone for the sunday meeting. Everyone was commenting that it didn't mean the end was far off, and it didn't change the condition of the dead, or the 144,000, or the trinity so we should still remain faithful. This is my first memory as a kid being just a teen that I ever had a single doubt. I had not pre studied or read the magazine since they used to be mailed to our house, so this study was the first time I knew of the change. I remember thinking they just changed this because they ran out of time, there was no new revelation from God. But I soon forgot about it, went on playing with my friends and took many more years before I really realized I believed in something false. I had studied out of the red live forever book and it was a HUGE teaching we as JWs used at the time to show how close the end was. I am sure it would be downplayed now by current JWs as not a big deal, but I certainly remember it being repeated over and over during my childhood. For those that were in at the time, what was your reaction? -
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Worldwide Church of God collapse
by cog_survivor inon my introduction post a few people expressed interest in how the worldwide church of god (wwcg) imploded.
i think maybe in hopes something similar will happen with the jws.
i think the jws will also eventually experience a meltdown but probably not in the same way since the power structure was a bit different.
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sloppyjoe2
When I was in grade school and there would be Christmas events there was always myself and another girl who would sit in a separate classroom. I was a jw and she was a world wide church of God member. I found it interesting that someone else didn't celebrate Xmas. Later on when out in service we called on their house and her dad explained all of the teachings they believed in, what holidays they didn't celebrate, still had the sabbath and I suppose they didn't believe in the trinity. Now it looks like the church has done and about face on all of that many years ago. I was just unaware. It makes me wonder how did they process it all and react to the changes. Facebook has yielded me no results. -
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Depends on what the meaning of the words"Last Days" is
by enigma1863 indo the jws still say "we are in the last of the last days" ?
i don't even know what that means any more.
they will say the end is coming soon but according to their god a day isn't a day.
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sloppyjoe2
A JW will always say it's Jehovah's time table not man's as a day to him is a thousand years. Which my reply back would be then if that is the case and it's the last days plural it must mean the last days are a minimum of 2000 human years. -
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Is there a difference between being pardoned or acquitted
by Ucantnome inin the new world translation of the holy scriptures (revised 2013) at romans 6:7 it uses the word 'acquitted'.
in the kingdom interlinear translation of the greek scriptures (1985) it also has 'acquitted' and in the greek word for english word translation part in has 'has been justified' .
the insight on the scriptures (1988) under the heading declare righteous page 803 talking about the original greek words that are translated as justify and justification and can be translated as declared righteous and pronounce righteous it says,.
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sloppyjoe2
If you read Romans 6:1-6 Paul is not talking about a physical death in this account. He is talking about being baptized into christ's death and therefore if you have done so you are acquitted or free from your sins. The watchtower sometimes uses just verse 7 to imply a physical death frees you from sin which they tie into Romans 6:23. They use this to say that all your loved ones are forgiven and will be resurrected. In fact this passage does not say that AT ALL as paul is saying in verse 2 that they had already died in the past tense. It is a spiritual death being discussed here, not a physical one.