insidetheKH

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Posts by insidetheKH

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  72

  Is the preaching work, no longer the number 1 priority?

  by ToesUp in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i have been observing a pattern in recent wtbs publications and events.

  is the importance of the preaching activity no longer the number 1 priority?

  are not billions of lives still at stake?.

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  insidetheKH

  @village at this moment most growth is indeed in latin/south america, africa, asia. And indeed there is still growth in the US and some other western countries. But also the situation in western countries we should see in the right perspective. The last 5 decades Europe/U.S are becoming secular at high speed. Church attendance and membership is dropping ultrafast. Churches are closing down etc etc. In that kind of environment JW's hold ground or even manage to grow slightly. That on itself is significant.
  

  Informal witnessing is a great way too. But lets not forget that JW's do not believe that they'll have to convert people. They just give a witness and believe that it is Jehovah who makes sure the desireable things of the nations will find their way into the kingdom halls.
  
• 
  72

  Is the preaching work, no longer the number 1 priority?

  by ToesUp in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i have been observing a pattern in recent wtbs publications and events.

  is the importance of the preaching activity no longer the number 1 priority?

  are not billions of lives still at stake?.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  insidetheKH

  @village we should never extrapolate our own experience in a local kingdom hall to the rest of the world. But just look at the bigger picture, results and statistics over the years.

  based on that we can make a fair conclusion that there is growth and that for the most part this growth comes from outsiders and not born ins.

  average annual death rate 0.8%

  average annual nr of df'd/da'd 0.4%
  

  average annual birth rate 1.5% (at most as explained above, but probably less. Besides that how many of them will eventually become a JW?)

  average annual growth rate (for lets say the last decade) more than 2%

  Talking about personal experiences. The congregation i am in (this is my fourth year in this congregation) baptised during that period 5 persons. All of them were not born ins and were recruited through the preaching work. None of them is 'mentally unstable'. Also added are 3 unbaptised publishers, also no born ins and brought in via the preaching work. One of them will be baptised this summer at the district convention.

  I live in a highly secular western society. People here have high incomes and high levels of education. I just tell this to show that personal experiences at a local kingdom hall won't show any of us the big picture.
• 
  72

  Is the preaching work, no longer the number 1 priority?

  by ToesUp in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i have been observing a pattern in recent wtbs publications and events.

  is the importance of the preaching activity no longer the number 1 priority?

  are not billions of lives still at stake?.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  insidetheKH

  @village whatever the cause of growth was.. does not matter. Fact is people came in through the preaching work and still do
  
• 
  72

  Is the preaching work, no longer the number 1 priority?

  by ToesUp in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i have been observing a pattern in recent wtbs publications and events.

  is the importance of the preaching activity no longer the number 1 priority?

  are not billions of lives still at stake?.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  insidetheKH

  Yes - past tense.

  Since the mid-90's, the preaching work is increasingly inefficient and ineffective.

  @sir82 not at all. Like i stated above the average annual growth of the world population these days is about 1% the Average growth of JW's is around 2-2.5%
  

  Keep in mind that the nr of births among JWs is even lower compared to the general population (because of kingdom interests or this present system of things, hence satans world). That means that a big part of their annual growth is coming from outside of the organisation.
• 
  72

  Is the preaching work, no longer the number 1 priority?

  by ToesUp in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i have been observing a pattern in recent wtbs publications and events.

  is the importance of the preaching activity no longer the number 1 priority?

  are not billions of lives still at stake?.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  insidetheKH

  And why was there a 2% increase during the 1960s?

  
  

  
  

  @Village you mean the average growth of the world population? because of the baby boom. economic growth, a fast growing middle class, food for everyone. baby booms signify good times and periods of general economic growth and stability
• 
  72

  Is the preaching work, no longer the number 1 priority?

  by ToesUp in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i have been observing a pattern in recent wtbs publications and events.

  is the importance of the preaching activity no longer the number 1 priority?

  are not billions of lives still at stake?.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  insidetheKH

  I'm sure by now the GB has realized that preaching doesn't generate new converts; it never really did.

  
  

  @redvip that is simply not true. Average anual population growth is now about 1%,.. during the sixties and during the last century it never was higher than about 2%

  
  

  However the annual growth of JW's was much higher than the average population growth almost every single year. Bisides that many JW couples decide(d) not to take children because they place kingdom interests first or think that this system of things is not the right environment to raise children in,

  
  In my congregations there are a lot of couples (pioneers en elders) that never got any children just because of that. So the birth rate among JW's is even less than the average birth rate in the world that surrounds them.

  
  

  Conclusion: a lot of people came in through the preaching work. Even several members of the governing body are examples of that. take for example Gerrit Losch or Tony Morris III
  
• 
  72

  Is the preaching work, no longer the number 1 priority?

  by ToesUp in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i have been observing a pattern in recent wtbs publications and events.

  is the importance of the preaching activity no longer the number 1 priority?

  are not billions of lives still at stake?.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  insidetheKH

  Not true. 

  
  

  Since 2014 the kingdom ministry is even more about preaching and field service
• 
  14

  BBC news--terrorist was raised a JW

  by stan livedeath in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  i just caught bbc news--arrested terrorist was previously a jw before converting to islam

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  insidetheKH

  he was not a JW before he became a muslim , he was stealing credit cards and spending all his money on prostitutes

  Brusthom Ziamani, 19, was arrested in east London in August last year carrying a 30cm (12in) knife and a hammer in a rucksack, having earlier researched the location of army cadet bases in the south-east of the capital.

  His Old Bailey trial has heard that he “reverted” to Islam early in 2014 and was arrested after he showed his ex-girlfriend weapons, described Fusilier Rigby’s killer Michael Adebolajo as a legend, and told her he would kill soldiers.

  after he became a muslim he was caught with a 30cm knife and had plans to behead a western soldier.. sounds to me like a crime inspired by Islam
  
• 
  14

  BBC news--terrorist was raised a JW

  by stan livedeath in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  i just caught bbc news--arrested terrorist was previously a jw before converting to islam

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  insidetheKH

  it's obvious that his conversion to Islam did not much good to him
  
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  22

  WT now promoting literature officially at book fairs

  by StarTrekAngel in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  can there really be any doubt now on how commercial it is?

  if you thought the new kh design seemed commercial in nature, now imagine one of those halls turned into a jw store.

  we know they exist.

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  insidetheKH

  @Startrek they are represented at several international book fairs