Hi Caspian
interesting topic. Well there are 5 in our family, 1 goes occasionally and 4 not at all and no contact yet from the respective congs, so they havent got much time.
I take it you have trustworthy inside info!
Anglise
bev vigo and peter ellis of the uk stormtroopers ,sorry service department have to make the report concerning the inactive publishers campaign to brooklyn in the next two weeks, infact all boe's have to send the report to the co by this saturday, and his report has to get to bethel by next wednesday.
the word coming through from the travelling overseers so far is that the report will be a bit of a mixed bag.
bad news, even though the local boe and the co's will no doubt jazz it up a bit, it seems that the uptake for ones being reactivated will be very low, probably those who still attend meetings but don't report will be persuaded to do the "odd hour" but the long term cynics are not interested.
Hi Caspian
interesting topic. Well there are 5 in our family, 1 goes occasionally and 4 not at all and no contact yet from the respective congs, so they havent got much time.
I take it you have trustworthy inside info!
Anglise
.
what is it about our brians that drives people to religious beliefs that are so obviously nopt founded in fact or reason?is it an inherant founction of our tiny brians or is it in fact our brians going wrong in trying to make sense of the world?
maybe its the psychological equivelent of an optical illution were your brain in trying to make sense of what it sees constructs an impossible reality .like say when you draw a "3-d" box on a flat piece of paper and the brain tries to work out which face is on the front , but it can't, as none is, but the brain will put one in front whatever.maybe religion is what the brain makes to explain the world and uses it so the weiredness of reality makes more sense.
for those in the UK the Horizon programme on BBC2
Thursday 20th March 2003
21:00 to 21:50
God on the Brain
Are we programmed to believe in god?.
Looks interesting
Anglise
since we're accused by some of being so negative about jehovah's witnesses, let's start a thread regarding some positive things about being a witness or believing in the organization.
They said
"Religion is a Snare and a Racket"
They were right
Anglise
been very poorly for several days and got very ill sunday night so that yesterday was spent in hospital lots of tests and x-rays.
the usual stuff.. at the moment i've been allowed home to "wait and see".
fever is still 40 degrees and i don't even feel i could taste a shiraz!.
Good morning Ozzie and Mrs Ozzie
I hope you are feeling better today and that they can sort you out quickly.
Anglise
i had an idea that i could build a uk map of everyones location which would show you instantly who is in your area from jwd.. (it might be an idea to do a seperate us one aswell but i'll wait and see if this one takes off first, or if anyone from the us wants to volunteer to do that one).
(and australia but you are all in the same backyard anyway - literally!!!).
anyway, all you have to do is post or email me your username and town and i will draw you on the map above which will change gradually to include everyone!.
Such phenomenal growth here in the UK surely shows that we are indeed a blessed people.
Are we doing our utmost to speak about this site whenever we can.
Dont forget last day of the month so send Ballistic your FS report.
Hallo Mattnoel. I know a few from the Ashford congs we might have common ground.
email me if you feel able.
Anglise
how can the wts consider an unmarried man in his mid-twenties qualified to be an elder?
clearly the "theocratic" process of election by the holy spirit is not what's happening.
ever known any (too) young elders?
We had a very young brother made an MS and then of course elder mainly because of who he was. He was/is VERY close to another loud mouth elder who was at that time unmarried himself (aged 50ish) and had either lived at home or for a short time shared a flat with another unmarried brother.
This loud mouth elder (LME) had a group of young brothers that he was always with.
The one who was made an elder at a very young age was part of this clique and was a bit weird himself. He kept detailed diaries of everything in the cong and from his pioneering. He would carry these diaries - and I dont mean pocket sized Letts - in his ministry bag and they where closely guarded, he even slept with them, goodness knows what he wrote but he was a nosey gossip. He is very tall and could pick up on private conversations very easily. He was also very charming and innocent looking so most where fooled by this and trusted him with things all of which where then quickly reported back to the LME who then used it.
The young brother used to regularly be on the phone in the early hours of the morning to LME. It was all a bit strange. He had also been on Prozac since his teens.
Well maybe he was ideal elder material.
As an elderette I found the best way of annoying these arrogant ones was to patronisingly and sweetly tell them after they had given an item how well they seemed to be doing especially with their background/age/celibacy/unmarried state against them.
Anglise
hey guys, .
does anyone know the links to these sites?
i had them on my wife's computer and now that's gone.... i'm trying to print out something for a friend.. 1) the site that that talks about "the emporor's new clothes.".
Here is the CATS article. Sorry I dont have a site link
Anglise
Cats
Many conscientious ones among Jehovah's people today have wondered if
Christians should own cats. The issue is of life-or-death importance since to
stumble a brother that Christ died for is tantamount to "putting a millstone
around the neck and being thrown into the sea". Clearly our eternal
salvation is involved. First let us consider what most scholars agree is the
original Greek for the English word cat. felos domesticus meaning literally
"a contemporary housecat with all of its beastly identifying characteristics
and behavior." Clearly the Bible by using this kind of Original Greek shows
beyond a doubt that the basic nature of cats is evil or "beastlike" much
like Satan the "Original Serpent" and "the Great Dragon". There are numerous
reasons why a Loyal Dedicated Servant of God should use their Bible-trained
conscience to arrive at a proper understanding of why Cats are not for
Christians. Consider the following facts with an open mind:
1) It was a common practice in ancient Egypt to worship cats as gods. As
Christians we are to "guard ourselves from idols" and "worship no other
gods". Such feline influence could lead to idolatry and thereby "grieve
Jehovah's spirit" with tragic consequences.
2) Cats were most likely present at Herod's birthday party when John the
Baptist was beheaded. Clearly then, as loyal Christians, why would we even
want to associate with animals that are without a doubt of such bad
influence remembering "bad associations spoil useful habits"? To invite cats
in our house may result in the same grave consequences as suffered by
John the Baptist. Clearly, God disapproved of this party. Should we not
then disapprove of cats the way God does? Surely!
3) Throughout history, particularly in the middle ages and reaching its
climax in the Salem Witch Trials of the 1600's, cats were recognized as
carriers if not direct incarnates of demons. Since cats were associated with
the devil could we as loyal and dedicated servants of God therefore associate
with cats and thereby associate with Satan himself the "God of this system of
things"? Would we want to be subject to such vile influence and possible
demonic attacks? Surely not!
4) Nowhere in the Bible are any type of cats spoken of in favorable terms.
In fact was it not lions of the first century who the Devil used to devour
faithful Christians? God himself "Stopped up the mouths of lions" in Daniel's
day. True, the small housecats of today are not lions, but being of the same
cursed animal family used by the Devil on numerous occasions throughout
history, would it be wise or appropriate to own one? In addition, by owning
any type of cat, would we not give an appearance of condoning their evil
deeds throughout recorded Bible and secular history. The Bible makes clear
that God's people are "no part of the world" and that we are "not to share
in the sins of others".
5) The scriptures clearly indicate that neither Abraham, Isaac,Jacob, Job,
the Apostles , or Jesus himself owned a cat. This was most likely because
they
didn't want to be like the Pagan contemporaries of their day who showed no
regard for how God feels about owning cats. In harmony with the pattern
set by the faithful prophets of old, surely it would not be fitting for a
Christian today to own a cat.
6) Finally, cats are unclean animals. Some unclean practices indulged in by
cats include coughing up furballs,licking inappropriate body areas,urinating
on the floor, eating dead animals with their blood, sexual misconduct without
the benefit of marriage, abuse of catnip, and stealing food from the table,
just to name a few. Uncleanness is one of the "works of the flesh"
condemned by the apostle Paul. The Bible clearly shows that "neither
fornicators ..........or thieves will not inherit the Kingdom". In addition
Paul admonishes us to "quit mixing in company" with such unclean ones.
Although the Apostle Paul was speaking primarily about Christians who fell
into sin, there is no reason to conclude that this Inspired Biblical
principle can not be applied to association with cats. Uncleanness is
condemned by Jehovah and the fact that the Apostle Paul made no distinction
when it came to associating with housecats proves beyond a doubt that Loyal
Christians must avoid all association with such animals.
Are we not grateful for this new light coming from God's organization?
Sister Catless tells us that since getting rid of her cat she has not had to
be preoccupied with cleaning the litterbox and now has alot more time to go
pioneering. Brother Bobcat puts it this way, "I'm so grateful that God
freed me of the burden of owning a cat. I hope all of the brothers will
realize how the devil uses cats to corrupt us and distract from the preaching
work."(Matt 24:14) What fine examples of faithfulness! As loyal followers
of Christ's thinking on this matter, we can rejoice in the fact that in the
new system God will reward all of our efforts to maintain integrity by
loyally
submitting to the leading of his spirit through the "Faithful and discreet
slave".
parents converted to dubdom 1954.. commenced door knocking 1956.. baptised yankee stadium assembly 1958.. running 3 bible studies 1965.. giving public talks in many different congregations 1966.. ministerial servant, 2 jobs, 1966.. disfellowshipped 1972.. learned, via friday on h20, that the faithful and discrete slave class is the term used for the 144, 000 on earth, 2002.. during my entire witness life, commencing in 1954, right though until 2002, a time span of 38 years, i had always thought that the faithful and discrete slave term applied to the watchtower bible and tract society.. either i wasn't a very good student who's heart was never in the ways of jw's, or i was just picking up the general gist of things, i have no idea.
but, how could i have remained so uninformed and so undetected for all of those years?.
weird.. did you ever get it wrong about anything?.
To confuse this further I think you will find that the F&D slave is the remnant of the 144,000 not the whole group.
Anglise
i'm sorry if you have heard this before, but i must vent and here is the best place..i have no other place ...i'm really angry.
i have more than 40 years of life experience on this planet.
i have been through a lot in life..i have lived in number of countries , visited many others.
Welcome to the board Titanic.
Many here will empathize with you. I hope that with time and the support of this board you will be able to get your life together again.
I to really regret the day when we first listened to these people and carry many emotional scars from my politeness that day.
Feel free to email, my address is open.
Anglise
just wondering if there are any cad gurus on this site?
if so, what software are you using?.
stan
We use CAD here in the UK for building services M&E engineering.
Have done since Autocad v10.
Prior to that it was with the good old pens. Who remembers those?
Anglise