Posts by Mark

41

JWGift.org: New Watchtower Website for Online Donations

by Mark in

jw
friends

here's the latest effort of the wt in the uk to collect donations.. https://www.jwgift.org/.

i was thinking of posting some comments, but the website really speaks for itself.

mark

Mark

Sad, isn't it?

A letter is being read to the congregations to publicize the site, and information about it will also appear in the January'05 Km.

In the letter they also provide a phone number for direct donations to the Watchtower.

It's amazing they have the cheek to publish this, but then again it's also amazing that many people don't see them for what they are:

*** g88 3/22 pp. 7-8 Do Today?s Religions Feed or Fleece the Flock? ***

It is true that "all the trappings of modern television evangelism" are a long way from the methods of Jesus. But it is also true that times have changed. To preach worldwide to millions involves the use of modern facilities and efficient organization, and it takes large sums of money. Even so, the basics of Jesus? way of life remain the model for Christians. The values and principles that he laid down are still the only pathway for Christians today.?1 Peter 2:21.

Some of those principles follow: ?You received truth free, give free. Don?t be anxious about material things. Seek first the Kingdom. More happiness in giving than in receiving. Teach in the homes of the people. God?s Word is truth. Love God, love your neighbor. Do unto others as you would have them do to you. Feed my sheep.? True Christianity has not changed; only the facilities for spreading it have.

It is not the huge amounts of money involved that are objectionable. It takes millions to preach worldwide. Money is not evil. It is the love of money that is the root of all kinds of evils. It is the ways of getting the money?the pleas, the gimmicks, the begging, the deceit, the lies?that are evil. It is the fraudulent extraction of it from the poor by con games that?s evil. And collected for one purpose, then used for another, for personal enrichment?that?s embezzlement. The Pharisees were money lovers. Judas sold out Christ for money. Many religious shepherds today walk in their footsteps rather than in those of Jesus.

Jesus does have followers in the earth today who walk in his footsteps, preach the way he did, and teach the Bible truths that offset spiritual famine.?Amos 8:11. Those followers are Jehovah?s Witnesses. Their worldwide preaching work needs large sums of money, but it comes from voluntary, unsolicited contributions. Literature is printed and distributed at a minimal cost. Weekly Bible studies are conducted in homes free of charge. Congregation meetings are free, no collections taken, no pleas for money made, no salaries paid. Many Witnesses work secularly for their livelihood and contribute time and money to accomplish the preaching of the good news of the Kingdom.?Matthew 24:14; Acts 1:8.

They even go on to criticize Jimmy Swaggart in the article!

Mark

41

JWGift.org: New Watchtower Website for Online Donations

by Mark in

jw
friends

here's the latest effort of the wt in the uk to collect donations.. https://www.jwgift.org/.

i was thinking of posting some comments, but the website really speaks for itself.

mark

Mark

Here's the latest effort of the WT in the UK to collect donations.

https://www.jwgift.org/

I was thinking of posting some comments, but the website really speaks for itself.

Mark

56

Preaching Doom and Gloom in October?

by Sassy in

my ex husband (who is dfd but not a professsed apostate) told me yesterday that in october there is going to be a big push for preaching doom in service.. like the last chance to get people in before the end.. .

has anyone else heard this?.

i assume either his brother who is a dub or his mother have passed this on to him, in order to scare him to come back quick before everyone dies.. .

Mark

I heard the JWs will be distributing their 2004 brochure 'Keep on the watch', but only to those who "show interest".

Mark

38

On the fading of 1914 ............

by TheOldHippie in

forgetful as i am, i just forgot the title of the new brochure issued at this summer's conventions, but it is something like "keep on the watch", and it deals with the imminent return of christ, the signs of our times, and the need for being on the watch, being prepared for the "any day now" return.. the signs of our times are mentioned, but not earthquakes, so they are "out" again, it seems.

but, the first pages make out the basis for the belief in our days being the last ones, the final ones, and 607 is mentioned, 539 and 537 - but not 1914, not the "seven times" or "2520 years".. do you remember 1995, when the "generation change" came?

in summer, the "knowledge" book was issued, and it also dealt with the signs etc., but for the first time, there was no mention of the then "present truth" that some alive in 1914 would still be alive and witness the return.

Mark

Where have the nice paragraphs in my post gone? Sorry about that guys. Mark

38

On the fading of 1914 ............

by TheOldHippie in

forgetful as i am, i just forgot the title of the new brochure issued at this summer's conventions, but it is something like "keep on the watch", and it deals with the imminent return of christ, the signs of our times, and the need for being on the watch, being prepared for the "any day now" return.. the signs of our times are mentioned, but not earthquakes, so they are "out" again, it seems.

but, the first pages make out the basis for the belief in our days being the last ones, the final ones, and 607 is mentioned, 539 and 537 - but not 1914, not the "seven times" or "2520 years".. do you remember 1995, when the "generation change" came?

in summer, the "knowledge" book was issued, and it also dealt with the signs etc., but for the first time, there was no mention of the then "present truth" that some alive in 1914 would still be alive and witness the return.

Mark

While I agree that the Watchtower Society writers are trying to distance themselves from the 1914 figure, for example it appears only 14 times in The Watchtower 2003 and only 13 times in The Watchtower 2002, I really don't see a doctrinal change anytime soon. IMO, there won't be any major doctrinal shake-ups of this sort as long as there are a large enough number of memorial partakers around. Here are some recent quotes: *** w03 6/15 p. 7 Jesus Christ?Evidence That He Walked the Earth *** Like the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle that fit together, the things that Jesus prophesied have occurred. Since the outbreak of World War I in 1914, we have seen the composite evidence of the invisible presence of Jesus Christ. He is reigning as the King of God?s Kingdom and is wielding tremendous influence. That you have this magazine in your hand is evidence that the Kingdom preaching work is being carried out today. *** w03 12/15 p. 15 Our Watchfulness Takes On Greater Urgency *** Noah received the warning of the upcoming catastrophe decades in advance, and he wisely used the time to prepare for survival. ?After being given divine warning of things not yet beheld,? says the apostle Paul, ?[Noah] showed godly fear and constructed an ark for the saving of his household.? (Hebrews 11:7) What about us? Some 90 years have passed since the last days of this system of things began in 1914. We are certainly in ?the time of the end.? (Daniel 12:4) How should we respond to warnings we have been given? ?He that does the will of God remains forever,? states the Bible. (1 John 2:17) Now is therefore the time to do Jehovah?s will with a keen sense of urgency. *** w03 12/15 p. 28 Questions From Readers *** The expelling of Satan and the demons from heaven after 1914 purged that realm of all spirit rebels, bringing much joy to Jehovah?s loyal angelic sons, who represent by far the majority of his spirit creation. (Job 1:6-12; 2:1-7; Revelation 12:10) Thus, the request in Jesus? model prayer, as far as it applied to heaven, was fulfilled. All who remained in that heavenly realm were loyal to Jehovah and fully submissive to his sovereignty. Mark

13

A new type of shunning?

by Mark in

jw
friends

a baptized brother in a local congregation stopped attending meetings months ago.

he hasn't been disfellowshipped, nor has he taken any steps to disassociate himself from the congregation.

he hasn't even been marked or privately reproved - god, i hate this type of cultish lingo, he just stopped attending meetings.

Mark

A baptized brother in a local congregation stopped attending meetings months ago. He hasn't been disfellowshipped, nor has he taken any steps to disassociate himself from the congregation. He hasn't even been marked or privately reproved - God, I hate this type of cultish lingo, he just stopped attending meetings. Yet, he is being actively shunned by his witness relatives and old peers as a matter of congregational policy.

His sin? Being about to marry a non-witness girl he met after he stopped attending meetings. Now, as we all know, it is not uncommon for individual witnesses, in an effort to give an appearance of superior spirituality, to shun fading relatives. But this type of situation is different, as I said, because the shunning is being actively encouraged from his congregation. The elders are issuing threats to those involved so that no witness relative of his goes to the wedding reception. A greeting, maybe, but no association whatsoever. The guy is not having a religious ceremony, so this wouldn't be an issue here.

Technically speaking, this guy is still a witness. So is this a case of witnesses shunning other witnesses? I hear this sort of situation is happening more and more, and yet there is no public statement from the WT to that effect, nor have instructions been given to the elders in private. As more witnesses quietly leave their mother organization and avoid being shunned by keeping a low profile, we will see more instances of this type of shunning. The WT wants to send a message, loud and clear, that anybody who leaves, quietly fading or not, will have to face the consequences. And I guess the are not leaving that part on Jehovah's hands! Oh, the irony...

Mark

39

Where is the MONEY REALLY GOING? -- Special Assembly Days, etc

by EyeDrEvil in

i have always wondered why it cost so much to "rent" the space used for local special assembly days and circuit assemblies.... in our case, the society built a large assembly hall, on donated farm land (= free), in the middle of some corn fields 20 miles outside of columbus, ohio... the property has a couple of apartments where some of the travelling overseers live, who help with the upkeep of the building.

cleaning the building was taken care of because of our "privilege" to go out the day before the assembly to get it in good shape (free housekeeping and maintenance work).. so, the society owns the building.

it was built on free land.

Mark

Blondie,

Sorry, I didn't realize you had already made the same points.

And yes, the elders are only consulted before the circuit assembly takes place. But the outcome of this business meeting sets the 'donation-as-expense' pattern for the rest of the year.

Mark

39

Where is the MONEY REALLY GOING? -- Special Assembly Days, etc

by EyeDrEvil in

i have always wondered why it cost so much to "rent" the space used for local special assembly days and circuit assemblies.... in our case, the society built a large assembly hall, on donated farm land (= free), in the middle of some corn fields 20 miles outside of columbus, ohio... the property has a couple of apartments where some of the travelling overseers live, who help with the upkeep of the building.

cleaning the building was taken care of because of our "privilege" to go out the day before the assembly to get it in good shape (free housekeeping and maintenance work).. so, the society owns the building.

it was built on free land.

Mark

Hi all,

If you're curious, this is how it REALLY works. When the elders get together with the CO and DO for their business meeting, which usually takes place in the same week of the assembly, an amount for contribution to the WT society is always agreed upon. Why? Because the WT society always EXPECTS a contribution from the circuit for each such gathering. This contribution comes from the circuit's funds and the amount is calculated on the basis of the number of publishers in attendance and the duration of the assembly, anything from two to three dollars per publisher per day being a common figure. This is all done even BEFORE the assembly takes place, and it is often the case that the money is sent immediately. Remember, first things come first. Then this amount is presented to the unsuspecting publishers attending the assembly as part of the expenses incurred, but without ever specifying how the expenses are divided. No itemized list of expenses is ever provided at an assembly, and this is so for a reason. Most publishers believe that the money sent to the society at assemblies is some part of the remainder of their contributions once the expenses for the assembly are subtracted. But no: The contribution to the society is often the assembly's MAIN expense. T he WT society does not want to leave the individual publishers to decide whether to donate or not. By presenting donations as 'expenses in disguise' they obviously obtain a higher revenue.

Mark

13

EVERYBODY PLEASE WELCOME MARK!

by Corvin in

jw
friends

.

welcome, mark!

Mark

All,

Thanks for the welcome. I've been lurking for some time and decided to give it a try.

M

36

So what exactly IS an apostate?

by somebodylovesme in

i was under the impression that an apostate was anyone who left the witnesses, was df'ed/da'ed, or was just actively opposed to them.

but i was reading in my hubby's old "reasoning book" that an apostate is one who professes to believe in christ (but not the jws), claims to serve god (but is not a jw), tries to pull away current jws or attack them.

so, by that definition, would someone who fades away and professes no religion still be considered an apostate if he or she didn't try to take anyone with them and did not attack the religion?.

Mark

SLM,

Typically, somebody is considered an apostate if they disagree publicly with WT doctrine, join a new church or take part in any of its activities (or even work for them!), or challenge the elders, CO, etc. publicly over some congregational policy. Your chances of being branded an apostate while doing any of these things greatly increase if you're disliked by the body of elders or the congregation.

M.