Athanasius

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Posts by Athanasius

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  17

  Are JWs now encouraged to volunteer?

  by Athanasius in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  after i retired i volunteered for several community service programs, including working with the local food bank.

  every fourth thursday of each month i help out in distributing food to needy families at the local veterans building.

  i've been helping out for five years now.

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  Athanasius

  That may be their intent, Divergent. They speak Spanish and many of our clients are Hispanic and needy. So the JW "pie in the sky" theology would have great appeal to people who are financially disadvantaged.

  
  
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  17

  Are JWs now encouraged to volunteer?

  by Athanasius in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  after i retired i volunteered for several community service programs, including working with the local food bank.

  every fourth thursday of each month i help out in distributing food to needy families at the local veterans building.

  i've been helping out for five years now.

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  Athanasius

  Not sure if there are many JWs among our clients, as I haven't attended a local KH in over 30 years. But I did recognize an elderly JW getting food from the bank. He didn't say anything when handed him a sack of potatoes, not even thank you.
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  17

  Are JWs now encouraged to volunteer?

  by Athanasius in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  after i retired i volunteered for several community service programs, including working with the local food bank.

  every fourth thursday of each month i help out in distributing food to needy families at the local veterans building.

  i've been helping out for five years now.

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  Athanasius

  After I retired I volunteered for several community service programs, including working with the local food bank. Every fourth Thursday of each month I help out in distributing food to needy families at the local Veterans Building. I've been helping out for five years now. But six months ago an older couple joined our volunteer group. They were both Anglo, but fluent in Spanish, something very helpful as many of our clients are Hispanic with limited English.

  It gets more interesting. After all the clients were served last Thursday and we were cleaning up, this man was having a lengthy conversation in Spanish with the food bank's truck driver. The guy was showing the driver his cell phone and explaining in Spanish how the driver could visit JW.org.

  Because of some of the things this guy has said in the past, I suspected that he might be a JW, and this seemed to confirm it. Still it seems strange that a JW would waste several hours each month volunteering his time for a "Worldly Charity" and not out knocking on doors or standing by a literature trolley.
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  18

  What was your first public bible reading? And when?

  by Mandrake in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  i perfectly remember that, rehearsing with mom, trying to read with enough emphasis and in a proper tone.

  i was 5 years old, back then in 1996 i think, and the portion was james 5:1-13.... i found today that i still know the first verses by heart!!!

  it's actually a cherished memory for me, i came to memorize those because mom had me starting the reading all over again until i got to read it properly... and in time!!!

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  Athanasius

  I was 8 when I gave my first Bible reading. It was 1954 and talks 2 and 3 of the TMS in those days were Bible readings. They said it was to help familiarize us with the NWT Bible of which we had only two volumes at the time, the Greek Scriptures and the first volume of the Hebrew Scriptures Genesis-Ruth.

  In 1954 only brothers were enrolled in the school. So my devout JW mother pressured me to join the TMS because Billy, another member of our congregation, who was only 7 had already given several Bible readings.

  My first reading was a couple of chapters in Leviticus. I don't remember which ones, just that I was so nervous that me legs felt like they were full of pins and needles.

  Believe it or not, my next reading assignment was Judges 19 about the gang rape and murder of the Levite's concubine. Fortunately being only 8 years old I didn't really understand what I was reading. But as an adult and remembering that reading, I think it was improper that the TMS servant gave me that reading. But considering Watchtower history, one shouldn't be surprised.
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  17

  USA toddler in car shoots mom dead AGAIN!!!

  by Witness 007 in

  1. social
  2. current

  yes afew months ago a florida woman was shot in the back with a gun left under her seat by her toddler.

  today a milwaukee woman was killed by the same thing.

  australian 30 year anniversary of port aurthur massacre when most dangerous automatic weapons were banned.....no massacres since for 30 years.

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  Athanasius

  Was the victim of the shooting a JW? The article linked above doesn't mention her religious preference and the OP didn't clarify

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  3

  Get out of her MY people

  by kairos in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  when we were in, it was 'the truth'.after being out and free to think and research as i please, what a disappointment to find out that this org is nothing but a publishing house of lies.they literally are in the business ( corporation ) of selling lies.don't believe me?review the publication that you 'studied the bible in' and discover for yourself that the very doctrine that attracted you, no longer exists.it was the "live forever" book for me.the generation that saw the events of 1914 has died and now after a few tweaks the massive lie of "overlapping generations" has been promoted as "truth".this takes us to galatians 1:8,9.read it carefully and repeatedly.

  in multiple translations.however, even if we or an angel out of heaven were to declare to you as good news something beyond what we declared to you as good news, let him be accursed.

  9 as we have said above, i also now say again, whoever it is that is declaring to you as good news something beyond what you accepted, let him be accursed.. you cannot change the doctrines.

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  Athanasius

  Hi Baker,

  Another statement that is misleading in the 12/15/15 Watchtower is this: "In fact, just two years after the New World Translation of the Christian Greek Scriptures was released in 1950, the Revised Standard Version was published."

  The Revised Standard New Testament was first published in 1946, four years before the NWT Greek Scriptures. While the RSV Old Testament was first published in 1952, the Watchtower gives its readers the impression that the NWT was published first. In fact the first volume of the NWT Old Testament wasn't published until 1953.
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  19

  Assimilation day: Imitate Jokeovah!

  by Darkknight757 in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  so today was the one day assembly or whatever it's called now.

  fun times.😳.

  use resources wisely:.

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  Athanasius

  19 baptized? That seems more than usual. Were they all teens or younger?
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  38

  Hard to Remember but Back in the Ninteen Fifies...

  by new boy in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  my writing a book about my strange life as a jw.

  i need some help.. does anyone remember when they used to get these charts out at the service meetings which had all the hours, "back calls" and bible studies on it?

  what did they call that?.

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  Athanasius

  How about the brothers and sisters who played the piano at the KH? We had one sister who before becoming a JW had played honky tonk piano in night clubs. She always jazzed up the Kingdom songs. Loved her performance. She made JW songs almost pleasant to listen to.

  Another time the sister who played the piano had to leave the meeting early for some reason. So when it came time to sing the final meeting song the brother conducting the meeting asked if someone would volunteer. So a brother volunteered. This guy had also played piano in night clubs and was very good at it. Unfortunately this evening he was plastered, but he played anyway. Another interesting performance.

  When the GB eliminated live music at the KH and changed to canned music, singing at meetings was no longer fun.
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  5

  Prince could potentially have a JW funeral

  by StarTrekAngel in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  the question is, are there two credible witnesses to the allegations of overdose?

  if i understand correctly from the research into child abuse, the medical diagnosis would not count as a witness.. was he baptized?

  what year?.

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  Athanasius

  If his will left a large chunk of money to the Watchtower, Prince should get a GB member to give his funeral talk. Which of the magnificent 7 would you choose?
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  45

  Under WT rules, can JW women file for a divorce? Or can only men file?

  by JimmyPage in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  the reason i ask is because while watching the "dateline" episode about ralph candelario, the claim was made that only jw men could file for divorce, not women.

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  i had never thought about this before.. also, how does this apply in cases where a husband is "apostate" while the wife is faithful to wt?

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  Athanasius

  Perhaps things have changed in JW land since 1984 when I left. But back then a JW woman could get what was called an unscriptural divorce, meaning for reasons other than adultry. However, she wasn't free to remarry until her ex committed fornication.