I have actually been thinking up my list for the last 2 days, and shuffling and reshuffling. I'm still not sure of a few so I'd consider it more of a work in progress...
Augustus Caesar
Quincy Jones
Bill Clinton
Jesus Christ (assuming real)
My Mom
Benjamin Franklin
Ellen Degeneres
Warren Buffett
Albert Einstein
T.S. Eliot
Cleopatra
Emily Dickinson
btw. a great Dickinson poem -
The Bible is an antique volume –
Written by faded Men
At the suggestion of Holy spectres –
Subjects – Bethlehem –
Eden – the ancient Homestead –
Satan – the Brigadier –
Judas – the Great Defaulter –
David – the Troubadour –
Sin – a distinguished Precipice
Others must resist –
Boys that "believe" are very lonesome –
Other Boys are "lost" –
Had but the Tale a warbling Teller –
All the boys would come –
Orpheus’ Sermon captivated –
It did not condemn –
Axel (yeah I bumped it to twelve)
Axelspeed
JoinedPosts by Axelspeed
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36
Who would you invite to your Fantasy Dinner Table?
by nicolaou inyou know the game, you can invite ten real people - alive or dead - who you would want to have around the table for a meal and conversation.
since it's a fantasy, language wouldn't be a barrier.. i'm still working on my definitive list but some names come immediately to mind;.
stephen fry.
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Axelspeed
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38
Will there be a time when NO ONE will be able to become a JW anymore?
by JH in.
the witnesses always said that at some point in time, it will be too late to join, the doors will be closed.. do you believe that will happen, or is it just to scare the witnesses?
and what would trigger the watchtower to decide, it's too late?
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Axelspeed
LDH...LMAO!
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22
Kerry Louderback-Wood on today's BBC 'Sunday Programme'
by AnnOMaly insomebody gave me the heads up on this.. if anyone can find a way of recording it before it disappears ...?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/programmes/sunday/ select 'listen to the current programme in full' option, and the excerpt begins approx 10.37 into the stream.. or.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/realmedia/sunday/sundayauto.ram.
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Axelspeed
Thanks Barbara for that extra information. Hmmm, have a senior WT official present himself as a lowly (and disconnected-- if need be down the line) elder...truly theocratic warfare at its finest!
Axel
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52
don't any of you get afraid??
by nowisee inall of the stuff re wts.
yet with all of this stuff happening in the mideast....with al gore's "an inconvenient truth" and scientists backing him up...with nkorea....with "christian" rhetoric....with pornography taking over the minds of our men.....bird flu....debt up to the eyeballs....complacency....pacs.....enron...corruption...serial killers in phoenix.....shrinking dollar....economy being sold to overseas.....etc.
can anyone reassure me?
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Axelspeed
Perfectly stated Terry!
Get some perspective, we're actually living in one of the best times in human history.
Axel
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71
PO said automation and declining contributions reason for Bethel layoffs
by truthseeker inlast week at the meeting, the po, who has very close connections to bethel, said that he never thought he would see the day that bethelites were being sent home.
he said that the biggest two reasons he thought bethel were cutting back, was automation and a massive decline in contributions.
looks like you're right metatron about the contribution aspect being their achilles heel.
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Axelspeed
This is from that same article.
Awake! 1975 September 8 pp.24-26 Economic Woes Strike the Churches:
Well, consider: Back in 1879 in the second issue of The Watchtower (then called Zion's Watch Tower), it was noted:
"'Zion's Watch Tower' has, we believe, JEHOVAH for its backer, and while this is the case it will never beg nor petition men for support. When He who says: 'All the gold and silver of the mountains are mine,' fails to provide necessary funds, we will understand it to be time to suspend the publication."
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13
Assemblies: Queues (Lines) at the Ladies, and taping over mirrors
by Duncan inthis topic sufaces here every now and again, with people reporting on the way that in some locations, the brothers tape paper over the mirrors in the ladies toliets, in order to speed things up and reduce queues.
i posted this a couple of years ago, but i'm resurrecting it now because i think this is relevant and interesting:.
this link:.
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Axelspeed
Taping over mirrors?!
Call me out of touch with jw-ism, but that is the most ridiculous thing I've heard in a while. I hope I wasnt that much of a sheep.
Axel
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47
Has being a Jehova's witness totally shattered your faith?
by Silvia Plath injust because the watchtower society is wrong doesn't mean that there is no god, nor does it mean there is a god.
it would interesting to now how former members have adjusted thier cosmology, or whether they are now atheists and why.
i personally see religion as a more personal matter, rather than belonging to an organization.
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Axelspeed
Being a witness didn't shatter my faith.
What it did do was cause me to realize that I needed to stop being a dupe and put a lot more faith in my own brain and thinking ability. From that point it was let the chips fall where they may.
Axel
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15
they can't get it all done anymore
by truman ini had a door-to-door visit from two jws yesterday morning.
the first in a long time (with the exception of the obligatory memorial invite).
i live in a fairly small town, but these two, i did not recognize.
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Axelspeed
Not sure how accurate this really is, but this is what I in one area.
I noticed a wide disparity in size among most congs. in comparison to a few years previous. Most cong. growth now is due to jws moving from cong. to cong. -- rarely is it growth rom new people. So some cong. were very small and almost ghost towns, whereas other cong. were busting at the seams from new move-ins.
What I think is interesting is that the congs. that were busting at the seams were those considered more liberal -- where a jw could go and lay low, or and ex-elder could go and just throw up his heels. Those that were almost empty were those with a history of being hardline or had an older demographic where all the young were non-existant or had moved to a trendier hall.
Like I said, I'm not sure this is accurate or the case in most areas.
Axel
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28
Brooklyn Says they Need 40,000 qualified Brotheres
by drew sagan ini just mentioned this in another post but thought i would start a new thread about it.
my wife reminded me a few days ago that the bethel speaker at our convention stated that "the organization is in need of more than 40,000 qualified brothers to take the lead".
this basically means that brooklyn is saying that every congregation in the world is down 1 - 1.5 qualified brothers(?
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Axelspeed
Many congregations have as many ex-elders as elders and little will budge the ex-elders to "reach out" again.
Very, very true. Once the allure is gone, the attraction is gone. You couldn't budge most ex-elders back to that mess with a bulldozer. They already know the deal.
On my way out I saw so many bros. reaching for that dangling carrot and I just shook my head. Contrary to what a lot of JWs and even X-JWs think, I found the job draining and confining. I found out much more than I ever wanted to know about a lot of people -- esp other elders and COs. It is a lot more political/corporate than a lot of JWs realize.
Axel
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18
Comments You Will Not Hear at the 7-16-06 WT Study (Choose Life)
by blondie in`choose life to keep alive'.
christian--once.
israel chose to obey...willingly gave...their exclusive devotion.
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Axelspeed
Thanks Blondie for the insightful post, as always.
Although Jehovah has the ability to know in advance what will happen, he does not predetermine our individual actions and destiny.
So let me get this straight. I can go the Blockbuster and rent a movie. Then I can take it home and begin viewing it. At this point I can either 1) watch the full movie and wait to see how it ends, or 2) use the remote control (my ability) to fast forward and see how it ends in advance (prophecy) .
Either way, does it change the ending of the movie, or has that already been set?
I've always wondered that if the future can be known, then isn't is already set -- if so, that is a form of predestination.
If something cannot be known or is not predetermined, then it cannot be the basis for real prophecy.
Axel