Posts by Jez

48

The Dumbed Down Awake Sinks Lower ( May 8)

by metatron in

jw
friends

the latest awake has, on its final inside page, a section called "for family review" that consists of questions.

that witless families can ask their kids after they've read the magazine.

this new feature follows questions.

Jez

according to them they should be swimming in new light,, as God proves to the world that they are his witnesses.

So many must be so let-down. To be living in these last days is suppose to be so glorious, yet it is....well....nothing.

itsallgoodnow:

Ever actually tried keeping up with all their magazines? Did you have any time for anything else?

Well, it took my only 1/2 hour to read the latest Awake. Not bad when you consider that is only once a month. "all their magazines"?? Not anymore! Their mags are a joke. "Spiritual food at the proper time" WHERE? I get more spirituality reading Maxim or Cosmo than the Awake.

Jez

32

There is a SIGN on the inside of the door of the KH that says....

by Jez in

jw
friends

"turn in your time".

i am not kidding.

everyone that leaves, sees that sign, everytime.. jez

Jez

If I could get away with it, I would.

The first thing I thought of was, they don't even care if you have to lie, just TURN IN SOME TIME, ANY TIME, PLLEEEEASE. Just grab a pen, a slip, write down your name, roll the dice, heck, make it 2 die, and go with whatever the roll is.......come on people.....do it to help us maintain the lie.

Jez

26

It's Proof! Why We Can Trust the FDS (The OD Book Chap 3)

by ezekiel3 in

from the new organized to do jehovah?s will (od) pages 18, 19. this is from a new chapter (3) in the book ?trusting the faithful and discreet slave?.

why trust "the faithful and discreet slave".

there are many reasons to have complete trust in the slave class.

Jez

Can you imagine Jesus constantly reminding everyone He talked to that He was the Messiah??
"...by the way, I am the Messiah, better listen, better submit! ...Did I mention that I am the Messiah?"
No, that was not His way at all. Jesus was modest and humble and let people come to that conclusion on their own!

Fantastic thought Flash.
This thread reminds me of a comment I just read in the WT from Sunday. Something like, "If you have God's spirit, you will understand the deeper things of the bible and his organization." SO if I don't understand, I disagree, it is ME that does not have God's spirit. It is never ever THEM. The teaching is never wrong, it is our understanding of it or the lack of God's spirit on us.
BS!
Jez

32

There is a SIGN on the inside of the door of the KH that says....

by Jez in

jw
friends

"turn in your time".

i am not kidding.

everyone that leaves, sees that sign, everytime.. jez

Jez

"TURN IN YOUR TIME"

I am not kidding. Everyone that leaves, sees that sign, everytime.

Jez

18

Novels set in Canada

by Crumpet in

jw
friends

i am going to canada in may for a holiday and want to take some books to read.

i really like to read fiction that is set in the place i'm visiting and i'd also be quite keen to start getting in the mood before i go.

so i was wondering if there are keen readers out there who could point me in the direction of any great canadian novels - particularly anything set around the great lakes - superior, hudson, ontario,michigan, erie....any suggestions very welcome!

Jez

Alice Munro by other recommendations but am put off by them being short stories.

Remember that often with literary short stories, they are read, and reread, and then read again because everytime you read them, more and more meaning is understood. Sometimes, the more you read, the more you see. That is often the point of short stories.

I love them because the authors find a way to cram an entire lifetime or an entire event, into as few poignant words as possible. The readers job is to decifer and 'stretch' out the words. Brilliant how they can do it!!!

Jez

48

The Dumbed Down Awake Sinks Lower ( May 8)

by metatron in

jw
friends

the latest awake has, on its final inside page, a section called "for family review" that consists of questions.

that witless families can ask their kids after they've read the magazine.

this new feature follows questions.

Jez

Oh boy, yes, this is exactly what I thought when I saw it. I was showing it to my husband laughing my head off at the fact that every article (save 2 pages I think) has NOTHING to do with JWs, religion or God. They do the token last paragraph, somehow tying it to God, but it is REALLY ridiculous.

If the end is tomorrow, any day now, sooner than you think, WHY are they printing these kinds of articles? Perhaps they are priming themselves for Jeopardy. Come on JWs, TELL the people what is really going on in the world if you believe it soooooooo much!!! Are the stones going to cry out and tell us how coffee is made? How film are produced? What a butterfly is? about the world's libraries?

I just don't get it anymore and I predict that someday the Awake will stop. Now i think it is nothing more than an easy way to keep their JWs out in service and busy in 'theocratic activities'. They have nothing else to give them.

Jez

88

Does anyone Love Jehovah anymore?

by defd in

jw
friends

.

i know people have left for people issues but what about jehovah god and jesus?

what have they done?.

Jez

I was thinking more about this thread this weekend and I wanted to say that to me the word "Jehovah" is THEIR God. "Jehovah" is a condensed word used by the JWs to represent all of their teachings, beliefs, rules and demands. Even by uttering that word, I am allowing unsaid, but understood, connections to the JWs to crawl out and worm themselves around my brain.

When the churches/people use the word "God", it means so much more to me personally because it has more of a generic quality about it that allows for some individualism in how you perceive God. I am not being forced to be specific in my perception of who God is to ME. The group-think mentality loses some of it's grip over me if I just say "God".

Yup, there it is. Jez

44

Is there a slowdown in congregation get togethers?

by truthseeker in

jw
friends

i was just reading thelisteners post from an earlier thread, and it got me thinking just how little time dubs have to associate togther.. it seems to be more and more the fact, that the only time dubs see each other to "associate" - if you can even call it that - is at meetings and conventions.. even at conventions though, the dubs are told not to go outside for lunch, regardless of whether it is a nice day of not.

(note, this may not be true at all conventions).

where is a jehovah's witness supposed to get this period of refreshment so he can do more?

Jez

Seems to me that the elders are tightening their grip on the congregation. What IS allowed and what is not. People are so afraid of being 'marked' or being gosssiped about or stumbling others that it has turned into one big paranoia-fest. The ones I know that are active dubs have pulled the walls around themselves in even closer. They associate with very trusted ones or family only. They are afraid.

1John 4:18 is about fear and how you have not perfected love if you have fear.

Every single meeting I have been to lately, the talk or the WT have focused heavily on segregation. In one way or another, ppl are encouraged to segregate themselves, even from 'questionable' ones within the KH. The WT study on Sunday was all about this as well. By the last paragraph, I looked back and all it is saying is basically, "Stay, stay stay stay, don't look outside, be busy with 'theocratic activities', careful careful, don't leave..." WHAT are they doing???

To a JW, self-preservation is number 1.

32

Bible Reading Leading to More Doubt Than Faith... :(

by jeanniebeanz in

ok, it?s taken me longer to get my thoughts together on this than i expected, but here is the reason that i have come to have doubts in the divine nature of the bible; its failure to show that the god it describes is abiding by "his" own standards.. for example, according to 2 peter 1:20, the entire bible is inspired of god.

the main attributes of "god" are that "he" is love (1 john 4:8), "he" is just (deuteronomy 32:4), and "he" has all of the power (revelation 7:12).. with that in mind, my first problem with the bibles authenticity is that this ?loving god?

murdered the entire world of men at one point in history by drowning them.

Jez

Pistoff wrote:

Look at last week's WT lesson: Lot offers his daughters, a repulsive thing to do. The WT spin, and possibly the ancient Jews too, was that it was not wrong and that God blessed the effort by the angels saving everyone involved. Peter called Lot a righteous man, so he must not have been wrong; that is the WT line

Yup, and they said that perhaps Lot was soooo confident that God would save his daughters that he had no fear in offering them up. BUT the first thought in my head was: THEN OFFER THE ANGELS!!!! FOOL! God will more likely save them or better yet, they can save themselves? If you had to choose who to gamble on, would you gamble on your daughters or angels?

Stupid, simplistic reasoning of the WT.

Jeannie: I agree, the more I learn about the bible, the less faith I have in it. It IS an amazing book, one that i enjoy examining, but I always bear in mind that it was written by imperfect men for an ancient culture. It provides me with a glimpse of an ancient ppl's way of life. It does contain lessons of life, but when I read I always ask myself, is the bible a reflection of human nature or is human nature reflecting what God wants and demands? Nevertheless, the lessons contained in the bible have transpired throughout the ages and it is a book that condenses the nature of humans. Quite fasinating.

Jez

74

I'm so depressed, but I luv you guys ...

by talesin in

jw
friends

... what can i say, except, okay, i am being needy, but what's wrong with that???

hahahaha j/k.

hell, can't we i just be real for a change?.

Jez

I know these sayings are simple, but when I can't think of anything else to say to myself, I tell myself,

"This too shall pass" "When one door closes, another opens, go find it"

It always does, it always gets better, and even if it doesn't 'really' get better, my perspective turns around and I see things differently. And I look for lessons that I can learn and I am thankful to have the opportunity to grow.

((hugs)) from Jez