BluesBrother

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Posts by BluesBrother

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  11

  Watchtower Study July 2020 ''Be Convinced That You Have the Truth''

  by RULES & REGULATIONS in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  the watchtower—study edition | july 2020.

  6. the first-century disciples built their faith on their knowledge of the scriptures and the teachings of jesus christ, that is, “the truth of the good news.” (gal.

  2:5) this truth consists of the whole body of christian teachings, including the facts about jesus’ ransom sacrifice and his resurrection.

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  BluesBrother

  July issue , studied last September. ..

  "FIRST CENTURY CHRISTIANS NEEDED THREE BASIC TRUTHS:"

  I'll go along with the points for them. The later ones belong entirely to the writing committee not Gods word.
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  43

  Dumb Elders

  by minimus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i knew a few pretty intelligent elders .

  sometimes i would wonder why they remained as elders or even witnesses because they were successful men who made a good living and were highly respected because of their qualities.. that is a rather small group.

  most elders that i know of aren’t the brightest bulbs in the sky.

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  BluesBrother

  Back in the day, when I was first appointed (prematurely ) to the BOE there were a bunch of elders that were indeed smart. They had intelligence, worldly experience prior to becoming dubs, and management ability to handle the cong. We had a lot of laughs among ourselves, the meetings were often fun too.

  As time went by things changed. The Borg became more controlling and the newer elders were born-ins who could simply follow rules. Often tbey lacked gbe ability to think on their feet so meetings became dull since they could only say what they had prepared. Often they lacked confidence, that is why I can well believe tbe experience given by 'Mum' earlier about her elder husband.

  So, "Dumb?".....that is a simple stereotype but to say they lack good judgement, self confidence, teaching ability and tact would certainly be true.
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  12

  Loyalty to God ( or the Society ) Before The Familiar

  by BluesBrother in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  this week's midweek meeting has an item on this theme.

  as usual there is a video to show:-.

  https://www.jw.org/en/library/videos/#en/mediaitems/vodbibleprinciples/pub-jwbai_201611_1_video.

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  BluesBrother

  This week's Midweek meeting has an item on this theme. As usual there is a video to show:-

  https://www.jw.org/en/library/videos/#en/mediaitems/VODBiblePrinciples/pub-jwbai_201611_1_VIDEO

  If you don't watch it, there is a familiar story , son grows up, challenges beliefs, leaves home and disassociates. ..This highlights the mother's pain and heartache as she loses her son . But- loyalty to uphold the shunning must come first.

  This will cause a few tears to families in this situation. And it does show what I saw time and again when I was in. That disfellowshipping hurts the family that are left in too.

  It is easy to say" More fool them for following it" and yes, that is right. But they are victims. . Victims of a controlling organization that they believe speaks for almighty God. Perhaps they really believe that this will bring their loved one back into the fold?

  Whatever.... everybody suffers.

  [Edit.. Sorry for the typo in the title, should have been Family. Darned auto-correct ]
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  7

  Funeral talk

  by dothemath in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  i was recently present at a witness funeral (by zoom) and the brother did do a nice talk about this sister who passed away.

  her and her husband had pioneered for many years, but she succumbed to cancer.. in his closing remarks, of course he talked about the resurrection, and remarked how the husband (still alive) would soon be back together with his wife.. certainly fine thoughts, but imagine if this guy ended up getting remarried?

  isn’t that putting a lot of pressure on someone, when it isn’t even mentioned in the bible at all?.

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  BluesBrother

  The opening post makes a fair point. Funeral talks try to encourage faithfulness so as to be there to greet the dead one when ressurected. I suppose it would sound crass if he said to the husband...." You can look forward to seeing her again, if you want to, or not if you have found another nice woman that you want to marry"

  On the subject of marriage , the WTS used to be adamant that the ressurected would not be available to marry, taking Jesus' words on the subject. In recent years ,however , they decided they could not be sure about that and left the door open to the hope that many have, to re-marry their deceased spouse.
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  15

  Shepherding visit

  by donnye in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i cannot seem to find any information on which elder/s are assigned to do a shepherding visit on a congregation member.

  does one of them have to be the member's field group leader?

  can any elders do a shepherding visit at a member's request?

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  BluesBrother

  Around here , U K, they are not doing shepherding visits at all, due to Covid lockdown. It is true that any elder could, in normal times , make a visit and a publisher could request any elder , but it usually the prerogative of the group leader. They are the ones supposed to be lookin g after the "sheep"

  In practice, my wife, an active member has not had a sheperding call in years . It seems they can't be bothered.. it does not show on their report, they get no credit for it so , it is the first thing left to slide.
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  10

  JDub Beer

  by HappyDad in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  just thought i'd put this out there.

  this is from a brewery in sarasota, florida..

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  BluesBrother

  Holy moly! Peppermint milk chocolate Porter......Sounds Yuk

  a travesty to a real drought beer drinker

  still, each to his own, I guess. Somebody must like it
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  8

  Are any books being placed anymore?

  by joey jojo in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  a recent post by atlantis/ petra was about destroying old books, some of which had been studied and placed over the years.. is witnessing these days only about directing people to jworg, are there books that are placed, or is hq concerned enough about having ever-changing beliefs in print that they avoid it?.

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  BluesBrother

  I can’t see that they have featured a book in the Ministry in recent times. I suspect that is down to cost.

  The technique seems to be 1) brochures 2)study the brochure 3) only then introduce a book

  [Edit.. Good grief ! The prices asked on that eBay link, for recent books are ridiculous......

  the stuff lying around this house must be worth a fortune]
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  28

  I miss old posters!

  by Biahi in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  blondie, flipper, shirley w, where are you?

  did this site get too republican for you?

  i just take those threads with a grain of salt..

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  BluesBrother

  This thread brings back some great memories of some old timers like Alan F , Englishman, Lady Lee, Jan H and the aforesaid Leolaia. There was more depth and some cracking debates with Watchtower apologists who used to pop up on here.

  However, those days are gone. I still find a lot of good stuff on here , it keeps me checking in every day

  Now the U S Election is over, let’s make this a place of “peace and goodwill to all men”

  Seasons greetings to all ..
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  22

  Jehovah delivers sand for a Kingdom Hall project in Micronesia

  by RULES & REGULATIONS in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  you cannot make this up: financial help and the hand of jehovah complete project.

  january 2016 jw broadcasting..... video starts at 35:30. a local design construction department manager named travis brooks tells a story about a building project on the island of yap, micronesia.

  a small kingdom hall needs to be expanded because the facility wasn't big enough for those in attendance.

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  BluesBrother

  Over the years I have heard all sorts of contrived experiences that purportedly prove that Jehovah’s blessing is on a project, be it a Kingdom Hall , Assembly Hall or whatever.

  My wife and I always exchanged looks that said “oh yes”? With a questioning expression. Sometimes the coincidence was minor, sometimes big but it could always be seen as just a coincidence.

  Here a typhoon appears on cue, not to damage the precious project but just enough to deliver the sand. Is Jehovah responsible? Like Prospero In Shakespeare’s “ The Tempest”

  If he were, consider the damage this typhoon must have done elsewhere, they escaped but somebody must have copped it. Are they saying their God is willing to hurt , even kill people just to supply building materials?

  That is not the god that I know.
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  28

  Announcement December 3, 2020 FOR CONGREGATIONS

  by pixel in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  announcement.

  december 3, 2020. for congregations.

  1. covid-19 vaccine information: several covid-19 vaccines may soon be approved and.

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  BluesBrother

  Thanks Pixel. That ties in nicely with the thread about their past opposition to vaccines.