i’ve not been paying close attention to watchtower developments, but talking to a jw yesterday it occurred to me the society (yes, still use that term - old school) have been sending out mixed messages in recent years.
from what i gather, a few years ago the gb announced that during the great tribulation jws would be required to preach a “hailstone message of judgement” which involved telling people it was too late for them to repent and they were definitely going to be destroyed.
there were hints that this could be very soon, “any day now” preaching could stop and the hailstone message come in, kind of thing.
Although they now hold out hope for previous non supporters that even during the GT , the door remaining open…..but in order to be saved those people still have to “ turn to Jehovah “ and humbly approach the Watchtower and ask to join.
I don’t know but perhaps a hard message might be something like “ there’s no alternative now. You have to join us or get fried!”
That would go down well ?….
there is a new approach to ministry where the direction is to just talk to people and listen to what they want to talk about.
the new school for the midweek meeting is completely different and is all about the new approach .
even before the no reporting changes field service dropped right off.
“In one of the videos a sister said she loves the new way, she just talks to people about anything and doesn’t bring up the Bible at all.“
Yes , these women are good at talking about anything, or nothing!
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2024/feb/17/fiction-opened-my-eyes-author-jodie-chapman-on-growing-up-as-a-jehovahs-witness?fbclid=iwar3slqo_dfedknxgy9c9hf50ppxz_lhzca12xmv0q3jpnxdgldptlirv8o0.
I have read a lot of these accounts of celebrities telling of their terrible childhood in the JW , eg. Rebekah Vardy , and I have struggled to recognise the organisation that I know and grew up in. However, this account you must admit tells it the way it is .
I see nothing here that is untrue. It is just stated bluntly and without the Watchtower gloss. Yes , this girl is right .
I read Orwell too but after I had awoken and the similarities were obvious.
this is the magazine that presents some of the 'new light' from the oct. 2023 annual meeting.
it discusses some of the things they have now decided they don't know and revised some of the things they do know, or think they know.
when they start discussing some of the things they do know, most of them are still guesses and they use qualifiers.
Mind you, it seems that apostates like us are still for the chop … according to their way of thinking
“ And the apostle Paul warned that unrepentant apostates would not be resurrected.—Heb. 6:4-8; 10:29.”
this is the magazine that presents some of the 'new light' from the oct. 2023 annual meeting.
it discusses some of the things they have now decided they don't know and revised some of the things they do know, or think they know.
when they start discussing some of the things they do know, most of them are still guesses and they use qualifiers.
Reminds me of American politician Donald Rumpsfeld when he said
“ because as we know, there are known knowns; there are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns; that is to say we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns—the ones we don't know we don't know”
i used to be here a lot.
every single day almost.
and then i wasn't.. well let's start with a before.
Thanks for all you have done for us Lee Marsh , aka Lady Lee . You have come through a lot and won our respect…..
an interesting video was on youtube with a person claiming that the memorial date for 2024 was wrong.
so i consulted three different jewish calendars online and sure enough, he appears to be right.
i went back to 2014 and forward to 2027. they have the future dates listed.
They do not follow the modern Jewish calendar in determining the memorial.
This from aQFR in 1977
” Appropriately, the date for the Memorial celebration is arrived at as the Jews back then determined the date for the Passover. They began the month of Nisan when they could first see the new moon in the spring nearest the equinox. Passover came fourteen days later.—Isa. 66:23; Ex. 12:2, 6.a
Jehovah’s Witnesses now follow this ancient pattern in determining the Memorial date. Please note that the first thing that needs to be established is when the new moon nearest the spring equinox (about March 21) will be visible in Jerusalem. “
From what I read online the new moon UK , is March 10. So 14 days on is March 24 . A snappy phrase I remember is “ The first full moon after the Spring equinox “ . That also gives their date…
Basically they are saying, never mind the Jews , we think we are right.
in the latest study article 51: enjoy a hope without disappointment, we're treated with a paragraph describing the previous president of the watchtower, frederick franz, as an example of a 'brother' who cherishes the hope of his heavenly appointment.
we are further treated with a picture of this man meant certainly to evoke a sense of reverence for him (and by extension the organizations' leadership).
the watchtower is very purposeful in how it frames any point it makes in its published work.
I don’t see it as idolising Franz although they hold him up as an example. However I find their reasoning strange. Franz was talking about his heavenly hope which is different from the hope we grew up with . They mention Abraham who , according to their teachings had an earthly hope but their is nothing to suggest he expected it in his lifetime.
We were promised that “ You will never grow old in this system “ ..... We all know how that turned out !
page 1. https://imgbox.com/54dkkeaw.
page 2. https://imgbox.com/i88bjmmp .
page 3. https://imgbox.com/dje11qjr .
“And if the legal department doesn't tell them to call police or Justice they do nothing !!!!
Isnt that what happened in a a recent USA case? They were told not to report, didn’t and got prosecuted.
just heard about khconf+ app replacing zoom for hybrid meetings at kngdom halls.
did a quick search here and didnt find any posts about it.
have i missed something?.
We used to use KHConf in the days before Covid . As I recall it was just audio but it could be video too. It was nowhere as good as Zoom. I have not heard of any change back to it . That would be deeply unpopular.
