Posts by TheListener

501

Warren Schroeder from Bethel on Freddy, Kline and the apostate books!

by Dogpatch in

jw
friends

having problem pasting this...

TheListener

Gangas would always ask biblical questions like he was testing your loyalty to God or something. If there were 2 or 3 of us in an elevator with him you tried to go unnoticed so he didn't ask a question you didn't know the answer to. I think he did it to keep his memory strong.

George Couch as the most anti-gay heavy (non-GB member) I ever met. Every time he spoke at morning worship or in person he had to throw something in about homosexuality (when he said the word he would stttttreeeeeeetttttttccccchhhhhh out the pronunciation.

Anyone remember when Fred Franz would give a prayer? He would semi-whisper the entire thing and then yell out AMEN, JEHOVAH!! and scare the poop out of everyone.

I also remember (either Couch or Gangas) saying their prayers and going on and on about how great Jehovah is. Something like "oh Jehovah, you are wonderful, wise, our mighty God, our rock and counselor, mighty aqnd wonderuful Jehovah God....."on and on he'd go. I'm thinking it was Couch but I could be wrong. I do remember counting the number of adjectives.

I haven't heard many people discuss Glass or Redford (gilead registrar and instructor respectively). Glass was the model for the apostle Paul in the Revelation book. He was old and frail; his wife drove her electric wheelchair like a bat out of hell. She didn't care who she hit or how hard. Jack was a firecracker of a man. He would have been as an oil field roughneck. He always referred to groups, when he was instructing, as an orchestra. God forbid if your part of the orchestra didn't have their volume up.

Can anyone tell me where the old 360 Furman overseer is now? Devine.

283

News from Mother ship

by jefferywhat in

1. bethel in ny suspect high level apostate, cant identify it but know its there.

2. major organizational changes about to start rolling out, one is changes to the "service committee" and titles, po to be done away with, thats all i know for now.

was told that if you are the sort of person that cant handle changes, you wont stay in the org for long.

TheListener

I love this thread.

I've been faded for a few years but I will try to contact some old buddies of mine to see what's up. Since I've faded and I'm not apostate I can use their desire to save me to gather information. If I find anything out I'll post it.

By the way, perhaps the name will officially be changed to "Christian Witnesses" sort of like the corporation's name of "Christian Congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses". Just a thought.

47

Elders supposed contact DF&DA once every year???!!!???

by Quotes in

i was speaking to my mom on the phone yesterday, and despite my trying to avoid it, we got to talking about wacky jw topics -- again.

actually, it was nearly unavoidable, since she had just returned from her summer convention.

aside: nice way to celebrate your wedding anniversary, mom & dad; at an assembly!

TheListener

Just throwing my confirmation in with the others that this is has been policy for a long time. It isn't done very regularly but the CO will ask.

22

Gas Prices & Field Service

by doinmypart in

jw
friends

the reason given for combining the bookstudy with the tms and service meeting was rising gas prices.

whether that was society's true reason for the change or not, that was what the publishers were told.. if i were a publisher contemplating this coming weekend's field service activity and a near-empty gas tank, i simply would not go out.. do you think there will be a corresponding reduction in the number of field service hours as gas prices increase?.

has anyone noticed a trend in the monthly reports published in the km?.

TheListener

I'd agree WTWizard except that the WTS already gave the dubs an out for complaining about the expense of gas with the letter on the bookstudy change.

The dubs are masters at alleviating their consciences while following the rules.

22

Gas Prices & Field Service

by doinmypart in

jw
friends

the reason given for combining the bookstudy with the tms and service meeting was rising gas prices.

whether that was society's true reason for the change or not, that was what the publishers were told.. if i were a publisher contemplating this coming weekend's field service activity and a near-empty gas tank, i simply would not go out.. do you think there will be a corresponding reduction in the number of field service hours as gas prices increase?.

has anyone noticed a trend in the monthly reports published in the km?.

TheListener

Think of it from a real believing dub's point of view. They truly believe they are doing God's work.

I believe the following will result due to higher gas prices:

-Car groups will drive straight to the territory and dilly dally along the way with trying to start their time at an RV first. (remember? closest RVs to the hall always got the Saturday morning wake up call).

-Driving from one end of the territory to the other for easy time, I mean Return Visits, will drop dramatically.

-service hours will drop; hardly any truly believing dubs will fudge their service report more than an hour or so

-placements will drop due to less RVs.

-The most popular form of face to face service will be the Bible Study.

-Internet, Email, Telephone, and informal witnessing at malls, parks, etc will quickly become major time earners.

In the end we'll see less hours, less placements, more focus on alternative witnessing methods.

36

So it happened...I met with my Mom and Dad...

by Confession in

brief historical recounting.... 3rd generation of 4 generation jw family.

elder for three years.

realized "the truth" wasn't in september of 2004. tried to fade by moving from michigan to southern california in june of 2005 with my (then) 17 year old daughter (who eventually left the organization herself.

TheListener

It sounds great Confession. I'm glad it went "normal".

I'm in a similar situation with relatives - I'll be using you as an example of courage.

3

A little Google news of Watchtower sale

by Bryan in

just a little tidbit i found for anyone keeping track of property sales.

the property was sold in the scranton, pa area.

bryan.

TheListener

Did someone leave the house to the WTS in their will? How else would they own a house like that?

I didn't find anything interesting Marla Cain and she's probably not a witness just a home buyer.

72

I'm new too!

by Annointeds Daughter in

jw
friends

i'm new to the forum.

i've been lurking for some time, since i was "disconnected" by my husband, "tooktheredpill".

i'm a 3rd generation witness, and still inside of the borg, because all my family is inside.

TheListener

Welcome to JWD.

Reading your posts gave me some hope for my wife. I hope one day she'll joint me on this forum.

10

As predicted, no loosening of the reins . . .

by AuldSoul in

jw
friends

well, the new governing body is circling the doctrinal wagons and funneling information through fewer and fewer access points.

there is no loosening of the reins.

i believe those who are awaiting mainstreaming from the organization are waiting in vain.

TheListener

If the COs are truly being phased out....

At first I thought that it would send shockwaves through the congregation, certainly the body of elders. Can you imagine? No more CO visits? Picture yourself sitting on a body of elders; all the preparation that goes into getting ready for the CO visit.

Making sure the territory book is up to date and that there aren't too many unworked territories or too many territories that have been out over 6 months - if there are to many unworked territories they must be checked out to someone quickly. If there are territories out over 6 months you must check them in and re-check them out again. Doing these things keeps the records safe for review.

What about the literature counter? Don't want to have too much overstock on hand. Yikes. Magazine guys have to watch out too. How many magazines do we order for our congregation? How many publishers do we have? How many magazines are placed each month? Doing this kind of math could end up showing the true waste. The magazine brother better watch out.

What about finances? Better have everything in order and neat.

This is only a small amount of the buid up to a CO visit. The actual visit can be a real pain in the keyster. Especially if it's a new CO to the area. He won't know who's who. Yes, he received a rundown from the previous CO but that doesn't always translate well. He'll try to change things in the congregation too. Each CO has their pet peeve and you just have to deal with it until they get reassigned. Some COs want to appoint everyone, some want to appoint no one. Some COs focus only on preaching and the territory cards, others barely care about that because they're concerned with the kingdom hall funds and how much excess or lack there may be.

Basically, you can tell from each COs talks what their focus is. Regardless of whether the WTS gives them the outlines or not they fit their own twist into things.

My guess is that is one of the things the WTS doesn't like. Plus the personal loyalty that COs often receive from specific bodies of elders. The CO is kind of a superstar in the dub religion.

_____________

However, given what I said above, I don't think the congregations will notice the change much. Whether a specific CO visits or a regular specially appointed elder visits and accomplishes the same things will not much matter to the rank and file. The elder body will notice; they'll have less respect. But the rank and file will go about their business and just schluff it off as a minor adjustment. After all, it's the same thing, the only difference is that the WTS has wisely chosen to use the funds we provide them in a more efficient manner.

64

Watchtower Comments (5.26.08) PROPAGANDA & FALLACY

by V in

direct link here.

.

TheListener

That was fantastic. It really helped me to see how they use loaded language and logical fallacies in the WT. Thanks.