it took a long time, but i can finally say i'm out and i took my family with me.. this is my first post but i have been reading here for a while.
i was brought up a witness, in a family that was very 'strong' (or so everyone thought).
i didnt have a relationship with my perents at all other than the 'family study'.
Great job - good man - love it. Say hi to your wife from JWD - even better to get her posting her story on here..
Thats awesome, congrats. welcome to the board.
Lookout -
Thats awesome, congrats. welcome to the board.
Lookout I like you already - welcoming newbies from your 3 post stronghold :-)
i went to vegas last week and ended up $10,000 up on blackjack - was playing at the wynn, the venetian and mgm grand.
happy days - my fellow gamblers - i salute you.. any questions?.
paul m.
Thanks Warlock - true.
i went to vegas last week and ended up $10,000 up on blackjack - was playing at the wynn, the venetian and mgm grand.
happy days - my fellow gamblers - i salute you.. any questions?.
paul m.
I've already put my everlasting life in a paradise earth at stake - whats a measly 10k between friends?
'Specially with the dollar so weak an'all...
i went to vegas last week and ended up $10,000 up on blackjack - was playing at the wynn, the venetian and mgm grand.
happy days - my fellow gamblers - i salute you.. any questions?.
paul m.
I had about $500 on me and would have taken about the same again out the ATM if reqd.
i went to vegas last week and ended up $10,000 up on blackjack - was playing at the wynn, the venetian and mgm grand.
happy days - my fellow gamblers - i salute you.. any questions?.
paul m.
How much did you lose…….big spender…..????
Mr Majestic - dude - I'm $10k UP....I didn't lose anything.
Sam will have something nice - I missed my flight home and was 7 hours late so I had to turn pictures no sound into a happy wife via the catalyst of cash.
i went to vegas last week and ended up $10,000 up on blackjack - was playing at the wynn, the venetian and mgm grand.
happy days - my fellow gamblers - i salute you.. any questions?.
paul m.
I went to Vegas last week and ended up $10,000 up on blackjack - was playing at The Wynn, The Venetian and MGM Grand
Happy days - my fellow gamblers - I salute you.
Any questions?
Paul M
i made a big effort to get to the watchtower study today.
i have not been to the meetings much for months, but i figured this was a pretty historic "study" and i wanted to see reactions and how it would go down locally.
well a few things struck me as a bit odd in the study itself, and in the audience response as well.
Great post Terry - thats a whole new concept for me right there.
about 3 months ago a jw brother slips on the steps on the way out of his local kh.
the step was mossy and slippery as a leaking gutter had been left unattended to.
this brother had pointed out to the elders that the slippy step was an accident waiting to happen for one of the olders ones.
hey Blondie - completely agree - can you imagine the asking the WTS for money just because you broke your leg? Must be spiritually weak.
needless to say this bro is not an elder - might be an older MS - not sure.
it's unconfirmed and it may be nothing more than a rumour but it seems that the congregation book study may be about to see it's demise.
i think this could have a very positive effect as far as the watchtower is concerned for quite a few years.. the mood will be lifted.
there will be a whole new evening of freedom and the brothers will be happy for it, don't underestimate the goodwill this will generate.
You miss one meeting, then you miss another meeting, then pretty much you don't miss the meetings at all....:-)
Agreed Mike - BNPL....good description...and it applies to all other 'reduce the load' type concessions.
I for one have been of the opinion that the WTS would get more hardline in their approach - I may have to modify that to include some more carrot :-)
So perhaps the new formula is less field service + less meetings + less intellectual demands, but more of don't do this, don't do that, and definitely don't do any of that....
Perhaps they are moulding their product to suit a changing customer base. Discuss.
yesterday morning i was listening to 'thought for the day', on radio 4 bbc.. a rabbi was discussing why the jewish faith had survived for thousands of years.. he pointed out that the centre of the faith was the children.
because the children were put first they wanted to stay in the faith as the faith respected them and so they respected the faith in return.. the problem with the wt society is that it puts itself first and the children are just a nuisance to be sat silent in meetings, disciplined for wriggling, talking, and just being children.
the leaders of the wt despise children and only love themselves, giving only lip service to the care children should receive and more importantly the respect children should receive.. therefore, with offspring of jws leaving the wt at the rate of only 1 in every 8 children remaining, the writing is on the wall of the watchtower society.
I think the WTS is using evermore creative accounting techniques to show rather sad 1.5% to 3% annual growth rates. Think 15 minutes of FS time, encouraging child baptism in all but name, foreign language work in Western countries to recruit immigrants etc etc. Subtract the death rate and the faders/DF'd and thats a helluva lot of new recruits just to stand still. Think about the 67% of children raised as JW who eventually leave.
Now more recently they have slashed the meeting times and reduced the hours required to pioneer.
Lets face it - its much easier to be a JW today than it was 10 or 20 years ago.
But still the WTS has to show growth in the face of a willing army of Internet volunteers who are 1000 times as committed to keeping people out as JW's are to getting people in. Also Europe has become a post-Christian society - in time America will follow. And consider the demographic makeup of the publishers is changing from a relatively rich Western one to an absolutely poor 3rd World one. Think about almost half a million JW's in Nigeria. Ouch. Wouldn't want that as my customer base. Or they have to admit stagnation/decline and change the tune to Song 666 The Love Of The Greater Number Has Cooled Off
I think the beatings will continue until morale improves and the leadership are trying carrot/stick/carrot/stick/carrot/stick to turn things around.
The WTS isn't neccessarily doomed but certainly in structural decline.
