Posts by sir82
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2Any news from the KM06 school?
by truthseeker in.
just wondered if anyone who has been has anything interesting to say about the kingdom ministry school.. i know those that went probably finished the last day of the school yesterday - excuse my impatience!.
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43
Elder's School Notes Part 1: Quit being so materialistic, you slackers!
by sir82 inask, and ye shall receive.. i will herewith post my notes from the km06 elders school i recently attended.
i will post this in 6 parts, to give people a chance to read smaller chunks and comment on them.. a couple of introductory notes: i wrote an awful lot of stuff, and will not post everything.
for each talk, i will post 3 sections: (1) general synopsis, (2) personal thoughts & observations, (3) particularly egregious quotations.. the primary speakers, who delivered more than 1/2 of the talks, were a circuit overseer and a guest from brooklyn bethel.. to protect anonymity, we will refer to the sadly inane circuit overseer as brother sico.. and the old-timer lifelong brother from bethel, completely out of touch, as brother bethel-coot.. one more introductory comment: it seems the main points the society wanted to send to elders were:.
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sir82
Ask, and ye shall receive.
I will herewith post my notes from the KM06 Elders school I recently attended. I will post this in 6 parts, to give people a chance to read smaller chunks and comment on them.
A couple of introductory notes: I wrote an awful lot of stuff, and will not post everything. For each talk, i will post 3 sections: (1) General synopsis, (2) Personal thoughts & observations, (3) Particularly egregious quotations.
The primary speakers, who delivered more than 1/2 of the talks, were a Circuit Overseer and a guest from Brooklyn Bethel.
To protect anonymity, we will refer to the Sadly Inane Circuit Overseer as Brother SICO.
And the old-timer lifelong brother from Bethel, Completely Out Of Touch, as Brother Bethel-COOT.
One more introductory comment: It seems the main points the Society wanted to send to elders were:
1) Education is bad, bad, bad, and the elders should "help" young ones understand that
2) Elders are not handling judicial cases correctly in a lot of cases
3) Publishers in general, and elders in particular, are becoming far too lax and materialistic
Talk #1: OBJECTIVE OF THE KINGDOM MINISTRY SCHOOL COURSE - Brother Bethel-COOT
Synopsis: Satan is attacking the congregation, elders are a restraint against this, as the first-century apostles were. Don't record these talks, or take "computer notes", or broadcast them live via cell phone, or post notes on the internet (Oopsie!)
Sir's analysis: Basic introductory material, nothing particularly controversial
Particularly egregious quotes: Nothing particularly awful, but did get confirmation of something I had heard: Fully 25% of the publishers in the US are in Spanish congregations. (Spanish congregations have great success in the ministry-Imagine what the % increase/decrease of publihers is for the English speakers, given that growth is flat in the US!)
Talk #2: CONTINUE TO PROGRESS SPIRITUALLY - Brother SICO
Synopsis: There is a current in the old system of things, we must swim against it. Not enough to just "float". Don't fall into trap of thinking "the end" is a long way off. Need to have proper attitude toward material things. Elders should simplify their lives and preach more, perhaps even pioneer.
Sir's analysis: A pointed message to elders who are slowing down in their activity. Apparently, many have the idea that the end is delaying, so they will enjoy llife as best they can now. Emphasis made that the publishers follow the elders' example.
Egregious quotes: "Some say the end is a long way off. Some friends are saving money for retirement, as if they were going to (chortle) retire in this system of things. Can you imagine what that would do to someone's zeal for the ministry? It would kill it."
"Do both husband and wife have to work? Could one reach out to do more in the ministry? The example we set affects the congregation."
"Even nibbling at the table of demons by viewing debasing entertainment can poison us."
Talk # 3: LIVE A BALANCED SIMPLE LIFE - by Brother Local Elder
Synopsis: Need to shun materialism. Be spiritual men, not physical men. Don't be overly concerned about employment--trust Jehovah, do things his way. Need to be "visible" to the congregation at meetings, in ministry. Don't give in to pressure from employer if they won't give you time off for assembly, elders school.
Sir's analysis: Same song, different tune. Too many elders are becoming materialistic, or at least want to have a comfortable lifestyle.
Egregious quotes: Nothing too outrageous here.
Talk #4: RESTRAIN YOUR EYES FROM SEEING ANYTHING WORTHLESS - Brother Local Elder
Synopsis: Beware bad entertainment. Even if you think no one is watching, Jehovah can see us.
Sir's analysis: Based on the examples used to illustrate certain "dangers", you can see where they think the problem lies:
Example 1: An elder on a business trip secretly watches porn in his hotel room
Example 2: An elder feels flattered by the flirtation of a young woman at work
Example 3: An elder's child is addicted to violent video games
Obviously, they are getting a lot of CO reports on fornication that start with porn viewing or flirtation at work. Porn will be a recurring theme throughout the school.
Egregious quotes: "Satan plays a role in the production of violent video games"
"Even a temporary or accidental brush with pornography can bring sad consequences"
Section 2 of my notes to be posted this afternoon...
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18
So, You Want To Be An Elder?
by metatron ini'm writing this in the spirit of full disclosure and honesty.
if you really want to be an elder, you should get the whole story and honestly.
weigh how it may affect your life.
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sir82
And don't forget the wonderful privileges that will be extended to you (particularly if not in the Inner Circle, or are a newbie elder)...
-- Getting to lead field service meetings on national holidays, when all other sane people are at home with their families
-- Trying to round up enough brothers to mop up your section of the assembly hall / district convention site
-- Giving "Local Needs" parts on delicate problems such as sisters wearing their skirts a half-inch too high
-- Coordinating a gaggle of blue-haired matriarchs to provide enough food for your congregation's spring cleanup day
-- Being volunteered to serve on thankless time-consuming committees (building maintenance, hospital visitation, etc.)
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17
Elders' School this weekend
by atypical ini don't know if this is true all over the country, but here they are having the elders' school this coming weekend.
i was wondering if there is anybody here who will be going.
if so, i hope we will be getting the scoop afterwards...........
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sir82
I will post the interesting points after I attend.
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14
WT "publisher" numbers in the US
by jstalin ini was looking at the info on jwic.com and realized the following about the us "publishers" numbers:.
between 1994 and 2004 the number of us publishers rose from about 900,000 to about 1,000,000. that's about 11% over those ten years, or about 1% compounded annually (well below the population growth rate).
in addition, between 1994 and 2004 about 392,000 people were baptised.
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sir82
Met,
Not so sure it is suspicious. I think it just means that baptisms, while declining, still outpace the JW mortality/turnover rate.
Example:
Year 1: At beginning of year: 1,000,000 publishers....2000 baptized, 1000 fade / DF, 500 die --> at end of year, 1,000,500
Year 2: At beginning of year: 1,000,500 publishers...1800 baptized, 1000 fade / DF, 500 die --> at end of year, 1,000,800
The number of baptisms is dropping, but the gross count of JWs still increases...until the declining number of baptisms drops below the death/turnover threshold.
I think we are just about at that point now in the US. And I see nothing happening that will reverse the declining baptism trend.
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21
JW response to latest hard line anti-education WT article?
by watch the tower inbased on some of the recent threads, it seems that the latest wt study article has created quite a stir within the congs.
for those of you that are still attending meetings and in active association with the cong, i am curious as to what the private response of individuals has been like.
i'm not talking about the usual, "wasn't that a great study?
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sir82
husband says they are not discouraging higher ed. just that you should be 'careful'
A common response here too.
Anyone with more than 3 connected brain synapses would conclude that the article most certainly condemned university education.
Persons who make such comments are, IMHO, aware of how cultic the article is. They make statements such as "they're not saying don't go to college" to convince themselves that the religion they belong to is rational and reasonable. Cognitive dissonance--if they were honest with themselves, they would realize their religion is not so.
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Sexual Abuse Memories are implanted by Satan, so Forget & Endure Them
by Gerard inthis article is ourageous!
and it is on the first page of the wt's web site!
comfort for those with a "stricken spirit"
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sir82
Wow.
Lady Lee, do you know how the courts were able to get a conviction on such a "cold case"?
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Sexual Abuse Memories are implanted by Satan, so Forget & Endure Them
by Gerard inthis article is ourageous!
and it is on the first page of the wt's web site!
comfort for those with a "stricken spirit"
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sir82
They should be reporting them to the "worldly" authorities, who will delve right into it and dig for clues, they just won't sweep the information under the proverbial rug because there were not 2 or 3 witnesses to the crime.
Sorry to be a pain, but I'm still stuck on my example (for personal reasons).
And I'm asking because I honestly don't know: Would the "worldly" authorities investigate anything in a case where a grown woman walks up to them and says "I have no proof other than my suddenly-recovered memories, but 25 years ago my father abused me"?
Obviously the accuser needs professional therapy, but as far as prosecuting the accused, would/could the authorities do anything?
Does anyone have any experience related to police / Social services investigating cases that occurred 20, 25, 30 years ago?
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Masonic Infiltration of this board
by stillajwexelder inthere are freemasons infiltrating this board.
i have positive proof.
all be careful
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sir82
I think defd is a shriner!
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9
details in comm. meeting?
by myvalk inanyone have any idea how much details of the wrongdoing the elders will be asking in a comm.
meeting?
and does refusal to answer mean im getting df'd?
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sir82
It all depends on the particular elders.
In general, they will want a lot of detail. Your willingness to open up will play a large part in the judgment. If they feel you are holding back, they will likely deem that "lack of repentance". If you lie & they catch you, you're toast.
If you want to avoid d-fing, talk a lot about how horrible you feel about damaging your relationship with Jehovah, how awful that you brought reproach on his name, etc. Tears help a lot.
If you don't care one way or the other, do as you please.