an average of five kingdom halls being constructed daily, almost 8 million brothers and sisters, dissemination of bible literature in 595 languages, 111,795 congregations worldwide, distribution of 179 million bibles available in 116 languages, 239 countries where jehovah's witnesses have a presence, etc.. need i go on?.
on the other hand........... crisis of conscience, freeminds, the awaa, jw.net, ummmmmm........hmmm........idk six screens or something?
not exactly working out for you guys.
Stand for Pure Worship:
One thing that surprised me, was a couple posts which attempted to compare the growth of other religions with Jehovah's Witnesses, and I don't think that's a fair comparison.
So... that's not a fair comparison, but you imagine there's some logic in comparing a corporation run by donations and slave labour with former members who for the most part aren't remotely interested in the 'competition' you've dreamed up??
i ask this respectfully, and do so after watching a favorite show of mine's season opener which had a new years storyline.
hollywood tends to make movies and television show episodes centered around holiday themes appear warm and blissful.
while i'm thankful to have never participated in such holidays, i can't deny my curiosity about ex-jws that do celebrate.
Stand for Pure Worship:
Well, I'll be darned, someone with a name like Jeffro discovered my typo.
However, can any of you say that the holidays you've celebrated, have left you with cherished memories? Did you have an unforgettable New Years? A Thanksgiving or Christmas that will bring a tear to your eye years from now? A Valentines Day that made you forget about life's irritations if even momentarily?
Are you seriously that naive?! Most people have warm memories of such occasions. Certainly more so than any JW meeting or convention.
Any thoughts about trying to defend your religion's contradictions of their own beliefs with the new translation of Jeremiah 29:10? Or is that all too hard?
i ask this respectfully, and do so after watching a favorite show of mine's season opener which had a new years storyline.
hollywood tends to make movies and television show episodes centered around holiday themes appear warm and blissful.
while i'm thankful to have never participated in such holidays, i can't deny my curiosity about ex-jws that do celebrate.
Stand for Pure Worship:
Since leaving the truth, do you celebrity holidays, and does your participation in such bring you happiness?
The leading question is predicated on a false premise, in regard to the use of the subjective use of the words "truth" and "happiness". And "celebrity" isn't a verb.
While I'm thankful to have never participated in such holidays, I can't deny my curiosity about ex-JWs that do celebrate. Do the holidays do anything for you?
Are you genuinely that naive? If you have ever experienced any occasion where family and friends have enjoyed time together, then you should know that such times are pleasant, irrespective of the 'reason'.
JakeM2012:
SFpw, wow, at least an attempt to be humbly inquisitive. Great.
If only that were the case. There's nothing humble about the question at all. It's supposed to elicit some ethereal drivel about 'true' 'happiness'.
friends,.
who was in any doubt that our jw believe is a marketing model, see this pictures of the still existing hq of jw at columbia heights.. earlier comments on jwn that something is going to change in the organisation, these comments are true.. in a few years we will not talk about the watchtower society, we wil talk about jw.org.
i think the current leadership will make a transfer to a new start.
Stand for Pure Worship:
For one thing they have nothing to hide or distance themselves from.
Hilarious.
the new new world translation translates jeremiah 29:10 as follows:.
10 for this is what jehovah says, when 70 years at babylon are ful?lled, i will turn my attention to you, and i will make good my promise by bringing you back to this place.. the official watch tower society teaching is that by the end of the 70 years, the jews were back in judea, and that their actual arrival in judea marks the end of the "70 years".
*** si p. 85 par.
a friend, former jw like me, wants me to ask you a question.
she remembers as a child that her jw parents believed that satan could come up through any perfectly round hole and cause you to sin.
for instance, if her father built a fire ring at the beach, he purposely put a corner on it so satan couldn't catch them.
Hortensia:
My neighbors include new agers, I AMers, St. Germaine believers, UFOers, believers in Telos, redneck Tea Partiers who want to secede from California and survivalists. And that's just a small sampling.
Move.
what is the watchtower bible and tract societys view on baptism?
is it absolutely essential that one be baptized to gain eternal life in gods kingdom?.
and can they tell you who you can and cant baptize?.
Getting baptized may be of some benefit if it's a particularly hot day. Other than that, there's really no point.
so i'm thumbing through the new "silver sword" and i notice that in the appendix under "message of the bible" that it says, "about 1914 jesus hurls the serpent satan to the earth...." i can't remeber ever hearing the word "about" and 1914 placed together before in regards to this event.
are there any jwapologists, or anyone else for that matter, who have an explanation for this?.
http://www.jw.org/en/publications/bible/nwt/appendix-b/message-of-the-bible/.
minimus:
Yes, by March 26, 1918 he was hurled to the earth and he was actually thrown out Oct. 1 or 2 1914 meaning it took a long time for Satan to finally get down here!
I like the comical picture that paints. (Maybe it took so long because of the interconnecting flights from the Pleiades cluster to Earth.)
But they don't actually say he was thrown out on Oct 1/2 1914. They say 'war broke out' then, and then 'some time' after that but before March 26 1918, Satan was actually 'thrown out'. In reality, none of it makes any sense whatsoever, so it's probably best not to overthink it.
so i'm thumbing through the new "silver sword" and i notice that in the appendix under "message of the bible" that it says, "about 1914 jesus hurls the serpent satan to the earth...." i can't remeber ever hearing the word "about" and 1914 placed together before in regards to this event.
are there any jwapologists, or anyone else for that matter, who have an explanation for this?.
http://www.jw.org/en/publications/bible/nwt/appendix-b/message-of-the-bible/.
minimus:
check my 11 yr old thread about the exact date satan was hurled.
Wrong.
The source you quoted actually said "by the time of the annual celebration of the Lord's evening meal on March 26, 1918, Satan the Devil was hurled down to the earth", which means they claimed it happened some time before that date.
i recently asked my jw mother, if she believed that jesus died for her sins.
(john 3:16).
she agreed, but then added the jw party line, "you have to exercise faith also.
"We want to give deserving ones the opportunity to learn of Jehovah's undeserved kindness and the Kingdom hope."
This is why the forum needs a 'facepalm' emoticon.
