we were supposed to be dedicated unconditionally to jehovah god.
we were willing to be persecuted to the death if need be.
if it came to taking a blood transfusion or dying, we were loyal to jehovah and would be a martyr for god.
I hate to admit it but I think I would have probably died for the faith. I do admit that when a dear sister was dying and went into a temporary coma and then woke up she asked, "Is this the new system?".
It was so pathetic I totally saw the folly of it. (She was young by the way).
in 1976 when i was a young lad of 6, fred franz came to glasgow and gave a talk in govan a suburb on the south side of the city (for those of you who dont know).
our congregation hired a bus to ferry us all to the hall and it was standing room only.
being only 6, i have only the vaguest of memories other than an old man shouting and bawling from the stage.
I met George Gangas a year or so before he died. He invited all four of our party into his tiny office in the Bethel library. He was prone to asking questions of people to make them think. He was Ancient. He asked, "What is the spiritual paradise?"
His answer? It is the degree to which we manifest the fruitage of the spirit among our brothers and sisters.
I knew then we were in trouble.
good move or bad?
?.
911? We did get punched. What did we do? We invaded Iraq instead of Saudi Arabia where the hijackers came from. All we needed was an excuse. Once we were there the Iranians had a nose to poke. I don't recall them sending planes into New York. Now that the Orange wonder has made himself Executioner in Chief I can see planes in NY again. No finesse in killing the general. An unknown sniper would have made more sense.
netflix : messiah.
remember how you felt watching close encounters of the 3rd kindfor the first time?that's what i'm feeling at the end of season 1 episode 2 ofmessiah.it's not what you think it's going to be.it's not jeffrey hunter in king of kings, or mel gibson's passion of the christ, or the left behind series, or temptation of the christ, or the greatest story ever told.. this isn't a hollywood version of anything.. folks, at the end of episode 2 i'm thinking i'm watching extraordinary storytelling fresh, original, superbly acted and -best of all: no bullshit.. don't read anything about it.
don't watch previews.
I like the way they set up individuals to manifest their own standards and beliefs, from the Israeli cop to the suicide bomber who is conflicted. The minister's daughter and mother seeking a healing for her child show how people see what they wish. Tell me Terry, wasn't it fantastic how they set the shepherd boy up as an unreliable narrator with his shepherding stories casting doubt on the big reveal at the end? You can't be sure if it is what it seems. Did you want to believe he did what they imply? That appears the gist of the whole show. I wish they left the subtitles on longer damn-it.
good move or bad?
?.
Poor John Bolton, Trump provided his dream come true a little too late.
he has been “impeached “.
will he be convicted in the senate?
is he so “damaged goods” that he is ineffectual?
Trumps biggest political enemy is his mouth.
has this guy lost it?
who thinks like that?.
i do like the usa but winters suck!
florida has some charm but it gets brutal with heat and humidity.
california is too looney.
In comfort. The SF Bay Area is ruined. I'd like to try the CA coast for a change.
growing up in scotland in the 1970s in scotland the anointed were few and far between, but we had one old dude in our cong who claimed to be one of the anointed.
in the days when it was taken seriously.. i'd be curious how you viewed them.
thing is, he wasn't an elder, or even a ministerial servant, just a plain old publisher.. but he was revered like he had a hotline to jesus.. the other week i was talking to a friend of similar age to me but who hung around the wt a lot longer than i did, and he just commented "oh him... he was a doddery old fool who used to just sit and piss himself.
When I was a boy, in the 1960's, there was an elderly couple who were revered as anointed. Each year everyone would crane their necks to see them partake. It was VERY unusual to see an anointed person in kingdom halls even then. They were a nice old couple but not anything special among us. I have no idea what happened to them. Since anointed people were OLD in my experience, I had a suspicious view of anyone who claimed to be anointed if they were younger than the Culicks.
There was one lady in the 1970's who claimed the call. She was in her early 40's. She said she heard a voice calling her name. It was Jehovah!
Right then I figured she was a nutjob. In the 1990's she was involved in a major purge of "Rockers" in the Bay Area. It was a group of "anointed" individuals who would sit and read the Bible and then rock back and forth when they found a new truth. The society star chamber hunted them and DF'd them all. Good times.
this is an hypothetical question...i am doing well.
but i was thinking about how my jw family, grandchildren and all will feel when their inactive grandfather dies with no hope of being reunited in paradise.
of course there would be immediate rejoicing if i came back to the "truth" and a surge of conditional love from the "friends".
Their religion means nothing to them in general. Being legalistic they don't have to really "Care" about anyone. All your eventualities are spelled out for them:
1. Die worldly = resurrection. Death pays for sin.
2. Die inactive = resurrection.(Without sin against HS)
3. Die baptized = resurrection
4. Die DF'd & practicing sin. = Gehenna, no return.
So where do you fit in?
If they don't give a damn about you now what makes you think they would feel any different when you die? So, no I would not return for them or anyone else.
