we all remember one of the arguments the society used to make christmas look bad.. they said christendom at this time of the year, see's jesus as a little baby in a manger (nativity scene), rather than the king in heaven he now is.
that's a lie.. ask any christian on this planet if they think jesus at this time is a little baby in a manger.
if he was, then mary is back on earth taking care of him and herod is out looking to kill him.
Scully said: For anyone who has children, and doesn't spend a few moments on their birthdays remembering what they were like when they were born, it just doesn't seem natural. The great thing about remembering them as newborns is taking pride in the people they have become.
So trrue, spoken by a true mom.
OC
feeling pretty smug.. a couple of months ago i cancelled my dd to the society.
i have since been waiting to be struck by lightening, but as that hasn't happened, and i do feel i want to donate something, but wanted this time to think more carefully about it.
today i decided on my charity and set up a dd.
Society's idea of charity is to help their own, and they don't apologize for it; however, the real charity really comes from the R & F. For example, the R&F offer their labor and in many cases their resources. The Society makes arrangements for supplies, building material etc. but, it is understood that when the homeowner receives money from their insurance company for the repairs than they are suppose to donate or (pay back the society) for the new roof or whatever has been done for them.
If in fact many of these people in need do that, than the Soceity should break even and who knows maybe even end up with a little extra because all the labor, administration and coordination is all done by the R&F.
I don't think I would ever give another dime till I could see a full accounting of all monies collected and paid out. Well, maybe not even than. lol
OC
i'm invited to wedding/reception tomorrow (on christmas-naturally) only reason i'm going is because its my one chance to get new shoes, dress, the whole bit at my mother's expense (since she seems to think i will find my future middle-aged elder husband at one of these functions)
i definetly plan to buy one of those mini-bottles of seagrams and get buzzed of course.
who wants to listen to 10 different speeches from family and friends about "how wonderful this spiritual union is of so and so) yawn!
I think the type of reception pretty much depends on the congragation, parents, children and what the current trend is. And of course money that is available for such an occasion. I have been to every sort of wedding reception and all of my experiences have been different from one reception to the other. I have always been a witness and have only been to one wordly wedding. So I can't really compare except to say that how much fun you have at one really depends on who is coming to the reception.
I have seen receptions where they had open bars for an hour or two and others with none and some that had the bar open all night. However, I do know that if a Witness drinks too much and the elders get wind of it, guess what, they just might find themselves being reproved, I have seen that happen a couple times, that will take the shine off the boots.
OC
good thread, I enjoyed thinking back on all those weddings, I personally always enjoyed going and socializing to whatever extent was possible.
i've been wondering what people think about this.
as soon as i turned 18 and had an income (it was disability but income just the same) my parents began to charge me room and board.
is this common practice?
I left home at 19 the fall after graduation, so the subject didn't come up; however, I am thinking my mother probably would not have charged if I had stayed and helped with the house. My father died and brother was married. I was in a big hurry to move to live life, I didn't realize how great I had it at home. Actually, part of the reason for leaving was the depression I felt about not knowing what to do next (NO College) and the dislike I had for the elders in the congregation, in fact I did not like the congregation period, so moving for that reason was good.
Personally, I feel the circumstances dictate if it is appropriate to charge rent to your child, if he is in school, either high school or college than I say no. If he is working making a living wage than yes, and if his or her pay is barely enough to put gas in the car, I suppose some amount just to teach responsibility would be good. But, like another poster mentioned, I think I would give this all back as a gift one day when my child really needed it.
OC
witnesses say that elders are appointed by holy spirit.
the bible is the product of hs and when the body prays and uses the bibles qualifications for older men in the context of the perspective candidate hs is involved in his approval or disapproval.
then when the co passes the recommendation on the gb (or who ever actually makes the decision) these spirit appointed men are influenced by hs.. all well and good, the only problem is, it does not work.
Not so sure that you were a typical elder. Personally, both prior to being appointed and after, I was beyond reproach.
Well, I guess we will have to take your word on that. Besides, that is just about how it works in the Organization. They generally ask if there is anything that would disqualify one from being a servant, so they wait and see if you own up to anything. Since we all are imperfect, I would say that all fall short of the mark, they are just not honest enought to recognize their own faults. Some may argue that some faults are more grave than another, but when you are judging people and embarrasing them and taking the association away from their families, you better be pretty close to perfection or you will have people talking about you as if you are a huge hypocrit.
OC
in a previous post by joker10, he states positive things for the watchtower empire.
we know that the stats are fake, especially those numbers of anointed remnant.
http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/6/103793/1.ashx.
I wonder what the number of barely active ones are. People like me who go to at least one or two meetings a week, show up in field service once a month but do not contribute $$$$ to any of the boxes scattered around the hall like confetti. Someone else mentione about those who checked out mentally, I am sure that represents hundreds of thousands including many elders who continue along the path just to keep family and home in tack.
OC
well i'm still a witness so i was out in field service yesterday with this brother.
our conversation hit the usual stuff cars, television, movies.
then he went on to relate how about a month ago, the two head elders (head as in, the other elders really dont matter)took him into the back room and fryed him.
Dune,
The bottom line is that JWs can never do enough. There is always some one looking on ready to critize, put down and gossip. It has been said on the board that the elders are the biggest gossips and they are right. They talk all the time about others and most of this talk is not in the context of concerned elders at a meeting, this represents recreation for them. They talk about other elders who are not in their company at that moment, they talk about brothers who are doing great financially and working long hours. As long as your friend takes their "sayings"l to heart like Jehovah himself said it, it will continue to effect him and eat away at his self-esteem, once he realizes it is just small men with little minds and lousy jobs who are jelous he will be able to say "whatever" and go on with life.
Funny thing is that there are elders in congregations who have very good jobs and put in many hours but because they do all the other stuff that is required, they keep themselves off the radar screen. Their life could be crap, but if they show up and put in the hours and meeting time, they are considered OK.
OC
.
if they see a large amount of hits on their blood brochure during the next several weeks, it will send a message to watchtower that we are aware of kerry's article.
http://www.watchtower.org/library/hb/index.htm
Yes,
I like to do that. I write a little something in each blank.
don't know who reads it , but someday one thing will get through.
OC
Nobody else at the meeting seemed to notice this major doctrine change at all, but for me it was the proof I had been waiting for.
Yes, exactly that is how saw it, and I too notice the lack of people who it registered with.
I remember being so active after high school and preaching day after day taking great care to explain these scriptures surronding "this generation" and how all these signs are fulfillment of that end is near. Than in a wink of an eye they errased all my preaching effort, well, that is how I saw it on that day. Like, what the heck was I preaching back than, it was wrong and that made everything I said wrong, now I felt like an idiot, fool!
Oh well, live in learn, I rationialize that I could of been raised by a super patriotic family who believes in going to war. I could of lost my life or become a vegatable fighting for some corupt president who decides for the country to fight a loosing battle (Vietnam, Iraq...put in any war you like) its all the same.
OC
who is this defd guy?
he keeps insisting that my being df'd is a good thing.
understand this--i don"t believe that s@#t anymore!
I dont feel DF is a good thing. It is discipline and punishment. However it can turn into a good thing IF you benefit from it. (Defd said)
Defd - I like your spirit. However, the Society can DF for lots of reasons that are not always based on the bible. For example - if you came to them and admitted you were chatting on this site and were not going to stop you would be DF tomorrow. Would you learn from this action, well perhaps you would come back, but deep down you would resent their authority over you and question why you can't have a free mind and will.
By the way, I am card holding member as well, but I given up trying to reason on their rightness, I just go along and play the game, cutting as many activities as I can to keep my current sanity.
OC
