Posts by tim3l0rd

10

Tampa Bay Times: Jehovah's Witnesses still going door-to-door in a closed-door world

by AndersonsInfo in

jw
friends

http://www.tampabay.com/news/business/workinglife/jehovahs-witnesses-still-going-door-to-door-in-a-closed-door-world/2231499.

st. petersburg like any group of spirited salesmen, this crew swaps stories about the big scores, those times when people couldn't wait to buy what they were selling..

"we were out in service on sept. 11," remembers power-suited jonathan burns, his colleagues nodding.

tim3l0rd

Hopefully this doesn't "out" me, so I'm going to be as vague as possible. I actually know Jonathan and Mary mentioned in this article. What kills me is that they are looked up to as a fine example that everyone should follow and are touted on assembly parts etc., but their circumstances are so different than most JWs. Mary is part American Indian. She gets a stipend from her tribe (was even given an Indian name so she could get this) because the tribe is very wealthy (I forget which tribe or how much). Her college was paid for (I don't know if she actually went) and I believe she even would get more if she graduated from college. Jonathan is a sub-CO and both pioneer. Well if most JWs had their circumstances, maybe all could accomplish what they have.

I hate that they are put on a pedestal in this borg for basically just having the right circumstances... smh

20

Street Witnessing - did you ever do it?

by Muddy Waters in

i remember in our congregation, there were a few older pioneer sisters who would start counting their time early - even before the service arrangement - by standing at a street corner and holding the magazines up in front of them and hoping that any passersby might stop to take one on their way to work or whatever.

as a fresh, new dub, i had heard about this "street-witnessing" work, but there was only one time i ever actually saw one of these older sisters doing this.

and even then i was shocked and embarrassed for her.... because this poor old sister was standing there, all by herself, holding up the watchtower & awake magazines, yet looking as sad and depressed as she could possibly ever look, her whole mouth was turned down just totally sad as she stood there, observing all the "dead" people walking around, hurrying to catch buses, get kids to school, get to work, etc.

tim3l0rd

I did early morning witnessing many times. We would drive around and find people waiting for buses or otherwise looking unoccupied and offer them magazines or tracts to read (usually older issues). I even had a return visit or 2 with some gas station personnel. Every now and then we would frequent the downtown bus stations (they were all on one street) and walk up and down looking for someone that we could talk to.

I actually enjoyed these methods of preaching much more as I wasn't normally in the hot sun and I actually found people to talk to and not just another 'not at home'. I'm a very outgoing person and if nothing else have at least been very well trained for public speaking by this org. I try to look on the bright side and get over the anger/hurt.

10

Wanted to Share a Watchtower Quote with you

by FusionTheism in

just thought this was interesting and wanted to see all of your thoughts and opinions on it.. watchtower, november 15, 2014, simplified study edition, pages 11-12:.

9 let us examine the words of three brothers who for many years have worked closely with members of the governing body.

one brother mentioned: while this has indeed been a unique privilege of service, the close association has from time to time revealed that, although spirit anointed, these brothers are imperfect.

tim3l0rd

I can deal with imperfect men. The problem is whether this is or ever was "God's Organization". Misquoting and taking quotes out of context is a dishonest practice that I don't believe God's organization would do on a regular basis. One should not be deceived into believing something. There are no examples in the bible of God's people being misled with a wrong teaching that "strengthened their faith" even though it was wrong. Jesus also spoke of humility and it is hard to find humility at the top of this organization.

4

Abraham, Isaac, Jacob are IN the Kingdom of Heaven?

by FusionTheism in

the new jesus book ("the way, the truth, the life"), page 92 says this:.

"once jesus has performed that healing, he uses the occasion to confirm that non-jews of faith will be favored with blessings, saying: many from east and west will come and recline at the table with abraham and isaac and jacob in the kingdom of the heavens.

what about faithless jews?

tim3l0rd

Poor writing. I have found that to be an issue with many of their doctrines. They simply skip certain things and don't explain what the scripture means or what they think the scripture means. Many times I've had questions during my personal bible reading and tried to research a scripture only to find that there are no articles written to explain the scripture that I had questions on. Really that was a big reason why I started looking outside the org.

I don't think the doctrine has changed. I think they are just pointing out that the Jews of the first century that reject Jesus' teachings miss out on going to heaven and the conveniently skipped the part about "Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the Kingdom of the heavens.”

25

Would you like to live for ever on earth?

by fulano in

i was discussing this topic with two friends of mine, ex jws, a few nights ago.

i think it would be boring after a while.

you can't smoke, have to drink with moderation (difficult in europe with all the wines).

tim3l0rd

I would like to live forever. I never believed that we would be limited to this earth. The universe is a vast place and there is more to see than we could see even if we lived forever. It's constantly changing: new stars being formed, new solar systems, etc. We've only just scratched the surface of our own planet. There are many more discoveries to be made. I always believed that God gave us minds to invent and problem solve and eventually to leave this planet.

39

Does What We Say Here Or In Person Really Help JWs To Get Out Of The Religion?

by minimus in

jw
friends

if we are in the congregation, do you think our comments or questions actually reach elders or others in the congregation?

do our comments on this board affect witnesses to the point of questioning their faith?

tim3l0rd

I think what we say helps. This site, reddit, jwfacts, and Crisis of Conscience all helped me. I wouldn't have known about Crisis of Conscience if it wasn't for this site and others. Now I'm trying to research more and hone my skills as far as socratic questioning to help others.

5

The Governing Body is indicted.

by John Aquila in

the governing body of the watchtower is not as immune as they might think..

anything can happen at any time to any organization no matter how big, how powerful, how religious or how long they been involved in wrongdoing.. .

fifa, the powerful and polarizing governing body for soccer, came under prosecutorial assault from two fronts wednesday.

tim3l0rd

One could only hope. I really hope this happens before other major religions are attacked/indicted. It would destroy their whole timeline of events of the last days. Hopefully many witnesses would question why the Borg was attacked before Babylon the Great and the facade would come tumbling down.

26

What on earth have the JW org got to offer?

by Half banana in

what on earth have jw org got to offer?.

one hundred and thirty six years this july of the worlds most published and least read magazine: the inglorious watchtower.

nothing in it which is original has been of any use to mankind.

tim3l0rd

John_Mann:
And the articles are getting worser.

Well you obviously didn't read enough Watchtowers to get your BA of Arts equivalent degree. lol

10

Type and Anti-Type, the killing of the Faithful and Discreet Slave. Whats thier angle and how do they spin out of this one?

by Crazyguy in

it would seam that the changing of the type anti-type teaching kills their claim as the faithful and discreet slave class as it is only a parable according to peter at luke 12:41. obviously i don't think they will ever come out and actually say that the f&ds is just a parable, so when one asks what will the answer be, to spin out of this obvious problem?.

also what do you think is the reason for the change in this teaching?

is it more to do with getting rid of doctrine that can be criticized or could it be that they are trying to make it as though they are really not in control of the congregations so as to say we aren't responsible when the prosecution comes knocking over future pedophile case?

tim3l0rd

I found it interesting/telling that they have study articles focused on the 3 parables after the one about the faithful and discreet slave, but skip right over the parable about the faithful and discreet slave. I'm so done with this GB.

16

2015 Regional Conventions Baptisms

by Gayle in

jw
friends

since this is the first weekend of rcs, anyone going that can give estimates of how many are getting baptized, how many appeared about that were jw youth, and what attendance figure is at these rcs?.

i know u.s. baptisms are declining.

can any keep a running report?

tim3l0rd

2014 numbers seemed to jump. I think the biggest reason was the hype over the 100 years of kingdom rule. I sincerely hope that the numbers go negative this year.