tim3l0rd

Joined

• started 1 topics
• posted 454 times   see topics posted on
• send a message

Posts by tim3l0rd

• 
  59

  A difficult yet necessary decision

  by Brother Jeramy in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  the past five weeks have been perhaps the most painful in my life as a witness.. some months ago a young man (i'd say in his late thirties or early forties) began attending meetings at my kingdom hall.

  he had just moved to my area from another state.

  he had disassociated himself from his home congregation many years back, when he was 20 years old and going through many of the typical trials and temptations most young men experience.. two of the elders met with him initially, and they later shared the details with the body of elders.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  tim3l0rd

  Chapter 11 par 3 of the Flock book states:

  3. The committee should be careful to allow sufficient time, perhaps many months, a year, or even longer, for the disfellowshipped person to prove that his profession of repentance is genuine.

  It doesn't specifically say 6 months, but it's obviously implied that 6 months would be a minimum. In the last decade, I've not seen anyone reinstated in anything less than a year.

  During the time I was df'd, I did research about the time between writing of 1 Cor and 2 Cor and I had hoped that since the letters were written in the same year and that my sin couldn't be any worse than the one mentioned in 1 Cor 5 that I would be reinstated in less than a year.

  Nope, didn't happen.
• 
  59

  A difficult yet necessary decision

  by Brother Jeramy in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  the past five weeks have been perhaps the most painful in my life as a witness.. some months ago a young man (i'd say in his late thirties or early forties) began attending meetings at my kingdom hall.

  he had just moved to my area from another state.

  he had disassociated himself from his home congregation many years back, when he was 20 years old and going through many of the typical trials and temptations most young men experience.. two of the elders met with him initially, and they later shared the details with the body of elders.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  tim3l0rd

  BTW, it's this same policy along with some other destructive policies (higher ed, child abuse) that will eventually lead to me no longer attending as well. I'm going for now to keep up appearances and to allow me to introduce my wife to the darker side of WT. I know if I quit cold turkey that she'll no longer view me as her spiritual head and I'll lose an important advantage. If it becomes clear that I've hit an impasse, I will fade on my own.

  DA for me is not the answer as I'd forever lose any ability to inject doubt to family/friends. I don't want to play by their rules and give all my friends/family an out for not associating with me.
• 
  59

  A difficult yet necessary decision

  by Brother Jeramy in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  the past five weeks have been perhaps the most painful in my life as a witness.. some months ago a young man (i'd say in his late thirties or early forties) began attending meetings at my kingdom hall.

  he had just moved to my area from another state.

  he had disassociated himself from his home congregation many years back, when he was 20 years old and going through many of the typical trials and temptations most young men experience.. two of the elders met with him initially, and they later shared the details with the body of elders.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  tim3l0rd

  Being DF'd and the hoops I had to jump through to be reinstated is one of the things that always stuck in the back of my mind and probably led to many more doubts. There were brothers who were not elders (I think they were MS's) who were so much more compassionate to me than the elders were. When I was helping my parents with their house and these brothers were there helping as well, they actually treated me like a person and took the opportunity to express encouragement for my continuing to come to meetings. In contrast, the elders who df'd me (I moved back in with my parents and to my home congregation after being df'd) wouldn't even consider first request as they felt that my returning home was like running away and not facing up to my punishment. I was reinstated on the 2nd attempt, although I think the BOE at my home congregation did some strong lobbying.

  I once heard someone say that a person who is df'd never returns to the spirituality they had before. I now understand that. I could not return to my prior level of spirituality because I couldn't reconcile how this arrangement was loving and ok. Prior to being df'd, I viewed disfellowshipping as most JWs do- a loving arrangement, a protection for the congregation and a way to shock the sinner to repentance. After experiencing it for myself, it was so harsh and cruel that it stuck with me that disfellowshipping is not a loving arrangement. I vowed that if I was ever an elder and part of a JC I would never agree to df someone.

  I still couldn't question my beliefs because of my emotional attachment to family and friends, but had this not happened I may have never woke up.
  
  
• 
  96

  Apathy trollies in my city.

  by punkofnice in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  is it me or are people giving them a wide berth?.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  tim3l0rd

  I'm to receive "training" to have the "privilege" of manning one of these carts soon. What a joke! I'm only looking forward to it because it is way easier and will pain my conscience less than knocking on doors. At least while I'm still stuck-in, it'll make my service a little easier.

  The strange thing is that, at least in my area, it seems that each person/group is only allowed to man the cart for an hour at a time. I don't know if it's local ordinance, direction from the branch, or something that the local BOE decided. Maybe when I get the training I'll be enlightened.
  
• 
  11

  OMG They are right here in River City!

  by myway2007 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  jacksonville, fl - the local newspaper had an article on the convention going on for the next two weekends.

  while i could not find the article, i was able to find this slide show of this weekend's events.

  the newspaper article was interesting as it discussed what a wonderful job they were doing cleaning the arena seats and bathrooms and everyone was enjoying their job.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  tim3l0rd

  Numbers 4 - 8 - 12 - 16- were blank screens ? Anybody else have this problem ?
  smiddy

  Those were ads. If you have an ad blocker on, they appear blank. I turned mine off to verify... yep ads.
• 
  13

  The "generation", how long, oh Jeehoober???

  by DATA-DOG in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  how long till the wtbts gets wise and reverts to boozerford's more plausible explanation of "generation"??

  let's "face the facts" ( lol!!!

  ) and admit that this is the best explanation that the wtbts ever had.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  tim3l0rd

  oppostatean hour ago-

  Jinx Timelord you owe me a beer.

  Great minds think alike!

  If you find yourself in SC or I'm up in MA, I will buy you that beer.
• 
  5

  Watchtower's Works

  by Hold Me-Thrill Me in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  they take our trust our love our youth our family our friends our life our hopes our happiness our children our parents our vitality our minds our hearts.

  .

  then they kill us.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  tim3l0rd

  They take our trust our love our youth our family our friends our life our hopes our happiness our children our parents our vitality our minds our hearts.

  Then they Kill Us.

  That's what they claim Satan does to those that leave. How funny and sad it is to see it now from the other side...
• 
  13

  The "generation", how long, oh Jeehoober???

  by DATA-DOG in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  how long till the wtbts gets wise and reverts to boozerford's more plausible explanation of "generation"??

  let's "face the facts" ( lol!!!

  ) and admit that this is the best explanation that the wtbts ever had.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  tim3l0rd

  I think the reason for the overlapping generations is to put a new deadline on the generation teaching. Increases have been slowing and non-existent in some lands. If you look at the history of JWs, there is a significant bump in membership whenever there was a looming deadline- 1925, 1975, 1980s, & 1990s.

  The 1995 "understanding" of the generation was too broad and basically gave no timeline for the end to come. Combine this with the relaxing of views on higher education and it's easy to see why the increases slowed significantly (the internet helped too, of course). With the new understanding, this GB have put a new deadline on the "generation" (around 120 years from 1914) and have stated that the 2nd group of the "overlapping generation" is advanced in age. Combine this with the increasing restrictions on higher education and it's easy to see that they are ramping up the urgency to push more hours out of JWs and increase membership.

  I don't think they will change the generation teaching until the clock runs out or almost runs out on the current teaching (around 2034). The SOP of the last few decades is to only change an "understanding" when it is clear that the current "understanding" is no longer valid. Changing it back to the idea that it is just the anointed would remove the urgency just as the 1995 change did.
• 
  16

  About The GB-7

  by coalize in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  just asking about this "new light" of the 7 member of the governing body (the gb-7) being the fds.

  what is the point?.

  what biblical "argument" have they given about that ?

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  tim3l0rd

  The reason they gave for the FDS being the GB only and not all of the anointed is that the GB in the first century represented the FDS and "fed" the other anointed. So the FDS could not be all anointed, however all anointed receive the benefits that the FDS receives when Jesus comes as they are included in the FDS by extension.

  Clear as mud, right?
• 
  27

  My proposal for Mankind to end all doubts...

  by James Mixon in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  just watch the movie "contact" and it gave me an idea.. our population on earth today 8-9 billion, a day where all of mankind pray, beseech,.

  plead for god to show us a sign that he is still up there.

  one day all around the world.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  tim3l0rd

  If you're in to AI theories, God hasn't been created yet. Once AI surpasses human intelligence and can grow on its own, the possibilities are limitless. An ASI (Artificial Super Intelligence) would be able to grow and evolve to the point that comparing our intelligence to its intelligence would be like comparing an ant's intelligence to our own. This could occur within just a short time span after being invented/created. The ASI would have an understanding of the universe that we could not comprehend and would be able to perform godlike feats.

  If you haven't read any of the articles on AI and the potential for disaster, I recommend googling it. It's an interesting topic. Several tech innovators have gone on record about the potential dangers of AI.