careful

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Posts by careful

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  19

  Prophecy question as hysteria sets in

  by Isambard Crater in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  a load of j.w's in my family and the congregation i attend as a pimo have been saying the end is very close because the anglo american world superpower is clearly still the king of the south, and russia is now clearly king of the north due to persecuting and banning the religion there and seizing property.. i've forgot what the religion used to teach and maybe still does, about the timing of all this king of north + south stuff, the attack on all religion by the u.n and then the attack on j.w's who will be left standing.

  i mean, i thought jehovah was going to put it into the u.n's minds to ban or attack all other religions, then the attack on j.w's, but witnesses seem to think the end is so, so close because russia has banned them.. it's sad, as some dubs i know have sold their homes and made other big decisions so they can pioneer in these 'very last of the last days'..

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  careful

  Fred Frantone:

  Was the book of Daniel pretending to be written in the 6th century BC or was it simply about the 6th century BC? There's an important distinction to be made. If I were to write a book about a fictional prophet in the 17th century who predicted events in our day, I wouldn't necessarily need to pretend that the book itself was written back then as well.
  

  Precisely. The fact that the org has just kept up the old rabbinic and then Protestant conservative view than Daniel had to have been written during the time of its action has little to do with reality. One might as well say that the gospels were all written immediately after the last thing they relate, the resurrection of Jesus. There is quite frequently a gap between a work's dramatic date and its date of authorship.
  
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  57

  Matthew 24:34 NEW UNDERSTANDING (January 2018 JW Broadcasting)

  by Alfred in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  david splane explains newest understanding" of 'this generation" adding a 3rd group.... .

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  careful

  The most accurate thing on the chart: the three question marks!

  It's quite interesting that Fred Franz (FWF) plays such a huge role in DS's thinking, particularly given how DS and GB II have jettisoned so much of FF's thinking during the past decade (the rev. NWT, types/anti-types, the ID of the F&DS). But then consistency has never been the org's strength, especially so with the current group in power. I'm sure that in their minds it seems quite consistent with a "chariot on the move"...
  
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  13

  The Christian Congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses of Namibia and legal problems

  by TerryWalstrom in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  the christian congregation of jehovah’s witnesses of namibia has asserted its right to be exempt as an "employer" for purposes of payment to those who work on its behalf, nor are they responsible (they claim) for filing any social security documents as to wages, hours worked, withholding, etc.in 2014, the congregation asked to be de-registered as such.____it didn't go so well.____on the 16 june 2014, authorities replied to the jw's request by confirming that the appellant is considered an employer in terms of the ss act and consequently should be registered with the employees’ compensation fund established by the employees’ compensation act, 1941, as well as having the order register its members with the maternity, sick leave and death benefit established by the ss act___a ping-pong protest and response commenced with multiple requests for clarification by the dubs and protestations and requests for appeal, etc.____authorities decided this matter was best handled by visiting the premises and investigating for themselves what goes on.____after the "visit" by authorities, nothing was offered by the dubs to change any minds.___the jw's continued to whine and protest and appeal, etc.____the authorities examined the congregation's appeal and made the following evaluation:== in the respondent’s listed grounds of opposition, it noted that the appeal filed by the appellant is not proper as it failed to complete the form 11 as contemplated in rule 17(2)(a) of the rules of this court==___jw's protested and appealed the appeal response which didn't appeal to them.___arguments continued until the following finding was released:the labour amendment act stipulates that:18 ‘for the purposes of this act or any other employment law, until the contrary is proved, an individual who works for or renders services to any other person, is presumed to be an employee of that other person, regardless of the form of the contract or the designation of the individual, if any one or more of the following factors is present:(list of factors attached)____blah-blah-blah-blahfinally:the ss act does not provide for de-registration of employers.

  accordingly, logic follows that once an employer has been registered under this act, the obligations created in terms of this act ceases to exist only where the employer (who is a natural person) dies or becomes insolvent or is sequestrated or is liquidated or wound up (where an employer is a juristic person).

  employees may be ‘de-registered’ under that employer in the event they die or their services have been terminated._______cut to the chase:accordingly, the appellant cannot pick and choose which laws should apply to them and which not.

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  careful

  Thanks for the post, Terry, and, Ernest, for the link.

  Likely the GB are afraid that this might set a precedent that other governments would learn of and then start taxing Witnesses elsewhere for SS. That's something they really do not want, not only for financial reasons but because it would potentially make the WTS liable to further government control, like demanding their financial records. That would be really scary for them.
  
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  61

  2017 Service Year Report Worldwide - INDIVIDUALLY LISTED LANDS and COUNTRIES

  by darkspilver in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  now available:.

  2017 service year report worldwide: table with individually listed lands and countries.

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  careful

  Thank you, Darkspilver. There is plenty to digest here! I wonder what the GB's motives were for being so straightforward in releasing a report full of such bad news in certain areas. Generally they so love to candy coat things.
  
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  24

  How many anointed have come and gone; how many remain?

  by Moster in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  just wondering if there is any data about how many anointed there were in say 1914, and considering most would have passed 'beyond the veil' already, are the jw's numbers adding up?

  we know there are more in 2017 then there were in 2016, but just where are we in the grand total column?.

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  careful

  First, how can anyone know how many Christians there were in 100 AD? This web page has widely different estimates, but 1 million seems WAY too high:

  http://blogforthelordjesusreferenceshelf.com/2015/01/16/notes-on-population-in-biblical-times/
  

  Larry Hutado puts the total number at 7 to 10 thousand in 100 AD. Matt Hauge, 50,000. Robert Wilken at 10,000.
  
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  23

  Does a jw have to miss counting time for 6 months to be inactive

  by blondie in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  how many months consecutively does a jw have to miss turning in time to be inactive?.

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  careful

  What? SBF and Morpheus agree on something? I've got to mark this day on my calendar...
  
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  34

  Strange

  by Jrjw in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  a couple of times at the meetings this year we've been told that in the future we might get some strange directions from the society that might not make any sense to us.

  then they've said will we show our loyalty to jehovah by still obeying?

  seems a rather unusual thing to say.

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  careful

  I'm certainly NOT defending their words or position here. That said, they seem to have in mind the exodus from Egypt as a prophetic pattern for how the end will come. That is, they would say that the Israelites were told to do something that looked crazy: go down into the dry Red Sea with the waters held back supernaturally. It looked like suicide, yet it led to their deliverance.

  Again, please don't attack the messenger here. But if you want to try and understand their perspective, that's probably it. I'm sure plenty of condemnation of this analysis will follow my post!

  On a more current note, this MAY be an indication as to how they plan on "dealing with" the publicity if the record of their handling of the child abuse crisis gets genuine widespread press coverage, far more than it has. They could then just tell the R&F to not listen to or believe any of it, in effect, what they have been saying in the small way that the publicity has been given so far. In other words, they may be gearing up for "battle" in some big way, at least in their minds.
  
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  24

  How many anointed have come and gone; how many remain?

  by Moster in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  just wondering if there is any data about how many anointed there were in say 1914, and considering most would have passed 'beyond the veil' already, are the jw's numbers adding up?

  we know there are more in 2017 then there were in 2016, but just where are we in the grand total column?.

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  careful

  Correction: the JW org website now has the 2017 partaker stat:

  Memorial Partakers Worldwide: 18,564.

  That's up by over 500 from the 2016 number, 18,013.
  
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  24

  How many anointed have come and gone; how many remain?

  by Moster in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  just wondering if there is any data about how many anointed there were in say 1914, and considering most would have passed 'beyond the veil' already, are the jw's numbers adding up?

  we know there are more in 2017 then there were in 2016, but just where are we in the grand total column?.

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  careful

  Sour Grapes, where in the world did you get this?

  At the end of the first century, there were over 1,000,000 Christians.

  As for any statistics for Memorial partakers for last year, knowing that depends on whether GB II decides to share that info or not. It hasn't happened yet.
  
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  60

  2017 Service Year Report Grand Totals

  by Drearyweather in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  2017 figures released to bethel families worldwide:.

  peak publishers: 8,457,107. total baptized: 284,212 .

  regular pioneers: 1,225,279 .

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  careful

  "Implementing non-construction solutions such as merging or relocating congregations"—well, that's sure doublespeak for "we're shutting down a lot of congregations and selling off plenty of KHs"
  
  More doublespeak: "Significant features of the service year report will soon be available on jw.org." In other words, we're not going to tell you anything that's negative in our eyes! No more real disclosure of the ministry numbers.
  
  SBF: according to the pic here: https://www.jehovahs-witness.com/topic/6248588200902656/life-saving-message
  
  it would not be boring at all to work the carts now: just be sure you've got your smartphone! You can rack up hours playing video games, catching up on email, going on facebook, etc. Pioneering looks easier than ever!
  
  You are spot on here: "there is a bifurcation taking place between JW skeptics on the periphery and hardcore JWs who are becoming more committed."