Posts by careful

23

Is the term "worldly" outdated?

by A.proclaimer in

jw
friends

yesterday i had to listen to the co from a spanish congregation on the phone.

he said the fds has been gradually moving away from the word "worldly" and teaching jws not to use the term anymore.

has anyone heard this in their congregation or heard the term "non-believers" used before?

careful

blondie,

So when did the change occur? Surely it was used for people in the publications back when I was in.

One observation. It only occurs in the NWT (old and new editions) at Titus 2:12 where it refers to "worldly desires." Could this lie behind the change to apply it only to non-persons?

There does not seem to be a handy replacement. "Oh, he's so non-JW" or "My, she's terribly unbelieverly" just doesn't cut it. Perhaps it's one of those tings they will limit in print but go on tolerating among the R&F because there is no convenient alternative.

63

Watchtower crackdown on anointed expansion - are they reaching for a solution to the expanding numbers problem?

by slimboyfat in

if this has been discussed i missed it.

i think the january study watchtower is a concerted attempt to reduce the numbers claiming to be anointed.

but i love the sneaky way they go about it this time.

careful

Both millie210 and prologos have valid points. M210's words "deliberately vague in print" and prologos's "every word is carefully chosen" need not be mutually exclusive. Yes, SBF may well be on to something. These WT study articles are indeed carefully written and worked over repeatedly by the time they appear to the R&F. On the other hand, the "anointed" topic itself is steeped in mystery.

Why is it that this "anointing process" (nice pick up on that term, prologos) has never been described by those who have gone through it? All the current GB members started proclaiming their anointed status by partaking of the emblems at one memorial observance, in a specific act at a specific time, that is, they came out of the closet from previously being just one of the other sheep. Almost all the R&F plebeians would love to know just what this entails (see one of the few threads I've started here: http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/topic/4881263357853696/rick-tunon). So why have those in power intentionally kept this matter that the Witness masses crave to have revealed so secret? Surely they too must have wondered about it themselves when they too were merely one of the other sheep. Doesn't it strike you as odd that this secrecy has existed for years when nearly all the masses would love to have it solved? Why is it kept so "deliberately vague" in spite of the natural curiosity about it?

16

2016 Yearbook service report stats - Excel spreadsheet download available

by Westenddave in

hello,.

i've posted the 2016 yearbook service report in excel format for public download.

here's the link: http://www.filedropper.com/2016yearbookofjwinexcelformat.

careful

truthlover:

Worldwide Memorial partakers:

2013 was 13,204

2014 was 14,121

2015 was 15,177.

7

JW mother wants to send her son to a mental institute for being atheist & wanting to go to college

by Khaleesi in

i am not sure if this was posted before.

i am the mother of an 10 year old and i would have never treated my son like this for wanting to go to college, believes in evolution & is an atheist...i am disgusted how this jw mother can't see how her son has the freedom of thought or religion.... this poor kid most likely does not do drugs or is in a street gang, he just wants to go to college for crying out loud.... this is insane, just shows how a religion or organization blinds all logic from you... it's a cult..... i know there are many cult jws parents out there who would do this, its insane and disgusting.... where is the love you say you should have towards your children?

this is straight out abuse.... read the article but scroll down for the recording.... .

careful

We all knew plenty of crazy sisters (and brothers!) when we were in, right? So should this be somehow surprising?

25

When did district conventions become regional conventions and why?

by slimboyfat in

i think it was gary and heather bottings' book the orwellian world of jehovah's wifnesses that noted the function of the habit of the watchtower organisation of changing organisational terminology periodically.

congregations became companies and then back to congregations again.

circuit overseers became circuit servants and then back again.

careful

It keeps the average R&F member focused on petty terminology that does not really matter. Jehovah forbid that they should think about something significant, like biblical doctrine, the hypocrisy of their leadership, fairness, etc.!

7

Yahweh and Baal

by opusdei1972 in

this is what we can read from the jewish encyclopedia:.

the name ba'al (), apparently as an equivalent for yhwh, occurs as an element in a number of compound proper names, such as jerubbaal, ishbaal, meribaal, etc.

some of these names, probably at a time when the name of baal had fallen into disrepute (comp.

careful

Isn't "baal" just one of several words for "Lord"? So then shouldn't we expect to see it used differently in different contexts?

19

"Freeness of speech"

by Wonderment in

this was posted on another thread (http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/topic/6040010839031808/christmas-tree-word-appreciation), but wondered about how others here would see this with one experience i had as an elder now as ex-jws.. when we were jw's we had to be extremely careful with what we said around the brotherhood.

if someone said anything out of the ordinary, relationships among the involved were halted immediately, or were never the same afterwards.

in this place, one can say almost anything without the fear of having a truck run over us.

careful

I left before the emphasis on strict standardization became the norm, before that directive on closely adhering to the public talk outlines. I was speaker coordinator and scheduled myself to speak out in places where the bros. knew I added interesting material to the outline and I scheduled bros. into our congo who I knew worked up a lot of their own research. In both cases the publishers clearly appreciated it. I both had many people come up to me afterward with positive comments about my own material and I witnessed publishers at my home congo do the same to bros. who did likewise. Such ones were more apt to be invited out to eat too, or I'd get requests to invite them back. But I know what has happened since with the GB and their lackeys being obsessed with controlling every bit of everything. FEAR is the power structure's motivation for all things: "we must be in control!"

We used to have several musician bros. to who would play piano or other instruments during the songs at meetings. Again the congregation loved it, singing more from the heart, but those went by the wayside too with those generic recordings. The GB and their lackeys are absolutely set on making everything generic (boring) and lacking in any semblance of originality. Hence the plummeting in real interest and, now, in results from the ministry! DUHHH.

11

Names of GB's wives?

by Esse quam videri in

does anyone know the names of the gb members wives?

where could i find them?

just curious!.

careful

According to this anti-tight pants Tony's wife is named Susan as well.

http://www.jw.org/en/publications/magazines/w20150515/remembering-first-love-for-jehovah/

More are given here.

http://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/2000007

There was some rumor here that Geoffrey Jackson had married 2-3 years ago along with a pic, but I don't think the woman's name was given.

http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/topic/264961/fds-gb-member-geoffrey-jacksons-wife-looks-young?page=3&size=10

Mark Sanderson is single, I think.

Curious, EQV, why is this important to you?

9

Jesus 40 day fast, what really happened?

by Formerbrother in

https://www.jw.org/en/publications/magazines/watchtower-study-march-2016/questions-from-readers/.

did satan physically take jesus to the temple when tempting him?.

put simply, we cannot be certain whether jesus actually stood in the temple or he did so only by means of a vision.

careful

The Cotton Patch Version reads here:

Then Jesus was taken by the Spirit into the country, to be given a test by the Confuser. And after a forty-day fast he was plenty hungry. Well, the Confuser comes around and said to him, "So you're God's Head Man, huh? The order these stones to become pones." But Jesus told him, "The Scripture says, 'A man shall not live on pone alone, but on every word falling from the lips of God.'"

...

Again, the Confuser gets him way up on a high mountain and points out to him all the nations in the world and their splendor, and he says to Jesus, "Now if you'll just let me be boss, I'll turn all this over to you." Then Jesus tells him, "Scram, Satan!"

That clears it up, eh?

25

JW's have he lowest tolerance for LGBT

by EdenOne in

according to a pew research survey ... and it has evolved little since 2007.. eden.

careful

SBF:

When ... JWs are the only ones left discriminating

Like the Mormons, the Southern Baptists, the Missouri Synod Lutherans, the Presbyterian Church in America, and in the UK the Plymouth Brethren? Don't hold your breath waiting for any of these groups to budge on homosexuality.