daniel-p

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Posts by daniel-p

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  60

  Real Men!

  by Legolas in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  ok from almost thread!

  "real" men drive trucks or suv's, no exceptions!

  i put my lipstick while diving, if i have to!

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  daniel-p

  Real men want to vomit when they read threads like this.
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  20

  Bethel letter about meetings, field service are mandatory for Bethelites

  by VM44 in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  does anyone have the bethel letter that states meeting attendence and field service are mandatory for bethel workers?

  .

  there is also another boe letter that states meeting attence and field service are voluntary for the ordinary jehovah's witness, because they are volunteers.. i am trying to find both letters as, together, they show bethel workers are, unlike ordinary jws, truly representatives of the watcthower .

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  daniel-p

  You are required to sign a declaration of a vow of poverty. You sign that document once you arrive at Bethel.
  
  In the Bethel application, it does ask if you watch R rated movies, listen to heavy metal or rap music. It also asks the BOE if you are "known" to do this as well.
  It also asks you if you have ever had a homosexual relationship, or molested a child.
  
  Once you arrive at Bethel you go through a 1 week training period (or a few days, I can't remember) where you work with the housekeepers on various jobs (and see how little work they actually do), and have a few meetings with a brother from the Personnel Dept. He talks with the whole new batch of Bethelites, asking them little questions, reading scriptures, giving mini-talks and so forth, just as a way to acclimate the new boys. Then you all meet somewhere on such and such a day to recieve your assignment. THrough this process you sign various forms, mostly to do with the vow of poverty thing. I can't exactly remember if there was some other thing i signed which basically stated I was giving up my right to do what I wanted and I could get thrown out of Bethel by the higher-ups if they so chose... I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure there was something like that. I have a packet of all the documents I recieved, but I didn't get copies of anything which required a signature.
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  60

  As a JW did you ever have a personal relationship with God?

  by Evanescence in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  .

  as a jehovah's witness did you ever have a personal relationship with god?.

  evanescence

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  daniel-p

  "daniel you are looking for Jehovah to talk to you? You need to fall of a cliff to believe in gravity? You need to HEAR the wind to know that it is blowing?"
  
  I'm not doubting the existence of God - just doubting that I really know who he is and what I've been told about him is true. Thanks for using the old wind analogy. I've just been in the "truth" for lets see here... all my life, and never heard that one before. [/sarcasm]
  
  My argument still stands. If God expects me to have faith like Abraham, than He should treat me the same way he did with him. It just seems a little odd, and convenient, that there are no real, personal relationships with God, there are no miracles anymore, but just a book of stories. God more often resembles a construct of the Unknown inside our brains. I'm not saying God does not exist, but that most people in the world, including me, are greatly confused about WHO he is, and WHAT the hell is going on. The end result is this: faith is ALWAYS blind faith. They don't call it a "leap" for nothing.
  
  And if we all have - or should have - our own relationship with Jehovah, wouldn't we have our own conscience? and be interpreting the Bible for ourselves? - but no, there is only one interpretation - the WTS's, but it still comes down to the fact that we ALL believe in what we want to. It comes down to what we gloss over and what we take to heart. Like you, Defd, for some reason you choose not to obey the FDS council on acossiating with apostates. He who is faithful in what is least is faithful in much, right? Do you really feel like you know Jehovah, or is it a construct of all the Unknown forces in the universe encapsulated in religious fervor? You don't have to reply, I know what you'll say.
  
  You see, at one time in my life I had a near-death experience. No, I didn't see any lights of glorious hallways, or anything like that. It was just all going black - but what survivied was this wonderful comforting feeling - which I thought was Jehovah helping me. However, I had no blood in me (of course no transfusion), and when you have no blood, your brain shuts down a lot of functions like physical pain, etc. It feels like your'e on a heavy painkiller - there is no pain and little emotion. So when I think Jehovah is there for me, there is always some other thing that can explain it. I would rather believe Jehovah was there and making me feel those things, but I still can't get beyond the fact that those are just the inevitable results when your body is losing too much blood.
  
  Its a great irony that coming close to death is what messed up my relationship with God, not the other way around.
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  60

  As a JW did you ever have a personal relationship with God?

  by Evanescence in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  .

  as a jehovah's witness did you ever have a personal relationship with god?.

  evanescence

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  daniel-p

  The above comments are quite deep and meaningful... I don't know if I have anything to add, but this topic thoroughly interested me, so here goes.
  
  To Defd'd original reply on page 1: You say a "faithful and active JW" would affirm that they have a relationship with God. I say that most JW's would admit that it is sometimes (i.e. most of the time) hard to feel like Jehovah is listening to them and answering their prayers. We are told that the answers to our prayers come from the kind words of a fellow worshiper, the platform, a scripture, or a WT article. But all these things are merely words of reassurance created by fellow humans who, in turn, struggle with their own relationship with Jehovah. We are told that we must have faith, and strive for "perfect faith" like Abraham. But Abraham also had Jehovah speaking directly to him and experienced the presense of angels and the direct fulfillment of miracles. How hard would it be to have perfect faith in those situations? So why should Jehovah expect ME to have faith like Abraham? Does he feel that I am stronger than Abraham? That I am so much stronger because I have the Bible, whereas Abraham didn't? That is astounding - that a book should be more faith-strengething than hearing the very voice of God telling me what to do.
  
  So, did I (and do I) have a relationship with God?
  I have relationships with people whom I have physical or audible interchanges with. After all, I am a human, a physical creature, and I cannot communicate on any other level than what is effective among humans. no matter how hard you pray, how much of the Bible you read, or how regularly you read it, no matter how much you acossiate with fellow worshipers, it still boils down to self-reassurance. Am I better than Abraham? I want God himself to speak to me! Not other humans claiming to speak for God. I do not belive, in my heart of hearts, that Jehovah would deliberately make it hard for people to believe in him - to do that is to sink to the lowest level of egotism.
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  10

  Service Meeting for Week beginning December 5, 2005

  by TheListener in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  song 38.

  10 min: local announcements.. 15 min: local needs.. 20 min: "what our ministry accomplishes.

  " * when considering paragraph 5, include comments on the february 15, 2004, watchtower, page 32.. song 32 and concluding prayer.. * limit introductory comments to less than a minute, and follow with a question-and-answer discussion.

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  daniel-p

  "What Our Ministry Accomplishes"
  
  HAH!!
  I actually used to think that just because a householder said "Oh no, those blasted Jehovah's Witnesses again..." I had gave a witness? Because they said JEHOVAH. THey were actually PRAISING his name! OMG... I was an idiot.
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  38

  Card of Encouragement From Long-time JW Reeks of Despair

  by Seeker4 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i happened to see a card a few minutes ago from a jw i grew up with to another jw that we grew up with.

  all of us are in our 50s now, and we've known each other since we were early teens.. the sister who wrote the card has pioneered for decades.

  she's married, but decided to never have kids.

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  daniel-p

  Goodness, that is the story of my upbringing. My mother is filled with despair and the rhetoric that goes along with it. "It's this wicked system!" "Satan!" "This WICKED SYSTEM of things must end soon." "Jehovah couldn't possibly let it go on like this much longer."
  
  I just want to say, well, you know what? That's the exact same thing the 1st Centruy Christians thought too... and they just died. It ended for them - because they died. And it will end for us too when we die.
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  10

  ANNOINTED

  by MidwichCuckoo in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  ok - this is important to me - i was visited late spring by a member of the 'annnointed'.

  he said he would call back.

  the things he said were quite bizarre.

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  daniel-p

  "I was told that the Annointed today possess certain 'powers/qualities' - some have the power of HEALING, some of PROPHESY and some of INTERPRETATION.....can anyone else verify this?"
  
  I'm sure the Governing Body think they have these powers... else, how could they have absolute confidence they are the very mouthpiece of God?
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  11

  WAS THERE PARANOIA IN YOUR CONGREGATION?

  by badboy in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  only wondering!

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  daniel-p

  Yes. Paranoia about anything which is unusual.
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  21

  Education and the WT: my story

  by Pistoff in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  the influences on my life, education decisions, and baptism in 1971

  (bold, highlighted added).

  how many had a job because they have a degree?

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  daniel-p

  "This poster would like to challenge all of you to do the same."
  
  Sorry, I'm not up to the challenge.
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  42

  What are JW's leaders going to do when we hit the year 2014 and no Armaggdn

  by booker-t in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  we are fast approaching the year 2014 which will be 100 years since 1914. what are jw's and the wt going to do if armaggeddon has not occurred by then?

  will they come up with a bunch of "new light" to do away with 1914 all together?

  will they suddenly announce that jesus came into kingdom power in the year 2014?

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  daniel-p

  "They will either have to jetison the 1914 teaching well in advance of this date, so it isn't too obvious OR they are going to have to celebrate the 100 year anniversary of 1914. Either choice is awkward for them."
  
  Shhhh... don't give em too many ideas, they are probably trying to find ways to do this as we speak.