Also, the "don't speculate" thing always cracks me up. If the Bible doesn't say, then anything other than "we haven't a clue" is speculation, right? Seriously, these guys really do believe their own hype. I guess if I thought God selected me to dictate every aspect of a person's life, I guess that would probably go to my head too.
Doubting Bro
JoinedPosts by Doubting Bro
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63
WT 15th April apostates / new light on miscarriages
by dozy instudy articles have strong counsel against apostates - modern day apostates display characteristics similar to those of the devil.
their mind may be poisoned by a critical attitude towards individuals in the congregations , christian elders or the governing body.
some apostates oppose the use of the divine name , jehovah.
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WT 15th April apostates / new light on miscarriages
by dozy instudy articles have strong counsel against apostates - modern day apostates display characteristics similar to those of the devil.
their mind may be poisoned by a critical attitude towards individuals in the congregations , christian elders or the governing body.
some apostates oppose the use of the divine name , jehovah.
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Doubting Bro
That's about the closest I've ever seem the WT to even hinting that they may have been incorrect. Interesting, my previous thoughts about their inconsistant teaching against any "resurrection" hope for the unborn when compared with their assertion that life begins at conception is addressed. I guess I've been a JW too long.(actually, 5 minutes is too long)
Anyone else notice the sentence " further study and prayerful meditation has led the Governing Body to conclude that such considerations do not really have a bearing..."? Are they in the process of changing the official teaching that the Faithful and Discreet Slave is made up of all the annointed? I know the reality is that they don't consider anyone's opinion outside of the GB, but the official teaching is different. Remember, the letter announcing the book study being morphed into the TMS/SM was on GB letterhead.
Maybe I'm way off (ok, I'm probably way off) but I think there's something going on here. They've already said that 1) there are "legitimate" annointed that were born after 1935 which was a pretty big change, and 2) the "annointed" have no special insight - again a subtle but important change. Remember, the average JW still thinks that all the "genuine" annointed are old and that the end is close because of that. By changing the FDS doctrine to mean only the GB, they can keep that "big A around the corner" mentality a little longer.
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Thankful Not To Be An Elder Anymore ( KM)
by metatron ini count my blessings.
i picked up a kingdom ministry for february and saw, once again, the mindless horror that the organization has evolved into.
there's the grade school reading level.
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Doubting Bro
I hear you. And sitting thru that stuff is simply awful. There is simply no passion from the speakers, audience, anyone. I spend a lot of time just looking around and see many blank stares.
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Just got my 401k statement :S
by Elsewhere inover the last 3 years i have lost 49% of the value of my savings.
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Doubting Bro
I'm down about 35% in total. Fortunately, I (hopefully) have another 25 years in my current occupation before I retire and then take up doing something a bit more enjoyable. Also, I'd like to take this opportunity to thank the WTS for changing their teaching on the generation in 1995. Up till then, I was convinced that the end was going to happen any day. Certainly before I retired (being about 26 at the time). After that change, I decided I needed to start saving for retirement "just in case". As depressed as I am about my losses, I think it would be even tougher knowing that I missed out on 14 years of saving and compounded growth.
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WT 15th April apostates / new light on miscarriages
by dozy instudy articles have strong counsel against apostates - modern day apostates display characteristics similar to those of the devil.
their mind may be poisoned by a critical attitude towards individuals in the congregations , christian elders or the governing body.
some apostates oppose the use of the divine name , jehovah.
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Doubting Bro
I never knew what the WTS taught on this, very interesting. I know they teach that life begins at conception, so logic would have it the unborn would have the same chance as the born. They say that if a child (which they define as someone younger than the "age of responsibility") dies before the big A, they have a resurrection. So, why wouldn't that apply to an unborn child?What about children that are aborted?
Does anyone know what the mainstream Christian religions teach?
Either life has the same value at conception or it does not. I really can't see how you can have it both ways.
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Blondie's Comments You Will Not Hear at the 01-25-09 WT Study (HEALTH)
by blondie incomments you will not hear at the 01-25-09 wt study (november 15, 2008, pages 23-27)(health).
review comments will be in red.
reasonable concern.
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Doubting Bro
Paragraph 12 is a classic case of not using context
12. Many individuals find themselves in a situation similar to that of a sick woman in Jesus' day. At Mark 5:25,26, we read: "There was a woman subject to a flow of blood twelve years, and she had been put to many pains by many physicians and had spent all her resources and had not been benefited but, rather, had got worse." Jesus healed that woman and dealt with her compassionately. (Mark 5:27-34) In desperation, some Christians have been tempted to choose diagnostic or therapeutic methods that go against the principles of pure worship.
Uh, if you read the whole account especially in context of the time, you'll see that 1 - the woman was in DIRECT violation of the Law that required her to avoid others when she had a "flow of blood" and call out unclean and 2 - Jesus was well aware of that Law and instead of hammering her for it, he understood her desperation and healed her.
So, if anything, this passage proves that mercy is more important than sacrifice and if someone directly violated a commandment due to an extunating circumstance, then Jesus understands. Instead, they try to say that passage supports not taking treatments that "go against principles of true worship" ie blood, when in fact, it is saying the direct opposite.
Does anyone in Bethel actually read the passages they refer to? Or do they count on the average JW not looking it up?
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"I Don't Know is my Belief"
by zarco inon another thread, ak-jeff shared an interesting perspective........ "i don't know is my belief.. .
i care.
but typically, i get no answers when i ask.
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Doubting Bro
I just had a discussion with my wife and stated the same thing. Here's what I do know, there's no way the WTS is God's channel of communication on earth. And, I also know that there is not one single religion that can make that claim truthfully either. I've struggled trying to decide if I believe in God or not. But, I will say that if He exists and cares about humans, then I'll be judged by how I treat others. If He doesn't, I'll still be judged by how I treat others when I die or even now.
My hope is that when my name is brought up, people (and whoever else) will say, "he was a good guy that loved his family, cared about others, and did the best he could to make the world a little bit better. I'm glad to know him."
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Jehovah's Witnesses and their Elders
by AllTimeJeff ini wonder if the governing body (gb) knows the trouble the whole thing started..... to be sure, when the gb put into effect that all congregations of jehovah's witnesses were to have a body of elders that is in existence today, their goal was to meet their own ends.
under a sub heading "gearing up for explosive growth" in their history book "jehovah's witnesses - proclaimers of god's kingdom" they stated..... ***.
jehovahs servants were determined to continue to yield to divine direction.
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Doubting Bro
I think the last CA/SAD had a part about "reaching out". I knew they didn't have what they considered enough elders, but if the numbers have gone down, then they are really in a pickle. Do you have any idea what they think they can do to reverse the trend? My theory is that the changes in the meetings were an effort to reduce the load on the elders. I think an even bigger problem for them is the elder average age is increasing and the MS pipeline is pretty slim. Most of the MS I know will never make the next step. So, as the older guys slow down and die off, there isn't anyone stepping into their shoes. If the WTS thinks they have problems with not enough elders now, just wait 10 years!
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Jehovah's Witnesses and their Elders
by AllTimeJeff ini wonder if the governing body (gb) knows the trouble the whole thing started..... to be sure, when the gb put into effect that all congregations of jehovah's witnesses were to have a body of elders that is in existence today, their goal was to meet their own ends.
under a sub heading "gearing up for explosive growth" in their history book "jehovah's witnesses - proclaimers of god's kingdom" they stated..... ***.
jehovahs servants were determined to continue to yield to divine direction.
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Doubting Bro
Good comments ATJ. As with most that have spent any amount of time in JW world, congregations do vary and that is tied directly to the elders. I grew up in a small, close-knit rural congregation that was fairly conservative. Everyone always wore suits in service, things were done just so but the BOE didn't really come down real hard on folks. Then, I moved to an ultra conservative congregation where the PO was personal friends with GB members. The pressure was ramped up on stupid things like your hair couldn't touch your shirt collar and you could only wear white shirts on the platform (or to even handle mikes). The BOE was hard nosed and would come down on you like a ton of bricks if you missteped even slightly. Being the good JW boy who wanted "privileges", I feel right in line. After a few more moves, I finally joined the elder club.
The thing that always bothered me about the whole elder arrangement is the simple fact that their personal tastes and opinions matter much more than anyone elses (unless you count the CO whose opinion matters more than the local elders). I could never reconcile why a 29 year old's opinion on hemlines or hair cuts or sideburns mattered AT ALL, much less to be made law. Yet, that senario plays out again and again. I've got to think that Russell would turn over in his grave if he could see what has happened with his study group.
I started out as being pretty conservative, then as I got more mature, moved to being one of the liberals. Generally, I was the swing vote. Jeff, your theory about the liberals being the ones that drop out the most is true in my experience. Almost every elder that I know that has resigned in the last 5 years or so was either outright liberal or at least liberal leaning. I know a few liberals that have hung in just to "provide balance" as one told me recently.
One question Jeff. Has the actual number of elders worldwide decreased or has the ratio of elders to publishers decreased? In my limited experience, it seems to me the number has held fairly steady while the number of pulishers has increased slightly bring the ratio down. Just curious because I'm sure you probably have a better view that I do.
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Some hard to take news...
by thebiggestlie inmy girlfriend was having a rough time.
she's been vomitting every morning.
her tummy has been aching and she's been feeling off.
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Doubting Bro
(((tbl))) - Sorry to hear your news. Speaking from personal experience, its going to be hard on both of you. Thoughts are with you both.