stapler99

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Posts by stapler99

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  22

  congregations disbanded

  by Fleshybirdfodder in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  not sure if it is the correct terminology, but i've heard of a few instances where the society had to step in and completely "delete" a congregation because of issues with incompetent elders and out of control publishers.

  i've never heard specifics.

  does this actually happen?

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  stapler99

  dozy: Which congregation in Perth was it? I may have heard of it as I used to go to Perth for the conventions.
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  19

  June 2006 Kingdom Ministry

  by Elsewhere in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  .

  for those who can stomach it... http://www.reexamine.info/okm/june2006us.pdf.

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  stapler99

  Haha...
  
  20 min
  Invite the youths in the congregation to comment on their spiritual goals and what they are doing to reach them. One or two comments may be arranged in advance.
  
  I'm sure the elder who is handling this will be terrified that after his arranged comments there will be no more forthcoming (except maybe from the 4-7 year olds) and will have to open up the commenting to "older young ones", and that that would show up their congregation as not having the stereotypically happy JW nerds as portrayed in the Watchtower literature.
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  55

  MY DAD HAS LEFT THE ORGANIZATION!!

  by freedomlover in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  hold on everybody....ready for this.... .

  if you've been reading my posts over the past few months you'd see the research and progress my dad (a former elder) has been making.

  he and my stepmom were visiting us this weekend and he told us he's done with the jw's.

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  stapler99

  This is superb news, its always hard to imagine someone leaving after so many years. I will have to make sure that I inform some of the jws I know about some of the things that the Watchtower has done.
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  14

  Young People Ask publication - Has anyone noticed the different youths...

  by What-A-Coincidence in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  .

  there seems to have been 2 or 3 different covers on the ypa book since the ones who have been replaced have been disfellowshipped for fornication and other sins.. can anyone post these different covers?

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  stapler99

  Does anyone know why they changed the cover of the Does God Really Care About Us brochure?
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  13

  Has the Society run dry?

  by What-A-Coincidence in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  seems like the mags, the km's, the books are all recycled information from the 1980's.. seems like they thought the end would come in the late 80's based on all the armageddon articles (i seem to remember lots of those in those years).. once we hit the 90's, the some ol recycled information, it's like groundhog day.

  seems like the wt writers are cuttin and pastin.

  why doesn't jehovah bless his people with the greatest writers of all time for the biggest event of all time?

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  stapler99

  The magazines, the meetings, the same thing over and over again. Probably this is to be expected, as there is only a limited amount of doctrine to put across. Anything "new" involves contradicting previous beliefs.
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  19

  John 5:28,29

  by stapler99 in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  the witnesses understanding of this scripture was one of the things that i could never grasp.

  "28 do not marvel at this, because the hour is coming in which all those in the memorial tombs will hear his voice 29 and come out, those who did good things to a resurrection of life, those who practiced vile things to a resurrection of judgment.

  they believe that the resurrection is the upcoming resurrection, but because death cleansed the resurrected ones of sin, it would be pointless to judge them on their past deeds, so "did good things" actually refers to what they did after their resurrection, and the judgement comes at the end of the 1000 years.

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  stapler99

  The witnesses understanding of this scripture was one of the things that I could never grasp.
  
  "28 Do not marvel at this, because the hour is coming in which all those in the memorial tombs will hear his voice 29 and come out, those who did good things to a resurrection of life, those who practiced vile things to a resurrection of judgment. "
  
  They believe that the resurrection is the upcoming resurrection, but because death cleansed the resurrected ones of sin, it would be pointless to judge them on their past deeds, so "did good things" actually refers to what they did after their resurrection, and the judgement comes at the end of the 1000 years.
  
  How can this passage possibly mean this? The good and vile things were clearly done before their resurrection. This is a strong example of them making the Bible mean whatever they want it to mean.
  
  How do I reconcile this scripture with death being the wages of sin? I don't, instead this is evidence that the bible didn't come from god and is just a collection of writngs by men over time, like any other "holy" book.
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  22

  responding to the Reasoning book on birthdays?

  by BlackSwan of Memphis in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  i am helping someone out with a response to a jw about birthdays.

  she wants to be able to have a comeback to his programmed response.

  i am looking at the reasoning book section on birthdays.

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  stapler99

  This reminds me of a demo during a district assembly where a father is reasoning with his daughter on whether she should be attending a friend's birthday party. "So, what do you think that jehovah is trying to tell us about birthdays?" "Well I think that in the past they were bad but they are OK now because they don't chop your head off any more," said the little girl. This got a roar of laughter from the crowd, basically because it is something that everyone can relate to - it's plain to see that the ban on birthday celebrations is _un_ _scriptural_. The only reason that witnesses don't celebrate them is because of the authority of the religion.
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  14

  How can someone who doesn't know the language..translate a book?

  by Judas I. in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  i see people all the time trying to interpert the scriptures for other people who don't understand it.

  my question is:.

  a simple word like "fire" or "burned" in the bible.

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  stapler99

  If I understand your question right, supposing God inspired the Bible, why would he assign different meanings to the way those words are otherwise used to the words he used? Then no-one would know what he really meant which would be pointless.
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  27

  Watchtower assaults it’s youth – fear/guilt/baptism and career July 1, 2006

  by truthseeker in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  if we imagined for one moment that the majority of youths get baptized, then the july 1, 2006 wt paints a very different picture.

  there must be a serious problem in the organization for the society to write so strong an article.

  july 1, 2006 wt youths, make it your choice to serve jehovah.

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  stapler99

  Yes, its the same old nonsense - spend your life "in Jehovah's service" and you won't regret it - it will be the best decision you ever made! If I had gotten baptised it would have been the _worst_ decision I ever made, as it is the members of my old congregation don't need to treat me like a leper. I wonder if these children think about this when they "take the plunge".
  Both my parents got baptised in their early teens. whereas with me and my brother it was 15, 16, 17 ... err, will you _ever_ get baptised?
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  21

  Hello all; helping those in the org

  by stapler99 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i've been lurking for a while so thought i'd introduce myself.

  i'm in my late teens and left the jws just before i left home.

  i used to know what absolute belief was, but never got baptised because i didn't feel any love for god.

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  stapler99

  I've been lurking for a while so thought I'd introduce myself. I'm in my late teens and left the JWs just before I left home. I used to know what absolute belief was, but never got baptised because I didn't feel any love for god. I wonder if anyone does or if they're just words. A lot of JWs I know are reasonable people, as long as you don't challenge their beliefs. One said something like: "What else is there outside the truth?" The "To whom shall we go" phenomenon. If they weren't so insular it would be easier to leave. This would mean that one was mentally free to bring one's doubts to the top. If there is some way to build up a life outside the organisation then breaking away is much more of a possibility. Few have the moral nobility to do what is hard, to strike out and stand up for one's beliefs. And then there is nostalgia; a sadness, but the sort a soldier may feel at the end of a war, when he is hanging up his gun and his military uniform. Emotional attachment is possible to even misery and death. Hello all!