Quit school and started Pioneering at 16 years old. (Long and sad story, it was 1972) Went to 'serve' in a congregation with no Elders and only 2 Ministerial Servants. The Circuit Overseer wanted to have me stay in this congregation and he checked with the Service Department to see if I could be appointed a Ministerial Servant at 17 years old. They said that under the circumstances it would be approved. He then asked if I could be appointed an Elder at 18 years old. They didn't see a problem with this but said under the circumstances the Governing Body would have to directly approve. This caused a major rift between me and my pioneer partner because neither the Circuit Overseer nor the congregation was interested in appointing him to anything. I wanted to go to Bethel so the 'position carrot' did not sway me. I moved back to my old hall and pioneered from there. When I applied for Bethel service, my cover letter from the new Circuit Overseer and from the congregation really blew up my 'ego'! The letters both stated that I would probably only stay at Bethel for 4 years and then be recommended for the 'Circuit work'. For Christ's sake, I wasn't even a Ministerial Servant yet. At any rate, I became a Bethelite and a Ministerial Servant. 1975 came and went and I had a return of my 'crisis of faith' (I never believed any of it anyway but was persuaded to put my nose to the grindstone and when 1975 came all my doubts would be answered) and had a 'nervous breakdown' while at Bethel. I went back to my home congregation and was immediately appointed a Ministerial Servant. From there I was asked to become the congregation secretary so that the next time the Circuit Overseer came around, I could be appointed an Elder. It was all too much for me and I changed congregations and refused any appointments. By 1980 I took the looooooong fade route. As I look back on my personal history, I see that I was a victim of 'pseudo-maturity' and was pressured by family and my Jehovah's Witness peers to take part in a lifestyle I really did not want.
sparky1
JoinedPosts by sparky1
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82
How Far Up The Ladder Did You Go In JW Land?
by minimus ini pretty much did it all.
vacation pioneered as a youngster and became a regular pioneer out of school.
i became a ms then an elder.....the organization pushes you to be somebody within the confines of their realm.
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sparky1
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Funeral plan ?
by Chook into all you young and old alike what would you have as a farewell party from this earth , would you party with friends months before or would you go out quietly and rather have input into the wake.
i have heard of these duck hunters who put their ashes in shotgun shells.
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sparky1
I'm with Magnum, too. A 'good' death that involves being out in Nature. When the time comes, my plan is to hurl myself over Niagara Falls late at night so that no one knows it happened and no one will waste time and money looking for me.
No funeral for me. If people can't know me while I am alive, I certainly don't want anyone to pretend to know me when I'm dead.
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Lot's Wife - Connect the dots - JW.org
by Funchback inyay!
now kids can help draw lot's wife getting destroyed.. .
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sparky1
Jehovah's Witnesses do not have the 'market' cornered on fu@king up the minds and hearts of little children. How about this creative gem that some religious nut dreamed up for the indoctrination of their children. It is a moral crime that God intoxicated religious zealots are allowed to perpetuate this poison onto their naive and socially constrained offspring. -
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Have Jehovah's Witnesses Become Boring?
by David_Jay inokay, that new video about 1975 has got people talking, and yes, the child abuse cases will always require us to remain vigilant...but after my having left in the late 1980s/early 1990s, it seems all the real "exciting" stuff is gone.
when i left the witnesses were still preaching that the "generation that was old enough to understand the events of 1914" will not pass away before armageddon comes.
no blood cards were our badges (not that stupid jw logo) and that card meant what it said, "no blood"!
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sparky1
" I used to say that Jehovah's Witnesses were the thinkingest people on the planet. After further consideration, I have concluded that we are now the boringest people on the planet."
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Jw church's use of titles, how many can you think of ?
by Chook ingb member , branch overseers, do ( obsolete ) , co , elder , ms , publisher, unbaptised publisher , school overseers, coordinator of body ect ect ect .
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i think jws would win gold on clergy laity class distinctions..
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sparky1
Bethel Elder (obsolete)
I kid you not, when I was a Bethelite in the mid 70's, I remember two brothers discussing who had more power in the Organization: A Bethel Elder or a Circuit Overseer?
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Lot's Wife - Connect the dots - JW.org
by Funchback inyay!
now kids can help draw lot's wife getting destroyed.. .
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sparky1
Connect..........the..........dots! Yeah right, Lots daughters are getting ready to connect with something.
I am trying to wrap my head around this. Jehovah destroys Sodom because of the sexual immorality of the inhabitants. His wife looks back, perhaps because she misses her home and other relatives and she is destroyed. Yet his daughters get their father drunk, he willingly gets drunk and then they both have incestuous sexual intercourse with him. If I was a child, I might draw this conclusion: 'If you are immoral and don't worship Jehovah, you will be destroyed. If you are immoral and worship Jehovah, there will be no consequences.' Connect the dots, children.
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Jackson's rose colored watch only cost $399, don't use it as an argument.
by Bad_Wolf ini looked up that watch and see it for $399.
https://www.apple.com/shop/buy-watch/apple-watch/rose-gold-aluminum-pink-sand-sport-band?afid=p238%7csit8pgwuv-dc_mtid_1870765e38482_pcrid_138112194227_&cid=aos-us-kwgo-pla-watch--slid--product-mq142ll/a&product=mq142ll/a&step=detailunsure if the original gold cost a lot more or not, but if told somebody that rose watch is 17,000 and they see it's $399, it'll look like an 'apostate lie'.
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sparky1
I am a member of the National Association of Watch and Clock Collectors and have been for over 30 years. I have been collecting wristwatches longer than this. It is irresponsible to judge the value of a watch merely from pictures. One must hold the watch in their hands to determine the gold karat content or lack thereof and/ or to determine the metal composition of the case. The movement must be inspected also in order to determine whether or not it is genuine or a counterfeit. High resolution pictures could suffice to identify the watch but even pictures can be doctored.
That being said, I agree that whether this is a $399.00 watch or a $17,000.00 watch, it shows poor empathy and hypocrisy on the part of the Governing Body (tm) members to coerce Sophia out of her ice cream money while wearing such a watch, even if the watch was a gift from an admiring wanna be Elder or groupie.
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Lot's Wife - Connect the dots - JW.org
by Funchback inyay!
now kids can help draw lot's wife getting destroyed.. .
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sparky1
WILL THIS BE NEXT?:
Die you ungrateful little ba$tard. You should have gotten baptized at 8 years old like your parents wanted you to and then you would have had Jehovah's protection. Too late now...............you're all mine!
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Sanderson's hate speech
by Listener ingb member sanderson has given a hate speech in response to the recent russian ban.
it was given as a morning worship rant.
sanderson sports his usual smirk.. he opens up quoting matthew 10:22, 23 about persecution.
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sparky1
"That's all folks," exclaimed Brother Sanderson as he boarded an airplane back to the comfort and safety of the United States of America. "It's really been great to be with you Russian brothers and appear before the Russian Judicial system. I wish that I could have done more, but I am under time constraint, being a member of the Governing Body (tm) and all. Keep warm and well fed. Look for my next encouraging diatribe on JW.org.tv as I attack Satan's system from the comfort and security of the Warwick Compound. What a wonderful shout of praise this has been to Jehovah's name!"
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Lot's Wife - Connect the dots - JW.org
by Funchback inyay!
now kids can help draw lot's wife getting destroyed.. .
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sparky1
There's nothing like a human being subjected to a slow, torturous, uncomfortable death to prove to a child that Jehovah is a loving and merciful god that deserves our worshipful love and adoration!