Posts by TJ Curioso

it was the national headquarters for the jehovah's witnesses for 30 years.. but the 7.5ha wattle downs property has now been sold to elim church and could soon house a new christian college.. jehovah's witness minister george gray says advances in technology mean the property is no longer needed for running the church's new zealand and south pacific activities which will now be administered from australia.. elim church bought the property for its growing south auckland congregation and volunteers helped transform the site in just a matter of days.. pastor boyd ratnaraja says the congregation moved in on a sunday straight after morning services at their much smaller weymouth rd premises.. "they have done a superb job of setting up," he says.. the church will hold services for its 450-strong congregation at its new home as well as running counselling sessions and operating an op shop and a weekly soup kitchen.. "we believe in reaching out to the community.

we want this to be a centre of hope.

TJ Curioso

I highlight this gem:

"There were a few groups interested in it. We had favour with the Jehovah's Witnesses. They wanted to give it to a faith-based organisation. They put so much love and care into this place. We want to maintain this property. We want to honour them because they were phenomenal."

3

Witnesses explore new way of witnessing

by TJ Curioso in

witnesses explore new way of witnessingby: john longhurst.

if you work or ride transit through downtown, you've seen them -- standing quietly and politely in pairs on the sidewalk, nodding pleasant hellos to passersby.. they are jehovah's witnesses, and they are no longer just coming to a door near you.. "people are not at home more than ever before," says mark ruge, director of public information for jehovah's witnesses in canada, explaining why members of the church are now standing on sidewalks downtown.. "we still do door-to-door, but downtown is where the people are.".

although members of the church have been doing downtown witnessing for a few years in the u.s., this is the first time they are doing it in canada.. they started in toronto, montreal and vancouver in spring, followed by winnipeg, calgary, edmonton and halifax in summer.

TJ Curioso

Witnesses explore new way of witnessing

By: John Longhurst

If you work or ride transit through downtown, you've seen them -- standing quietly and politely in pairs on the sidewalk, nodding pleasant hellos to passersby.

They are Jehovah's Witnesses, and they are no longer just coming to a door near you.

"People are not at home more than ever before," says Mark Ruge, director of public information for Jehovah's Witnesses in Canada, explaining why members of the church are now standing on sidewalks downtown.

"We still do door-to-door, but downtown is where the people are."

Although members of the church have been doing downtown witnessing for a few years in the U.S., this is the first time they are doing it in Canada.

They started in Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver in spring, followed by Winnipeg, Calgary, Edmonton and Halifax in summer. Ruge says they will soon be doing it in other communities as well.

In Winnipeg, members of the church can be found on Portage and Graham avenues, standing on each side of a portable literature rack filled with magazines.

"We're doing it to be more visible (as a church)," says Ruge. "But we don't want to be in people's faces."

They are on the street as early as 7 a.m. some mornings. I have stopped to talk with a few of them; they told me they do it as part of their service to the church, and that a number of people stop by to talk, ask questions or take a magazine.

One of the magazines they give away is The Watchtower, the church's official publication. With a print run of 43 million copies of every issue, it is the most widely-circulated magazine in the world. What also makes The Watchtower unique is that it is published in 190 languages and distributed in 237 countries -- something no other publication can likely match.

Some of those translations are available in Winnipeg, which makes it very appealing to immigrants.

"People from other countries are happy to find something in their language," says Ruge.

Is the street witnessing making a difference? According to the National Council of Churches Yearbook of American & Canadian Churches, in 2010 the church grew by 1.85 per cent to 1,184,249 members. Only the Mormons and Assemblies of God added more members.

As for Manitoba, the church has 3,320 members, up from 3,232 in 2000. They belong to 47 congregations meeting in 35 Kingdom Halls, worshipping in English, Tagalog, Spanish, Chinese and American Sign Language.

Canada-wide, there are 114,792 Jehovah's Witnesses, up from 110,814 a decade ago.

About the same time I noticed Jehovah's Witnesses downtown, I came across an article in the Calgary Herald about the church's controversial stance on blood transfusions.

Citing the experience of doctors at a hospital in New Jersey, the article noted patients who refused transfusions during surgery on religious grounds recovered just as well as transfused patients--and in many cases, even better.

According to the article, they "suffered fewer post-surgery complications, spent less time on mechanical breathing machines and had shorter stays in intensive care."

Doctors at another hospital in Ohio found something similar; Jehovah's Witnesses who refused blood transfusions while undergoing cardiac surgery were "significantly less likely to need another operation for bleeding compared with non-Witnesses who were transfused," the article stated, adding that "they were also less likely to suffer a post-op attack or kidney failure."

Asked the reporter: "Are the Jehovah's Witnesses on to something?"

For Ruge, the answer is yes. "We've been saying that all along," he says, noting that while the church refuses blood transfusions for theological reasons, "now different organizations are seeing the benefit."

And if you don't believe me, you can read all about it in a Jehovah's Witness publication. All you have to do is ask one of the nice people downtown. They'll be happy to tell you all about it.

[email protected]

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition August 24, 2013 D15

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/arts-and-life/life/faith/witnesses-explore-new-way-of-witnessing-220914021.html

29

Steve Hassan Interviews XJW elder, Roberto di Stefano, at ICSA Conference in Italy

by AndersonsInfo in

jw
friends

trieste, italy - icsa conference - july 6, 2013. both roberto di stefano and steve hassan were speakers at the conference.

you can see the hassan interview on his website.

here's the link:http://freedomofmind.com/media/video.php?id=59.

TJ Curioso

Great video! Thanks Barbara!

85

I'm thinking about going back

by Corboy101 in

jw
friends

i have been out for 22 years.i was raised as a jehovahs witness.

i was baptized in 1986 but soon after left the religion.

theres a whole lot to the reasons why i left, but i left.

TJ Curioso

Corby101 what made me leave (fade) this religion was exactly the doctrine. For example, for me is worse the watchtower's doctrine that You don't have a mediator (Jesus), than believe in a professed pagan belief (Trinity or the immortal soul).

85

I'm thinking about going back

by Corboy101 in

jw
friends

i have been out for 22 years.i was raised as a jehovahs witness.

i was baptized in 1986 but soon after left the religion.

theres a whole lot to the reasons why i left, but i left.

TJ Curioso

Corboy101 if is doctrine that matters to You, please see this site:

http://4witness.org/

4

Hey Dude - What You think about this?

by TJ Curioso in

.

TJ Curioso

79

Role Reversal: Placing 1969 Awake with JW's Manning the New Portable Literature Displays

by snapdragon4 in

jw
friends

in recent weeks the jw’s here in the uk have been setting up their new portable watchtower literature displays in my local town square on a saturday morning.

as they hadn’t knocked on my door for at least five years, and consequently feeling somewhat neglected, i thought that i would pay them a visit instead.. .

the first thing i needed to do was arrange my literature.

TJ Curioso

Great job!!!

31

Catholic Cardinal Says Adam and Eve Didnt Exist

by His Excellency in

http://consciouslifenews.com/catholic-cardinal-adam-eve-didnt-exist/1127457/

TJ Curioso

If Adam and Eve did not exist, what is the need of the redemption of Jesus ( according to the Scriptures )? If we believe that there was a special creation and intentional from a Creator , how difficult to believe at a first human couple created by God?

After all if life began , why not believe that existed a first man and a first woman ?

It's something so fanciful , assuming that God exists and that became the creator of all that exists , inclusive of humanity ?