Ah, yes . . . the pioneer assist program. I once participated in that. I was, of course, the weak one who got out in service very little. Then...........the pioneer sister assigned to assist me and I were asked to appear on the circuit assembly program to tell about our experience with the pioneer assist program. What an eye-opener that was! When we went to practice our part, the brother giving the talk let us know what we were to say. It was very clearly a manipulative sales pitch; I could recognize it right away. The pioneer sister just didn't get it and kept wanting to say something else and he had to really get on her to say exactly what he wanted. At the time, I felt like the ends justified the means, but my eyes were opened to the sales techniques practiced by the WTS. From then on, I would sit in service meetings and see very clearly that it was nothing more than a sales meeting. The service meeting became very tedious and boring to me. I could barely keep my mind on what was said. Now I look back and am amazed that so many people cannot see this for what it is, but clearly there are many J-dubs in thrall to the Watchtower Society.
mimimimi
JoinedPosts by mimimimi
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39
New arrangement for field service?
by Zico ini don't know if this is a worldwide thing because i didn't go the meeting where the arrangement was announced, but it's being done in my congregation anyway.
during those 6 months the member assigned to the pioneer is meant to make time to work with the pioneer as much as possible, so they can strengthen each other.
the idea is meant to be that eventually each member of the congregation will get a go.
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21
A question from my wife: OTWO, what do you think about women on the Pulpit?
by OnTheWayOut inout of the blue, my wife asks: what do you think about women on the pulpit?.
otwo: why?
(silly little paranoid me.
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mimimimi
And men wrote the Bible - no women as far as we know. I have begun to wonder about that. Are some of the things in the Bible ideas of the men who wrote them and God allowed it because his main idea was still gotten across? This subjection to men is a pet peeve of mine.
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hindered prayers says my wife...so I stopped
by oompa ini really have never understood prayers too well or how they are answered or not.
i really think it is more of a self-help type excercise.
aren't there some really funny experiences in the yearbooks on prayers answered!?
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mimimimi
I would tell her that God does not need the Watchtower Society to determine for him which prayers are approved and which are not.
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19
Died faithful so she has a chance for a resurrection --- Huh?
by mimimimi inyesterday at the grocery store, i ran into a sister from the hall.
i have not attended meetings now for 15 to 16 months, but most people there think my health has been really bad and that is why i don't go any more.
anyway, i asked her how her mother was and she told me her mother passed away in july at the age of 95. she then said that her mother died faithful, so she would have a chance for a resurrection.
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mimimimi
Tula,
I don't know when the selective resurrection idea really got going. I was raised as a witness and when I was a kid, I remember it being emphasized that people who died at Armageddon would not get a resurrection, but up to that time everyone could be resurrected. Then I left the "troof" for eight years in my early 20's and when I came back things were more dogmatic than they had been before. I came back around 1983, the year my youngest son was born, so it was right after the shakeup at the Watchtower Society headquarters that Ray Franz was involved in, and it really seems to me that things were more dogmatic after that.
I was raised in this and did not know anything else, but there always were things that bothered me and I did not think they were right. I am so glad my eyes were completely opened up and I am out of it now. I still have family in and my mother is elderly and it would kill her for me to be disfellowshipped for apostacy, so I keep a low profile. For a while I was trying to gut it out and still go to meetings, but it became intolerable to me and I just couldn't do it any more. Things like this resurrection thing remind me of why I don't go there any more.
Mimi
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28
grateful to my Elders..No talks, no FS time, no privledges....no problem!
by oompa inso one year of lots of questions and showing doubts, and missing quite a few meetings but still going out in service, doing mics, reading, hall projects...then i get the new light from society regarding the letter i sent them (wow, stunned me, blew me away) and i let them know how i felt about it and i quit the ministry after 40 active years.
nobody says anything about this, no counsel, no will you go out with us on saturday.
not a single "were is your time for the month" phone call.
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mimimimi
Hi, oompa,
I would appreciate it if you would post the link to that letter, too. I would like to read it.
Thanks.
Mimi
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19
Died faithful so she has a chance for a resurrection --- Huh?
by mimimimi inyesterday at the grocery store, i ran into a sister from the hall.
i have not attended meetings now for 15 to 16 months, but most people there think my health has been really bad and that is why i don't go any more.
anyway, i asked her how her mother was and she told me her mother passed away in july at the age of 95. she then said that her mother died faithful, so she would have a chance for a resurrection.
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mimimimi
Yesterday at the grocery store, I ran into a sister from the hall. I have not attended meetings now for 15 to 16 months, but most people there think my health has been really bad and that is why I don't go any more. Anyway, I asked her how her mother was and she told me her mother passed away in July at the age of 95. She then said that her mother died faithful, so she would have a chance for a resurrection. She also made a point to tell me that her mother died of a stroke while she herself was at a meeting at the Hall I felt both comments were directed at me to let me know I should be at meetings and that if I want everlasting life, I needed to be "faithful".
Anyway, what I really wanted to say is, I find it very offensive the way they believe that only faithful witnesses have a chance at a resurrection. I think that idea is more emphasized than ever before. There was a gal at the KH a couple of years ago whose husband died. He had never been a witness and she was scared to death he would not be resurrected. And, of course, the other witnesses are not too encouraging about that. They say, "it is up to Jehovah. He can see hearts", but usually make it pretty clear they do not believe the person has a chance for salvation because they never became a "witless". I sent that sister, who was a wonderful loving person, a sympathy card and assured her in it that her husband would be resurrected because the resurrection is for everyone.
When I was growing up (born in 1952), I don't remember them being so dogmatic about this idea. It seems to me that this is one more thing they have become more and more adamant and dogmatic about - only they, the good and faithful witnesses, have any chance at salvation. They used to say that anyone who died before the big A had a chance at resurrection, but now they try to present it otherwise. Just one more way to control the masses, I suppose.
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Inattentive elders...anyone else experience this?
by B_Deserter ineveryone always talks about the elders and people in the congregation coming around to see why you aren't at meetings...but i've never experienced this.
i've been away from the meetings for months, and not one single elder has called me.
my friends occasionally call me but never bring up my lackluster attendance.
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mimimimi
I have not gone to the hall now for well over a year, and in that time have received two telephone calls from my book study conductor. I know for sure that the last one was at the time of the CO's visit and probably the one before was, too. THe first one was on the answering machine and I never called back. THe second one I made the mistake of not screening the call (we do not have caller ID) and actually talked to the guy. He kept asking me how I was and I kept telling him "fine". He sounded like he was amazed that I was fine, which I am sure is because I had told a couple of sisters who called me before that I had health problems. He invited me to come to the meetings for the CO's visit and then told me that he and another elder wanted to come by and talk to me. I put him off, so he said he would call me again in a month to set it up. It has now been about 3 months and I have heard nothing more, which is the way I want it.
In the meantime, I have been in the hospital and had complications while I was there. One of the elders was in the hospital at the same time and saw me in my room when he was walking the hall and stopped by to see me. He never brought up anything JW at all, just visited briefly. He does business with my non-and never was- witness husband and probably feels he needs to respect my space because of it.
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Avatars
by Vernon Williams into all,.
i wish a thread would start where in everyone would explain why they picked the avatar they have.
i have not found one, yet..... v.
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mimimimi
It was a case of what did I have available. I had saved this wolf picture in My Pictures sometime before, don't even remember why, and I really liked the picture, so I thought why not use it. I really like wolves (all animals really) and there is just something about this one peaking out from behind the tree that spoke to me.
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Going under the knife tomorrow morning :S
by Elsewhere ini'm not a big fan of surgery.
i always exhaust all non-surgical options before doing it.
i know enough about medicine to know that surgery is effectively a controlled injury... and that makes me nervous.
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mimimimi
Hope you recover swiftly and feel better soon.
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WERE YOU EVER A SUBJECT OF K. HALL GOSSIP???
by chuckyy inwhilst a jw, one thing that was evident to me was the constant gossip and backbiting.....being nice to someones face and then talking about them behind there backs.were you ever a "victim" of this sort of behaviour???
is it as common as i suspect from cong.
to cong???.
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mimimimi
I was very much the subject of KH gossip. I had an unbelieving husband who was not only very opposed, but an alcoholic as well and our home life was a terrible roller coaster ride. I had three little boys that I took to meetings with me until they refused to go anymore at Dad's behest - so glad of that now. You know the tendency some people have to kick someone who is down? Well the person who was down was me and I was gossiped about and treated badly. Most people at the hall would not give me the time of day and would make catty remarks if they did have something to say. When I think back to some of the things said and done, I cannot believe I kept going and putting up with the abuse.
I did change congregations eventually and I have to say the second congregation was much better and there was love shown in the whole congregation. Pretty unusual from what I have seen in the previous congregation and the congregation I grew up in. Over time, though, I had less and less to do with other people in the cong, and then did hear complaints from new ones that it was very cold cong.
But now my husband has been sober for 16 years and our life is good. Boys are grown and 2 are doing well, 1 is getting better. And I have finally broken free from that sick, sick organization and will never look back.