Braincleaned:
Yes, you said it: that is unusual. A little backwards, I'd say. I first noticed holes in the doctrine and the hypocrisy long before I questioned god's existence.
Shepherd Book
JoinedPosts by Shepherd Book
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Deliverance at Hand: The Redemption of a Devout Jehovah's Witness
by Shepherd Book ini'm excited to announce that my book, deliverance at hand!, officially releases today.. if youd like to purchase a copy of the book, the easiest way to go about it is to click this link.
another option is to buy it from minnesota atheists website.
if you do, a portion of your payment will go toward that organization.. here's the facebook page.
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Deliverance at Hand: The Redemption of a Devout Jehovah's Witness
by Shepherd Book ini'm excited to announce that my book, deliverance at hand!, officially releases today.. if youd like to purchase a copy of the book, the easiest way to go about it is to click this link.
another option is to buy it from minnesota atheists website.
if you do, a portion of your payment will go toward that organization.. here's the facebook page.
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Shepherd Book
I'm excited to announce that my book, Deliverance at Hand!, officially releases today.
If you’d like to purchase a copy of the book, the easiest way to go about it is to CLICK THIS LINK. Another option is to buy it from Minnesota Atheists’ website. If you do, a portion of your payment will go toward that organization.
Here's the Facebook page. "Like" the page, if you'd like.
If you’d like to learn more about the book prior to purchasing it, you can check out my interview on The Thinking Atheist. This is a lengthy podcast, so if you just want to hear my segment, scroll to the 8-minute mark:
I was recently interviewed on the Geeks Without God podcast. Here’s a LINK TO THE INTERVIEW ON THAT SITE.
Here's a review of the book from Library Journal:
Minnesota-native Zimmerman (editor, Minnesota Atheist Newsletter) grew up a devout Jehovah’s Witness but slowly began doubting his faith until he became convinced that the God of his religion and the Bible does not exist. In young adulthood, he devoted hundreds of hours to service and was regularly called upon to give talks and be a leader at his Kingdom Hall. His personal experiences and struggles during these years form the basis for this glimpse into the everyday life of devout Jehovah’s Witnesses. Unlike Jocelyn R. Zichterman, author of I Fired God, Zimmerman did not experience abuse; he simply began questioning the dogmatism he had been taught as he witnessed double standards, inconsistency, and illogical thinking by leaders within the “balsam of Gilead” (New World Translation of the Bible). A memoir, his book does not attempt to cover what the Watchtower Society believes and teaches but simply relates his personal understanding and experiences. VERDICT An optional purchase for most libraries, accounts like Zichterman’s, mentioned above, or Lauren Drain’s Banished: Surviving My Years in the Westboro Baptist Church.—Ray Arnett
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Help settle some very specific questions!
by Shepherd Book infirst: do the watchtower calendars say "share in field ministry" on every saturday or "share in the field ministry"?
) and what's the difference?.
the society sometimes calimed certain members referred to them as "mama," since they're (cough cough) god's wife-like organization.
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Shepherd Book
Yes, I plan to offer Mad Magazine and The Onion.
Thanks to all for your help!
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Help settle some very specific questions!
by Shepherd Book infirst: do the watchtower calendars say "share in field ministry" on every saturday or "share in the field ministry"?
) and what's the difference?.
the society sometimes calimed certain members referred to them as "mama," since they're (cough cough) god's wife-like organization.
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Shepherd Book
Thanks, Gypsy Sam. I'll be sure to get out and offer my two favorite magazines tomorrow!
I haven't seen a JW calendar in a few years - in the 1980s and 1990s they said something more akin to what I noted, above. I'm wondering if anyone can clarify.
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Help settle some very specific questions!
by Shepherd Book infirst: do the watchtower calendars say "share in field ministry" on every saturday or "share in the field ministry"?
) and what's the difference?.
the society sometimes calimed certain members referred to them as "mama," since they're (cough cough) god's wife-like organization.
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Shepherd Book
First: Do the Watchtower calendars say "Share in Field Ministry" on every Saturday or "Share in the Field Ministry"? (At least they used to.) And what's the difference?
Second:
The Society sometimes calimed certain members referred to them as "Mama," since they're (cough cough) God's wife-like organization. So...did they say "Mama" or "Momma"?
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New Release just in time for Armageddon
by Shepherd Book init gives me great pleasure to announce the upcoming release of my new, (non)192-page book, deliverance at hand!
(yep, same title as the 2006 district convention, which i'm sure fulfills some sort of obscure, convoluted prophecy in revelation.
or maybe daniel.
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Shepherd Book
Oh, sorry for not being more clear...yes, I am the author. BobFlanagan007 - Thanks for asking. Yes, the book will be available for purchased at BandN.com, irectly through the publisher at http://www.freethoughthouse.com/deliverance-at-hand.html, and several brick & mortar stores. It's not being released until October, though, so your best bet is to "like" it on Facebook & see the updates for new places for purchase.
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New Release just in time for Armageddon
by Shepherd Book init gives me great pleasure to announce the upcoming release of my new, (non)192-page book, deliverance at hand!
(yep, same title as the 2006 district convention, which i'm sure fulfills some sort of obscure, convoluted prophecy in revelation.
or maybe daniel.
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Shepherd Book
It gives me great pleasure to announce the upcoming release of my new, (non)192-page book, Deliverance at Hand! (Yep, same title as the 2006 District Convention, which I'm sure fulfills some sort of obscure, convoluted prophecy in Revelation. Or maybe Daniel. Possibly Ezekiel.)
It's available for pre-purchase on Amazon: AMAZON LINK.
Also, here is the Facebook page the publisher set up, feel free to "like" it.
This generation will not pass away until the book is released.
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Congregation had to relocate Memorial...thanks to me
by Shepherd Book inso, the two local congregations were planning to hold their memorial together at 7:30 at the local community center, but they had to make a last-minute change to their own hall, and i'm pretty sure it was because of me.. let me explain.... at work on monday afternoon, a co-worker returned from her lunchbreak and showed me the memorial invitation that was waiitng in her door when she went home for lunch.
i noticed the sticker on the back indicated the memorial was being held, not at the local hall, but at the community center.
from a past (non-jw) event i attended there, i knew they didn't allow alcohol (unless you pay for security guards), so i wrote to the center's coordinator:.
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Shepherd Book
The Quiet One - Yes, it is true, and thanks for your kind words.
I just couldn't picture a security guard at a memorial, and I couldn't picture the local JWs paying for the service, so I just had to ask. Like I said, I figured there was a small chance the coordinator didn't know about the alcohol, in which case the congregation would have to pay for the officer and, thus, less money would find it's way to Bethel.
Like I said in the intial posting, I felt bad about the end result and the only good I saw from it was that, in the unlikely event a "worldly" person showed up, they would see it had been relocated (and a later time) and probably just shrugged their shoulders and left.
I posted it here just 'cause I thought it was interesting; I would have probably posted her repsonse no matter what it was. Only, I would have said something like, "I wonder what that security officer was thinking when he saw only one bottle of wine, and no one drinking it!" or "Has anyone else heard of congregations having to pay security officers to watch them during the memorial? Do you count them as attendees?"
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Congregation had to relocate Memorial...thanks to me
by Shepherd Book inso, the two local congregations were planning to hold their memorial together at 7:30 at the local community center, but they had to make a last-minute change to their own hall, and i'm pretty sure it was because of me.. let me explain.... at work on monday afternoon, a co-worker returned from her lunchbreak and showed me the memorial invitation that was waiitng in her door when she went home for lunch.
i noticed the sticker on the back indicated the memorial was being held, not at the local hall, but at the community center.
from a past (non-jw) event i attended there, i knew they didn't allow alcohol (unless you pay for security guards), so i wrote to the center's coordinator:.
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Shepherd Book
Yeah, what WTWizard said.
This didn't make my day, as The Quiet One suggests. In fact, when I brought it up to my wife last night (and I only remembered it because she had a memorial story of her own to relate), I began by saying, "So here's something that happened, and I feel kind of bad about it."
When I first contacted the center, I was honestly just curious. An event I attended last year had a last-minute decision to nix their wine, and I knew JWs wouldn't do that, so I was curious how it was being handled. I expected the response to either be: "Yes, they're serving wine, and they're having a security officer as required by law," or "Well, it's only ceremonial and no one's drinking it, so we're letting this slide." I figured there was a chance she'd write back and say, "Oh, I didn't know that...I'll have to charge them for an officer now," but I was completely floored by the response stating they relocated.
The congregations' savings accounts are for these unexpected costs, and when they have surpluses, they send them on to Brooklyn. I would prefer to see $160 go to the local law enforcement rather than Bethel.
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Congregation had to relocate Memorial...thanks to me
by Shepherd Book inso, the two local congregations were planning to hold their memorial together at 7:30 at the local community center, but they had to make a last-minute change to their own hall, and i'm pretty sure it was because of me.. let me explain.... at work on monday afternoon, a co-worker returned from her lunchbreak and showed me the memorial invitation that was waiitng in her door when she went home for lunch.
i noticed the sticker on the back indicated the memorial was being held, not at the local hall, but at the community center.
from a past (non-jw) event i attended there, i knew they didn't allow alcohol (unless you pay for security guards), so i wrote to the center's coordinator:.
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Shepherd Book
Yes, I knew they wouldn't cancel their memorial, but I didn't expect them to relocate with 24 hours notice. As you can see from my initial inquiry to the center, I was curious if they were hiring a security officer. Rental of the room itself is relatively cheap (like, $50), but a security officer was listed as costing something like $40 an hour with a minumum four hours, so I was curious if they were planning to pay the $160 for the officer. That's not too much of a cost, so they could have easily took it from their savings, or simply announced: "Hey, the cost of this room and the security officer is costing us $200, so if everyone could donate a buck, that'd be great." They also could have tried explaining the wine was merely ceremonial. Seems to me they picked the poorer option of relocating.
Also, keep in mind that only one of the congregations met so late. As Jim_TX noted, there was still a 7:30 memorial held, and that one probably had higher attendance.
Like I said, I feel bad for the people who had a later night than usual (school children and those who had to work); I thought they were just going to have to pay a bigger bill for the room.
