Posts by tioga joe

42

some quirks of the DC talks...

by metaspy in

jw
friends

here is a run down of some special things i noticed at the district convention.. i probably took better notes now than when i used to go as a jw.. however, my notes now are mostly "stupid" things that they say on stage.

saturday.

symposium: directed by god's spirit in our ministry - speaking the word of god with boldness.

tioga joe

"there is no where else in the world where you can find different races getting along together." Ha !

In my area we have a restaurant called Home Town Buffet. Whenever I go there, I always try to get a seat near the buffet tables. Not because I want to be close to the food, but rather to watch all the happy customers. It is the coolest site -- white, black, brown, old, and young, and probably all sorts of religions and no religion, all walking around with plates of food looking so happy together. It really makes my day.

4

Email Attachment Size Limits? What's Average?

by cabasilas in

jw
friends

i'm wondering what the various email attachment size limits are out there?

i'm working on making some files smaller so they can be attached to emails....what are the various max sizes you are familiar with?

thanks

tioga joe

Yahoo is 10MB. Gmail is also 10MB.

I have also found that when I use Adobe Acrobat to make pdf files, the resulting pdf file is about twice as big as when I use Adobe Distiller. Don't know why -- I have tried not embedding fonts and such. It just seems that Distiller is more efficient. Also Distiller seems to be more faithful to the original. I couldn't get Acrobat to properly convert a square root sign, but Distiller did.

54

Any Cops on this Forum? List of Professions. What's payin' the bills?

by NotaNess in

jw
friends

just a general question, that's all.. how about:.

firefighters / doctors / plumbers / lawyers / teachers / electricians / students / bartenders / accountants / landscapers / computer techs / fast food workers / military personel / janitors / office administrators / telemarketers / graphic designers / artists / pest control techs / pizza drivers / bar backs / bartenders / waiter/waitresses / managers / carpet cleaners / painters / car detailers / investors.....etc, etc, etc...my fingers are out of breathe!.

--and who's retired???.

tioga joe

Was employed making a lot of money in a boring engineering job, then got laid off. I decided to try some variety. Worked as a Photographer, a Math Tutor, a Choir Director, managed Polynesian Dance Shows for private parties (think Luau and Hula Dancers). Now back with engineering as the lead Research and Development Engineer for a small company that makes marijuana vaporizers. This last one is the best job ever, one where creativity is appreciated.

26

Feed the Poor or Help the WT? (Mt 25:40 Christ's "Brothers")

by Open mind in

some bible passages i can vaguely remember reading as child without the borg blinders on.

this would usually happen after a speaker introduced a single "proof text" verse in a talk and then i'd keep on reading in the bible instead of staying in sync with the borg software download.

(guess i was destined for "apostasy" .

tioga joe

Along those lines, when the topic of persecution comes up (JW's like to feel they are persecuted for their beliefs), I commiserate with them. Yes, life can be such a trial for witnesses. But at least you can hope for relief when the "end of the current system" finally gets here. Then I turn to Isaiah 58 as something I've read on what Jehovah says is a way how we can have a good and blessed life NOW:

(NIV translation here...The whole chapter is good, but here are the verses dealing with the topic)
6 "Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke?
7 Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter— when you see the naked, to clothe him, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?
8 Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard.
9 Then you will call, and the LORD will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I. "If you do away with the yoke of oppression, with the pointing finger and malicious talk,
10 and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday.
11 The LORD will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail.

40

Comments You Will Not Hear at the 7-1-07 WT Study (SUFFERING END SOON)

by blondie in

comments you will not hear at the 7-1-07 wt study (may 15, 2007, pages 21-25)(suffering soon to end).

where is the love?.

17) "god is love.

tioga joe

Inquisitor asked

How long has it taken to resolve the issue of sovereignty?

I asked a JW a similar question: people got the point a thousand years ago so why does God keep on letting us suffer?

The JW who is doing my "bible" study told me that Jehovah wants to demonstrate how EVERY type of govenment and ALL attempts by man to end suffering on his own will ultimately fail. And Jehovah had to go all the way up to stuff like gene-splicing and other inventions that have just now come out - that's why we had to wait. But, now that everything has been invented and man still is suffering under his own rule, Jehovah proven His point and will end the trial shortly.

16

What are the 3 meetings per week each about?

by tioga joe in

i recently went to my first sunday "bible study".

i have heard my jw say that he goes to 3 meetings per week.

so, what are the other two meetings about and when do they hold those?

tioga joe

I recently went to my first Sunday "bible study". I have heard my JW say that he goes to 3 meetings per week. So, what are the other two meetings about and when do they hold those? Are they something the non-JW can attend (as with their "bible study")?

9

What allows JWs to use Jehovah (YHWY)

by wab07 in

i remember from past college courses that in the old testament the isrealites were not allowed to say god's name yhwy because it was too sacred, so they could only write it; therefore, they used el when saying god's name....correct?.....the jws seem to claim that they are the only religion to know god's name, but where do they get the right to say jehovah.

are there any scriptures that would confirm the change from only writing god's name to saying it?

i was just wondering about this questions because the jws have an answer for everthing....maybe i should ask one.

tioga joe

And does anyone know the letters used for Satan? Since no vowels were used, perhaps his name was really Stan.

But seriously, is there a biblical reference that says you should not say the name of god? Or is this "tradition"?

6

Heard any good anecdotes a JW?

by tioga joe in

i got a chuckle out of one of the past messages that related the story of a person in desperate need praying to god for help just as a jw knocked on the door.

i had heard that one myself, too.. so it got me to thinking about "jw anecdotes" we all have heard.

one i heard from my visiting witness was during a "study" on how we must obey god's word even when man's word says not to.

tioga joe

I got a chuckle out of one of the past messages that related the story of a person in desperate need praying to God for help just as a JW knocked on the door. I had heard that one myself, too.

So it got me to thinking about "JW Anecdotes" we all have heard. One I heard from my visiting Witness was during a "study" on how we must obey God's word even when man's word says not to. The story he told me was about how the husband of a JW told her that he forbade her to go "out that door" to her 3-time-a-week meeting. She had to obey God's word, so she didn't go out "that" door, she climbed out a window. Hahahha, my JW smiled at how sly they can be! (I had to ask, where in the bible - God's Word - does it say you have to attend 3 meetings a week.... but that's another discussion).

My question is, what good JW anecdotes or urban legends have you been told?

19

If Al Gore was elected in 2000, would 9/11 happened?

by free2beme in

jw
friends

i was thinking about this today, as al gore did win the popular vote and lost because of how the electoral college works.

so people like to blame 9/11 on bush, and fahrenheit 9/11 really tried to make it look like bush.

i remember when the movie, "the road to 9/11" came out, clinton was having a fit that it showed the problems with 9/11 started while he was in office.

tioga joe

Hmmm. How about this... I think Ralph Nader would have been the one who had the best chance of preventing the 9/11 attack. Not that he himself would have actually DONE anything different, but his ties to Lebanon (his parents were immigrants from there) might have had an influence. Al Qaeda owes a lot to Lebanon for providing them safe harbor.

7

When going door to door, what comments or questions made you think?

by tioga joe in

a jw and his wife have been coming by every week.

i started out from the get-go saying that i would listen because i had an interest in all religions and would like to learn the jw beliefs just to know that they believe.

this is a very good learning experience because it makes me evaluate what i believe and why i believe it.

tioga joe

A JW and his wife have been coming by every week. I started out from the get-go saying that I would listen because I had an interest in ALL religions and would like to learn the JW beliefs just to know that they believe. This is a very good learning experience because it makes me evaluate what I believe and why I believe it. I've often come away saying to myself "It is kind of silly for JW's to believe and do that, but then I am just as bad in this other area of my own belief!" The "study course" has made me learn a lot, though perhaps not in the way intended.

Along the way there have been a few times when I've asked or said something that really makes my JW think. They are not usually planned remarks, usually I am just pointing out something that does not make sense to me in the book we are reading. Or other times he tells me something that seems to contradict something we just read and I ask him about it. For example, we were going over the chapter on demons and he told me this story about an angel (in the form of a person) who helped someone on a death march during a war. It was something he really deep down believed (or wanted to believe). We had just read in the JW book "Today, angels no longer appear visibly to God's people on earth." So I asked him if the JW book was wrong since his belief is that an angel DID visibly appear. Does he have to believe what is in the book even though there isn't any scriptural support listed, just because the Organizaion says so? Is his belief based on scripture or man? He really thought and chattered about trying to make sense (which it did not). He had to really think for himself. Finally he said that this was one of the "rare" times that the JW book says something that the sincere reader does not really have to believe.

So my question is to those who went door to door. Do you have any anecdotes of a comment or situation where the lightbulb came on and made you think for yourself?