my wife tells me that i am getting two elders coming to visit me, i assume as part of the 'help them return' initiative.
seems strange that they have asked my wife, who still is a regular attender, rather than give me a call.. has anyone else had a call?
what should be my line be as i don't want to particularly appear 'apostate', especially if there is a chance they will disfellowship me if i take a hard anti-witnees line..
My wife tells me that I am getting two elders coming to visit me, I assume as part of the 'help them return' initiative. Seems strange that they have asked my wife, who still is a regular attender, rather than give me a call.
Has anyone else had a call? What should be my line be as I don't want to particularly appear 'apostate', especially if there is a chance they will disfellowship me if I take a hard anti-witnees line.
just another controlling feature of a mind controlled cult.
they always dictate that everyone should look like clones of one another - the same.
from early on i remember my elder dad in the late 1970's telling me as a teenager , " you are an elders son ; little brother jimmy over there looks up to you as an example.
undercover - I did exactly the same once, I went on holiday and came back with a beard. The difference was I was school overseer at the time and also had a part the same night on the service meeting. I shaved it off for the following Sunday meeting but that didn't stop one elder sounding off at me. I simply told him that not having a beard had more to do with right wing American sterotypes than any Biblical command, so we agreed to leave it at that.
In the early 70's I was counseled for wearing my hair 1 inch over my ears - hardly long haired hippy style. I just wish I had that amount of hair now a days!
I think that was those were the only times in 50 years growing up in and in the truth I ever received any real 'counsel'. No wonder it was a shock to many when I suddenly just quit going.
after seeing the danish movie "worlds apart" and being told on this board that it is acceptable in some foreign countries, how common is it and where?.
Afghanistan?
i'm told that my dad was once a "city overseer".. i don't know what sort of time frame we're talking about.
i know he started in the early 50's and i know by the late 70's/early 80's (by the time i was old enough to know and care about the structure and titles) that he was only an elder by then.. does anybody know what a "city overseer" was?
kind of like a circuit overseer?.
As far as I can see it was never a big position. In addition to the comments above, the City Overseer used to get involved when the there was a large district assembly held in the city.
visiting the area, would they be let in?.
I am not sure that there is such a thing as a 'non public' meeting any more.
At one time, the group study, because it was held in a private home, was classed as a 'non public' meeting. Disfellowshipped persons could always attend meetings at the Kingdom Hall but were not allowed in to the group study. With no group study any more, that issue has gone away.
I am not a legal person but my guess is that as the congregation displays the days and times of the meetings outside the Kingdom Hall, often with the message 'all welcome', then it would go totally against their charitable status to refuse entry to people of the grounds of ethnicity, race, religious views or sexual orientation. What they are clever at is sitting disfellowshipped people at the back and totally treating them as if they aren't there.
from the fabulous joni mitchell who sings and looks like an angel.
i am sure for many of us who placed our dreams with the watchtower's empty promises, it is the perfect anthem.. .
.
Hope4Others - I just love REM and Michael Stipe in particular; he is so cool and enigmatic
Berean - Hotel Califorinia is an all time classic. Desparado is also a great Eagles track
i love breakfast!
and sunday is usually a laid back day to enjoy a good breakfast.
here's what i want tommorrow.
Spicy Scrambled Eggs
2 tablespoons of oil
1/2 teaspoon black mustard seeds
5 or 6 curry leaves
One small red onion (better still 2 or 3 shallots) finely chopped
1 Tomato chopped
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1/2 teaspoon red chilli powder (1/4 if don't like things too spicy)
3 eggs - well beaten
Heat the oil in a heavy bottomed pan and add mustard seeds
When seeds begin to pop add the curry leaves and fry for about 1 minute
Add onions and fry until soft
add spices and stir in well for about a minute
add tomatoes and lower the heat and cook until they soften
Add the beaten eggs and continue to stir until the eggs scramble
Serve on hot buttered toast
from the fabulous joni mitchell who sings and looks like an angel.
i am sure for many of us who placed our dreams with the watchtower's empty promises, it is the perfect anthem.. .
.
But now old friends are acting strange
They shake their heads, they say I've changed
Well somethinegs lost, but somethings gained
In living evry day
Ive looked at life from both sides now
From win and lose and still somehow
Its life's illusions I recall
I really dont know life at all
Ive looked at life from both sides now
From up and down, and still somehow
Its life's illusions I recall
I really dont know life at all
with the watchtower study about helping 'lost sheep' return, i have been half expecting a visit.
i have mentally rehearsed how i should handle the situation, which is fairly tricky as i still have family in.
but no call yet.
I haven't had a visit in over two years. I think, like Oompa, the local elders are frightened of me because I know too much of what has gone on in the past and somehow seem to find out everything that still goes on, as many of the old 'friends' still confide in me.
My wife is still a model Witness. She attends all the meeting and goes out in field service and is always available to help other sisters in the congregation. She is no way dogmatic or pushy about her religious views. But since I have stepped down as an elder she hasn't had any recognition for all her hard work. I had a go at a coupe of elders about this the last time they visited me, why they had never asked her to do a Service Meeting demo since I stepped down, why no one pops in for coffee when they are on the ministry, etc. but all I got was slightly guilty looks.
with the watchtower study about helping 'lost sheep' return, i have been half expecting a visit.
i have mentally rehearsed how i should handle the situation, which is fairly tricky as i still have family in.
but no call yet.
With the Watchtower study about helping 'lost sheep' return, I have been half expecting a visit. I have mentally rehearsed how I should handle the situation, which is fairly tricky as I still have family in
But no call yet. I just don't think they are really bothered - they just give lip service to love and concern but in reality they just answer what is expected at the Watchtower study. They are no different from any other 'Sunday Christians'.
