Posts by Bob Loblaw

20

Did the society official track each member of the 144,000?

by Bob Loblaw in

when i left witness land in the early 90's, i remember hearing that out of 144,000 anointed members that there were only 8 to 9 thousand left and then the end will come.. i'm suddenly curious.

the jw organization is one that puts emphasis on tracking, i.e., regular meeting attendance, current standing, field service hours, territory tracking, return visits, etc.

therefore, did the society ever try to track each and every member of the 144,000?

Bob Loblaw

When I left witness land in the early 90's, I remember hearing that out of 144,000 anointed members that there were only 8 to 9 thousand left and then the end will come.

I'm suddenly curious. The JW organization is one that puts emphasis on tracking, i.e., regular meeting attendance, current standing, field service hours, territory tracking, return visits, etc. Therefore, did the society ever try to track each and every member of the 144,000? Their names, ages, current standing, etc? If so, they had their 144,000. Right?

From a certain point forward then it becomes 144,000 and 1, 144,000 and 2,...etc.

Mormon temple interior design/architecture vs JW interior design/architecture

by Bob Loblaw in

i checked this out:.

http://www.indystar.com/picture-gallery/news/2015/07/13/a-look-inside-the-mormon-churchs-indianapolis-temple/30095355/.

...and have to say, i was very impressed.

Bob Loblaw

I checked this out:

http://www.indystar.com/picture-gallery/news/2015/07/13/a-look-inside-the-mormon-churchs-indianapolis-temple/30095355/

...and have to say, I was very impressed. Don't get me wrong, I understand that Mormons are a brainwashing cult just as destructive as JW's, but on a purely aesthetic level, this temple anyways, is quite beautiful imo. I have never been able to say that about JW interior design/architecture.

All the JW Kingdom Halls that I have ever been to are so extremely white bread inside and out. I imagine that the reason for their extreme plainness is two fold. Why spend money on beauty and quality when Armageddon is right around the corner?...And, why spend money on the rank and file when we can fill our own coffers?

Wake up JW members! Your religion is boring, uninteresting, and extremely plain. Plain can be beautiful, but, in your case, plain is ugly.

I drive by the JW street cart witnesses and you people just stand there. 99% of your time you aren't talking to anyone and people pass you like their invisible. Boring! Your halls are boring, your doctrine is boring, and your new light is boring.

Dear Governing Body, I cringe at the extreme plainness you have created. Spice things up a bit for your members. Come off your billions and build a beautiful/interesting building, create beautiful interior design, hang beautiful/interesting artwork, do something, anything, interesting. Do it for those poor souls who will never leave.

9

Door to door non-denomination christians

by Bob Loblaw in

so a young man and a young woman approached my new investment property yesterday and opened with the line,..."hi, we are just talking to people in the neigborhood about jesus.

they were dressed in street clothes so i was kind of taken aback.

they are missionaries and there are group of about 15 of them that are attending to my neigborhood and surrounding neigborhoods.

Bob Loblaw

Heathen, -"They mention a name of a church or anything? Or did they just take it on themselves to go to complete strangers homes ? I'd be real leary of it myself." I hear you. I am definitely somewhat of a skeptic. I haven't quite figured what this group is completely about, but there visit was a welcome change from the JW approach. They stopped by yesterday for a few minutes and scheduled to help me with my house today. Unfortunately I had too many errands to run and told them that they are welcome to help sometime this week. During their visit i recieved a little more info from them. Their group is called People of Praise. I've been so busy lately i haven't had an extra second to read through their website but here it is if you want to check it out: http://www.peopleofpraise.org/

9

Door to door non-denomination christians

by Bob Loblaw in

so a young man and a young woman approached my new investment property yesterday and opened with the line,..."hi, we are just talking to people in the neigborhood about jesus.

they were dressed in street clothes so i was kind of taken aback.

they are missionaries and there are group of about 15 of them that are attending to my neigborhood and surrounding neigborhoods.

Bob Loblaw

So a young man and a young woman approached my new investment property yesterday and opened with the line,..."hi, we are just talking to people in the neigborhood about Jesus." They were dressed in street clothes so I was kind of taken aback. They are missionaries and there are group of about 15 of them that are attending to my neigborhood and surrounding neigborhoods. They said that God put it on their heart to minister to my very "on the fringe" neighborhood. After talking to these people for awhile I understood that they weren't there just to go door to door and trying to start "free home bible studies". They are working with the many poor families and especially trying to help the poor children in need. They also want to come over and give me a hand on my house free of charge. So JW's out there,...here is yet another example of another group out "in the ministry" "preaching the good news". What was refreshing was that these people weren't robots,...unlike the JW approach. They actually gave me their phone number and want me to call them soon so that they can come over and lend me a hand. In comparison to the JW door to door work,...these people seemed really genuine and loving. It was apparent that they weren't simply trying to convert but to show love for their neighbor. I just found this experience very interesting and wanted to share.

19

"The Truth", who coined the term, when did it begin circulating in JW land

by Bob Loblaw in

anytime i hear one of my family members or any other jw say the phrase "the truth" in a sentence it makes my blood boil.

christians of different denominations may ask each other: .

"how long have you been a christian?".

Bob Loblaw

Anytime I hear one of my family members or any other JW say the phrase "the truth" in a sentence it makes my blood boil.

Christians of different denominations may ask each other:

"how long have you been a christian?"

"how long have you been catholic, lutheran, evangelical,..etc.?"

"how long have you believed?", or "how long have you believed in Jesus?"

JW's say:

"How long have you been 'in the truth'?"

I find this phrase so incredibly irritating. I realize when members say the phrase that they don't really think about what they are saying. Its just a part of the mind control.

Yet, the phrase is so incredibly arrogant.

So I've been wondering:

When did this phrase begin circulating in JW land? Did any one particular person coin the phrase? Did it appear in literature at a certain point? Or was this something that was slowly spread by word of mouth from the top down to the R & F?

Are there any other religions/ cults that use this phrase when referring to themselves?

46

Please put your JW heads back on for a moment... (Memorial Meal)

by AlphaOmega in

something has been bugging me for ages about the non-participation of r&f jws in the memorial meal (sounds like a mcdonalds deal) !.

i've just worked out what it is.... only the "anointed" can partake of the emblems.. but at the original meal, as instituted by jesus, no one was anointed.

the anointing came at pentecost, after he had died !.

Bob Loblaw

...everyone at the meal partook. I don't recall Jesus cordially inviting other believers to join them to simply observe.

73

When DID the Jews return?

by Doug Mason in

the wts says that the key date in the jews return from babylon is tishri 1 537 bce.. the wts uses that date to arrive at its incorrect date of 607 bce for the destruction of jerusalem.

in turn, its 607 bce date is used to provide the date of october 1914 ce for christs parousia and the setting up of gods kingdom government.

the wts claims to be the sole representative upon earth of gods kingdom.. the date of the jews return is thus crucial to the watchtower societys (wts) existence and authority.

Bob Loblaw

Who celebrates these so-called "celebrated" WT scholars?

-This kind of speech reminds me of how every person in North Korea refers to Kim Jong Ill as 'our dear leader'.

11

Should I talk to Joel Engardio on the phone? What would you ask him?

by Bob Loblaw in

jw
friends

so i met this girl last night whose best friend is best friends with joel engardio.

i said that i would really like to talk to him and she said that she could get me his phone number and he would be happy to speak with me.

i haven't seen the film "knocking" yet,...so i don't really know what i would discuss with him at this point.

Bob Loblaw

Thanks everyone for your excellent thoughts and comments. I will definitely watch the film soon. Thanks Gayle for the heads up on the "mail it forward", but I am going to purchase my own copy. Unfortunately we (myself and Joel) live in different cities, otherwise it would be really nice to go out casually for a few beers and conversation and he would probably be more apt to open up on many of the above issues. So I don't know how cool he will be with answering such critical questions from a stranger over the phone. I guess I'll see if it comes to that.

73

When DID the Jews return?

by Doug Mason in

the wts says that the key date in the jews return from babylon is tishri 1 537 bce.. the wts uses that date to arrive at its incorrect date of 607 bce for the destruction of jerusalem.

in turn, its 607 bce date is used to provide the date of october 1914 ce for christs parousia and the setting up of gods kingdom government.

the wts claims to be the sole representative upon earth of gods kingdom.. the date of the jews return is thus crucial to the watchtower societys (wts) existence and authority.

Bob Loblaw

When DID scholar return?

11

Should I talk to Joel Engardio on the phone? What would you ask him?

by Bob Loblaw in

jw
friends

so i met this girl last night whose best friend is best friends with joel engardio.

i said that i would really like to talk to him and she said that she could get me his phone number and he would be happy to speak with me.

i haven't seen the film "knocking" yet,...so i don't really know what i would discuss with him at this point.

Bob Loblaw

So I met this girl last night whose best friend is best friends with Joel Engardio. I said that I would really like to talk to him and she said that she could get me his phone number and he would be happy to speak with me. I haven't seen the film "knocking" yet,...so I don't really know what I would discuss with him at this point. However, reading others threads about "Knocking, the first thing that comes to my mind would be to encourage him to make another film that is more critical and highlights the sexual abuses and tragedies of the ban on blood transfusions. What would you ask him?