Watkins

Joined

• started 13 topics
• posted 473 times   see topics posted on
• send a message

Posts by Watkins

• 
  13

  Flip Flop - Can women be Ministerial Servants?

  by Splash in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  did some research on this and found some interesting wt statements:.

  women can be ministerial servantsyes - wt50 4/15 p.122 par.9 (based on 'dia'konos' in rom 16:1; 1tim 3:8-11).

  only if there are not enough brothers - wt64 4/1 p.208 par.10 ('apparently').

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Watkins

  I think 'head covering' is taken way out of contrast - it shouldn't be taken literally as Paul was addressing one specific cultural difference in one specific cong., and it had to do with shaven-headed women - reformed/converted prostitutes if I remember right.

  I think his words about women being silent are taunting(sarcastic), not literal. If he meant what he said about men and women and Jews and Gentiles being equal in God's eyes, then he can't have meant that he literally didn't 'allow' women to teach. There were deaconesses and women teachers - it was the men who had pride problems with it.

  Could be wrong, but that's my take on it.
• 
  38

  What is your experience when you stop turning in time?

  by gingerbread in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  for the past year or so, i've been turning in just one or two hours of service time.

  it has been mentioned to me from an elder "friend" that i'm never seen at any meetings for field service.

  i get his implication.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Watkins

  Ranmac - that's classic! I've surprised a few by saying how blessed I've been and the whole family is well and healthy, despite the economy. (not to mention FREE from wt dogma!) It's no small wonder they're surprised since the wt mantra is how awful things are and how they wish for 'this system' to end - and it's right around the corner - any day now!

  There's a verse they've quoted in the mag. before about how 'expectation put-off makes the heart sick', or something of that nature - how true that is, and how tired and sick the old friends have become... quite sad that they're perpetually so sad.

  watkins
• 
  11

  LOTS of JW books in local charity shop.......

  by Pams girl in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  went to my local charity shop the other day and while i was looking through the books, i happened upon at least 7 books (the name escapes me) that only elders use, several nwt bibles, and many other books, (paradise book?

  ) plus the smaller books, questions young people ask etc.

  in total, i counted at least 80 jw books/bibles.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Watkins

  Maybe it's different in other areas, Blondie. This is a rural area with khs few and far between. When I told people in my congregation what a lovely collection I had of the older books, every one of them said I should get rid of them and not even read them - OLD LIGHT. And here I thought they were so cool, lol. I don't know if it was a 'directive' or not, or just something they do around here to block 'apostates' from using the old lit. against the wt.

  When I got rid of all the books and magazines, I boxed them up and set them in front of the kh doors. Just wanted them to know that someone had purged the wtbts from their life.

  watkins
• 
  38

  What is your experience when you stop turning in time?

  by gingerbread in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  for the past year or so, i've been turning in just one or two hours of service time.

  it has been mentioned to me from an elder "friend" that i'm never seen at any meetings for field service.

  i get his implication.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Watkins

  Forgot to mention - that was 10 years ago. Don't think I've ever been df'd or whatever. I don't know or care. I guess my answer worked!
• 
  38

  What is your experience when you stop turning in time?

  by gingerbread in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  for the past year or so, i've been turning in just one or two hours of service time.

  it has been mentioned to me from an elder "friend" that i'm never seen at any meetings for field service.

  i get his implication.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Watkins

  No biggie for me. One elder insisted I'd spent "at least 15 minutes this month talking about Jehovah", and I suppose he wrote that down, but against my wishes if he did.

  I quoted him this, which I felt appropriate: 2 Cor. 3: 3 Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or do we need, as some, letters of commendation to you or from you? 2 You are our letter, written in our hearts, known and read by all men; 3 being manifested that you are a letter of Christ, cared for by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.

  I told him that 'turning in time' seems to be nothing but a commendation of ourselves. And that no where in the Bible is this kind of surveilance mentioned. "BUT", he said, "its an encouragement to the brothers and sisters". In what way, I wondered, since I only came away with guilty feelings of 'not doing enough' upon hearing 'reports' of 'high hours' in other congregations. We were constantly told we weren't doing enough, which they softened by saying we were to do whatever our circumstances would allow--- even though that was never enough! Due to that yes/no mentality I think, now, that I was crazy, then.

  watkins
• 
  11

  LOTS of JW books in local charity shop.......

  by Pams girl in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  went to my local charity shop the other day and while i was looking through the books, i happened upon at least 7 books (the name escapes me) that only elders use, several nwt bibles, and many other books, (paradise book?

  ) plus the smaller books, questions young people ask etc.

  in total, i counted at least 80 jw books/bibles.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Watkins

  Around here the dubs are on alert about old-light literature and buy it up to dispose of it. I asked the owner of a local used-book store if that were true and he confirmed it is. You're right, 'wha happened' - no normal person would be interested in cult literature!
• 
  13

  Why Must A God Of Love Destroy The World/NonJWs? Why Doesn't This Cause Cognitive Dissonance?

  by frankiespeakin in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  discuss.. god is love but yet he hates.. god don't hate bad people he hates bad acts and yet he takes out his hate on people and not the acts.. god loved the world so much that he gave his only begotten son as payment to some mysterious debt collector so the world would live on and then he back tracks on the deal and decides they need extermination after all, except for a worthy few who put faith in the watchtower corporation.. i remember an article by the wt years ago that dealt with the topic why a god of love is going to destroy the world any quotes from it would be helpful..

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Watkins

  Y, NN, that's what cognitive dissonance is, agreed. And it is thinking about the differences between what the OT says and how Yeshua portrayed God that helps some people out of the wt for good. As in my case, I never believed that non-dubs would be armageddonized - maybe because EVERYone else I knew and loved in life was a non-dub, good people and I knew that wasn't right.

  I wasn't a very good dub I guess.

  That's why the wt teaches doctrine from the OT - they like that God of hate better, keeps the stupid sheep in line with fear. Yeshua changed the concept of God - and that, again, is why the wt doesn't teach from the NT because "there is no fear in love". Can't have the sheep following after Yeshua, heavens no, then they wouldn't need the wt. Fear of a scary god is the wt's favorite tool.

  watkins
• 
  13

  Why Must A God Of Love Destroy The World/NonJWs? Why Doesn't This Cause Cognitive Dissonance?

  by frankiespeakin in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  discuss.. god is love but yet he hates.. god don't hate bad people he hates bad acts and yet he takes out his hate on people and not the acts.. god loved the world so much that he gave his only begotten son as payment to some mysterious debt collector so the world would live on and then he back tracks on the deal and decides they need extermination after all, except for a worthy few who put faith in the watchtower corporation.. i remember an article by the wt years ago that dealt with the topic why a god of love is going to destroy the world any quotes from it would be helpful..

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Watkins

  Good quote find, Blues Brother. The wt claims to be so very different from other sects, but that article is a nearly word-for-word description of, 'why it's the epitomy of LOVE for God to burn people for all eternity in hell', that I heard a tv preacher recite not long ago. They're all the same---- and they're all wrong.

  IF it's God's will that ALL should be saved, then that's what'll happen. imho.

  watkins
• 
  13

  Why Must A God Of Love Destroy The World/NonJWs? Why Doesn't This Cause Cognitive Dissonance?

  by frankiespeakin in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  discuss.. god is love but yet he hates.. god don't hate bad people he hates bad acts and yet he takes out his hate on people and not the acts.. god loved the world so much that he gave his only begotten son as payment to some mysterious debt collector so the world would live on and then he back tracks on the deal and decides they need extermination after all, except for a worthy few who put faith in the watchtower corporation.. i remember an article by the wt years ago that dealt with the topic why a god of love is going to destroy the world any quotes from it would be helpful..

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Watkins

  In thinking people with half a heart, it does cause dissonance. What's to discuss --- the wt is completely, absolutely and totally wrong about everything, including, and especially, God. End of discussion!

  (there seem to be very few, if any, wt apologists on the board these days - maybe they're waking up with cognitive dissonance too!)

  watkins
• 
  24

  How do you react when you happen upon the name jehovah

  by jean-luc picard in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  whenever i here that name, maybe in conversation with someone who doesnt know my past, i feel anger welling up instantly inside me.. if there were a jw in sight, i think i could give him a jolly good shaking.. just hearing that name does things to me.. jesus = love.

  jehovah = hate, selfishness, divisiveness, and domineering manipulation.. so much for jdubs "honoring " his name.

  he's sure got a bad reputation based on how they live their lives..

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Watkins

  My favorite captain said: "So much for jdubs "honoring" his name. He's sure got a bad reputation based on how they live their lives."

  That was one of my very first thoughts when the ttatt bell rang for me - Look what they've done to Your Name! The wt's really drug it through the mud, haven't they.

  It used to make me angry --- then sad --- now indifferent. I don't use it anymore because I don't think it was ever God's name. Besides - The Name conveys much more than the spelling or pronunciation - it's God's character, what He stands for, that the wt dishonors. No, the wt's "Jehovah" evokes bad memories and I refuse to go there. When someone else goes there ---- what zed said.

  watkins