garybuss

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Posts by garybuss

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  26

  What Causes You To Make The Decisions That You Make In Life?

  by minimus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  do you think long and hard before deciding on a course of action or are you impulsive??

  ?

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  garybuss

  What Causes You To Make The Decisions That You Make In Life?
  Good judgement, which came from experience, which came from bad judgement.
  
  
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  13

  Does anyone know? Question about early JW beliefs.

  by hotchocolate in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  helloooo people .

  i was under the impression that the witnesses didn't have any belief in an earthly class until 1935-ish.. and yet in 1925 (?

  ) they built beth sarim in san diego to house the faithful men of old when they returned to earth.

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  garybuss

  You wrote: "So what WAS the JW's hope for the future back in 1925?"
  
  Rutherford's hope for his future was that his scam would last till he died. It did. The belief that dead Jews would be recreated in a perfect replica body and live in the United States happened to coincide with Rutherford's desire for a winter mansion in California. Nice coincidence, huh?
  
  Think how good a salesman Rutherford was to sell that.
  
  
  
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  26

  was anyone ever told they would have been stoned to death by an elder?

  by looloo in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  i was when i had an affair , but this elders pioneer daughter told me she understood why i had done it , i was feeling dreadfull and so guilt ridden but he said i should through myself at my hubs feet and beg forgiveness from him and had i lived 2000 years ago i would have been stoned to death !

  the strange thing is a few years later this elder told me he had feelings for me , but he was married and old enough to be my dad , although i liked him as a person by then and had forgotten what he had said to me about being stoned to death, i was a bit annoyed that he told me not to tell anyone ,and yet was telling other people to tattle tale on others , i know he felt really bad about his feelings though and i did feel sorry for him , but asked him not to visit anymore as it made me feel guilty towards his wife , maybe it was gods way of getting him to see things from a wrong doers point of view ,as he had a reputation for being very harsh on wrong doers (like myself) maybe he makes a better elder nowadays after that insight , or maybe they think i was sent by satan to seduce a pioneer and an elder !

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  garybuss

  When I was about 11 years old, my mother told me I was lucky we didn't live in Biblical times because if I ever quit the Witness group she would help murder me by stoning and she'd throw the first stone.
  
  Makes me all warm and fuzzy to think about being raised by Witness parents.
  
  We didn't have elders when I was a Witness except at the very end. The congregations were called "companies" and were directed by Society appointed committees. The leader was called "company servant".
  
  The companies were very business like with sales figures posted in big letters on wall charts. The focus was all on literature sales and recruiting new literature sales people. God owned a United States book printing business and my parents bought into that crap and drug me along without a choice because they believed God would murder me if I didn't sell literature door to door with them.
  
  
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  46

  I have a HUGE dilemma and I need your help/advice

  by Bumble Bee in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  ok i posted a couple weeks ago that my uncle was dying.

  i just found out today that he passed away on february 28th (yeah i know, i'm always the last to know these things).. ok, here's the problem - his funeral is scheduled for march 15th.

  they couldn't have it this saturday, apparently there is something going on at gillead and people that would be attending the funeral will be there instead.

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  garybuss

  Anytime I can choose between a bad deal and a good deal, I'll take the good deal every time.
  
  I never heard of reserved seating at funerals. Must be a Canadian thing.
  
  
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  8

  mother just had jws at the door, they said that abuse is now reported to

  by looloo in

  1. watchtower
  2. child-abuse

  the police !

  this was not an elder , but he said the rules changed sometime ago !

  thats odd because i rang bethel london a few days ago and the nice guy that i spoke to regarding our situation , said that in england and some of the states in america it is not the law to report to the police !

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  garybuss

  Sometimes Witnesses I know might leave out some information once in a while. If all abuse is reported . . is that all proven abuse? or all evidence of abuse? or all allegations of abuse? or all suspicions of abuse?
  
  I'd want clarification on that.
  
  
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  25

  Part 2: OMG - I did it - I told my Mom and Dad how I feel...

  by Princess Daisy Boo in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  5 days after the big showdown with my mom, she called me today.

  well she is a bigger person than me - i certainly did not have the guts to do it.

  we made a bit of small talk and then she brought up saturdays discussion.

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  garybuss

  I prefer that people who wish to try to control me with their own bad behaviors would just give me their worst behavior right off. Then I'll factor that person and that person's bad behavior into it's proper place in my living plan and I'll treat them according to their own behaviors.
  
  All association with me is a privilege, not a right, and that right is earned, starting over every day. You can't expect to disrespect me today and then contact me tomorrow like today never happened.
  
  This is simply the establishment and defense of healthy boundaries. I refuse to be offended on purpose without retaining the right to choose to limit or eliminate contact with people who choose to be disrespectful and offensive on purpose. I'll never accept insults and offense as a prerequisite to a relationship. Your love and acceptance isn't important to me. You aren't important to me. Your behavior today is your application for access to me tomorrow.
  
  When I set the rules, I become the one in charge. There's no negotiating with me, so don't even try. I only respect your behavior to the extent that behavior is respectable.
  
  I think it's fair to notify people that the rules have changed. Dysfunctional families tend to stay dysfunctional. Abusive people tend to stay abusive. Here's the new rule: "Be nice or be gone!".
  
  
  
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  24

  Should I attend a Lord's Evening Meal at local Kingdom Hall?

  by ttw1981 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i am not a jehovah's witness but have been talking with a few jehovah's witnesses for about two months now, about once every week or every other week.

  on saturday they came and we had 'bible study' (actually starting to go through what does the bible really teach?

  ), and as they left they gave us a list of their meeting times at the local congregation and invited us to observe the lord's evening meal with them on march 22.

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  garybuss

  The Witness memorial is essentially a "Black Mass", in that the sacraments representing Jesus are passed and refused. The Witness bishop (called "elder") reads a list of the reasons Witnesses are "true Christians" if they refuse Christ.
  
  If you've never been to a Black Mass, it might be interesting to go and see it. The outline of the bishop's speech is available here. You might take a copy along and follow along. It should make for an interesting "book study" with the Witnesses following the mass.
  
  
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  26

  How Would YOU Help a JW That Is Questioning The Religion?

  by minimus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  how would you help them see it's not "the truth"?

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  garybuss

  How Would YOU Help a JW That Is Questioning The Religion?
  
  I'd send em to Bethel. If they stayed a Witness, they'd be out of town . . . and if they were inclined to leave the Witnesses, the Bethel stay should do the trick.
  
  
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  66

  HERE'S THE 2007 SERVICE YEAR REPORT

  by Mary in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  i'm not sure if this has been posted yet, so i took the liberty of scanning a copy.

  here is the figures for the 2007 service year report.

  interesting that over 9,000 partook at the memorial last year when the numbers should be going down.

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  garybuss

  Mary, you wrote:
  "As long as you fake turn in a field service report, you're counted as a "member"."
  So is that a "member" of the Watch Tower Society? I thought membership there was limited to proxy eligible shareholders. Or is it "member" of Jehovah's Witnesses? Because I thought Jehovah's Witnesses didn't have any members, to be a "witness", one "witnessed" (also called distributing literature and soliciting donations).
  
  Or does it mean the member is a "member" of God's kingdom? Or is it Christ's kingdom? And what's the difference . . . and why the distinction? Which kingdom is represented at the "Kingdom" halls? How can one tell?
  
  Or are the "members" members of the Christian Congregations of Jehovah's Witnesses? What are the rights and benefits of membership? What's the proof of membership? Where are the individual records kept?
  
  When I was a kid in the 50's going to meetings with my parents, Jehovah's witnesses was not a religion, there was no membership, and directions came from the Watch Tower Corporation in Brooklyn. Now Jehovah's Witnesses are a religion, there is membership, and they get directions from the Christian Congregations of Jehovah's Witnesses in Patterson.
  
  I'm confused. I was told the Society was being run God's way in the 50's. What happened? I'd sure welcome hearing from anybody who can clear this up for me.
  
  
  
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  66

  HERE'S THE 2007 SERVICE YEAR REPORT

  by Mary in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  i'm not sure if this has been posted yet, so i took the liberty of scanning a copy.

  here is the figures for the 2007 service year report.

  interesting that over 9,000 partook at the memorial last year when the numbers should be going down.

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  garybuss

  When did the Witnesses go from "nothing to join" to "membership statistics"?
  
  http://www.jw-media.org/people/statistics.htm
  
  How does one establish "membership" status? By baptism? Or by turning in a "field service report"?