It's been way too long since the Revelation book was revised and studied.
It's nearly a century since the Bible Students fulfilled prophecies by attending boring religious talkings at an Ohio, USA amusement park.
when i was a kid in the early 90's there always seemed to be a mention of how demons posessing people or how if you saw a demon or something supernatural occuring mearly calling jehovah's name would rid you of the situation.
rarely now a days do you hear anything of the sort.
that got me to thinking, what are some other topics the society has backed off of?
It's been way too long since the Revelation book was revised and studied.
It's nearly a century since the Bible Students fulfilled prophecies by attending boring religious talkings at an Ohio, USA amusement park.
.. .. .. .
will become whatever the wtbts needs them to become.. .. once upon a time they said this:.
1943 the watchtower, april 15, page 124.
16-20. we shall also have to raise up against him seven shepherds, yes, eight dukes of mankind.mic.
what is the most important thing that you can do now to prepare for any future attack on gods people?.
all of us must be ready to obey any instructions we may receive, whether these appear sound from a strategic or human standpoint or not.. .
Magwitch & OM: "The number eight (one more than seven) sometimes represents an abundance."
Well, at least the first part of that footnote counts as one accurate statement to be found in this article. New Light: "Research Reveals that Eight is One More than Seven!"
But 8 represents an abundance only "sometimes". Wait, what? When does 8 ever represent an abundance? 8 beans or 8 grains of rice is not an abundance. 8 wives might seem like a lot, but if they intended to represent an abundance, why didn't they go the Solomon route and exaggerate it to 700 dukes and 300 shepherds?
16-20. we shall also have to raise up against him seven shepherds, yes, eight dukes of mankind.mic.
what is the most important thing that you can do now to prepare for any future attack on gods people?.
all of us must be ready to obey any instructions we may receive, whether these appear sound from a strategic or human standpoint or not.. .
Newly Enlightened, The "grill incident" was one where it was so blatant in demonstrating the attitude of some of the COs. They can easily become greedy, abusive dictators.
There were a lot of times in Bethel where I would sense that something wasn't quite right, but you can't go poking around and asking questions. I know for certain that there was a lot of careless waste. Was there fraud? Maybe yes, maybe no, but with their policy of keeping the books hidden away from public review, it creates an environment that invites corruption.
"Oh, but that could never happen in "God's Organization", right? Pfft. Ever hear about the guy called Judas Iscariot that was stealing money right under the nose of Jesus?
warning!
awesome!
so thankful for all the amazing provisions jehovah has given us.
"Such a loving provision to be able to study my WT lesson and surf for porn on the same electronic device. Thank you, Jehovah!"
so.... i went out all day today... just wanted to get away from the sh!tstorm that was created yesterday.
anyways... i come home like an hour ago, and my dad told me that mom called my aunties in central america and told them stuff about me, and also she told the elders of her hall... the elders want to meet with me, but i think that it will be at my house.
i am curious about your ideas about:.
You've chosen a path that isn't easy. You've chosen to question, challenge, and learn.
Rather than blindly accept something that was handed to you with a label "truth", you've tested it. And it failed.
When you dare to point out that WT might have even a tiny flaw, the faithful are trained not to examine the facts. They are trained to attack YOU for bringing attention to the facts.
Is this a surprise? Anybody whose really read the Bible realizes that someone that tells the truth and does the right thing is very likely to get killed for it. When you are given a hard time for loving TTATT, that is the persecution to be expected. The fact that WT theology is terribly flawed and their false teachings have ruined lives is irrelevant to "true believers". They have been trained that the only way to avoid death and have a pet panda is by attending meetings, preaching the WT message, and never question the GB. They would rather have the illusion of their fake truth than have to deal with facts and reality.
16-20. we shall also have to raise up against him seven shepherds, yes, eight dukes of mankind.mic.
what is the most important thing that you can do now to prepare for any future attack on gods people?.
all of us must be ready to obey any instructions we may receive, whether these appear sound from a strategic or human standpoint or not.. .
Bobcat, Interesting comments. After reading the things you brought out, I only did a little research and it's easy to see that WT has simplified and misrepresented the events recorded in the Bible and secular records. Hezekiah was involved with foreign allies and paid the Assyrians with temple treasures to go away. So much for his "trust in Jehovah." Of course, WT has to doctor the dates to support their erroneous chronology and numerology.
When you take off the Watchtower goggles, just a few extra minutes to look at the context of the verses this WT uses and even just using Wikipedia, it's easy to realize that this WT article just doesn't make sense. The statements they make about any historical events aren't correct. Similarly, the explanations that the prophecies have modern application require stretches of logic that are pure fiction. The supposed "lessons for today" do not follow. The modern elders are said to be the "seven shepherds, yes, eight dukes of mankind. And they will actually shepherd the land of Assyria with the sword, and the land of Nimrod in its entrances"? Good grief. The elders as some sort of battle heroes that will rule the world? I've served on enough BoEs to realize that the elders can't agree on which brand of toilet tissue to purchase after a 5 hour elder meeting to discuss every option from steel wool to just telling everyone to bring their own.
16-20. we shall also have to raise up against him seven shepherds, yes, eight dukes of mankind.mic.
what is the most important thing that you can do now to prepare for any future attack on gods people?.
all of us must be ready to obey any instructions we may receive, whether these appear sound from a strategic or human standpoint or not.. .
Also in this issue, The Watchtower has the annual "How to Give More to Watchtower Corporation!" article here.
The opening story of WT providing assistance in some war-torn area is typical. There is no reference to where this happened, when this happened, or how many people were assisted during this incident. I would suspect that this was an event 30 or more years ago and affected a couple of congregations for a few weeks. Financial assistance probably only came from the France branch.
Watchtower flip-flops on "charity" right within the article.
In the face of natural and man-made disasters, we do not tell needy brothers and sisters to “keep warm and well fed.” (Jas. 2:15, 16) Instead, we seek to provide for their physical needs.
Let's be honest. WT provides very little in the way of physical needs. When I left bethel, they couldn't have cared any less about whatever my physical needs would be. I can honestly say that in my hour of need, WT headquarters itself told me to "keep warm and well fed." What they really mean to say is in the very next paragraph. Here comes the flip...
As Jehovah’s servants, we are eager to help needy individuals in a material way. However, people also have a spiritual need. (Matt. 5:3) .... As an organization, we use some donated funds to provide material help, but donations are used chiefly to promote Kingdom interests and spread the good news. We thus show our love for God and for our neighbors.—Matt. 22:37-39.
The "charitable work" of Watchtower is certainly not to help "worldly" people in their dire straights, or even to help needy JWs. WT "charitable work" is to recruit more people into the bOrganization. Of course they can say "donations are used chiefly to promote Kingdom interests" because that phrase really means nothing. I'll never forget the elders meeting at the circuit assembly where it was the routine to approve the expenses. One of the expenses to be approved was for the purchase of a gas grill for the COs apartment, worth something like $350. There was a collective gasp. A brother volunteered that he had a gas grill that he wasn't using anymore that he would volunteer to donate. The guy in charge hummed and hawed as several more raised issues with such an expense of donated funds. Finally, he leveled and said, "this needs to be approved because the grill was already purchased." There were a lot of unhappy campers in that crowd until that incident was forgotten. Whenever I hear something like "donations are used chiefly to promote Kingdom interests," events like that immediately come to mind.
WT isn't the type of charity that has their books open for public review and audit to verify how the money is collected and spent. Having worked at bethel, I can honestly say that WT organization is a massively wasteful operation. On one hand, I've seen how there will be penny-pinching on one project with reports on how much money was saved. Yet there is a long list of failed projects and just plain waste that gets ignored. What can you expect from an organization that takes such a dim view of secular education? Of course there are going to be lots of idiots at the top.
Anyway, I just thought I'd add this observation to the material for this WT lesson. It makes sense that WT and the crazy 8 at the very top will demand that the R&F shut up and do as they're told. They certainly don't want any of the sheeple to stop and say, "Hey, let's think about this for a minute. Why does the CO and WT demand that congregation accounts be announced and audited, when the organization's accounts are kept completely secret? What's the big deal about the hundreds of dollars a congregation handles, when millions of dollars are completely unaccounted for? They're selling real estate for hundreds of millions, yet still publishing articles like this saying that they need more. Why?"
16-20. we shall also have to raise up against him seven shepherds, yes, eight dukes of mankind.mic.
what is the most important thing that you can do now to prepare for any future attack on gods people?.
all of us must be ready to obey any instructions we may receive, whether these appear sound from a strategic or human standpoint or not.. .
There were 6 Dukes of Hazzard: Uncle Jesse, Daisy, Bo, Luke, Coy, and Vance. They did have numerous allies.
Perhaps if we consider Boss Hogg to be the modern day Assyrian, Micah's prophecy would have an interesting fulfillment!
glad to be a new member and find others with similarities of background.
some background info on me: my dad became jw when i was young, so i spent maybe a third of my life in the religion.
although i respect everyone's beliefs, i personally knew many genuinely selfless people in my congregation, but the way i was raised, now that i am an adult i am realizing was very sheltered and unrealistic.