When I was in, they constantly used the example of Noah regarding how hard we should be working.
Noah had to :
1) build the ark
2) preach nonstop to the people
3) put up with persecution for what he was doing
4) prepare the ark, and get all the animals in it.
wotnesses sitting and doing nothing while the general public walks around?
God must be just so proud of these so called witnesses 😦
take a ride with me back to 1987. picture yourself in your town, or city centre.
remember the clothes people wore, the hairstyles etc.... now imagine yourself doing your ministry out on the street, engaging with people, speaking with them, striking up conversations.
now, how would you feel, and what would you say, if you noticed two people appear nearby with a cart.
pleaseresearch thank you for creating this scenario.
Yes it is true that they would have been ridiculed.
I remember being in Springfield Illinois during a district convention one year in the early 80's and this same situation happened.
It was a "bible group" and they were just sitting by a sidewalk giving away religious comic books that talked about the end of the world, and what we need to do in order to be saved by Jesus..
The witnesses I was with literally shredded them to pieces all weekend, making non stop fun of their method for sharing their beliefs.
And now look at the witnesses today.
my dad died of a blood clot as a result of surgery late last year.
to say that his death created a bottomless void in our family is an understatement.
i think about him every day, sometimes constantly.
I'm sorry to hear of your loss.
when my Mother died eight years ago, I walked away from being a witness.
She was one for over 25 years, 15 years ago my parents moved out of state to retire.
When she died, despite her death being read at the meetings, and an obituary posted in three different newspapers, only 5 people sent a card. One stopped off to visit.
She was not an uber witness, but she did her duty, and spent much time taking care of physically sick ones. The neglect from witnesses that knew our family for several decades was the last straw for me, and because she was an animal loving person I trained my dog to be a therapy animal. For eight years we have visited hospitals, nursing homes, schools, and sickly neighbors.
And guess what ? Helping people in this way has been so therapeutic, and up building for me, much more than knocking on doors. I feel her presence whenever we do this type of work.
So find something that your parent liked, and use it as a springboard to do greater things.
😇😇
when a person joins the jw organization, do they make a statement claiming that they totally renounce any other religion ?.
i recently took a class titled " religions of the world" and for a final project students need to attend several religious services, and write a paper on the experience.. i find religions to be very interesting to study, but it has crossed my mind that i may have agreed to something when i became a witness back in 1977/ 15 years old at the time.
it is not a major concern, but i would just hate for some statement to appear, or be found by someone stating that i once completely disavowed any religion outside of the jw's.. not being neurotic here, just don't want that ridiculous part of my past jumping up and stabbing me in the back😜.
LongHairGal,
thank you for your comment, it is embarrassing afterwards looking back.
I hope that your doing fine dealing with the " mental fallout" as my son so eloquently likes to tell me.
Sometimes when I bring this subject up he likes to tell me I'm getting caught in a downward spiral of stupidity, your completely right stating that it is an embarrassing part of life
when a person joins the jw organization, do they make a statement claiming that they totally renounce any other religion ?.
i recently took a class titled " religions of the world" and for a final project students need to attend several religious services, and write a paper on the experience.. i find religions to be very interesting to study, but it has crossed my mind that i may have agreed to something when i became a witness back in 1977/ 15 years old at the time.
it is not a major concern, but i would just hate for some statement to appear, or be found by someone stating that i once completely disavowed any religion outside of the jw's.. not being neurotic here, just don't want that ridiculous part of my past jumping up and stabbing me in the back😜.
When a person joins the jw organization, do they make a statement claiming that they totally renounce any other religion ?
i recently took a class titled " Religions of the World" and for a final project students need to attend several religious services, and write a paper on the experience.
I find religions to be very interesting to study, but it has crossed my mind that I may have agreed to something when I became a witness back in 1977/ 15 years old at the time. It is not a major concern, but I would just hate for some statement to appear, or be found by someone stating that I once completely disavowed any religion outside of the jw's.
not being neurotic here, just don't want that ridiculous part of my past jumping up and stabbing me in the back😜
i was baptized 4 years ago, i have 2 little girls who love their bunnies, so this year we reached out to 4h and started our own 4h group - this was after asking the elders for counsel.
none provided.
now after doing this for 3 months i am being brought before a judicial committee for neutrality.
When we were witnesses, the elders would council my wife and I regarding our ten year old son joining the track team at school.
their council basically told us to not let him join, and he should spend more time in service.
totally frosted my wife, and after discussing the subject together, we just ignored what they wanted us to do.
guess what ? Nothing more was said about the subject ever again. I learned that if you " push back" in a non confront all way, the elders realize that your not an easy pushover. Your opinion is important, don't let them steamroll over you 💪
there were many addressed to me.
for example, i once had a sister tell me i was gambling because i liked playing skill crane (the machine where you have to try to pick up prizes like stuffed animals) at the arcade.
i then fired back a her: "you saw the r-rated movie 'backdraft.
My 5 year old son and I went to a hall cleaning day, and after starting to rake the yard an elder by the name of Redman came up to me and asked us to leave. It seems that my son had a Spider-Man shirt. 5 years old, come on !
the elders said it was inappropriate attire for working at the hall.
had the misfortune of stopping by the "regional" convention yesterday.
i promised my daughter i would come to sunday afternoon so she wouldnt have to ride home with her mother.... holy crap it was weird!
im sure all of this has been covered on the forum but to actually see it.... just wow.
These stories are just mind blowing .
I hope that there will be more like this .
did any of you attend the old school week long conventions?
i have heard stories and it seems like these were mostly in the 70's and 80's before my time.
i couldn't imagine.
As a teenager I attended an assembly in Billings Montana wit several friends, and here most everyone camped out. For showers we used the sheds where the farmers washed their animals. Entering those areas would remind me of the gas chambers from the Concentration camps.
i realize that prayer is a really personal thing, but representing a group in prayer has become so full of cliche's that i just want to vomit sometimes.
co week almost every prayer has the phrase "special week of activity" in it.. then there's "please look after the sick and afflicted.".
not so much anymore, "please bless this food and the hands that prepared it.".
Those people who would act like they were reciting their own version of the Gettysburg Address stressed me out.
