passwordprotected

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Posts by passwordprotected

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  13

  Your opinion?someone sent me this

  by mouthy in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  dispensationalist thinking - right or wrong?

  all the fringe religious sects, and even some mainline christian churches, adopt a dispensationalist policy these days.

  dispensationalists are people who believe that the gifts of the spirit, such as tongues, healing, prophecy etc all disappeared with the death of the apostles.

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  passwordprotected

  Excellent points.
  
  A very recent public edition WT has an article on healing. It mentions that, along with healing, tongues etc, "[divinely revealed] knowledge" would be done away with. Yes. It actually says that. In the Watchtower. Doesn't that put paid to any claim the WT may have about them being the only ones to have the truth, the only ones to understand the event of 1914, the only ones to understand the identity of the Great Crowd etc etc etc?
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  13

  Your opinion?someone sent me this

  by mouthy in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  dispensationalist thinking - right or wrong?

  all the fringe religious sects, and even some mainline christian churches, adopt a dispensationalist policy these days.

  dispensationalists are people who believe that the gifts of the spirit, such as tongues, healing, prophecy etc all disappeared with the death of the apostles.

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  passwordprotected

  Excellent points.
  
  A very recent public edition WT has an article on healing. It mentions that, along with healing, tongues etc, "[divinely revealed] knowledge" would be done away with. Yes. It actually says that. In the Watchtower. Doesn't that put paid to any claim the WT may have about them being the only ones to have the truth, the only ones to understand the event of 1914, the only ones to understand the identity of the Great Crowd etc etc etc?
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  32

  Elders....what sort of training do they get...how are they selected

  by insearchoftruth in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  my wife who is studying with a jw, whenever i ask her a question she will respond, i don't know, i am still learning, you need to ask the elders about that..... she raises these gentlemen up on a pedestal....are there any special qualifications, what sort of training do they recieve, any background checks required??

  ?.

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  passwordprotected

  snakes sounds like he was my kind of elder! I fully agree with him; new elders are going to be put in situations where they can massively impact on peoples' lives. They need to be trained and trained well. Unfortunately, too many elders view this as an inconvenience.
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  4

  What's worse - celebrating Xmas or....

  by passwordprotected in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  ....following a false prophet?.

  jesus and the bible do not at any point mention birthdays, xmas etc.

  however it does have clear rules regarding following false prophets.. .

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  passwordprotected

  ....following a false prophet?
  
  Jesus and the Bible do not at any point mention birthdays, Xmas etc. However it does have clear rules regarding following false prophets.
  
  So, which is worse?
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  32

  Elders....what sort of training do they get...how are they selected

  by insearchoftruth in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  my wife who is studying with a jw, whenever i ask her a question she will respond, i don't know, i am still learning, you need to ask the elders about that..... she raises these gentlemen up on a pedestal....are there any special qualifications, what sort of training do they recieve, any background checks required??

  ?.

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  passwordprotected

  lol, good spot!
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  32

  Elders....what sort of training do they get...how are they selected

  by insearchoftruth in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  my wife who is studying with a jw, whenever i ask her a question she will respond, i don't know, i am still learning, you need to ask the elders about that..... she raises these gentlemen up on a pedestal....are there any special qualifications, what sort of training do they recieve, any background checks required??

  ?.

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  passwordprotected

  I served as an elder for a total of 9 months, being appointed in October 2008. I'd previously declined appointment as an elder as I felt the scrutiny ministerial servants who are being considered for appointment as elders isn't the same level of scrutiny brothers already serving as elders would be put under. I stated that it was impossible to stand up to that level of scrutiny. The fact is, the brothers aren't properly trained to serve, but are expected to meet very high standards when the CO comes to visit and approve recommendations for appointment as an elder.
  
  I'd been passed over for appointment 3 years ago as I had very young children at the time, which was fair. During that period I was 'trained' to serve as an elder. The 'training' involved being taken on the odd 'encouragement visit'. Typically ministerial servants won't be taken on proper shepherding calls when 2 elders will visit someone who is 'spiritually sick' or has some serious problem in their life that they congregation feel warrants them offering assistance. So, rather than servants working with the elders at the sharp end, their 'training' involves sitting in a JWs living room, having a cup of tea and reading a section from a Watchtower by way of 'spiritual encouragement'.
  
  The former PO in our old congregation - good friend of mine until I DAd - told me that when a brother is appointed as an elder the 'training' stops and they now need to stand on their own two feet, sink or swim (pardon my mixed metaphors). You're asked if anything disqualifies you as being appointed, if there's any reason why your appointment should not be announced to the congregation, and - if you've never been appointed before - it is suggested that the elders ask if you've ever been involved in the abuse of children. Quite why this question is not an absolute requirement is puzzling.
  
  Then, now that you're an elder, you attend your first elders' meeting, usually on the same night as your appointment is announced. At that meeting you're brought fully up to speed as to what's been going on in the congregation, all the juicy gossip, so to speak. From that moment on you're open to receiving phone calls from distressed JWs, you'll serve on a judicial committee (within 2 weeks of my appointment I served on a JC) and decide the fate of a fellow JW, you'll be put under further scrutiny - along with your family - by the congregation, your standard of public speaking will be expected to be at a high standard, continually and your behaviour with your family in public will be expected to be impeccable at all times.
  
  As snakes said, there are meetings for the elders, but there is little depth to them. In short there's little actual proper training for elders. It really depends on your luck; if you're in a congregation where you have a pro-active elder who is genuinely interested in investing his own personal time in the training of ministerial servants, then you're virtually on your own.
  
  I was lucky, I enjoyed a few years of such interest being shown in me by one of the 'good guy' elders.
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  13

  This is important (Quoting Betsy and Jeremy C.)

  by Hiddenwindow in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  the society insists in its cultish talk.

  given the secretive nature of the governing body's delibarations, we do not know what they are preparing for.

  both besy and jeremy c. made excellent contributions to a recent thread, and i want to follow up.

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  passwordprotected

  While they may not mention 1914 much these days, it remains firmly embedded in the foundations of the WTS. That one single date is hugely important to those still in the Org, most don't realise it.
  
  With each new year bringing us closer to 2014, there will be more and more changes, some small, some not so small. Binning the BSG was big. There was a meeting of all the elders in NYC earlier this year to talk about combining congregations, squeezing more congregations into KHs and selling the KHs that have been vacated. This is also big.
  
  My prediction is a series of changes and announcements that will keep the eyes and minds of the R&F off the fact that it's almost 2014, 100 years of Christ's invisible reign.
  
  "Why hasn't he done anything yet?"
  "We were told that our "deliverance was at hand!"
  
  If a JW wakes up to the fact that none of the WTS prophecies re. Christ's invisible presence have come true then the WTS loses their power over that JW.
  
  I'm convinced we're going to see the great Watchtower Society Sleight of Hand trick, all for the purpose of keep attention away from 1914.
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  35

  JWD is Back And So Am I! NEW VIDEOS

  by V in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  thanks simon for continuing this forum!.

  new www.watchtowercomments.com video series in progress here (parts 1 & 2 so far):.

  question jehovah's witnesses: no blood?.

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  passwordprotected

  Great work V! Let's talk about getting these on iTunes.
  
  @reniaa - the difference between JWs and other religions is that JWs claim that they are right without exception and if you disagree with them you are removed from the congregation and shunned by your family and friends. That only ever happens in cults, not in the Baptists (you seem to love having a pop at them).
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  9

  Watchtower January15, 2009.pdf

  by bronzefist in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  it's a lead up issue to the memorial april 9,2009.... (my words) "of course we believe in jesus you silly people..so come to your nearest kingdom hall so we can impress our members with inflated numbers.

  by the way don't indulge yourselves with our emblems or wine.".

  http://www.sendspace.com/file/9zh9ui.

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  passwordprotected

  thanks
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  9

  French press

  by leavingwt in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  my wife gave me a french press as a gift yesterday.

  i have wanted one for many months.

  i'm drinking the first few cups of coffee from it this morning, and they are wonderful!.

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  passwordprotected

  I prefer my coffee from a caffetierre and have done for a few years now. It's always hotter than from a drip machine for a start. It's quicker to make, too.