Posts by freddo

34

Ridiculous ways you kept your "time going" in service?

by HereIgo in

i used to go out early mornings with 2 pioneer elders, we would drive 20 miles out of the territory (a big no-no) to look for hikers to preach to lol of course there were never any hikers.

then off to starbucks for another hour lol easy way to count 2-4 hours.

i am chuckling as i write this, what a joke!.

freddo

redvip2000

Yup, I was that elder. Especially when I was secretary and the CO was a-visitin'.

I remember one family where they had four kids and two of them were desperately ill. I mean in hospital for weeks at a time - parents visiting and staying overnight miles away and their "hours were low". (Gasp! Horror!)

To my shame I remember hounding them for their reports one month "to get the records in order" for the upcoming CO visit and I didn't want them "going irregular".

The mother who was (still is) a quiet, dignified lady who never said much answered the phone to me and said "Oh Freddo is this what it's all about? Numbers on a piece of paper?"

I was confused and said "Sorry I don't follow ... "

She said (and this is the only time in twenty five years of friendship I ever heard any sarcasm or sharpness in her voice) "Just put me down for 200 hours of hospital visits looking after my children!" And she put the phone down.

Good for her!

36

“Sing Out Joyfully” to Jehovah

by wifibandit in

borg link warning: “sing out joyfully” to jehovah.

non-borg pdf mirror: “sing out joyfully” to jehovah.

.

freddo

"Kiss my bum lest god be angry ... "

25

Don't touch ark of covenant

by Chook in

i raised an issue with a co once about an elders qualifications, he visited my house and in no uncertain terms said don't touch ark of covenant ( referring to elder as ark ) , i was gob smacked then he said to wife and i that if we pursued such an avenue we could be grieving gods holy spirit.

so ther you go elder are on par with god ..

freddo

If the JW fairytale were even true none of us would get to the end of "the 1,000 year reign" let alone live forever. We're bound to upset the capricious YHWH and get zapped before long.

E.g. (On a bible study with a resurrected pirate - namely Edward Teach aka Blackbeard)

You: "Well if you want a beard Mr. Teach it must be well groomed and trimmed."

Mr. Teach (aka Blackbeard): "Well Ooh Arrrr me Hearty!"

YHWH: "NO BEARDS!!! I'VE CHANGED MY MIND (AGAIN) !!!!!" (Sends lightening bolt to Zap you)

Blackbeard (looking at pile of ash that was you): "Well shiver me timbers!"

34

Nicolas King: JW celebrity and example of hypocrisy

by neat blue dog in

nicolas king frequently sings with the watchtower chorus and had a supporting role in the dvd released at the 2014 convention.

(he's on the bottom row, second from the right.).

but he also is a jazz singer, traveling constantly performing at concerts, casinos, charity events, even a brief appearance on the tonight show.

freddo

Good call neat blue dog.

The leaders of this cult and the way they talk out of both sides of their mouths makes me want to puke!

13

Facial Hair?

by HereIgo in

now what was the deal with this one?

my cong strictly enforced the facial hair unwritten rule.

alot of bros starting growing soul patches, then the co cracked down on that too, no more, must be clean shaven, especially ms and elders.

freddo

They like to cite Leviticus 19 v 28 to explain why JW's mustn't have tattoos while completely ignoring Leviticus 19 v 27 which says you mustn't shave off your beard.

The reason? It is a power-tripping, make 'em comply, power-tripping, power trip!

34

Ridiculous ways you kept your "time going" in service?

by HereIgo in

i used to go out early mornings with 2 pioneer elders, we would drive 20 miles out of the territory (a big no-no) to look for hikers to preach to lol of course there were never any hikers.

then off to starbucks for another hour lol easy way to count 2-4 hours.

i am chuckling as i write this, what a joke!.

freddo

When I was "in" mentally and didn't want to mis-report my time I didn't think I went to extremes in rounding up my time. But I did really. On the rare occasion (once every couple of years) I auxiliary pioneered (60 hours then) the following is a typical Saturday.

Typical Saturday stuff when Aux. pioneering as a MS "reaching out" to be an elder. Barf!

7 am Early morning start with some zealot uber pioneer in a windswept car park a mile or two from the city centre. Walk down road to city centre handing out tracts to early opening businesses like bakers, petrol stations and corner stores. Hand leaflets to bleary eyed people on the bus stops.

8 am Breakfast at some café with a leaflet on show for about 30/45 minutes then retrace steps back to car.

9.30 drive to field service group at 9.50. Leave group having been assigned oversight of a car-group at about 10.30 after chatting, waiting for oldies to use the bathroom etc. "Take the lead" by taking a group of oldies or Sister Loadsakids and "looking after them" - setting them up in pairs, working with one of them, driving about making sure everybody "had enough territory". Take them all home, dropping off last one at about 12 noon.

12.00 Lunch til 12.45 and drive to a return visit who often wasn't home at 1pm.

Go home for about 1.15.

So 7 am to 1.15pm is 6 hours 15 minutes.

But I can't count all that time can I?

Let's think? 15 minutes for the group so that reduces it to 6 hours. But what about all that driving, and those meals? If I take those off then I'm down to about 3 or 4 hours and I'll never "get my time in" (the really important thing of course).

Well Breakfast was just a break, wasn't it? Not a "meal" like it said wasn't to be counted in the OM book; and so was lunch really. And my tracts were on show - Jehovah doesn't stand there with a stop watch does he? And all that time "helping" the older ones get on the ministry? If I hadn't done that then they'd lose their joy (and I wouldn't get noticed as a helpful young MS would I?)

Gotta "be balanced" (remember that?) so 6 hours it is!

38

What is the biggest hypocrisy you have seen as a witness?

by HereIgo in

i have far too many to name, but ill start with obscene music, gambling and cussing like a sailor.

all the while preaching to "worldly people" about their impending death at armageddon.

thoughts?.

freddo

The general tendency to often be judging others over every little thing - (Matthew 7 v 1 - 5) - especially verse 5.

118

School for Congregation Elders

by C.O.B.E.Beef in

jw
friends

i attended the school late last year, and it was an emotional and mental rollercoaster for me.

i was already divided in my heart to say the least.

one of the instructors stayed in my home for the week, and my family genuinely enjoyed his company.

freddo

Hi COBE you have a pm.

And do the elders leave you alone now?

18

Speaker and Interpreter Ratings

by wifibandit in

september 27, 2016 to all bodies of elders re: recommending convention speakers and interpreters.

september 28, 2016 to all bodies of elders having bethel brothers in their congregation re: convention speaker ratings for bethel brothers.

s-315-e 9/16 speaker and interpreter ratings.

freddo

@ ZAPPA-ESQUE

I think you are talking of a different (higher level) rating system. The one from wifi is the one that each congregation sends to the CO.

It used to be the CBE/School Overseer/Auxiliary Counselor who would go for tea and biscuits at one of their houses and pontificate about who to recommend from their own BoE to the CO for D.C. parts. (Now CBE, CLAM overseer and Aux Counselor)

Of course the biggest windbag is often the CBE and so he would love to recommend himself but they have to do a little dance where as they consider each other the other one goes out of the room.

I remember being on two of these as Auxiliary Counselor - I just love the fact that your children - even if they are adults and have left home - will have an impact upon your qualifying to be allowed to present an item at the D.C. (Now R.C.).

A story from my time ...

We had a circuit "heavyweight" move in to help our ailing congregation for a year and he came in as Ministry School Overseer and I was also in on this process as Aux Counselor. The CBE felt threatened because this brother was not only very competent, he was a good speaker.

When the TMS overseer/heavyweight left the room the CBE wanted to mark him as B/C but I said I thought he was a top speaker and wanted to go A/B so we settled on "B" 's across the board.

Now when the CBE went out the room the "heavyweight" said to me "what do you think of (CBE's) speaking ability?" I grinned and said "he thinks higher of himself than I do but last years form gave him "A"s"

The heavyweight shot up in my estimation when he said "he does like to hear himself on the street corner, doesn't he?" So we gave him "B's" across the board too.

He came back in the room and said he had "A"'s last year why the change? We told him that neither the heavy weight or I were on last years panel and that he would have to accept what we said.

He was off with us for months after that.

3

Contrast in styles - JW cart zombies vs. street preacher

by sir82 in

jw
friends

i work in a mid-sized us city somewhere east of the mississippi.

right in the exact center of the downtown area, at the intersection of the 2 primary streets, there is an interesting contrast of proselytizing styles.. on one corner of the intersection, a young guy has a handful of tracts from some "xyz ministry" or some such.

he belts out in a booming voice, every 3 or 4 minutes or so, "i have good news!

freddo

That is profound undercover.

"The JWs, OTOH are reaping exactly what they sow... apathy."