freddo

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Posts by freddo

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  16

  Find Local Friends

  by BiggerRed in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i am located in kentucky.

  i have faded out of the watchtower and i am just learning the truth about the truth.

  i am trying to find new friends to talk to.

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  freddo

  Nope - UK here!

  Welcome anyway and talk away ... we can be your on line friends BiggerRed!

  Tell us a bit about your situation.
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  27

  Encounter with a long time elder. (Jehovah's happy people)

  by freddo in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  so i'm at work and go to my vehicle parked outside the empty property i'm working at and an elderly man comes out of next door and we recognise each other from when we were elders in the same circuit.

  he is early 80's in age, a jw since the 1960's and so the next generation in age up from me.. he's an outwardly jolly sort and asks how i am etc.

  (knows i'm not an elder but thinks i'm pimi) and asks if i want a cup of tea so i go in and sit in his kitchen for my lunchbreak and have a chat.. i have a little fish around and ask about how jw's in his hall are.

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  freddo

  So I'm at work and go to my vehicle parked outside the empty property I'm working at and an elderly man comes out of next door and we recognise each other from when we were elders in the same circuit. He is early 80's in age, a JW since the 1960's and so the next generation in age up from me.

  He's an outwardly jolly sort and asks how I am etc. (knows I'm not an elder but thinks I'm PIMI) and asks if I want a cup of tea so I go in and sit in his kitchen for my lunchbreak and have a chat.

  I have a little fish around and ask about how JW's in his hall are. Here's the cut down version ...

  Me: Whatever happened to Tim H? (MS aged 40 - son of P.O. as was - with young family that I knew had gone inactive a few years ago)

  Him: Well they just stopped coming - they told the school they were no longer practicing jw's apparently. And his father-in-law's gone too. Almost seemed deliberate to me. (Sounds like a clever fade to Freddo!)

  Me: Really? Did they Disassociate?

  Him: No just went inactive. And Pete McK and his family have gone too?

  Me: Don't recognise the name.

  Him: Yes you do - bricklayer - moved away to XXX - celebrate Xmas the lot. New congregation elders not interested in catching up with them.

  Me: Oh yes. How long ago did they stop coming?

  Him: Two years. DON'T THEY KNOW ARMAGEDDON'S RIGHT IN FRONT OF US? The world's never been so bad!

  Me: (Laughing) I dunno - when you were a kid you had to be evacuated from (CITY) because of the German bombing. My Aunt lost her job when her department store got flattened!

  Him: That's true! You do make me smile Freddo!

  Me: We've been saying the end is coming for a long time mind!

  Him: (Laughs) Yes! And we'll carry on telling them eh? - (He reflects) Actually, my kids (early to mid 50's) weren't going to leave school!

  Me: How they doing?

  Him: He tells me how it's going - the son - walking stick heavily overweight - depressed not holding down a job. Daughter - Depressed - her husband not working has M.E.

  Me: Wow! They're younger than me and not doing so well then?

  Him: No! (Sadly) What we need is the new system to put it all right; that's what we're all hanging on for aren't we?

  Me: Chin up - you and (wife) seem ok. How's your brother?

  Him: Almost inactive, I can't understand it.

  Me: (Cheerfully) Well thanks for the update on Jehovah's happy people! Keep smiling!

  Him: (Smiling ruefully) You've got to Freddo ... otherwise you'd cry.
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  29

  if pre 1975 you said "The system will still be here late 2017" what would be the J.W's reaction?

  by karter in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  one word for it.....apostate!

  !.

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  freddo

  I remember there was a character in our hall in the early 1970's who was one of these older brothers who was zealous in the ministry but never seemed to qualify as a MS or Elder. An outspoken type who didn't sit well with the cliques and P.O. and his cronies.

  One reason I believe was that he said (in the early 70's) "don't serve to a date brothers and sisters - this generation could go on 70 or 80 years from 1914 so we may need to run the race like a marathon until 1984 or 1994."

  We all thought he was bordering on apostasy or at least completely out of line with the (then) current thinking.

  He is of course dead and gone - died in the late 1980's as part of the generation that did indeed pass away.
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  17

  Visited My Grandfather

  by Saethydd in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  my grandfather is a longtime jw with advanced parkinson's.

  on the advice of a good friend mine who is inactive but not "out" i went to visit him monday and we talked for awhile.

  his health isn't well, but he was happy to see me.

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  freddo

  Saethydd - good for you. Go and visit granddad and ignore the cunning shunts.

  Stan - I hope you "tweaked your daughter's nose" over that self righteousness on her part.

  But maybe you're more grown up than me!
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  11

  Files you might want!

  by Atlantis in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  here are a couple of boes you might want.. .

  https://we.tl/kf2lzhkzzu.

  https://we.tl/isqx2qf9kg.

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  freddo

  Love it. Let's all go to Chelmsford from Dublin for one day of work.

  What a privilege. Blessings which cannot be contained. What a wise use of time and resources.

  If only our masters had read Luke 14 v 28,29 BEFORE starting this vanity project then we wouldn't feel obligated to put our hands in our pockets to head for London from outer fumbuck to show how loyal we are to our great leaders.
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  48

  Watchtower Releases 2017 Grand Total Figures!

  by darkspilver in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  2017 grand totals.

  branches of jehovah’s witnesses: 90. .

  number of lands reporting: 240. .

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  freddo

  Drearyweather ...

  It just shows a trend or a direction year on year. Just taking kids becoming publishers and then baptised. Imagine a funnel like you might use to pour oil into your car engine.

  At the top are all the kids who have a parent as a jw. When they reach an age between 6 and 14 (eg.) some will become publishers. When some of those reach an age between 12 and 18 (eg) they will get baptised.

  So the more publishers you stuff in at the top then the more baptised dribble out of the bottom. The higher the increase in the worldwide publisher number then the more likely that the baptism number will increase in the following years.

  Pressuring to lower the age of the kids getting baptised also gives an increase. But then it cannot improve much further. You might bring the average down from say age 15 to age 13 but any younger and it gets more and more difficult to justify and people resist. Especially in western lands.
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  48

  Watchtower Releases 2017 Grand Total Figures!

  by darkspilver in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  2017 grand totals.

  branches of jehovah’s witnesses: 90. .

  number of lands reporting: 240. .

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  freddo

  "Are you serious" - growth was 1.8% last year.
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  6

  Jw.org

  by Lost in the fog in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  a friend of ours over in northern ireland says that people can't find their country on jw.org.

  apparently it is because the list of countries on the jw.org site is by bethel not the standard list of countries that (say) a google website would list.

  someone looking for a congregation in northern ireland goes to "ireland" but that is only the republic of ireland.

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  freddo

  Ballymoney is in London

  As in ... All the Bally money seems to be diverted to London bethel.
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  19

  Is it just me or are the street sign, road,car verification excessive?

  by nonjwspouse in

  1. forum
  2. suggestions

  i must go through six of new verification screens on average before verifying.

  i seriously try harder and harder, i don't know if we include the tiny little piece of sign or not.

  i have done both,and still get another screen.

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  freddo

  It's getting worse. I often get six or even eight attempt screens.

  Do I count lorries as cars? Backs of signs? Only road signs or what about other signs.

  Don't get me started on "store fronts" or how long it takes for a picture to fade and replace!

  I keep going until I'm in.

  But I do wonder if it puts off new or nervous first time posters who may give up part way through.
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  60

  2017 Service Year Report Grand Totals

  by Drearyweather in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  2017 figures released to bethel families worldwide:.

  peak publishers: 8,457,107. total baptized: 284,212 .

  regular pioneers: 1,225,279 .

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  freddo

  Yes alanv - the present GB have less backbone than their predecessors.

  No "partakers" - I'll guess; no mention of ARC in "legal" on jborg.

  Just Jehovah finding pipe leaks and flying the GB member home from Russia as a miracle on the electric church TV channel.