Posts by rockmehardplace

10

Dinner and alcohol - what will happen next

by rockmehardplace in

last night, i had a friend over for dinner.

nothing major, just ordered a pizza and talked a good bit about his business, family, vacations coming up.

nothing really from a spiritual aspect, which was fine by me.

rockmehardplace

Last night, I had a friend over for dinner. Nothing major, just ordered a pizza and talked a good bit about his business, family, vacations coming up. Nothing really from a spiritual aspect, which was fine by me. Over the course of dinner, we had some alcohol and at one point he asked if he could tell me something that has been bothering him. "Sure, why not. What will it hurt?" He told me he was tired of being a JW. Tired of the hurdles he has to jump through, tired of the double standards, just reaching a limit. He said he did not want to tell anyone and that he cannot leave because of the relationship with his family. What do I say? Do I jump in and say I agree 100% because that is where I am at as well? Then once he is sober, he could take that back to others and then I am in a real spot. Do I try to give counsel about reading more, attending all meetings? Really, he is at every meeting, he reads daily, he has a family study and a few other Bible studies. So I just sat there and on the inside thought how wonderful to hear someone so close is experiencing the same problems. But on the outside, I told him that everything he told me was between the two of us. I would not share with any of the brothers what he told me. I also said that no matter how bad it gets, I would always listen and never rat him out to anyone. Strictly confidential. No matter how bad it is, even if it is involving evil apostate sites. I really thought that was my plug for getting him to start researching and that there would be no ill effects from me if he shared.

With that said, if he is reading this, welcome. And to be sure it is me, I will share one detail no one else in the world would get. Stay off the goat, it is still a goat. He knows what that means.

7

more money?

by rockmehardplace in

jw
friends

here is my observation - i was with a few other jws this morning and one of them asked what we were each doing with our now "free" night since the book study change.

answers ranged from evening field service to family study.

when we were discussing this, one brother mentioned that he has not saved any money on gas because he still drives past the kh to get home.

rockmehardplace

Here is my observation - I was with a few other JWs this morning and one of them asked what we were each doing with our now "free" night since the book study change. Answers ranged from evening field service to family study. When we were discussing this, one brother mentioned that he has not saved any money on gas because he still drives past the KH to get home. Typically, he would leave work and go straight to the meeting and then home. Then it was mentioned that the arrangement was beneficial for the majority in the way of saving on gas money as they so put it. That got me thinking about money. I noticed in the WT study article this past Sunday that it talked about giving of your spiritual riches and touched on material riches as well. The KM for May also has a part about making use of publications and it talked about using older publications and not requesting more literature than needed. So, maybe not a question, but an observation and asking for your comments. Seems that there is a greater urgency on not only donating, but also helping the organization save on costs as well. We see the attempts to sell property, downsize operations, and so forth. But for a group of people that brag about no collection plates, it always seems there is a part at least weekly or every other week that something is hit on about donations and such. Or do I just imagine this?

2

Would I still be a JW in Europe?

by Brocephus in

jw
friends

so some of the interesting things i have learned from this forum:.

1. italy jw's have powerful powers to predict earthquakes and other natural disasters.. 2. spain jw's have choir with cool uniforms and preform at assembly halls.. 3. danish jw's drank light beer until very recently at their conventions.. so i pose this question: are european jw's given more slack than american counterparts?

do you think a european jw would be shocked at the rigidness of american jw's?

rockmehardplace

you can get away with pre-marital hokey pokey if your dad is an elder or higher and you dont have two people watch

8

Any funny stories you remember involving your kids?

by happpyexjw in

when co tony and mary disenti (sp?

) were serving our congregation they came to our house for lunch.

at the time i had two kids, about three and five years old.

rockmehardplace

I was on a JW publication study with the CO and we were sitting at the table with a man and his wife. He had a couple kids of varying ages that were off and running through the house. Right as we were getting ready to end the study, a smell overtook the whole kitchen that reminded us of being in a cow pasture. The wife immediately jumped up and said that the 5 year old was at it again. We got up and followed into the family room to leave and there she was with a towel picking up his crap off the rug. It seemed that he had a problem with not wanting to use a toilet. So he would squat in the living room and do his business there. That was many years ago when that happened and I dont think I ever told anyone about it since the family was making "some progress" and going to the meetings. After awhile, they stopped and I forgot about the story until I saw the post.

12

Jehovah Chose the Jehovah's Witnesses by Giving Them a Load of Coal!

by VM44 in

in the1975 yearbook of jehovah's witnesses on page 121, it says:upon brother rutherfords return to the societys pittsburgh offices, he instructed the societys vice-president, c. a. wise, to go to brooklyn and see about reopening bethel and renting premises where the society could begin printing operations.

the conversation went like this:.

"go and see whether it is the lords will for us to return back to brooklyn.".

rockmehardplace

I shared this story with a group of JWs when I first heard it about six months ago. We were in field service, or should I say having an early long lunch. When I told it, everyone said "No way! Can't be true!" They even said it made no sense as to how that would be directive from Jehovah and we would never put Jehovah to the test like this. After all of them laughed it off and told me I was insane, I told them that it came from a Yearbook and to look it up at home. Every single person completely changed their thought and made comments such as, "wonderful how Jehovah works, just amazing how he has always directed the work." Once you throw in a "well it is in print from the society" you could tell everyone that they have four arms and they would agree.

40

I Just Talked To An Old JW Friend About The Dumbness of The Organization

by minimus in

jw
friends

he came by my work and we talked.

he pretty much became irregular (as a publisher), moved away and recently moved back into the area.

he's now a ms again and he's bemoaning his lot in life and sees a lot of stupidity within the "truth".

rockmehardplace

Oh..sorry. Misunderstood.

40

I Just Talked To An Old JW Friend About The Dumbness of The Organization

by minimus in

jw
friends

he came by my work and we talked.

he pretty much became irregular (as a publisher), moved away and recently moved back into the area.

he's now a ms again and he's bemoaning his lot in life and sees a lot of stupidity within the "truth".

rockmehardplace

Minimus- It's were I am stuck. Do I call it laziness? No. Far from it. It takes way more work at doing something you are not supportive of than running with what you believe. Why do some of us do it? Family is probably the main reason. Maybe social interaction with the only ones you ever knew. Could be because you think you can be the answer to the problem and correct a situation, even if it is only with a few. Who knows? Each of us have to answer that one for ourself. We make concessions. We make deals with ourselves on what we will and will not tolerate in our life. Some of us will tolerate alot in order to keep a relative level of peace in our lives. Your friend may be lazy? Or he may need an outlet to vent his feelings even though he is stilll between his rock and hard place.

36

DF or DA what do you think the difference is?

by Rosey in

jw
friends

i would like to know from everyone first of all what they think the difference is between a df'd person and a da'd person.. i would also like to know what everyone thinks that jw's think is the difference between a df'd and da'd person.. personally i am df'd.

i was df'd 10 years ago almost and did not argue it at all as i had no desire to continue as a jw anyway.

before being df'd i was always under the impression that if a person da'd themselves it almost always meant they were " apostate" and that there was no way a jw should have any contact with them.

rockmehardplace

My experience -

DF'd - we shun you because we love you and want to win you back.

DA'd - we shun you because you are evil and you will be destoryed.

29

In the News: Jehovah's Witnesses: 'End is near'

by Elsewhere in

jw
friends

http://www.wptv.com/news/local/story/jehovahs-witnesses-prepare-believers-for-the-end/ho63h5z-q0akzmfqhmrwvw.cspx.

jehovah's witnesses: 'end is near'reported by: eric glasser .

email: [email protected] .

rockmehardplace

BB - booked out two or three years? There are some that are booked out around five or ten years from what I was told last year. But who needs to worry about honoring a contract when then end comes. They will all be bird food anyway.

5

FACEBOOK

by joself in

jw
friends

hey pls what do u guys think about facebook?

can a jehovahs witness sign up?.

rockmehardplace

I know several JWs who have Facebook accounts. All of them have their settings as private, so you have to be a friend to view it. They also are very selective as to which "friends" they have on there. I do not personally have one, but only because I would rather not have anyone know what I am doing at any given time unless I tell them. One of my closest JW friends has one and from time to time he would show me what some others are up to. A few months ago, he showed me one of his JW friends on facebook who is in a neighboring congregation and looking at some of the pictures posted it looked as if they were at a Christmas party. He asked me what I thought about it, and I told him that it was not my place to comment, that I do not know the full story behind the picture, and honestly, it was none of our business what this person was doing. Nothing was said since and from what I know, nothing has happened to that person either. That is my reason for not wanting one. Not that I would do anything wrong according to the Board of Directors standards in NY, but people who have nothing better to do than make up stories to one picture need not be involved in my life.