inbetween

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Posts by inbetween

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  23

  Stumbling Your Fellow Brothers

  by dig692 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i just felt the need to express my thoughts on the matter of "stumbling others" in the congregation.

  they tell you that you are accountable for your own soul and responsible for your own spirituality, and then they tell you that you can't do something if its going to stumble your brother.. if a brother/sister sees me doing something not condemned in the bible but maybe is a matter of conscience and he/she is stumbled...why is that my fault?

  what makes me accountable for that?

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  inbetween

  like the thought about "intentional", otherwise it really does not make sense at all....
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  19

  HELP! Sinning Elders can stay as elders if they have blessing! when did this happened?

  by cyberjesus in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  ok i have heard that at the beginning of the 80's the instruction said that the elders could remain as elders even if they had sinned 3 years before as long as their lives looked like they had jehovahs blessing.

  i heard this instuction was givien in elders meeting.. does any one has more information?

  i needed asap.

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  inbetween

  not too long ago, a sister came to us, confessing a sin, that was years ago.

  one of the elders remembered this instruction, and the BOE decided, not to make a JC, only to give her spiritual help.

  So in this case it was applied to a "normal" publisher as well, not sure, if it really was in line with the ORG.
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  44

  Does Eccl. 9:5 Mean What the WT Says It Does?

  by Perry in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  shedding our seventh day adventist roots regarding death.

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  inbetween

  hm, interesting thoughts, I miss these open mind discussions, because every question shall be answered in the WT, and what does not make sense, it simply says: "Wait for Jah"

  However, back on topic, does the existence of an immortal soul make sense, when considering the resurections of jesus ?

  Were was the soul of Lazarus while his body was dead ?

  if in heaven, why did he have to come back, torn away from the nearness to God ?

  does not make sense in my book.
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  45

  Nov.15th WT - Treasure your Place in Congregation- "Obey the Slave Class! "

  by flipper in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  once again the extremely controlling measures taken by the wt society are evident in the "witness only " nov.15th wt article " treasure your place in the congregation ".

  as time goes on the governing body keeps pushing the thought into witnesses minds that the " faithful & discreet slave " is the boss , god, main enchilada , the one through whom rank and file witnesses must answer to in order for jehovah to approve them.

  so strap your seat belts on: this should be interesting.. under the subheading " cherish our place- how ?

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  inbetween

  man, I wonder what effect this will have, most will "appreciate" the timely warnings, I get goose bumps only thinking of the study of this article in the KH....and some comments of zealous witnesses.

  To me, the whole writing comittee, or whoever apporves of it, seems divided, sometimes, they speak great lentghs about the importance of the individual conscience and the personal accountability, then they deliver mind control like this....
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  3

  "lucky punch"

  by inbetween in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  after some research and study here on the net and elsewhere, i know, that the doctrine of blood and the treaching of 1914 are not based on the bible, maybe just loosely related,.

  however why are they so much accepted by jw ?.

  i think one reason is, because both teachings hit something apparantly right, somehow on accident.. i`ll explain:.

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  inbetween

  after some research and study here on the net and elsewhere, I know, that the doctrine of blood and the treaching of 1914 are not based on the bible, maybe just loosely related,

  however why are they so much accepted by JW ?

  I think one reason is, because both teachings hit something apparantly right, somehow on accident.

  I`ll explain:

  1) blood

  its a fact, that blood was and is overrated and overused in many hospitals, and that bloodless surgery is indeed the gold standard (whenever possibel of course). Surgery performs better, costs are cut, recovery faster etc...

  another fact is, that it is hard to tell afterwards, if blood would have saved somebodys life or on the reverse side, would have killed somebody, who refused...

  its a tricky thing, hard to prove one side, and mixed with half-truths and onesided qoutes, you may think, its indeed Gods direction to abstain from blood...

  2) 1914

  I will not go into the 607 chronology, since I am mayself not sure of either way right now, too much arguments to study (Johnsson, Furuli), needs too much time atm, however, this is only secundary, since fact is, that there is no clear scripture supporting the idea, to extend the prophecy of 7 times to any further application. Its just bogus.

  However, with the year 1914 the bible studens hit the nerve. There were many dates in history, which were important, but only a few have the significance of 1914. I like history, and acquired a bit of knowledge about all epochs, but 1914 is just hard to match. Thats why also JW accept it without questioning, how the WTS arrives to that date.

  So the question remains: were those doctrines a lucky punch ? Did they just hit the right thing by accident ?
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  25

  Faithful and Discreet Slave

  by stillin in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  i'm sure that this has been discussed before, but bear with me while i share my little insight.. the scripture about the fds is found in jesus description of the last days in matthew 24. not in mark 13, nor luke 21. those other writers didn't consider it important enough to include it in their writings.

  it is the only mention, as far as i know, of any such "arrangement," yet on face value, if you are just reading the bible, it seems more like one of jesus' thought-provoking rhetorical questions, rather than a part of the sign of the last days.

  no "two or three witnesses," yet this one scripture has become a rallying cry for a whole religion, consisting of millions of adherents!.

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  inbetween

  I agree, however, no matter if born-in, like me, or joined later, this scripture is one of the doctrines, that you will hear later in your "biblestudy".

  First they present "truths", with quite some support in the bible, like no trinity, no hellfire, no soul etc..

  Once you accept that, yuo also built trust in the org, for sharing such precious truths, you let your guard down, and the critical thinking behind, then you are ready for all this doctrines, which are very loosely bible-based or just a twist of scriptures like faithful slave, blood, disfellwoshipping etc...
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  35

  They "can give gifts on any day of the year"... But do they?

  by Albert Einstein in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  how many times we had heard from jw (commenting on christmass, mothers day or bithdays) "they dont need a pecial day set to give gifts, because the can give it on any day" .... but whats your experience if you compare jw and non jw ... are they really giving?.

  my sons (7) example:.

  he has non jw grandparents: gets all kinds of gifts all the time, sweets, magazines, toys,.

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  inbetween

  yes, i give gifts and receive them , mostly between family members, sometimes even to friends...so it does happen, but maybe not that often as it appears to be...
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  181

  It looks like I will become an elder this week!

  by outofthebox in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  that's right guys.

  as i told you before, they boe have been considering me for the eldership.

  which i don't care for, but since my family is stuck in this cult, i guess i can use the new position to help them see that the holy spirit has nothing to do with me being an elder.

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  inbetween

  thats the big issue for us still in and having privileges,

  if leaving the org is out of question (for family reasons) what ist best:

  1) keep the rpivileges, use the "power" too soften the strict rule, to help others see the "truth", to prevent other elders running wild ?

  or

  2) stepp down, for your won conscience, sooner or later you get into conflict with what you know and you either show your true colour or you violate your own conscience,

  These two option are in my mind lately, even during the night, praying to God (whoever he is) for direction...
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  21

  Elder wants to come for shepherding call

  by 2pink in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  we are newly fading (actually, mostly disappearing).

  i haven't been to meetings in about 3 months maybe and hubby hasn't gone in a month or more.

  i certainly don't plan on returning, hubby is still undecided.. anyway, an elder called and wants to come do a shepherding call.

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  inbetween

  just to set things strait: most likely its not a witch hunt, it may even be sincere concern.

  however, maybe the elder is the type, that feels uncomfortable doing sheperding calls (many do), but he feels he must do the duty.

  so help him out, by following the advice of the other posters, thanking him for the concern, but atm you are not able to receive him.

  you may do it a few times, then he will give up, in a way even satisfied, because he thinks, he tried as much as he can.

  then he has an excuse to himself (or other elders or CO).
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  20

  Were you always honest with your reports?

  by Newborn in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i was.... the last years i only did 4-5 hours max/month and they offered me pioneer support...huh...which i refused btw.. now i regret i didn't just put 20-30 hours every month without in fact going out in the booring service at all!!!

  just to keep them happy.. .

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  inbetween

  did the same, calling on NH, just to start time, later on, I thought thats ridicolous, and counted time as soon as I was on the way to the territory, dressed up and ready, thats were service started, not at a fake call on somebody most likely not home...

  always hoped this reporting would stop one time, its not only not bible based, its even against bible principle, or do you write on a report how much you donate ?