famous last words.. this is what my mum told me when papa moved out.
when it did finally happen months later, it was because he had left jehovah.
i hated him for many years and refused to speak to him.
Hey, congrats on a safe delivery! I'd been wondering how it went!
Hmm. I hope I'm not looking at my future with my kids...sounds like a sad story. But hey, at least you're making some progress there. So there is hope. This is a good chance to repair relationships with people that might have been severed due to the Borg. Wish you the best in everything.
--sd-7
i have no idea what is going to happen but they had been shunning me and i called to tell her what i see in the scriptures about the faithful slave.
all of it up to the very end she said okay what's the point, the scripture at the very end is what triggered it.
but read it all in order.
Pretty powerful set of scriptures--I've thought about that issue, too, but never put them all together at once as you did. That is so accurate it's vomit-inducing. Clearly they teach some of the very things that the actual 'apostates' of early Christianity taught. But it's all a matter of being in the right position, and you can flip the script.
--sd-7
no, this isn't about the dean koontz character odd thomas, but those books are a good read!
this is about another, different fictional character, albeit not quite so engaging as the one imagined by the very talented mr. koontz.
now i know mr. ot is described as being just "an unbaptized publisher", but in my decades of experience as a jw any and all "unbaptized publishers" here in sunny socal would be vetted enough to know better than to take a job at a school run by priests.
I think it's confusing to me because if I worked for a year and didn't get paid, well, I would either have starved to death well before the year was out, or gotten some kind of considerable help from someone else. Too many details left out in a story like this, and I think that's why it just seems problematic to bring it up in the first place when, even from JW perspective, there should be better examples to use than this. I mean, can't they just go with another Andre story?
--sd-7
they've df him...we all were following the judicial of raypublisher....jwstruggle....eric and we all are now awaiting the full video with full details.. this is a happy but hard time since he still has family in...let's try to strengthen him!
he surely needs it now.
give him encouraging words/pictures/videos!.
Ray, you made it. Really liked your YouTube video fairly recently, with the JW asking you about your goatee.
I don't have to imagine the judicial committee process, being on the 'wrong side' of that table, if you will. (To avoid self-aggrandizing further, I won't post links to my own committee yet again, but it's here on the site.) That can be a very traumatizing, emotional experience, especially when they, in typical fashion, go with the blackmail route and bring up your family and that sort of thing. But it's also liberating because you get to see that they're just men, and sadly predictable in their response to someone simply questioning the validity of their beliefs.
All I can say is, keep learning, and be a positive force in this fight for freedom. Most of all, just enjoy being out, enjoy being free of the crap. I mean, wow is it a relief just to do something as simple as grow facial hair. Reading whatever you want. Watching whatever you want. So many things the rest of the world takes for granted.
This is just the beginning of what I hope will eventually be a fully satisfying and intellectually enriching existence for you.
--sd-7
12/15/12 wt p. 15:.
"in a variation that some term 'embryo adoption,' the embryos placed in a wife's womb involve neither her eggs nor her husband's sperm.
in yet another variation, a married couple's eggs and sperm are fertilized outside the womb by ivf.
Then I guess three elders are going to be knocking on Jehovah's door, to deliver an invite to a judicial committee. Anointed elders, of course.
"Uh, Jehovah? We need to uh, talk to you about your conduct with Mary."
"But that was 2,000 years ago."
"But you didn't talk to the elders about this. We're, uh, we need to meet with you about this situation. How's Saturday looking for you?"
"I'm not coming."
"Apparently you are. Just ask Mary. Would you like us to just make the announcement?"
"What's your name again, Brother...?" [Pulls out iPhone, texts Jesus "need u 2 destroy a brothr @ the Big A..."] [Jesus replies "ok...brb...u got a name?"]
--sd-7
as has already been mentioned, the december 15th watchtower (study edition) is now online and available for download on this link.. i couldn't help but smile at the concluding comments of the final study article on page 28 where it had this to say:.
"the very concept of foreigner has already lost much of its meaning among jehovahs witnesses, who pay little attention to the nationality of those in their midst.
recently, for example, several of their smaller branch offices were merged to simplify the work of oversight and to improve efficiency in accomplishing the preaching of the good news of the kingdom.
***
w8311/1p.30AJoyousDedicationinTahiti***
Why, though, does the Society construct new buildings when the world is in such an uncertain state? Brother Barry explained that Jehovah’s organization expects to survive these troubled times. God’s people are getting equipped and organized to give the greatest witness possible in these final years before Armageddon brings an end to this system of things. And they hope that many of their new facilities will be used in the great post-Armageddon reorganization work.
--Well, I guess God decided that some of these new facilities just won't be used in the "great post-Armageddon reorganization work".
--sd-7
as has already been mentioned, the december 15th watchtower (study edition) is now online and available for download on this link.. i couldn't help but smile at the concluding comments of the final study article on page 28 where it had this to say:.
"the very concept of foreigner has already lost much of its meaning among jehovahs witnesses, who pay little attention to the nationality of those in their midst.
recently, for example, several of their smaller branch offices were merged to simplify the work of oversight and to improve efficiency in accomplishing the preaching of the good news of the kingdom.
***
w825/1pp.29-30“HonorJehovahwithYourValuableThings”***Many interesting reports have been printed recently in the Watchtower and Awake! magazines describing the expansive building programs in many lands. This expansion is necessary because thousands of persons are coming into Jehovah’s organization. In some cases additional land has been purchased so that new missionary homes, branch offices, Bethel homes and printing plants can be constructed. In other cases, existing branch properties have been enlarged.
--But...but...the organization is still growing, so why would you need less branch offices? Apparently some of the branches offices that were being built back then...weren't actually necessary at all...
--sd-7
i dont remember the date.
or the year or if it was a district or circuit.
what i do remember is that we rode up with a car full of other female witnesses.
Absolutely. It was earlier this year. I attended the 2012 "Safeguard Your Heart!" District Convention. Well, half of it, anyway. I was there to help the Mrs. keep an eye on the kids. My kid threw up during the Sunday lunch break, and we didn't bring a change of clothes, so we had to miss the afternoon session--and that LOVELY drama about the JW and the unbaptized publisher. What a tragedy! I mean, if I could, I would've remember to bring a change of clothes for the kid, or even taken the vomit full-on myself, if it meant I could have watched that drama, in vomit-soaked clothing, without having eaten lunch, I would've done it. No questions asked. In a heartbeat.
But seriously, I just read my Bible and ignored the speaker. People treated me like an unbelieving mate, so they were sooo nice! I said hi to a DF'd guy I grew up with in front of everyone, with a big smile. We both wore goatees, so it was loads of fun. If you don't take it seriously, one could actually tolerate that sort of event.
But as a teenager, I lived it, so I don't have to imagine the horrors that you recounted to us. Sleep deprivation, getting lost half the time in the city, being reminded about the evils of higher education every single day. Yeah. Ugggh....
--sd-7
12/15/12 wt p. 15:.
"in a variation that some term 'embryo adoption,' the embryos placed in a wife's womb involve neither her eggs nor her husband's sperm.
in yet another variation, a married couple's eggs and sperm are fertilized outside the womb by ivf.
Sorry, can you repeat that NOLAW? I don't understand your statement.
--sd-7
12/15/12 wt p. 15:.
"in a variation that some term 'embryo adoption,' the embryos placed in a wife's womb involve neither her eggs nor her husband's sperm.
in yet another variation, a married couple's eggs and sperm are fertilized outside the womb by ivf.
Now here's an interesting quote, from the Creator book:
***
ctchap.9p.146AGreatTeacherShowsUstheCreatorMoreClearly
To illustrate it another way, think of what some physicians accomplish with in vitro fertilization. A life that begins in a “test tube” is transferred into a woman and is later born as a babe. In the case of Jesus, the Bible assures us that by the “power of the Most High,” his life was transferred into a virgin named Mary. She was of the line of David, so Jesus could be the permanent heir of the Messianic Kingdom promised to David.—Luke 1:26-38; 3:23-38; Matthew 1:23.
--So, there's a lesson about in vitro fertilization: God can, but you can't!
--sd-7
