as an obedient little jw at age 20, i was serving time in federal prison in the late 60's, and the 40 brothers inside seagoville prison decided to stage our own assembly.i was the music servant.
(we didn't have elders back then.
)the theme of the assembly mimicked the free world assemblies being held outside.long story short:i composed (what i think and everyone else thought was) a very good song titled:following the fine shepherd as the end draws near.we rehearsed it (bros who had instruments) and the consensus revealed it was a winner._____excerpt:"jehovah god above, we owe you all our love; you are our shepherd and we follow you.though satan demands, that we must compromise; we'd sooner face death than be wrong in your eyes.now and forevermore, we fear not satan's roar;you are our shepherd and we follow you.
Sad....you guys were faithfully giving heart and soul and were getting stomped on. Back in that day we were idealistic...hopeful....loyal....but we learned reality soon enough. Some sooner than others....me...took a long time.....
Thankfully it is reduced to reminiscences at this point....
https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/montana/articles/2020-01-08/court-reverses-35m-verdict-against-jehovahs-witnesses.
Montana needs to revisit mandatory abuse reporting enactments....
my beloved grandmother has passed away and her funeral is next week at a kingdom hall.
she was a loyal jw, and unfortunately i am not understanding of the funeral procedures.
please could you kindly explain what what will happen in the funeral?
The funeral at the kingdom hall is pretty simple. The speaker typically relates some facts about the deceased, emphasizing their religious preferences and involvement. Then the main topic of resurrection to a paradise earth is presented, with bible verses used. At the end there is a song and prayer. Only the elder speaking is at the podium...no family or friends share in the presentation. Whatever arrangements for burial and/or gathering subsequent are announced. That's it....I wish you peace and a comfortable adjustment to your loss....
so this weekend my girlfriend and i will move into our own place together.
it turns out that “a cord of three strands is stronger” is bullshit and two people in a relationship are perfectly capable of being happy without outside influence.
what a journey i’ve had since leaving 3 and a half years ago!
Awesome and congratulations!!
in 1976 when i was a young lad of 6, fred franz came to glasgow and gave a talk in govan a suburb on the south side of the city (for those of you who dont know).
our congregation hired a bus to ferry us all to the hall and it was standing room only.
being only 6, i have only the vaguest of memories other than an old man shouting and bawling from the stage.
Yeah... Freddie was the rock star of the day. He used to pass out candy to the kids on his way to the platform. Then his talks...the big high pitched renditions of Isaiah....and the "New light"......the man was entertaining for sure.
i'm 43 and a divorced mother of 2. in january 2019 i met the man i thought i could spend the rest of my life with.
we were happy and even though our relationship wasn't perfect (like all relationships) i thought we had a chance and were building a life together with our young kids.
background on me - i've been divorced since 2012 after 12 years of marriage.
You say " I have tried to reason with him". There is the first mistake. This cult destroys sanity and locks its participants into a strange place. Do what is best for you. The history that you put out has more than enough red flags even if crazy religion were not in the mix. Think carefully and proceed intelligently.
Hah....dating was non existent back in my day....
i received a call from a friend in new york city that don adams passed away late last evening (30 dec 2019).
many of you bethelites know him and he was the president of the society for a number of years after the gb got out of the corporate structure business.
from what i understand, he was generally liked by many there.. some in my family knew him.
Sparky......oh Rudy Sunal...he drove me nuts. I was pioneering and stuck an entire morning door to door with him.. Nothing I said or did was right. Jetha was a character....she would get all these calls when they would serve the cong...these people were totally enamored with her. She would leave the calls for us to follow up and these same people would have no interest whatsoever. Next time around she would expect them to be progressive bible studies....she wouldn't believe they weren't...so back we would go and again she would get them all wired up and drooling with interest. On and on....
fader here - last meeting was in autumn 2005. lurker on this site and others.
not one to get all controversial.. typical situation, pretty much a born in and left the church at age 38 and never looked back.. i'm 53 now, parents getting older - late 70s but very active, dad is still an elder.. parents, in laws, brother and brother-in-law still uber active jws.. my family (wife and 2 adult children) out since 2005.. we have stayed close to our parents - we have treaded religion lightly and have had a pretty good relationship and have kept our personal lives and beliefs/opinions separated from them.
this was intentional - as we love them and do not want anything to cause shunning since they are getting older and want to be there for them and we respect their beliefs.. got this letter today.
Sad...but not surprising. My take on it is that you need to detach emotionally...and responding would be counter productive.... Let it go....down the road apiece you could send a gift basket or flowers or something with just a " thinking of you...hope all is well" type message. Just to.show that you have a heart despite their cutting ties. Take care...your peace and happiness are important...not bending to religious zealotism....
during gerrit loesch's talk just released, he goes on a long list of the false end times predictions throughout the millennia.
i didn't expect it, but then he goes into the precursors to the bible students who, when their dates failed, changed christ's presence to have happened 'invisibly'.
then it goes right into the jws, and he reads the quote from millions now living will never die about how we can 'confidently expect' the resurrection in 1925, and then the life everlasting book that predicted 1975. of course, he doesn't say how it's still going on, namely with the overlapping generation and its' accompanying convoluted chart, but still, this is more than they've ever said on the subject, especially recently.. it almost sounds like a forced statement, to address any backlash from people reading 'apostate lies' online, because he also says how the gb 'humbly' admitted mistakes, referencing the non-apology after 1975 that disturbed raymond franz.
Haha...they admit mistakes and simultaneously pat themselves on the back, prefacing it with "humbly"....
