Posts by JeffT

43

Sunday January 15 is my 76th birthday. I answer some of your questions.

by Terry in

jw
friends

happy birthday 2 me!!.

sunday is my 76th birthday and i know that you want to know how it "feels" to have outlived my usefulness, to have lost my natural beauty (being reduced to wrinkles and flab), and constantly walking into a room not knowing why i'm there.

you also are curious as to how i can continue to find a reason to live since none of my kids think my opinions have any possible value, most of my facebooks friends i wouldn't recognize if i tripped over them on my way into starbucks, and my monthly expenditure on bird treats exceeds u.s. spending on the military.

JeffT

Happy birthday.

I know the feeling, I'll be 72 in April. My kids are tired of hearing all my jokes. Again. At least my daughter appreciates the same music I do (Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Rolling Stones - you get the ideas). Family is everything for me.

Like you, Terry, I live for artistic exploration, in my case, novels. I presently have five for sale on Amazon and I'm writing number six.

I have lots of advice for everyone. The first piece: don't just believe what others tell you to believe, even me.

42

Have you ever been on a congregation picnic?

by LostintheFog1999 in

were you ever on a congregation picnic?

i was on several occasions.. the arrangements were often announced from the platform after the closing song and prayer by the last elder up on the platform.. sometimes it was included in the service meeting announcements as "on saturday we're meeting at 10.00am at the kingdom hall for field service, and after field service for anyone who wishes, especially for the younger ones, we will be having a congregation picnic meeting at the beach carpark on seaview road.".

well, according to the new elders manual you won't be hearing those words again.

JeffT

I'm a convert not born in, the fun social stuff in the seventies was a major factor in the conversion. The congregation (Pullman, WA) was relatively small and very close knit. We had parties and picnics frequently. We left Pullman in 1982 and I don't remember going to any social events at the two congregations we attended after that. Had my introduction to the JW's been at one of those later congregations I probably would not have converted.

4

Unbaptised Publishers

by Giles Gray in

does anyone know which year the organisation first counted unbaptised publishers as jehovah's witnesses?.

JeffT

I began turning in time slips in about September of 1973 and was baptized in November. I don't know what, if anything, happened to those reports. At the time I thought they were included in the congregation reports, but I can't remember if that was stated explicitly.

11530

It's been a long 9 years Lloyd Evans / John Cedars

by Newly Enlightened in

original reddit post (removed).

JeffT

What did he need an initial print of 100 copies for? You get it all set up on Amazon and people order it, there is no upfront cost. Ditto the cover. Amazon has templates already set up, you up load an image to it, adjust some margins and the like and you have a cover that is at least as good as the one he has.

Also, I don't know why he needed to order ISBN's in advance. Amazon puts one on the book for free when you publish it. It isn't like you need them to be in order or something, the only people that care are the ones stocking Barnes and Noble or whatever.

17

Hour Requirement for Regular Pioneers

by iloowy.goowy in

elders to meet with meet with regular pioneers asap and review their progress.

announcement.

december 12, 2022. for elders.

JeffT

Hourly requirement being reinstated = decrease in regular pioneers

+ increase in hours falsely reported.

Fixed it for you

11530

It's been a long 9 years Lloyd Evans / John Cedars

by Newly Enlightened in

original reddit post (removed).

JeffT

I don't know about the UK, in the US you can record (or film) anything you want in a public place. There is NO expectation of privacy when you're in public. If some loon with a microphone jumps you and asks questions, your only options are talking to them or not talking to them. If you talk, you've given them consent to record you.

11530

It's been a long 9 years Lloyd Evans / John Cedars

by Newly Enlightened in

original reddit post (removed).

JeffT

"The smallest pledge each month really does help our small team keep churning out the content."

I don't think that is what you meant to say. "Churn" is not a good thing in a business. It usually refers to customers that stop doing business with you and move over to your competition.

Investment brokers also use to describe how they manipulate customer portfolios to generate sales commissions. As in "I made $10,000 last month just by churning my clients' accounts.

Edited to add: perhaps this is a difference in how words are used on our respective sides of the pond. All the more reason to make sure you're using the words you want to be using.

In manufacturing it is taken to mean producing vast amounts of low quality goods.

As a writer I'm tuned into using words with care. I'm surprised that some one trying to use words to make a living isn't more careful about how he uses them. Perhaps its my education in English literature and accounting combined with twenty-five years or so in the business world.

46

Nephilim...Only desired females

by RULES & REGULATIONS in

bible questions answered.

who were the nephilim?.

the bible account says that “the sons of the true god began to notice that the daughters of men were beautiful.” (genesis 6:2) those ‘sons of god’ were actually spirit creatures who rebelled against god when they “forsook their own proper dwelling place” in heaven, materialized human bodies, and “began taking as wives all whom they chose.”—jude 6; genesis 6:2.. the hybrids born from this unnatural union were no ordinary children.

JeffT

I have noticed my jw is fascinated by the nephilim story! is this a jw obsession or just him do you suppose?

I've been out a long time, but when I was in people at the hall talked about all kinds of stories about demons, fallen angels, beautiful women, freak offspring etc. It was a hot topic and everybody wanted to be on the latest story.

21

Another HUGE Building Project

by pontoon in

jw
friends

i haven't been on site in a while, don't know if has been discussed but here is a link.

https://rcbizjournal.com/2022/09/29/watchtower-bible-world-headquarters-project-in-ramapo-moves-ahead.

JeffT

I'm pretty sure they are transitioning to a cyber church.

First thing I thought of when I started reading. Just have everybody sign up to spend a few bucks on an internet subscription or something similar. It would give HQ absolute control over what people see, read and hear. I'm not sure how they'd work in field service, I imagine they'll find something.

Edited to add; based on average costs in the North East US I would guess they'll spend about a billion dollars getting it built. That does not take into account any work done by ~~slave labor~~ "donated labor."

If they sell off all the Kingdom Halls in the developed countries they will have BILLIONS of $$$ to pay for it all.

68

1975 selling of houses

by Paul Bonanno in

jw
friends

as 1975 was approaching, many witnesses sold their property.

do you know about specific cases that are willing to share their experience of doing so?.

JeffT

I became a JW in 1973, everybody was caught up in the frenzy. There was a really nice family in the congregation that had inherited the family farm from his Dad. They sold it sometime around 1973-1974 and moved to "where the need was greater." (Southern Idaho, about three hundred miles from where we lived outside Pulllman, WA) He had calculated how much money he thought it would take to get to the New System and figured they'd come out just right.

A couple of years later they spent the last of the money and he had a nervous breakdown. I don't know what the family lived on.