Posts by stuckinamovement

24

"Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in."- Michael Corleone in Godfather III. Sorta reminds me of my life.

by miseryloveselders in

jw
friends

most of you recognize that line from the godfather iii, which wasn't the greatest film in my opinion, but that line was classic.

it perfectly depicts my life as it stands now.

i'm at a crossroads in life, and my heart is being tugged in different directions.

"Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in."- Michael Corleone in Godfather III. Sorta reminds me of my life.

by miseryloveselders in

jw
friends

most of you recognize that line from the godfather iii, which wasn't the greatest film in my opinion, but that line was classic.

it perfectly depicts my life as it stands now.

i'm at a crossroads in life, and my heart is being tugged in different directions.

before i begin my introductory post, i would like to mention that a number of my initial comments here may be viewed by several of you as watchtower apologist or as sympathetic to the views of the jehovahs witnesses.

the last thing i want to do is incite a flame war regarding my legitimacy or intentions in joining this forum.

mostly, i would describe myself as on the fence.

stuckinamovement

Welcome to both of you,

It is nice to hear your experiences and see that you are balanced in terms of your beliefs. I agree that it can be disconcerting for someone who is born in like yourself and myself to see the level of emotion that some express about the organization. I have realized though that the passion and vitriol that some display/express is a louder statement to the lack of love and care they have received in the org than their words are.

Many people have been hurt deeply by the organization. As a MS please try your best while you are still in the organization to care for those who need a balanced hearing ear. There are many walking wounded within the WTS.

Take Care,

SIAM

113

WTBTS Elder & Ministerial Servant Problems

by JW GoneBad in

i attended a recent ministerial servant k m school on the east coast and the main school instructor mentioned among other things (part entitled: 'objective of the km school course') that the total number of ministerial servants is seriously less than it should be.

in times past the ratio of m ss to elders was much more than it is today.. in the u.s. apparently the total number of elders is 88,500+ as opposed to m ss 65,000. the numbers show & numbers don't lie: the society is running out of spiritual men.

the instructor stated that this is a new downward trend that has (in so many words) the society worried.. the next speaker (part entitled: 'why we must be spiritual men') added that in his years as a traveling servant the pool of m ss has always been much, much larger than it is today.

stuckinamovement

In my Hall there have been 3 elders who have recently been removed and or stepped down leaving a BOE of 5. The BOE has been anxiously wringing their hands because out of 5 MS there is only 1 who hits the congregation average for FS. All others are Low hour pubs and or limited in intelligence or motivation. There is only one prospect for another MS and at the rate it is going none for Elders.

57

Attention Lurkers- Consider the effectiveness of your lifesaving work

by stuckinamovement in

jw
friends

hypothetical scenario.

you are a city manager in a major metropolitan city with a population of 3,000,000.. .

if the governing body was truly convinced themselves of the impending disaster and the fact that the end is imminent would they not focus their efforts in spreading the message through effective means such as telephone, television, internet, social networks etc?

stuckinamovement

Thanks for your comments. As a follow up...

If you doubt that the Governing Body doesn't believe themselves that the message that is born is urgent, take a look at the Proclaimer's book. You will see a distinct contrast with the way the message used to be spread, compared to the half hearted ineffective way today.

You will see pictures of the radio stations the society used to run (with world wide interconnects), the photo drama of creation shown in theaters (cutting edge for its time), the newspaper advertisements about talks given by the presidents, the sound cars, the phonographs, and lastly Witnesses with sandwich boards marching through cities. These photos are clear proof that the leadership sincerely believed that the message they bore was urgent and lifesaving. This was in the 1910's-1940's those guys walked the walk. They backed up their claims with action.

We often hear that the message that is born by witnesses is urgent and means peoples lives.... this claim is the same as in the 1910-1940 era but has been proved to be empty rhetoric by the actions of the leadership. Not one person's life has been saved by the preaching work in the last 130 years.

SIAM

57

Attention Lurkers- Consider the effectiveness of your lifesaving work

by stuckinamovement in

jw
friends

hypothetical scenario.

you are a city manager in a major metropolitan city with a population of 3,000,000.. .

if the governing body was truly convinced themselves of the impending disaster and the fact that the end is imminent would they not focus their efforts in spreading the message through effective means such as telephone, television, internet, social networks etc?

stuckinamovement

Stapler99,

I agree with you.

I can tell you from personal experience that knocking on doors at the same empty houses, year after year, does nothing to reinforce the "truth" in my mind. If that is the purpose and reasoning behind maintaining the door to door ministry as the primary method, it is a piss poor way of reinforcing the flocks beliefs.

SIAM

57

Attention Lurkers- Consider the effectiveness of your lifesaving work

by stuckinamovement in

jw
friends

hypothetical scenario.

you are a city manager in a major metropolitan city with a population of 3,000,000.. .

if the governing body was truly convinced themselves of the impending disaster and the fact that the end is imminent would they not focus their efforts in spreading the message through effective means such as telephone, television, internet, social networks etc?

stuckinamovement

Lost, and Ten Years,

Please feel free to share it with any that you wish. (preach the word) LOL

SIAM

57

Attention Lurkers- Consider the effectiveness of your lifesaving work

by stuckinamovement in

jw
friends

hypothetical scenario.

you are a city manager in a major metropolitan city with a population of 3,000,000.. .

if the governing body was truly convinced themselves of the impending disaster and the fact that the end is imminent would they not focus their efforts in spreading the message through effective means such as telephone, television, internet, social networks etc?

stuckinamovement

Hypothetical Scenario

You are a City Manager in a major metropolitan city with a population of 3,000,000.

One day when you come into work at 9:00 AM you are horrified to receive an anonymous message that a group of terrorists have put a poison into the City’s water supply located 10 miles from the City limits.

This chemical is extremely dangerous and will result in a painful death for any one that drinks the water. However rather than panic, you take some time and order your water treatment lab to test and confirm or deny that the system has been compromised. The tests come back positive. The tests show that you have somewhere between 6 and 20 hours before the poison reaches the City.

Immediately you realize that you have to warn the entire population of your City before it is too late and there are massive losses.

How do you inform the public? At your disposal are the entire City Staff numbering 3,000 which gives you a ratio of 1:1,000 people in the city. You also have the following ways of reaching people.

Radio
Television
Telephone
Internet
Email
Facebook
Billboards
Postal Service
Twitter
Door to Door
PA systems on the Police Cars

Question: In view of the seriousness of the situation and the amount of time remaining, which methods of informing people will you use?

Your message is simple and to the point, “The water system has been compromised, to avoid death, please do not drink the water.”

A competent City Manager would assess the situation, and immediately mobilize his people. He would use all available methods of communication focusing on the ones that would be most effective with the goal of reaching as many as possible. He does this for the following reasons:

He has a moral obligation to warn people to protect them from certain death
He has knowledge that there is limited time to warn them

What would you think of a City Manager who had this knowledge of an imminent disaster and instead of focusing his efforts on broadcasting the warning through the television, internet, telephone etc. he instructs his 3,000 employees to each go to 1,000 doors to warn people? Even though he knows that most people are not at their houses but are instead at work, or shopping, or school? If each employee was able to knock on a door every 7 minutes, it will take him 116 hours to complete this door to door assignment once.

As Witnesses we are taught that we have life saving information and that the end is going to come at anytime. Adjectives that are used frequently when describing the nearness of the worldwide disaster are “imminent”, “shortly”, “soon”. The only hope that people have for salvation is through heeding the warnings that are given. We have divine knowledge that must reach the ears of everyone on earth.

If the Governing Body was truly convinced themselves of the impending disaster and the fact that the end is “imminent” would they not focus their efforts in spreading the message through effective means such as telephone, television, internet, social networks etc? Instead direction is given that the primary method of spreading the warning message is through calling at empty houses repeatedly.

The Apostles and Christians in the first century used the most effective methods possible to preach, including speaking in the synagogues, in the marketplaces, and in people’s homes. They also wrote letters and forwarded the letters on to others. That was the extent of technology at that time, and they used it effectively. However technology has dramatically changed in the last 100 years let alone the last 2000 years. Why is it that as Witnesses we are instructed not to use the Internet, or email, or social networks or the television to preach the warning? Telephone or letter witnessing is allowed but only as a small part of our ministry.

It is conservative to estimate that around 50% of the ones baptized are children who have been raised in the truth and do not require preaching to from door to door. It now takes almost 11,000 man hours of the house to house ministry to get an interested person to baptism. If “Joe” publisher went house to house on average 10 hrs a month, it will take him 91 years to get a student to the point of being baptized. Statistically it is impossible since we live to 70- or 80 years old.

This highlights how ineffective door to door is as a means of warning people about an impending disaster. Despite these odds why do we continue to maintain that the house to house ministry is the most effective method? The data does not support the claim.

Each Witness records his or her time and obediently submits it to the Branch every month. It is clear that the effort is what is valued, and not the results. An analogy that might be made is by imagining that you work at a gravel plant. Your job is to make gravel and the way that you do it and have always done it is by smashing rocks with a hammer. Even though machines have been invented to efficiently crush gravel by the ton at a high production rate, your boss tells you, “Ignore that machine”, “Keep using that hammer, it is the best way to make gravel.” Each time you go in service and call at an empty house, remeber you are crushing rocks with a hammer.

My conclusion with these things in mind is I don’t feel that the Governing Body themselves are convinced that the end is imminent and that we as Witnesses carry a life saving message. If they were convinced that time is reduced and that people’s lives are on the line they would give direction that other methods be used to actually reach people with the warning.

My best wishes to you and your's this New Year!

SIAM

93

BOE LTR Dec 26, 2010 "Increased Activity April 2011"....Transcript....

by yknot in

in an effort to increase the praise and honor to jehovah and jesus christ at the time of the memorial, the governing body has arranged for a special period of increased activity during april 2011.

you will be pleased to learn that during april 2011, publishers who wish to serve as auxiliary pioneers may indicate on the application whether they will be working toward a 30-hour or 50-hour requirement for the month.

this is a special arrangement for the month of april 2011 only.

stuckinamovement

It is a desperate attempt to energize a sleepy flock. There will be a special memorial campaign and they probably need all hands on deck to get the invites out.

The way it will be announced is quite interesting.

SIAM

19

Swiss Branch closing down

by InquiryMan in

this newspaper article published in a capital news paper reports this including an interview with a watchtower spokesman.. it seems that less than half of the bethelites will be transferred to the german branch in selters that will supervise the work in switzerland from 2011.also, it seems that the branch offices in austria and luxembourg will undergo the same transition.

the remaining bethelites will stay on in switzerland, some will go on as full time pioneers.. .

http://www.bernerzeitung.ch/region/thun/klosterbetrieb--der-zeugen-jehovas-zieht-aus-thun-weg/story/21590801.

stuckinamovement

maybe the WTS couldn't meet the strict neutrality standards of Switzerland?? LOL

Seriously, too bad they quietly close up shop. Knowledge of the "Kingdom's" increase decrease is powerful to those who feel that growth and expansion is a sign of God's blessing.

SIAM