respectful_observer

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Posts by respectful_observer

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  51

  Family is drawing the line in the sand

  by dissonance_resolved in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  so my family has obviously been noticing over the past several months that i've been missing meetings and fs.

  i've had excuses sometimes, but not others, so my parents are definitely getting that this is more than a long bout of illnesses or fatigue.

  i just received an email invitation to join them in service this weekend.

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  respectful_observer

  go teaching what amounts to "truth de jour"

  How true. Maybe I'll use that line one of these days.
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  88

  jw.org store in Rouen, France

  by breakfast of champions in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rvcvnhohno4.

  naaaahh.

  we're not a business.

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  respectful_observer

  What a progressive venture for the brothers to take. It is clear that the brothers are doing ALL they can to help reach as many as possible. The use of technology has helped to spread the Truth to more than ever before, and now, a "store" in a high traffic area.

  .....................................................................................

  I wonder if that's what was also said when the first Christian Scientist Reading Room opened ONE HUNDRED TWENTY-FIVE years ago....

  Real cutting edge methods....

  As an aside, I'd be surprised if this was a creation of the Branch. It's much more likely that the local congregation went way overboard in the new mobile display campaign. (I'm guessing a brother owned the empty store front and now gets a tax write off for "donating" to a non-profit.)
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  28

  Reports from JW's regarding the summer convention

  by Lynnie in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  so, we're in the final countdown with the convention just over a month away.

  i've talked to a few folks that have already attended it on the east coast and west coast and keep hearing that its the most up-building program they've ever been to.

  seems the message is clear that we need to stop being so hard on ourselves and take time to appreciate the efforts we have put in and know that we are deeply loved.

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  respectful_observer

  I've talked to a few folks that have already attended it on the East coast and West coast and keep hearing thatits the most up-building program they've ever been to.

  Funny, I'll bet they said the same thing about last year's convention...and the year before that...and the year before that.
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  26

  NEW NWT'S Distributed at 2013 Conventions?

  by TheSnarkyApologist in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  chatter on the street is that there exists a very high possiblility of the new newworld translation being distributed.

  it comes from a reliable sources, but who knows.

  has anyone heard anything about this?.

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  respectful_observer

  Now that the DCs have started for the season, we're well aware that an updated NWT is NOT being released at the convention.

  Since so many congregations are now out of Bibles (and many have been since late 2012), I encountered a couple of humorous takes on the situation...

  1. One elder recently deadpanned to me: "Hey, did you hear that the Watchtower Society is changing it's legal name?" Of course my first thought was "No, and how is it I haven't heard this on JWN???"

  "Yeah, they've decided to rename it 'Watchtower Tract Society'...since everyone's beginning to assume they've given up on printing Bibles!"

  2. Someone else also showed me a printout of the DC Program. Everything looked and read exactly the same, except instead of the title reading "God's Word is Truth", it had a smaller second line in the same font that read: "But we can't give it to you!"
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  47

  Awkward moment at the WT study today

  by FadeToBlack in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  when we got to paragraphs 10,11 with the reference to the box at the top of the page - is your teaching up-to-date?

  the conductor asked for an explanation of what the current 'bible truth' was.

  for the first one, 'this generation (matt 24:34) absolutely nobody raised their hand!

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  respectful_observer

  I decided I had to comment on the B. question for paragraph 16. My comment was:

  "The Beroeans heard this new information from Paul, and did the right thing by going back to the scriptures to prove to themselves that what he was teaching was true-- they weren't lazy and just assumed this new teaching from Paul was supported by scripture, they realized they were responsible for their own salvation, which required they prove this new teaching to themselves. That's why daily Bible reading is still crucial for us today. We just reviewed 3 different teachings that have changed recently. When we heard each of these changes, did we open our Bibles and prove it to ourselves, or were we lazy and just assumed it must be right? It's something we should all keep in mind next time the Governing Body (I refuse to use the term "Faithful & Discreet Slave") changes a teaching."

  Then on paragraph 18, I said:

  "As we discussed earlier, that is why it is so important that when the Governing Body changes a teaching, we take the time to open our Bibles and prove it to ourselves. It's so often because of these changes that people choose to leave the Organization and be considered "apostate"; if we haven't proven these changes to ourselves from the Bible, we will find ourselves unprepared if we're in position where we're challenged to prove that teaching from the Bible."

  The conductor didn't seem to flinch at either comment, although in both cases he simply moved on to the next paragraph. I don't imagine anyone there really listened to what I said, but it felt nice to say something out loud that was honest, maybe will make someone think, and is completely defensible if someone suspects I'm "mentally diseased."
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  23

  Do you know some witnesses that refuse to go to some restaurants because of the name like....

  by Iamallcool in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  lucky, luck, magic, fortune, etc...do you also know some of them that just shrugged it off and still went there to eat?.

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  respectful_observer

  What about Hooters?

  Haha! I still remember the very first time one of my co-workers convinced me to go to Hooters for lunch. I was petrified that someone from the Hall would see me. Sure enough as I walked in, a brother from my congregation looked up at me from another table with guiltiest of looks.

  I got the same feeling I did the ONE time I ever skipped school and walked into McDonald's with some school friends only to realize I was standing in line behind the brother who'd given my baptism talk.

  The angels are watching!!!
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  66

  "The END is soooooo close"

  by Phizzy in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i notice reported in a number of posts that this seems to a bit of a mantra with the dubbies now, more so than ever in the past.. is this because they are getting desperate for the life they live as jw's to change ?

  they don't really want to end their days with the constant drudgery of the jw life still going on, they want something different, but must "wait on jehovah".

  sigh.. i wonder if this is a small opportunity for us to sow some small, niggling doubt, why not ask, when they spew out the "it is soooo close" nonsense:.

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  respectful_observer

  I said "Dad, is the economy as bad as it was back in the Great Depression? Because if the economy is the reason the end will come then Armageddon shoulda come back in the '20s or '30s." I got the blank stare and the silence.

  I've used similar statements with the Friends TM , although I try to disguise my sarcasm a bit more.

  "You're right, the economy/violence in the Middle East is really bad!!! Of course if we think THIS is bad, just imagine what the JWs living back during the Great Depression, or during WWII must have thought Armageddon had started. Hundreds of millions dead, people being gassed to death in concentration camps and burned in ovens, and nuclear bombs going off!"

  Like Heaven's dad, they usually get quiet and don't say much. Nothing like reality and facts to deflate their enthusiasm for worldwide death and destruction.
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  10

  is it considered a df offence if you actually agree to your child having bloodj

  by brainmelt in

  1. watchtower
  2. medical
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  respectful_observer

  I believe there was a sample form letter sent out about a year ago (can't remember if it was distributed just to elders or not) around the annual Blood Card Service Meeting talk that could be drafted for parents to sign. If memory serves me correct, the gist of the letter was that the signer personally opposed using blood to treat their child, but they were trusting the doctors to use any possible treatment to avoid using blood.

  The letter must have been crafted by about a dozen WTS attorneys because it never says the parents are consenting to the use of blood, but it essentially absolves them of (congregation) guilt in case the doctor does use blood after all other means of treatment have been exhausted. This WTS-drafted letter doesn't have any use whatsoever in governmental courts, only in Jehovah's Witness courts a judicial committee.

  I'm sure someone with better search skills on this site can find it better than I.

  R_O

  Edit: the above poster is correct that it's considered disassociating yourself now, not that the Org is disfellowshipping you (thanks to Bulgaria). Yet another example of WTS playing legal Twister.
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  66

  "The END is soooooo close"

  by Phizzy in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i notice reported in a number of posts that this seems to a bit of a mantra with the dubbies now, more so than ever in the past.. is this because they are getting desperate for the life they live as jw's to change ?

  they don't really want to end their days with the constant drudgery of the jw life still going on, they want something different, but must "wait on jehovah".

  sigh.. i wonder if this is a small opportunity for us to sow some small, niggling doubt, why not ask, when they spew out the "it is soooo close" nonsense:.

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  respectful_observer

  I think a lot of JWs keep repeating that mantra because they have nothing left to hold onto. Many think that if they just keep repeating it, it will HAVE to happen.

  I've heard said by both Friends TM and from the stage, that the end HAS to be close because Jehovah would never allow His people to made fools of.
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  14

  Is there going to be a new NWT or what ?

  by sieborg in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i dropped off my wife the other day at the cuircit ass and driving out of the car park i was flagged down by an elder i know.

  he was and still is one of the genuine ones, a real solid guy.

  anyhoo, he tells me to come back as we are so close to the big a and he also tells me that a new bible is gonna be released.

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  respectful_observer

  A family member of mine (who is pragmatic toward many of the Org's imperfections but who I wouldn't describe as "awake") brought up the subject of the expectation of an updated NWT the other day. I speculated that perhaps they'll replace "loose conduct" with "brazen". The reaction was quick and sharp.

  "They can do that?!?"

  "Sure they can. They'll just say it's a more accurate translation."

  "They had better not. If I find out they feel like they can just change words in the Bible to better suit their current teachings, then there is something SERIOUSLY WRONG with the Organization TM ."

  Hopefully we'll have that question answered sooner rather than later!