Posts by Listener

18

What happened to the questions in the Watchtower and why?

by Listener in

could someone please advise why the questions for public study on a sunday are no longer in the watchtower?.

also a while ago now the gatherings in private homes during the week for study also stopped.. i was told that it was in preparation of armageddon so that individuals could become more independant and have more time to establish their relationship directly with jehovah.

this was because the gb felt people were relying on the organization too much in providing their spiritual needs and with armageddon it may be that jws will not be able to access the support network that they currently have.

Listener

There is much to be learnt about the outreaching power of the holy spirit, especially as it relates in our times (as opposed to biblical times).

As far as I know being married was never a WTS requirement for elders. Sounds like you were never a jw but belonged to a religion that does restrict single men. What is noteworthy, at least in my area, they have appointed an alcoholic and wife abuser as well as other men they never would have in the past.

I don't know if it was a requirement as such but I never knew one elder who was single and there appeared to be an understanding that an elder would be married, there were many ministerial servants who were single.

What a sad state of affairs when a wife abuser and alcoholic are appointed as elders.

18

What happened to the questions in the Watchtower and why?

by Listener in

could someone please advise why the questions for public study on a sunday are no longer in the watchtower?.

also a while ago now the gatherings in private homes during the week for study also stopped.. i was told that it was in preparation of armageddon so that individuals could become more independant and have more time to establish their relationship directly with jehovah.

this was because the gb felt people were relying on the organization too much in providing their spiritual needs and with armageddon it may be that jws will not be able to access the support network that they currently have.

Listener

That I am learning and it is all very confusing. I'd say I was taking baby steps and I'm progressing as I'm no longer being spoon fed (as such). Whilst reading the bible alone can be very eluminating it is so easy to miss a lot.

It is made even harder with so many versions of the bible itself, which can translate into such different meanings. I'm sticking with my King James version for the time being.

18

What happened to the questions in the Watchtower and why?

by Listener in

could someone please advise why the questions for public study on a sunday are no longer in the watchtower?.

also a while ago now the gatherings in private homes during the week for study also stopped.. i was told that it was in preparation of armageddon so that individuals could become more independant and have more time to establish their relationship directly with jehovah.

this was because the gb felt people were relying on the organization too much in providing their spiritual needs and with armageddon it may be that jws will not be able to access the support network that they currently have.

Listener

So Stephen, are you saying that we can all benefit from the holy spirit in understanding the bible and things not normally understood by others but we must first bebaptized?

18

What happened to the questions in the Watchtower and why?

by Listener in

could someone please advise why the questions for public study on a sunday are no longer in the watchtower?.

also a while ago now the gatherings in private homes during the week for study also stopped.. i was told that it was in preparation of armageddon so that individuals could become more independant and have more time to establish their relationship directly with jehovah.

this was because the gb felt people were relying on the organization too much in providing their spiritual needs and with armageddon it may be that jws will not be able to access the support network that they currently have.

Listener

Thanks for the answers.

I am most surprised about the short supply of elders. I guess this is one reason why they started allowing single borthers to serve.

Talking about things being dumbed down, the watchtower magazine has certainly changed greatly over the years. So much so that just about all of it's artices read like an old Awake magazine. There are very few 'meaty' topics discussed these days and very few opinions/views of the organization expressed. It seems that the organization is being very careful in what it now publishes.

18

What happened to the questions in the Watchtower and why?

by Listener in

could someone please advise why the questions for public study on a sunday are no longer in the watchtower?.

also a while ago now the gatherings in private homes during the week for study also stopped.. i was told that it was in preparation of armageddon so that individuals could become more independant and have more time to establish their relationship directly with jehovah.

this was because the gb felt people were relying on the organization too much in providing their spiritual needs and with armageddon it may be that jws will not be able to access the support network that they currently have.

Listener

Could someone please advise why the questions for public study on a Sunday are no longer in the Watchtower?

Also a while ago now the gatherings in private homes during the week for study also stopped.

I was told that it was in preparation of Armageddon so that individuals could become more independant and have more time to establish their relationship directly with Jehovah. This was because the GB felt people were relying on the organization too much in providing their spiritual needs and with Armageddon it may be that JWs will not be able to access the support network that they currently have.

Another person told me that the smaller group meetings in private homes was stopped because there was a possibility that groups would start interpreting the bible in a way not supported by the organization and would cause disunity. This is a fundamental issue for the organization as they are able to seperate themselves from most religions. Their unity means that what is believed in one part of the world is the exact same as what Jws believe in another part of the world.

This all seems a little strange to me as the 'putting on of armour' helps to strengthen ones resolve in time of warfare and this is what meetings were about as it helped to keep removed from worldly things. But at the same time I'm sure the thinking would be that if individuals learn now to strengthen their direct relationship with God directly then this will strengthen their resolve.

18

'All Along the Watchtower' - Its True Meaning Revealed!

by sd-7 in

jw
friends

for many years, the significance of bob dylan's song, all along the watchtower, has been unclear.

what meaning does it have for us today?

how do we understand it in light of what the bible says?

Listener

Thanks Zoiks, I'm having a good chuckle and my comment about scripture quotes just makes it funnier.

18

'All Along the Watchtower' - Its True Meaning Revealed!

by sd-7 in

jw
friends

for many years, the significance of bob dylan's song, all along the watchtower, has been unclear.

what meaning does it have for us today?

how do we understand it in light of what the bible says?

Listener

"And all the women came and went, their footservants, too."

--Godly women, living in loyal subjection to the headship arrangement, support their faithful husbands by not jealously demanding more of their time than is really needed. Such women devote themselves to the ministry so that their full attention is on spiritual things, both they, and their "footservants", any children who gladly accompany them in praising Jehovah. (Ps. 68:11; Isa. 52:7)

This is so subjective. It is actually telling husbands that they have a right to do only what is really needed in helping their wives. That is not right and they should be doing all that they can in supporting their wives. They should remain single if they are not willing and devoted to providing a wholly loving and caring relationship. That means that their own full attention should not always on spiritual matters (although always acting in accordance and obediance to God) but the caring of their family, both with their time and support. They should be weighing up their responsibilities in not taking on too much ministerial work so that they can also devote their time to their family.

To twist this responsibility of husbands around to the wives by saying they should not be jealously demanding is quite unfair. There are some elders who have very little time left for their own families, of course this will make their wives jealous and although it is right that she is not allowed to demand more she should not be put in the position to be made to feel this way. And what is the answer to the solution that is provided? Well she needs to be devoting her full attention to spiritual things and the ministry. But this also overlooks her own full responsibilities as likewise, she needs to spend her time looking after her children and caring for the family and their needs.

By the way, those scriptures quoted have very little to do with the comments made.

18

'All Along the Watchtower' - Its True Meaning Revealed!

by sd-7 in

jw
friends

for many years, the significance of bob dylan's song, all along the watchtower, has been unclear.

what meaning does it have for us today?

how do we understand it in light of what the bible says?

Listener

I am wondering where this article comes from, is it something you wrote yourself sd-7 or from the watchtower? Anyway here is my view on several of the comments

"

"All along the watchtower, princes held the view."

--Spirit-appointed elders continue to shepherd the flock with tenderness, making sure that apostates and those with worldly tendencies do not harm or contaminate Jehovah's clean people. (1 Pet. 5:2; 1 Tim. 6:3-5)"

How can it be claimed that the elders are spirit appointed?

"Businessmen, they drink my wine."

--Sadly, the joker has mistakenly come to see anointed ones as little more than profiteers, men using their theocratic appointments as a means of personal gain. How far from the truth that is! The anointed remnant, above all others, is exemplary in imitating the self-sufficient apostles of old, thus avoiding the snares of the money hungry religious leaders of Christendom. (1 Tim. 6:3-10) These anointed ones, as part of the new covenant, are the only ones who are permitted to partake of the Memorial emblems, including the wine, which represents Christ's "blood of the covenant." (Luke 22:29, 30)

Aren't those claiming to be annointed fortelling their own future and thus prophecing?

The claim that the annointed are, above all others, exemplary in imitating the self-sufficient apostles of old is not right. Who is making this claim? I agree that many may strive to do this but the case is that they are not above all others in this aspect. There are many faithfull servants that are exemplary and some more than the annointed. Who has made this judgement and put these annointed on such a high pedestal?

100

What if God's existence was PROVEN TO BE TRUE?

by nicolaou in

this isn't a 'prove god exists' thread, it's a 'what if' thread .

what if god's existence could be proven beyond any doubt?

what if god were to actually show himself so that nobody could doubt his existence?.

Listener

Thanks for the welcome. Seems to me that you are not very serious about your 'what if', especially when someone else diverts the topic to pasta and you take more offence at me suggesting the answers are in the bible itself.

Your question was 'What if God's existence was PROVEN TO BE TRUE?' That's not a what if at all as God's existence is true.

I don't understand this troll allert. I've been lurking for a while and I thought posters were able to express their own viewpoints regardless of whether they were supportive or not of the Jw's.

100

What if God's existence was PROVEN TO BE TRUE?

by nicolaou in

this isn't a 'prove god exists' thread, it's a 'what if' thread .

what if god's existence could be proven beyond any doubt?

what if god were to actually show himself so that nobody could doubt his existence?.

Listener

I gather you haven't read the bible as there is much to say about this.

Firstly, God's existance is proven beyond a doubt, just look around you and see his creation. we also have a communication from him in the form of the bible in which he explains much about himself, his creations, the past and the future.

There are many that choose to ignore this as not tangible enough but it is clear fom the bible that no man is able to see God. At the time of Armageddon God has said that all people will come to know that he is God. Others may have opinions about this but it would appear that all will know that he is God because it will give those people who did not understand his existance an opportunity to worship him before his final judgement day.

The bible says that even Satan knows that Jehovah exists but chooses to express his own free will in being disobedient to him, we have that choice too and that is our responsibility.