They haven't released the January 2019 Study Watchtower yet, I guess it will be released tomorrow after the annual meeting. It will have a few changes but these have already been explained by GB member Ken Cook in a recent video titles 'Organizational Accomplishments - 2018 Writing Committee'
In this video GB member Ken Cook says there will be new and improved additions with a new design and layout. Each study article will be numbered to correspond to each week of the year. A larger font will be used for the many Bro's and Sisters who live in locations with poor lighting conditions, making it easier for them to read. They are going to also include the occasional picture description explaining the content of a picture as it will be of great help in the Braille field.
Also, they will be putting the opening song listed at the beginning of the study article and the closing song listed at the end.
The english symplified study edition will be discontinued in 2019 (he wasn't specific as to when) and the regular edition will be simplified.
By this they are stating that Jehovah is truly speeding up the work.
They showed snippets of the January, 2019 Study Watchtower during this video. It seems that they are basing this simplification on the idea that Jesus introduced the Lords Evening Supper arrangement as being simple and that the disciples would have considered it to be so. Also, they used the example of Jesus eating and elaborate meal with Mary, Martha and Lazarus and Mary was the one doing the right thing by listening rather than being involved in the serving.
Since they haven't uploaded this magazine yet, I imagine they may distribute copies of it at their meeting so that everyone can oooh and aaaah at it and the marvelous work that the GB is doing.
With all this simplification which drastically reduces their costs, it may be that they do drop the second meeting in the future. It would also allow more congregations to use the one hall, making more available to sell.
Listener
JoinedPosts by Listener
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37
Annual meeting topic
by asp59 inhow many think they will announce in the annual meeting they just gonna have one meeting a week?
if they dont it will be astonishing, amazing and other things..
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Listener
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44 Stories of Child Sexual Abuse within Jehovah's Witnesses in Australia
by jwleaks in44 stories of child sexual abuse within jehovah's witnesses in australia.
say sorry has published a collection of official jehovah's witness child abuse stories from the australian “royal commission into institutional responses to child sexual abuse: final report.”.
these 44 stories are not ‘apostate-driven lies and dishonesties.’ they are genuine heart-wrenching accounts from just some of the people who spoke with a commissioner during a private session of the royal commission into institutional responses to child sexual abuse looking into jehovah’s witnesses and watchtower bible and tract society of australia limited.. these 44 stories have been published in the lead up to the australian government's national apology to victims and survivors of institutional child sexual abuse to be held on 22 october 2018.. content warning: this content is about child sexual abuse.
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Listener
Such horrible stories, those poor children.
There was this comment made and although it is not something I have read in publications, I have no doubt that this would be a conclusion Elders would make. They teach nothing of any real assistance that might help protect a potential rape victim.But as the attacks increased, Calinda found that she couldn’t just sit still and pray for Max’s conversion. Instead, she hit back, punching him in the face and sometimes elbowing him in the groin. For that, she was nearly excommunicated.
‘There’s an obscure scripture that makes it abundantly clear that a man’s genitals are sacrosanct and you cannot in any way disrespect them.’ -
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medical directives
by road to nowhere ini just took a good look at the "blood card".
it is cartoonish with the x'd out blood bag.
and a sample directive from the hospital is a way better form for making wishes known.
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Listener
You are right, for a life or death situation, pulling out a card with a x'd blood bag is childish.
In comparison, hardly any consideration is made when buying products that may have blood in it, such as meat. Not one question is asked when purchasing meat and meat products from a butcher and none of their products list the ingredients.
The biblical rule is not to eat meat but they go to extreme lengths to ensure blood is not transfused.
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Disaster Relief Funds
by StephaneLaliberte inif the need for relief is beyond what the congregations in the area can provide, the governing body of jehovah’s witnesses arranges to supply what is needed.
[...] since the work is performed by unpaid volunteers, the funds that are allocated go toward actual relief, not administrative expenses.
- jw site.
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Listener
The other thing is that the organization gets JWs to donate to the worldwide work and not a specific fund for disaster relief therefore the organization chooses how much to contribute to disaster relief.
When they say that "the funds that are allocated go toward actual relief". This allocation comes from the organization and not from the individuals who donated. It's pretty pointless to say that none went to administration costs.
As an example a person might donate $100 where -$99 was allocated by the organization to the WWW which includes all it's administrative costs (including the cost of flying GB members to disaster areas for 'upbuilding')
$1 was allocated by the organization specifically for disaster relief
Of course the statement that they made was true but very little of the donated money went to disaster relief, whereas an organization like Red Cross may have $100 donated to them with maybe $60 going to admin costs and $40 going to direct relief. -
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* 2018 Mergers and changes to UK congregations *
by truthseeker ini have a document containing a list of all congregations in the uk.
periodically i go through the links and check to see if they're still registered as charities and if the location of the congregation is the same.. instead of posting a large list of changes all at once, i will be adding each change that i find in a new reply to this thread.. please check back here periodically.. truthseeker.
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Listener
It would be 'helpful' for them to merge/delete/change the name of every congregation that has a case of child abuse. It will make it more complicated to sue them.
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Any word yet on the Annual Meeting?
by careful init's just a week or two away and still no sign of the usual hype?
very strange.... anyone heard anything about it?
perhaps from those still in to some degree or from relatives/friends still in?.
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Listener
They've either got nothing to say or it's too expensive to televise, my money is on the cost cutting. -
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'Warped' Jehovah's Witness bombarded estranged wife with disturbing messages
by Tahoe inhttps://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/warped-jehovahs-witness-bombarded-estranged-15205705.
an obsessive and controlling husband has been jailed for stalking his estranged wife.. a crown court judge told mark perry - a devout jehovah's witness - that he had a warped mind and sought to justify his behaviour on the basis of his religious beliefs.. .
mold crown court heard he faked a message from the police telling his wife to go to rhyl police station to identify his own body.
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Listener
I hope she is safe when he gets out of jail.
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EU Court Ruling Against WT on Data-Protection
by cofty intoday's london times reports on the july ruling of the eu court that forces the organisation country to comply with data protection.. the action originated in finland but the ruling will affect every eu country.
the cult tried unsuccessfully to argue that the notes taken by jws in the door-to-door work were personal and not accessed by the congregation.
the court ruled that they are acting under the auspices of the congregation and therefore they must comply with data-protection laws.. keeping lists of do-not-calls also falls under this ruling.. why does the cult always feel that it is above the law?.
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Listener
I'll try again, I lost half my post
Doubter - Personal House to House notes are not accessed by anyone other than the individual publisher. What I mean by “accessed” is that they are not handed over to the elders.
Really the only thing they all have access to is the don’t not calls. This is necessary as calling when you’re told not to come back is trespassing.
From my understanding of the legislation, if you wish to make a record regarding someone then you must get their permission. If you don't want to get their permission then making records about another person is none of your business.
It's easy to see why the organization abhors this legislation. How many people would readily give their permission to allow JWs to keep bothering them. It empowers people, not the JWs.
This applies to people that request that you do not visit, you would need to get their permission to record details. -
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I'm Going to Regular Meetups at LDS Church!
by Simon inyeah, i know ... who would want to step foot anywhere near a new-age religious church after being brought up a jw, right?.
i know some will already be judging me, but hold-on - it maybe even worse than you imagine!.
the group i meet-up with ... don't go inside, we never pray, we, erm, we just hang out in the car-park.. you're thinking "wtf?
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Listener
It's fascinating how many people who play aren't the children / teens you'd expect -
Is this a confession? I'd be fascinated to know what you were expecting Pokemon Players to be like. -
113
EU Court Ruling Against WT on Data-Protection
by cofty intoday's london times reports on the july ruling of the eu court that forces the organisation country to comply with data protection.. the action originated in finland but the ruling will affect every eu country.
the cult tried unsuccessfully to argue that the notes taken by jws in the door-to-door work were personal and not accessed by the congregation.
the court ruled that they are acting under the auspices of the congregation and therefore they must comply with data-protection laws.. keeping lists of do-not-calls also falls under this ruling.. why does the cult always feel that it is above the law?.
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Listener
Doubter - Personal House to House notes are not accessed by anyone other than the individual publisher. What I mean by “accessed” is that they are not handed over to the elders.
Really the only thing they all have access to is the don’t not calls. This is necessary as calling when you’re told not to come back is trespassing.