Posts by Listener

27

UGHHHHH Wife wants to pioneer. Our future together doesn’t look promising

by goingthruthemotions in

ughhhhh wife wants to pioneer.

our future together doesn't look promising .

i told her she doesn’t know what she is getting into.

Listener

That title of pioneer can be so important to some JWs, they wouldn't think of just putting in the same hours without acknowledgement.

17

Upcoming Neutrality Talk Oct 26, 2020

by Listener in

thanks petra and atlantis for providing the latest announcements from the watchtower.. they are telling congregations to replace the 15 minute local needs talk in the midweek meeting of october 26th with a talk on neutrality.

i am not sure if this is due to there being a usa election on tues 3rd, november or because of their worldwide preaching campaign targeting government officials.

it does sound like it is due to the usa election due to comments about propaganda and political promises.

Listener

Thanks Petra and Atlantis for providing the latest Announcements from the Watchtower.

They are telling Congregations to replace the 15 minute local needs talk in the Midweek Meeting of October 26th with a talk on neutrality.

I am not sure if this is due to there being a USA election on Tues 3rd, November or because of their worldwide preaching campaign targeting Government officials. It does sound like it is due to the USA election due to comments about propaganda and political promises.

This is the talk outline

Why Is Neutrality So Important?
PLEASE NOTE: This part is to be delivered as a discussion. Warmly commend the congregation and remind them that Jehovah treasures their faithful service as they shoulder their personal responsibility in this important matter (Joh 17:14; 18:36; Ga 6:5)
[After a brief introduction, play the seven-minute video Why Is Neutrality So Important? Thereafter, ask the questions listed below]
Question: What does Christian neutrality mean? [Not taking sides in political issues, either actively or mentally]
Question: Why is Christian neutrality important? [The political system wants to put its mark on us (Re 13:16, 17)]
Question: What are three things that could erode our Christian neutrality? [{1) Propaganda the media puts forth, (2) sporting events, (3) political promises being made during election time]
Question: What are the benefits of maintaining Christian neutrality? [Without elaborating, ask the audience to make note of the references listed below for consideration in their personal study and family worship] •
November 1, 1999, Watchtower, pages 28-29, "Questions From Readers" • June 2018 Watchtower, pages 3-7, "My Kingdom Is No Part of This World" • Remain in God's Love, page 244, endnote 16 • Video Christian Neutrality-What It Means, What It Takes, and Why We Choose It. On jw.org, go to LIBRARY> VIDEOS> JW BROADCASTING> TALKS. In JW Library, go to MEDIA> VIDEO> JW BROADCASTING> TALKS May we be determined to remain part of Jehovah's united people by maintaining our neutrality in a divided world!
TO BE COVERED IN 15 MINUTES © 2020
Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania 9/20

In regards to political neutrality I thought this instruction regarding the November 'political' campaign to be of note -

2. Worldwide Campaign in November 2020: A sample letter dated November 3, 2020, for use in distributing The Watchtower No. 2 2020 to local government officials has been posted on jw.org. Similar wording may be used for letters written to businesses. The date of the letter may be adjusted. The official's office address or the business address should be used to send such correspondence. Publishers should not send the magazine to officials who are actively opposing our activities. (Matt. 10: 16, 17) As a reminder, personal letterhead rather than congregation letterhead should be used.

They quote Matt 10:16,17 which states

16 “I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves. 17 Be on your guard; you will be handed over to the local councils and be flogged in the synagogues.

So they are well aware that what they are doing may well provoke persecution and it is only officials who are actively opposing their activities that they are not to write to. This whole letter campaign has the potential to be politically dangerous for them as the magazine they are sending says their Government will be destroyed.

But also, in the neutrality talk they say that Christian neutrality means not taking sides in political issues, either actively or mentally. Wouldn't making decisions as to which officials are actively opposing their activities and not sending Watchtowers out to them but sending them to other officials (even those who oppose them but not actively) mean they are not taking a neutral stand?

27

Ok, We Need To Talk About The Latest Caleb & Sophia Cartoon

by pale.emperor in

(as of 10 sep 2020) there's a new caleb & sophia cartoon in which the org puts into the minds of children the idea that celebrating a birthday will cause jehovah to not want to be your friend anymore.. https://www.jw.org/en/bible-teachings/children/become-jehovahs-friend/videos/trailer-jehovah-forgives/.

can you imagine being 6 years old and thinking god himself is no longer your friend because you blew out a candle on a birthday cake or wished someone a happy birthday?.

as bad as all this is, the birthday thing is just one of many jw rules that isnt even supported by scripure.

Listener

Bats in the belfry - Does Caleb ever grow up? Wasn't he about 6 years of age when he was introduced to the public some six years ago?

That's the beauty of never having a birthday.😉

27

Ok, We Need To Talk About The Latest Caleb & Sophia Cartoon

by pale.emperor in

(as of 10 sep 2020) there's a new caleb & sophia cartoon in which the org puts into the minds of children the idea that celebrating a birthday will cause jehovah to not want to be your friend anymore.. https://www.jw.org/en/bible-teachings/children/become-jehovahs-friend/videos/trailer-jehovah-forgives/.

can you imagine being 6 years old and thinking god himself is no longer your friend because you blew out a candle on a birthday cake or wished someone a happy birthday?.

as bad as all this is, the birthday thing is just one of many jw rules that isnt even supported by scripure.

Listener

How amusing that they are doing trailers for a cartoon that doesn't go for more than five minutes.

They love to tickle their ears.

32

David Splane's 2020 Conventionl talk ....''Jehovah has to come first''

by RULES & REGULATIONS in

'' has your desire to put jehovah first been tested during this pandemic?

you lost your job and you searched for another one.

finally, after a long search, you found one but it was a job that would require you to miss all your meetings and field service.

Listener

It's a God given responsibility to support the family. There is no biblical mandate to attend all the meetings or to go out in field service at any particular time or to do it in any particular method. Except, the GB believe that because they say so, they must be obeyed.

The recent months should have made it clear to the GB that meetings and Conventions can be watched at any time. Also, the witnessing work can be done in different ways.

28

1919 2013 2020 and the Slave

by Jerryh in

jw
friends

i was never a jw but i lurk in this forum occasionally, trying to rescue some family.

i will spare you those details.. jw.org and jwfacts are there with youtubes out the wazoo but i would appreciate your thought on this.. i know there are contradictions plenty but this is foundational, blatant and current.

i know they typically just blow off.

Listener

Waton

"so, since the anointed, including the GB aka the F&DS will pass to heaven at the beginning of the Great Tribulation, (to fight from heaven) Who exactly will fill that vacuum? Or is that to heavenly universal office?

sounds like a disappointing appointment!

Biggest problem for wt prophets: the jw partaker generation is predicted to pass away to heaven before the end, whereas Jesus said they will survive, pass away only after all has occurred. "

There are so many aspects as to why their interpretation makes little sense and you brought up one I hadn't considered before.

The parable doesn't state that on the masters return that he takes away the initial appointment of the FDS of feeding the Domestics but adds to it by giving the Slave the appointment over all his belongings. So that must mean that they feed the Domestics from Heaven (like you discuss). How does that work? Part of the FDS have already gone to heaven, according to their teachings, that includes Rutherford, Knorr and Franz. What happened to their appointment? The Master didn't take it away so how are they carrying out their work?

The Watchtower states that when the GB/FDS go to heaven during the GT then there will be Mature Elders to take their place. However, this arrangment isn't in scripture.

5

New JW article - Help children deal with disturbing news reports

by Listener in

the watchtower has the audacity to think it is some authority on the matter of telling parents how to deal with news reports that may disturb them, when for decades it has been promoting a horrific destruction of 99% of people currently living on earth, including detailed pictures in their own 'news reports'.. why would people print disturbing news reports?

one reason that they provide specifically relates to themselves as well.

children may have trouble putting the news in perspective.

Listener

The Watchtower has the audacity to think it is some authority on the matter of telling parents how to deal with news reports that may disturb them, when for decades it has been promoting a horrific destruction of 99% of people currently living on earth, including detailed pictures in their own 'news reports'.

Why would people print disturbing news reports? One reason that they provide specifically relates to themselves as well

Children may have trouble putting the news in perspective. They may not realize that news agencies are businesses that profit from having a large audience. Therefore, a report may be sensationalized to keep the attention of anxious viewers.

Then there is this advise which shows just how cruel and stupid they are

Listen patiently, respond empathetically. If it is difficult for your child to talk about the event, suggest that he draw a picture about it instead. Address your child’s concerns using terms he will understand, but avoid discussing needless details about the event.

Child professionals don't recommend that children draw a picture of the event that has disturbed and troubled them, instead they suggest that young children, who may find it difficult to talk about their worries, draw a picture to express their own feelings.

You parents, can you imagine or even think of telling your child to draw a picture of the thing that they have been scared of or worried about? That's just sick. Drawing it only helps to imprint the horrible scene onto the child's mind.

But what I find the most amazing is that they don't even bother to tell parents to teach their children to pray and ask for the strength to deal with the problem. And this is a so called religion?????

https://www.jw.org/en/bible-teachings/family/help-children-deal-with-news/

27

November WT study article

by Gorbatchov in

jw
friends

in one of the study articles from the november 2020 edition, is mentioned (free quotation):.

"don"t get disturbed if your kingdom hall will be sold".

food on the right time, i asume?.

Listener

Regarding the Pandemic, has the Watchtower realised it has put itself in an awkward position? They said they have stopped the meetings and door to door work out if love for others and themselves, so that they do not pass on the virus. They have told JWs to stay at home, if possible. They also said that they are ahead of the Government in certain aspects. This means that they can never go back until the virus is eliminated completely or there is a successful vaccine. Neither of these is likely any time soon.

Maybe this has something to do with the reason why they are not addressing the pandemic in the Watchtower. If they put it in writing, in the Watchtower, the reasons why they aren't at the Halls and out witnessing, it only makes it harder to get their followers back into doing it before the pandemic is no longer a problem.

27

November WT study article

by Gorbatchov in

jw
friends

in one of the study articles from the november 2020 edition, is mentioned (free quotation):.

"don"t get disturbed if your kingdom hall will be sold".

food on the right time, i asume?.

Listener

For example, in recent years the cost of building and maintaining places of worship has increased dramatically. So the Governing Body has directed that Kingdom Halls be used to capacity.

For a change, they admit it is about the money.

More and more, they refer to themselves as the 'Governing Body' and not the Faithful & Discreet Slave. The first term indicates authority to rule, the second is about servitude.

20

Final talk of the 2020 'Always Rejoice' Convention

by Listener in

this is part of splane's lecture in the final part of the final day of the 2020 convention.

now speaking of broadcasting.

do you think jehovah has been preparing us for something like this pandemic?

Listener

It looks like the part of the talk I was trying to quote has disappeared.

Here it is

Now speaking of broadcasting. Do you think Jehovah has been preparing us for something like this pandemic?

Think about this. A few years ago, the decision was made to set up something like JW Broadcasting and at the time, who knew how practical an arrangement that was going to turn out to be? And who knows, what uses JWB will be put to in the future? Jehovah knows. Jehovah looks ahead. Sometimes we don't know ourselves why certain decisions are made or why we are making certain decisions but Jehovah knows. Jehovah is our joy.
And here's another thing, when the theme for this convention was being chosen, there was no Coronovirus on the horizon. Yet, can you think of a better theme for a convention than this one? Joy. What an appropriate theme for a convention...

What other religious organization foretells the destruction of a World Empire of False Religion? We're the only ones, because the others are all part of Babylon the Great. They're not going to foretell the future of the destruction in the future. So the destruction is going to be a surprise to everyone but Jehovah's Witnesses. And when it occurs, there will be no doubt in your minds that you're on the winning side, that you're on Jehovah's side.

Some Brothers get all upset over some detail that they don't think that the organization has the right take on. It might be the pronunciation of God's name or the meaning of that name. Or the meaning of some verse in the Scriptures. They get all upset, they get obsessed over one detail and it interferes with their worship. But when BTG goes down, will there be any doubt as to which channel Jehovah God has been using all this time to do his will? You will be soooo glad that you are on the winning side.