the past five weeks have been perhaps the most painful in my life as a witness.. some months ago a young man (i'd say in his late thirties or early forties) began attending meetings at my kingdom hall.
he had just moved to my area from another state.
he had disassociated himself from his home congregation many years back, when he was 20 years old and going through many of the typical trials and temptations most young men experience.. two of the elders met with him initially, and they later shared the details with the body of elders.
Brother Jeremy, as you know it will be a difficult road ahead of you but your compassion for other people has already set you on the right path. It's the kind of passion I see in "JW Struggle", an ex elder, who has a channel on Youtube. He makes himself available to anyone seeking advice and strengthening, so feel free to contact him if you wish.
We are lucky to have the support that surrounds us and I admire the support that you are showing to this young fellow.
in another thread i wrote some notes about why using jehovah in english is as good as using yahweh.
i'm starting a discussion on this topic because it sounds quite ignorant to hear people talk of the monk who started using it in latin without really understanding why the monk did so.. the spanish dominican monk, raymundus martini, in 1270, didn't get hoodwinked by an old jewish superstition about pronouncing the divine name with the vowel points of another word.. 1. first the vowel points of adonay and jehovah cannot be the same for grammatical reasons.
you just can't use the same vowel points because some vowels aren't paired with some consonants in pronouncing hebrew words.
Bonsai makes some good comments and had me thinking about the scripture that was imbedded upon our minds in the 70s - The nations shall have to know that I am Jehovah. There was even a book about this but it led me to this thread and a comment by a guy called Jason Dulle
http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/topic/187201/nations-shall-know-that-am-jehovah-how-online?page=1
I loved his conclusion
<<In conclusion, although it is not necessarily wrong to say God’s name as Jehovah, by no means can it be claimed that Jehovah is the name of God that has only been restored to us in these recent times. At best Jehovah can only be claimed to be an acceptable way of pronouncing God’s name in the English language, and at worst it could be said to be a phonetic corruption of God’s name. The probable pronunciation of God’s revealed name is Yahweh.">>
He has a good point, you can't claim to restore something unless you know what existed originally, without having to make guesses or invent it.
special assembly was attended by 30,000 and 173 was baptized.. see video-footage given by english language belgian web site.. (interestingly, the press spokesman was a sister).. http://deredactie.be/cm/vrtnieuws.english.
>>04/07/15 - Some 30,000 members of Jehova's Witnesses are attending a world congress at Flanders Expo in Ghent. The Bible and a clear set of rules are key factors for the members, which are an estimated 25,000 in Belgium. The congress in Belgium includes immersion baptism sessions, singing, praying and also Bible courses in 13 languages. <<
A clear set of rules are key factors for the members - as set out in the secret shepherding the flock book.
i have just found out that my brother (who was one of a bunch that shared this login) has died.. he and his wife were living in another country where they once pioneered.
i didn't see him that often.. such an empty feeling.....
righto poppickers.
as some of you know, i have been putting together a book of interviews and humour.
it is designed (i hope), soften the blow for those inside the wbt$ who want to escape and also prove to those that have left that they are not alone.. anyway.
don't know if this article was posted here recently.
but be mindful, if you're an elder, it could be dangerous to disfellowship someone.. the andersons.
perth - western australia , june 5, 2015. http://www.perthnow.com.au/news/national/family-poisoned-by-disgruntled-jehovahs-witness-brett-darren-mardon-sues-him-for-100000-over-malicious-spiteful-crime/story-fnii5yv8-1227385223087?sv=9dc7c522db1e83c6f7c6990365090aec.
I've just seen this story. If true, it is very sad that this ex JW became criminal in his activities.
The guy has been charged, found guilty and is awaiting sentence.. Here's a link that gives some background information on the guy and what led him to his actions
http://jwdivorces.bravehost.com/familicide.html
It's not excusable but shows what can happen to a persons mental capacity when dealing with disfellowshipping and attempting reinstatement that drags on for months on end. Where it also involves ones friends, wife and children.
The elder involved turns around and sues the guy. I find it very hard to believe that this is what a leader in a so called Christian congregation does and believes it is the the best way to deal with it. So many times we have heard the GB say that people are becoming more litigious because they are wordly and they are greedy.
Also shocking is the way the elders became involved in his marriage and were causing a barrier between the guy and his wife.
I've heard rumours that in recent times, elders here in Australia have been told to stay out of marriage problems and not to give advice. Maybe this situation had something to do with it.
i know being a witness for 33 years and not celebrating b/days you do lose the habit , but i thought one of them would have remembered ?
oh well .. maybe i will just rub it in with them tomorrow .make them feel guilty , eh ?.
then again i might just start singing "76 trombones" at the dinner table tonight .
just asking about this "new light" of the 7 member of the governing body (the gb-7) being the fds.
what is the point?.
what biblical "argument" have they given about that ?
Coalize, there's been a lot of new light lately. Another significant one is that they state they weren't being as discreet as they should have in the past and are dropping all their types and antitype interpretations unless the scriptures indicate clearly that they should apply. Unfortunately they haven't been specific about where the bible clearly indicates this and have only given a few insignificant examples.
Even if a JW was keen enough to keep up to date it is impossible because the GB are not specific enough.
righto poppickers.
as some of you know, i have been putting together a book of interviews and humour.
it is designed (i hope), soften the blow for those inside the wbt$ who want to escape and also prove to those that have left that they are not alone.. anyway.
hot topic on topix seems to be candace conti settlement.
but it's all quiet here.
are you guys aware that your hero, who was not in it for the money but to change policies, settled without changing anything?
