as a born-in, i was eager to join the ministry school.
my cousins were also born-in but lived in different states.
there was keen competition to see who could do mature things, such as baptism (my mom said when i was 35) and ministry school.
I realize that this is not always a popular thing to claim, but in my case I did benefit from the TMS. As a teenager and young adult, I was plagued with shyness - almost to a crippling degree. The Ministry School did help me overcome this.
Still, I would be the first to agree that the TMS proved to be a bloody expensive course in public speaking!
Bill.
i thought i'd share the 2014 yearbook stats.
i converted the file to excel format & sorted the increase in publisher's column from largest to smallest.
as i suspected, the growth is limited to a very few # of "lands.
Cumulative since what year?
For example, Italy:
- increase in publishers between 2012 and 2013 = 1933
- "cumulative" increase in publishers = 114 676
Which year did you begin the "cumulative" increase count from?
Bill
the year is 1969. faithful followers of the watchtower society are gearing up for the imminent end of the system of things just as they had been for the previous ninety years.
a young witness named andrew is trying to decide what to do with his life.
andrew is a smart kid and he has an entire lifetime ahead of him.
BU2B:
" all of those who were told they would not grow old in this system are about to become seniors."
With that statement, yu hit the proverbial nail fair on the head!
Bill.
i am reuniting with past students and return visits.. i met up with a young lad i used to call on.
he is not baptised, but at university in his 20's and living away from home.
his mother is a jw and his father is not.
It has never happened to me yet:
- but if asked, I would describe myself as "a former JW who is now non-religious."
I refuse to wear labels that other have dreamed up (particularly the Governing Body), and if "former JW who is now non religious" sounds quite a mouthful - then I couldn't care less!
Bill.
looking at the percentage of average publishers of 2013 over 2012 (not the peaks):.
brazil 1.46%.
nigeria 2.60%.
Japan:
- how back in the 1980s, this country was upheld as showing the rest of us how to do it.
Now it is in decline.
Shame the bloody rest of this empire founded on bull$h*t wouldn't go the same way!
Bill.
they just put up the march km 2014 on the private website.
most of it is same-old-same-old, with info here and there about the memorial.. somebody here might post the march km for all to see, i wont.. i just wanted to share the paragraph from page 2 q&a anticle: will you seize the opportunity?
upcoming memorial enables us to show gratitude .
And for how many years have they been trying to suggest that!
Bill.
2013 was a record breaking year for firearm purchases.
2014 is supposed to be a record breaker for ammunition.. do you own a firearm?
but i support that right for others---if they are qualified..
And the challenge is to keep guns out of the hands of crazies!
Bill
2013 was a record breaking year for firearm purchases.
2014 is supposed to be a record breaker for ammunition.. do you own a firearm?
but i support that right for others---if they are qualified..
One of my interests is small bore shooting, so yes, I own several rifles. Additionally, in our district we grow a lot of berry crops. Consequently, one of my weapons was acquired specifically for pest control uses.
As for owning a firearm for personal protection, though:
- if you were abiding strictly to the Firearms Act in this state, I doubt if any home invader would have the patience to wait around while you :
(i) unlocked the gun cabinet
(ii) removed the rifle from its compartment
(iii) unlocked the (second) ammunition compartment
(iv) fitted the bolt back into your rifle
(v) loaded the weapon
(vi) and only then were finally ready to fire the thing!
Bill.
just letting off a bit more steam.
why can't sisters look after the library or the sound.
what makes the brothers so damned special???.
I once saw them use an unbaptised juvenile delinquent to operate the sound system at a DC.
This low life's only qualifications being that he was "regular in field service" - and of course , of the correct gender. But allow a sister to operate that same sound system? Like bloody hell!
Bill.
i stumbled across this old chestnut.
i remember a jw telling me this when i was a kid, and he believed it.. i only recently found out how well known this is, and has been for some time.
does anyone know which of the jw mags or books had it in?.
I recall mention being made about this story in either a Watchtower or Awake article about a year after the one Blondie quotes. It, too, said much the same thing.
Bill.
