Bungi Bill

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Posts by Bungi Bill

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  82

  How Far Up The Ladder Did You Go In JW Land?

  by minimus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i pretty much did it all.

  vacation pioneered as a youngster and became a regular pioneer out of school.

  i became a ms then an elder.....the organization pushes you to be somebody within the confines of their realm.

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  Bungi Bill

  I know this is slightly off-topic, but the matter of "green handshakes" has been mentioned by others.

  In some of the congregations I was in, the "green handshake" would have looked distinctly unimpressive! I doubt if the CO would have been able to even half-fill the tank on his car with it -even if he received such a parting gift at all (which would have been quite possible). During the recession of the early 1990s, our congregation would have not had the proverbial "two bob to rub together". This was in a low cost housing area (Logan City, QLD, Australia) and had more than its complement of JWS - who, being as they predominantly are in the lower socio-economic bracket - couldn't afford to live elsewhere.

  That old saying about being "poor as church-mice" comes to mind!
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  6

  COWTOWN AIN'T (In which I tell you all about my home town, Fort Worth, Texas)

  by TerryWalstrom in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  cowtown ain’t.

  in which i tell you about my hometown, ft. worth, texas.

  question: “what do you call mexican food down in guadalajara?”.

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  Bungi Bill

  Terry,

  Thanks for this interesting bit of history.

  The closest I have ever got to Fort Worth, TX was in my dealings with a company called Solar Turbines. While never managing to wangle a visit to Solar's factory, I nonetheless did have frequent interactions with some of their company's representatives. (This during the years I managed a power station in Papua New Guinea; one that used a set of eight Solar Gas Turbine Engines).

  However, on checking Google Maps, I see that the site of Solar Turbine's factory at Mabank, TX, is actually closer to Dallas than it is to Fort Worth? That was the reverse of what I had been led to understand, and reveals some flaws in my knowledge of North American geography!
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  24

  have you noticed how the main Jw preaching message has changed?

  by nowwhat? in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  years ago it was all about armageddon and getting out of babylon the great.

  then with the draw close to jehovah and is there a creator that care about you.

  it was all about building a relationship with jehovah.

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  Bungi Bill

  Interestingly, this has happened at least once before.

  During 1975, and for a year or two afterwards, the JWs took much the same line. We started hearing a lot about "Christian love", supposed "Design Patterns in Creation" and similar - but nothing at all about such matters as "hours".(Previously to that the meetings and assemblies seemed to feature nothing but "hours" and "full time service").

  This, however, did not last very long. In the congregation I was in (Newmarket, QLD, Australia), the return to a more usual "Heads Down, Bums Up" approach was heralded in 1977 by the assignment of a new CO to our circuit - the unforgettable "Cyclone Rex" Mainwaring.

  As Sparrowdown has observed, they (the WTS/GB) will say / preach whatever they like, depending entirely on their - and only their - agenda. A return to the more usual JW equivalent of "Hellfire and Brimstone" methods could not necessarily be ruled out.
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  82

  How Far Up The Ladder Did You Go In JW Land?

  by minimus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i pretty much did it all.

  vacation pioneered as a youngster and became a regular pioneer out of school.

  i became a ms then an elder.....the organization pushes you to be somebody within the confines of their realm.

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  Bungi Bill

  Sparrowdown,

  "One of the biggest illusions of JWland is that their is a ladder when there is no ladder only the illusion of one"

  Of all the gems that have come out of this thread, that remark is one of the best!

  The fact is the JWland itself is just one great exercise in Smoke and Mirrors.

  
  
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  35

  Are Jehovah's Witnesses Mind Numbingly Boring To You?

  by minimus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i honestly think they are the most boring people on earth!

  even when they produce their so called "new light", there's no excitement.

  jws just do their thing and refuse to think about their useless lives.

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  Bungi Bill

  I have said this on another post, but since the question has arisen once more, I will repeat.

  When I had my first contacts with the JWs in the mid-1960s, what they were saying did sound quite interesting. In fact, that was what probably drew me towards them back then - as by contrast, the "mainstream" churches seemed to be boring and quite irrelevant.

  This seemed to also be the case into the 1970s and 80s; I had family members who agreed to the JW offer of a "Bible Study", simply because what the Witnesses were saying came over as very interesting. Feedback we used to get, too, from the "Territory" was that "these people are interesting."

  Certainly, though, during the decades since then, all the fizz and the sparkle has long since gone out of it!
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  41

  Anyone read the latest Awake (on the supernatural)?

  by LoveUniHateExams in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  just read some of this latest awake on the org's webshite.. it begins by talking about the 'supernatural' - wizards, witches, vampires, etc.

  - their popularity and why they might appeal to people.

  then it goes on to state the wt belief that someone is 'behind it'.. now, i like a few horror/scary films - when i was a kid, i always actually liked being a bit scared by them, tbh.. the silence of the lambs, a nightmare on elm street (1984), the ring, the witch, the thing (1982) and a few others are all great, imo.. they are just genres and subgenres of film, that's all.

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  Bungi Bill

  Never been much of a one for either science fiction or horror movies myself .

  I will say, though, that I was 11 years old when the WTS ran an article about "demonism" (can't remember whether it as in the Awake or Watchtower). However, reading it certainly did have a disturbing effect on me. I have long since come to understand why a significant part of my life was so screwed up - i.e. from reading nonsense like that while still in my formative years.
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  52

  Gas or Electric Stove

  by just fine in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i am getting new appliances.

  i have decided on black stainless for the finish.

  the house is stubbed for gas and electric for the range.

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  Bungi Bill

  Pete Zahut,

  Never with a gas stove, but my first attempts to use an oxy-acetylene cutting torch almost resulted in a similar thing!
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  80

  Are there any ex-missionaries here??

  by fulano in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  i have been a missionary in the dominican republic for almost 10 years and i was wondering if there were any ex-missionaries on this forum.. i am back in my country now for 3 years and totally inactive.. what i noticed in those missionary-years was the lack of spiritual interest among the missionaries.. discussions were about rooms, cars and greater responsibilities, the bad territory.

  and the local c.o.s and d.os.. was this only in the dr or are there other experiences??.

  ere other experiences?

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  Bungi Bill

  Strange enough all in the beach congregations.

  Were they "Surfing Where The Need Is Greater?"

  
  
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  80

  Are there any ex-missionaries here??

  by fulano in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  i have been a missionary in the dominican republic for almost 10 years and i was wondering if there were any ex-missionaries on this forum.. i am back in my country now for 3 years and totally inactive.. what i noticed in those missionary-years was the lack of spiritual interest among the missionaries.. discussions were about rooms, cars and greater responsibilities, the bad territory.

  and the local c.o.s and d.os.. was this only in the dr or are there other experiences??.

  ere other experiences?

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  Bungi Bill

  A pleasant reminder of what discussions on this board (and its predecessor) used to be like, before we all started squabbling amongst ourselves!
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  82

  How Far Up The Ladder Did You Go In JW Land?

  by minimus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i pretty much did it all.

  vacation pioneered as a youngster and became a regular pioneer out of school.

  i became a ms then an elder.....the organization pushes you to be somebody within the confines of their realm.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Bungi Bill

  "Mediocrity perched on the dizzying pinnacles of hollow heads".

  Does that not sum the whole business up beautifully, in only just one phrase! Thank you, Hairtrigger, for posting that gem of Winston Churchill's.

  I never made it far up those "Dizzying Pinnacles" of the hollow heads - only for a few years toward the end of my time with the JWs was I a Ministerial Servant.