Posts by pontoon

21

its saturday morning and its pouring down rain...

by nowwhat? in

how many jdubs are going out in service anyway because "they have to get their time in.

" that's some "best life ever!

" you guys got going on!

pontoon

Early lunch barbecue with friends then off to Bethel Woods (where Woodstock was) to see the Doobies and Chicago.

20

How many JWs would Disassociate if their were no family sanctions?

by Chook in

i think the swamp would empty overnight .

Last of the big conventions?

by NikL in

jw
friends

had lunch with some friends during today's waste of time convention.

they spoke of the rumor floating around that the jws will move away from these big regional conventions and have them at assembly halls and tie them in to kingdom halls.. they seemed to believe it was a pretty reliable source.. i think it would be too good to be true but who knows?.

anyone else heard this rumor?.

pontoon

I thought that's been happening for years. Circuits/districts around me here in the Hudson Valley, NY, into Conn & New Jersey, down into northern suburbs of NYC have been assigned to Newburgh Assembly Hall for many years now, except maybe one or two years. Use to be we were assigned to Mass, Maine, or Albany NY. Newburgh is busy about every week with conventions into the fall. They've already started. Why rent a commercial venue when they can have smaller crowds in house. Make lots more $$$$$$$$$ that way----and we know that's what it's all about.

82

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

by minimus in

jw
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.

pontoon

PROUD to say in 40+ yrs I was NEVER shamed into pioneering----not even one time. Seldom made 10 hr/month field service, yet I still "served" as an appointed man for years.

22

How can elders say how Jehovah feels?

by Sour Grapes in

when we look at the total universe imagine a jar of sand.

just one grain of sand would be our galaxy so we may be able to see our earth with an electron microscope.

with that in mind, it always made we cringe when at the meetings an elder would say "jehovah has prepared a spiritual banquet for us tonight," or "it makes jehovah happy that we made the effort to attend the meeting tonight.

pontoon

So these old, frail, sick brothers and sisters thank Jehovah for "the measure of health they have" I'm like that's the best the Sovereign of the Universe can do?? Giving thanks and credit to Jehovah for their sickly life isn't that selling this great god short, that the best he can do? What a load of crap.

20

Re-read Animal Farm.

by The Rebel in

jw
friends

i was one of many witness children, who studied this book in english literature class.. having re-read it as an adult it addressed so many issues i have with the organisation.

including maniputive control, the re-writing of history etc etc.

so many of the characters in the book, resembled characters i have known in the organisation.. boxer- loyalty without questioning.. squeler- a character who doesn't care about truth, and uses rhetoric of language to twist truth.. clover-who silently questions decisions, but stays loyal.. if your young, or old i would suggest reading this small book, by george orwell.

pontoon

Another great read kind of ties in with AF is "Lord of the Flies" by William Golding

20

Re-read Animal Farm.

by The Rebel in

jw
friends

i was one of many witness children, who studied this book in english literature class.. having re-read it as an adult it addressed so many issues i have with the organisation.

including maniputive control, the re-writing of history etc etc.

so many of the characters in the book, resembled characters i have known in the organisation.. boxer- loyalty without questioning.. squeler- a character who doesn't care about truth, and uses rhetoric of language to twist truth.. clover-who silently questions decisions, but stays loyal.. if your young, or old i would suggest reading this small book, by george orwell.

pontoon

I sure remember Animal Farm. In grade school one of the first books that turned me into a reader. Been 50 years since then so I don't remember specific characters but i'll refer to AF in this context; hire 2, 3, 5, 10 people (doesn't matter) all the same job tittle, same status, same experience, same pay, put them all on the same job, 4 things are likely to happen. (1) One person is going to take the lead and start giving direction. (2) That person will allay with a person that is the most ambitious to follow his direction and require others to. (3) Everyone else is happy to have others do their thinking and decision making for them. They'll follow direction, even looking to these 2 for direction. (4) The person that hired all these people in the first place will recognize and begin to use him as the foreman of the group.

That was a good post Rebel

20

$25,000 for one-day assembly in our area

by Bonnie_Clyde in

they started out with a $3,500 carry-over but by the end of the day they were short $25,000.

the speaker eloquently beseeched the audience to go the atm machines and give their generous contribution or at least their widow's mite.

after the sessions were over, our friend who attended walked from one end of the assembly hall and then to the other end and noticed long lines up to both machines with people who couldn't wait to run up their credit cards.

pontoon

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ The assemblies and conventions are the BIG MONEY MAKERS for the corporation. $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

5

Jehovah allowing this Russia to happen?

by pontoon in

so the brother that works in my office was talking about this russia thing, how jeh is "allowing" it to happen, how every witness is writing a letter to all six officials and not just to two or three, so my question was if that is true "aren't all you witnesses working against jehovah---he must have his reasons for allowing it to happen.

back to work but i'm sure monday he'll have an answer like what a great witness it is or how it gives every other witness a chance to demonstrate their faith (by writing letters).

i'll have an answer ready for him just for fun.. i'm sure watchtower just loves stuff like this russia business.

pontoon

So the brother that works in my office was talking about this Russia thing, how Jeh is "ALLOWING" it to happen, how every witness is writing a letter to ALL SIX officials and not just to two or three, so my question was if that is true "aren't all you witnesses working against Jehovah---he must have his reasons for allowing it to happen."

Back to work but I'm sure Monday he'll have an answer like what a great witness it is or how it gives every other witness a chance to demonstrate their faith (by writing letters). I'll have an answer ready for him just for fun.

I'm sure Watchtower just LOVES stuff like this Russia business. It's a rallying cry.

It reminds me of when we were building Newburgh Assembly Hall and the project caught fire, numerous fire companies responded and the brand new hall suffered very bad smoke damage. The spin on that was it was God who allowed it to happen----- what a great witness it was to the neighborhood, firemen, responders, etc........my take on it was couldn't the Almighty God of the Universe find another way to cause a great witness other than letting our brand new almost done assembly catch fire??

36

“Well…it was a test”, says a laid-off Bethelite

by My Name is of No Consequence in

i got this account second hand.

a former bethelite was reassigned to a local congregation.

he had been at bethel for years and is now in his fifties.

pontoon

Bethelite doesn't get it yet. He's out in service......that's crazy, by now he should be doing something for himself every minute..... even if he has to be a Walmart greeter or a parking lot shopping cart collector. If he is out in service he still believes Jah is going to provide. Don't deride him too much, we all use to believe it.