Quendi

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Posts by Quendi

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  82

  British zone visit from David Splane - a report from the special meeting in Glasgow

  by slimboyfat in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  well i went to a "special meeting" in the armadillo today where a 2 & 1/2 hour programme was relayed from london at 1pm.

  apparently the letters of invitation only went out a month or so ago and not all congregations were invited.

  there were 2,900 of us from around scotland.

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  Quendi

  All this talk about what Governing Body 2.0 will do when their day of reckoning finally comes reminds me of an old joke from the days when the U.S.S.R. was a going concern.

  The new General-Secretary sat down at his desk on the day after the funeral of his predecessor. In the main drawer he found three envelopes which had been left by the former Secretary-General. One was marked, “Open when you face your first crisis.” Another read, “Open when you face your second crisis.” The third said, “Open when you are facing your third crisis.”

  Some time passed and in due course the first crisis arrived. The General Secretary opened the first envelope and read a note which simply said: “Blame me and carry on.” The Secretary took this advice and weathered that political storm. When he faced a graver second crisis, he opened the indicated envelope and read: “Blame me and the Americans and carry on.” He did so and successfully fended off another disaster.

  Finally, there came a third emergency which was even worse than the previous two. With both hope and fear, he opened the third envelope. Its message read: “Prepare three envelopes.” It is my sincere hope that the Governing Body will have a similar experience with the big difference being that they will have no successor.

  Quendi
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  42

  The Bible - Which books get to stay or go decided my men - cut & paste old school

  by HarryMac in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  western traditioneastern orthodox traditionoriental orthodox traditionassyrian eastern traditionbooksprotestant.

  [o 1]roman catholicgreek orthodoxslavonic orthodoxgeorgian orthodoxarmenian apostolic.

  (part of 4 esdras)no.

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  Quendi

  I want to thank HarryMac for the table he inserted at the beginning of this thread.

  Quendi
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  48

  With the July 15 WT approaching, would this be the ideal opportunity to start an ACTIVELY VOCAL fade?

  by Captain Blithering in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  by 'actively vocal', i do not mean openly criticising the articles and pointing out the inconsistencies or flipflops (not footwear, reversals).

  i do mean letting people know that you're finding it hard to understand the new truth, and the fact that there is therefore old truth, or falsities, (is that a word?

  it is now), therefore if there are falsehoods (that's the word, of course), then that puts into doubt the extent of jah's involvement in the preparation/dissemination of it all... (and making it clear you're not saying they aren't gods prophets on earth, just that you're not sure, don't know).. the reason i ask is cos i'm finding it hard to completely fade without an external reason.

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  Quendi

  I think the counsel given in this thread has been wonderful! If I could sum it up, it would be with Jesus’ words when he said, “Be cautious like serpents and innocent like doves.” I also believe that the experience 5go had is typical. Once you start to fade, you will be “marked.” For men, this marking is subtle. It’s not simply that you are avoided, but that the “privileges” of praying for the congregation as well as participating in the Theocratic Ministry School will be revoked. You will find that you won’t be called upon to pray and that you will receive no talk assignments. If you are a servant or an elder, you will be deleted. There will be other moves taken to show you are no longer viewed favorably.

  Such actions make fading easier, in my opinion, because they show you really aren’t welcome in the congregation. Very often these actions are taken without any discussion with you (unless you are deleted from the servant body), as you are expected to either ask what’s going on or to figure this out for yourself. However it shakes out, Captain Blithering, follow the advice you’ve been given here, especially since you have a spouse and other relatives involved. I wish you the very best.

  Quendi
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  40

  Do any of you know of a religion that does not believe in the Trinoity?

  by orbison11 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i have such internal conflict on the trinity,,,i do not believe it,,,i dont know if it is jw brainwashing.

  or if logically thinking applies here.

  help :).

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  Quendi

  One of the great tragedies of Witness theology is the demotion of Jesus Christ. While I do not and never will believe that Jesus is equal to his Father but that the Father always has been, still is, and always will be the Almighty God, vastly superior to any and everybody else, Jesus has been appointed King and is our Savior.

  That means not only prayers in his name are proper but prayers to him are as well. He himself said that we should not simply ask in his name, but that when we do so he himself would answer our requests. We must recognize the fact that Jesus has been granted all authority in heaven and earth by his Father and that the Father will judge no one at all, but has committed all judging to his Son. Furthermore, it is Jesus who will raise the dead in line with his office as King in the kingdom.

  I especially appreciated what Fernando and Vanderhoven7 have stated and repeated. Knowledge is not enough. A living, breathing relationship is most essential. As one of Jehovah’s Witnesses, we were never taught or shown how to cultivate one with our Maker. We do not need an organization or membership in a religious community to have a relationship with the Father and the Son. A community can give us encouragement and help, which is one reason I have taken part in the Metropolitan Community Church here in Denver. But I also know that I am the only person who can initiate and sustain a personal relationship with my Creator.

  So while I still believe that Yahweh and Jesus are separate and unequal, I know how important that I love and honor both. This thread has been a wonderful reminder of that essential fact for me.

  Quendi
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  23

  Advice on Getting My Novel Published

  by Quendi in

  1. jw
  2. friends

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  Quendi

  Between writing Magic Squared and starting a tutoring business, it looks like I will have a busy summer! I will look into what you have said about paying an editor, BOTR as well as the other suggestions you have made. Thank you as well, talesin, for your offer to proofread. I will take you up on it.

  Just to give a little more information about the story, I have decided on an unusual setting for it. The time will be a thousand years ago and the place will be the Four Corners region of the United States. The Four Corners is the only place in this country where four states’ borders coincide. Those states are Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah.

  A great Native American civilization flourished there a millennium ago. Once called the Anasazi, they are now known as the Ancient Puebloans. I have traveled in this region before and seen some ruins at Bandelier National Monument in New Mexico as well as Canyon de Chelly in Arizona. I want to get down to Mesa Verde National Park in Colorado and take in other sites throughout the area next summer to conduct additional research.

  Quendi
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  23

  Advice on Getting My Novel Published

  by Quendi in

  1. jw
  2. friends

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  Quendi

  First of all, thanks once more to those of you who have kindly volunteered to proofread Magic Squared. I’ll send PMs to let you know when I’m ready to send chapters to you. As for the storyline, this is a “time travel” story using a different mode of time travel. My characters employ magic squares to travel. There’s a lot of information about them online and from various other sources. My approach to them is based on some original research I conducted while I was a student at the University of Colorado some years ago.

  Quendi
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  40

  Do any of you know of a religion that does not believe in the Trinoity?

  by orbison11 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i have such internal conflict on the trinity,,,i do not believe it,,,i dont know if it is jw brainwashing.

  or if logically thinking applies here.

  help :).

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  Quendi

  I do not believe in the Trinity as propounded by the Athanasian Creed. I do believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, but not coeval with God Almighty. It is one of the doctrines from the Witnesses I retained after I left the cult.

  Quendi
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  44

  The first of many 2013 District Conventions is over . . .

  by bats in the belfry in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  was it worth attending?.

  is your survival more sure now?.

  which part of gods word is truth!

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  Quendi

  Thanks, BluesBrother, for passing along that synopsis of the district convention. I was struck by how much the writer mimics WTS-speak in describing the gathering. His writing is a sad commentary on the mind control this cult has over its followers.

  I have not been to a district convention since 2005. I was disfellowshipped in September of that year and refused to attend any other large Witness gatherings because I didn’t want to put up with the shunning I knew I would experience. I decided not to seek reinstatement in 2010, so that part of my life is over for good. I used to look forward to the summer district conventions because they gave me opportunities to reconnect with distant friends. I looked forward to the releases as well. Now I can’t imagine a greater waste of my time than sitting through hours of boring and irrelevant talks which the district conventions really are.

  The low numbers of people baptized grabbed my attention as well. I got baptized at a January 1976 circuit assembly as part of a group of 24 people. That was considered a large number, but district conventions usually had anywhere between 75 and 100 people immersed. Of the 9 or 10 mentioned at this convention, I wonder how many of them were “born-in” people? I would be willing to bet that most if not all of them were. There simply aren’t that many people coming in through the door-to-door work anymore.

  Quendi
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  60

  I don't get it ... 80% of people in Oklahoma DON'T have a Tornado Shelter. Are they nuts ????

  by RubaDub in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i really don't understand.

  how can any homeowner in his right mind, not have a tornado shelter ???

  i understand that some people live in apartments and condos, but someone with any size yard (even a driveway) could have a shelter.. to me it's a no-brainer.

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  Quendi

  Some of my family members live in tornado country in Alabama and Georgia. All of their homes have basements which also serve as tornado shelters. These are older houses which had basements built into them as a matter of course. They are mostly used for storage but double as shelters when severe weather arrives. The point about Moore, Oklahoma neighborhoods sitting on top of bedrock is a good one to explain the lack of basements for many of the homes there. Nevertheless, I would think that as a prospective homeowner, I would insist that my house have a basement with the frequency of tornadoes in that part of the country.

  We can be happy that despite the presence of an F5 tornado that had winds in excess of 200 mph/320 kph, only twenty-four are known to have died. That is still an appallingly large figure made all the more tragic by the fact that nine of the victims were children. We can be thankful that early warnings gave many time to seek cover and so get out of harm’s way.

  Quendi
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  23

  Advice on Getting My Novel Published

  by Quendi in

  1. jw
  2. friends

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  Quendi

  I want to thank everyone for their encouragement and suggestions. I appreciate all of them and know that I will greatly benefit. I have some experience as a writer, having produced a column for a local newspaper as well as an in-house publication at one job. But all of that was years ago and that was non-fiction. Fiction is a different beast all together which demands a different perspective.

  I once worked at a public library so I am familiar with both Writer’s Digest and Writer’s Market. Both of them are wonderful tools for authors of all kinds. This burgeoning phenomenon of self-publishing is one I find to be the most intriguing. The Internet is making this possible and I want to investigate it more closely.

  I want to thank those of you who have volunteered to proofread Magic Squared for me. I will very likely take you up on your offers, so don’t be surprised to see chapter installments in your inboxes soon. I’ll contact you privately before I send anything, of course. The advice to get a good editor was absolutely spot on and I definitely will follow it. Once again, I am deeply grateful to all of you for your input and I’ll keep you apprised as to my progress.

  Quendi