i open a new topic, to find out how it's going in your area.
from what i see as a southern european in my constituency the situation is patchy.. the congregation where i am now has 30% old people on zoom but also young couples with almost all their cameras off.
no increase but a slight decrease in the total number of publishers.. circuit assemblies: before covid you couldn't find a free seat if you arrived 10 minutes before the start.
I'm surprised so many people are still on "zoom."
I'm not surprised. I know of some JWs who still zoom despite the fact that they could easily attend in person as they have no limitations or disabilities, etc. BUT, Zoom (with their camera off) allows them to simply APPEAR to be in attendance for meetings while in reality, they are paying no attention to the meeting and doing whatever else they need/want to do.
as an educated guess, the august 2024 watchtower may be delayed because 2 complicated subjects need to be discussed in this issue which haven't yet been approved to be included in the revised shepherding textbook.
perhaps the revised shepherding textbook must be finalised before this watchtower is released publicly.. the 2 subjects may be as follows:.
how to shepherd and appoint brothers based on the removal of the hour requirements, getting to know the brothers instead (does this mean prioritising appointing men who have auxiliary pioneered during the co visit and campaigns or men who are regular pioneers?).
Maybe there is a need for them to relax this "only people with a penis" qualify for privileges.
it appears the perp got the victims disfellowshiped!
the state attorney general has re-opened the botched case.. "the trial for a jehovah’s witness elder accused of molesting three girls in 1999 began in a lancaster county court monday with lawyers giving opening statements to the jury.. norman aviles-garriga, 45, was charged by the pennsylvania attorney general with two counts of aggravated indecent assault and 16 related offenses in connection with assaults alleged by three women who say the abuse happened when they were girls.. aviles-garriga is one of five pennsylvania jehovah's witnesses charged by a statewide grand jury with using their positions within their churches to sexually abuse children.
the attorney general’s office brought charges against the men in october 2022 and february 2023.. .
- POOR WATCHTOWER! -
inside the brutal world of the jehovah’s witnesses.
since the royal commission exposed the cruel treatment of victims of child abuse within the jehovah’s witnesses, little has changed.
but in a landmark civil case, former member amy whitby is taking on the secretive religious group in court.
More persecution from Satan's hordes.
as an educated guess, the august 2024 watchtower may be delayed because 2 complicated subjects need to be discussed in this issue which haven't yet been approved to be included in the revised shepherding textbook.
perhaps the revised shepherding textbook must be finalised before this watchtower is released publicly.. the 2 subjects may be as follows:.
how to shepherd and appoint brothers based on the removal of the hour requirements, getting to know the brothers instead (does this mean prioritising appointing men who have auxiliary pioneered during the co visit and campaigns or men who are regular pioneers?).
More pressure is coming upon them to relax the DF rules in Europe and other areas like Japan, so are they waiting for court rulings to ultimately change how they implement decisions regarding disfellowshipping?
Evidently there are big changes in the USA as well. A recent local case involves a former elder who committed adultery -- but there is more -- it's discovered he has been cheating with multiple women for years, even while he was still serving as an elder. He's not been having "affairs". While traveling for work, he's been surfing websites looking to have sex with anyone willing. He just needs more sex than he's getting at home.
His wife does not understand why he was not DF. Since all this is all over in the local gossip, the local JWs do not understand why he was not DF. His JW parents are still supportive of him, after all, he is not DF.
It appears the rumors/leaks here regarding a "probationary period" and subsequent second meeting with the JC is factual, even in outrageous situations as this.
IMO, the dude is having a midlife crisis. In his 40's, boring life, boring wife who's gotten a little dumpy, couple of kids hitting the teen years, switching jobs to find something that pays better as his JW wife pioneers and homeschools vs having a job to help support the household. Of course, neither have much education because they were never going to grow up in this system of things.
A family member who is a psychologist once explained to me that men hit a point when they see they've hit the top rung in their life and they judge themselves as "winners" or "losers". Those who aren't happy with what they see often make drastic changes -- new sports car or new wife or new job/career.
Probably would have been cheaper to get the new sports car. Divorces can be real expensive.
the current u.s. administration and the fed says inflation is hard to tame.
it was over 9% at it's peak.
one of the greatest increases is price of food, something that everyone feels to some extent.
Yes, inflation is up, but so are interest rates. If you owe money (credit cards, for example), it costing you more, but if you are investing money (remember WT is sitting on BILLION$) it's much more certain to get higher returns on your endowment.
I do not for one minute think WTS is broke. I think that is the appearance they want to spin for multiple reasons.
1) They cry "poor mouth" in an attempt to generate more revenue/donations from members. (God needs your money!)
2) They want the appearance of being short on funds to limit the damages they could suffer from further lawsuits. I suspect they have been busy "hiding" their money to keep it from the lawyers who are suing them.
yuh gotta start somewhere, right?.
big bang theory is not a theory of the creation of the universe, but rather a model of the history and evolution of the universe from its earliest moments.
it wasn't really until the time of st. augustine that the idea of "out of nothing" entered the discussion.. a reading of genesis doesn't force the "out of nothing" into it at all.. in fact, a kind of chaotic "something" was put into form - or - something out of "something", the way adam is formed from red mud and eve from the rib.
Marcus -- did you miss your meds?
there was on older white-haired circuit overseer in houston around 1989 or 1990. last name started with a w i think.... not sure though.
even the most brain-dead robotic elders told me he was offensive.
.
The sisters used to call her ‘ The Terminator’ because so many studies were stopped after taking her along.
Sounds like she did a favor for a lot of innocent people.
just as there is no such thing as a christian who worships satan, there is no such thing as a christian outside of the new covenant “for the forgiveness of sins”.
and he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, drink ye all of it, for this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.
- mt.
There is a lot more "fraud" and "deception" from WT than the petty crap you mention. And there is a lot more fraud and deception today from other sources than anything close to WT. (Think used car salesmen.)
Since everyone in their right mind would want their sins forgiven by God,
I think there are a lot more enlightened people who don't give a rats ass about God's (which God?) opinion than those who do.
I think it's going to be really difficult (impossible) to prove that the forgiveness one receives from "God" via WT's plan is any better or worse than the forgiveness from any other such source.
the current u.s. administration and the fed says inflation is hard to tame.
it was over 9% at it's peak.
one of the greatest increases is price of food, something that everyone feels to some extent.
If times are so "hard", explain how they keep building additional Starbucks and people continue paying $8.00(US) for a cup of (fancy) coffee when a pound of coffee at the market is $3.50 (cheap) to $10.00 (stupid expensive)?
Or, how long do you have to wait to be seated in a moderate restaurant on a Friday or Saturday night?
Everyone I know is planning a cruise or taking an international vacation (usually Cancun but many are going to Europe, esp Italy seems to be popular).
A "blue collar" union journeyman (carpenter, equip operator, iron worker, plumber) is earning over $40/hr, plus gets free health care (paid by the employer) for the entire family, and has a pension plan (paid for by the employer) that will pay them full pay when they retire at 60yo (or sooner).
Yet I assure you all of these people are complaining about inflation and the cost of gasoline ($3.50/US gal) and the high cost of groceries. Yet, they are buying new SUVs that cost $50,000-$60,000 that get 20 MPG.
