it really is great.
i remember browsing this forum the day after i had joined it, and their was a knock on the door.
i thought it was one of my package from ups but instead it was two sisters.
Also - symbolism of 'wolves in sheep clothes' - this implies somebody is trying to hide his true identity.
Do you feel the GB is transparent, showing financial statements of the WTS (and the related corp's), properly informing about problems (can you find info on the ARC 2015 on jw.org?), apologizing for the past mistakes (I do not mean admitting them only), properly showing sources quoted in the WT, etc.?
Are they not like wolves?
it really is great.
i remember browsing this forum the day after i had joined it, and their was a knock on the door.
i thought it was one of my package from ups but instead it was two sisters.
A Believer, let us imagine we live in 1725 AD... tell me how would you search for the true org (TM) if we live in that year.
who are looking after the aged and infirm jehovah`s witnesses ,?
its certainly not the organization known as the wtb&ts ./jehovahs witnesses religion .. and why is that ?
satans system of things with jehovahs blessing , has programs to look after those who have such needs , such as the dole for unemployed ,medical assistance for those who cant afford it ,and their are many charitable institutions that look after those that fall in the cracks.
what is described in this thread shows a new dimension of Biblical prophecy as interpreted by the WTS
see ip2, pg. 315:
But in 1919, Jehovah repurchased his anointed servants from captivity, and since then he has blessed them with unprecedented expansion and spiritual prosperity. His people have sucked “the milk of nations,” using resources from the nations for the advancement of true worship.
So they really suck the nations:
- use fractions from blood they never donate
- use charity facilities run by "the Christendom"
- ...
a circuit overseer friend of mine serving in latin america called me today to say hi.
i asked him what's new and he dropped the news that they have received notification that the branch in mexico will be closing!!
this branch also called the central american branch (although located in mexico) oversees all of mexico's 800,000+ publishers plus all 7 countries of central america of over 100,000 publishers.
LevelThePlayingField, in communist Czechoslovakia that was the case. It was mandatory to have 'a normal work' and JWs were not registered religion, hence no religious ministers were allowed. Every CO except invalids, retired, etc. had a secular work. Circuits were smaller and he spend two weekends / month in one congregation.
a circuit overseer friend of mine serving in latin america called me today to say hi.
i asked him what's new and he dropped the news that they have received notification that the branch in mexico will be closing!!
this branch also called the central american branch (although located in mexico) oversees all of mexico's 800,000+ publishers plus all 7 countries of central america of over 100,000 publishers.
I feel COs are kind of middle management they need to run the organization. Completely dependent on the organization, benefits better than in Bethel, motivated, loyal... If they drop this 'arrangement' and force them to find a job to support themselves... I am wondering what effect it will have on the COs loyalty.
Now being a CO is quite a good position - company car, green handshakes, celebrity status, 17 hours per week ministry, 'free time' from Sunday noon till Tuesday. The COs do anything to keep this position, but what they will do in case they need to find a job? Maybe they will extract more as 'voluntary gifts' from the congos and avoid secular employment anyway.
come on a believer, everyone knows it was you so own up to it and teacher will not be cross!.
this is exactly what seems to be happening, a believer runs in drops the stink bomb and runs out again...only to pear around the door when he/she deems it safe to do so.
😅😅😅.
A Believer, you are saying you have studied other religions in the past weeks and you reassured yourself you are in the truth.
May I ask you to be more specific on how you conducted your research?
You say for example you studied history of Christian church in the first centuries.
How did you do it?
Can you list books you read, perhaps webpages you examined, primary sources you went through etc.?
Or you just used defendingjehovahswitness, the third witness and other JW apologetic sources to reaffirm your beliefs?
Have you tried to read the Studies in Scriptures or some Rutherford books? Or EGW's 'The Great Controversy' to understand religious climate in 19th century?
Have you picked some 'old truth' and tried to understand why it is wrong? Where the FDS did the mistake?
there are two kingdom halls in two parts of the county i live in.
one is smaller and their are already about to begin work to replace with a new one.. just posting because i noticed posts saying their wasn't new khs being built.
and i learned this today from someone..
A Believer... be careful when you show the pictures. If the elders in your congo identify you they will bring you to Sanhedrin judicial committee.
from jw org.
“six thousand years of human existence”.
in 1969 the watchtower magazine in czech began publishing a series of articles based on the book life everlasting—in freedom of the sons of god.
That blog defendingjehovahswitnesses is really a gem!
Strong arguments used there
As for the 1975 debate:
1, It "forgets" to mention some facts - "selling houses" OKM, Sinutko's talks, ... Kind of symptomatic for WTS supporters - the org is doing the same in the publication.
2, Arguing the "slave" is not a false prophet as they do not claim inspiration. Yes, they are not inspired, they are only "God's communication channel" - this contradiction have been discussed so many times and still somebody uses it as an argument.
3, Red herring in form of attack on Christian churches that in absolutely not relevant to the 1975 fiasco.
4, Talking about two sets of rules used by "opposers" when in reality WTS uses two sets of rules for everything...
you guys do know that if you just leave and never go back you wont be disfellowshiped right?
i know people who have done exactly this.
you have to commit a sin and you or someone else has to tell a elder.
What A Believer wrote is a good demonstration of WTS tactics to handle criticism. Similar arguments were used by comrade Jackasson during the ARC. They completely ignore what is the criticism about and start to "prove" something that nobody questions.
When discussing shunning, they argue you can successfully fade and say they know a lot of people who did it. You just need to avoid 'sin'. They ignore the fact nobody says you cannot fade. Nobody says when you fade you will be 100% immediately disfellowshipped. The critics say that when you fade, you are still under the rules and discipline of the organization including their specific definition of 'sin'. For example no one except JWs considers a blood transfusion to be a sin, nevertheless if you had faded and elders learned you took it, you would be DA'd. JW advocates never address this problem and always try to show when you stopped attending meeting you would not be DFd automatically. But nobody says you cannot stop attending meeting.
What will happen if you vote? This is 'sin' only for JWs...
If you attend non-JW worship? If elders learn you say to your colleagues you are not a JW? If you celebrate Xmas?
What if there is 'a new light' prohibiting something done normally in the past? Does the org expect faders to comply?
There are many questions ignored by JW defenders, they always repeat "But you can stop reporting hours and attending meetings..."
a number of public statements by the governing body indicate that they are experiencing financial difficulty and they have appealed to jws to donate more money.
public information on the financial situation of the watchtower society is limited.
but what does the information they do publish indicate about their situation?
Here in CEE region they started to equip COs with company cars. Perhaps this was standard in the US (and other countries) long ago but here COs were using their own cars. If they launched such program for more countries, it can increase Capex / depreciation that goes to the costs of overseers, special pioneers and missionaries.
The cars were introduced only in less than 10 years (I cannot recall when).
Anyway, it is strange how the costs increased over the years, especially when this is only a fragment of the total costs (I assume Bethels are not included in the number).
