i had a ritual growing up every time we traveled to an assembly or convention.
in the hotel i would always take a look at the gideon bible's that were always stored in one of the drawers.
immediately upon finding it i would open up to psalms 83:18 to check if the bible had god's name within it.
Just a note for those wanting to buy an NIV bible-I have stumbled across several, at a senior center run re-sale store. You can pick up nice bibles by different versions or translations. You might be able to get a good used one at a resale ship in you area and for a lot less cost than brand new.
Sorry for any mispelling or grammar errors, I just took ambien, and am semi-hallucinating.
i had a ritual growing up every time we traveled to an assembly or convention.
in the hotel i would always take a look at the gideon bible's that were always stored in one of the drawers.
immediately upon finding it i would open up to psalms 83:18 to check if the bible had god's name within it.
Just a note for those wanting to buy an NIV bible-I have stumbled across several, at a senior center run re-sale store. You can pick up nice bibles by different versions or translations. You might be able to get a good used one at a resale ship in you area and for a lot less cost than brand new.
Sorry for any mispelling or grammar errors, I just took ambien, and am semi-hallucinating.
just a little tidbit from the congregation i attend..... the congregation has approximately 120 publishers.. well over 1000 magazines per month are picked up, not to mention all the books, brochures, and tracts that are picked up.. there was a "local needs" part on the service meeting recently, asking for more contributions.. it seems our congregation has averaged just about $300 per month contributions to the "worldwide work" over the past year.. .
assuming 1500 magazines / month, that's just 20 cents per magazine - and that completely ignores all other literature that is picked up.. the last price the magazines had, 20+ years ago, was 25 cents per issue.
with inflation that would have been about 50 cents each now.. just another sign of how severely the contriutions to the society are drying up..... .
NRFGeorge-I agree, all that expensive 'voluntary' stuff does tend to strain the budget. Also, let us not forget the special clothing needed, you can't simply throw on a nice pair of pants and go. If you live in a temperate area you also have to have clothing for the various seasons. Add children to that clothing equation and it is really expensive.
i'm still inside because of family, friends... all my life is there.
i used to have doubts (one year ago) but now i only have certainties about the org.
another reason for staying, at least for now, is i'm living at home with my jw mother and she allowed me to go to college.. i seem to everyone in the congregation a normal witness but when i sit down in the meetings i do know 99% what i listen to is just the same failed prophecies and doctrines repeated always in the same way.. i'm now being "persuaded" to accept my appointed as a ms. though i'm not doing nothing special to get it, i'm serving in a foreign language territory simply because i couldn't hold on with the pressure of my family and elders from my congregation.
hijo-by the way, welcome!
i'm still inside because of family, friends... all my life is there.
i used to have doubts (one year ago) but now i only have certainties about the org.
another reason for staying, at least for now, is i'm living at home with my jw mother and she allowed me to go to college.. i seem to everyone in the congregation a normal witness but when i sit down in the meetings i do know 99% what i listen to is just the same failed prophecies and doctrines repeated always in the same way.. i'm now being "persuaded" to accept my appointed as a ms. though i'm not doing nothing special to get it, i'm serving in a foreign language territory simply because i couldn't hold on with the pressure of my family and elders from my congregation.
hijo-If you think you are busy now with school, meetings, service and so forth, just wait. If you accept the position of MS, you will be involved in more garbage than you can imagine.
Those sisters in your foreign language cong? If they need their roof fixed, car tire changed, grass mowed, or whatever, guess who they will have doing it...you! The MS always get the grunt work. It will be your Christian PRIVILEGE to help these people out.
part of my 'rebirth' after my leaving jws was to rediscover and undo the 38 missing years of my love of music.. before i was baptised i was playing a trumpet in bands and orchestras... then came the empty years (we all know the stories).. long story short, i relearned my instrument through a music school.
from there i joined a brass band, but recently we moved house and it was some way from the band i played in.
so, i searched for a new band and found one more local to me... they even have their own band room.
Best wishes to you! I'm glad you were able to rekindle the spark for something you love. Have fun at the 'Hall'.
the jws were out in our area this morning and i bolted downstairs before my wife could waive them away as she normally does.. two ladies (mum and 24 year old daughter i later found out) initially stopped as i opened with a comment about how i couldn't trust a thing they say because they are taught to practice theocratic warfare.. the mother blinked and asked me what that was ( so it began ) i informed them both that they are allowed to lie or at least be evasive with the truth with worldy people.
she countered that they are taught not to lie so i again asked her if she knew what theocratic warfare meant and she again said no (first of my many - 'please go look that up' statements .).
i then moved onto the idea that they couldn't think independently outside the organisation due to fear of being disfellowshipped and shunned.
Wow! I can never think so lightening fast of what to say next. Good for you!!
i see these movies lately, that show men and woman having sex as a friends without 'planned' emotions.
who then fall in love, and end up having to admit that sex without emotion was not possible.
i wonder though, do you really think this is the case.
I don't know. Maybe I could in some situations, but probably not.
what facts would you use to demonstrate to a member of jehovah's witnesses that their organization is guilty of hypocrisy?.
one that comes to mind is that jws will give their church literature but are not permitted to accept yours..
One of the reasons used for not accepting other religions literature is that, those people wait for you to come to them (with the exception of the Mormons). I wouldn't accept any literature from people who didn't even bother to attempt to locate me. It is easy to give out literature at places like laundromats or doctors offices-no contact with people, so those of other religions don't have to really make any sacrifice for their worship (by the way, I got many of my JW placements this way, as I hated the ministry, though I did get in token hours).
several months ago we had the visit of our c.o.
and his thursday night talked included rants covering several topics, with an especially long winded diatribe against "higher education".
he is pretty good speaker , and his choice of illustrations seemed to win an emotional response from the audience that ive never seen with regard to that subject.. he began the discussion with how concerned the governing body was with the decision some parents have made to send their kids to college.
Important thread-bump
