NeonMadman

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Posts by NeonMadman

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  22

  Have any religions in history ever died out?

  by mamalove in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i looked this up just now and came up with this list:.

  following are the religions that no longer exist.. .

  1. sumerian religion.

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  NeonMadman

  Spain's General Franco, however, is still dead.
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  22

  Have any religions in history ever died out?

  by mamalove in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i looked this up just now and came up with this list:.

  following are the religions that no longer exist.. .

  1. sumerian religion.

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• 

  NeonMadman

  The Branch Davidians are still kicking (though they disclaim David Koresh): http://www.the-branch.org/index.php

  I had thought Heaven's Gate was wiped out, but their website is still running, so someone must be managing and hosting it: http://www.heavensgate.com/

  And the worship of Zeus is experiencing a revival: http://www.smh.com.au/news/travel/modern-pagans-worship-illegally-in-athens/2007/01/22/1169330798194.html
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  48

  Why did "Back Calls" change to "Return Visits"?

  by donuthole in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  does anyone remember the rationale that was used in rebranding "back calls" as "return visits"?.

  while on the subject does anyone else remember any theocratic name changes like,.

  district assembly to district convention.

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  NeonMadman

  My husband came into the org in the 90's and he said the service meeting was just a sales meeting with a different name.

  Very true. Well, not completely. I've been to a lot of boring sales meetings, but very few that were anywhere near as boring as a typical service meeting.
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  48

  Why did "Back Calls" change to "Return Visits"?

  by donuthole in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  does anyone remember the rationale that was used in rebranding "back calls" as "return visits"?.

  while on the subject does anyone else remember any theocratic name changes like,.

  district assembly to district convention.

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  2. 
  3. 
• 

  NeonMadman

  I believe the reason for the change (apart from change for the sake of change to keep the publishers on their toes) was that "back-call" was a term commonly used by commercial salesman, and the WTS at the time was trying to emphasize that their work was a non-commercial ministry. IIRC, the change came among a flurry of other terminology changes in the early 1970's when the elder arrangement was being introduced (indeed, the term "elder" itself had been viewed in the 1950's and 1960's as a religious title, inappropriate for use by Jehovah's people). "Congregation Servants" became "Presiding Overseers," the "Congregation Committee" had its functions split between the "Service Committee" and as-needed "judicial committees," etc. Most of the new terminology came into effect with the introduction of the book, Organization for Kingdom-Preaching and Disciple-Making, in 1972.
• 
  15

  is the soul mortal biblically speaking

  by therevealer in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  not being a wise guy or rude here but rather than mess up the thread on is the soul immortal i think the opposite question is interesting as well..

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  NeonMadman

  Ezekiel 18:4, in context, is not talking about the condition of the human soul. It is using the word "soul," even as we do in English sometimes, in an idiomatic sense to denote a person. To say, "the person who is sinning will die" would be a reasonable interpretation of the verse. The issue at hand in that specific text in this context was not whether anything survives the death of the body, but whether God would hold the sins of the fathers against their sons. Read the whole chapter and you'll see that I am correct.

  There are numerous texts that demonstrate that the soul/spirit is a distinct part of man that leaves the body at death:

  Gen 35:18 And as her soul was departing (for she was dying), she called his name Ben-oni; but his father called him Benjamin.
  Gen 35:19 So Rachel died, and she was buried on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem),

  1Ki 17:21 Then he stretched himself upon the child three times and cried to the LORD, "O LORD my God, let this child's life [Hebrew, nephesh = soul] come into him again."

  Ecc 12:7 and the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it.

  Act 7:59 And as they were stoning Stephen, he called out, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit."

  Mat 10:28 And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. (Notice that soul here is distinct from body, so the soul cannot be the whole person - it wouldn't make sense to speak of those who "kill the body but cannot kill the person")

  Luk 23:46 Then Jesus, calling out with a loud voice, said, "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!" And having said this he breathed his last.
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  35

  Guys, how often do you shave your face?

  by asilentone in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i shave my face every few days, what about you?

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  NeonMadman

  Every day. Except (usually) Saturdays.
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  16

  Old Songbooks

  by JediMaster in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  hi, i usually don't post here a lot but, i spent some time with my aunt and uncle last week.

  he's df'ed and she's inactive but still makes some meetings.

  we somehow got into how bad some of the new songs are and they both mentioned a few interesting things about the songs back in the 60-80's.

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  NeonMadman

  Thanks for the help, everyone. Ideally, I'd like to get both lyrics and music in a printable format. I know that, as WTS publications go, this probably isn't high on anyone's scanning list. And what confuses the matter even more is that so many of the WT's songbooks have very similar tiitles. The pdf that possible-san posted was the 1950 songbook, but has almost the same titles as the 1928 songbook. In terms of your suggestion that I request songs from your friend, I don't have the actual book anymore to know which songs I would want. Guess I'll just keep hoping that someone with a copy eventually does a pdf version. If anybody runs across one that is available, please let me know.
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  2

  Hitler and the JW's...

  by ForbiddenFruit in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i'm sure it's been asked before, but i'll ask it again.

  after watching a ww2 movie, my dad came out with a random line..."what's special is that a small group of people known as the jehovah's witnesses stood up to him.

  now, my dad is a strong jw and i have left, so this was a blatant taunt.

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  NeonMadman

  They only "stood up to" Hitler after Hitler rebuffed their attempts to make nice with him. Check out some of these links: http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/jw/best-of/78490/1/The-Best-of-WTS-Hitler-and-the-Holocaust.
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  16

  Old Songbooks

  by JediMaster in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  hi, i usually don't post here a lot but, i spent some time with my aunt and uncle last week.

  he's df'ed and she's inactive but still makes some meetings.

  we somehow got into how bad some of the new songs are and they both mentioned a few interesting things about the songs back in the 60-80's.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  NeonMadman

  Does anyone know whether there is a pdf on the web anywhere of that 1928 songbook, Songs of Praise to Jehovah? As I recall, it had early versions of some of the "kingdom songs" with lyrics that were, at least in some cases, more Christian than JW. I used to have a copy, but my ex took it in the divorce (along with pretty much everything else).
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  11

  A WALK DOWN BOND STREET

  by Terry in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  james bond composer john barry turned 77 the other day.. in honor of his birthday i decided to compose a tribute to his wonderfully evocative music for the early bond films.. this is an original composition that uses the style and thematic vamps which make the bond films so enjoyable.. a walk down bond street.

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  NeonMadman

  Hey, I had one of those Magnus Chord Organs when I was a kid! That's how I learned keyboard too (at least the treble side...).