they have made so many strategical mistakes it's hard to keep track.
some changes within the last decade or so that are contributing to declining numbers of jws:.
1. elimination of book study groups, the most informal, enjoyable and sociable of the jw meetings, contributed to loss of sense of community among jws.. 2. policy of consolidating kingdom halls.
were the book study groups attendance better than other meetings? I don't know.
I always disliked that meeting the most and when I heard it was gone I wished they had done it sooner.
Some of the years I was a JW we had the book study at the KH, I preferred it there than in a home.
yesterday, i was feeling very blue.
this is quite unusual for me, as i tend to be quite an upbeat, positive person, so spells of sadness or depression take me by surprise and are a real shock to the system.
you know, i don’t believe in “putting on a face” or pretending to be ok; this “fake it ’til you make it” malarkey has never been something i’ve liked.
drawing
#4 there are two ways to get sins wiped outthe following five scriptures lay the foundation stone of christianity, namely, that christ died for people's sins.
virtually every christian denomination on earth accepts these bible statements without question: .
(matthew 26:28) "....this means my ‘blood of the covenant,’ which is to be poured out in behalf of many for forgiveness of sins.
in Romans 6:7 I think the Greek word translates as justified or similar.
in receiving the payment of death isn't this just from Gods view especially as Witnesses do not believe in hell?
i remember sitting on my daddy's lap and driving an imaginary car, i also remember sitting on my mummies lap on the front seat, without a seat belt whilst my dad drove a real car.
i remember we bought fish and chips from the chippy wrapped in yesterday's newspapers.
i remember bouncing up and down on my space hopper in the garden.
I built a car with doors that opened out of Lego and also won a Lego set in a competition with something I made. In the 1960s
I also liked the Narnia books the teacher read to us in primary school cause they reminded me of 'the truth'
twelve years ago, i submitted this comment to the jwd board, relating to the practice of disfellowshipping young people from the congregation:.
"i am angry at the way jehovah's witnesses treat their most precious endowment; their young, developing, stumbling, exasperating, questioning, experimenting, growing offspring.. at the very most urgent time in their young lives; when they need the most reassurance, nurturing, patience, understanding and forgiveness, witness parents, under the direction of their congregation elders and governing body, toss thousands of these young ones out into the cold, cruel world, allowing them to virtually self-destruct.. many of these castaways are still in their teens.. there is no excuse, biblical, human, parental or otherwise to shut off all the guidance resources these young ones have ever known.
the human wreckage of this disgusting practice is astronomical.
humble and elder aren't words that I think go together very well
it was a mild surprise, learning that a brother and sister-in-law had began re-associating with jehovah's witnesses after at least 25 years of being away.
the couple, of hispanic ethnicity, are in their early 60's, with their five children all grown and independent.
the family had been considered nominal jws, infrequently attending meetings, rarely in field service, but using the annual convention as their family vacation.
At the couple's second or third Kingdom Hall meeting since coming back to the organization, our brother-in-law learned about a special work day at the Kingdom Hall the following Saturday, to mow grass and trim bushes. He showed up on Saturday ready for work, but was informed that those duties could only be performed by approved JWs "in good standing."
I was a little late to the meeting once and went to get a chair from the stack to sit at the back and a brother, , snatched it from my hands and said i had no authority to get a chair as i wasn't a MS he was. So he took it and placed it where I wanted to sit. I had to laugh
it struck me that while the society and witnesses in general use the expression "the truth" for being a witness, it opens a can of worms..... i mean, when did the society become "the truth"?
after all, as we well know (and feel free to list examples please), the doctrines and teachings, and procedures have changed so much since the organisation started, that what was once "truth" is no longer so and vice versa..... maybe the conversation between jesus and pilate was correct : "what is truth?
".
I think the conversation where Pilate said what is truth was preceded by Pilate saying about Jesus being king and Jesus saying, for this I have been born and for this I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth.
in Galatians Paul mentions the truth of the good news.
so I think JW good news about the end of the gentile times in 1914 hasn't changed I dont think and so it doesn't matter about the rest that has
if you could go back in time and tell yourself one thing about jws would you do it?
and what would you choose to say to yourself?
do you think you could have convinced yourself not to get baptised if you chose the right thing to say?
Nothing. It would have caused more problems. I left at the right time for me.
(i was raised as a JW and baptised in my early teens)
i never really did but lots of the "friends" did like one brother who felt the cold and had "his chair" by the window and was always closing the window when everyone else wanted it open.. karter..
I usually sat in the room where the 2nd school was held
i think for me in the last year the death of david bowie got to me the most.
not only in the way he handled his demise so classy by even making a song about it and a you tube about dying and sharing it with fans, but just his whole persona i always thought was pretty cool.
plus i enjoyed a good many of his songs.
Freddie Mercury
