Posts by NewYork44M

91

They want to make me an elder :-O

by outofthebox in

jw
friends

this is the third elder that tells me that the body of elders will recommend me as an elder in the next visit of the co.. what do you think i should do?

some facts:.

i am still 'in' because of my family.i am ms.i am doing 10+ fake hours (well, some months it is fake), so they see my "spiritual" progress.-ootb.

NewYork44M

Good luck, man. Been there done that. This is bringing back very bad memmories.

I was in a similar situation and don't count on the HS to bail you out.

About six months after I decided I no longer wanted to be a witness an elder called me and said in a very excited voice, "the elders are going to recommend you as an elder!"

In that six month period prior to the phone call I was only turning in an average of 5 hours a month, but that did not matter. I was going to be an elder.

Due to family circumstances I accepted the assignment and remained an elder for three long years. Fortunataly, there were many elders in the congregation so I did not have too much to do. But it was still very very painful.

33

Fred and Ray on Door-to-Door: the Truth

by compound complex in

dear friends,.

the following is from notes derived from in search of christian freedom, by ray franz.

the chapter is "from house to house.

NewYork44M

Even though this is an old thread I will comment.

The primary purpose of the d2d ministry is to coercively control and judge the r&f. While it may have started as a mechanism of recruitement, the method has proved to be ineffective.

So why continue? Those in charge must have a means to control the flock. This is a perfect tool. No matter how successful or unsuccessful a person is in the ministry he or she will always be judged unworthy because you can always do more.

22

Public Talks question

by bite me in

if one is assigned to do a public talk.

prepares for it and proceudes to give it.

if that person gives the talk but does not give the information that is spoon fed but shares his or her own researched material and it still relates to the topic is that person immediately taken off stage?

NewYork44M

There was a PO in a nearby congregation who was famous for always sitting there with the Outline making sure the exact pablum formula was followed.

Must be the same one I referred to. There couldn't be more than one of those idiots!. Right?

22

Public Talks question

by bite me in

if one is assigned to do a public talk.

prepares for it and proceudes to give it.

if that person gives the talk but does not give the information that is spoon fed but shares his or her own researched material and it still relates to the topic is that person immediately taken off stage?

NewYork44M

But there were many times where speakers went off on tangents and said things that were not officially sanctioned by the Society.

I remember one talk where the bro had no intention of giving his talk. He spent the whole time talking about space travel and how we would be populating other planets in the new order. He was not kicked off, and infact was quite entertaining.

22

Public Talks question

by bite me in

if one is assigned to do a public talk.

prepares for it and proceudes to give it.

if that person gives the talk but does not give the information that is spoon fed but shares his or her own researched material and it still relates to the topic is that person immediately taken off stage?

NewYork44M

There was one congregation in our circuit that had an elder that would follow along with the official outline to make sure visiting speakers stuck to the outline. I gave a talk there and while I said nothing shocking, I veered off the outline alot. He did not say anything after the meeting. Either he was not paying attention, or he was only looking for overt apostate sayings. In any event, I stayed under the radar.

46

Of The 5 Meetings, Was There One You Hated More Than The Others?

by minimus in

jw
friends

usually, i enjoyed the public talk, if the speaker was good but i thought the theocratic ministry was boring!!!.

the service meeting was just a sales meeting.

the book studies were simply ridiculous.

NewYork44M

In order of least hated to most hated:

Service meeting - Sales meeting. But for a number of years I was in sales, so it was ok.

Book study - the shortest meeting and sometimes you would get to sit in a comfy chair. This was the meeting where you would hear the most off the wall comments.

Public Talk - depending on the speaker. Sometimes if the speaker was really bad, it was more bearable.

TMS - I try to forget

Watchtower - The first thing I would do would be to count the paragraphs and mentally note how long each paragraph should take. It was worse than Chinese water torture.

92

THE MEN OF JWD ARE TOTALLY AWESOME!!!

by snowbird in

jw
friends

from the owner of the discussion board to the newbie.

you guys rock!

i wish we lived in the same neighborhood; we could borrow cups of sugar; share the ups and downs of leaving the wt; and maybe even form a book club.. thank you, my brothers, for all you do.. sincerely.. sylvia.

NewYork44M

Thanks.

BTW, I posed for the pix in my avatar.

And let me add that the women here are mighty fine.

17

Donations for literature I would spend at Mc Donald's!!! Sorry!!!

by Witness 007 in

in my last 2 years in field service in australia tax laws meant we could no longer offer publications for money or directly ask for a donation.

if the householder asks, we would explain our voluntry work was paid for by donations.

i was suprised how many people would give you $10 or $20 dollars thinking it's going to some good cause....however, i would go and buy some lunch at mc donald's.

NewYork44M

You give an excellent reason why the donation system does not work. Publishers don't donate like they are expected, publishers don't as for donations, and finally as you suggest if a publisher gets a donation there is no guarantee that it ends up for the world wide work.

64

still considering going back to meetings...

by oompa in

jw
friends

not that i want to or anything, but this therapist guy seems to think that it would be really helpful to my wife.

he says to pull out the good and ignore what you dont like, and that supporting my wife a bit in this way could be good for us as a couple.

it could also let us have at least some shot at keeping the old social life alive.

NewYork44M

I am recently divorced from a woman with a very strong attachment to the org.

She did not take kindly to my decision to leave my post as an elder and drop away from the organization. I thought may times about going back to the meetings "for the sake of the marriage."

I finially decided against going. mainly for my own sanity but also because I know the response I would have gotten. Going to the meetings was never enough. I can visualize my ex speaking to me in her voice inflected with a spiritual superiority:

"you should be going to the meetings anyways, and not wait for a therapist to tell you. And also, when are you going to go out in service and be an elder again.. and when are we going to have a family study again... and I want you to pray at meals again.. and not just those meaningless prays but something meaniningful... and i want you to help me with my presentation... and why are you such a lover of money... and on and on and on ......?"

20

One of the most horrible things I've ever seen...

by Gregor in

on weekends i am the conductor on a luxury train (fri. and sat evening.

dinner and sun.

morning brunch) that takes passengers on a 31 mile trip through the hood river valley.

NewYork44M

Chewing tobacco is one of the most discusting activities I know of. Far worse than smoking. I can't stand being around someone who chews tobacco.