NikL

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Posts by NikL

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  8

  Does anyone have the outline for the upcoming special talk?

  by NikL in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  i would like to look it over.

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  NikL

  I would like to look it over
  
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  4

  New Movie, "Confessions of A Teenage jesus Jerk"

  by NikL in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  stumbled apon this.. apologies if this has already been posted.. here is a link to the trailer.... https://vimeo.com/215891572.

  here is one description of the plot.... certain right wing scolds love to claim that modern life would be so much better if organized religion was allowed to exert a greater presence.

  “confessions of a teenage jesus jerk” shows in one very tragicomic story how such everyday religious incursion would be a curse.. actor eric stoltz makes his directorial debut adapting san francisco author tony dushane’s semi-autobiographical novel of the same name.

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  NikL

  Stumbled apon this.

  Apologies if this has already been posted.

  Here is a link to the trailer...

  https://vimeo.com/215891572
  

  Here is one description of the plot...

  Certain right wing scolds love to claim that modern life would be so much better if organized religion was allowed to exert a greater presence. “Confessions of A Teenage Jesus Jerk” shows in one very tragicomic story how such everyday religious incursion would be a curse.

  Actor Eric Stoltz makes his directorial debut adapting San Francisco author Tony Dushane’s semi-autobiographical novel of the same name. Its setting is the Reagan era San Francisco Bay Area. High schooler Gabe, the Dushane stand-in, is a teenage Jehovah’s Witness. His father happens to be one of the local congregation’s Elders. However, thriving in his religious Fellowship proves less important to Gabe than his growing curiosity regarding masturbation and other sexual matters. Of particular importance is his unrequited crush on fellow teen Witness Jasmine.

  It’s said a system’s strength can be found in how it handles breakdowns in its operations. In Gabe’s case, the religion he was steeped in proves particularly inadequate in explaining or de-mystifying the contradictions of sexual desire. One memorably ludicrous moment sees Gabe’s father counseling a husband greatly concerned about having committed sodomy with his wife. But things prove far less funny for Gabe when he becomes a scapegoat for female Witnesses’ embarrassment over experiencing awakened sexual desires.

  Gabe’s story follows his gradual re-assessment of his treating his religious fervor as integral to his personal identity. Free-spirited cousin Karen shepherds his sexual awakening as well as his introduction to the then-burgeoning City punk scene. After Gabe gets temporarily expelled from the congregation, the expulsion may have been aimed at crushing his spirit and increase his craving to not make waves in the future. But getting exposed to the poetry of Kerouac shows the teen that spiritual awakening is not the private preserve of the Witnesses.

  Seeing the word “Masturbation” in flashing neon above an Elder’s head doesn’t mean the film rejects the religious urge. Religion is just one way of making the universe understandable to people. But Stoltz’ film has little love for religious desire being twisted into a means of controlling others’ behavior.
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  34

  Another congregation bites the dust

  by NikL in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  went to the meeting last night with my believing wife.

  the co was visiting and delivered a really cult-ish talk on loyalty but that's another story.. they made the announcement that starting january 1st they were going to have only 3 congregations in this town instead of 4.. they are dissolving one and growing the territories of the remaining 3. the reason given is that many of the elders are getting up there in age and can't do what they used to do.

  basically not enough elders and ministerial servants...or even men reaching out for that matter.

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  NikL

  so--really all thats happened is 3 sets of meetings each week instead of 4. same number of bums on seats each week.

  Okay if you want to be Debbie Downer about it I guess

  The way I look at it is that there was ONCE enough publishers to support 4 congregations. Now there is not.

  They are leaving and I down see it improving for WT anytime soon.
  
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  34

  Another congregation bites the dust

  by NikL in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  went to the meeting last night with my believing wife.

  the co was visiting and delivered a really cult-ish talk on loyalty but that's another story.. they made the announcement that starting january 1st they were going to have only 3 congregations in this town instead of 4.. they are dissolving one and growing the territories of the remaining 3. the reason given is that many of the elders are getting up there in age and can't do what they used to do.

  basically not enough elders and ministerial servants...or even men reaching out for that matter.

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  NikL

  freddoo

  
  Fantastic news! Remind me ... what part of the world is this?

  This is California, northern California to be exact.

  stan livedeath

  so--if the watchtower is dissolving one congregation out of 4 in that town--will we see another property up for sale ?

  Nope. 4 Congregations share one of those 2 KH complexes they were building all over the place 10-15 years ago.
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  34

  Another congregation bites the dust

  by NikL in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  went to the meeting last night with my believing wife.

  the co was visiting and delivered a really cult-ish talk on loyalty but that's another story.. they made the announcement that starting january 1st they were going to have only 3 congregations in this town instead of 4.. they are dissolving one and growing the territories of the remaining 3. the reason given is that many of the elders are getting up there in age and can't do what they used to do.

  basically not enough elders and ministerial servants...or even men reaching out for that matter.

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  NikL

  Went to the meeting last night with my believing wife. The CO was visiting and delivered a really cult-ish talk on loyalty but that's another story.

  They made the announcement that starting January 1st they were going to have only 3 congregations in this town instead of 4.

  They are dissolving one and growing the territories of the remaining 3

  The reason given is that many of the elders are getting up there in age and can't do what they used to do. Basically not enough elders and ministerial servants...or even men reaching out for that matter. We've had sisters running mikes LOL

  Anyway, I thought I would share the joyful news.
  
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  26

  January 2018 Message of Judgment - What Is This?

  by dubstepped in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i've now seen a couple of references to this and did a little digging before leaving for work.

  i saw someone on reddit in july saying that someone on the inside said a change was coming in 2018 with the jw message, and i've now seen two references to this in the past week.

  help a former brother out.

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  NikL

  Well there was something a bit different and more hard line in the January Watchtower.

  I had my attention drawn to it after I saw a video from bridget fromAZ video on youtube.

  It's an article about attending the memorial. it says

  4 Reflect on the importance of attending the Memorial. Remember, congregation meetings are part of our worship. Surely Jehovah and Jesus take note of who makes the effort to attend this most important meeting of the year. Frankly, we want them to see that unless it is physically or circumstantially impossible, we will be present at the Memorial. When we show by our actions that meetings for worship are important to us, we give Jehovah added reason to keep our name in his “book of remembrance”​—“the book of life”—​in which the names of those who are in line to attain to everlasting life are inscribed.​—Mal. 3:16; Rev. 20:15.

  So attend the memorial or get erased from the book of life.
  

  It then goes on to say...

  5 In the days leading up to the Memorial, we can set aside time to examine prayerfully and carefully our personal relationship with Jehovah. (Read 2 Corinthians 13:5.) How can we do that? By ‘testing whether we are in the faith.’ To do that, we do well to ask ourselves: ‘Do I really believe that I am part of the only organization that Jehovah has approved to accomplish his will? Am I doing my utmost to preach and teach the good news of the Kingdom? Do my actions show that I truly believe that these are the last days and that the end of Satan’s rule is near? Do I have the same confidence in Jehovah and Jesus now that I had when I dedicated my life to Jehovah God?’ (Matt. 24:14; 2 Tim. 3:1; Heb. 3:14) Pondering the answers to such questions will help us to keep proving what we ourselves are.

  I thought Geoffrey Jackson said that would be presumptuous?

  Anyway, it seems to be a harder line then they have sang in a while.
  
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  35

  Be loyal when a relative is disfellowshipped

  by UnshackleTheChains in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  well.....they showed that shunning video again.

  you know...the one where goldilocks gets disfellowshipped- and the parents look across the hall at her with disdain.....yeah that video.. i was interested to see what kind of answers would be given during the discussion after the video and some of the reactions.

  everyone sat there gormlessly staring at the video.

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  NikL

  In the "Gods Love" book (Gag)

  It says... and I quote, "Loyal Christian family members do not look for excuses to have dealings with a disfellowshipped relative not living at home. Rather, loyalty to Jehovah and his organization moves them to uphold the Scriptural arrangement of disfellowshipping."

  Possibly the most cultist statement they make.
  
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  22

  As a JW how would you answer this if someone brought it up in the ministry?

  by NikL in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  as a jw i pretty much just went along with what was taught from the platform i didn't do any real bible study.

  as a result, now that i am out of the org.

  i find scriptures that blow my mind.. i am not sure how i would have reacted if someone had pointed this out to me when i was a jw but now i can't believe i've never noticed this before.

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  NikL

  @Xanthippe

  all religious beliefs are man made.

  I can see where you would believe that. Maybe that's what the enemy wants us to think?

  Even when I first left the JWs and was bitter toward all religion, I still felt there was a God.

  Do I think we will ever have it ALL right? Nope. Not in our imperfect broken existence here on Earth. All we can do is the best we can. There is a pretty good guide in the words of our Lord Jesus though. If you live the way he commanded us to live, life is pretty good.
  

  My feelings about the Trinity are something like this...God the father is God as a spirit. No man can see him because he is a spirit.

  Jesus was God in the flesh. He came down in human form to save us.

  The holy spirit is God in action in the physical world.

  My beliefs are rather fluid at this point so they may change but that's where my head is now.
  
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  22

  As a JW how would you answer this if someone brought it up in the ministry?

  by NikL in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  as a jw i pretty much just went along with what was taught from the platform i didn't do any real bible study.

  as a result, now that i am out of the org.

  i find scriptures that blow my mind.. i am not sure how i would have reacted if someone had pointed this out to me when i was a jw but now i can't believe i've never noticed this before.

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  NikL

  But degree...Christians believe Jesus was fully human. There fore he could be tempted. As a matter of fact he had to be fully human in order for the whole ransom thing to work out no?

  I've head it expressed as Jesus is God in a bod. LOL

  Seriously though, why is it impossible for a being so great as to create the entire universe, who can count every hair on my head (which is getting easier each passing year but I digress) to be multiple persons in different places at the same time?
  
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  22

  As a JW how would you answer this if someone brought it up in the ministry?

  by NikL in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  as a jw i pretty much just went along with what was taught from the platform i didn't do any real bible study.

  as a result, now that i am out of the org.

  i find scriptures that blow my mind.. i am not sure how i would have reacted if someone had pointed this out to me when i was a jw but now i can't believe i've never noticed this before.

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  NikL

  f jw's accept and acknowledge jesus as "a mighty god" (*which they do) then aren't they breaking the 1st of the 10 commandments "You MUST NOT HAVE ANY OTHER GODS besides me"?

  I think that's right.

  Amen to everything you said smiddy3

  And the Is-He-Part-Of-A-Trinity-Or-Is-He-Not? doctrinal side show grinds on and on and on with no end in sight. This could be my adolescence circa 1970s - or my grandpas circa 1920s or Adam's circa 4,000 years B C.

  Meanwhile, beyond the angst of earnest roundabout arguments, life passes us by.

  So we just give up on anything spiritual Steve?
  

  I'm surprised that an ex-JW says they've just noticed the Scripture in Isaiah. Perhaps JWs nowadays really aren't as schooled up in their arguments. Ouch!

  LOL. Like I said, I wasn't a very good witness. But I am a child of the 60s and came to the org in 70s so "nowadays" wouldn't apply. :-)