iloowy.goowy

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Posts by iloowy.goowy

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  4

  The Firefly Minister

  by iloowy.goowy in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jcoikaci9i4.

  from ron frye, 2014. when i was a child, my parents and i visited one of my mother's sisters and her family in bloomington, indiana.

  one warm evening l remember experiencing the joy of seeing hundreds and hundreds of tiny luminous insects punctuating the night sky.

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  iloowy.goowy

  The voice sounds like "V" from Watchtower Comments.
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  4

  The Firefly Minister

  by iloowy.goowy in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jcoikaci9i4.

  from ron frye, 2014. when i was a child, my parents and i visited one of my mother's sisters and her family in bloomington, indiana.

  one warm evening l remember experiencing the joy of seeing hundreds and hundreds of tiny luminous insects punctuating the night sky.

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  iloowy.goowy

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JcOIkacI9i4

  From Ron Frye, 2014

  When I was a child, my parents and I visited one of my mother's sisters and her family in Bloomington, Indiana. One warm evening l remember experiencing the joy of seeing hundreds and hundreds of tiny luminous insects punctuating the night sky. Their soft, intermittent bursts of light were a wonder to behold. I know there is a scientific explanation for this phenomenon but I would rather not hear it; I am content with the mysterious wonder of it and the joy it brought to a young boy’s heart. Now, about 80-years later, that young boy is an old man - old man who still remembers a younger self so pleasured by one of Yahweh God's endless creations.

  Having been a disciple of the Lord Jesus for more than sixty years, I recently took a personal inventory of how much I have accomplished in advancing God's purpose in Jesus Christ. After careful reflection I decided that in all honesty I hadn't accomplished much at all. At first I was disappointed in my conclusion and ii took awhile to put the matter in perspective. After considerable reflection and self-analysis I have concluded that the very little that I have accomplished in my lifetime probably is true of many other Christians.

  Only a few believers have accomplished so much that their life and ministry have been preserved. I have in mind men like the apostle Paul, Peter and John whose ministries have enlightened untold millions for generations of time and will continue to inspire others to become disciples in the time that remains before the Lord Jesus returns. But during the lives of such men there were other men, less known even then, and many women who were shining lights in the darkened world to the few who knew them and were inspired by them. And down through the centuries there have been a few who have become world-known in their ministries and the impact they had in relation to the preservation of the Christian faith. But, again, during those many centuries there must have been millions who are lost to history but whose little light of ministry illuminated the lives of many.

  I think of being a part of that latter group-the untold millions who for but a moment showed forth a small glow of spiritual light that benefitted a few. Perhaps it is a boast even to lay claim to being a part of that larger assembly of believers, I do not know. But it brings me joy to think of myself as one of the lesser ones of Jesus' disciples, and that is where the metaphor of the fire-fly comes in. In this intensely dark world every faithful Christian is reflecting a soft laminating light of God and Christ in their lives. They are having influences on the lives of others that they may never realize they are having. From their own point of view they may think that they don't amount to much, but they are loved and treasured by God and Christ.

  This disciple has experienced the dramatic changes even a small amount of God's Holy Spirit has made in his life. The good accomplished as a result of that has been God's work. “For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do" (Eph. 2:10). What an honor it has been to be drawn to Christ and received, as a result of faith, adoption into the family of God, So, after all has been considered, this little fire-fly of a Christian recognizes that he and many millions like him bring joy to the Father's heart and Jesus is not ashamed to call such ones brothers (Heb. 2:11). In the end it has made a life worth living and filled an old man's heart with gratitude and thankfulness.

  R. Frye
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  46

  What you think consequences gonna be for watchtower if they lose the court appeal in Norway?

  by Hellothere in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  personally i think they gonna realise god's not backing org.

  that idea gonna get even more established in their minds.

  i think the real selling of kingdom hall gonna start then.

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  iloowy.goowy

  If they lose charity status they will say It's persecution and the publishers may have to fork over more money because they will need to account for taxes on donations, and I believe the WT will twist any results to be seen as the victim.
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  2

  Another Messiah in the News

  by peacefulpete in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  a news item making rounds today regards the famous chabad-lubavitch synagogue in brooklyn.

  in short, the leader of the movement/sect was world famous rabbi menachem mendel schneerson.

  schneerson passed away in 1994.....or did he?

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  iloowy.goowy

  Well, it is a long way from there to Gaza. What's with this urge to dig underground and hide, it sounds very quasi-apokalyptic
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  13

  Door to Door Witnessing Anxiety

  by NotFormer in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  it's not only the jws who do door to door witnessing.

  the independent baptists for the most part have "soul winning", mainly door to door witnessing and leaving tracts, as a tennet of their faith.

  this discussion is interesting:.

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  iloowy.goowy

  Running into someone from work at their home while canvassing door to door. Their puzzled looks and the talk at work that would follow, that gave me nightmares as a new publisher. With time and practice, and meeting anxieties head on, it got better, even witnessing at work and doing business territory. But even decades on there was always that relief when no one answered the door and you could write NH on your door to door slip.
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  27

  The Governing Body - Both sides of their coin

  by Ron.W. in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  how many can you think of.... they speak for god.. it would seem presumptuous to say they speak for god,.

  they are neither inspired nor infallible.. they are god's only channel for issuing truth here on earth.

  they won't be apologising for any errors/falsehoods they have promoted in the past that fail.. congregation members must be quick and apologise for their errors to avoid harsh discipline/disfellowshipping.. when they change a major belief/doctrine you must not complain or criticise them.

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  iloowy.goowy

  This morning I had a toasted bagel with cream cheese and marmalade jelly for breakfast and realized how good life can really be !!!!!!!!!
  

  Amen! One JW friend of mine used to work in the Kitchen at Brooklyn then at Wallkill for years. Every time I'd question the WT's viewpoint on some things saying they seemed disconnected from the reality we are living in the real world, he'd excuse them by saying that they were living in an institutionalized and controlled system and so that guided their perspectives. He saw it as a protection for those in Bethel; I saw it as narrow-mindedness and he'd just shake his head.

  How freeing it is to be able to decide what you want to do, to eat, to drink, to wear. Uniformity at Bethel is only about control and conformity. And my friend would say living at an "Institution" is not good for some people. After a few years he married and had to leave Bethel, when their first child came along. I can't imagine how it would be for children growing up inside that type of institutionalized atmosphere. And yet we know some families did, such as the medical doctor's family and others with specialized skills.

  The WT is all about control.
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  7

  How Saturnalia became Christmas

  by BoogerMan in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  the transition from ancient to present and pagan to christian: .

  4th century ce, after which a new winter holiday began to be celebrated in rome: christmas.

  but how was the pagan festival of saturnalia celebrated, and how did it influence and morph into the christmas celebrations that we know and love?.

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  iloowy.goowy

  The bit about Christmas being a re-worked Saturnalia by the Catholic Church is quite bogus, Boogerman.
  Today is the celebration of the Immaculate Conception and also the first day of Hannukah (The Festival of Lights)

  Listen to this Podcast about the Origin of Christmas, it has little to do with Saturnalia and more to do with the Announcement to Mary that she would conceive a child by Holy Spirit, and this child would be the Light of the World. If you are a believer then it's very interesting that the Christmas holiday celebrates the conception of Jesus by the virgin Mary, and that the baby was born 9 months later in September as another talk by Dr. Michael S. Heiser brings out.

  Is Christmas a Pagan Holiday?

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hiURApsC1rc

  How does Revelation help pinpoint the birth of Christ?

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1X9zIFeGMH0
  
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  21

  How's the 14,669 New Zealand brotherhood reacting to Steve's MIT talk?

  by was a new boy in

  1. social
  2. current

  the latest.

  stkirsch24 minutes ago.

  there is no question: the leaked data shows the vaccines have killed over 13 million people worldwide.

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  iloowy.goowy

  There is no question: the leaked data shows the vaccines have killed over 13 MILLION people worldwide
  

  Oh, but there is a question. A big question, and that is why continue propagating nonsensical conspiracy theories and blatant misinformation?
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  5

  Edgerton Gospel

  by peacefulpete in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  regarded as likely the oldest (or tied with oldest) gospel fragment we have is that named the unknown gospel or the edgerton gospel.

  sadly it is very fragmentary.

  debates regarding it's relationship with the 4 canonical gospels have continued since it was found.

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  iloowy.goowy

  @Peacefulpete,

  Audiences are still gullible today. In modern days not perhaps in an agrarian way, but in the trappings of modern stories which turn out to be only fanciful conspiracies. Thousands, millions, tens of millions fall for stupid stories based on nonsense. (Recall Q-anal, I mean Q-anus, no wait, it was Q-anon).
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  29

  BREAKING NEWS | Highlights of 2023 Worldwide Service Year Report

  by Drearyweather in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  breaking news | highlights of 2023 worldwide service year report.

  on november 15, 2023, the service committee of the governing body shared highlights of the 2023 worldwide service year report with the bethel family.

  the following exciting increases were announced: baptisms: during the 2023 service year, 269,517 persons were baptized.

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  iloowy.goowy

  The surge in numbers after high Covid-19 days isn't so surprising. Some may have held on in baptizing their kids until the pandemic fizzled. Also pioneers had their time requirements suspended for a while, and it was easy to pioneer counting time writing letters.

  What will be surprising is the decreased they didn't.annouce yet, and the down trend due to follow in the coming years, I believe.