with the intention of spending less time working and more time in f.s i saw this many times.
an ex c.o started a carpet cleaning business with the charter being spending less time working more time in f.s.
he has long since passed away and the company is now huge being the major player in flood resteration and employing 100's of people one of the owners i spoke to recently was sick due to using to many chemicals but carries on becouse he loves the money even though he's worth millions.
I can't count the number of brothers I knew who started businesses, but only 1 to spend more time in the ministry.
Right out of high school I worked at 3 different jobs, all businesses owned by brothers.
My dad was usually self employed the last business he ran would have made him millions, but he wanted to spend more time in the ministry. Now he has nothing to take care of himself and my mother because of it.
so we were at another family members home for a random celebration when the nature channel showed a killer whale eating a seal and my sister in law was horrified.
we made a joke about the circle of life and i said something along the lines of 'everything that lives must die, the bible says every king must die, so even jesus wasn't immune'.
after that comment there was an awkward silence with our jw family whispering to each other about my comment of dying.. once upon a time i asked my uber elder jw brother if he thought that he would not die and he asked me if i knew when god would start armageddon.
The lie of everlasting life and shunning are the two pillars of the organization.
sitting there watching the new hbo series last night, i couldn't help but laugh and think about the similarities.
the creators (the gods) and the hosts (their creations) have an interesting relationship.. the "hosts" are programmed to have free thinking but only up to a point.
just like the witnesses.
A fair and accurate comparison.
i picked up bernard cornwell's the pagan lord at the library.
historical fiction set in england after the death of alfred the great.
i'm loving it, especially the between-the-lines wit and sense of timing in cornwell's writing, and the complete badassery of the protagonist.
West World on HBO is my show right now.
Reading "13 Hours".
at mine the conductor was somewhat awkward and minimal and there were nervous chuckles from the audience.
two people, including an elder, gave reasonable comments that it's okay as long as it's not extreme styles, etc.
but then another one of the elders commented that nothing has changed and they still aren't proper locally.
How can something be acceptable geographically? Either Jehovah accepts it or not.
we are all familiar with the classic use by the society of proverbs 4:18 about "light getting brighter".
they say it applies to revealed truth, and doctrinal changes etc.. have you ever just read that chapter (and even the surrounding chapters) in full??.
it has nothing to do with doctrinal changes or teachings.. it has to do with acquiring wisdom and life skills in order to live a successful life.
Even if the scripture meant what the organization says it does, the doctrine is not applied accordingly.
I always appreciated this comparison -
Light getting brighter (what it means)
I see an object. It looks like a car. It's a 4-door sedan. It's a blue 4-door sedan. It's a blue Toyota sedan.
Light getting brighter (as it really happens with the WBTS)
Jesus said drive a car. Jesus said drive a 4-door sedan. Jesus said drive a Cadillac. A Cadillac is a showy display of one's means, so drive a Ford Focus. Jesus walked everywhere he went, so don't drive - walk!
my mom has been extensively texting me, trying to argue that the un ngo scandal is not a big deal and that the child abuse scandal is to instigate the great tribulation.
even worse, she kept saying how great it is that the gb is imperfect and fallible and that teaching changes all the time.
maybe it was aggravation or impatience, but i finally just snapped and told her, "it's a cult, mom.".
Shunning = cult.
If its the truth, why fear criticism?
Fear. Fear of isolation via shunning, fear of death at Armageddon, fear of no resurrection is at the root of such behavior.
has anyone noticed the wt's most recent shell-game revisionism in the november study tractazine, relating to the shifting of its "babylonish captivity" doctrine, from a 3 1/2-year period around the ww 1 years, to a period now spanning about 16 centuries, or from the 4th century (constantine's legal recognition of christianity) to 1919?.
That's news to me. Then again, I haven't picked up a Watchtower in over a decade.
Nothing ceases to amaze with the world class flip-flopping WTBS.
Remember - they are self-proclaimed imperfect people who are not spirit inspired and get things wrong on a regular basis. However, you better believe what they say as Truth or you'll never see you family again.
1. you can't have sex until your married.. 2. you're not married until you've gone through a legal ceremony.. 3. you get 'unscriptually' (although legally) divorced therefore not 'free' to remarry'.
4. can you still 'scriptually' have sex with your former spouse?.
This subject is interesting and exposes the mindset of the organization.
Elders who conducted marriage ceremonies always make a big deal about getting the couple to sign their license immediately after they are married. They stress over this because they are afraid the couple will sneak off for a post wedding ceremony quickie.
The bottom line is - you're not married until the earthly authorities say you are.
This makes no sense. When I got married the elder droned on for 20 minutes about how marriage is God's arrangement and it is a gift from God. Which is it?
What if you're married in a country that has no marriage license and then move to one that does? The organization says you have to get a marriage license or else!
do those of you outside the usa find it odd that in a presidential election, the total number of people casting votes means nothing?
there is a method we use here called the electoral college based on each state rather than the total votes cast by actual people.. this is, i believe the 5th time in america's history that the person with the most votes lost the election (the last was in 2000 when al gore beat george w. bush by about 400,000 votes but lost the election).. so hillary (at the moment i last checked) had overall about 200,000 more votes nationwide but lost.. i'm sure a lot of people in other countries scratch their heads when they see this happening.. rub a dub.
The United States of America is not, nor has it ever been, a democracy. It is a constitutional republic.
When you study and gain understanding of how the electoral college works, it makes sense and is a safeguard.
