Posts by John Aquila

49

I almost gave up today except for a girl her tried to throw herself infront of two cars.............

by umbertoecho in

this may sound insane but i literally have blood on my hands as i have just come home from a counselling session that went wrong...i wanted to collate all that has happened and record it...hospital policy is against it.

i said "what am i alive for then if not to tell the truth" she tut tutted and i walked out sadly in despair.. when i got to the ground floor there was a young girl screaming her head off.

she was afraid, that is all she was...........afraid.

John Aquila

What a great person you are. !!!!

29

Paint, Barney, and Jehovah

by John Aquila in

i made a quick run to lowes to buy some paint and ran into a brother.

he is one of those elders that is very, very, petty.

if he drops by your house unexpected and notices that your kids are watching one of the star wars movies, he will counsel you for allowing your kids to watch any movie that has to do with war he will then make sure you are not recommended for any privilege.

John Aquila

Ok, this day is turning out to be more interesting. After the above experience, this brother calls me and apologizes for walking out without saying a word. No big deal, about 3 minutes on the phone and we hang up, everything is fine.

Just a few minutes ago, it’s 5 pm in my area, he calls back and wants to ask me a question.

I’m thinking, “Here we Go, this is going to turn into a mess.”

I’m going to cut it a little short because I’m painting and need to finish today.

He asks, “What did you mean that it’s possible Jehovah didn’t answer the prayer of those brothers because they might not have been pronouncing His name right?”

I said, “I actually didn’t mean anything by it. I guess it just came to my mind when you were upset because I didn’t use your correct name in addressing you. Why do you ask?”

He said, “Well it just bothers me what you said because I wondered the same thing when I first heard of all those brothers dying. After talking to you I went home and looked it up again in the internet and I found other tragedies that have happen to Jehovah’s Witnesses while traveling to conventions. Why did Jehovah not protect all those brothers? They were doing his will by following the instructions to make sure you attend the conventions. It just never made sense to me and I asked a few brothers back then and they said, “We just don’t know why Jehovah allows this. Isn’t that the same thing Christendom says when some tragedy strikes? ONLY GOD KNOWS!

I said, “It sure looks like it doesn’t it?”

There was a long pause on the phone.

So I said, “You know brother, with this perspective, I doubt it if I would endanger my life or my family’s life just to attend a convention far away. You know how we read many experiences in the magazines of brothers and sisters swimming through crocodile infested waters, or through snake infested jungles just to attend a convention? I just wouldn’t do it anymore to listen to the same material we hear in the Kingdom Hall over and over. It’s not worth it considering that the evidence shows Jehovah does not protect the brothers while traveling to a convention. Maybe he really doesn’t care about that.

I said, :You’re probably glad they had the convention here in our city this year aren’t you?" He said, “Yea”

There was a long pause.

So I said,” Brother, you might want to keep researching on the internet to see how many brothers and sisters have been victims to things that worldly people also experience. You know like Jehovah witnesses and accidents, Jehovah witnesses and crime, Jehovah witness and CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE.

I mean it’s probably a good thing to find out how much Jehovah protects us, Don’t you Think?”

He said, “Yea, maybe that’s a good idea”

And we hung up.

29

Paint, Barney, and Jehovah

by John Aquila in

i made a quick run to lowes to buy some paint and ran into a brother.

he is one of those elders that is very, very, petty.

if he drops by your house unexpected and notices that your kids are watching one of the star wars movies, he will counsel you for allowing your kids to watch any movie that has to do with war he will then make sure you are not recommended for any privilege.

John Aquila

Cheap laughs over dead people in Africa.

It wasn't for cheap laughs, it was to get him to think. Which I believe was successful. He just called me to offer an apology for walking away without a word.

Would you have cited this tragedy if you had known any of the victims?

Always do with the tragedies in my area, and it works even better, They start questioning.

I notice in your posts you are very sensitive to many things.

http://www.webmd.com/balance/features/are-you-too-sensitive?page=2

29

Paint, Barney, and Jehovah

by John Aquila in

i made a quick run to lowes to buy some paint and ran into a brother.

he is one of those elders that is very, very, petty.

if he drops by your house unexpected and notices that your kids are watching one of the star wars movies, he will counsel you for allowing your kids to watch any movie that has to do with war he will then make sure you are not recommended for any privilege.

John Aquila

I made a quick run to Lowes to buy some paint and ran into a brother. He is one of those elders that is VERY, VERY, petty. If he drops by your house unexpected and notices that your kids are watching one of the Star Wars movies, he will counsel you for allowing your kids to watch any movie that has to do with “WAR” He will then make sure you are not recommended for any privilege.

Anyway when I ran into him, I called him (BARNEY) which is not his name. But there’s a story behind that. At one point in the past, a family visited the Kingdom Hall and was introduced to him and one of the small kids called him Barney. The little kid told his parents he looked like Barney. Aka Barney and friends-TV. Of course everyone laughed and the whole family kept calling him BARNEY. Of course this didn’t fit well with the elder because he feels he is real good looking.

So when I called him Barney, he reminded me that wasn’t his name. So he sees my beard and starts counseling me on just about everything. To every point he makes I respond with the words, “I understand BARNEY.” And he kept correcting me that his name is NOT BARNEY.

After a while he gets annoyed and rebukes me, and tells me, I keep telling you my name but you keep calling me BARNEY, and it’s very annoying. I tell him, “I’m sorry, it’s just that since that time that the family kept calling you Barney it has kind of stuck. And for some reason when I see you I just feel very comfortable using that name.

He says, well don’t. Otherwise I’m just going to stop responding to you when you call me by another name---UNDERSTAND---

I say, “You know I think I do understand, it’s like the name Jehovah, the Society has always told us that it is not the correct pronunciation but, since everyone is using it and is familiar with it, it’s ok to use it.

He looks at me with his mouth wide open.

Then I ask him, “Do you think maybe that why all the Witnesses died in that crash going to a convention in Nigeria a few years back? I’m sure when they saw the accident coming they started praying to Jehovah. Maybe God got upset they kept calling him by the wrong name?

He turned around and walked away.

I was tempted to yell out, “See you later BARNEY”

But I was afraid he might turn back and punched me out.

4

Acts of God & accidents

by Diogenesister in

exodus 21.12 whoever strikes a person mortally shall be put to death.

if it was not premeditated, but came about by an act of god?

then i will appoint for you a place to which the killer may flee.

John Aquila

Isaiah 45:6,7

NIV I am the LORD, and there is no other. I form the light and create darkness, I bring prosperity and create disaster;
I, the LORD, do all these things

KJV I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil:
I the LORD do all these things.

Hebrew version I form the light, and create darkness; I make shalom, and create evil.
I am the LORD, who does all these things

35

why did the sacrafice have to be so BRUTAL

by Tater-T in

why did the sacrifice have to be so brutal... i mean what value does that add to the equation of justice.couldn't he jesus have came down and just been slaughtered like a regular sacrifice without the brutal torture.why is justice served by brutalityanyone anyone bueller... lolnow you know i don't like to type for hours but this is always bothered me

John Aquila

Someone posted not too long ago a story about a man and his 5 year old daughter who invited the next door neighbor’s daughter to play with his daughter. The man had prepared a bounty of fruit and sweets on one table and told the little girl she could help herself with anything except the grapes in a small container.

The man noticed that the girl cautiously took ONE grape and put it in her mouth right before she left.

The man was upset and forbade this little girl from coming back to his house to play with his daughter. In time the man decided to sacrifice his daughter by allowing others to beat her to a pulp and nail her to a torture stake. After she was dead, the man allowed the neighbor’s daughter to come back and visit his home.

The little girl came back to visit the man and ate all the grapes.

Sound ridiculous right?

That’s how I view the story of Adam and Eve and the sacrifice of Jesus.

35

why did the sacrafice have to be so BRUTAL

by Tater-T in

why did the sacrifice have to be so brutal... i mean what value does that add to the equation of justice.couldn't he jesus have came down and just been slaughtered like a regular sacrifice without the brutal torture.why is justice served by brutalityanyone anyone bueller... lolnow you know i don't like to type for hours but this is always bothered me

John Aquila

Ha ha, I loved that particular episode. I was wondering, Dexter only killed bad people, would that mean that if he was an exjw he would go after the GB and Elders?

35

why did the sacrafice have to be so BRUTAL

by Tater-T in

why did the sacrifice have to be so brutal... i mean what value does that add to the equation of justice.couldn't he jesus have came down and just been slaughtered like a regular sacrifice without the brutal torture.why is justice served by brutalityanyone anyone bueller... lolnow you know i don't like to type for hours but this is always bothered me

John Aquila

Sacrifices offered up through the Leviticus priesthood had to be blemish free with no defect, otherwise they were not accepted by Jehovah. So if a beaten up sheep was offered up as a sacrificed, then it was rejected. Yet Jesus was beaten to the core and pummeled almost to death and then in this condition was offered up as a sacrifice to Jehovah. If the sacrifices of the priesthood foreshadowed the sacrifice of Jesus then it was rejected for this very reason.

New International Version

Deuteronomy 15:21

If an animal has a defect, is lame or blind, or has any serious flaw, you must not sacrifice it to the LORD your God.

14

The Watchtower says: The Septuagint became God's Word

by opusdei1972 in

the last edition of the watchtower (study edition) says the following:.

alexander the great later conquered much of the ancient world, and common, or koine, greek became an international language.

so, in this verse the septuagint was not god's word according to matthew.

John Aquila

Interestingly, the Watchtower is stating that "the Septuagint was viewed as God's Word....by Christians" and it "became part of the inspired Word of God" though it was "the work of imperfect human translators".

Data Dog What would happen to a JW who went around saying the Bible has translation errors and is fallible?

The Watchtower admits that all the Bibles we have today are not inspired by God, including the RNWT.

*** w96 4/15 p. 19 Why True Worship Receives God’s Blessing ***

Bible translations themselves are not inspired by God. Translations, by their very nature, may reflect variations of the understanding of the original tongues in which the Bible was recorded

35

A Judicial experience.

by John Aquila in

when i was an elder in the 80s, a 16 year old baptized jw girl had confessed that at school during lunch a boy kissed her and touched her privates over her dress.

the circuit overseer was in town and we told him of the situation and he called the society and then told us that mother said we were not allowed to conduct the funeral in the kingdom hall or anywhere else with the threat of removing us and being dealt with judicially if we disobeyed.

the mother who is about 79 years old comes once a year to talk to my mom about the situation.

John Aquila

Saintbertholdt

Hi John,

The young girl and her families story upset me quite a bit.

From this account it is clear how alone and isolated Jehovah's Witnesses who experience trouble actually are and how the organization can rain devastation on an already tragic situation.

My consolation and prediction (circa 2100): No one will attend the Watchtowers funeral. No one will care that it died. Good riddance.

Yes the jws are all alone when disaster strikes them and they don’t realize it until it happens. Even when someone dies that is loyal, their funeral talks is more of an advertisement for the organization and its meetings. I am a true believer that their demise will come before 2100