Posts by JakeM2012

54

Separated from a loveless Marriage

by PLAYGROUND in

i don't know where to start.

i got married a year and half ago.

some months into the marriage things where discovered.

JakeM2012

Playground, welcome to the community, sounds like you are in a tough situation. I'll relate a similar experience I had but it was not in a marriage but in a family business with a fleshly brother. My fleshly brother was constantly lying and unknown to me, was executing a unrelenting character assassination on me. Oh, he knew what he was doing. Some of his actions are nothing but evil. Proverbs 16: 27-27 says:

27 A worthless person concocts evil gossip[l]—
his lips are like a burning fire.

28 A deceitful man stirs dissension,
and anyone who gossips separates friends.

29 A violent man entices his companion

and leads him on a path that is not good.

After nearly five years of trying to work with him in a second generation family business, I was devastated when I found out the extent of his lying and his execution of my character. His mischief had been going on since Dad had died about five years before. The elders talked with me several times about allegations and I explained my point of view and tried to correct the fantasizing stories that my brother had but the elders would not believe me. They just looked at me like I was crazy.

I talked with a family counselor that was not a witness, and they skillfully and professionally explained the situation I was in. Basically, to make this short, I was dealing with a fleshly Witness brother who was a psychopath. The counselor indicated that there was little I could do, but protect myself and family by having no contact with them at all.

Here is a link you might find beneficial. http://psychopathvictims.com/psychopath/psychopathic-character-assassination.

So, There was nothing I could do to push back at the overwhelming false stories he had started about me and my wife, so we left our home of which I still love and started over. It was very costly financially to do this. Besides that, I lost all previous friends or people I thought were my friends, and god knows what was said after we left. But we are happy today and life is so peaceful without the cesspool of soap operas not only in my witness family but the congregation.

One final thought, a quote on the news tonight from Omar N. Bradley, "This is as true in everyday life as it is in battle: we are given one life and the decision is ours whether to wait for circumstances to make up our mind, or whether to act, and in acting, to live.

Omar N. Bradley

Again, welcome to JW.net

63

LDC Semininar

by Sour Grapes in

jw
friends

ldc semininar @ patterson nov 15-18, 2014 .

entire ldc dept included remote workers/design/legal/real estate/purchasing.

oversight.

JakeM2012

Thank you Brother Sour Grapes for passing your notes. Excellent

It is amazing the "Brazen" manipulation of the scriptures that this non-profit* real estate development company will stoop to.

The seminar was concluded with this thought and promise:

We are Guaranteed Success for these reasons:
1. Jehovah wants it done
2. Spiritual people will do it

You will see the “pillar of cloud & fire”

They asked: Will you go on this journey with us??? If you do, You will see the Red Sea part!!!!!

A few random thoughts:

I guess since armageddon has not come, although promised by WTBTS so many times, and Christ's has been invisibly enthroned since 1914 and Jw's are now "celebrating" his invisible enthronement and 100 years of "he, The King, hasn't accomplished anything whatsoever yet", that WTBTS might as well part the Red Sea also along with all their other "successes".

My opinion for the reasons they are supposedly dramatically reducing the free work force like Gideon's 300 as stated by the comments ""Right now the Regional Building Committee has 275,000 people in Builder Assistance – we are reducing that to a handful? Ridiculous? Do we really believe that Jehovah is in control?"

1) The work force they have used for the last 30 years is aging and dying and there are few "qualified" replacements. Perhaps they know that the true publisher numbers are showing a drastic negative growth as many here suspect. Just attend a Regional/District convention and see for yourself a "Sea" of an audience of gray haired people.

2) You can cut 20% off of a Kingdom Hall design which may cut some donated hours of labor but let's admit it, there is a "Brazen" amount of wasted labor on "Quick Builds";

They will cut mostly material cost of 20%, which you could probably cut the size of the Kingdom Halls by at least that by not providing a room for a Kingdom Hall book study, which is now obsolete, and removing the doubting/fringe/thinking elders making the body of elders smaller so that the remaining few super loyal elders won't need as big of a room. (edit, I'm glad I never made the P.O. I would have had the elders meetings at Hooters, or a nice bar that had a restaurant.)

(Many commercial buildings have flat roofs with no problems. The usual commercial method in most retail stores is metal "bar joists" with galvanized decking, then 2"-3" of insulation on top of the decking and then a preferably white reflective membrane roofing material. Some large companies take water reclaimed from the roof and use it to provide water for toilets, i.e. the Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee reclaims their water and it provides water for 750,000 flushes per year.) Cost savings with this worldly system over the traditional wooden framed structures is that the Fire Marshall dictates the building codes which many RBC have tried to battle and have lost. Now that's Holy Spirit in Action.

The Fire Marshall wants a building that can remain standing before collapse for at least an hour which cost more with a wood structure. The Fire Marshals thinking is that they want enough time for people to evacuate and/or be rescued. (But JW's don't smoke, we don't need that extra fire protection). If the Fire Marshall even lets the wooden framed building be built, RBC's have been made to install a double layer of 5/8 fire code sheet rock on the bottom of their little wooden trusses and then JW's love that hanging acoustic ceilings to give the finished look. They used to even build without any sheetrock on the bottom of the trusses and very little insulation. The new architecture is open ceilings with exposed bar joists.

Further, even at taking a discount to the 275,000 Builder Assistants for the labor waste of how quick builds operate, my suspicion is they are either planning on:

1) Subcontracting the work done on the Kingdom Hall to outside contractors who have a more controlled labor cost and do this type of construction all the time hence very low profit margins , and then expecting the congregations to pick up the tab with a lot of donations and just a little free labor given. The last Kingdom Hall Construction Projects that I was involved in had food costs over 15% of the total cost.

OR,

2) WTBTS is not really planning to go through with the massive expansion plans they speak of, .... I don't think it is so much a "Watch the Red Sea Part" as it is "Watch the elderly JW's die in the overlapping waves of the generation in the Red Sea of humanity.

The one point that they are not going to pick from land that is available and on the market, but make offers on developed property not for sale, but which they need in a given area, took me as odd. Sounds like to me, "if we are going to spend money we are going to spend it in the "hot" real estate markets. I just remember how they built the 30 story building on 90 Sands, in Brooklyn New York not that many years ago and then recently sold it but have until 2017 to vacate. Ooooh, the end must be sooooo close!

*Non profit meaning the WTBTS does not pay taxes, but they obviously make a profit.

26

Ever tried "Dry January"? Join Ms. OM & me for a 30 day liver vacation!

by Open mind in

jw
friends

there are a few things i picked up from watchtowerism that i still find value in.

(although, i could have easily picked them up elsewhere.).

one of these is the 30-day test to abstain from all booze.. .

JakeM2012

Well done Yoda, I've decided to not to have any iced tea (especially with sugar or lemon) for 30 days in January. Previously in one of the congregations there were ones that felt they were addicted to tea.

245

Still pointing your Finger when having a Rafter in your eye?

by DocHouse in

yes- everyone has faults and makes mistakes; an organization even more so.. yet, you ignore all the fingers pointing at you.. many here have no faith.

many here go to churches who lie about everything biblical; look at x-mas!.

but at least we know god and christ and try to live up to their name!.

JakeM2012

Internet Troll

An Internet troll, or simply troll in Internet slang, is someone who posts controversial, inflammatory, irrelevant or off-topic messages in an online community, such as an online discussion forum or chat room, with the primary intent of provoking other users into an emotional response or to generally disrupt normal on-topic discussion. (http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Internet+Troll)

At Bethel we used to use the Theocratic Warfare Expression, "Shit Stirrers" for someone like Doc House , but we cleaned it up and abbreviated the expression and just called them S.S. er's, so we would not stumble any newbie's or publishers touring WTBTS factories and offices. Sometimes we would just call them to their faces axsholes.

Just Saying

31

Does anyone have the 2014 stats from the 2015 Yearbook yet?

by berrygerry in

does anyone have the 2014 stats from the 2015 yearbook yet?.

(isn't it usually out by now - or are they waiting to celebrate new year's day?

).

JakeM2012

For the WTBTS to have claimed they have had the "undeniable truth" since July 1, 1879,

1) and never being honest about their obvious lack of "inside" knowledge to God,

2) or any solid evidence of the WTBTS's self-proclaimed designation that they are the "only channel to mankind" from the Almighty God,

3) AND the Fact that Nothing they ever have predicted/prophesied has come true in a most menial or remote way, ......

WHY believe anything they print or say on a projection screen, podium, printed material, or at an annual meeting?

I began my journey by doubting their many printed historical blunders, but now, I do NOT buy into anything they print, so why make an exception and "believe" there is a x.xx percent increase anywhere?

I am NOT, too proud, arrogant, or litigious,.....Just Asking...What gives?.. they have been full of BS since 1879.

With WTBTS's track record, if they were my stock broker, they would have been dumped in 1880.

With WTBTS's track record, If they were my navigator for circumnavigating the earth, they would have been fired before we departed.

With WTBTS's track record, if they were map makers, they would be bankrupt.

13

Any news from the elder schools held this month in Canada& USA

by wannaexit in

jw
friends

......inquiring minds want to know.

JakeM2012

Welcome, (Tim Drake) a.k.a, Robin! I also appreciate your summary of the elders school. Thank you very much.

I also appreciated your bringing out the point in 2 Cor 2:5,6, which reads from the NIV, (bold and italicized my own)

Forgiveness for the Offender

5 If anyone has caused grief, he has not so much grieved me as he has grieved all of you to some extent—not to put it too severely. 6 The punishment inflicted on him by the majority is sufficient. 7 Now instead, you ought to forgive and comfort him, so that he will not be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. 8 I urge you, therefore, to reaffirm your love for him.

I thought the admonition from 2 Thessalonians was also appropriate regarding limitations:

"14 Take special note of anyone who does not obey our instruction in this letter. Do not associate with them, in order that they may feel ashamed. 15 Yet do not regard them as an enemy, but warn them as you would a fellow believer."

I also applied this scripture from Romans 16:17, (below NIV). While an elder when I had to deal with a few situations that were associated with Presiding Overseers/or Coordinator Of the Body of Elder's (whatever) wive's believing they were so righteous (self-righteous), that they thought they could personally ex-nay anyone in the congregation, and there were many supporting sisters just dying to be part of the Presiding Overseers/or Coordinator Of the Body of Elder's clique so they would shun whoever the P.O wives shunned so they could be looked on favorably from these elder's wives. So these wives were basically the congregations self-appointed judge and jury.

All the churches of Christ send greetings.

"17 I urge you, brothers and sisters, to watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Keep away from them. 18 For such people are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the minds of naive people."

17

2nd and 3rd Genners -- Did the passing of the 1st/2nd Gen. cause doubts for you?

by Apognophos in

i can't discuss my family history here in detail while i'm still fading, but suffice to say that i'm a third-generation witness.

my grandparents' generation of witnesses expected the end to come in the middle of the 20th century.

they led spartan lives and largely went without having kids, as they awaited the imminent new system.

JakeM2012

My Great-Grand Parents traveled as early pioneers from 1919 to 1925 proclaiming that 1925 was the end of the world as we know it. Their preaching was based on J.F. Rutherford's calculations published in Millions Now Living Will Never Die. My Mom was baptized in 1941 and given the Children's Books by J. F. Rutherford in St. Louis.

I remember when PaPa died about fifteen years ago, as he laid in bed and expressed concern about his inevitable death, Mom sat on his bed told him he would not die because he was the generation of 1914 and that he would not pass away.

Personally, I never gave much credit to the whole generation Mumbo-Jumbo crap, but when it obviously became an eye-sore to JW's teachings and they started doctoring on it and changing it because nothing ever happened, I was then awake.

45

is all religon crap?

by thesaint in

jw
friends

like jw are crap is there any religon dat is atally conneced to god?.

JakeM2012

YadaYada, appropriate quote from Dalai Lama.

" Pastor Russell said "religion is a snare and a racket." I could be wrong, but I think it was the crook, drunkard, womanizer, Judge Rutherford that promoted this idea of snare and racket.

58

The truth about Hispanic JWs in the United States

by Hecce in

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i will like to share some facts about the spanish congregations in usa.

JakeM2012

VillageGirl, great post. Looks like you have the organiiiization all figured out:) "Isolate and Insulate", good point.

106

No more doubts for me! Good-bye JWN! We have THE TRUTH!

by DATA-DOG in

i could go on and on about my personal journey over the last 2 years or so, but i don't need to.

everything i needed to hear to finally lay my doubts to rest happened on one meeting night.

it could only be divine providence.

JakeM2012

Wasbline says, " Wasn't Steve Jobs Buddist ?"

Rumor had it that Steve Jobs was studying with Jehovah's Witnesses just before he died, well for several years I guess. Shortly after beginning to studying and going to the meetings he came up with the idea of the tablet, touch screen thingy dingy. He said it was so the older ones wouldn't have to carry those big book bags and would have all the information in a light weight solution. Steve also visited Bethel and made several suggestions.