Posts by Drearyweather

49

Will the GB Eventually "observe" Tithing?

by Sea Breeze in

jw
friends

found this on fb from the recent losch talk.

time for a new business model?.

.

Drearyweather

Now, it appears this average monthly "donation" per person has been implemented on each Cong.

Actually, this arrangement has been around for a number of years. The amount is 'suggested', which means the local body decides to send more or less than that. For e.g. my congregation which has quite a lot of wealthy families sends four times that number, whereas in the neighboring city, a congregation sends just a quarter of that donation. Many JW's send contributions directly to the branch offices through the website.

One of my friends from Bethel says that there is no shortage of money pouring in as there are more than enough wealthy JW congregations and families to keep the organization floating.

Until the core membership is strong, the GB doesn't care how many PIMO JW's on the fence keep falling off. There's not much money that comes from the PIMOs either ways as most stop contributing and just prod along for their families.

29

BREAKING NEWS | Highlights of 2023 Worldwide Service Year Report

by Drearyweather in

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.

Drearyweather

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. That represents an 85-percent increase over the 2022 service year! Bible studies: On average, Bible studies were up 28.5 percent to 7,281,212. Memorial attendance worldwide was 20,461,767, an increase of nearly 4 percent. In fact, 20 lands reported all-time peaks in Memorial attendance. The number of regular pioneers increased by 5.5 percent to 1,546,132. And the number of auxiliary pioneers increased by almost 94 percent, with 738,457 serving as auxiliary pioneers.

In many lands, our brothers cope with economic problems, social and political upheaval, war, persecution, and natural disasters. Nevertheless, of the 239 lands where we preach the good news, 58 lands reported all-time peaks in publishers. The Governing Body is thrilled to see this year’s worldwide report! As we continue to offer ourselves willingly, we trust that Jehovah will richly bless the worldwide preaching and disciple-making work.—Ps. 110:3; Matt. 24:14; 28:19, 20.

The complete 2023 worldwide report will be released on jw.org in January 2024.

11

Reinstatement Procedure

by KerryKing in

what else has changed?.

during the many years i have been df'd the org has printed a new bible, new song book, doctrinal changes, so has anything changed re reinstating someone?.

i'm contemplating the leap for family reasons but due to my job and young family commitments there is no way i would be able to attend every meeting for months on end.

Drearyweather

During the many years I have been df'd the org has printed a new Bible, new song book, doctrinal changes, so has anything changed re reinstating someone?

No, it has not changed.

Does zoom attendance count nowadays?? Or would I be expected to visit KH in every place I'm working in that week?

No, you are expected to be at the Kingdom Hall to show you are repentant. Its like saying sorry to your wife. You have to be there in front of her to get the forgiveness.

The oaths make one a dedicated and baptised person to Jehovah (not Jesus as the Bible states) and the WT society, by dfing they have effectively annulled the baptism oaths?

No, you don't need to get re-baptized. Baptism is like acquiring citizenship and disfellowshipping is like getting imprisoned for breaking the laws of the country. When you are released you don't apply for citizenship again.

Another question, if reinstatement is successful, is the person required to sign a new Publisher record card, or do they still have the old one and simply continue its use?

Depends on which country you are in and what data laws prevail. But in any case, a new card is always made when you are reinstated.

Reinstating request would be to a neighboring cong to the one where I was df'd as I live in their territory now.

The request needs to be sent to the congregation where you are attending the meetings. If the orginal committee is not far away, then they will come and conduct the reinstatement hearing, or else, a new committee in your current congregation will handle the matter and forward their recommendation to the original commitee.

5

JW Broadcasting Nov. 23

by mikeflood in

that's gonna be the confirmation about no counting time for publishers, nothing still in their site.

.

Drearyweather

JW Broadcasting programs are uploaded on the first Monday of every month. So it would be November 6th.

53

Convention Blast

by Zilgee in

jw convention blast in kerala india.

one died.

Drearyweather

Didn't the fact that a bloke on his own had four tiffin boxes raise any eyebrows?

Not sure how it happens in other countries, but in India its common for the man of the family to carry a bag full of tiffin boxes, water bottles, and snacks for his family to the convention. I myself carried my family bag which had 3 tiffins and 4 bottles and small packets of chips for my and my wife's family.

The bomber's in-laws were there in the audience and he pleaded his wife in the morning not to let them go to this convention. Hence, he had to strategically place the bombs away from his in-laws.

Also, rather than using shrapnel, he placed 2 liters of petrol near the bombs to inflict maximum damage. His detonator was amateur, so he had to be within 500 metres of each explosive to detonate them.

53

Convention Blast

by Zilgee in

jw convention blast in kerala india.

one died.

Drearyweather

Total 3 casualties till now, with the death of the 12 year old girl just a few hours ago. 4 JW's still in critical condition and on life support. 56 JW's burnt with 40% burns and getting treated.

Edit: One change: The bomber admitted to the police that he placed 4 explosives around the auditorium to inflict maximum damage, and sat on the last row near the door. After the opening prayer was said and the audience settled down, he denoted each explosive within 5 seconds of each, and 3 exploded. After recording each explosion on his mobile, he fled through the door and traveled to another city amidst the chaos.

53

Convention Blast

by Zilgee in

jw convention blast in kerala india.

one died.

Drearyweather

I was in the neighboring state's convention when this happened, and all conventions on Sunday and the next week in South India have been canceled.

Going by what my friends say, the bomber used to study with a JW and was a nationalist. He had created a lot of problems for the local congregations in the past.

He came to the convention dressed as a convention attendee, planted the bombs in tiffin boxes while associating with people there, and left as soon as the opening prayer began. Three bombs exploded within 5 seconds of each, and the resulting smoke made evacuation difficult. The body of the sister who died was charred beyond recognition.

In his video, the bomber said he was concerned about children and what JW's teach them, however, he chose to bomb a place where multiple children were present. Sadly, a 12-year old girl has suffered 95% burns and is on ventilator support, and 3 other children (ages 5-10) suffered 60% burns and are in critical care units.

10

found a tract at my door/with a catch!

by enoughisenough in

i found a tract at my door.

it was from a local baptist church!

( actually,i think someone wanted to give me a donation for the left over yardsale items i gave away.

Drearyweather

I worked with an elderly pioneer sister most of the time in my group. If someone gave her a religious pamphlet in return for her tract, she just smiled and replied: "Sweetheart, I took great efforts to come to your door, tell my thoughts and give you this tract, I would be happy if you come and find my house and give me a proper presentation of what it contains and then I'll choose if I want to take it or not- in the same way I am giving you the choice now."

8

"Watchtower" vs Jehovah's Witnesses

by NotFormer in

jw
friends

rattigan350, whenever someone brings up the failings of the organisation we refer to as "the watchtower", tries to define the argument away by saying that the watchtower is a corporate entity and has very little to do with the kingdom halls, the christian congregation of jehovah's witnesses.. could someone who knows their stuff please explain if this is a false dichotomy, using the literature which is used by r&f jws, if possible?.

it gets kind of tiresome when someone makes a point about something that the watchtower said and mr. apologist comes along and tries to define away what is usually a very good point..

Drearyweather

Why don't the board members of the WTBTS Inc. run the annual self-praise fest???????

The Annual Business Meeting is conducted by the board members of WTBTS of Pennsylvania Inc. (President: Robert Ciranko) and only the members of the corporation are present.

It's the spiritual program that happens after the Annual Business Meeting which is headed by the GB members.

For the rank and file, this spiritual program is called the Annual Meeting, which is separate from the Annual Business Meeting of the corp members.

31

Jehovah's Witnesses no longer count time. How is this news affecting moral and meeting attendance at local congregations?

by Balaamsass2 in

no more watchtower and awake mags every 2 weeks to place.

no private home book studies.

no more "essential" spiritual food meals 5x a week.

Drearyweather

'Sincere ones' - these are JWs like my mother who tow by the line and sincerely put efforts in their preaching work and count the actual time they preached, not like the fakers. She believes that nothing has changed because Jehovah will anyways know how much time you put in the work and will reward people for that.

It's her reasoning that if Jehovah can change the circumcision requirement and first-century Christians accepted it, who are we to complain about such a measly change in time reporting? and even if people (elders too) are slacking in accepting it, Jehovah will correct it too the way he corrected Peter through Paul.

Surely there are many who have questions, even the Elders?

Of course, people will have questions, but everyone is waiting for the annual meeting video that will be uploaded on Nov 6. and even if people don't accept then as the current CO said to the BOE last week - you either shape in or you ship out.