Posts by Drearyweather

7

Question about worship

by charity7 in

hi guys, non jw here but i was wondering why jw's believe going out in service is worship?

are they just told that or do they try to use scripture to support that?.

Drearyweather

Hi Charity,

There are a number of Scriptures that they use to support their preaching (some which i remember):

Matt 24:14, 28:19,20; Romans 10:9, 1 Cor 9:16, Heb 13:15, Luke 24:47, etc.

Regarding who would do the preaching work, they believe that the NT was primarily written for the anointed, so the anointed would be forefront in the work. However, since John the baptizer, Noah and other prophets of old did evangelizing work (to some extent) and since these are believed to have the earthly hope, those of the great crowd are encouraged to support the anointed ones in their preaching activity.

They also use Rev 22:17 to support why anointed and great crowd, both have to do the preaching work:

And the spirit and the bride+ keep on saying, “Come!” and let anyone hearing say, “Come!” and let anyone thirsting come;+ let anyone who wishes take life’s water free.+

Bride: Anointed 144,000. All others hearing: other sheep.

36

Sample Disassociation Letter please?

by LifesNotOver in

i want to send a disassociation letter to the elders at my old congregation.

how do i address it and what wording do i use?

i know it's not something i have to do, it's symbolic for me.

Drearyweather

Zeb, regarding your comment,

However I am ever confused on this need to resign in writing. I was baptized and never received a card or letter of welcome nor did any of my family. So why do the wts require a written notice of departure?

When you were baptized, you did not receive any letter, however, the date of your baptism was recorded on your Publisher Card. This publisher card served as a proof of your baptism and being a member of the JW organization. The card moved along with you wherever you transferred.

A letter of disassociation is an official document for the elders of the congregation which is recorded and filed in their confidential reports. In the future, if a court case or a child abuse case comes up and the disassociated individual is a party to it, the elders at that particular time will have the necessary details about the individual and whether he was a JW during the reported incident.

Simply put, you may hate the company/organization where you are working, but you need to submit a letter of resignation if you want to leave. Keeping things official is always the best and minimizes future problems.

LifesNotOver

Most of the elders won’t be interested in reading and analyzing your letter or your points, no matter how appealing it is. Their confidential file is full of such letters and at the most, the secretary of your congregation will skim through it to explain to the CO or other elders and for preparing the S-77 form. One sentence would be more than enough.

13

Cart Witnessing Today In Liverpool [See Pic]

by pale.emperor in

remember the jw command only a few years ago "fully accomplish your ministry"?

looks like these young jw's didnt get the memo.. whats interesting is, just a few meters away were some street preachers handing out flyers and shouting about jesus.

i cant stand them either but at least you couldnt say they were skiving on the job.. bet they're still counting this as time as well.. .

Drearyweather

pale.emperor.

Those are packed up carts, not yet ready for display. Lets be fair and not start teasing and making fun of those sitting on the bench beside it. We dont even know if all of those are JW's or only the one guy sitting besides it.

I know about the sentiments we have about their cart work, but i'm particularly talking about the picture you posted and the young people sitting there.

25

It's right there in our faces, how could we NOT see it?

by NikL in

i know there have been many many posts on here over the years on the deity of jesus.. i am submitting this one because i am feeling a little confused.. the thing is, i am not the sharpest knife in the drawer and i know this.

so when i am going through my bible reading (to all you haters, yes i still do it) i see so many scriptures that just fly in the face of everything the jws teach about jesus.. i begin to wonder if indeed i am diseased in the mind ,as they will try to paint me, because it seems so plain to me.. i never even gave it a though growing up as to if jesus and god were equal.

i just didn't.. now when i read scriptures like philippians 9.... 9 for this very reason, god exalted him to a superior position+ and kindly gave him the name that is above every other name,+ 10 so that in the name of jesus every knee should bend—of those in heaven and those on earth and those under the ground+— 11 and every tongue should openly acknowledge that jesus christ is lord+ to the glory of god the father.. .

Drearyweather

NiKL,

I read Eph. 1:20, 21 in context with Eph. 15:27:

For he "has put everything under his feet." Now when it says that "everything" has been put under him, it is clear that this does not include God himself, who put everything under Christ.

18

Violent Games/Movie

by Saethydd in

all through my childhood, i was told about the evils of violence (and magic) in entertainment, i doubt i could count the number of movies and video games i wasn't allowed to enjoy for that very reason.

i did always watch movies and play video games with a certain amount of violence in them, but i was careful to keep it at the teen/pg-13 rating.. in the last year or so though i've started trying out games like skyrim, fallout 3, and thief.

(since i still live with my parents i'm careful about where and when i play them.

Drearyweather

I was raised in a Catholic family and still violent video games, horror movies, etc. were a strict no-no. Most of the kids in our vicinity were addicted to violent video games and some of these kids started to identify themselves with violent characters and used profanities. All of this blew out my parents minds and nothing of this sort ever came to our home. But our house was never void of entertainment and hence we never felt that we were missing something,

All of those kids are grown up and good people now.

As far as I’m aware, there are inconclusive studies in this matter. Not all violent video game players become aggressive and short tempered individuals, the way not all smokers get lung cancer. The entertainment industry is probably reluctant to admit that they are marketing a harmful product, much like the tobacco industry was reluctant to admit that they were marketing a harmful product.

However, in my house and in the future for my kids too, I would prefer not to expose them to violent video games or smoking.

17

The great R.B.C rip off!!!

by karter in

jw
friends

i was on a job last week and the p.o from my old congro was there and told me they had just re modled the k.h.the r.b.c quoted them $240.000 they did it for $120.000 so why the big diffrence in price??

?.

Drearyweather

In India, for new kingdom halls, all finance is provided by the LDC. After the Kingdom Hall mortgages were cancelled, the congregations were advised to keep a minimum balance (not specified) to take care of nominal expenses and send all excess funds to the branch. All major expenses, maintenance costs, lease deposits are taken care by the branch office. Any expense which cannot be covered by the congregation is passed on to the branch office.

For spaces leased for KH's, the lease agreement is prepared directly between the Watchtower and the lessor/landlord. The rent is paid directly by the WT to the Landlord. Excess funds are sent to the WT and is used for building KH's for poorer congregations.

For the Kingdom Hall in my area which is on lease, INR 1.5 million was given by the branch to the landlord as the lease deposit and INR 900,000 is paid yearly to the landlord by the WT as rent.

45

Why the need for 144000 imperfect humans to Rule with Christ Jesus for 1000 years ? Is he incapable of ruling by himself ?

by smiddy in

does this make any sense whatsoever ?

isnt jesus christ the king ?why the need for 144000 king priests to help him ?.

is he not up for the job?

Drearyweather

Smiddy

The only reason I can think of is that all everything created by God has its own purpose. Angels have been used by God for various purposes, executioners (for Assyrians), transmitting messages (Gabriel), rescuing individuals (Daniel’s three friends, Peter, Lot), encouraging (Jesus in the garden), and performing ministering work (Heb. 1:14), etc. The last time they did something against God ended badly (during Noah’s flood)

In the Bible, angels have never been used in rulership positions for earthly matters. Even in the greater arrangement of things, they have not been purposed to be used as rulers or priests. In fact, God chose to reveal secrets to men on this earth, not to angels (1 Peter 1:12).

And observing will always be observing. Angels will have a wealth of insight and information into human behavior through their years of observing. But the most important aspect that they lack is mental and physical involvement and exposure to varying human patterns. Centuries of observing from heaven will never give them the physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, religious, social, subjective and tacit experience that can be gained by just 1 year of physical involvement with humans. Jesus experienced all of this as a human.

And so I feel humans will always be apt for the job.

But yep, will feel sorry for the pissed off angels.

45

Why the need for 144000 imperfect humans to Rule with Christ Jesus for 1000 years ? Is he incapable of ruling by himself ?

by smiddy in

does this make any sense whatsoever ?

isnt jesus christ the king ?why the need for 144000 king priests to help him ?.

is he not up for the job?

Drearyweather

crazyguy,

In the Original Greek as you said, the scriptures in the NT mention the role of these priests as "Kingdom of priests", or "priests reigning on the earth", "made us to be a kingdom and priests", "royal priesthood", etc.

Barring Melchizedek of old, in the Israelite kingdom, the roles of Kings and Priests were separated. No King was allowed to perform priestly duties, neither did the priests have any part in reigning or ruling.

Jesus Christ is rightly mentioned as priest like Melzdk, as he would be performing a dual role of future king and a high-priest. In the similar way, those associated with Jesus in heaven are described to be as priests as well as reigning with Jesus. Hence like Jesus, they too would have a dual role of reigning as subordinate rulers (or kings) and performing priestly duties (Royal priesthood or Kingly priesthood).

45

Why the need for 144000 imperfect humans to Rule with Christ Jesus for 1000 years ? Is he incapable of ruling by himself ?

by smiddy in

does this make any sense whatsoever ?

isnt jesus christ the king ?why the need for 144000 king priests to help him ?.

is he not up for the job?

Drearyweather

anointed1, you said,

Yet the implied truth is that God and Jesus need help from "experienced humans" which actually dishonor them.

I’m not sure how the comparisons between angels and humans imply Christ’s incapability. Do the Bible or JW publications quote or mention that the reason for the selection of 144,000 is due to Jesus’ or Jehovah’s incapability as rulers? I would be interested to know specific statements or quotes regarding this.

Just to know this from another perspective: Two days ago, I had decided to paint my backyard fence and the Outer wall of my house. I am experiences and competent in this job and in fact I have done it alone many times before. My close cousin, who is also experienced in this work, had come over to our place to visit us and I invited him to join me in the task. Does the fact that I invited my cousin imply that I am incapable and thus needed his help? How does this dishonor me?

I feel that inviting or calling someone over to join me in the work is different from asking someone to help me because I am unable to do it.

But yes, you can chose to believe otherwise.

45

Why the need for 144000 imperfect humans to Rule with Christ Jesus for 1000 years ? Is he incapable of ruling by himself ?

by smiddy in

does this make any sense whatsoever ?

isnt jesus christ the king ?why the need for 144000 king priests to help him ?.

is he not up for the job?

Drearyweather

anointed1, you said

"Jehovah could have given angels as co-kings and co-priests along with Jesus, but He extended this privilege to humans because they are the one who are tried with Jesus on earth who gave a fitting reply to Satan’s taunt."

This comparison is between angels and humans. According to this statement, it indicates the incapability of the angels (not Christ) to serve as rulers, hence humans were chosen.