Posts by Drearyweather

80

Governing Body of Jehovah's Witnesses launches worldwide campaign againt Russia

by jwleaks in

jehovah's witnesses mobilize global response to threat of ban in russia.

march 21, 2017. https://www.jw.org/en/news/releases/by-region/russia/jw-mobilize-global-response-to-threat-of-ban/.

new york—threatened with an imminent ban on their worship in russia, jehovah’s witnesses are responding with a direct appeal to kremlin and supreme court officials for relief through a global letter-writing campaign.

Drearyweather

Hi tor,

Got the best idea ever, you know when you go to the card store and they have those big cards that has enough room for many people to sign....The org. can have every congregation do that...I think that's better don't you...

Buying a card and getting everyone sign on it is not the best way to show support for a cause. Anyone can buy a big card and sign with all sorts of different styles to show support. Writing and sending individual letters shows effort- even if they are copy-paste- at least you had to pay the postage for each letter.

In the end it's never about a cause it's always about the money....maybe JW's don't support the gov't in Russia but take advantage of all the benefits...just like they do here in the USA....maybe they are a burden on their society...

What exactly do you mean by supporting the govt? There are heck load of people in Russia (hundred times the number of JW's) who don't pay taxes, don't vote and thus are a burden to the society.

I think it's more about $$$, than anything else...
No need for anyone to speculate about this. Its obvious in their press release on jw.org where they say that they are going to lose their kingdom halls and their administrative office. Banning adherents from meeting together and confiscating properties have never worked and will not work. At least for JW's.

42

#1 ANSWER THIS: Why would an omnibenevolent and omniscient god put us through tests of faith?

by EdenOne in

i'll be starting a series "answer this:" with thought-provoking questions for debate.

your arguments for and against are most welcome.. i'll start with this: .

why would an omnibenevolent and omniscient god put us through tests of faith?.

Drearyweather

EdenOne,

There are many ways of answering and analyzing this question.

People will argue on the premise: "God does not put us through tests" but "allows tests to come on us".

You said: Not stopping evil when you have the power to do so is evil in itself. Not necessarily in all cases. It depends on how much we know about the 'tests' people are facing. My cousin is currently suffering from a terminal disease with unimaginable pain. Some people around him feel that if God has unlimited power, why does he let him go through such pain? Why doesn't he heal him?

However, known to us and other family members, my cousin (never a JW) had made extreme bad choices in life (drugs, violent gangs, etc) and is now suffering from STD and a miserable life. Should God come and stop his suffering since he has the power to do so? Who is evil? God or my cousin? Is God putting him through tests of faith? or Is God allowing him to suffer the consequences of his own decisions? His JW wife is doing extremely well in taking care of him, their children, her parents, doing two jobs a day and living as a JW. All with a constant smile on her face. If you ask me, do miracles happen? Yes, what she achieves is nothing short of a miracle.It is because of her sheer willpower that he has managed to survive so long. So i feel, If God exists, then he has done a good job by not miraculously healing my brother and at the same he is doing a great job by empowering my sis-in-law to endure all this.

You can argue on this point on and on. According to me, it all depends on how much I know about the situation or the 'evil' and trying to understand why certain things we call 'evil' are happening, rather than squarely putting the entire blame on God.

We are all human beings created with a sense of proper decision making. We either suffer evil because of our own decisions or due to bad decisions taken by others. And it is up to us whether we chose to sit and cry over our misery and blame God for our suffering or stand up and try to use the 'God-given' abilities to come out of our suffering.

55

Looking forward to going to Memorial this year!

by kpop in

jw
friends

i have some tricks to play.

i know it may sound childish but i feel that creating havoc and forcing the memorial to be postponed will be the highlight of the night!

wish me luck!.

Drearyweather

Farmgirl,

Some points to remember (most of these have been repeated earlier):

1. No matter what your disagreement is with the ORGANIZATION, it's wrong to take it out on the ADHERENTS, who really have minimal control over how they think and act.

2. Right to 'peaceful' assembly is still a legal/civil right. This disruption would not have worked against me when I was among them. Right or wrong.

3. People creating havoc during peaceful religious services will be classified as Unemployed, lazy and bigoted, not Public Activists.

4. There would be children in there. You don't do things like this to people just because you disagree with them.

5. By disrupting the local congregation's memorial to protest against the GB, a person is just going the wrong way and focusing on the wrong people.

6. JW's believe that they are "Objects of Hatred". Public displays/disruptions don't do anything but reinforce the idea that God's people will be persecuted.

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.