Posts by Drearyweather

16

Will Watchtower “simplify” the baptism arrangement at circuit assemblies?

by Londo111 in

watchtower ever “simplifies” its “arrangements”.

no more food.

one-day circuit assemblies…no more “special assembly day”--it was a sad occasion anyways.

Drearyweather

How insane would that be give a 30 min.talk on Baptism and no baptismal candidates are their ?
.Maybe the penny will drop on those that can see the stupidity of this organisation having a Baptism talk when their are no baptismal candidates.

Not necessarily.

Actually, it would be insane, if the one giving the talk asks the baptism candidates to stand and then finds on the stage itself that there is no candidate there to stand up.

Usually, when there is no baptismal candidate, then CO informs the one assigned with the talk much in advance and he changes the talk and prepares it as a normal talk dealing with the subject of baptism and to encourage the unbaptized publishers sitting in the audience. So nothing insane with this.

It is as simple as having a talk on disfellowshipping or divorce even if there are no such cases in the audience or the congregation.

35

RUMOUR - Regarding future memorials

by Listener in

i heard this on the youtube channel - bad jw round table discussions and i normally don't give much thought to rumours, i did find this one interesting.one of the guys on the channel said that there are plans that 'the other sheep' will be told not to attend any future memorials.he was asked how credible was this and he said that it is talk going around by those in the know, just like there had been those that knew about the fairly recent new edition of the bible being in production.even if this is probably just a rumour, the idea has a lot of merit.

the benefits for the organization outweigh the negatives and would fit in with their current direction.here are some of the benefits, for the org.

that could come from it- the biggest benefit would come from not having to accommodate so many attendants, which are more than double a normal meeting.

Drearyweather

that there are plans that 'the other sheep' will be told not to attend any future memorials.

At least the 2018 memorial is open for everyone, and this time it is on a Saturday:

https://www.jw.org/en/jehovahs-witnesses/memorial/

Memorial of Jesus’ Death

Once each year in thousands of locations worldwide, we commemorate the death of Jesus. We do so because he commanded his followers: “Keep doing this in remembrance of me.” (Luke 22:19) The next observance will be on:

Saturday, March 31, 2018.

We invite you to join us for this special occasion. This meeting, like all our meetings, is open to the public. Seats are free and no collections are ever taken.

7

J.W.'s shut their minds to this teaching

by The Searcher in

one of the "elephants in the room" which j.w.

's will not and cannot question or discuss, is the org's dogma that a person's own death wipes out their sins!..

when active, i asked two c.o.

Drearyweather

From their website:

http://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/2016009

WHAT ELSE WE LEARN FROM THE BIBLE

People who die are acquitted of, or pardoned for, their sins. (Romans 6:7) There is no further punishment for sin after a person dies.
http://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/2016009

11

Drug could reduce bleeding deaths of JW moms. WT Pay Attention

by Lee Elder in

a new study in lancet shows a drug, tranexamic acid, could save the life of a preganant jw woman who is experiencing heaving bleeding following childbirth.

hopefully, watchtower h.i.s.

is paying attention, and gets this information out asap.

Drearyweather

Bear in mind, however, that physicians are not generally inclined to take unsolicited medical advice from a religious publishing corporation to begin with, particularly when there is no double blind study to confirm it is a best practice.

As per my experience, JW HLC members do not provide any medical advice to the physicians. The medical documents that they provide to the physicians contains options and alternative medical treatment that is available in the city/country which can be used as an alternative to blood transfusion.

And these documents possessed by the HLC are not just watchtower or awake articles, but actual medical documents written by medical experts. A sample of this can be seen on https://www.jw.org/en/medical-library/

In India, around 5 years ago, a family friend of ours was admitted with a severe heart disease that required immediate blood transfusion. The local surgeon flatly refused the option for bloodless surgery and mentioned that there is no option yet available for such a treatment in the country. It was then that the HLC explained the surgeon about the treatment options and immediately shifted her to another hospital with a surgeon who agreed for the bloodless treatment. The treatment was successful and the story went on to become national headlines:

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/42-year-old-woman-has-a-bloodless-heart-operation/articleshow/17286966.cms

Another case that happened with the intervention of the local HLC:

http://www.moolchandfertility.com/media-centre/press-releases/india-s-first-bloodless

My brother in law, who is a member of the HLC, mentioned that every month, meetings are organized with the leading surgeons of the country and quarterly conferences are arranged by the HIS department by the local branch where physicians and surgeons are invited to address and update the community with the latest drugs and options available for JW's.

37

Circumcision....Perfect Adam....Uncircumcised....1st century Christians...circumcision ont required

by blondie in

jw
friends

i know this has been discussed many times, but i was watching a news story about female genital mutilation (not female circumcision) and segued mentally into why the hassle about male babies having to be circumcised, christians especially.

even the wts flipflops on this...... if adam, the first perfect man, not under the jewish law code, was given a foreskin by god as an aspect of his physical perfection, why then do so many "christian" people have their boy babies circumcised?.

if a health issue....why did god create the perfect man, adam, with a foreskin?.

Drearyweather

Hi blondie, nice question, I can only think of the following points:

Could it be that Adam's fall from perfection made circumcision a health issue for imperfect men? The Bible though does not directly comment on this.

The Bible says that God made it as a sign or as a covenant with Abraham. Buy why Circumcision?

In the Bible, being unircumcised was usually connected with impurity and being obstinate. Stephen told about it during his speech before the Sanhedrin about the covenant of circumcision and called those men as 'uncircumcised in heart'.

During Joshua's time, when the new generation of Israelites were circumcised after crossing the Jordan, God told that he had thus rolled off the Egyptian reproach from them.

Thus circumcision was considered a sign or a covenant of pure worship. However, this was a covenant between a person and God, and was not to be served as a visible sign for other people.

Why did the Hebrews take it seriously as no one could see it and thus get stumbled? Most of the Israelites would have been aware of the case where Zipporah circumcised her son and saved him from God's fury as they neglected the command to circumcise their child. So yes, God directly intervened to punish if the circumcision law was not followed and Jehovah was known for being pretty strict with his rules.

But then, in the first century this practice was discontinued as requirements for being God's people changed.

51

NEWSWEEK: After Ban, Jehovah’s Witnesses in Russia Harassed by Police During Religious Services

by AndersonsInfo in

jw
friends

http://www.newsweek.com/jehovahs-witnesses-russia-ban-police-589791.

after ban, jehovah’s witnesses in russia harassed by police during religious services.

by jason le miere on 4/25/17 at 4:48 pm .

Drearyweather

Russia is not fighting terrorism or extremism, but just propelling itself into becoming an authoritarian government. No wonder, the US state department official commented:

“The United States is extremely concerned by the Russian government’s actions targeting and repressing members of religious minorities, including Jehovah’s Witnesses, under the pretense of combating extremism.”

http://www.newsweek.com/jehovahs-witnesses-ban-russia-religion-590350

12

The wages of sin...

by joey jojo in

somewhere in the bible it says; the wages of sin is death.. just death.

not pain or anguish or agonising illnesses.

so , why do we have to endure all of the heart-breaking torment that goes along with life?

Drearyweather

Somewhere in the bible it says; The wages of sin is death.
Just death. Not pain or anguish or agonising illnesses.

The Bible also says, "man has dominated man to his injury" or 'man lords over others to his own hurt'.

Most of the misery we face is because of the vile actions of other men. Hence suffering precedes death in many cases,

61

Would human settlement of Mars invalidate Bible prophecy?

by truthseeker in

jw
friends

i don't think this topic has been discussed before but yesterday i read something to the effect that trump wants a human mission to mars to be completed within his presidency.. with that being said, the watchtower teaches that what started on earth ends on earth, in other words, the fall of adam and eve would end with the passing of the 1,000 year millennial reign when christ destroys all his enemies, rebellious "perfect" humans, and the devil and his demons who are let out the abyss for a short while.

he then hands the kingdom back to his father.

an elder in my old congregation once told us during a public talk that he was an ardent astronomer but then referenced the scripture where it says, "the earth he has given to the sons of men" (psalms 115:16).

Drearyweather

Human settlement and colonization of Mars would require complex life support measures and artificial environment. This is greatly due to the reduced air pressure and 0.1% oxygen in the atmosphere there. With 95% carbon dioxide in the air, the residents on Mars will not be able to go outside their 'homes' without pressure suits and bottled oxygen!

On Mars, it would be just about surviving in the environment there, rather than living. Whereas, we humans are made to live and enjoy and the atmosphere available on earth is just suited for that.

Hence the planned colonization of Mars would just mean to create earth-like atmosphere in controlled systems so that humans can survive.Mars would need a great amount of terraforming to allow humans to live unaided.

Mars can become a second home for humanity only if science is able to transform Mars so that it becomes a place where humans can live and breathe and enjoy unaided and not just create rooms and colonies with earth-like atmosphere where people would be spending their lives adjusting and surviving in an un-conducive environment.

11

Last song at Regional Convention of 2016 was stolen from Audiomachine

by LevelThePlayingField in

as far as i know, i did a search, and you may not know this but, the last song play during a music video of the regional convention, was not of watchtower.

it's stolen from a group called audiomachine off their album epica.

the song is called eternal flame and it is exactly and i mean, note for note the same as the music video.

Drearyweather

As far as I know, I did a search, and you may not know this but,

This was discussed on this forum 8 months ago:

https://www.jehovahs-witness.com/topic/5664700752723968/audio-machine-satanic-band-wt-used

A source from Service Desk from the local branch had mentioned that WT purchased the license for using this music.

11

Whatever Happened to the District Overseers? Who Took Over their Responsibilities?

by Village Idiot in

when i was in, during the 1970s, i would see circuit overseers twice a year.

i think there were two occasions when i saw a district overseer give a talk at the hall.

were eliminated as part of a streamlining process but who the hades has taken on their responsibilities?

Drearyweather

The DO arrangement was scrapped as circuits were no longer grouped into districts. All the DO's (unless anyone was above the age limit of 70) went down and became CO's. Except that, these ex-DO's came under the unofficial category of 'Experienced CO's". Currently the ex-DO's are doing the following work:

Head and supervise all the special committees formed by the branch to investigate high level wrongdoings.
Serve as Branch representatives for Shepherding the CO's.
Go as CO's to other countries to congregations of the same language
Serve as Instructors for all the various schools

All current CO's are rated by the Branch Representative.