1. Adelaide, Mate
2. Melbourne, Mate
3. Queensland, Mate
4. Brisbane, Mate
5. Canberra, Mate
6. Perth, Mate
i have an oral presentation tomorrow, and i need to know the correct pronunciation of a few geographical features in your country that i can read on paper, but have never heard in spoken language.. so please, if you will, spell out for me phonetically how you would say the following:.
1. adelaide.
2. melbourne .
1. Adelaide, Mate
2. Melbourne, Mate
3. Queensland, Mate
4. Brisbane, Mate
5. Canberra, Mate
6. Perth, Mate
the truth that leads to eternal life?
i am trying to raise some money for school, and my father has given me consent to sell his collection on e-bay, which dates back to the rutherford days.
my sibling and its progeny have no interest in retaining the library, so he would rather sell the books, than see the collection eventually go in the trash.. .
Hi talesin, Could you post or PM me the link to the ebay offer?
so tonight i get to be graced by the presence of one of the anointed.
last time he visited to help me i told him that i have a problem with the 1914 date.
now obviously every single aspect of this date is wrong, but i started off by asking how come they end it in 537 instead of 539, when the king of babylon obviously received his punishment in 539, as foretold by jeremiah.
Thanks for the responses. What a waste of time. Got the usual, show me another organization that preaches, is neutral and teaches these doctrines. Apparently my reading of Jeremiah 25:12 where the end of the 70 years prophecy the king of Babylon will be punished is just me putting words in Jehovah’s mouth. What a joy to 'read together' the scriptures that show how foolish worldly wisdom is(1 Cor. 1& 2 and 2 Thess. 2). Some of the highlights was "everything follows perfectly and the things that happened in 1914 prove this" and when discussing the one war which claimed many more lives that WW1 (JWFacts), I got "it’s impossible, I don’t believe it". Yes ladies and gentlemen, a futile exercise indeed. I should of known better...
so tonight i get to be graced by the presence of one of the anointed.
last time he visited to help me i told him that i have a problem with the 1914 date.
now obviously every single aspect of this date is wrong, but i started off by asking how come they end it in 537 instead of 539, when the king of babylon obviously received his punishment in 539, as foretold by jeremiah.
So tonight I get to be graced by the presence of one of the ‘anointed’. Last time he visited to ‘help me’ I told him that I have a problem with the 1914 date. Now obviously every single aspect of this date is wrong, but I started off by asking how come they end it in 537 instead of 539, when the king of Babylon obviously received his punishment in 539, as foretold by Jeremiah.
After first telling me, “so what difference does 2 years make” (yes, I know!), he then said he will go and research it further and come again, which is tonight. At the last visit he also spoke about the increase in wars etc. and how WW1 was worse than any previous wars put together before. He also spoke about that Time article which mentioned the prophecy being fulfilled.
Now I’ve done plenty of research on this, but I believe that one can never know enough. Also, my believing wife will be there, so I might be presented with some opportunities.
Any suggestions for discussion related on the above?
this is my first post on this forum, though it feels like i already know some of you here.
i have been lurking for a couple of months now, and i must say, there honestly seems to be more love and respect here than any forum i have ever seen on any forum of any kind.
i am 25 years old, married 3 years to my wonderful wife who is 22. we had a somewhat classic jw upbringing... which i now know has been our biggest problem.
Hi there Captain,
Same story for me. It’s amazing how your wife’s attitude changes when you mention your doubts.
As you mentioned regarding the supposed influence from Satan, you are now viewed as wrong, needing adjustment etc., no matter how sound your reasoning is. Remember this when the elders want to come and visit. They will come under the guise of "research is good" and listening to what you have to say. The fact however is that they view your thinking as incorrect, something that needs adjusting to WT standards and doctrines. You will most likely not change their belief and most definitely not change anything in the WT society, so don’t even try. Your effort should be directed to your wife. Be shrewd and don’t incriminate yourself. Take it slow.
Leave a few things laying around or on the computer for her to find. Not too much anti-JW stuff, because lots of JWs won’t open that stuff and it might get you into trouble, just articles and scans of publications most JWs don’t know about and could dent their cult armour. Use more questions than statements, get her to tell you things.
JWFacts has good articles that are well researched and I also liked the direct publication quoting and scans of JWFiles. From personal observation, JWs own articles are mostly their worst enemies and your best allies.
I wish you the best in your endeavours.
in the time of the end, (great tribulation/armageddon/whatever) the activities of jehovah's witnesses would be severely increasing?
didn't they give the impression that they would have like 93% pioneers and be "studying" their literature with tons and tons of people who need to get into the organization before it's too late?
isn't it supposed to be a great army?.
Strange topic this.
One of the 'anointed' came over 2 days ago to 'answer' my questions (and he failed, miserably). He started off by reading an article in the 81 watchtower about the Jews walking around the city and on the seventh day, they did it seven times, thus 'increasing their activity'. This would also happen in 'the last days' when the 'preaching work' will increase. He then showed us the table in the yearbook regarding the increase in 'aux. pioneers'.
I've been wanting to post on this, to get your thoughts.
(stupid IE9)
in the time of the end, (great tribulation/armageddon/whatever) the activities of jehovah's witnesses would be severely increasing?
didn't they give the impression that they would have like 93% pioneers and be "studying" their literature with tons and tons of people who need to get into the organization before it's too late?
isn't it supposed to be a great army?.
good day to everyone.
after reading and benefiting from the numerous experiences posted here, i thought it would be proper for me to share my story too.
i was born and brought up as an anglican church member.
Hi All,
Firstly, thanks for all the replies, it really is encouraging.
MickeyMouse and RayPublisher, thanks for the PM. I will respond as soon as I figure it out.
Blacksheep, the questioning technique sure seems to work. Even though I have not had any vocal response, asking questions like the flip flop on organ transplants and “what is your feeling on failed prophecy” sure displays very telling body language. I will continue to use this technique.
Lozhasleft, you called it correctly and she has definitely gone into premature shock. Believe it or not, the elders advised her to take things easy. Kindness and love are most definitely the only way. Also patience and calmness helps a lot.
Bromac, if you are in the same position than I am in, don’t follow my example. As Black sheep mentioned, questions are the way to go. Not too many though, as this will have the same response as confessing all you believe.
Discreetslave, I actually told her that the day I spoke to her. Later one of my family members were told that I want to force my opinion on my wife and that she is scared of her spiritual wellbeing. That off course was a total lie and I reaffirmed my position to my wife regarding this. Regarding the spiritual weakness, I am playing that card to an extent. The elder wants me to pose my questions and they will answer accordingly. I will most definitely need to be shrewd and careful in this.
Momma-tossed-me, I am sorry to hear about your situation. Hopefully mine does not follow the same course. Did you also go the confess all route?
Quandry, she did not exactly come to me all by herself. I approached her. Still, you are right about the feelings for an unbeliever being against the rules. As one associates more with witnesses, you come to realize that many break certain rules. Entertainment, studying and many more. Im not judging, just saying that under it all, they sometimes tend to be ‘normal’ on certain things. When one notices such ‘weaknesses’, one could use them to ‘make contact’ with their real personality.
Yourmomma, even though the elders seem to have advised against this for now, they probably believe I can still be ‘saved’. I will allow them to think so for now, because it buys me time and relieves the stress two months before the birth of my son.
OnTheWayOut, many of the stories here are definitely helpful. It’s true what you say about divorce. The elders, discussing our marriage, mentioned how the two flesh will become one. I decided to add to their encouragement and advice mentioning that what God has yoked together, let NO MAN put apart. I don’t know if they got what I was actually saying.
NVR2L8, for now things are calm, but if things do go that way again, you are right about other/professional help. I actually did tell her that my love for her is unconditional.
Wannabefree, pretty much my situation now.
Outsmartthesystem, I wish you well in that.
Yesidid, I was definitely shocked that it happened so quick. On the other hand, I tend to be calm and collected when facing problems, so maybe this helped in my case. Yes, there are occasionally a few marital problems, but then again I suppose all newlyweds go through this. I think all problems are sorted.
Londo111, thank you. I’ll be saving that quote. Information in their own magazine…
Ding, about 12 hours before my first post. By the time you posted she was back though.
Jamiebowers, that is exactly the case. Considering the attorney, my ‘worldly’ sister and my Brother in law are both attorneys, so that helps. I already spoke to their child support attorney to enlighten myself on the subject.
*************************************************************************************************************************
So basically, yesterday my wife asked if we could go somewhere for coffee to which I agreed. The subject obviously changed to my disbelief, and so I used the questioning method. I asked things like, how do you personally feel about date setting and the events not being fulfilled? How do you feel about organ transplants being banned for a while and what do you think the victims feel? Why do you think someone would quote sources to support their theories but they don’t quote the whole sentence? What would you think if any other organization did this?
Every time a bond is created, it is quickly cut off by reasoning such as, “this is God’s organization”, “to where will one go”, “God has always had an organization – be it kingdoms or physical organizations”. On the last question I then asked her to explain who that was at certain time intervals.
While we were speaking an elder phoned me and asked for a meeting. I was hesitant at first, but thought I could use this to ‘slow things down’. I had not intended to bombard my wife with this information in the first place and especially not before the birth of my son. Later the day when I phoned my wife to tell her I would pick up my daughter after the meeting, she told me to pick them both up – basically that she was coming home.
So I met with the two elders and they told me that questioning was normal and that I should pose my questions to them over a period of time so that they can research and answer me. This obviously gives me a lot of time. They went on babbling about how great the Bible and the prophecies were and the mentioned Daniel. They also read from chapter 12 where Daniel is said to seal up the book etc. They also mentioned the formula of a day for a year and how this was used to calculate prophecies. When reading, they also read the one thousand two hundred and ninety days and one thousand three hundred and thirty-five days.
I asked them, “does the formula of a day for a year work for all the prophecies like the two you just read”, to which after some confusion he answered yes!(wrong) I asked him how many prophecies in Daniel had a double fulfillment. After a long time he said the one of seven times (obviously).
I also asked why 1 Thessalonians 4:16 uses the Lord to reference to Jesus, and the footnote says Jehovah (this is used to explain why Jesus is Michael). He was not aware of this.
Shortly after this the meeting ended with the request that I compile my questions one for one, and they will then get back to me. Fun times indeed!
Thanks again to all for the kind words of welcome and encouragement, I will keep you updated.
good day to everyone.
after reading and benefiting from the numerous experiences posted here, i thought it would be proper for me to share my story too.
i was born and brought up as an anglican church member.
Good day to everyone. After reading and benefiting from the numerous experiences posted here, I thought it would be proper for me to share my story too.
I was born and brought up as an Anglican Church member. I was never really strong in my Anglican faith, despite my dad being a lay priest. If I had to think why, I would probably say that I wasn’t to convinced at the ritualistic manner of praying out of prayer books and the whole sit stand kneel thing. I hardly attended church.
About three years ago I became involved with Jehovah’s Witnesses. My experience here will differ from most of the experiences recorded on this site. There was no knock at my door. I became involved in a relationship with a JW woman who basically swept me off my feet. Of course as most of you would know, the command to marry only in the Lord is one that you will not easily overcome and so my Bible study commenced.
Immediately I was in awe at what I was learning and even though the picture of Jesus on a stake in the publication gave me an uneasy feeling, the rest was answering all my doubts I ever had about Christian faith. Or so I thought at the time. One thing led to another and within 6 months I was baptised and a month later I was married. Within a month of being married we were expecting our first child. I felt happy and comfortable at the time and was truly at peace with what I was taught and practicing. If only this feeling would last.
After a while I began to notice certain things that were not right. Because my wife’s father was an elder, I would normally receive the latest news on the conduct of members. Even said elder was accused of domestic violence and medication abuse. The depression of the family members also made no sense, because they are supposed to be “the happy people”. I think I would always compare these people with that of my ‘worldly family’ and more often or not it was not the worldly family’s conduct that was bellow bible standards.
At one stage I was researching stuff and made contact with an ‘apostate’ site. I felt it necessary to defend my new faith here, but I only did this for a few weeks before I went on holiday and during the holiday I decided not to return to the site. This however would prove to be detrimental to my witness faith, as one just cannot unlearn the things mentioned there.
Months went by and I progressed well in ‘the truth’. That is until something triggered me to read Raymond Franz’s book: CoC. I lived in denial for a few months later but that could not last. I then did thorough research, something I should’ve done a long time ago. I read COC, Captives of a concept and gentile times reconsidered. I listened to the audio book of Combating cult mind control. I visited sites such as JWN, JWFACTS, JWSTRUGLE and many more. I was now truly one of the biggest apostates at heart.
About 7 months ago my wife became pregnant again and we are expecting a son. Our daughter is now 20 months old. I was considering how long I can live the lie, but unfortunately I am not very good at acting, nor at lying. This weekend my wife confronted me about my changed attitude about ‘the truth’ and then it happened. I became a talking JWFACTS. I did this in a calm manner and tried reasoning and use of questions, as taught in the school. It is here that I appreciated Steve Hassan’s work the most, as her responses such as, “to where will we go”, “but this is God’s organization”, and the usual dribble about apostates all made sense to me.
It took my wife about 24 hours to report me to the elders. It took her another 6 to decide to leave me.
So here I sit. All that truly matters to a man, my family, has been ripped away from me. My sin? To seek the truth and to “ Test everything. Hold on to the good.”(1 Thessalonians 5:21 - NIV)