Someone correct me if I’m wrong but I thought that talk by Cook about the Great Tribulation being the cut-off and the “hailstone judgement message” was done just a few weeks before the Annual Meeting where the idea of salvation during the Tribulation was announced…?
HereIam60
JoinedPosts by HereIam60
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How Do JWs Understand Salvation & What Is Needed to Obtain It?
by LauraLynn infrom my experience within the jw organization, i understood that salvation meant a person accepted the teachings of the wbts without question as the "faithful and discrete slave," thereby placing their trust in them, not jesus christ.
salvation consisted of being found "righteous" by jehovah and resurrected to everlasting life in an earthly paradise.
to obtain this salvation, one needed to obey the organization's teachings, remain a faithful jw, and lead a moral life.
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WT HQ is never proactive, they are reactive to everything put out showing their blatant hypocrisy and abject stupidity
by WingCommander ina few on here (and of course many on the ex-jw reddit forum) have mentioned that wt hq just recently (like in the past couple months) put out a video warning against the praising of jw actors, taking photos with them, etc.
to not do it anymore.
it was narrated by geoffrey jackson.
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HereIam60
I would also like to know if it was ever verified that Robert Hendricks was removed. Just a few months before those reports surfaced he actually visited our hall for a weekend as a "Special Bethel Speaker". I did not speak to him personally but my impression was that he was very " in", sincere in his beliefs, but also very slick and polished in his manner. An elder interviewed he and his wife on stage after the talk. He was asked what his biggest challenge serving on the Public Info Dept was and he frankly said it was regarding the food distribution during the Covid pandemic. This was U. S. government sponsored but apparently some congregations put a note into the boxes saying it was a gift from Jehovah. Hendricks had to go before some authority to explain this. Also why it was primarily given to Witnesses rather than the general public. I cant remember if he told how he answered but seemed slightly nervous talking about it. Then shortly after this it began being said in some forums that he had been "let go"...
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Do children still get destroyed at Armageddon?
by Anony Mous ini know back in the day, that was taught, that if the parents were going to be destroyed, so would the children.
i just can't easily find reference to anything.
this thinking has been used to justify some egregious behavior towards children and their parents such as exclusion of children from jw family - why worry, the end is near, all will work itself out then - the end didn't come though.
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HereIam60
When I first began studying with the Witnesses (early 1980s) a scripture being used a lot in the ministry was Psalm 37:10 "Just a little while longer and the wicked one will be no more. And you will certainly give attention to his place and he will not be...(, and the meek will live in peace etc. ) This was a new and comforting thought to me. I had never been closely associated with any religion but had read plenty of literature from various groups that gave me fears of hellfire and Armageddon. So I thought when Jehovah took action there would just be a sudden instant vanishing of everything harmful, it would just be gone, with no pain or horror and the peaceful ones left would work together in the restoration. It was only later that the idea of Armageddon and the illustations of fire and hail from heaven, the ground splitting and people running screaming were introduced. I felt like I had been tricked, the rug pulled out from under me. I stopped responding and my teacher asked what was wrong. I said " You never said anything about this before." "About what?". " All this desruction". "Well Jehovah has to destroy the wicked doesn't He?". I was urged to just keep studying and praying and eventually I'd understand, but I could never harmonize this with God's Love.. iI think the current teaching, implied, not directly expressed is that Jehovah and Jesus will judge each oerson fairly and righteously, so, no children will not be destroyed.
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News of fires out of control in California
by ballistic inhope everyone near to the region affected in california is ok. it's shocking to hear of the destruction.
these affected areas are some of the places i visited when i came on a tour of the us.
malibu, santa barbera, la, santa monica, hollywood and so on..
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The Dangers of Independent Thinking
by daystar in"the dangers of independent thinking".
reading mary's thread regarding the july 15th wt, i began to really consider what the wbts' problem is with "independent thinking".. what exactly is "independent thinking" and what about its opposite, "dependent thinking"?
i think the following excerpt from an article here does a good job of defining them.
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HereIam60
Back in the early 1980s I was having a home Bible study conducted by a young zealous pioneer brother. Once I was identified as a progressive student , prepared for lessons, attending some meetings, he gradually became pushy and intrusive into my personal life. I was uncomfortable and annoyed by this, but I took it as him showing personal interest in me, and since I was supposed to be learning to be humble I put up with it. I was in my early 20s and still living in my parents’ home, working, and helping with expenses. This arrangement was working for us, but since they were not interested in studying, the brother began suggesting I consider moving out, also changing employment so as to be free for all meetings and field service. Looking back, he was probably hoping to ultimately engineer me into “joining the pioneer ranks” which was a big thing then. During one study he asked me if I had been giving any more thought to this. I said I had, and added “I guess it would help me be more independent.” All I meant was that living on my own I would have to take on more responsibilities, paying rent, bills, cooking , laundry etc. After I said this his whole manner changed. He became quiet, looked at me disapprovingly, then slowly said “So… you’re thinking about it because you want to be…Independent…?”. He said it in such a weird and ominous way that I was startled and wondered what happened. After a moment he relaxed and resumed the study. This should have been a Red Flag to me, but I couldn’t see it. I didn’t know that during that time period there were a lot of meeting and assembly talks about ‘the dangers of independent thinking’ and my use of the word must have triggered him.
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How Do JWs Understand Salvation & What Is Needed to Obtain It?
by LauraLynn infrom my experience within the jw organization, i understood that salvation meant a person accepted the teachings of the wbts without question as the "faithful and discrete slave," thereby placing their trust in them, not jesus christ.
salvation consisted of being found "righteous" by jehovah and resurrected to everlasting life in an earthly paradise.
to obtain this salvation, one needed to obey the organization's teachings, remain a faithful jw, and lead a moral life.
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HereIam60
I guess it varies by individual viewpoint. There are things I felt were correct teachings and many that I never could accept. Salvation is clearly through Jehovah’s mercy, the ransom sacrifice of Jesus, and faith in it, Faith itself being a gift from God ,a fruit of his spirit. I’ve been thinking a lot recently of 1st John 1:7 “If we are walking in the light as he himself is in the light, we do have a fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.”
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Annual Report
by St George of England inthe latest report is now available for download on our favourite website!.
george.
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HereIam60
I don't know about worldwide, but in the US, I think there are a considerable number of people who, when asked, identify their religiion as Jehovah's Witnesses, without ever having been closely associated with a congregation.. This includes people who used to read the Watchtower printed publications when those were widespread, liked what they read, and accepted it as their "faith" Also those who had a home bible study for a time but never began attending meetings, and after discontinuing the study still "held on to" basic doctrines they learned,
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1925--2025... 100 years since Rutherford promised paradise earth.
by Witness 007 inrutherford wrote in 1925 "millions now living will never die"...they died.
he also promised that moses and david and all the old bible heroes would live with him in his mansion.
only he lived there till he died in 1942...100 years and not much changed..
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HereIam60
NotFormer....I've never seen This calculation either: The "last days" is plural, so there are at least 2 of them , and if 'a day with Jehovah is as a thousand years' (2 Peter 3:8) and they began in 1914...then even the first of them wouldn' end until 2914, we're barely into it. The present Governing Body has shown again and again in recent years that they never had any real understanding of the doctrines they claim to be "'Guardians' of..
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Annual Report
by St George of England inthe latest report is now available for download on our favourite website!.
george.
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HereIam60
Another rise in professed annointed "partakers". At the annual meeting wasn't something said or implied like " You thought the numbers would go down and down...didn't you?...but no we should not be surprised that there are many annointed ones near 'the end'..." I'm not being serious here, but wonder if they would go back to that old teaching about there being a secondary heavenly class...that the 144,000 were gathered in the first century, the 'great crowd before the throne"will also be in heaven, and a third group that will live on earth. Wasn't that a teaching of Russell?
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Kingdom Ministry School 2022-2023
by Lowrence indoes anyone of you have the outlines of the latest kingdom ministry school 2022-2023 in pdf, if it possible with videos?
thanks in advance.
lowrence .
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HereIam60
It wasn't just the Covid shut down, cart work, and checking a box to indicate participation, that has caused the ministry to diminish. I think it was also to a large degree the dropping of "suggested presentations". Formerly there was always something to go by, a question, a scripture, for several years those " shadow people" videos with Witnesses in silhouette doing door to door presentations. That has all been dropped, likely because the Organization doesn't want to be held responsible for what anyone might say. They started a while ago using the term ' your Personal ministry'. Now it's a generic "love people...make disciples...start conversations...start bible studies..." with no specific direction. People have been uncertain what to do, although a local elder recently said you can still use the tracts, as these have a question printed on them to start the conversation.