Posts by proplog2

Matt 16:28 "Truly I say to you that there are some of those standing here that will not taste death at all until first they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom."

Matt 26:64 "I say to you men, From henceforth you will see the Son of man sitting at the right hand of power and coming on the clouds of heaven."

Heb 10:37 "For yet a very little while and he who is coming will arrive and will not delay."

James 5:8 "make your hearts firm, because the presense of the Lord has drawn close"

1John 2:18 "Young children, it is the last hour, and just as you have heard that antichrist is coming even now there have come to be many antichrists; from which fact we gain the knowledge that it is the last hour"

Rev 3:11 "I am coming quickly. "

Rev 22:7 "I am coming quickly"

Rev 22:12 "I am coming quickly"

Rev 22:20 "I am coming quickly"

Jehovah's Witnesses are just being good Christians by keeping up the idea that the end is near.

If they didn't believe that- they wouldn't have set aside their own lives to declare their message. It takes time to build an organization. So it makes sense that a lot of people would be "deceived" into thinking the end would come in their life time. That's what I mean by "divine deception".

This only works for a limited amount of time. After Jesus didn't return in the first century the Church went through a radical change. They quit talking about the end being near - even though it was a Christian teaching. It took about 3 generations from the Death of Christ for the idea to sink in that Christ wasn't coming so soon.

It was mentioned that JW's have been doing this for about 125 years. Again that's about 3 generations. (3 x 40 = 120). If nothing happens then JW's will fold up. The next few years are critical.

I don't think it's mere coincidence that JW's can't sustain this work much longer and that the political fabric of the world is unraveling due to terrorism.

Something IS going to happen. You WILL get your answer to the question "Where is this promised coming of the Lord?"

38

SCIENCE EVOLUTION WEIRDOS

by frenchbabyface in

jw
friends

science evolution weirdos

had a talk yesterday with my son, ive read a book where the guy was talking about the australopithecus its weird how scientists are dealing with evolution statements.

it says that actually the australopithecus was less intelligent

proplog2

If there is a God he could settle the question about evolution real quick.

If he created sound and language why doesn't he just say something. Why doesn't he take over the news services and have a big press conference.

Until then, evolution has my vote.

14

Dilbert's Principle Behind Selecting Elders

by blondie in

jw
friends

proplog2

Until the "elder" arrangement came about there were always some young brothers reaching out who had significant responsibility. This formed a chain of connectedness between the generations.

The first time I ever got drunk was when I was 16. I was a ministerial servant. They used to have servants meetings at the Congregation Overseers house. The Overseer had a job where he would get lots of gift bottles of alcoholic beverages.

The meeting was over. It was Friday night so he broke out the booze. Everyone there was a moderate drinker - but as the youngest at 16 I was a total novice. After a couple shots I was feelin' tooooo goood. They all thought it was funny. I didn't get any lectures on alcoholism, or underage drinking.

The Congregation Overseer was wise and respected and went on to be a Circuit Overseer. He died about 5 years ago.

That's the organization I grew up in. 1950-1960. Things took a turn for the worse when they started counting down to 1975. They felt they had to demonstrate their "purity". Today the organization is dysfunctional in other words "whacked".

14

Dilbert's Principle Behind Selecting Elders

by blondie in

jw
friends

proplog2

Amazing:

I believe your account. I talked to Karl Klein while he was chairman of the GB. He said "I have the most important job on earth right now - yet It's not the same as before when Russelll, Rutheford & Knorr were in that position."

He referred to those brothers as "Giants". I asked him who killed the Giants? He didn't give me an answer. That was the year they announced they were going to quit rotating all of the brothers except the presiding overseer. I asked him why they can't have one presiding overseer, arguing that "ability to direct" is one of the gifts in men. If a brother has the gift of "direction" he ought to be busy directing. Of course he insisted that the "Society" had it all figured out correctly.

Klein was very smart but he was a "peacock" and loved status & wine. He would have made a good Senator.

14

Dilbert's Principle Behind Selecting Elders

by blondie in

jw
friends

proplog2

In a conversation I had with Karl Klein (Deceased GB) he said the initiation of the Elder arrangement in 1972 was flawed. He said it was a mutual admiration society.

I could write a book about what is wrong with the structure of the Watchtower Society. They have effectivley destroyed the possibility for significant change to occur. By weakening authority no one can initiate change. Committees are notorious for maintaining the status quo. The '72 change in congregations was a coup. I think Ray Franz was a cheerleader for that change. I would like to know more about how he was involved.

Another side effect of the '72 change was the sidelining of talented youth in the organization. The elder arrangement did away with talented young brothers being able to handle significant teaching responsibilities. Teaching is NOT something you just learn. Studies in psychology show that verbal abilities are part of a cluster of traits people are born with. If young people with these traits aren't used in the congregation they will most definitely turn to outlets in the world. That's why the quality of speakers at assemblies has gone to hell. They have alienated their talented youth. These talented youth were also leaders that young people looked to. Once you break the connection along the "age" line you are bound to lose your young people.

18

Younger generation lnot reaching out and quitting the truth

by truthseeker in

jw
friends

i was recently reading some old posts, when i came acoss one of maximus' posts about children leaving the truth.. link is here for anyone who wants to read it... http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/6/10417/1.ashx .

it has been roughly two years since the last post on this.

any ideas as to the percentage of children/young adults leaving?

proplog2

JW's like the big numbers but they aren't going to modify their beliefs just to keep up the numbers. If they did away with the blood transfusion thing they could double the membership.

If they reduced the number they disfellowshipped to those who were predatory in their bad behavior they could increase membership by another 25%.

If they went back to the old way of allowing smoking to be a matter of conscience except smokers couldn't hold any positions they would be able to keep half the young people in. Smoking seems to be the big reason a lot of young people get disfellowshipped. Many are disfellowshipped for smoking in their rebellious teen years. When they are older they stop smoking but found out there is life outside the Kingdom Hall.

25

Whats the deal with the napkins on the head?

by RoadDoctor in

jw
friends

.

what is the idea behind the sisters wearing a head covering when they lead a group for field service?

is there something written in the bible new world translation about this?

proplog2

The head-covering issue is an example of how JW's pick and choose the ancient customs they feel are laws. Jesus told his disciples they should wash each others feet. Actually it was stated as a command. JW's excuse themselves from this ritual by saying it was a custom that no longer applies.

Unfortunately this tendency to exalt custom to LAW is what has led to the Watchtowers deadly blood transfusion policy.

15

Organization (Part 1 & 2)--1938 Watchtower

by onacruse in

here's a "normalized" copy of the pivotal 1938 watchtower articles that centralized authority in brooklyn and got rid of 'elective elders.

' these are based on .pdf copies of the originals, but aren't exact renditions (for example, some abbreviations and punctuations have been modified, paragraph numbers omitted).. june 1, 1938. .

w38 163. organization.

proplog2

every member thereof must be in complete harmony with him and be joyfully obedient to his commands, and hence no member thereof has any right or privilege to take a separate course according to his own ideas.

Left,---- Left,------ Left, Right, Left

49

Good Experiences as a Jehovah's Witness

by minimus in

jw
friends

instead of bringing out the negatives about being a witness, let's relate some good experiences!

i'll start.

i remember a sister that brought up all her kids up in the "truth" and her husband was very opposed but later he started studying and he even got baptized.

proplog2

My memories of JW's in the past are too wrapped up in the optimism intrinsic to childhood to be truly objective. My parents, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, cousins were alive and were never going to die. The way things turned out I can see why so many have left.