I would say something like: "I believe the Governing Body believes they are the Faithful and Discreet Slave and the channel Jehovah is using. As such, the scriptures say that they have one job and one job only: provide food at the proper time. I believe they are doing that in abundance."
leaving_quietly
JoinedPosts by leaving_quietly
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43
Judicial Meeting
by Kool Jo inso here you are...sitting with a couple of elders at judicial meeting, and you're asked the following question:.
"do you still believe that the fds is the channel that jehovah is using"?.
now is it possible to answer 'no' without being df, or how would you answer that question?.
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What you were TOLD vs. what Jesus SAID: getting SAVED
by humbled incould jesus have shown us the way to healing, preservation, wholeness but we turned ministry his into a theological nightmare?.
just wondering if punkofnice and my family will be bonding in hell together 'cause they aren't "saved".. and wondering if i really am an apostate..
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leaving_quietly
When Christ came up out of the Jordan, who did God say to listen to? Just sayin'.
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IS YOUR TEACHING UP-TO-DATE? - (WT Study Article for June 3-9, 2013)
by Oubliette inin the watchtower study article for last week, june 3rd - 9th, 2013, the congregation was asked the question, "is your teaching up-to-date?".
there was a box on the top of page 9 that asked three questions allowing everyone to test themselves and find out if they had "up-to-date" and "accurate knowledge" in keeping with the "the ever-increasing light" as revealed through the pages of the watchtower magazine and related publications.
now at first blush this all sounds really good, but is it?
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leaving_quietly
@Oubliette, you stated with eloquence what I wanted so say yesterday on regarding this. I just couldn't get my thoughts together quite right. I caught the very same points as you. THANK YOU!
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Another problem with "new light"
by leaving_quietly inmatt 25:34-40. then the king will say to those on his right, come, you who have been blessed by my father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the founding of the world.
35 for i became hungry and you gave me something to eat; i got thirsty and you gave me something to drink.
i was a stranger and you received me hospitably; 36 naked, and you clothed me.
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leaving_quietly
@BobCat, thanks for those.
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Another problem with "new light"
by leaving_quietly inmatt 25:34-40. then the king will say to those on his right, come, you who have been blessed by my father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the founding of the world.
35 for i became hungry and you gave me something to eat; i got thirsty and you gave me something to drink.
i was a stranger and you received me hospitably; 36 naked, and you clothed me.
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leaving_quietly
PROTIP: Replies are easier and less confusing than editing, but hey.
Yep... I wouldn't normally have done that, but I submitted my post prematurely and was finishing while you were writing your first response. Sorry 'bout that.
Surely you know by now that the WTS can (quite literally) isolate any verse in the Bible, ignore its context & meaning, & twist it to support any doctrine or policy they deem expedient.
Oh, yes, I know. And I know how these verses have been applied since forever. But this one makes ZERO sense to me whatsoever. It never did. It was one of those that nagged at me even when I was fully mentally in. How does preaching to someone NOT Jesus' brothers pertain whatsoever to feeding, giving drink to, clothing or visiting in prison even a least one of Jesus' brothers? Makes zero sense.
Anyway, the "new light" just makes this even sillier. If they continue to maintain that these verses apply to the FDS, then that implies that the commission to preach is only given to the FDS.
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Another problem with "new light"
by leaving_quietly inmatt 25:34-40. then the king will say to those on his right, come, you who have been blessed by my father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the founding of the world.
35 for i became hungry and you gave me something to eat; i got thirsty and you gave me something to drink.
i was a stranger and you received me hospitably; 36 naked, and you clothed me.
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leaving_quietly
Matt 25:34-40
“Then the king will say to those on his right, ‘Come, YOU who have been blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for YOU from the founding of the world. 35 For I became hungry and YOU gave me something to eat; I got thirsty and YOU gave me something to drink. I was a stranger and YOU received me hospitably; 36 naked, and YOU clothed me. I fell sick and YOU looked after me. I was in prison and YOU came to me.’ 37 Then the righteous ones will answer him with the words, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty, and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and receive you hospitably, or naked, and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to you?’ 40 And in reply the king will say to them, ‘Truly I say to YOU, To the extent that YOU did it to one of the least of these my brothers, YOU did it to me.’
Who are Jesus' brothers?
*** w09 10/15 pp. 15-16 par. 15 “You Are My Friends” ***
15 Read Matthew 25:31-40. Jesus called those who would make up the faithful slave class his brothers. In the illustration about the separating of the sheep from the goats, Jesus clearly states that he takes personally the way we treat his brothers. In fact, he said that the determining factor that would distinguish a sheep from a goat would be the way an individual treated even “the least of these [his] brothers.” Therefore, the primary way that those with the earthly hope demonstrate their desire to be friends with Christ is by supporting the faithful slave class.Tell me, how are we even remotely supposed to do something kind to one of these eight people whom most of us have NEVER MET?
If this changes (I suspect it will) to include all the anointed, the same question remains? No one knows who they are. The GB certainly doesn't and publicly stated so. How are we supposed to do something kind to even the least of these?
Is "supporting" REALLY the preaching work? I don't see preaching even remotely discussed in these verses.
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Former, Long Time Part 2
by James Jackson infirst of all thanks for all the kind words!!!
i am over whelmed by the responses.
i work very hard through the week and the only time i can reply is in the early morning hours, i read the respones on my iphone through out the day, if there was a way to log on with the phone, i would.
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leaving_quietly
@ProfCNJ:
Are these feelings normal?
Do we really have to go through emotional roller-coaster ride?
These feelings seems to be very similar to the grieving process. We have lost something very near and dear to our hearts, even if it wasn't all true. It is surprising that some here left many years ago and are still coming here for their own personal reasons. I think there's still more steps after "acceptance", the big one... ACTING on what we now know. And because we are feeling, caring human beings, we have a hard time acting (that is, fading, leaving, moving on) when we know (a) what we will lose in the process, and (b) how it will hurt others when we do.
For you to have experienced all this in 2-3 weeks is amazing to me. It's taken me about two years to get to #8 on my list. Now, it's just going through the motions and trying to figure out how to get past this all. Maybe it's easier for someone who was not raised as a JW (I don't know if you were or not), but for me, this has been my life for nearly half a century. It's all I ever knew. And it sucks that I didn't know what I know now sooner.
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Former, Long Time Part 2
by James Jackson infirst of all thanks for all the kind words!!!
i am over whelmed by the responses.
i work very hard through the week and the only time i can reply is in the early morning hours, i read the respones on my iphone through out the day, if there was a way to log on with the phone, i would.
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leaving_quietly
Here's what happened to me when learning TTATT. Just preparing you for what may come for you:
1. Cognitive dissonance - learning that things that you believed deeply are not all true.
2. Could it really be? - The verification process. Claims made by others you must verify for yourself. This means LOTS of research. But, in my experience, when you never had time for it before, you actually make time for it now. It becomes almost a compulsion, an obsession. You have to re-prove "the truth" to yourself, and when you find out you can't, then...
3. Anger, dismay
4. Wanting to tell your closest associates (but can't because you'd be outed)
5. Dreams (oh, the dreams... they get really strange)
6. Then you think... oh, wait... I'm leaving out the most important thing... prayer! So you pray. Hard. Like never before.
7. You're mentally left in a kind of in-between state (between being a JW and not being one). At meetings, you quickly pick up on the wrong teachings. You quickly see misapplication of scriptures. You quickly recognize everything wrong. And it becomes really hard to hide your reaction.
8. At some point, acceptance. You accept that JWs are wrong. You accept JWs do not have "the truth". You keep up appearances for friends and family sake, but you know deeply that this cannot continue for the rest of your life, so you start planning your fade.
I'm at #8. Fading is the hardest thing to do when all your family is IN.
People leave for different reasons. Some because of how they were treated by elders. Some over the blood issue. Some over policies on child abuse. For me it was over teachings and Pharisaic attitudes encouraged organizationally.
All the best to you. Welcome to the board!
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Whats the most damning of the July 15 2013 changes?
by Crazyguy ina lot of the rank and file at the meetings seem to think some of the changes make more sense but what is the most damning of the changes that may help to wake to some up.
some thing the rank and file will not first see or understand as a big deal?.
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leaving_quietly
Everyone knew that regular " anointed " had no input at all in the printing of WT literature. So this " understanding " seems to make more sense
I knew an anointed Brother that was constantly sending info back to Bethel. He was not a Bethelite. This change pulls the rug right out from under him. He no longer lives in the area that I do, so I wonder how he sees this. Hmm.
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Whats the most damning of the July 15 2013 changes?
by Crazyguy ina lot of the rank and file at the meetings seem to think some of the changes make more sense but what is the most damning of the changes that may help to wake to some up.
some thing the rank and file will not first see or understand as a big deal?.
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leaving_quietly
To me, it's that they now claim that Christ has NOT appointed the FDS over all his belongings yet (that is future), which, according the the OD book is the #1 reason why we should trust the FDS. Thus the #1 reason has just been swept out from under 7 million people.
WHY TRUST "THE FAITHFUL AND DISCREET SLAVE"
There are many reasons to have complete trust in the slave class. First and foremost, Jesus has appointed the over all his precious "belongings". This is a clear indication that he has complete trust in them.
-od p.18 par. 2