leaving_quietly

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Posts by leaving_quietly

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  32

  Series of articles about the March 15, 2015 Watchtower on AD1914.com

  by Gilgamesh in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  over the next 5 weeks, we should have 5 or 6 articles/posts that will provide more commentary on the march 15, 2015 watchtower.

  important doctrinal changes in march 15th, 2015 watchtower (study edition) explained wp.me/p4cpzs-xo .

  http://ad1914.com/2014/04/20/new-important-doctrinal-changes-in-march-15th-watchtower-study-edition-explained-clarified/.

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  leaving_quietly

  I'm reading your latest Elijah/Elisha article. Very interesting. Not through it all, yet. Time doesn't permit me at the moment.

  
  One suggestion: when quoting from past WT articles or publications, it might be best to either (a) give the full reference as to where one can find the quote (e.g. stating Watch Tower April 15, 1918 isn't quite enough... a page number would be most helpful... took me awhile to find the original quote.) and/or (b) don't put ellipsis in the quote, as this gives the impression that something important was left out, causing people like me who have a distrust already of this practice by WTBTS to have to go look up the full quote ourselves.

  Fortunately, the April 15, 1918 quote is okay, even with the ellipsis, though I would say that the final sentence in the paragraph in the article hits the point home, which you did not include in the quote.
  

  These seeming disappointments were divinely foreknown, "his appointments."
  
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  25

  Need list of notable bible people who Jah let slide

  by RedPillPopper in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  need a list of people like cain, lot, david, etc who did things they should have been put to death for but jah forgave, excused or turned a blind eye to.

  thanks for any info.. .

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  leaving_quietly

  Manasseh

  We all remember David, but it takes two to tango, so...Bathsheba. And not only did God let it slide, he rewarded it by making Bathsheba part of the lineage to the Messiah.

  
  
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  53

  Need to vent: Wife just went in full cult mode, huge fight. she is so brainwashed

  by goingthruthemotions in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  out of the blue my wife started to ask me about my feeling about the borg.

  i told her i didn't want to talk about it...she persisted.

  she already knows how i feel, i told her that my biggest beef is that they use mind control, and yep she went in to how i was an apostate and how she doesn't want to be married to an apostate.

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  leaving_quietly

  I have delayed adding to this as I am about to go through this myself. My wife went into full cult mode a few months back. We got past the initial discussions and it hasn't come up since. However, I'm about to tell her I'm done with being a witness. I've been working on getting up the nerve to tell her. I've even written her a letter, put it in an envelope and put it away for now. I'm not trying to be mean to her. It's not about her.

  Ever since our discussion a few months back, she has been gobbling up everything JW. Studying more, watching JW TV a lot, etc.

  I think my situation will turn out a lot like yours. The thing is, I don't want to be with someone who I can't be open with. The irony of that is that while I know this will probably end the marriage, I don't want to hurt her in the process. Sadly, though, there really isn't a way around it unless I just keep everything bottled up for the rest of my life. Of course, if that's what I have to do, I'd rather be dead. (No, I'm not suicidal... I just think the peace of being dead would be preferable to enduring this for the next who knows how many years.)

  
  So, I feel for you, man. This cult is responsible for this for way too many families.
  
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  15

  Resolutions to send money to society

  by wannaexit in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  during the course of the year congregations pass a number of resolutions to send money to the branch.

  this year i've resolved to count all money grab endeavors.

  so far for the month of january there were two locally:.

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  leaving_quietly

  Not a year later, in December, another resolution was passed to up the amount to $500 a month.

  Doc is probably correct, but the letter said to review it ANNUALLY each MAY.
  
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  35

  New BOE letter: Re: Survey on Use of Printed Publications

  by pixel in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  to all bodies of elders in the united states branch territory re: survey on use of printed publications .

  dear brothers: .

  the branch office is working on arrangements for the 2015 regional conventions.

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  leaving_quietly

  Anyone here who still attends should absolutely choose a physical copy. All too often, WTBTS makes revisions to the digital versions without any sort of notification of what those revisions are. The physical copies are they only reliable proofs of what was originally printed in any publication. Just my opinion, for whatever it's worth.
  
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  11

  Help with an entrenched family memeber

  by budbayview in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  wanted to send this to my "active" sister in hopes of awakening her, comments welcome.

  she thinks i am a heathen apostate.... losing my religion.

  preface.

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  leaving_quietly

  Marking for later reading LQMARKED
  
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  25

  Blondie's Comments on the 1-18-2015 WT Study (HOLY)

  by blondie in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  november 15, 2014 wt study issue.

  january 18, 2015 to be studied.

  opening comments.

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  leaving_quietly

  This was mentioned in another thread (don't have time to find it now), but is worth repeating. A prime example of making a passage say whatever they want it to say.
  

  Paragraph 18:

  18 To be holy, we must weigh the Scriptures carefully and do what God asks of us. Consider Aaron’s sons Nadab and Abihu, who were executed for offering “unauthorized fire,” perhaps while inebriated. (Leviticus 10:1, 2) Note what God then told Aaron. (Read Leviticus 10:8-11.) Does that passage mean that we must not drink anything alcoholic before going to a Christian meeting? Think about these points: We are not under the Law. (Romans 10:4) In some lands, our fellow believers use alcoholic beverages in moderation at meals before attending meetings. Four cups of wine were used at the Passover. When instituting the Memorial, Jesus had his apostles drink wine that represented his blood. (Matthew 26:27) The Bible condemns heavy drinking and drunkenness. (1 Corinthians 6:10; 1 Timothy 3:8) And many Christians would feel impelled by their conscience to abstain completely from alcoholic beverages before engaging in any form of sacred service. However, circumstances vary from one country to another, and the important thing is for Christians to “distinguish between the holy thing and the profane” so as to conduct themselves with holiness that pleases God.

  
  

  Yet, note what WTS said just ten years ago regarding the VERY SAME VERSES:

  Jehovah commanded those performing priestly duties at the tabernacle: “Do not drink wine or intoxicating liquor . . . when you come into the tent of meeting, that you may not die.” (Leviticus 10:8, 9) Therefore, avoid drinking alcoholic beverages just before attending Christian meetings, when sharing in the ministry, and when caring for other spiritual responsibilities. -- w04 12/1 p. 21 par. 15
  

  
  
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  5

  Just shovel the coal, don't question the captain

  by St George of England in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  on jw broadcasting there is a video of a missionary couple who were sent to a navajo reservation.

  the sister says the thing she learned most at bethel was "shovel the coal, don't question the captain".

  it's worth watching about 60 seconds from the 4 minute mark.

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  leaving_quietly

  Captain Jean-Luc Picard: The crew is accustomed to following my orders.
  Lily Sloane: They're probably used to your orders making SENSE!
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  4

  Leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees

  by John_Mann in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  jesus said about keeping off from the leaven (meaning influence?

  ) of the pharisees and that's why the use of azim bread in the supper.

  but what about the leavened grape juice aka wine?

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  leaving_quietly

  Unleavened bread and the leaven of the pharisees are not the same thing. The bread used during the Lord's supper was bread that was specified for use during the Passover. Exodus 12 contains the instructions for the Passover meal.

  The leaven of the Pharisees, according to Matthew 16:6, was their teaching. Luke 12:1 calls the leaven of the Pharisees hypocrisy.

  Leaven has a few figurative meanings. In one case, Jesus likened the Kingdom of the heaves to leaven that ferments a bunch of flour. His meaning appears to be that it would have a lot of growth. (Matt 13:33)
  

  In another case, leaven was used to represent badness. 1 Cor 5:6-8.

  As for the wine, I don't know that the Bible even says it was wine. I've never looked closely enough. Matt 26:29 calls it, "this product of the vine". 1 Cor 11:21 says that some were taking his own evening meal and getting intoxicated. That may indicate it was wine. But the accounts of the evening meal simply say, "the cup" and "this product of the vine". I leave what particular beverage it was to scholars and historians.
  
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  46

  Fudging the Numbers: Is the WTBTS in decline?

  by Coded Logic in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  it's no secret that the wtbts has a cash flow problem.

  over the past three years they have closed 20 of their 116 branches.

  they have sold off most of their properties in and around ny (including some kingdom halls), drastically reduced the # of printed pages for the watchtower and awake magazines, reduced the printing of books and other materials, increased the number of single page tract campagnes, installed cc machines at their assembly halls, and are now seizing of controll of property assets from local kingdom halls using renovation projects.

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  leaving_quietly

  I can't comment on how much cash they do or do not have. Considering a purchase of a 250-unit apartment complex in Fishkill, NY for an undisclosed amount, but a transfer tax of $57 million, this puts it at $228,000 per unit. They'd have to have SOME cash for this sort of transaction.

  As for baptisms, I'd be willing to wager that the majority are children of JWs. Our recent Circuit Assembly had three baptized, all under 18.

  As for the increases in number of congregations, it appears to be foreign language "groups" being formed into actual congregations. One of the speakers at the CA mentioned three new congregations formed in the U.S. from Russian-speaking groups. Based on the number of baptisms, there are less than 3 new publishers per existing congregation, so that wouldn't normally warrant new congregations being formed. However, foreign language groups morphing into congregations would, as would the formation of english groups in non-english countries. This seems to also be on the upswing.

  Is there a decline? No. Slowing growth? It would appear so.