i don't have a great reference point on my observation other than my local area but i was wondering if this was a widespread thing.
... in the last two years in my former congregation there have been 6 people to disassociate for "apostasy," 6 disfellowshipped for various reasons, and numerous ones reproved.
these are just the ones i have heard about.
It was reported here on this forum that in the Seattle area a high level elder or CO told the one posting it that in the circuits of that area their loosing half a dozen members per circuit every six months. They also had an international assembly in Seattle last year and reported something like 70K in attendance the first day but by the pics it didn't look like it to me.
That was the OVERALL attendance of people in Seattle, PLUS the tie in cities. I was there. The thread on it is here.
if you have been a jw for 20+ years you may remember that the wt went into great detail on different illustrations that jesus used and the "type/anti-type" ridiculous explanations.
remember the revelation book and how those obscure jw conventions of the past pictured big things in heaven and the opening of seals?
anyway, the wt lessons for the next two weeks do two big things for me.
Hmm. Ok. I'll acquiesce. The word "antitype" and anything about Nebuchadnezzar and his tree dream appear together in any of the literature. So, from a purely "technical" perspective, it's not a type/antitype thing. However, the "seven times" vision is considered a "prophectic pattern" as recently as the October 1, 2014 WT on 1914 (chart on page 11).
calling you bible scholars!.
i was asked this:.
how can this apply to jesus when he was not in the grave for 3 nights?.
It's interesting that the parallel account in Luke didn't mention the three days as the sign of Jonah.
When the crowds were massing together, he began to say: “This generation is a wicked generation; it looks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Joʹnah. 30 For just as Joʹnah became a sign to the Ninʹe·vites, so will the Son of man be to this generation. 31 The queen of the south will be raised up in the judgment with the men of this generation and will condemn them, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solʹo·mon. But look! something more than Solʹo·mon is here. 32 The men of Ninʹe·veh will rise in the judgment with this generation and will condemn it, because they repented at what Joʹnah preached. But look! something more than Joʹnah is here. - Luke 11:29-32
I wonder if the Ninevites even knew Jonah was in the fish for three days.
according the watchtower study of may 10th, it has been made clear no prophetic meaning should be given to a a scripture or passage unless the bible itself gives clear interpretation of it.
therefore daniel 7 especially gives it's fulfillment to nebuchadnezzar only.
no future kingdom or 2520year wait til 1914. no gentile times or "this generation".
if you have been a jw for 20+ years you may remember that the wt went into great detail on different illustrations that jesus used and the "type/anti-type" ridiculous explanations.
remember the revelation book and how those obscure jw conventions of the past pictured big things in heaven and the opening of seals?
anyway, the wt lessons for the next two weeks do two big things for me.
And does this new teaching really kill the 1914 propaganda or will they use some other teaching to still push it?
Probably not. 1914 (the Daniel 4 / 2520 years calculation) isn't part of a type/anti-type. It's part of a dual-prophecy.
Our study conductor kept emphasizing how Jehovah approved all of this. I couldn't help but think how late to the game WT is because Christendom has been teaching the simpler lessons of the parables for many years.
hi i've been reading a web sight called borean pickets.
http://meletivivlon.com/2015/05/09/may-tv-broadcast-on-tv-jw-org/.
although the guy writes some real thought provoking stuff, i sort of don't know what to make of it.
I would say neutral... the goal is to have an open discussion about various bible topics, to see what others have found on such topics, regardless of what WT says. The rules are pretty clear when signing up, including no flaming, no vitriol, no attacking other forum members. Just open discussion / debate. It's neither pro or against WT, though I would say many there are against, but largely from a doctrinal viewpoint. They leave stuff like child abuse issues to other forums as those sorts of things bring up strong emotions.
I have found the site to be useful. Many times, something is stated in a WT article, and that becomes a topic for open discussion.
looks like two "new" publications are available on their website.
i put "new" in quotation marks because these appear to simply be the introduction in their rnwt in one and the appendices, maps, charts, etc.
publications named "an introduction to god's word" and "a study guide for god's word".
Looks like two "new" publications are available on their website. I put "new" in quotation marks because these appear to simply be the introduction in their RNWT in one and the appendices, maps, charts, etc. in the other.
Publications named "An Introduction to God's Word" and "A Study Guide For God's Word". The "Study Guide" even has the page numbers starting at 1718, where appendix A1 starts is in the RNWT.
Found in the books section of the website. Not creating a link here.
if you have been a jw for 20+ years you may remember that the wt went into great detail on different illustrations that jesus used and the "type/anti-type" ridiculous explanations.
remember the revelation book and how those obscure jw conventions of the past pictured big things in heaven and the opening of seals?
anyway, the wt lessons for the next two weeks do two big things for me.
Anyone brave enough to make that comment during the WT study on par 9? Something like what the OP said?
"Even though we were wrong in our understanding, they did build our faith"
or
"Even though our understanding wasn't true..."
or
"Our spirit-directed organization taught us something through the years that has turned out to be incorrect. However, our faith is strengthened by the fact that NOW, we are being taught the truth about these parables."
These lessons are going to really make me angry at the KH. I am going to have a very, very, very hard time keeping my facial expressions in check.
This March 2015 WT is a real doozy. I'm still baffled as to their approach in actually reminding everyone what they used to teach.
stephen lett about 33 minutes in to may's "liar liar" episode of the monthly worship broadcast said "jehovah's witnesses have the most multilingual speakers of any organization in the world!".
the catholic church has the most people i thought, do you think he's telling the truth and where is he getting these facts?
i finally broke down and decided to watch this in order to work on my reverse witnessing skills, lots of ammunition for anyone needing fuel to extinguish their dirty flames of lies!.
There's no way to know, as OTWO, stated whether Lett's statement is true. I took it as 'JWs have the most number of people who can speak multiple languages in a single organization.' Hard to say whether that's true or not. There's global corporations that undoubtedly have many multilingual speakers. I love hearing these unverifiable claims.
@sparrowdown, funny!
the july 2015 kingdom ministry says jws can't do international outreach through the internet, but to instead, point someone in the direction of jw.org site.. it's just another form of control.
the individual publisher is forced to send the interested one to a website fully controlled by the borg.. .
Overheard conversation before the meeting:
Brother (speaking to Service Overseer): "Well, Brother So-and-so is a pioneer. Shouldn't he be able to do this?"
My ears tuned into the conversation.
Service Overseer: "Weellllll, that's a decision for the service committee."
Brother: "Oh. I thought anyone who qualified could do it. I mean, you're just sitting there."
I figured out they were talking about cart witnessing, newly implemented in our cong.
Service Overseer: "Well, see, you gotta be outgoing. That's one of the qualifications."
By this time, my attention got diverted, but this just made me shake my head. The brother had a point, all you're doing is sitting there. The REGULAR PIONEER brother was NOT ALLOWED to SIT at a cart because he's NOT OUTGOING ENOUGH!!!!!
