leaving_quietly

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Posts by leaving_quietly

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  92

  COBE cannot be 80 or more

  by fader77 in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  a new letter no longer allows an elder to be cobe if hes 80 or more.

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  leaving_quietly

  Really need to see this in PDF form... not that I don't believe this weirdness, but a PDF would be most helpful.
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  32

  The Rants of a Dumbass Elder Still Serving

  by TTATTelder in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  ok in the effort of full disclosure, i have had a couple of drinks and recently experienced a circuit assembly and a bad experience with a co.. i don't know where to effing begin.

  first of all the circuit assembly was a joke.

  half the assembly was about pioneering and selling your soul to be a no-pay salesman for the borg.

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  leaving_quietly

  Let's clear up this tiny little matter about Christ's ruling. WTBTS has unwittingly said what the Bible has been saying all along. Christ's rule is not just 1000 years long. The 1000 years is the length of time that the holy ones are to rule with Christ.

  Rev 20:4-6: "And I saw thrones, and those who sat on them were given authority to judge. Yes, I saw the souls of those executed for the witness they gave about Jesus and for speaking about God, and those who had not worshipped the wild beast or its image and had not received the mark on their forehead and on their hand. And they came to life and ruled as kings with the Christ for 1,000 years. (The rest of the dead did not come to life until the 1,000 years were ended.) This is the first resurrection. Happy and holy is anyone having part in the first resurrection; over these the second death has no authority, but they will be priests of God and of the Christ, and they will rule as kings with him for the 1,000 years."

  It's true that WTBTS views Christ as ruling only for 1,000 years, though. They call it "Christ's Thousand Year Reign" and the "Thousand Year Reign of Christ". These are both incorrect. The Bible speaks of him ruling forever. (Isa 9:7; Luke 1:22,23). Even after the 1,000 years, Christ is shown as the Lamb having a throne in New Jerusalem along with God. (Rev. 22:3,4). 1 Corinthians 15:24-28 speaks of Christ handing over the Kingdom at the end and subjecting himself to his Father. That doesn't mean he stops ruling as a king. To me, it means that he fully accomplished that which his Father appointed him to do, up to and including abolishing death. After that, based on Revelation 22:3, 4 it seems they rule together as co-rulers.

  The 1,000 years, though, only applies to the time Satan is abyssed, and is also the length of time that those holy ones are to rule with Christ.

  This is how I presently understand things.
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  29

  Taking care of aging parents

  by skeeter1 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i hear that a recent talk was about taking care of one's aging parents.

  i agree.

  generally, kids should take care of aging parents.

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  leaving_quietly

  This was the subject of the WT study for the last two weeks. A comment from a middle-aged sister: "We are GOING to get old. We can't stop it."

  I guess this writer(s) of these two articles and the majority of JW don't agree with the GB about it being the last day (or is it now the last hour?) of the last days. I mean, why have planning for elderly care articles when this system is going to end "very soon"?
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  37

  Daniel chapter 9

  by Doug Mason in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  i have scanned daniel chapter 9 as it is rendered in english by the hebrew tanakh (masoretic text - mt) and by the greek septuagint (lxx).. http://www.jwstudies.com/daniel_9_in_mt_and_in_lxx.pdf.

  read verses 24 to 27 carefully.. doug.

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  leaving_quietly

  marked
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  26

  Congregation rebels!

  by A.proclaimer in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  my congregation got a reminder today to start donating money.

  elder said that after the letter on the new donation arrangement was read, the contributions for that fund went from the average (i believe it was $500 or so) to $0.

  after that reminder, cash was put into those boxes.

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  leaving_quietly

  The fake notice that Zoos posted is closer to reality than you think. If a cong. misses a monthly EFT (Electrronic Funds Transfer) which is due on a certain day each month, they absolutely do get a notice. I've seen this personally. No late fee, of course, but definitely a notice.
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  115

  Survey---who is inactive, disfellowshipped/disassociated or active?

  by minimus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i am inactive for about 10 years now..

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  leaving_quietly

  Active for family for now, mentally out for 2 years.
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  33

  A glaring example of how Watchtower's insertion of "Jehovah" corrupts the NT

  by Island Man in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  "the rnwt replaces "kyrios" (lord) with "jehovah" in translating romans 14:8 as follows:.

  "for if we live, we live to jehovah,*+ and if we die, we die to jehovah.

  * so both if we live and if we die, we belong to jehovah.".

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  leaving_quietly

  It would make an interesting study to comb through the NWT and carefully examine the context of every insertion of "Jehovah" in the NT to see how many obvious instances of such glaring errors, exist. Maybe even publish the findings online.

  Perhaps this site would be of interest: http://www.tetragrammaton.org/

  Specifically look at http://www.tetragrammaton.org/copydivname.html
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  36

  Why Did the Governing Body Change Their Interpretation Of Matthew 24:45-47?

  by Cameron_Don in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  some have wondered if "captives of a concept" had anything to do with why the governing body changed their interpretation of the most important scripture in their theology at their annual meeting on october 6, 2012.. this is because the book places great emphasis on the societys interpretation of matthew 24:45-47 and then holds them to it while examining the organizations history to make sure that went on in its history fits their interpretation.

  this comparison is essential to the societys claim to being gods organization.. their previous interpretation came from their former most imminent bible scholar president frederick franzs in his "gods kingdom of a thousand years has approached.

  " their history comes from their "jehovahs witnesses proclaimers of gods kingdom.".

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  leaving_quietly

  It may move their appointment to all his belongings to the future, but we must not forget that they also changed what that means. It used to be that "all his belongings" included:

  These “belongings” include the growing “great crowd” of “other sheep.” - w09 2/15 p. 24 par. 3

  Moreover, Jesus Christ has appointed the faithful and discreet slave “over all his belongings”—all Kingdom interests on earth. (Matt. 24:47) Included among these belongings are the facilities at the world headquarters of Jehovah’s Witnesses, at branch offices in various lands, and at Assembly Halls and Kingdom Halls worldwide. Included too is the work of Kingdom-preaching and disciple-making. - w09 2/15 p. 26 par. 9

  These things have been moved to the status of "domestics" and their current responsibility:

  13 Who, then, are the domestics? Put simply, they are those who are fed. Early in the last days, the domestics were all anointed ones. Later, the domestics came to include the great crowd of other sheep. The other sheep now make up the vast majority of the “one flock” under Christ’s leadership. (John 10:16) Both groups benefit from the same timely spiritual food that is dispensed by the faithful slave. What about the Governing Body members who today make up the faithful and discreet slave? Those brothers also need to be fed spiritually. Hence, they humbly recognize that as individuals they are domestics just like all the rest of Jesus’ genuine followers.

  14 Jesus placed a weighty responsibility on the faithful and discreet slave. In Bible times, a trusted slave, or steward, was a house manager. (Luke 12:42) The faithful and discreet slave is thus charged with the responsibility to manage the household of faith. That responsibility includes overseeing material assets, the preaching activity, assembly and convention programs, and the production of Bible literature for use in the field ministry and in personal and congregation study. The domestics depend on all the spiritual provisions dispensed by the composite slave.
  
  - w13 7/15 p. 23 pars. 13,14

  Thus, while admitting (and properly so) that Christ has not yet appointed them over all his belongings, they take what used to be considered all his belongings and placed them under their current charge.

  Back to the OP, though, a passage that comes to mind is 2 Cor 11:12-15:

  But what I am doing I will continue to do, in order to eliminate the pretext of those who are wanting a basis for being found equal to us in the things about which they boast. 13 For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. 14 And no wonder, for Satan himself keeps disguising himself as an angel of light. 15 It is therefore nothing extraordinary if his ministers also keep disguising themselves as ministers of righteousness. But their end will be according to their works.

  This may very well indicate that the disguise changes over time.
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  19

  What three items were in the Ark of the Covenant?

  by jam in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  i will give you a hint.

  1) jar of bread 2) stick 3) two stones.. and why were they placed in the ark of the covennant????.

  i'm embarrassed to say, as a former elder, schooled by the.

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  leaving_quietly

  Ex 24:12 - Tablets - Simply commanded to do so. (also Deut 10:1)

  Ex 16:34 - Manna: so that it would be preserved.

  Number 17:8 - Aaron's rod: a sign to the sons of rebelliousness so that their murmurings would cease and they may not die

  This is all the Bible says as to "why" that I could find.
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  27

  Has Anyone Heard Whether The New JW Bible Is Liked As Much As The Old One?

  by minimus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  my mom told me that she, my brother and his wife really didn't like this new bible.. when i asked her why, she said they dropped the headings on the top of the pages and that just wasn't as good.. have you heard any pros and cons about the new good book?.

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  leaving_quietly

  It's very simple... the new Bible has a more easy read in English. In reality, not much has changed. It's a matter of audience. Do you want a functional Bible that appeals to a wider audience? Or a technical Bible that stays closer to the original language? WTBTS seems to be trying to balance between the two, much like the NET, NIV and ESV. This revision gets them more toward the functional than the technical.

  One thing they should not have done is added their biased commentaries. This is a big no-no in the translation community, but they seem to ignore that sort of thing.

  I agree with whoever said they missed the running headings. They were a lot more useful than the outline at the beginning of each chapter. I undersand they got rid of it because it's a pain to update for each language. I get that. Makes sense. My take is: get rid of the outline, too. The outline contains paraphrased commentary, thus the term "governing body" got inserted in the outline in Acts.