There was a thread awhile back that indicated that a GB member said that there was going to be an announcement that would be disappointing to some. It might involve the ending of the pioneer service school. But that is hearsay at best. I've heard nothing official.
Posts by Bobcat
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29Who is attending the 2016 Annual Meeting this Saturday?
by Londo111 ini'm curious if we will have eyewitness reporters at the stanley theater like we do every year....
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46
Updates to Public Talk Outlines 2 & 3
by wifibandit inwill you be a survivor of the last days?.
serving with jehovah’s unified organization.
move ahead with jehovah’s unified organization.
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Bobcat
bttt - Public Talk Outlines
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43
How Will Armageddon Begin?
by Cold Steel inand how long will it last?
and who will come after that, yahweh, as the old testament says or jesus, as the new testament says?
the scriptures say he'll come to the mount of olives, but surely that's a spiritual mount of olives.
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Bobcat
You might want to start from a fresh point of view. The OP's question is flawed to begin with. (Not blaming the OP for that - nor is even the WT the originator of the flaw.)
Rev 16:16 describes Armageddon as a place (Gk topos - from which we get "topography"). You usually do not speak of, 'when does some place begin.' Although, sometimes events (including battles) are referred to by the name of the place they occurred (Waterloo, Normandy, et al).
The context of Rev 16 has 'kings and their armies' gathered to a place (vs. 16), then God saying 'it is finished' (vs. 17), then a series of events occur (vss. 18-21). (All/each of the events are preceded by "and" (Gk kai - a conjunction), in a pattern that looks much like a rhetorical device called polysyndeton. Each conjunction in the list separates each item.
As an example of one of the WT's flaws in interpretation, they take the first phrase of Rev 16:19 ("And the great city was split/became into three") and say it is describing the third phrase of that same verse ('And Babylon the Great was handed the cup of God's wrath'). Under the rhetorical device of polysyndeton, each of these phrases would be an event separate from the other.
In other words, Armageddon is a "place" where several related (as a result of God's saying 'it is finished') events occur. Using the following descriptive explanations in Rev chapters 17-19, the "war" that occurs, as described in Rev 19:11-21, equates with the metaphors described in Rev 16:20, 21. (Where the removal of mountains and islands (Rev 16:20) would picture the defeat of the kings and their armies in Rev 19:19, 20, and the people being pelted with hailstones (Rev 16:21) would equate with 'the rest being killed off' in Rev 19:21.
The 'kings and their armies being gathered to Armageddon' would occur before God has said "it is finished."
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19
New blood cards came to our hall today
by LevelThePlayingField inat the end of the meeting an elder, by way of announcements said there is a new blood document that he said would be passed out to every baptized member of the congregation by way of their service group overseer.
i knew this day was coming, just had no idea of when.
he said it was a simplified version and sure to make you sign up for suicide.
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Bobcat
bttt
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18
VERTIGO: 'My head is moving through space where, in reality, it is not.'
by compound complex ingreetings, fellow posters:.
wishing you well and offering my sympathy if you've ever experienced vertigo.
my neighbor is a physical therapist and told me about the epley maneuver, which i am now researching.. have you ever been through this hell of total incapacitation?.
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Bobcat
Had it (several times) whilst flying (that is, operating an aircraft). Fortunately always had a co-pilot or flight instructor when it happened (one time at night going into a very dark LZ). In fact, flight instructors sometimes attempt to bring it on so that you can experience it and recognize it.
I could imagine it is very unsettling for it to happen in ordinary circumstances.
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58
Download Raymond Franz PDF Books Crisis of Conscience and In Search of Christian Freedom
by Tenacious infor those who've never read these incredible books by our friend ray franz.. here are links for both.
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happy reading!.
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Bobcat
Thank you, Tenacious!
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58
Download Raymond Franz PDF Books Crisis of Conscience and In Search of Christian Freedom
by Tenacious infor those who've never read these incredible books by our friend ray franz.. here are links for both.
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happy reading!.
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Bobcat
Many thanks. Unfortunately both links point to the CoC book.
Thanks again.
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16
The glaring inequity between the 144,000 & the Great Crowd
by deegee inthere is a glaring inequity between the 144,000 & the great crowd (gc):.
the gc will experience:.
1. the great tribulation - a gruelling/horrifying time which has never occurred before.. 2. armageddon.. 3. a thousand years of “loving” molding and refinement.. 4. a second armageddon at the end of the thousand years.. the 144,000 will experience none of these things.. isn't it strange that the gc has to prove themself so much but the 144,000 don't???!!!
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11
Signatures on posts
by Simon incan i please ask people not to repeated signatures on their posts.. i have pm'd a few people directly with the request as i've noticed them but i guess the inevitable "explain why / show it's fair" means i need to make it publicly to all .... everyone's name and avatar is already displayed next to each post made so anything added at the bottom is really superfluous and just reduces readability on smaller devices where screen-real-estate is already at a premium.
if the layout is redesigned for mobile devices with the poster name at the bottom then it looks kind-of stupid (e.g.
"said simon - simon ...").
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Bobcat
Ditto what Smiddy said. Never even thought it before.
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8
Request For Awake 1946 3/27 page 16 - Explanation of 1Tim 6:15-16
by Bobcat ini am endeavoring to find a digital copy of the 1946 awake (consolation?
) issue 3/27 page 16.
("3/27" was how the wt pubs index had it.).
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Bobcat
First of all, to everyone who responded, WOW! Thank you all for the info and links. And Splash for providing much more detail than I had found. It appears that the 'understanding' sways back and forth.
Aside from your responses, this reminds me of my one 'questions from readers' that I sent in to the Society. It was never published in the magazines, but I did get a polite letter back in the mail a few months later. I asked about a particular verse in the Bible. I quoted the few WT publications that commented on it (that covered about a 50 year period) and then I asked them what reasoning led them to their conclusion on the verse.
The reply, while polite, was maddening. It basically said, 'the publications say so-and-so' (I told them in the letter what the publications said; I wanted to know WHY they said it). At the end of the letter was a tactful, yet definite, reminder to keep in mind the more important things. They patted me on the head and told to remember to be a good little boy.
I should have realized that the person answering the letter was probably under strict orders to simply stick with what the pubs say. Somehow I imagined a truth loving organization that would be happy to expound on its published beliefs.
A couple of years later an MTS brother who seemed to have a lot of connections was assigned to our area. I was still trying to research older WT publications to find the answer to my question. There was a reference to a 1931 WT that I had no access to, so I asked this brother if he could ask one of his friends in Bethel if I could get a scan or xerox of the 1931 article. He said he would check. Some time passed, months. I was patient but I finally asked the MTS brother about it. He told me (only after I had asked) that they didn't have time for that.
And thus, my awakening process was in full swing . . .
How ironic the flood of responses to my request here. Thank you all!
Bobcat