just got back from a recent sad.. after most talks, the applause was, at most, tepid.. it was striking in its tepidity, if that is possible (and if that is a word).. affter most talks, applause lasted literally no more than 5 seconds.
its volume was scarcely above a whisper.. it wasn't acoustics - the bethel speaker was technically a polished speaker (although presenting the same old boring info), and his talks generated noticeably louder applause.
but even still - that applause was maybe 10 seconds, and about normal-conversation level.. but local speakers - the applause was not much more loud than the hum coming from your refrigerator.. there were 1300+ people there.. it was just so weird - my previous large-group experience was at the agm, where people were nearly apoplectic & drooling with delight over their new "silver bibles" (which very few have read, i'd wager).. these guys were just "zombified".. speaking of bibles - bethel dude called it a "platinum bible".
In the 1969, “Peace on Earth” International Assembly in Vancouver, B.C. about 70,000 attended and over 1,600 were baptized.
That's about 1 baptized for every 44 in attendence.
If those statistics were consistant with sir8's2 assembly, about 29 would have been baptized.
Granted the hype of the international assemblies would bring more to the baptism pool but that's a far cry from 1/1300.
What happened with the 'speed up' as the time of the end neared?
other apostles of the bible were not afraid to engage in religious discussions (peter in the temple court yard), paul before festus, king agrippa and bernice, paul before the emperors of rome and his religious consorts or experts.. .
i don't see the watchtower's scholars of fame engaging with the world's religions or metaphysical discussions, why?
if fundamental christians, catholic and anglican church apologist are not afraid to debate topics with scientist, how come the people who claim to be "jehovah's only" don't share in the "thought of public ideas"?
designs
When the tsunami was heading for Japan, would someone who knew and really believed it, say to himself, 'Crimony, I better not go banging on my neighbours doors SCREAMING AT THE TOP OF MY LUNGS THAT A TSUNAMI IS COMING', because their going to think I'm b...s...c... ?
when the economy collapses, and it will, worse than 2008, far worse.... ...what would the watchtower society do if a large group of homeless jw's starting camping out at wakhill, new york, perhaps in a large 'tent city'?.
When the economy collapses, and it will, worse than 2008, far worse...
...what would the watchtower society do if a large group of homeless JW's starting camping out at Wakhill, New York, perhaps in a large 'tent city'?
other apostles of the bible were not afraid to engage in religious discussions (peter in the temple court yard), paul before festus, king agrippa and bernice, paul before the emperors of rome and his religious consorts or experts.. .
i don't see the watchtower's scholars of fame engaging with the world's religions or metaphysical discussions, why?
if fundamental christians, catholic and anglican church apologist are not afraid to debate topics with scientist, how come the people who claim to be "jehovah's only" don't share in the "thought of public ideas"?
IF the end of most of the world's population is in danger of complete destruction AND that destruction is coming quickly, any day now, AND it is coming at God's hand by means of his heavenly forces at Armageddon AND God's chosen messengers are the 8 Governing Body of Jehovah's Witnesses, they should not just be printing literature and putting it on magazine carts in malls.
They should be banging on the front door of the White House, the Kremlin, every government building, every embassay, every church, every Muslim/Hindu/Sikh/Budhist/etc. temple on earth
SCREAMING AT THE TOP OF THEIR LUNGS, 'REPENT -THE END IS NEAR'.
in the dec 15 2013 study article page 19 paragraph 10 a professor jonathan klawans is quoted.. i found the original quote here:.
exodus 12 commands the israelites to repeat this practice every year, performing the sacrifice during the day and then consuming it after the sun has set.
(according to jewish tradition, the new day begins with the setting of the sun, so the sacrifice is made on the 14th but the beginning of passover and the meal are actually on the 15th, although this sequence of dates is not specified in exodus.
Does an incomplete quote make any difference?
So it appears.
“Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about …………………...”
― Albert Einstein
“A room without books is like a body without a ……..”
― Cicero
“In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life: it ………….”
― Robert Frost
“No one can make you feel inferior without ………...”
― Eleanor Roosevelt, This is My Story
“If you tell the truth, you don't have to………………..”
― Mark Twain
“A friend is someone who knows all about you and …………….”
― Elbert Hubbard
“Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to …………...”
― Mahatma Gandhi
“I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget ………………...”
― Maya Angelou
“Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only ……………….”
Martin Luther King Jr.
“Without music, life would be………...”
― Friedrich Nietzsche,
“To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is …………………………….”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson
14:7.. 1988 hope in jehovah and keep his way (ps 37:34).
yes, hope in jehovah, (ps.
(ps.
m
please make one sentence each from the following sets of facts:.
1) a man: he's cynical/he's old/he's a bachelor/he's grizzled.
2) a boy: he owns a schwinn bicycle/he's 10 years old/the bike is blue/it's a christmas gift/it has three speeds.
Scenario #1:
The Pastor analyzed the old man, sitting in the last row of his church. It was Sunday, his day and this was his sermon and now this blasphemer was staining the whole wonderful show by his very presence, again. How dare he! Every Sunday, for the last two months, this grizzled hermit had brought his decrepit carcass into this holy building and it looked like it was not going to end. The first time the Pastor saw him he felt revulsion and the feeling had only deepened. What was it going to take to get him to leave and never come back? This day would be no different than the last eight Sundays, of that he was sure. It sent a cold chill up his spine. As soon as he finished his sermon and the last amen was uttered, this old man, who obviously no women would want, would shuffle up to the front of the church, point a crooked finger at the Pastor and say," You say God is love, do you?" The Pastor would make his customary reply, each week with less resoluteness than the week before, " Yes, God is love." [Silently thinking to himself, 'Go away you cynical, old man, and don't come back, ever.']
The old man would follow up with his standard challenge, " Then prove it. Goddamn you, prove it!" His language had gotten stronger as the weeks progressed. The Pastor would then shake his head in disgust and walk away, to more deserving souls, who really wanted to hear the message and not just point fingers.
Scenario #2:
The Pastor analyzed the old man, sitting in the last row of his church. It was Sunday, his day and this was his sermon and now, finally, he saw someone who could really use it. A grizzled old man, beaten down by the cares and woes and trials of life. Someone who needed the love of the Christ shown to him in a real way, a way that would open his heart to the good news. Here was the one, the lost sheep who needed searching for, and now, before the Pastor’s eyes, he appears. Thank-you, Lord, for giving me an opportunity to prove to the lost sheep, your love. He changed his message today, for that one lost sheep sitting as far back as he could, but listening to the wonderful message of redemption as no other. To most he would appear cynical, but the Pastor’s heart was open to him. This was the lost sheep he had prayed to find. He spoke about the great sacrifice made for sinful mankind, and that any man, of any nation could come and be refreshed. As he spoke the old man’s eyes lit up brighter and he sat up straighter, perhaps hearing for the first time that he was valuable, he was worth something to someone who mattered, to the Creator himself. The Pastor would make sure he talked to the old man before he could leave and would invite him to supper at his home. He knew exactly what this old man needed, he needed to have proven to him the love of the Christ and the Pastor would do it, for the Pastor understood his duty.
You drag our life
Without a breathing moment
To dream
To be able to remember
What we have already lived
Without an end
You are a never ending moment
you have no yesterday
You have no tormorrow
Now everthing is in your hands
Large hands
never ending hands
I don't care about the moon
I don't care about the start
You for me are the moon and the stars
You for me are the sun and the sky
You for me are everything
All that i want to have
Never ending
Never ending
if he truly exists.
this god has failed.
every word pronounced.
My time moves slowly
Gliding across the veil of my naked skin
If I should cross the border you made for me
maybe i would not be here
But not what sense does it make
To try and embrace a more pristine past
looking forward I will take the risk
but I'll find answers to my why's
All that you will be
has already been written
if he truly exists.
this god has failed.
every word pronounced.
If he truly exists
This god has failed
Every word pronounced
Will be the mirror of your pain
reflecting the blame
Feeding the hate
Mother
I'll choose my destiny
If I'm able to resist
I am still standing in this moment of pure madness
I don't know anymore if I should desire good or evil
Although sin maybe gives me more
But now what sense does it make
To try to resist a written destiny
I'm not going to sit back and watch
Without trying to resist you
To wake me up
Mother
I'll choose my destiny
If I'm able to resist
To wake me up
There's no choice without me
There's no life without me
