WinstonSmith

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Posts by WinstonSmith

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  14

  A fourteen year-old elder set this sister straight!

  by Julia Orwell in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i was supervising a class of 14 year olds and there were a couple of jw kids, a girl and a boy, both of whom want to go to bethel.

  i told the boy i wasn't comfortable with all the changes the gb's been making over the years.

  i mean, i'm the teacher, right?

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  WinstonSmith

  Was his name Andre? Because I sense a WT study article experience in this kid's future....
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  34

  ZO Talk in Japan - Part Deux

  by WinstonSmith in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  you might remember last weekend i posted up some info from my friend that had the opportunity to attend the zone overseer talk in japan.

  that thread is here: http://jehovahs-witness.net/watchtower/beliefs/251038/1/hot-off-the-press-zo-talk-in-japan.

  well today my friend forwarded me this little gem.

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  WinstonSmith

  Yes, you heard him right: "15 minutes a month they are scripturally enduring in the preaching work."

  REALLY?

  What scripture was that?
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  49

  HOT OFF THE PRESS: ZO talk in Japan

  by WinstonSmith in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  this is literally hot off the press as in from about half an hour ago.. we have a friend from nz (who is wavering and knows our situation) and he is on holiday in japan at the moment.

  today there was a zone overseer talk that he went to in nagoya (southern japan) and it has just finished up.

  straight after the song and still in the stadium he emailed us the info below.

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  WinstonSmith

  Hi guys,

  That is a great link Ann, thanks very much. He has asked me not to post it so I'm happy to do what he says.

  Just posted up a sequal to this thread. Check it out: http://jehovahs-witness.net/watchtower/beliefs/251234/1/ZO-Talk-in-Japan-Part-Deux
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  34

  ZO Talk in Japan - Part Deux

  by WinstonSmith in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  you might remember last weekend i posted up some info from my friend that had the opportunity to attend the zone overseer talk in japan.

  that thread is here: http://jehovahs-witness.net/watchtower/beliefs/251038/1/hot-off-the-press-zo-talk-in-japan.

  well today my friend forwarded me this little gem.

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  WinstonSmith

  Hello everyone,

  You might remember last weekend I posted up some info from my friend that had the opportunity to attend the Zone Overseer talk in Japan. That thread is here: http://jehovahs-witness.net/watchtower/beliefs/251038/1/HOT-OFF-THE-PRESS-ZO-talk-in-Japan

  Well today my friend forwarded me this little gem. It is an edit of a minute and a half of Anthony Morris' talk there. In it you will hear such wonderful Christian encouragement along the lines of "if you aren't unconscious for two months in hospital you have no excuse for not preaching"

  Grab your vomit bucket, strap on your tinfoil hat, and prepare for the worst:

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rAeysDQeqCw

  I recall someone wondering if there are apostates in Japan. Check out the other vids there....
• 
  49

  HOT OFF THE PRESS: ZO talk in Japan

  by WinstonSmith in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  this is literally hot off the press as in from about half an hour ago.. we have a friend from nz (who is wavering and knows our situation) and he is on holiday in japan at the moment.

  today there was a zone overseer talk that he went to in nagoya (southern japan) and it has just finished up.

  straight after the song and still in the stadium he emailed us the info below.

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  WinstonSmith

  Hi Jeffro / Jethro :-P

  Thanks for the explanation, makes sense that he was unsure about posting it.

  I'd like to hear more about exJWs or 'apostates' from Japan. There must be some out there somewhere. I remember Possible-san posting recently, and I think there might have been a couple more?
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  49

  HOT OFF THE PRESS: ZO talk in Japan

  by WinstonSmith in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  this is literally hot off the press as in from about half an hour ago.. we have a friend from nz (who is wavering and knows our situation) and he is on holiday in japan at the moment.

  today there was a zone overseer talk that he went to in nagoya (southern japan) and it has just finished up.

  straight after the song and still in the stadium he emailed us the info below.

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  WinstonSmith

  Hello everyone,

  Sorry for the late reply, glad to see this has been of interest. Heard from our friend again today and he emailed a photo of the book. It is light pink with a marble-esque pattern and is pretty much the same dimensions as a Daily Text book. It is written in normal size font and in the vertical Japanese style. He asked me not to post the photo because he doesn't know how to remove "EXIF data". I don't even know what that is but will respect his wishes.

  The only reason we can think as to why they went with the book of Matthew is that perhaps it contains the most JW friendly synopsis of Jesus life and ministry? I think Japan would be mostly Buddhist wouldn't it? Maybe Shinto? Not sure of the reasoning. My mate has recorded about 30 mins of the talk but is having trouble sending it on the hotel wifi. If it comes through I'll see if I can upload it. The talk was broken up with the speaker saying a few sentences, then a translator repeating what was said in Japanese.

  With regards to the possible reasons for decline, one thing my mate has noticed there is that there are lots of sisters in the congregations and there were visibly more at the stadium for the talk. He was pretty happy about that LOL! It seems that there are lots of unbelieving husbands. So maybe what is happening is the kids of these families are now getting to an age where they can make a decision, and choose not to go down the JW path. There is huge pressure for kids to go to University in Japan, and my mate said that there is huge pressure, especially for the brothers to be pioneers, MSs, and elders. Pretty much if you aren't a pioneer, you aren't considered marriage material.

  These might be contributing factors? Surely the internet mustbe playing a role.
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  33

  How to fade?

  by naazira in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i am suppose to become an unbaptized publisher in a few days.

  however ive changed my mind.

  i finished my bible study and progressing in the org.

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  WinstonSmith

  Naazira, the good thing about not being baptised or a publisher is that you don't have to fade. Just stop. Become one of 'those' studies that "just stopped for no reason." They'll compare you to the seed that sprang up then withered away, but who gives a crap about their opinion?

  Run Forrest, run.
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  49

  HOT OFF THE PRESS: ZO talk in Japan

  by WinstonSmith in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  this is literally hot off the press as in from about half an hour ago.. we have a friend from nz (who is wavering and knows our situation) and he is on holiday in japan at the moment.

  today there was a zone overseer talk that he went to in nagoya (southern japan) and it has just finished up.

  straight after the song and still in the stadium he emailed us the info below.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  WinstonSmith

  Hi everyone,

  This is literally hot off the press as in from about half an hour ago.

  We have a friend from NZ (who is wavering and knows our situation) and he is on holiday in Japan at the moment. Today there was a Zone Overseer talk that he went to in Nagoya (southern Japan) and it has just finished up. Straight after the song and still in the stadium he emailed us the info below. Anthony Morris and Christopher Mavor were the speakers:

  - A publication was released, well not really a publication, it is the book of Matthew. Not a book about Matthew, but the book of Matthew all on its own. It is called The New World Translation of the Gospel of Matthew and is 128 pages long. It is to be offered on its own in the door to door work because "the Japanese people need to read the bible more." There was a copy for everyone there, and they will be available through the congregations.

  - The lack of increase recently in Japan has been a concern of the Governing Body. The numbers have dropped off over the last 10 years. The new release book has been specially provided for the needs of the Japanese brothers.

  - Luke 10:16 was read and the follow up statement was "Jesus sent these ones out in the work and if the householder rejected them, they were in fact rejecting Jesus and Jehovah. The same is true today. When people at the doors reject us and the food from the Faithful and Discreet Slave, they are rejecting Jesus and Jehovah."

  He shot the email off because it was the first time he had ever heard of one book of the bible being released. Also, as he has some doubts, he got a chuckle from the comparison made between rejecting Jesus and rejecting the FDS. He's heading out with some friends now so I'm hoping he'll give some more info when he gets back!
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  30

  For those faking meeting attendance

  by His Excellency in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  for those of you who are still faking meeting attendance and field service, do you still greet the dubs after the sessions?.

  because for me, i am increasingly finding it difficult to showcase any fake smile and pretend everything is allright.

  in fact, i'm already getting exhausted with the hypocrisy, i just have to remain in for family reasons.

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  WinstonSmith

  His Excellency,

  Mrs Smith and I went through the same phases. Once we were both awake we thought we'd just keep going along as though nothing had changed. That got hard and we ended up doing the arriving just before the meeting started and leaving just after the final song thing. Then even sitting there became such a drain. Its nothing personal against the people, you just realise that you have nothing in common with them. Nothing to talk about.

  I stopped going altogether and then since the Memorial Mrs Smith hasn't been along either. We thought it would be an interesting test of how deep the true Christian love is in our congregation. Since we stopped going, only one person has been in touch, our best friend. The only contact we have had from an elder has been to check if we submitted our field service time.

  Genuine love?

  Shepherds?

  Christlike?

  Nope.
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  16

  Why so much sickness!

  by Julia Orwell in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i never met such a physically and mentally ill group of people outside jws except for at the local hospital or old folks' home.

  from chronic fatigue to fibromyalgia to depression to arthritis to kids lacking lustre to heart problems to cancer, bipolar to every co and his wife having food intolerances.... are jehovah's witnesses the most ailing group?

  what is your observation?.

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  WinstonSmith

  Spot on Gingerbread