Emery

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Posts by Emery

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  59

  Surprise Elder's Visit-FAIL

  by iclone in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  [if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:officedocumentsettings> <o:allowpng /> </o:officedocumentsettings> </xml><!

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  Emery

  Dang! That's definately a different approach but a very good one!
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  29

  The Pharisaical Laws of JW's

  by Emery in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i remember hearing from a former elder of a situation he found himself in while conducting the old weekly bible study.

  that morning only one male was present during the morning study, however that brother forgot his tie.

  under instruction from the slave, any brother not properly dressed for a meeting is not to have any congregation priviledges (hold mics, talk, attendent, magazines, reading).

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  Emery

  I remember hearing from a former Elder of a situation he found himself in while conducting the old weekly bible study. That morning only one male was present during the morning study, however that brother forgot his tie. Under instruction from the Slave, any brother not properly dressed for a meeting is not to have any congregation priviledges (hold mics, talk, attendent, magazines, reading). The understanding now was that in order to continue the book study a sister was to place a garment over her head and read the paragraphs. So as to avoid embarassing the brother, the elder ended up praying, conducting, and reading all the paragraphs for the study. He admitted that he felt like a toolbag and that it made no sense because the sisters don't wear ties either.

  I also knew of someone who was told they were not to have any more congregation priviledges if they were to continue wearing their Mickey Mouse tie or their Orca Killer Whale tie because they were not "appropriate".

  I wanted to know if anyone else here had any ridiculous pharisaical experiences while being a witness?
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  11

  Israeli lawmaker Michael Ben-Ari rips up, throws out New Testament

  by VM44 in

  1. social
  2. current

  israeli lawmaker michael ben-ari rips up, throws out new testamentgoogleon: allarticle_titlejuly 18, 2012. article_datejerusalem (jta) -- israeli lawmaker michael ben ari ripped up a copy of the new testament and threw it in the garbage.. ben ari, of the national union party, had his legislative aide, itamar ben gvir, photograph his destruction and released the photo tuesday to the israeli daily maariv.. lawmakers had received in their knesset mailboxes copies of the new edition of the new testament released by the bible society in israel, which distributes christian books in the country, ynet reported.

  some returned it to the society and others quietly disposed of it.. sending the book to lawmakers is a provocation.

  there is no doubt that this book and all it represents belongs in the garbage can of history, ben ari said, adding that it "galvanized the murder of millions of jews" throughout history, including during the spanish inquisition.. government spokesman mark regev told ynet that "we totally deplore this behavior and condemn it outright.

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  Emery

  I can't say I blame the guy. Orthodox Jews have been oppressed for over 2,000 years by Christianity and many feel it is rooted in what's written in the NT.

  I dont necessarily agree with it but I understand it. I have seen many debates between Orthodox Rabbi's and Christians regarding the belief in Jesus and I rarely see Christians come out on top. I had a Jewish man rip me a new one when it came to NT Gospels not linning up with the Hebrew bible prophecies of what the messiah would bring.
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  127

  Introducing Mrs Cedars...

  by cedars in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i just thought you should know that mrs cedars has finally taken the plunge and joined the forum.

  she was able to log on for the first time yesterday.. though we both "awakened" at different stages, mrs cedars was very supportive and non-judgmental when i first began exploring my beliefs from a critical standpoint.

  she is currently in the process of reading crisis of conscience and aquainting herself with some of the facts of witness history that were hitherto unknown.

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  Emery

  Welcome Mrs Cedars :)
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  5

  Jehovah's Witness Dating Advice

  by KingAgag in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i remember when i was young reading through the "young people ask" book.

  i remember thinking, several times, that if i followed all the advice, i'd not have any friends at all.. here's a funny look at the dating advice they give: http://www.jehovahswitnessblog.com/funnies/jehovahs-witness-dating-advice/.

  king agag.

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  Emery

  Th second addition I believe that had all the young people displayed on the front cover....I remember first looking at it and thinking "Man these people are effin ugly."

  Anyway yes, they did have some awful 1920's advice in that book.
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  12

  E-Watchman on Unbelievable podcast

  by mindseye in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  there's this podcast, unbelievable, that i've been listening to.

  it's from britian, and usually has debates between atheists and christians, or between christians of varying beliefs.

  anyway, the host; justin brierly; has been trying to get a jw on his show for a while, but to no avail.

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  Emery

  I do respect Robert King for his unwaivering faith. As I was listening the host does appear to be biased towards the ex-Jw Evanglist and its a 2 vs 1 the entire show. Didnt appear like a fair debate. The host somewhat did the same thing to Bart Ehrman in a prior interview, however Ehrman can debate an entire crowd regarding NT studies and probably win.
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  43

  Will we ever see another Ray Franz?

  by Emery in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  will we ever see another governing body member leave the organization like ray franz did and speak out against them?.

  one can only imagine the kind of dirt that's been concealed behind those gb sessions since the 1980's.. what are your thoughts?.

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  Emery

  I agree with Jeremiah.

  Ray Franz did not see how blind he was and made decisions based on a faith he felt was true for over 50 years. He may have been dishonest while developing the bible chronology of 1914 for the Aid book but weren't we all somewhat dishonest as witnesses? When we preached from door-to-door didn't we use deceptive recruiting tactics? Like, "Oh we're just here to encourage bible study. We're not here to covert you." and in the end we said and did things because we felt it was the true path regardless of the mistakes during the process.
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  77

  I told my daughter I was leaving "the truth" this weekend.

  by whathappened in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  last week, i told you i was going to tell my daughter that i was leaving the truth this weekend and you all gave me sound advice.

  but, i cannot keep a secret this heavy from the person i love most on this earth, my only daughter, who is beautiful inside and out.. well, i have always had an open and honest relationship with my daughter, and i guess it paid off.

  this weekend i visited my daughter (who lives in another state) and i told her i was leaving "the truth.

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  Emery

  Certainly its a nerve racking situation anytime you have to confess a belief that is preached as mentally diseased and out of favor with Jehovah Almighty. Reading your approach appeared to me like an apostate overload for any rank and file witness to initially handle. I would really focus on unrefutable biblical evidence for your position. For instance the stance i've used with people is the 1919 Faithful and Discreet Slave appointment. I ask for the biblical chronology that would lead us to this doctrine. Also I make it known the kind of food given "at the due time" for this selection. I ask whether a perfect being and heavenly creature like Jesus Christ would select a repeated false prophet to advance his perfect kingdom on earth? Hammer and stay on this point as long as possible. Talking about Free Masons symbols tends to fall in the ad hominem category, it doesn't really affect their overall doctrines, theology, or authority....it isnt as powerful as say Deut. 18:20-22. Use the books "The Finished Mystery" and "Millions Now Living Will Never Die" to show them the food Jesus supposedly approved of. Show them that the food being preached from door-to-door during the selection process of 1918-1919 was to ADVERTISE! ADVERTISE! THE KINGDOM which was to follow the 1925 Armageddon and resurrection. They were preaching under false prophecy. They were invisibly chosen during a time when JW doctrine and interpretation of scripture was so alien and heretic now that it really would take a mentally diseased and scripturally ignorant person to accept that grand claim.
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  9

  WTBTS & Local Corporate Structure, KH Ownership, Finances, Etc

  by Creed in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  i had posted this in response to some questions on the napa valley ca court case thread... i am starting a new thread and reposting it here.... there was some previous discussion going on about the wtbts's many corporations, ownership of kh's, articles of incorporation, non-profit status, how kh loans and finances work, etc.

  well, good news, i don't want to disclose too much information about myself, but let's just say in my profession, i do a lot of work in this area of expertise.

  to answer the question about ownership of kh's though, each congregation is required by the wtbts to set up a non-profit corporation in their particular state with the secretary of state, or corporations division, or businesses division.

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  Emery

  Thanks Creed! This info is quite helpful and informative. I too am reading In Search of Christian Freedom and it keeps leading me to this site everyday.
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  6

  The Dangers of Fundamentalism - John Dominic Crossan (VIDEO)

  by 00DAD in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  "religious fundamentalism is probably the most dangerous thing in the world at the moment, ... christians or muslim, i'm not making any distinction.

  " - john dominic crossan @ 4:10. .

  emery posted this video on another thread.

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  Emery

  Thanks 00DAD!

  I loved this video the first time I found it. JDC is a great speaker and an intelligent bible scholar. His views on the bible and beliefs are a little awkward but still a great teacher.