Posts by jeremiah18:5-10

22

Facebook message from ex brother-in-law

by jeremiah18:5-10 in

jw
friends

my ex bil (who is df'd for 3+ years) sent me this message saturday night:.

"...it is with a sad heart i write this.

after seeing your post concerning celebrating halloween and running into christi and her telling me that you guys were celebrating christmas with a tree and everything ... along with other postings you have made and testimony from others it is apparent you have chosen the path of apostasy.... i write this wishing that wasn't so but the fact is the fact... i wish you and your family the best in this system but i can not associate or be friends with you anymore... i am chosing to be on jehovah's and his organization's side... thanks for the friendship thru the years and may you enjoy the time left in this system... :'(".

jeremiah18:5-10

Here is my reply:

How dare you presume to judge me or my family or anything about our life. You have had next to zero contact with me or my family in years.

You have zero right to imply adverse judgment or doom against me. Jehovah alone judges hearts and contrary to your post recently, no amount of action or belief can earn you Gods approval because as the Bible says salvation is by undeserved kindness and grace. Nothing you do can make you deserve it. You can self-proclaim taking "Jehovah's side" all you want, but that doesn't make it so. Just having a label by a self-appointed group of men does not equate to Jehovah's approval.

How dare you presume to accuse me of the path of "apostacy" when you no nothing of my belief in and faith in and dedication to Jehovah and Jesus. Apostacy from men is not apostacy from God. I pity you and all others who can't see beyond the noses on their faces or think for themselves beyond the realm allowed for them or permitted by an earthly organization.

My concern has been and will continue to be Gods approval and that of His Son, not of what you or any other man thinks. I don't know what "Christy" you ate referring to, but, I don't live in NWA and I don't have association with anyone where I live and what's more its not your concern or the concern of anyone in an organization that expelled me from it to look into my life, or take note of my life or actions.

For someone who has always been wick to alledge slander against anyone accusing you of anything, you have alot of audacity accusing me of anything based on secondhand info. Shame on you. I pray that someday your eyes are opened and that you can have enough life left to enjoy it.

You have no reason to reply to this. If you choose to share this private message with anyone I will consider it outright violation of my expectations of privacy. This is not a public forum.

Any inclinations you may have to argue with me in your legalistic manner can promptly be stowed away in the same sand you bury your head in. Peace and Good Luck! :-)

22

Facebook message from ex brother-in-law

by jeremiah18:5-10 in

jw
friends

my ex bil (who is df'd for 3+ years) sent me this message saturday night:.

"...it is with a sad heart i write this.

after seeing your post concerning celebrating halloween and running into christi and her telling me that you guys were celebrating christmas with a tree and everything ... along with other postings you have made and testimony from others it is apparent you have chosen the path of apostasy.... i write this wishing that wasn't so but the fact is the fact... i wish you and your family the best in this system but i can not associate or be friends with you anymore... i am chosing to be on jehovah's and his organization's side... thanks for the friendship thru the years and may you enjoy the time left in this system... :'(".

jeremiah18:5-10

My ex BIL (who is DF'd for 3+ years) sent me this message Saturday night:

"...it is with a sad heart I write this. After seeing your post concerning celebrating Halloween and running into Christi and her telling me that you guys were celebrating Christmas with a tree and everything ... along with other postings you have made and testimony from others it is apparent you have chosen the path of apostasy.... I write this wishing that wasn't so but the fact is the fact... I wish you and your family the best in this system but I can not associate or be friends with you anymore... I am chosing to be on Jehovah's and his organization's side... thanks for the friendship thru the years and may you enjoy the time left in this system... :'("

We used to be very close and served as elders on the body together for years. Beyond an occasional facebook message, we've had no contact for 5 years or so (since I was DF'd). When I received the message, it infuriated me and I couldn't resist responding.

There were 2 directions I could go, 1) rise above and be classy and not dignify his condescending nature or 2) emotionally reply and set him straight. I had been drinking that night with a couple of buddies and couldn't resist the emotional reply.

64

more abuse in today's watchtower study

by solomon in

jw
friends

today's study picks on the most vulnerable among us.

the mentally ill. .

the watchtower apparently hasn't learned that depression and mental illness are that a medical condition.

jeremiah18:5-10

Not all cases of depression are due to "chemical imbalances" are they? Some depression can be environmantal, in other words a result of situations and circumstances you are contending with on a day-to-day basis.

In either case, what causes or brings on the depression is not as clear as the effect of the depression.

My wife, after the birth of our second child, began experiencing more intense depression. For years we had viewed each other as being one of us pessimistic (her) and the other optimistic (me) and that this was why we dealt with situations differently. We even considered it Jehovah's "blessing" that we were this way and were together so we could balance each other. Looking back on this now makes me embarrassed that I ever thought this way. In any case my approach to my wife was as follows (and IMO identifies a root problem in the common approach to depression by many)

I would note that my wife was apathetic, unproductive, irritable, and lacked motivation. So I would be "sensitive" and ask her "What's wrong?"

My wife would reply, "I don't know." I would then, in my infinite wisdom, begin a long, drawn out conversation breaking down everything that's been going on and agonizingly drag her thru each event over the last several days thinking at some point I would be able to isolate a specific thing and be able to proclaim "Aha! that's what it is" bada-bing bada-boom, your fixed!

Of course this didn't work, it only served to create more tension and add to the already gloomy situation.

The problem really is that a person, when depressed (whether clinical or environmental) cannot think straight. They don't have the ability to pause, rewind, isolate, and solve. To ask them to do so is ridiculous. They lack energy, drive, stamina, motivation, and joy. They simply cannot bring themselves to do things like read the Bible, go to meetings, pray, exercise, etc. They may have moments where they feel better and are able to do some of these things, but by and large, they simply can't sustain it. They need help to be able to regain perspective, focus, and in many cases this help can only come in the form of presribed drugs/meds, combined with QUALIFIED assistance from a TRAINED PROFESSIONAL.

A person that hasn't experienced depression beyond momentary "down" feelings of disappointment, cannot comprehend what a depressed person is going through. It's not momentary for them. It's not disappointment for them. It is real and it is debillitating mentally and physically. I learned this through experience and effort to never forget it. No amaount of mental effort on the part of the depressed person can "solve" it. They may never "solve" it. Thhey may learn to live with it, but usually it is only because of getting the proper assistance from "QUALIFIED" resources.

Something that helped me to understand it better was thinking of the "depressing" of a brake pedal. To depress the brakes, one applies pressure to the pedal and forces it down and maintains the pressure until coming to a stop. The pedal is "depressed". The pedal has no say over it, it only receives the pressure and goes down and stays down. A depressed person is pressed down by pressure from an outside source (whether environmental or chemical) beyond their control and they have little to no say over the source of pressure of the effect. They simply must cave under it and must wit for the pressure to subside (due to qualified assistance).

I truly feel the WTS and their cronies try to equate disappointment to depression and that is a fundamental flaw in their approach and their presribed solution. Reading the Bible, praying, meeting attendance may very well help a JW experiencing disappointment, but it has little to do with assisting a depressed soul.

Jer

49

RBC biggie divulges WTS expects disaster victims helped by RBC volunteers to fork over insurance money to the WTS

by oppostate in

my wife spent all morning long preparing this super thanksgiving banquet.

with a huge turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, cranberry sauce.

and greenbeen salad, pie and icecream.. yummy!.

jeremiah18:5-10

What bothers me most about it is they portray this differently, or at least did when I was still in 5 years ago. There was never a mention of the WTS being re-imbursed from insurance funds. They made it out to be 100% donation/charity/goodwill work. Never was it even implied that any financial return from the insured was expected or received. That bothers me greatly. Perhaps that has changed in the last 5 years. If they are up front about it and disclose this detail, then fine, I have no problem with it. Deceit doesn't sit well with me, but its par for the course for the WTS!!

49

RBC biggie divulges WTS expects disaster victims helped by RBC volunteers to fork over insurance money to the WTS

by oppostate in

my wife spent all morning long preparing this super thanksgiving banquet.

with a huge turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, cranberry sauce.

and greenbeen salad, pie and icecream.. yummy!.

jeremiah18:5-10

I was a babtized member for 20 years, a pioneer for 10 of those years and an elder for 5+. I worked on RBC for 3+ years and I had no clue about this. Dunno if I just missed this or was just so naive that the thought of this never even entered my mind. It's actually quite shocking to me because, as mentioned already, there's the WWW contributions, KH construction contribution, then when a disaster strikes, each cong gets a letter and a motion is passed to make a special donation of $$$ and clothing and other goods. This is startlingly obvious embezzlement and fraud. I can't believe how much JW's just dont see and don't want to see. Another thread related how an elder kept telling this inactive brother that he has his head "buried in the sand", I gotta say, I feel like I was the one with my head in the sand all those years, not just the sand, but the kitty litter box. HOW DARE THEY!!!!

157

Share your photo, only if you don't have any problem with it.

by wolfman85 in

jw
friends

i like to share my picture with you and that you share yours with me.

but only if that does not represent any problem to you.

here is mine.

jeremiah18:5-10

Me

Enlightened Ephesian and myself

1

Papa John responds to "Bad Press"

by jeremiah18:5-10 in

for those who were quick to run with the bash papa john's action, here's "the rest of the story".. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/john-h-schnatter/papa-johns-obamacare_b_2166209.html.

is it spin control?

i really don't care, but it sounds more reasonable than the previous statements accredited to him.. i hope this is his true sentiments and an accurate rendering of events lord knows i've had to do alot of damage control due to the ripple effects of the previous allegations.

jeremiah18:5-10

For those who were quick to run with the bash Papa John's action, here's "the rest of the story".

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/john-h-schnatter/papa-johns-obamacare_b_2166209.html

Is it spin control? Perhaps. I really don't care, but it sounds more reasonable than the previous statements accredited to him.

I hope this is his true sentiments and an accurate rendering of events Lord knows I've had to do ALOT of damage control due to the ripple effects of the previous allegations. I'm sick of emailing people what my franchise is doing and how its entirely different than the actions that were being accused to happen.

Have a happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

Jeremiah

43

"Papa Johns CEO Threatens To Make His Pizza Taste Worse Than It Already Does If Obamacare Not Repealed"

by FlyingHighNow in

this is so brilliant:.

http://www.freewoodpost.com/2012/11/14/papa-johns-ceo-threatens-to-make-his-pizza-taste-worse-than-it-already-does-if-obamacare-not-repealed/?fb_comment_id=fbc_464152183636910_4819387_464471203605008.

papa johns will not back down to the big government stronghold trying to suffocate the fortune of ceo john schnatter.

jeremiah18:5-10

Ignorance amazes me. Taking issue with the product itself is one thing, and the beauty of a free market. But to think or believe that he has any ability to have any impact whatsoever on the personnel decisions of the franchisees is preposterous. 95% of the PJ's restaurants are franchise-owned. They are not employees of John Schnatter. The franchisees have to determine how to approach and absorb the costs of health care. The idea that there will be a mass firing or laying off of the work-force is insane.

It's not like pizza chains get to select workers from the "cream of the crop". We have to search for people to work. Most people that go to work for us really don't want to work, they intentionally want a part-time job and a perceived "easy" job that they only have to work at for 2-3 hours at a time. It amazes me how people that are only scheduled 15 hours a week are the first ones to volunteer to go home when cuts are needed.

The harsh reality is turnover in this industry is immense, always has been, always will be. The only people that stay around longer than a few months are managers and upper management. Some drivers that have the lucrative shifts, hang around for years, but thats all they want to do.

Team members that want to work, better themselves and pursue this industry are developed, promoted, and given benefits.

By and large the vast majority of team members either work for us as a supplement to their "real" job or just want an easy part-time gig. Some even use it as a way to stay on unemployment, requesting only to work a minimal amoumt of hours.

The only full-time positions there are now and ever have been are the salary management positions.

You guys can ignore this statement of facts as it was on the previous "Papa Johns" thread started by NC, but these are the facts from someone who has worked for PJ's since 1997 starting as a driver (while regular pioneering) and working my way up to the director of operations of a 31-store franchise (after leaving the WT and realizing I needed a career since I threw away my youth pioneering and pursuing a "theocratic career")

22

For What It's Worth...

by jeremiah18:5-10 in

jw
friends

i've been a member here for approx 4 months now.

i've made all of 68 posts.. on the otherhand, i visit the site daily and try to read every thread.

unfortunately i travel alot for work.

jeremiah18:5-10

I appreciate the thoughtful replies posted. Its comforting to know that my contributions, albeit limited, will be and are appreciated. The longer I'm a member and the more I read on this site, the more I understand the dynamics involved. I'm especially drawn to the posters that carry themselves with humility and don't seem to take themselves so seriously as to presume they know all and are the complete authority on Bible chronology, prophecy, WT history, and JW theology.

With that being said many posters really intrigue me with their thoughts, research, and findings. I find myself excited to visit the site daily and scroll through Active Topics looking for the latest "scoop" or erroneous teachings and doctrines of the WT exposed.

Thanks again to all members for your contributions.

22

For What It's Worth...

by jeremiah18:5-10 in

jw
friends

i've been a member here for approx 4 months now.

i've made all of 68 posts.. on the otherhand, i visit the site daily and try to read every thread.

unfortunately i travel alot for work.

jeremiah18:5-10

I've been a member here for approx 4 months now. I've made all of 68 posts.

On the otherhand, I visit the site daily and try to read every thread. Unfortunately I travel alot for work. I don't have as much time in front of my computer as I would like. 99% of the time I access through my phone and as of yet have found no way to post from my phone. Thus my participation could easily be perceived as irregular.

Why do I mention this? It's obvious that a hierarchy exists here and deservedly so. I notice that many have been members for years and have made thousands upon thousands of posts. Such ones rightfully are held in high regard and usually make valuable contributions.

With that being said, I imagine that all members here have different circumstances in their lives. Some clearly are able to spend more time than others researching, writing, and debating all things WTBTS. For that I am thankful. However others, like myself, while being avid readers of the site, simply do not have the time to invest or the circumstances to be able to contribute as much. Does this in any way cheapen or de-value the contributions of such ones' when made?

This certainly isn't to imply that this has happened directly, because, in my case I don't feel that it has necessarily. But clearly as mentioned by many members, your posting history and volume does make a difference in how seriously you are taken and whether you're perceived to be a lurker or an apologist or just a flash in the pan. I am hoping that I am not perceived as such due to a lack of posts. I hope that no one else is either. It seems that it would be better to base such conclusions on content and merit and allow someone as much time as needed to build a reputation.

For many of us, taking the "leap" to joining a forum is a bit unsettling. Some of us are conditioned to being socially-challenged due to a lifetime in the WTBTS. Witty exchanges and open debate doesn't come easily for everyone. It can be difficult to verbalize things you've kept inside for years and were never able to talk about. Even if it were easier for me, I still would be faced with the challenge of not having the time and circumstances to post frequently.

I've thoroughly enjoyed this forum and hope to continue to do so. I just ask that we each consider that circumstances vary and, as the widow who dropped in only two coins of very little value, it was worth more than all that the others dropped in out of their surplus. Point being that volume alone doesn't make one's contributions valuable. Volume of posts don't necessarily define a persons' true participation here.

Please be assured of my deep respect and appreciation for this site and all of the work that you guys contribute to it.