Posts by Splash

35

Do you have any "one-liners" for drive-by witnessing?

by Faithful Witness in

i am looking for things i can say in passing, when i meet some of my jw friends.

we used to attend meetings, but have not been officially recognized yet, as apostates.

we were good and curious students, but fell away and were choked out by weeds.. since i will be renewing my bible student status soon, i am hoping this will open more windows into the organization.

Splash

- Who is the slave in Mt 24:46? (8 man GB). Who is the slave ("him") in the next vs 47? (144,000). What from those two verses indicate they are different?

- When did the 2 witnesses from Rev 11:9 die for three and a half days (WT says 1914-1919), and if they were dead how comes the WT never stopped getting published and the preaching work never stopped during that time? What then does it mean by 'dying'?

- How would you describe someone who is willing to give their life for their beliefs, when their beliefs continually change and reverse?

- How is it that the Rev 17:8's use of the present tense ("is not") refers to the 20th century (when the League of Nations was disbanded), but the use of the present tense ("is") two verses later in verse 10 refers to the 1st century (Roman empire)?

Splash

83

WATCHTOWER IN A PANIC!

by JW GoneBad in

jws are in need of more kingdom halls in many major u.s. cities.

at this years agm where it is expected that most of the faithful will be able to listen to the meeting (being tied in by video), dont be surprised if the wts 8 gb members take part in a symposium delivering some long winded appeal, petition, plea, proposal, proposition, solicitation or otherwise hit-on the masses for $$$ in order to lighten the burden and overuse that many kingdom halls are experiencing.

an acquaintance from the west coast mentioned to me that in late august thru early september of this year that a number of pow-wows involving close to 5,000 elders from numerous areas (riverside, los angeles, ventura and orange counties) took place to drum up financial support from the 800+ (not sure) congregations in those areas.

Splash

What is often overlooked is that the current Kingdom Hall Construction Worldwide fund never really decreases.

For decades, JW's have been donating to this fund. The WT then LOANS this money for a K.Hall to be built, then that loan is repaid to the WT. The fund will only ever increase in value since the money is never really spent.

So after decades of paying into this fund, why is there not enough money in it to build the K.Halls it was created for?

Where has all the money gone?

Splash

27

The WT study yesterday

by molybdenum in

( apologies for the large space at the top i don't quite know why .

i sat through the wt study that dealt with all the new understanding.. the conductor started by by saying .

well we wont spend too much time on what we used to believe, we will consider what we believe now.. i took a look round to see how the members of the congregation were reacting to this.. nothing.... .

Splash

Thanks for the research Bobcat - I always enjoy your posts.
You're looking at the account from the point of view that it was only a 1st Century event, I've seen your views on this in other posts.

The earthquakes you mention are not from Judea, but were many miles away in Turkey/Italy. These wouldn't have been felt in Judea at that time, although the one in Palestine and the miraculous earthquakes were nearer.

If Dan 9:26 mentions a city and a holy place, then is the city the holy place? I can't see any other way of interpreting this (from the viewpoint of history) than the city being classed as the holy place as per Luke, but it's still not what I would call 'accurate'.

We still struggle with Christendom being a holy place if we have a modern day fulfillment, simply because it is NOT a holy place. Now if that Holy Place was the so-called centre of modern day true worship as believed by JW's (ie Brooklyn), then the verse may have more credibility for a modern day interpretation.

That 'Rapture' point that you couldn't see in para 8 is actually in end note 2 linked to para 8 at the end of the article, based on Mt 24:31.

Thanks for your thoughts, they were good to read!

Splash

28

WTS soliciting donations in Southern California

by turtleturtle in

just talked to an older jw in my old hall.

he said there was a special 2 hour elder's meeting recently in southern california spanning many counties and areas.

apparently, due to the massive jw growth, the rbc or wt (he didn't know which one) will be announcing they they are asking each family to contribute $10/month toward new construction of kingdom halls in the southern california area.. .

Splash

(1Ti 6:3-5) If any man teaches other doctrine and does not assent to healthful words, those of our Lord Jesus Christ, nor to the teaching that accords with godly devotion, 4 he is puffed up [with pride], not understanding anything, but being mentally diseased over questionings and debates about words. From these things spring envy, strife, abusive speeches, wicked suspicions, 5 violent disputes about trifles on the part of men corrupted in mind and despoiled of the truth, thinking that godly devotion is a means of gain.

They certainly view the organisation as a means of great gain.

Splash

8

Praying and Studying Scripture

by mrhhome in

jw
friends

i ask this question as a non-jw christian who has jw in-laws.. the jw are convinced that all non-jw christians are under the influence of satan, because the jw are the only people following scripture.

of course as you dig into the scriptural basis for what they do, you realize that it is extremely weak.

in many cases, outright contrary to the intent of scripture.. this is where i struggle as a christian in dealing with jw.

Splash

WT publications hold more importance than the Bible in the minds of JW's.

They will never admit this, even to themselves, but if a scripture says "do this" and a WT says "don't do this", the JW's will not do it.
For an example see partaking of the bread and wine.

To answer your question, a JW is taught that they cannot understand the Bible without the help of the WT publications.

Even if a difference becomes clear to a JW they will still side with the WT instruction instead of the Bible, and this is because of the fear they have of doing something 'outside' the scope of the WT instructions. There is a world of hurt ready for any JW who questions a WT teaching.

Splash.

PS. Are we avatar brothers?

14

Why would they mention the 'old light'?

by Captain Blithering in

i don't get why they opened the article 'when will these things be' by using old old light not believed since the late 60's?

.

seems a bit idiotic to draw attention to past mistakes that are long forgotten in the minds of the r&f, as opposed to stuff that is fairly recent that has warranted 're-examination'.

Splash

Eurasia is at war with Eastasia, and always has been.

10

Suggested Comments

by turtleturtle in

hello all,.

.

are there any suggested comments to give in the wt study today that wont give away that i know ttatt, but will open the eyes of other jws?.

Splash

I knew there would be at least one in there somewhere!

Thanks Sir82!

10

Suggested Comments

by turtleturtle in

hello all,.

.

are there any suggested comments to give in the wt study today that wont give away that i know ttatt, but will open the eyes of other jws?.

Splash

I'm going to look for a point that we are going back to once again.

I'll then say "We can be sure this is now correct, since we also used to teach it in the past"

Splash

27

The WT study yesterday

by molybdenum in

( apologies for the large space at the top i don't quite know why .

i sat through the wt study that dealt with all the new understanding.. the conductor started by by saying .

well we wont spend too much time on what we used to believe, we will consider what we believe now.. i took a look round to see how the members of the congregation were reacting to this.. nothing.... .

Splash

While pre-studying the following questions came to mind:

Para 5: "These pangs of distress correspond to what took place in Jerusalem and Judea in 33CE to 66CE."
Question: Were there war, famine and earthquakes in Judea between 33CE and 66CE?

Para 6: "In the first fulfillment, the Standing In A Holy Place occurred in 66CE."
Question: Did the Romans infiltrate the temple in 66CE?

Para 6: "In the larger fulfillment, the Standing will occur when the UN atacks Christendom."
Question: Since when do we consider Christendom to be a Holy Place?

Para 7: "In 66CE the Romans cut short it's attack... Jehovah will cut short the attack of the UN on false religion"
Question: So if the 1st century Christians had to flee when it was cut short, what corresponds to fleeing today when it will be cut short?

Para 8: Now describes the Rapture of the anointed, as pointed out by many others.
Checking the description of Rapture in the reasoning book, it says being 'bodily' caught up. This, deceptively, is not the definition of Rapture as believed by other religions, but does allow the WT to still say the rapture doesn't apply to them since they will be caught up in Spiritual bodies.

Para 15: Lots of talk of Jesus 'coming.
Question: If he is 'coming' does that mean he is currently 'away'? If so, since when? If so, who has been appointing GB 2.0 in his absence?

Splash

20

What do JW's make of Early Christians?

by ForbiddenFruit in

Splash

+1 to pixel.

If you count the number of christians put to death for their faith in the 1st century, you soon exceed 144,000, easily doubling or trebling that number at least.

So for that reason the WT says they were false christians, giving their lives for false reasons.

Talk about the tail wagging the dog.

Splash