well it looks like the wt was slowly moving away from the blood ban going back to the 1990's but not sure of some things i have read concerning thier comments about blood moving through the placenta?.
that some protein fractions from the plasma do move naturally into the blood system of another individual (the fetus) may be another consideration when a christian is deciding whether he will accept immune globulin, albumin, or similar injections of plasma fractions.
one person may feel that he in good conscience can; another may conclude that he cannot.
Not wanting to derail the OP's question, but I'll just throw in that when the baby is born it literally eats 'banned' blood products (white cells) when it first suckles on its' mother.
At the same time, if that same baby needed white cells from any other method, it would not be allowed them.
Sane?
Splash
it's no secret that the wtbts has a cash flow problem.
over the past three years they have closed 20 of their 116 branches.
they have sold off most of their properties in and around ny (including some kingdom halls), drastically reduced the # of printed pages for the watchtower and awake magazines, reduced the printing of books and other materials, increased the number of single page tract campagnes, installed cc machines at their assembly halls, and are now seizing of controll of property assets from local kingdom halls using renovation projects.
Watchtower-Free Branch closings last 3 years... (list of 41 branches)
The 2010 yearbook says there were 118 branches in 2009. This is the highest number of branches in any yearly report.
The 2014 yearbook says there were 91 branches in 2013.
This gives a total of 27 closed branches according to the yearbooks.
Why the discrepancy? What about the 'missing' 14 branches?
Splash
the letter has appeared at last - just for uk.
it is a money grab for the new bethel which has been approved.
there is a video to be shown - just watched it - brief summary of uk bethels, why current one is too small, why we need money to build a new one.
If questions are allowed at the end of the item, put up your hand and ask
"When we need money from the Society they give us a loan that we pay back. Can we do the same, and give them a loan that they can pay back once the London bethel is sold?"
Splash
isn't going to be wonderful??.
not being there..
Final figures for England:
Total Sunday attendance - 149,174
Total baptized - 787
Ratio - 0.53%
Splash
the october kingdom ministry for the united states reported the 2014 memorial attendances for the us branch office that has subsequently been well discussed in a separate thread.
in that thread, a poster asserted that in some parts of europe the attendance had been higher than last year - but to date no source evidence has been provided.. so, have memorial attendances for other parts of the world been reported in any of the publications such as kingdom ministryyet?.
if so, could you direct me to the source(s).
Due to the efforts and spin around 2014, this year and next will turn in some impressive increases.
Unless they can maintain this level of hyped up activity, I would expect a noticable downturn in the 2015-2016 report.
Splash
i was unable to find any details on this on jwfacts, anyone have details on the wt not being a religion so they could instead own property?.
*** yb95 pp. 211-213 Mexico *** (edited)
However, there were obstacles because of the restrictions that the law imposed on all religions. Objections were raised to the house-to-house activity of the Witnesses, since the law stipulated that ‘every religious act of public worship must be held inside the temples.’ For the same reason, objections were raised to our conventions in public places. Owning property also presented problems, because the law required that every building used for religious purposes had to become federal property.
For these and other reasons, the Society decided that it would be wise to reorganize, with a view to giving greater emphasis to the educational nature of our work. Therefore, on June 10, 1943, application was made to the Secretariat of Foreign Affairs to register La Torre del Vigía as a civil society, and this was approved on June 15, 1943.
With this rearrangement, singing at our meetings was discontinued, and the meeting places became known as Halls for Cultural Studies. No audible prayers were said at meetings, though nothing could prevent a person from saying an earnest prayer silently in his heart. Every appearance of a religious service was avoided, and truly our meetings are designed for education. When Witnesses in other lands began to call their local groups “congregations,” the Witnesses in Mexico kept on using the term “companies.” House-to-house visits by the Witnesses continued, but direct use of the Bible at doors was avoided.
*** yb95 p. 233 Mexico ***
In 1989, with the approval of the Governing Body, a letter was written to all the “companies” saying that as of April 1, we would be operating in Mexico as a religious organization.
During this same time period (1943 - 1989) the WT hypocritically printed:
*** w79 5/15 p. 21 par. 15 Prayer in These “Last Days” ***If we compromise in order to avoid persecution, then, of course, there would be no need to keep on praying. This would not only indicate a lack of faith, but would also result in our losing the evidence of being one of God’s Christian servants.
*** w74 4/1 p. 202 Does Fear of Neighbor Control Your Life? ***Those few of Jehovah’s witnesses who denied their faith while in the German concentration camps during World War II were held up to ridicule before the entire camp by the Nazi officers, reviled as hypocrites and cowards. Some of them were asked, “Now that you have denied your God Jehovah, what god will you serve?”
*** w70 4/1 p. 219 par. 16 When Building Disciples, Motivate the Heart *** (Malawi)When a Christian witness of Jehovah of Ntifinyire Village was beaten for refusing to purchase a political card, Banda’s youths took a knife and made cuts encircling his arms and then his legs and inflicted many cuts on his head. Other Witnesses had six-inch nails driven into their feet, bicycle spokes were forced through their legs and then these Christians were told to run. Still others were tortured with a burning stick placed against their arms, legs, head and entire body. Still these Witnesses refused to compromise their religious beliefs or deny their God Jehovah under such barbaric torture. You may be called upon someday to prove your faith. How will your faith stand up?
*** w57 8/15 p. 496 par. 11 Happy Are the Peaceable ***Though total support and worship is demanded by Satan’s organization today, true Christians follow the example of the faithful Hebrew men of old, who refused to compromise their worship, even though threatened with death.
*** w57 2/1 p. 75 Faith Conquers the World ***Christendom likes to sing hymns about “Dare to be a Daniel, dare to face the foe,” but by their course of action they show that they do not have the faith of Daniel. They see only some visible enemies and even with them they compromise.
*** w52 5/1 p. 264 par. 17 1914 a Marked Year! ***Thus in spite of Satan’s ironlike governments and their strong powers of persecution Jehovah’s people in all ages have stood apart and survived. It is only those who have shown a lack of faith and who compromised that would take themselves out from under God’s special care.
I'm sure that the prophet Daniel would be very proud of them for following his example of non-compromise.
Splash
km august 2014, page 3 paragraph 6(article for this week's service meeting):.
"the month of october 2014 will see the 100th anniversary of the establishment of the kingdom.
for this occasion a special edition of the watchtower will be on this theme.".
*** w66 8/15 pp. 504-505 Doing God’s Will Has Been My Delight (edited) ***
I (A.H. Macmillan) have seen many severe trials come upon the organization and testings of the faith of those in it. I have seen the wisdom of patiently waiting on Jehovah to clear up our understanding of Scriptural things instead of getting upset over a new thought. Sometimes our expectations for a certain date were more than what the Scriptures warranted. So I learned that we should admit our mistakes and continue searching God’s Word for more enlightenment. So there was no need for us to let our faith be weakened by unfulfilled expectations or changes in views.
I remember the time I was a speaker at a convention at Saratoga Springs, New York, in 1914. I spoke on the subject “The End of All Things Is at Hand; Therefore Let Us Be Sober, Watchful and Pray.” I believed it myself sincerely—that the church was “going home” in October. During that discourse I made this unfortunate remark: “This is probably the last public address I shall ever deliver because we shall be going home soon.”
In that talk I tried to show the friends that perhaps some of us had been a bit too hasty in thinking that we were going to heaven right away, and the thing for us to do would be to keep busy in the Lord’s service until he determined when any of his approved servants would be taken home to heaven.
Although our expectations about being taken to heaven were not fulfilled in 1914, that year did see the end of the Gentile Times, as we had anticipated.
Poor old Macmillan. Fancy expecting to go to heaven but ending up stuck in the same old routine for another 55 years.
At least he learned patience and to admit mistakes.
Splash
km august 2014, page 3 paragraph 6(article for this week's service meeting):.
"the month of october 2014 will see the 100th anniversary of the establishment of the kingdom.
for this occasion a special edition of the watchtower will be on this theme.".
You say 1874, I say 1914.
Let's call the whole thing off.
Splash
as of yet, no member of the jehovah's witness faith can defend their unique beliefs.
when the dust settles, it all comes down to blind faith in men's ever-changing ideas.
this "unique belief" was not a "true teaching of the bible.
I haven't read this whole thread so hope I'm not duplicating anything.
But how can you defend the 'Truth' when it's not something that ever stays the same?
From the teat of mother:
http://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/1200277174
Splash
have you guys asked yourself that question?
what if the gb decided that "new light" revealed to them that disfellowshipping was wrong and they would do away with it for current dfd members as well...... .......16 years of my life.
would i welcome my family back?
Shunning is so entrenched that even if the WT reversed this instruction, many would continue to shun.
Those that had shun children and grandchildren would not be able to admit to themselves that they missed out on these relationships for no reason.
Splash
