i was just thinking of something i observed on a visit to bethel some years back, that at the time struck me as odd, but now that i look back on it, it might be revealing about their financial situation.
please feel free to agree/disagree with me and also bear in mind this is some years back so my memory may be sketchey.
i remember walking into the front entrance of the bethel to do a tour.
SoCal101 "Here at Bethel we use nothing but the best for our brothers and sisters! As a matter of fact, our premium soap has loofa fibers already infused into the soap!"
It's not the loofa fibres that turn my stomach, it's the 'other' fibres.
Imagine being blonde but finding a dark hair in your soap.
Gross
as a very young child i have memories of several book burnings done by jw families.
it wasn't something arranged by the congregation, but elders did participate in it.
it was actually scary for me as a child of only about 8 years old.
A friend (not a friend of a friend, but my own personal buddy) bought some headphones from a market.
When he used them he got a splitting headache. He told his elder father who suggested it was demons, so he should burn them, which my friend did.
Another personal friend made the decision that his Bat out of Hell cassette was bad, so burned it.
well after a full watchtower study last week about how we should not read to much into bible account as types and antitypes, we had a whole study article on what the 10 wise virgins now means.
interesting though is the fact that only in 2007/8 they taught that the discreet virgins were the annointed ones who waited for christ's return in 1914 and the foolish ones were the ones who fell away in 1914 because the end didn't come.
now though, we have new light!
There's an error in paragraph 4 on page 13 of that w15 3/15 article.
It states: "Note the similar directions that Jesus gave to his “little flock” of anointed followers: “Be dressed and ready and have your lamps burning, and you should be like men waiting for their master to return from the marriage.” (Luke 12:32, 35, 36)"
The error is that the apostles to whom Jesus was talking, were NOT the anointed little flock at that time.
This did not happen until later on, in 33 C.E. when holy spirit came down and anointed them after Jesus had died.
Yes Jesus called them a "little flock" in Luke 12, but they were not anointed.
He was speaking to a non-anointed little flock.
well after a full watchtower study last week about how we should not read to much into bible account as types and antitypes, we had a whole study article on what the 10 wise virgins now means.
interesting though is the fact that only in 2007/8 they taught that the discreet virgins were the annointed ones who waited for christ's return in 1914 and the foolish ones were the ones who fell away in 1914 because the end didn't come.
now though, we have new light!
Probably this?
imagine that the cult decided to stop shunning family members on the proviso that the dfd person was not actively trying to attack the cult.. (please don't debate whether or not this is likely - it's hypothetical).
how would you respond to your family?.
personally i think i would be less than cooperative.
cofty My dad told me it would have been easier for them if I had died.
I've heard this so many times, that it would be easier if someone had died.
I don't know if they sincerely believe it or like everything else in JWdom they are just repeating 'the disfellowshipped stance' by rote.
So callous, it undermines basic humanity. No wonder there's so many mental health problems tied up with this group.
i just wanted to introduce myself and say a big hello to all of my mentally diseased friends.. i say friends because i have been lurking for some time so it feels like home (us lurkers are a bit scared and cautious so it takes a while).
i won't bore you with too many details, but i am a born in, currently serving as the cobe of a congregation.
my wife and i have pioneered for the last 10 years and were shaken awake by that ridiculous 15th july 2013 wt about the generation and 1914.. my wife who is much smarter than me has questioned for years.
I still think it's incredible that when you are awake to how things really are, how different everything appears.
You see the WT articles, the people, the elders, the assemblies all in such a different light.
Seeing confirmation bias at work, refusal to entertain any thought apart from the current WT thought, fear and suspicions. How the nutty WT teachings are laughed about but in an "oh well, it must be right" sort of way.
Everything that drops from the GB's table is gobbled up in an effort to impress others and prove yourself more righteous, to gain more approval. It's all received with a hypnotic nod, a smile and "that makes sense" when it really makes no sense at all.
Labels, privileges, status, rank, standing, position. These are the spiritual goals that they work, work, work for.
There is no depth, but the shallow veneers are constantly polished with talks, answers, underlining, and hours.
Oh! The hours! The single metric which drives this worldwide organisation and segregates everyone into their respective caste.
When you are a part of this machine you cannot see it, but step away for a moment and it's a fascinating lesson in fraud, self deception and vainglorious pursuits.
Welcome, iwasblind, I look forward to hearing your experiences as you and your wife fade from the WT system.
the new august study watchtower just posted on jw.org is all about how long it may be until the end.
whole article on that topic..
but it never once mentions the overlapping generation..
I want to marry sparrowdown !
which bible translation is the best, according to biblical scholars, anybody knows?
please chime in.. i plan on getting it and doing comparison with the new world translation.
sl.
Makes you wonder why God has allowed millions of sincere truth seekers over 2 thousand years to struggle to even know which version of the rule book is accurate.
Maybe it's not as important as we think.
1 corinthians 7:14 tells us: "for the unbelieving husband is sanctified through his wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified through her believing husband; for otherwise your children are unclean, but now they are holy.".
so the sanctification of children of "christians" depends on the holiness of their parents not the "baptism" of young children.
.
Boeing I could see them saying, "1950s...well that was OLD LIGHT."
Then ask what is it that turns light 'old'.
If it's just time, then we currently study old light in waiting. We may as well dismiss it right now.
The Bible is also old.
allow me to begin with a clarification: when i say i am one of jehovah's witnesses, i don't mean that i am an advocate of the watchtower society or a devotee of some of its more controversial false teachings.
i mean that i am a christian, a disciple of jesus christ dedicated to jehovah god, and who remains in union with my brothers and sisters who make up the family of faith that globally refers to itself as jehovah's witnesses.
some totally understand the distinction between the family of brothers and sisters and the corporate organization known as the watchtower society (wts).
I still go to the meetings, but to be honest I can't keep up with all the changes.
If I don't know what I'm supposed to believe (and I'm not alone there, the elders are no better) then how can I teach anyone anything, after all, these teachings may all change again tomorrow so what I taught them was false.
I don't like being told to put my faith and my life on a foundation of shifting sands - I'm not the sort of person who can agree that that comes from almighty God.
Either God directs JW's or He doesn't. It's either true or it's not.
Either God directs Catholics or He doesn't. It's either true or it's not.
Either God directs Pentecostals or He doesn't. It's either true or it's not.
Jesus said (Matthew 7:1-5) “Why, then, do you look at the straw in your brother’s eye but do not notice the rafter in your own eye? Hypocrite!"
If you choose to, you will get the point of who the hypocrite is.
