If all I have to explain to God is why I didn't visit bethel, I'll take that.
I wouldn't want to be in TOMO's shoes for everything he has to explain himself for.
it is reported that one elderly sister in british columbia expressed complete disgust at what she considered an obscene act in the bethel 'happy song'.
now everything is, of course, subject to perspective.
i would imagine her perspective is just as valuable as anyone elses.
If all I have to explain to God is why I didn't visit bethel, I'll take that.
I wouldn't want to be in TOMO's shoes for everything he has to explain himself for.
jws teach that only the anointed should partake of the emblems at the memorial because they are in the new covenant but the rest of jws are not.. well, if we follow that logic, shouldn't they also teach that only the anointed should pray in jesus' name?
they teach that jesus is the mediator between jehovah and the anointed only and that the "other sheep" are going to be beneficiaries of the new covenant but are not party to it.
the exact same reasoning applies to the memorial - the anointed are in the covenant but the "other sheep" are not.
Wasn't there a recent WT which said Jesus is the mediator for the 144,000 but is an intercessor for the Great Crowd?
It was something like that.
i highly recommend you watch this video.. it is superbly researched.
you know all the things in this video already--but.
watching it will create an impression on you which.
Watched it Terry, great recommendation, thank you.
I'd love to have been there to reveal my elder and convention speaker knowledge - it would have blown their minds.
Still, she did a Stirling job and it was very accurate.
i've been doing some watchtower membership growth projections.
the best, worst and most lightly future scenarios.
i've used the worlds population as a barometer of future watchtower growth.
What great fun, playing with numbers!
My only observation is that the age contour of current jw's is not linear.
I think there are many more older ones than younger ones, and while the nett intake remains low, those exiting (through death) will increase.
is anyone aware if this project is already being done by someone?
if not, perhaps we can brainstorm how to go about this, now that the pdf for the revised nwt is out.
a couple initial impressions:.
this would be a good one for jw apologist who scream and panic with anyone who feels the moral direction of the wt publishing company has gone astray.
a comment at the bible highlights last night blew my mind, here is the article that was referenced.
btw this account always bothered me, remember when it was in a drama?
Sticking with Aaron, it was he who made the golden calf and altar, yet 3,000 people were murdered as a consequence when Moses turned up.
it was so funny!.
the small rented hall our congregation uses had a blackout.
we think there was some construction work next door that caused it.. at least the glow of everyone's tablets and cell phones kept the place illuminated!.
it was so funny!.
the small rented hall our congregation uses had a blackout.
we think there was some construction work next door that caused it.. at least the glow of everyone's tablets and cell phones kept the place illuminated!.
We had a local resident inconsiderately park their car outside our kingdom hall gates, bearing in mind the hall is in a residential street where no one has a driveway, so they all have to park in the street and it gets busy.
Inside the hall the old sisters were going around proclaiming 'persecution' and hatred for God's people.
I explained that it's never happened before in over 40 years, so that person probably just made a mistake.
Fear is ever present with them.
i just started reading the transcript from a 2013 hearing the australian government had with the branch coordinator and their attorney and man the lies just on the first page:;the chair my question is: does the church maintain records on the number, nature and extent as well.
mr t. obrien yes, they do.. .
i'll post more when i can satan is messing with my computer,lol .
This is a slippery discussion.
Mr D. O’BRIEN — Just a final question on the process. You mentioned the family a lot. What is the situation in relation to what I might call whistleblowers or people who wish to report on any deficiencies or systemic practices in your church, including people who wish to depart from the church? How are they treated?
Mr T. O’BRIEN — People are free to be Jehovah’s Witnesses, or if at any time they wish to discontinue for whatever reason, that is a personal choice. If the person simply decides to become inactive and no longer associate with Jehovah’s Witnesses, then they are just viewed as they were before they became one of Jehovah’s Witnesses. But if somebody is, what we refer to as being disfellowshipped, or if they disassociate themselves because of whatever reason — their activity, their disagreement with scripture or whatever the case — that puts them in a situation that the scripture has outlined where we would disassociate with them and they would come into the category of what we refer to as ‘disfellowshipped’ or ‘disassociated’. But they are free to believe whatever they like. If they want to challenge the teachings of Jehovah’s Witnesses, there are plenty who do. You only have to browse the internet to see that. People are free to express themselves against any religion or any organisation.
Mr D. O’BRIEN — Would that include criticism of some of these practices, perhaps relying on the Shepherding textbook at that point? Is that the sort of thing that you would encourage people to make internally, or is that something that could be grounds for disfellowship?
Mr T. O’BRIEN — People can come and question teachings or procedures. They are quite at liberty to approach the elders to talk about that.
Mr D O’BRIEN — Sorry to interrupt, but I am conscious of getting to the point. Are they able to make public statements criticising the practices and, in a sense, the democratisation of the rules and practices of your religion?
Mr T. O’BRIEN — People do; they are entitled to do that. That does not mean that we will become a democracy because some individuals do not like it. They are free to come and go, as we all are.
Mr D. O’BRIEN — Can that be grounds for disfellowship if they are seen to criticise the practice for some reason? It is a whistleblowing activity I am particularly directing my attention to.
Mr T. O’BRIEN — If it was teaching against scripture, then that would be a basis for disfellowshipping, but it would not necessarily be disfellowshipping — that would be their decision. They would be disassociating themselves from the organisation of Jehovah’s Witnesses because they no longer agreed with the teachings.
http://jwsurvey.org/cedars-blog/is-watchtower-imploding-10-reasons-why-the-end-could-be-nigh.
i dont know how to hyperlink the link above,.
it's a link to an article by cedars on the possibility of the wt imploding?.
My Name Has the org ever admitted to being wrong on anything?
The Watchtower of March 15, 1980, in the study article "Choosing the Best Way of Life," offered the following comments regarding any 1975 expectations promoted by the 'Life Everlasting' book:
4 If we remain faithful, God will not let us make ruinous mistakes. But sometimes he permits us to be in error so that we may see our need to look always to him and his Word. This strengthens our relationship with him and our endurance while waiting. We learn from our mistakes that it is necessary to be more careful in the future. The desire for the new system of things to take complete charge of the earth has always been very strong in Christians down through the centuries. And because of their own short life-span, they doubtless longed for it to come in their particular lifetime. Those who have tried to keep God’s judgment time “close in mind” have, on more than one occasion throughout history, become overly eager for that day’s arrival, in their own minds trying to rush the arrival of the desired events. (2 Pet. 3:12) In the first century, for example, the apostle Paul found it necessary to write to Christians in Thessalonica in this fashion, as we read at 2 Thessalonians 2:1-3: “However, brothers, respecting the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to him, we request of you not to be quickly shaken from your reason nor to be excited either through an inspired expression or through a verbal message or through a letter as though from us, to the effect that the day of Jehovah is here. Let no one seduce you in any manner, because it will not come unless the apostasy comes first and the man of lawlessness gets revealed, the son of destruction.”
5 In modern times such eagerness, commendable in itself, has led to attempts at setting dates for the desired liberation from the suffering and troubles that are the lot of persons throughout the earth. With the appearance of the book Life Everlasting—in Freedom of the Sons of God, and its comments as to how appropriate it would be for the millennial reign of Christ to parallel the seventh millennium of man’s existence, considerable expectation was aroused regarding the year 1975. There were statements made then, and thereafter, stressing that this was only a possibility. Unfortunately, however, along with such cautionary information, there were other statements published that implied that such realization of hopes by that year was more of a probability than a mere possibility. It is to be regretted that these latter statements apparently overshadowed the cautionary ones and contributed to a buildup of the expectation already initiated.
6 In its issue of July 15, 1976, The Watchtower, commenting on the inadvisability of setting our sights on a certain date, stated: “If anyone has been disappointed through not following this line of thought, he should now concentrate on adjusting his viewpoint, seeing that it was not the word of God that failed or deceived him and brought disappointment, but that his own understanding was based on wrong premises.” In saying “anyone” The Watchtower included all disappointed ones of Jehovah’s Witnesses, hence including persons having to do with the publication of the information that contributed to the buildup of hopes centered on that date. ―w80 3/15 pp. 17-18 pars. 4-7 Choosing the Best Way of Life.