Posts by ThomasMore

44

2023 Yearly Report UNDER the Microscope

by raymond frantz in

https://youtu.be/pi7sn2rnrke?si=lnvklqct6nuayv2q.

branches of jehovah’s witnesses: 85 (= down one from 86 from the previous year and quite possibly they are referring to the hong kong bethel that closed down recently).

number of lands reporting: 239 ( =the same as 2022).

ThomasMore

Anonymous - Excellent points.- especially in par. 1.

I am also aware that the Congo has been used as an exchange country for funds being extracted from other countries. That would explain the cong increase as they funneled money through newly created congregations, then back to Warwick.

I am aware that some countries still have more than one-language congs. The US has many Spanish congs still, but they have discontinued almost all the other languages. The reasons were as you stated:

"they are often nearly independent from branches, lack ‘spiritual food’ (even getting English literature was spotty because the branch doesn’t like shipping small orders) leading to independent Bible study and thinking."

44

2023 Yearly Report UNDER the Microscope

by raymond frantz in

https://youtu.be/pi7sn2rnrke?si=lnvklqct6nuayv2q.

branches of jehovah’s witnesses: 85 (= down one from 86 from the previous year and quite possibly they are referring to the hong kong bethel that closed down recently).

number of lands reporting: 239 ( =the same as 2022).

ThomasMore

Anonymous - I realize that.

In most cases, KHs were sold because attendance was too low to support all that a cong was expected to do. The pubs were consolidated into another cong at another location. So, congs decreased.

The number of congs formed in some lands does not sound like a normal congregation of 25-150, but instead sounds contrived. Perhaps they are counting micro groups as congs now. In the U.S., you will recall that foreign language groups were dissolved and pubs were asked to go back to their native language of English or Spanish. I thought this was also done in foreign lands - am I wrong?

129

Is there “new light” on 1914?

by wallsofjericho in

i’m hearing paraphrasing like “we just don’t know” .

is this regarding 1914?

or micheal the arch angel?.

ThomasMore

I have no idea if what was said at 2 Spanish Conventions was testing the waters for a change in doctrine or just a major screw up, but the word salad of that teaching is filled with every vegetable known to man. It is such a gobbledygoop mess that it can become anything they want it to be - a virtual chameleon.

If something was amiss, it does not surprise me that a Warwick elder was used. If the results were bad, he could be retained whereas a local nobody elder would lose privileges for “misrepresenting the outline” and likely be DF’d for apostasy.

If you can believe the OP from Reddit, it went over like fart in church.

The obvious question comes to mind: How could WTC be so corrupted and still have the trust of so many?

14

Are You Ready for the Most Important Day of the Year?

by RULES & REGULATIONS in

luke 22:14 so when the hour came, he reclined at the table along with the apostles.

and he said to them: “i have greatly desired to eat this passover with you before i suffer; 16 for i tell you, i will not eat it again until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of god.” 17 and accepting a cup, he gave thanks and said: “take this and pass it from one to the other among yourselves, 18 for i tell you, from now on, i will not drink again from the product of the vine until the kingdom of god comes.”.

19 also, he took a loaf, gave thanks, broke it, and gave it to them, saying: “this means my body, which is to be given in your behalf.

ThomasMore

JWs have always linked the memorial to profession of being anointed but that is a narrative the Bible does not support. Those present were not anointed until Pentecost, yet they ate the unleavened bread and drank the wine because they understood that it signified their close association/reliance/forgiveness to Jesus.

Later in the case of Cornelius and his household, it was possible to be anointed before partaking of the bread and wine at “Passover”, as one was not related to the other.

JWs have never understood this simple truth because they have been following the narrative of Joseph Rutherford. Even if they don’t think they are - they are.

44

2023 Yearly Report UNDER the Microscope

by raymond frantz in

https://youtu.be/pi7sn2rnrke?si=lnvklqct6nuayv2q.

branches of jehovah’s witnesses: 85 (= down one from 86 from the previous year and quite possibly they are referring to the hong kong bethel that closed down recently).

number of lands reporting: 239 ( =the same as 2022).

ThomasMore

The countries that show an increase are highly suspect. What in fact consitutes a congregation by their definition?

i.e. - 348 in in the Congo and 198 in Brazil !!

I suspect that when they sell a cong, the pubs lived so far away that small groups began to be counted as congregations.

On the other hand, -98 in the USA? That is less than 2 per state. I think it is a stretch to say that. I know for a certainty that some cities closed multiples of that number.

All of this is virtually impossible to verify of course, as WTC knows. They provide no details, because none exist.

23

Jehovah and Pleiades

by James Brown in

does anyone remember seeing old watchtowers in their kingdom hall library before they destroyed them all, of the watchtower annoucing jehovah from pleiades kingdom.

i am 72 years old and i remeber seeing these old magazines somewhere..

ThomasMore

I marvlel at the absurd ideas WTC has floated, and I am simply amazed at how they pull heir head out of their a_s _s and never acknowledge that it was recently there.

134

How far do we get away from 1914

by PimoElder in

how far do we get away from 1914 before they have a new light and admit it was all wrong?.

they cling to the old theory of the 77 week prophecy from the wrong date that jerusalem was destroyed .

with the overlapping generations nonsense still we are getting too far away from 1914. what will they say if we get to the 2030s and they still cling to 1914?.

ThomasMore

And I will still be looking at the 40 year generation of Israel that perished in the wilderness.

7

Has there been a change in how society counts publishers?

by Hellothere in

just made a fast check on yearly watchtower report.

bulgaria numbers 2022 was +1.

for 2023 they + 4. uruguay for 2022.

ThomasMore

The numbers are suspect in my conspiracy-minded opinion. here’s why:

WTC lies - about everything.

Anecdotal observations by MANY JWs and exJWs suggest that meeting attendance and actual time in the ministry is flatter than flat.

Baptisms are almost totally children born in.

Faders and DAers and DFers dominate social media.

Many KHs have been sold and none built yet their count stays almost the same.

Congs have been been dissolved and consolidated even more than KHs being sold, yet the numbers never seem to decrease.

Foreign language groups have been dissolved in the US. That represented a significant decline.

No new KHs are being built - no one has evidence otherwise.

Call me suspicious but the report would suggest that almost all things in JWland are rosy. Unimpeachable sources say that is not the case.

WT is padding the report to avoid the truth that they are in STEEP decline.

20

🎄The Life of Antony Morris

by Diogenesister in

🎄 just thought this not former/vidiot back & forth deserved it's own christmas special !!!🎄.

vidiot6 days ago.

notformer - “…if he does attend a kingdom hall physically, i imagine there're some ‘security’ arrangements in place…”.

ThomasMore

I do know that many attempts to serve subpoenas on the GB have them spooked. Evading is illegal but few ever get prosecuted for it -(can a lawyer chime in here).

In the minds of the GB, they are under attack as victims seek to depose them.

66

My decision.

by MissDaSilva in

jw
friends

i’ve decided to disassociate from the jw organisation.

i cannot be part of a community that blatantly rejects the sacrifice of jesus in that demonic memorial ritual.

amazing what information you find when you start researching.. i’m writing my letter and posting it to the kingdom hall this morning.

ThomasMore

At the risk of repeating myself, shunning me has been a GIFT! The toxicity of many JWs was over the top. When they stopped talking to me, it felt like someone removed thumb screws.

Although I am not an advocate for DAing, I understand the need for closure that someone may have.

Let me add that fading without an explanation DRIVES PIMIS CRAZY! Without a target, they expend a lot of energy and ammunition so that is a good thing IMO.