In the published JW lifestory of TM he said that the person who studied with him was of the anointed.
He probably learned the right words to say plus the appropriate masonic-style handshakes etc.
this guy was not a born in and did not really work his way up from the very bottom.
he kind of got some kind of fast track.
its a bit strange.
In the published JW lifestory of TM he said that the person who studied with him was of the anointed.
He probably learned the right words to say plus the appropriate masonic-style handshakes etc.
do any of you remember things you should never have said to a fellow j.w ?.
two of mine come to mind, one was when we were out in field circus one day and my companion was complaining of knee pain, he explained, " it has a crack in it ", i replied " that explains why my bum hurts, that's got a crack in it", the other one was when a guy showed me a chef's knife he had bought for chopping, and i said " i always wanted a big chopper ".. you ?.
I remember the service overseer trying to encourage greater FS participation during a local needs talk said "looking at the hours reported our sisters are doing a lot better than the brothers."
Then he said "Brothers! You will all have to pull your socks up as high as the sisters!"
And wondered why everyone fell about laughing, as we pictured them pulling their socks up as high as the sisters' stockings.
But the one that was brilliant and still has me laughing was the stuffy elder who was giving a talk about design in creation over evolution and chose the octopus as his example. Then he proceeded to talk about the suction pads that the octopus had on each of its TESTICLES. He used the mispronounced word about 6 further times to everyone's delight.
Me and another friend had to leave the main auditorium and hurry into the foyer, I had a handkerchief stuffed in my mouth to stop my loud guffaws, and my friend had tears running down his cheeks.
We were told off later for being disrespectful of an older man, but Hey! he started it.
the watchtower doesn't hold out any hope for us ever seeing our beloved animals again.
i find it very difficult to believe that god -- a god of love -- would refuse to resurrect an animal that we had become so attached to.
over the years i have bonded with no less than four (4) dogs, all of which were/are like family to me.
I remember that we believed that the Ransom sacrifice of Jesus only covered humans, so animals wouldn't be resurrected.
Anyway one day while out in the ministry with our visiting circuit overseer we got into a good chat with a householder. After listening to the promise of a new world, he asked "I have a favourite horse, it's my pride and joy. To me it wouldn't be paradise for me if I couldn't be riding my horse there. Do you think that if my horse died it would happen?"
So I was thinking how do I tactfully say to him "no" without getting bogged down, when the circuit overseer (much to my surprise and open mouth) chipped in immediately with "of course your beloved horse will be with you in paradise. Here's the Bible scripture which proves it."
And he proceeded to open his Bible and read the verse in Psalms about God opening his hand and supplying everyone's heart's desire.
When we walked away I challenged him on it. But he was adamant that if that was this man's desire God would fulfil it for him, although he did add "it might not be the exact same horse, but it would be the closest copy possible to satisfy that man's needs" in the New World.
But years later when I was PIMO I figured the C.O. probably would have said anything if he thought that by doing so, he could get the man to agree to a Bible study...
we don’t get many invitations to congregational social gatherings.
we don’t attend midweek meetings and miss about 1/3 of sunday meetings.
we go in service at least once a month.
Wonder what they would make of Jesus inviting the blind, lame, etc to the banquet.
"No, No, Lord. They don't participate in our weekly meetings..."
🤔 🤣
some people on this forum have said that they never really believed any aspect of wt teaching, that they couldn't wait to get free of it all.. others seems to have been really gung ho, believing it all until something happened that got you questioning "the truth.".
i would say my own high water mark was about 50%, which put me squarely on the fence, trying to decide if i should be in or out.. how about you?.
Regarding my comment above, that should have been Hebrews 11:16.
Only spotted my mistake.
some people on this forum have said that they never really believed any aspect of wt teaching, that they couldn't wait to get free of it all.. others seems to have been really gung ho, believing it all until something happened that got you questioning "the truth.".
i would say my own high water mark was about 50%, which put me squarely on the fence, trying to decide if i should be in or out.. how about you?.
As a multi-generational born in, I probably accepted it all as it was presented. As I matured I served as an MS and in time an elder, having the "privilege" of giving talks at District conventions.
However I had a few personal niggles which I couldn't discuss with anyone inside the KH. I loved doing personal research in other Bibles, commentaries, and church history books - in fact, I still do!
The crunch came when I had to give two different talks on the book of Hebrews. I had never swallowed the idea that Jesus = Michael the Archangel. And trying to prepare a talk where in Hebrews 1, the writer (the JWs insist it was Paul) goes to great lengths to show that Jesus is NOT an angel/archangel made that impossible to my way of thinking.
The 2nd talk was about faith in Hebrews 11. The JWs teach that Abraham and all the other faithful men of old were waiting for God's heavenly kingdom to rule over the earth - the place they would be resurrected to.
Except that Hebrews 11:6 certainly does NOT say it.
In the end I got up and parrotted off the official lines but stopped giving talks, for health reasons, shortly afterwards.
Once the blinkers come off it does not take long to get used to the light of the world.
i am actually not a 'sky is falling' guy, but i wanted to comment on the australian bushfires.. you may or may not believe the science behind global warming, however i personally put more faith in verified, scientific data than the words of fat cat, self-serving politicians.
climate science has predicted, based on data, that we will see more prolonged, extreme weather events, higher average temperatures, rising sea levels due to ocean expansion and glacial melting.
and this is exactly whats happening.
Regarding Australia. The Northern Territories reintroduced fracking which takes millions of gallons of water. Once that is taken out of the system, the result is bound to be dry surface ground leading to drought.
Regarding climate change generally. If evolution is correct then mankind will either adapt or die out (like the dinosaurs) and a new dominant species will emerge. Or not. You can decide for yourselves.
from an african perspective.
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christians without churches.... https://tribuneonlineng.com/christians-without-churches/.
From an African perspective.
Christians without churches...
i stumbled upon this jw material website and thought i would share it with you all.
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http://ed5015.tripod.com/jehovahswitnesses.htm.
I stumbled upon this JW material website and thought I would share it with you all.
i need to vent again here.
because i have no one else to talk with and no one who really understands except for the people here.
my wife is the most dangerous kind of jw.
A person with blinkers on cannot see sideways no matter what you do.
I have former JW "friends" who every time they hear about a disaster such as a tornado, hurricane, or earthquake will immediately say "Oh the poor brothers. I will pray that they are safe."
Why don't you pray for the rest of the people who have suffered? But they will not, because they are told that those people are going to be destroyed at Armageddon anyway.
Callous, uncaring, and blinkered.