there were three men came out of the west, their fortunes for to try.
and these three men made a solemn vow.
john barleycorn must die.
Thanks! I was a huge Traffic fan. Steve Winwood is a remarkable musician and singer. He was singing like Ray Charles and playing in bars when he was too young to be in them legally!
Alas, John Barleycorn is alive and well. Sitting here with me tonight, in fact!
S4
jehovahs witnesses are proud to point out that they are fulfilling the prophecy at matthew 24:14. jws are quick to point out that part of the purpose of the preaching work is so that jehovah can take note of how people respond to the witnessing, and thus can decide if they are worthy of survival or not.
last year, jws spent 1.4 billion hours in their preaching work.
so if we take: 6.6 billion people.
A@G,
I did the same mental math as I was leaving the WTS.
I had a friend, Kenny White, who was a Gilead grad and served in East Africa. He was telling me how, in that region, there were like 100,000,000 people, and maybe 10,000 Witnesses. That surprised me, and I started looking at Witnesses compared to populations in various countries.
I forget the exact figures I came up with, but it was obvious, and still is, that with China, N. Korea, India, Pakistan, and the rest of the Middle East, huge portions of Africa, Aisa and the Far East, the vast majority of the Earth's population has never talked with a JW, and likely has never heard of them.
AND, that situation is not improving. The number of Witnesses is decreasing compared to population growth, especially in those parts of the Earth where the Witnesses have the fewest, if any, members. They are so far from fulfilling Matt. 24:14 in any sort of reasonable way, it's ridiculous for them to make their claims of an extensive worldwide witnessing work.
Interesting how all this falls together (of falls apart, depending on your point of view), when you step back and take a good, reasonable look at it.
Also, glad to hear your wife is talking to JWDers.
S4
over the decades musicians rise and fall like a spring wind.
some stay where they should never be, some never are where they should be; such is the roulette of time.
this thread is dedicated to singer songwriters who influence the rest of the best, but are seldom known - 'gamblers in the neon, clinging to guitars...' .
At work I have the Pandora site bookmarked on my computer. You create your own radio station, say by naming it for a particular artist (I did Tom Waits and Leonard Cohen stations, for instance) and then the station just continuously plays, adding the songs of musicians that it thinks you'd like. You can rate its selections from more like this to don't play this artist again.
Every time I listen to Pandora, I'm introduced to dozens of musicians I love but have never heard of before. When you get someone like that, you can click on a link and get some background info on them, links, etc.
I don't listen to it all the time. WAY too distracting to a music lover, as you might imagine! But it just is incredible the amount of great, under the radar music there is out there.
S4
for me, it means that sometimes you have to give up the comfortable illusion that was pulled over your eyes and accept the consequences of being truly free to seek and find..... to "know thyself".
sometimes this is uncomfortable and lonely after having been a witness for many years.
i think that is why many jws choose to remain ignorant and inauthentic.. they fear authenticity.
Agreed.
I have a little note in front of me that says "Remind yourself to live with a high level of intensity."
That's part of it for me - and doing so as honestly as possible. Part of that is being honest enough to know my weaknesses and character flaws - and still accept them and myself.
It's hard then for me to be insulted or shocked when someone says to me,"You're a self-centered, egotistical son of a bitch who likes to drink too much."
Well, yeah. Tell me something I DON'T know!
S4
i'll start:.
awakened @ gilead .
billy the x bethelite.
Min - I still haven't cut it! I've got some to spare if you could use a little!
Would be nice to get together. With gas the way it is, we're not doing much traveling.
S4
i'll start:.
awakened @ gilead .
billy the x bethelite.
tredescu -
Thanks. I like micro-brews. I've also hung out and had a beer with Minimus. It's a fun time!
S4
http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?aid=200880723003.
the two mentioned in this article are dubs.
he he he..
The Suprenant name is familiar, but it's been a while since I've been up in that part of the state. Anymore info you care to divulge? Are they in the Morrisville or Newport congregation?
Is Bill Williams from up that way? Trying to remember what Halls all these folks went to up there.
Interesting article!
S4
over the decades musicians rise and fall like a spring wind.
some stay where they should never be, some never are where they should be; such is the roulette of time.
this thread is dedicated to singer songwriters who influence the rest of the best, but are seldom known - 'gamblers in the neon, clinging to guitars...' .
My god, someone who remembers Phil Ochs. I was buying his albums back on the mid-1960s, and learning his songs when I was learning guitar. Dead way too young. Suicide.
Peter Green - brilliant.
Janis Ian - her music was being discussed on NPR today.
S4
hello all.... been a while since i've posted.. i'm mostly trolling here now-a-days.. off paxil and feel great.
the brother that "brought me into the truth" called me the other day.
just told him - thanks, when we last talked - i was about to commit suicide.. feel better now.
Hey, Confucious, good to hear from you. Glad you are doing well.
At times I'm so prepared to rip some unexpecting JW a new one, and then I don't. I just walk away and leave them in peace.
You probably did the right thing, but I expect that, being Confucious, you'd already know that. Lao Tzu certainly would!
S4
jws say they are clean and pure and undefiled and not like the world but in reality there are those that do very evil things and they either have fallen through the cracks, have gotten disciplined or disfellowshipped.. we realize that just because a person says they are a christian, it doesn't mean they will always act like one.. regarding pedophiles, do you believe that jws have a huge problem involving an infestation of pedos?
.
I think the Witnesses have as much of a problem with this as any other religion. No more. No less.
Their bigger problem is their lack of transparency in dealing with the issue and the WTS's willingness to first fight the victims in court and then pay the victims to not talk publicly about things using out of court settlements.
S4
