TonusOH

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Posts by TonusOH

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  27

  How did you find Jehovah's Witness meetings?

  by Vanderhoven7 in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i personally have only attended a handful of meetings at kingdom halls.

  i did not enjoy any of them nor was i impressed by anything that was conveyed.

  perhaps others did not find them boring as i did.. nadia viotto has this to say about her experience.

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  TonusOH

  They were fairly banal. Largely because the format was designed that way: the content was delivered in a purely informational format by speakers who were expected to stick to the material provided. The only time I can remember people perking up was when there were announcements to be made; even if they weren't dramatic, they were at least a change of pace and something that we could process mentally. Otherwise, the meetings are the equivalent of writing a phrase 100 times on a chalkboard, which is the sort of thing that was used to punish misbehaving schoolchildren.

  People went because they had to, and to the extent that we enjoyed the meeting, it was because we got to get together with friends and have a bit of conversation before and after the meeting itself.
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  16

  Church buys GEICO Woodbury property for $27M

  by Rattigan350 in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  https://libn.com/2023/01/09/church-buys-geico-woodbury-property-for-27m/.

  after a previous sale fell through, geico has sold its sprawling woodbury property for $27 million.

  the buyer for the 236,365-square-foot office building on 20 acres at 750 woodbury road is the christian congregation of jehovah’s witnesses.

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  TonusOH

  Yeah, I wonder what they plan to build there. The Long Island Railroad has a stop in Oyster Bay, so it's probably convenient for city dwellers to get there.
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  16

  Church buys GEICO Woodbury property for $27M

  by Rattigan350 in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  https://libn.com/2023/01/09/church-buys-geico-woodbury-property-for-27m/.

  after a previous sale fell through, geico has sold its sprawling woodbury property for $27 million.

  the buyer for the 236,365-square-foot office building on 20 acres at 750 woodbury road is the christian congregation of jehovah’s witnesses.

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  TonusOH

  Shot:

  In 2021, GEICO was in contract to sell its Woodbury property to a New Jersey-based developer, but the deal fell through when it became apparent that Town of Oyster Bay wouldn’t allow a redevelopment of the site into a warehousing and distribution complex.

  Chaser:

  the biggest loser in the Woodbury transaction is likely the Town of Oyster Bay, since as a religious organization, the new owner of the property would be tax exempt.

  Whoops! Guess they should've let the original sale go through...
  
  
  
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  169

  Are the statistics out yet?

  by slimboyfat in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  isn’t it about time they released the report for the service year?

  or have they stopped publishing it?

  did they released selected figures at the annual meeting as they usually do, such as the memorial attendance or record number of pioneers?

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  TonusOH

  Memorial participants: 21,150

  That must be so embarrassing for them. I can remember when the number of participants was dropping towards 9,000 (or maybe even lower). That dwindling number was supposed to indicate how close the end was... the last few anointed were being recalled to Heaven!

  Then, they eased up on who could participate and the number just keeps going up. Does anyone even care anymore when someone partakes of the emblems, or do they just think "oh great, another pretender"?
  
  
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  19

  Flu is finally back in Scotland - after its 2 year holiday!

  by BoogerMan in

  1. social
  2. current

  the little demon went totally awol for 3 winters, 2019 - 2021, but now it's back with a vengeance: .

  "the first minister turns to the "extraordinary levels of winter flu.

  "" https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/uk-scotland-64209723.

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  TonusOH

  Isn't coronavirus a form of the cold/flu? So it didn't go away or disappear, it just got really mean for a few years there. Hopefully we will soon be back to the normal cold/flu, which only kill tens of thousands each year and for which the shot is called a "flu shot" and not a "vaccine."
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  58

  Did the ransom sacrifice even work?

  by Sharpie in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  shower thought entered my mind the other day... jesus christ.

  as per doctrine.

  is still alive in heaven right now correct?

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  TonusOH

  The idea of dispelling guilt by killing an animal is garish enough. Doing so by killing a person is the sort of thing we might expect from primitive people striving to survive in harsh environments.

  In any case, the understanding is that Jesus sacrificed a human life. His human persona did not sin, and since the wages of sin is death, he paid a penalty for a crime he did not commit. So the value of that life is applied to those who have committed the crime (sin, in all of its forms), and it is available in perpetuity. Since he is God (or God's son, depending on your beliefs), that sacrifice is not limited to a one-time or one-person use.

  If it doesn't make sense... I didn't come up with it. A human society that now had the time to wrestle with much more complex concepts of life/death and good/evil took a few shots at it, and some of their efforts made it into the Bible. It's still barbaric, but we must remember that these were people who fed one another to wild beasts as a form of entertainment meant to keep the masses pacified.
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  8

  Was Satan in Heaven while Christ was crucified?

  by Sharpie in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  just a shower thought came to mind.. while jesus was nailed to the stake/cross (take your pick) because of the witnesses lack of belief in hell.

  does that mean according to witness doctrine that satan and his demons were in heaven while jesus was being executed?.

  what about after jesus went to heaven?

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  TonusOH

  I think punk brings up a good point- what is the nature/structure of Heaven supposed to be? The book of Job implies that the Devil had the freedom to move about on both Earth and Heaven, and that God not only tolerated his presence, but was willing to engage in discussion with him. How does a spirit being enter/exit Heaven? What would it have been like for them to still be present there, when they were tainted by their rejection of God's authority?

  This is the issue with many of these concepts. They're not fleshed out. The list of questions is endless. And so are the answers, because we're not wired to just accept the lack of detail. We have questions, and we need answers, and if the answers aren't forthcoming, we'll just make up our own. And, bam! You have a mythos.
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  169

  Are the statistics out yet?

  by slimboyfat in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  isn’t it about time they released the report for the service year?

  or have they stopped publishing it?

  did they released selected figures at the annual meeting as they usually do, such as the memorial attendance or record number of pioneers?

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  TonusOH

  Memorial partakers up.

  That makes sense. After seeing those numbers, I bet a lot of JWs need a drink.
  
  
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  18

  A problem, a provision, a promise

  by JW Answers in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  short message of help showing forth the correct gospel for today.. the problem with mankind, the provision for mankind, and a promise to mankind.. jws teach that works save.

  the bible says that only christ saves if we believe / trust upon him..

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  TonusOH

  On the other hand, if we're more likely to be wrong no matter what we choose, then we may as well live it up before we get escorted to our eternal brimstone bedchambers.
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  42

  Have you ever been on a congregation picnic?

  by LostintheFog1999 in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  were you ever on a congregation picnic?

  i was on several occasions.. the arrangements were often announced from the platform after the closing song and prayer by the last elder up on the platform.. sometimes it was included in the service meeting announcements as "on saturday we're meeting at 10.00am at the kingdom hall for field service, and after field service for anyone who wishes, especially for the younger ones, we will be having a congregation picnic meeting at the beach carpark on seaview road.".

  well, according to the new elders manual you won't be hearing those words again.

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  TonusOH

  The worst issue we ever had was that one guy whose life apparently revolved around winning sandlot softball games, so he would turn every close play into a major argument.

  Aside from that, I don't remember anything major happening, though I did hear about one elder (who had been a boxer in his youth) who clobbered a worldly guy who made a rude comment about his daughter.