Village Idiot, when I think about it again, I guess it is possible that they used the word "sole." But then again, I was a Jehovah's Witness for a rather short period of time. All I remember personally is their implying that they are God's only channel.
Saename
JoinedPosts by Saename
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39
It's official - the G.B. has replaced the Holy Spirit!
by The Searcher inthe watchtower november 2016, page 16, par.
"some may feel that they can interpret the bible on their own.
however, jesus has appointed the ‘faithful slave’ to be the only* channel for dispensing spiritual food.
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It's official - the G.B. has replaced the Holy Spirit!
by The Searcher inthe watchtower november 2016, page 16, par.
"some may feel that they can interpret the bible on their own.
however, jesus has appointed the ‘faithful slave’ to be the only* channel for dispensing spiritual food.
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Saename
Haha! Beautiful! Before, the publications I have found would indicate that the Governing Body is God's channel of communication. However, none—to my memory at least—implied that the Governing Body is God's only channel of communication. This Watchtower changes things entirely. It clearly calls the Governing Body the only channel "for dispensing spiritual food," which, as I understand it, means the only channel "for communication with God."
By the way, how can one contact the ARC to inform them of this matter?
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Rumor: Discouraging news from GB at upcoming CA?
by bohm inthis is on the reddit frontpage and sounds super weird.
can it be confirmed in any way by anyone here?.
https://www.reddit.com/r/exjw/comments/4u72dk/what_kind_of_announcement_could_cause_jws_to/.
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Saename
Magnum - James Jack, sorry, I meant to hit the "Like" button, but accidentally hit "Dislike". You make an interesting point. I would love to know their real financial position.
You can still hit the "Like" button, and your dislike will be terminated, and, instead, a like will be added to James Jack's post.
StarTrekAngel - (please read this while you imagine Stephen Lett reading it)
Dear brothers,
What a wonderful job we have in spreading the good news of the Kingdom. It is certainly a privilege to participate in the many aspects of preaching the good news. One of the many privileges we have is contributing to the world wide work thru financial support. We have always cherished our ability to make voluntary donations. James 1:17 partly says that every good thing we have comes from above and don't we thank our father for providing us with everything we need. And since we know that everything good that we have comes from Jehovah, are we not more than ever confident that he will continue to provide?
The Governing Body has been carefully considering the implication of such providence and has come to realize that we have not fully understood God's will in this aspect. If everything good that we have, including but not limited to our time and financial means, come from Jehovah, it means these things belong to him to begin with.
In keeping with the prophecy of the Faithful and Discrete Slave, Jesus said that he would appoint us over all his belongings. Therefore, we feel it is reasonable he expects us to responsibly manage all his belongings, including the ones he has already given you.
We are excited to announce a new arrangement that will not just help, but ensure your continued support of the world wide work. Along with this letter, a new form has been provided to the elders and will be distributed at the end of this meeting. It will allow us to withhold a percentage of your paycheck and be transfered as a donation to the world wide work fund.
Off course, this will remain a matter of consciousness but in an effort to not stumble anyone who may think we are tithing, like the despicable practices of Christendom, we have set up the form with a checkbox for you to select the percentage. Therefore, you will not find a checkbox for 10%, only 20% and upwards.
We rest assured you will prayerfully consider just how you can continue to contribute to the preaching work in this manner
Your brothers... Christian Congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses
PS
This postscript should not be read to the congregation or posted on the information board.
Arrange for this letter to be read to the congregation in the next midweek meeting.
This form should be made available to all publishers, both baptized and non-baptized. Elders should account for the number of forms filled out. If anyone did not fill out the form or was not present during the announcement. Efforts should be made to make sure they are made aware of this new arrangement. If after such efforts are made, the publisher did not return a completed form, we should consider the instructions provided in the Shepherds of the Flock of God book, regarding our appreciation for the spiritual provisions. Such publishers should not qualify for privileges in the congregation. Namely working the microphones or serving as book study assistants.(please read this while you imagine Stephen Lett reading it)
This literally felt like reading a letter from the actual Governing Body—with a small exception that the Watchtower letters and publications, to my knowledge, rarely contain grammar errors. Still, the language (the jargon, really) your letter uses imitates perfectly the Watchtower.
On a further note, though, the Watchtower would likely end the letter accordingly: "We rest assured you will prayerfully consider just how you can continue to contribute to the preaching work in this time of the end."
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What the Org Teaches #7 Birthdays
by The Searcher in#7 birthdays.
what the org teaches: .
"the bible never refers to a servant of god celebrating a birthday.
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Saename
Actually, the first Christians probably didn't celebrate birthdays. For instance, Origen and Tertullian clearly forbid them because (1) in the Bible only unrighteous people honoured their births, and because (2) it was associated with paganism.
Origen wrote,
A certain one of those before us has observed what is written in Genesis about the birthday of Pharaoh, and has told that the worthless man who loves things connected with birth keeps birthday festivals; and we, taking this suggestion from him, find in no Scripture that a birthday was kept by a righteous man (Second Tome of the Commentary on Matthew, bk. X, ch. 22.)
Tertullian, on the other hand, saw that the pagans around him commemorated "birthdays" of their gods, which he likened to "every pomp of the Devil" (On Idolatry, ch. 10.) Additionally, canon 52 of the Council of Laodicea orders that birthdays and marriages be not celebrated during the Lenten fast.
There were Christian writers, like Leo the Great, who seemed not to have such problems with birthdays, but, overall, they were not held in high regard.
Keep in mind that I am an atheist, and as such, I don't believe that birthdays are wrong. I'm just reporting here, as a person who studies the history of Christianity, what the early Christians thought of this celebration. If you want to believe that the Bible doesn't condemn birthdays, then that's fine with me.
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World Youth Day in Poland
by TheWonderofYou inin the video of the world youth day "spread message of divine mercy" the young people are called witnesses of christ's church.
i am now watching the happy young people.. introduction words even in english at youtube 9:07. .
anyone here understands polish too?.
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Saename
I understand Polish, but I am not interested in watching those videos. The Polish Catholic church is full of hypocrisy.
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Another brother steps back
by konceptual99 inso at the meeting this week it was announced that a certain brother was no longer serving as a ministerial servant.. this is a guy who was brought up in a different country as his family went to serve where the need was greater.
this is a guy who was home schooled and went straight into pioneering.
he then went and worked on building projects in various places in europe and africa.
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Saename
Pete Zahut - When I returned from my year at Bethel, an Elder asked me in front of a bunch of people why I only stayed for one year. I said " You grew up in the truth....why didn't you go to Bethel at all?"
Good revenge. You don't embarrass people in front of others, or you'll get embarrassed yourself. He'll remember that for the future.
Pete Zahut - I remember a nice young pioneer sister in our congregation became engaged and decided to stop pioneering so she could work and save for a place of their own. At the end of the Thursday meeting, the P.O got up and said "I have a sad announcement to make...Mary Smith will no longer be among the ranks of our pioneers".
But for the sound of Mary sobbing at her seat, you could have heard a pin drop. It was like they announced a death.
This is something I don't understand. She resigned. Okay. So why not thank her for her service? Even in the modern Catholic church, which Jehovah's Witnesses despise so much, people are thanked for their service—though I suspect that also depends on the churches' localities.
When it comes to Jehovah's Witnesses, everyone is happy and praises you so long as you do the service. Once you stop, people think you just... died. This is a real attempt at guilt-trapping others. Inexcusable.
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Jeehoober says we can clap for reinstated ones!!
by DATA-DOG inso, i guess an upcoming wt has some new light on clapping!
evidently, jesus has misinformed the gb/wtbts since the late 90's.
clapping was disrespectful, because jesus felt that those who were df'd should not be given a pat on the back.
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Saename
Is this a new instruction given by the Governing Body? I have not heard of it. Where was it given? (I do not attend meetings anymore, so that may be why I have not heard of this new instruction to clap for reinstated ones.)
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Has any other GB member achieved a university degree aside from Lloyd Barry?
by DNCall ini can't think of one.
anyone .
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Saename
I know Geoffrey Jackson didn't even finish high school and is regarded as a Biblical "scholar."
People today have forgotten what the word "scholar" means, I guess...
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Watchtower Nov 2016 - Instructions for Apostates
by Listener inthe november 2016 watchtower is now available and it has more new light but i can't quite figure out what they are saying.
it relates to when the jws were released from the captivity of babylon the great (false religion).
i am not attempting to discuss that in this post.
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Saename
Listener - Informing every JW we know is not enough, we could do more. Distributing thousands of tracts these days is not realistic, efficient or economical, fortunately we have other means of spreading the message. We do this via the internet and word of mouth as well as other means. We can be thankful that it is within most of our means that we are able to spread the word. No doubt, the organization would say it was Satan who was providing this effective method for us today, yet they could hardly do so when the utilize the same method more and more.
What have we found? Just as the Russelites experienced, the religious leaders are furious. The JW religion wish to shut us down, they tighten the hold on their fold and they call us all kinds of despicable names, they'll even call the higher authorities to act against us if they can get away with it. We are encouraged to remain undeterred, not letting their sly remarks of telling us to 'move on' and to leave peacefully.
Holy hell! This sounded as if it were written by the Governing Body! Look, it's the same type of language! [SARCASM ALERT in case you read Fox News] Are you starting your own little cult...?
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"Mother" Teresa—a Fraud?
by Saename ini often comment in threads that interest me on this forum.
moreover, some of you may know that i study the history of early christianity.
i once wrote an extensive comment on the historicity of jesus' existence in one of the threads.
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Saename
John_Mann - I don't know about the info presented here but it's a blatant lie about sisters performing baptism. In the Catholic faith women cannot perform baptism. And baptism is not performed to sick or dying people because there's a specific sacrament to them.
This is not a "blatant lie" at all. Teresa did encourage her "sisters" to secretly baptise the dying. This is documented in an eyewitness's account. Moreover, Simon Leys actually did write in defense of Teresa. What is noteworthy, however, is that he did not call the accusation a "lie" whatsoever. Instead, he tried to argue why the baptisms of the dying against their will was innocent. In effect, he acknowledged that Teresa and her "sisters" did baptise the dying.
On a further note, the fact that you say to not know about the information I have presented in this thread says something about your attempt to defend Teresa.