Posts by Dreamerdude

12

Can someone explain today's text

by poopie in

jw
friends

i'm confused..

Dreamerdude

Poopie, as Jeff said, today's text served its purpose of confusing those who try to make sense of the comment. They did a fine job of twisting a nice positive verse.

Romans 12:12 starts off with the words "Rejoice in the hope." But of course they drop these words, and publish the following:

Endure under tribulation. Persevere in prayer.—Rom. 12:12.

Suppose a beloved relative is disfellowshipped. From your study of the Bible, you know how disfellowshipped ones are to be treated. (1 Cor. 5:11; 2 John 10) Yet, upholding the disfellowshipping decision may at times seem very difficult, even impossible. Can you trust that your heavenly Father will give you the fortitude you need to be resolute in abiding by the Bible’s direction about disfellowshipping? Do you see here an opportunity for you to make your relationship with Jehovah stronger by forming a closer bond with him? Does this suggest that we should not have strong love for our relatives? Of course not! But our strongest love should be for Jehovah. (Matt. 22:37, 38) This is actually in the best interests of our relatives, whether they are presently serving Jehovah or not. And if you are particularly troubled over the course of a disfellowshipped relative, pour out your heart to Jehovah in prayer.

So the point they are trying to make is that you should wallow in your victimhood, since your disfellowshipped family member is bringing you such hardship. You need the shun them and be as cruel as you can about it. Then pray that God forgives you for it.

20

BETH-SHAN: Images of Rutherford's Bomb Shelter

by Bloody Hotdogs! in

for any who are interested, rutherford's infamous bomb shelter at "beth-shan" has been officially documented by the city of san diego historical resource board.

they have photographs, plans, and an interview with the couple who built their home on the land (5330 le barron rd).

a pdf of the full report can be found here:.

Dreamerdude

Thanks for sharing his. Nice reconstruction!

WT tried to sweep this under the rug, and here it is exposed to the light of day.

22

Being a Rude Jerk, It's Awesome!

by Simon in

maybe it's a british thing, but we tend to be polite.

too polite.. even if someone is inconsiderate, we apologize as though we did something wrong.. prime offenders?

people in supermarkets, specifically costco.. they have nice wide isles and yet somehow, for some reason, some idiot will find a way to put their trolley sideways and keep a hand on it while reaching for something, thus blocking the entire isle.. or another favorite ... you're going through the entrance and someone just stops, maybe to answer their phone.. how about you wait in a queue at a checkout for ages and when it's their turn, then they start looking for their purse.. how many times have you thought "idiot" or muttered under your breath?.

Dreamerdude

I'm getting to be a grumpy old man, too. Sometimes it's fun to see the reaction I get when I speak my mind, especially when it has merit.

75

The Trump Era commences

by ZAPPA-ESQUE in

jw
friends

.

Dreamerdude

SBF, thanks for sharing the Scottish poem. That young lass from NZ gives some great insights on our American politics and our new president.

Since his late mother immigrated from Scotland, it might strike a nostalgic chord if he heard Lorna's reading of her poem.

23

Moscow City Court JW Restriction Verdict Today - 16-Jan-2017

by Da.Furious in

on jw.org this is the first paragraph on the 12 january news on russia:.

on january 16, 2017, jehovah’s witnesses in russia will again seek to counter the decade-long tightening of restrictions on their religious freedom.

they will ask the moscow city court to rule that a warning against their national headquarters be rescinded as unlawful and unfounded.

Dreamerdude

I would rather see Russia take the route of the Australian court system. That leaves no room for WT to use it for propaganda. Russia will be the boogeyman at next week's CLAM, but they wouldn't dare try that with the ARC.

40

Wife is Awake

by freemindfade in

following the news of stuckinarut2, over the past few months my wife has completely mentally woken up.

i've been meaning to post but haven't had the time.

i saw stuckins post and i figured i'd add my news too.

Dreamerdude

Freemindfade, I am so happy for you! This gives me hope too. I had a minor setback yesterday after an indoctrination session, when I made a small move to help my wife wake up. This gives me a some strength to be patient and persevere.

Thanks for sharing your joy with those who appreciate it.

27

More congregations? One of the strategies they used to inflate the numbers in my city.

by Tempest in a Teacup in

jw
friends

i looked at the 2017 yearbook figures this morning, and it reminded me of something which happened in my former congregation 2 years ago.

it was a tiny foreign language congregation with at most 25-30 publishers.

comes and splits a 30 member congregation into....three.

Dreamerdude

Richard, I don't trust WT as much as I do the people in the local halls. I found out by meeting with the locals and asking them point blank. In both cases they had previously used the main hall and were bummed out to be relegated to the back room with a 6" stage.

Njwspouse, correct about the push toward zealousNess. I have seen many a young man burned out by it.

32

Giving money is thrilling?

by punkofnice in

watchtower study edition nov 16 pg 19. classic............................ .

Dreamerdude

If everyone is not already thrilled, they can turn the page to page 20 and find many ways to give away all their wealth and the financial well being of their children and grandchildren.

These are not CHEAP thrills. Of course they can be happified when they see the results shining as gold Rolex watches and iWatches on JWTV.

I have better things to do with my money and don't need this kind of thrill.

27

More congregations? One of the strategies they used to inflate the numbers in my city.

by Tempest in a Teacup in

jw
friends

i looked at the 2017 yearbook figures this morning, and it reminded me of something which happened in my former congregation 2 years ago.

it was a tiny foreign language congregation with at most 25-30 publishers.

comes and splits a 30 member congregation into....three.

Dreamerdude

I appreciate the desire for specific data to back up theories. I really don't know if there is really a strategy to inflate the number of congregations. I have not seen enough proof. But a post from Germany not long ago piqued my interest. It was an analysis of the number of German language congregations compared to foreign. The numbers seemed to indicate the drop in German congregations was masked by formation of foreign congregations. I'm not good with the search function, so I can't pull it up.

My observation involves only two kingdom halls. Both are in the western US, in separate states. I can confirm that each of these small congregations are full fledged congregations with their own bodies of elders, separate from the English congregations. But that is only 2 congregations out of 119,000 worldwide.

My opinion is that most people in foreign language and ASL are honestly deluded and sincerely want to help disadvantaged foreigners in their communities. If there are ulterior motives, it could be to make busy work for the more zealous drones, and to massage the egos of some who enjoy bragging rights of working where the need is greater. Each additional congregation opens up positions of perceived power, at least on the Service Committee. Three more elders, three more Elderettes.

27

More congregations? One of the strategies they used to inflate the numbers in my city.

by Tempest in a Teacup in

jw
friends

i looked at the 2017 yearbook figures this morning, and it reminded me of something which happened in my former congregation 2 years ago.

it was a tiny foreign language congregation with at most 25-30 publishers.

comes and splits a 30 member congregation into....three.

Dreamerdude

The two examples I mentioned are full-fledge foreign language congregations, who get their own circuit visits. They are only about 20-30 publishers each, involving a lot of busy work by very few brothers. They also have high proportions of pioneers. Again, I don't know how common this is. But I have seen two.