Posts by TheOldHippie

29

What's next?

by Grey Goose in

jw
friends

hi everyone.. thanks for the welcome a few days ago, it was nice to hear your support.. this is a pure speculation thread, but what do you think the next changes are going to be?.

will we see tything come into play?.

more evangelical style meetings?.

Mr. Templar's third point "not just formal door to door. This will usher in a new method of field service for the rank and file of just speaking to people that they meet using a tablet or smart phone. This will dispose of the door to door work as being a staple. You can go door to door if you want, but you only have to talk to people that you meet in your daily life. That's it. This will be done to make it easier for people to stay in the religion and do something in Field Service with all the not at homes that are experienced. No minimum hours or placements will be required. Just do it as you can."

Is and has been in effect for quite some time.

14

Preaching = Salvation... NOPE!

by Divergent in

jw
friends

today's text:.

monday, january 25. to the extent that you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.—matt.

25:40.. early in his discourse found in matthew chapters 24 and 25, jesus indicated that the sign of his presence would include a remarkable feature—the good news of the kingdom would “be preached in all the inhabited earth.” (matt.

TheOldHippie

"Ephesians 2:8,9

For it is by Grace you are saved!!!

NIV and NKJV

There it is, by grace!!! "

No-one ever said anything else. The point is that your faith manifests itself in acts, but the acts in themselves are of no value unless there is love and they are made because of the faith - and salvation is not because of this, but because of grace. No-one in the JW community ever said or meant anything else.

18

What shocking stories did you ever hear about?

by Truthexplorer in

as a pre-awakened ms, i heard of 2 stories that i found very shocking at the time.

please keep in mind, i was following wt blindly at the time and was part of what i thought was the true religion.

the first shocking story was when i attended a large meeting for elders and ministerial servants covering our circuit.

TheOldHippie

South Korea.

26

Evolution is a Fact #7 - Human Egg Yolk Gene

by cofty in

exploring the human genome is like roaming around an historic town.

some places are pristine and obviously still in everyday use.

others have been unused for a while and starting to show signs of decay and if you look carefully there are relics of buildings that were abandoned long ago.. in this post we are going to look at a gene that we still carry in every cell in our body but which fell into disuse 10s of millions of years ago.. humans are placental mammals.

TheOldHippie

"The reason for this is that they stopped drinking milk regularly like western cultures do and as a result, when a gene required to produce lactase - the enzyme used to digest lactose - became damaged, because there was no selective pressure to keep the healthy genome, the damaged genome became pervasive."

Isn't that Lamarckism?

67

Is proselytizing less condescending when evolutionists do it?

by paul from cleveland in

is it just me?

TheOldHippie

" evolutionists do not proselytize , they present verifiable facts "

Strange, the, that some of the foremost of them admit that if there is one thing they are, then it is being great story tellers.

52

New Field Service Report

by cognac in

jw
friends

has anyone seen this?

when did that happen?.

http://www.jw-archive.org/post/137681838624/new-service-report-jwinspirational.

TheOldHippie

It is replacing the old one. This is the one to be used form now on. There is no time limit on the videos, so the 2-3 minutes long ones showing what goes on at a study, in a hall etc. are meant.

28

Dear God,

by punkofnice in

i miss you.

you were supposed to be a hope in bad times.

when i was in my darkest hour you weren't there.

TheOldHippie

I shouted at him in my darkest hour, yelled at him. I have come to the conclusion that he is big enough to understand why I did it, and that he does not hold it against me, he knows the depths of our darkest hoours and understands why we react as we do. He understands and forgives our yelling.

But - my perception of him has changed since then. I no longer see him as an all-powerful old grandfather in the sky, who all the time watches over me and wants only the best for me and tries to find the best way out of situations for me. He did not intervene and prevent the darkest hour from coming, I have problems forgiving him for that, and so I have certain problems finding out his exact role in our daily life. Why do they say that he so much cared for certain people that their crop was not damaged and their car did not break down and there was an envelope with the exact amount of money outside their door one morning - but he allowed the darkest hour to strike others.

13

A Country where no-one under 25 believes the biblical creation story.

by fulltimestudent in

jw
friends

no icelanders under the age of 25 believe the creation story that god was responsible for creating the universe, a new poll claims.the poll, commissioned by the icelandic ethical humanist association, claims that 93.9 per cent in the under 25 category responded that the universe was created by the big bang.

just over 6 per cent responded with ‘don’t know’ or ‘other’.

none of the respondents, however, believed that the universe had been created by god.

TheOldHippie

Since it was the Humanist organization that asked the question, they probably got the answers they wanted. It should have been interesting to see the questions, as Big Bang and God need not be mutually excluding.

Iceland in other connections is told to be the country having the largest percentage of people on Earth believeing in ghosts, fairies, ghouls etc. It puzzles me, and I so would like to have someone trying to explain how one can believe in an afterlife of souls but not believe in a creator god? Do people believe that an immerial soul somehow evolved? I am not trying to make fun of any idea or perception, so it is in fact a serious question - how can one (given that one believes in ghosts etc.) account for an immaterial afterlife without there being a god?

12

A 17 Year Old's Journey To Freedom

by DLou278 in

hey guys!

i have written an article on my exit from the watchtower.

i am 17 years old and leaving has been the best decision that i have ever made.

TheOldHippie

Welcome back when you are 67 and know A BIT more ..................................

26

United States baptism stats 1969-2015

by the comet in

whenever the new yearbooks come out, we all look at the figures and see the publisher increase never really matches up with the baptism figures.

it never should match up as all newly baptized ones are already publishers, and may have been for many years.

i, as an example, became an unbaptized publisher at age 11. i didn't get baptized until i was 17. .

TheOldHippie

There is no reason why you should try to make the death rate so complicated. 1 % is a common rule when it comes to larger population groups. To make it simple and not having to look at the age groups and different "racial" groups, just stick to the 1 % rule. Each year, deduct 1 %. Some years ago, it was stated 1 % was df'ed each year and 2 % left. The problem with these two latter groups, of course is that up to half of them return. So using them in the calculations is tricky - but then, these are the ones you want to find the size of, so just use the 1 % death rate and you will get there.