Posts by Thirdson

it looks like the wts finally put 2 and 2 together on the us branchs failing statistics over the past few years, particularly the years 97 - 01. what happened?.

in the latter part of 1996 cos instructed elders that congregation bookstudy conductors (soon to be officially called "congregation bookstudy overseers) should not initially ask congregation publishers for their field service time reports.

instead, each congregation should have a small box so that publishers could "shoulder their own responsibility by turning in time of their own accord," by voluntarily putting their report slip into this box.

Thirdson

I'm not sure that the change will cause much of a blip. What tends to happen with low hour publishers is that their time gets counted when they reach one hour of time. With an extra push periodically these publishers will report something and this swells the number of publishers reporting and hence creates the "peak" which is reported by the WTS.

The 15 minute reporting rule may increase the "average number of publishers" but it will reduce the "peak". If you look at the US figures for 2000 the average number of publishers stayed about the same. There was a sizeable drop in the "peak" number.

Fiddling with the figures doesn't solve the root cause of the problem. With CBSOs demanding to know the time the group members did each month I can imagine the last and first Tuesday's (or Thursday) group attendance will plummet.

Thirdson

'To avoid criticism, say nothing, do nothing, be nothing'

8

How many things could I get DF'd for tonight?

by rhett in

jw
friends

my wife and i just got home from a christmas party.

before the party i took a shower and washed my long hair and trimmed my beard a bit.

we then went to the christmas party that was being held by my friend ken and his partner steve.

Thirdson

Hi Rhett,

I haven't done as much as you today but if I didn't get DF'd I could get enforced DA'ing. We have a wreath on the front door and a bow on the Garage. There are lights on the bushes out front and a Christmas CD in my car. We bought a tree today, and decorated it, even put a star on top. I wrote Christmas cards and wrapped presents.

My JW parents know I do all this but I live too far away for them to cause me any trouble.

Thirdson

'To avoid criticism, say nothing, do nothing, be nothing'

4

A Question 4 Canadians and Expats

by Thirdson in

jw
friends

does anyone know where i can buy canadian food produce on-line for shippping to the us?

i read in newsweek a while back that there were a couple of .com companies catering to the needs of ex-pat canadians living in the us.

can anyone help me with some sites.

Thirdson

Does anyone know where I can buy Canadian food produce on-line for shippping to the US? I read in Newsweek a while back that there were a couple of .com companies catering to the needs of ex-pat Canadians living in the US.

Can anyone help me with some sites. I am particularly interested in English style Christmas pudding and Cadbury chocolate bars not available in the US. I stock up on various items when I visit Canada and have imported Xmas pud from England when I visited in winter. With xmas not far off I'm in dire need of pudding.

Thirdson

(As an English JW growing up we always had xmas pudding in January when the leftovers were sold off cheap)

'To avoid criticism, say nothing, do nothing, be nothing'

Hail the Theocracy Ever Increasing?

by Thirdson in

jw
friends

the thread on wedding music plus isp's postings on "theocracy's" decline got me thinking while flicking through a song book.. song 53 -- theocracy's increase -- is it still being sung?

it struck me that this song contains "old light".

so do jws still sing this song at the meetings?

Thirdson

The thread on wedding music plus ISP's postings on "Theocracy's" decline got me thinking while flicking through a song book.

Song 53 -- Theocracy's Increase -- Is it still being sung? It struck me that this song contains "old light". So do JWs still sing this song at the meetings?

Why do I question the song? Well, 1.7% increase is hardly "wondrous expansion". Also, "Christ on his judgement throne sits and is reigning; Nations and peoples before him appear" has not happened yet has it? I don't think Christ had stood up and sat down yet. Certainly the preaching work is not the judging activity and people are not appearing before Christ to be judged in current Witness theology, but was when the song book was published.

"Share in the joy that gets greater by giving" is not being taken to heart since there is less giving in the witness work and the decline shows little gladness.

I wonder, has this song been dropped or are JWs instructed to make word amendments like they were for song 40?

Thirdson

PS Isn't song 159 based on the Carol "O Little Town of Bethlehem"?

'To avoid criticism, say nothing, do nothing, be nothing'

28

For You Know: Life in 1960

by larc in

jw
friends

friends and neighbors,.

on another thread, "bad news for you know", i pointed out the amazing changes that have occured in the quality of life since 1960. you know maintains that life has been going down hill since then.

after about 25 unanswered posts on that thread, i figured that he was not going to address the facts.. now, what i would like to propose is that you who remember life in the 1960's, to list some of the conveniences and inventions that the average person did not have then, that are readily available today.

Thirdson

I have listened to much financial news about Enron including yesterday's lawsuit against the senior management of the company. The one thing I'll comment on is this:

Apparently, the company traded prevously under a different name and after much fanfare they announced the name of the new company.

**** Enteron ****

A day later someone pointed out that enteron is he name of the embryonic alimentary canal (see Gray's Anatomy page 1158)...that is where poop comes from. They quickly changed the name to Enron. I guess it would be funny except for the employees who have seen their Enron shares--linked 401Ks go down the toilet!

Thirdson - A 60s child

'To avoid criticism, say nothing, do nothing, be nothing'

13

What was your JW wedding song?

by NikL in

jw
friends

i got to thinking the other day about how jws, at least when i got married in the hall could not use secular music for the ceremony.

we there fore were forced to use kingdon melodies.

anyone else have fond memories about your wedding song?.

Thirdson

I can't remember what the marching up the aisle song was. This was 1984 and the WTS had recently clamped down on secular music at KH weddings. (The year previously, my best friend from school got maried and the entrance music was from a period-piece TV program).

The first song sang was "the Prayer of God's Servant" (song 88 in the brown book). I chose this because it is just a prayer, I liked the melody and this song doesn't use the name "Jehovah".

I always liked the song "the Marriage of the Lamb" from the old book (pink) because it sounded like a wedding march. This one of the songs deleted although I am not sure the tune was recycled in the new book.

The worst thing about the music at Witness weddings (at least every one I ever attended) is that it is always pre-recorded. The wedding starts, the music plays, the bride and her father walk in, every one turns to gaze and smile, they bride reaches the front and the music abruptly stops with a screech of the needle lifted-off the record...nicely done brother DJ!

Kismet,

I laughed out loud when I sang "Marriage is God's Arrangement" to the Muppet Show theme. If I ever go to a Witness wedding again, I'll sit there smirking at the thought of a muppet audience.

Still on the muppet theme, the priest who officiated at mine and Mrs Thirdson's wedding used to work for Jim Henson's muppet company when she was first out of college and living in New York.

Thirdson

'To avoid criticism, say nothing, do nothing, be nothing'

13

Prince is definitely a JW

by Cygnus in

jw
friends

this is the absolute best confirmation that i have seen so far, proving that prince is a jw for sure.

i found this on the viewaskew website (news site for kevin smith, writer and director of clerks, dogma, and jay and silent bob strike back).. "fielding numerous 'are you high on the set' queries with patience and charm, he used the questions as a jumping off point for many personal anecdotes.

one of the highlights being a forty-minute tale on being invited to prince's paisley park to talk about filming something for prince, and ending up staying there a week filming a documentary about 'the truth' about jehovah, that 'will never see the light of day.'".

Thirdson

Paisley Park is not more than 4 miles from where I live. A kid in my son's grade at school is a JW in the local congregation that includes the territory of Prince's studio and house. According to this kid a few months back Prince wasn't baptized and was struggling to be good enough to be accepted.

My son doesn't know the kid that well and doesn't mention the fact that we were once JWs too. I'll ask him to find out what he can.

Thirdson

'To avoid criticism, say nothing, do nothing, be nothing'

25

Way Back When You Were A Witness.......

by LB in

back in the dark ages did you used to come into message boards like this one, or h20 and try to defend the watchtower society?

i did and things didn't work out so well.

actually they worked out fine, i switched teams.

Thirdson

I found information on the Internet while I was still a nominal Witness, irregular if not inactive. This was in the summer of 1996. It was the first time I had regular access to the Internet. One day, out of curiosity, I typed in WTB&TS and was blown away by the amount of information available. Pretty quickly I had my nagging doubts converted to full-blown doubts. I became convinced quickly that 1914 and all that was wrong, that the blood ban was all wrong and that the Watchtower Society was not God's chosen.

I didn't spend much time on discussion boards. I did read, Dr. Bob's pages, Randy Watters writings, Gary Busselman's, Kent's and even Farkel's stuff when he went by a regular name. I read the Captain's (COMF now) posts on H2O, he is the one early poster I remember. I owe a lot to all these people and I have come a long way and gone through quite a lot in the last 5 years.

Thanks, all of you.

Thirdson

41

OK, OK, 10 reasons Why..You Know The Rest..

by Englishman in

jw
friends

1. we got pubs.

1000's and 1000's of pubs.. 2. liz hurley.. 3. manchester united.. 4. the harrier / concorde / a380xxx.

5. we got more overseas territories than anyone.it is still true, even now.. 6. the s.a.s.. 7. lots and lots of steam railways!.

Thirdson

ISP,

David "Coleman Balls" Coleman didn't make the list?

Thirdson

"This is his 34th crap for England" - David Coleman