i have never been able to understand the "the brothers from xyz cogregation are sending their love" at the end of a public talk.. it always seemed to occur when the speaker was from a far-away place.
then, we all have to clap when he rhetorically asks "do you want to send our love to them?".
they never seem to do it when it is a near-by congregation .. only one far away.
I always found it weird (and would not applaud) when the "sending of love" was to be done via the visiting elder from the congregation next door. (We had a twin hall shared by 4 congs')
If I wanted to send my love, I'd go next door and tell them. Actually, I went next door if certain elders were giving the public talk and I didn't want to sit thru their drivel I had heard before...and that was when I was an elder.
3rd
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now that we're starting to read the bible at the beginning again.........i was wondering if this subject has ever been discussed.. the length of the creative days........used to be considered 7000 years in length.......stated rather dogmatically up until around the mid 1980's.
(aid book says this......insight book does not) of course....this is quite rediculous.......... more recent publications don't stress this .........just periods of time.......... yet there was never anything published to indicate how wrong this old view was.........done very gradually.......i think some still think the creative days were still 7000 years long.. if this topic has come up before.....maybe someone could post a link to it..
The idea that God would wait until Adam was 30 years old is a good one. But 30 years after 1975 is 2005 and thus the end is next year year .
However, the Watchtower is good at stretching dates and could perhaps state that since Adam's life-expectancy was eternal there was no need for God to rush things. Afterall, some of Adam's early descendants did not have children until their 70s or 80s. That way the WTS could keep the 7000 year creative day, and Eve's creation date could decades after Adam, even a century if the WTS survives into the 2070s.
3rd
PS According to Genesis, Adam was 130 years of age when he became father to Seth. Considering that Cain and Abel were born and appeared to reach maturity before Seth was born and that Cain had a sister to marry there is an upper limit to the time between Adam's creation and that of Eve...that's assuming that the Genesis account is history and not myth.
i was raised by the society with the constant drumbeat in my head: "this generation will by no means pass away ...".
when i was a kid, "this generation" was defined as one who not only was alive in 1914 but was aware of the changes in the world.
they were old enough to know the world before 1914, the war on earth, the war in heaven, jesus' installation as king and so on.. .
I see 2034 being mentioned again (120 years after 1914) but I don't see the significance. If 120 years is used to equate to the limit of time God gave Noah then in the current period the 120 years must have begun when the Watchtower Society started preaching about the end. That was in 1879 and the 120 years expired more than three years ago. To suggest that the warning was given in 1914 is stretching it a bit, but then again the Society is good at stretching doctrine. The "generation" almost doubled in duration until 1995 when it reached breaking point. I am sure that if the Watchtower Society survives after 2014 they will keep tacking 120 years on every significant JW date they can.
3rd
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..."walking with god.
" why not call it "walking with god after we just gave him glory"?.
Notable conventions for me, that is the ones I remember. Who was at the same venue?
1969 "Peace on Earth" International Assembly - Wembley Stadium, London (aged 9)
1970 "Men of Goodwill" District Assembly - Bingley Hall, Birmingham, England (?)
1971 "Divine Name" District Assembly - Gawler Racetrack, Sth Australia & Ballarat, Victoria
1972 "Divine Rulership" District Assembly - Did not attend any, weren't we bad?
1973 "Divine Victory" International Assembly - Murrayfield, Edinburgh, Scotland
1974 "Divine Purpose" District Assembly - Twickenham, London (?)
1975 "Divine Sovereignty" District Assembly - Dublin, Ireland
1976 "Sacred Service" District Assembly
1977 "Joyful Workers" District Assembly
1978 "Victorious Faith" International Convention - Dodger Stadium, LA, California
1979 "Living Hope" District Convention
1980 "Divine Love" District Convention
1981 "Kingdom Loyalty" District Convention
1982 "Kingdom Truth" District Convention
1983 "Kingdom Unity" District Convention
1984 "Kingdom Increase" District Convention
1985 "Integrity Keepers" District Convention
1986 "Divine Peace" District Convention
1987 "Trust in Jehovah" District Convention
1988 "Divine Justice" District Convention
1989 "Godly Devotion" District Convention
1990 "Pure Language" District Convention
1991 "Lovers of Freedom" District Convention
1992 "Light Bearers" District Convention
1993 "Divine Teaching" District Convention
1994 "Godly Fear" District Convention - Coventry, England
1995 "Joyful Praisers" District Convention - Uh, didn't find time to go (I was slipping)
1996 "Messengers of Godly Peace" District Convention - Convention Center, Rochester, MN (Saturday and Sunday morning only)
1997 "Faith in God's Word" District Convention - Absent
1998 "God's Way of Life" District Convention - Absent
1999 "God's Prophetic Word" District Convention - Absent
2000 "Doers of God's Word" District Convention - Absent
2001 "Teachers of God's Word" District Convention - Absent
2002 - Absent
2003 - Absent
2004 - Don't count on me being there
Most of the 80s and 90s either Wolverhampton, Coventry and once Birmingham. And at least once in there is Cardiff, Wales as well.
after all the dust settles it appears that the only thing the wts can hang its hat on is that jesus approved what the wts was doing to further the kingdom interests in 1918/9 - no matter the changes of new light before and since.
so just what was it that the wts doing at that time?
selling copies of the finished mystery printed in 1917. courtesy of heraldmag.org here is the text of that book http://www.heraldmag.org/olb/bsl/library/comntary/rev/finish/vol7.pdf at sites like freeminds and shaun's research there's some good brief analytical work on many of the 1500 "errors" contained therein.
Is it not true that in 1918/19 the Watchtower was declaring that it was chosen in 1878? If that is so, Jesus inspected all the world's religions and picked the one that was already sure it was picked 40 years earlier!
Despire their being presumptuous he chose them anyway and later on informed them that he had chose them, but not when they thought, rather it was much later. And he didn't tell them immediately he let them go on deluding themselves for several years.
3rd
i am brand new here.
just browsing so far though makes me think that i may be spending a lot of time with you guys.
in searching for info i stumbled across this board because i have just run into a problem with the witnesses.
Atlantic,
There is a very good form letter you can use to reply to the elders. It follows the basis that they acknowledge who they represent and whether legal representation will be sort by them in the course of the inquiry. On such a basis the letter writer will also seek legal counsel and have the right to have legal representation and meetings with the elders.
It's enough to scare the Sh*t out of most elder bodies and they drop any idea of pursuing you.
I will try to the find a link unless some other poster quickly comes up with it.
Welcome to the board too.
3rd
Here you go try this link. I think there is a more form version of this but the idea can be gleaned from it.
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..."walking with god.
" why not call it "walking with god after we just gave him glory"?.
Blondie,
You can see Watchtower history in the assembly/convention themes:
1976 "Sacred Service" District Assembly
1977 "Joyful Workers" District Assembly
1978 "Victorious Faith" International Convention
1979 "Living Hope" District Convention
1980 "Divine Love" District Convention
In the years following the 1975 debacle. The emphasis shifted to doing good works, having faith a love. This is when as one CO explained when the Society went "wishy-washy" when he explained "cleaning the gutters of someone's house was regarded as sacred service." During that period the society softened its stance on DF'd ones
1981 "Kingdom Loyalty" District Convention
1982 "Kingdom Truth" District Convention
1983 "Kingdom Unity" District Convention
Then the changes occurred and being loyal to the Watchtower was the big thing, they had the truth and everyone should be united. A lot of the good things the Watchtower introduced were reversed and we could no longer help change the tire on a DF'd perons' car in the KH parking lot.
1986 "Divine Peace" District Convention
It was the International Year of Peace so we better get ready for Armageddon which is coming real soon now.
1997 "Faith in God's Word" District Convention
After 1995 and the end of "the Generation" everyone better have in God's Word. Apparently, the Creator's Promise as quoted in the Awake did not prove to be faithful.
3rd
one of the biggest regrets a person might have is that they let their children become involved in the whole jw "thing".
you know---everything from the elders always cornering them to "investigate" something or even having the parents "turn in" their own kids......is there anything that you especially regret?
All the wrong choices I made because of my "conscience". These are some:
Most of my regrets I have corrected or am correcting. The biggest regrets are where I can't take back the time and reverse my actions relating to family. There will always be some permanent scars.
Thirdson
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many skeptics assert that the bible must be wrong, because they claim that the ark could not possibly have carried all the different types of animals.
http://www.answersingenesis.org/home/area/magazines/docs/cen_v19n2_animals_ark.asp
The best source for Noah's Ark can be found here, the idea of two by two is unique and I personally believe in this version.
i had to take my dad to the va hospital for a doctor's appointment and in almost every waiting room there was magazines not even recent issues.
you have to wait for freaking ever at the va hospital so i decided to do my civic duty and i went around this huge hospital collecting magazines and would throw them in the nearest trash can.
nobody cared until i got on the 4th floor.
Valis (DO sir),
Is it just me or is there a hidden image in your photograph? Is that a demon's contorted face being exposed as it is freed by fire from a mag?
Thirdson
Sorry, I just notice Cruzanheart's comment with a funnier line.
