Posts by gingerbread

28

Apostles were first governing body????

by NeverKnew in

and paul was not a part of the governing body????

am i hearing this correctly or are these people making things up?.

gingerbread

Catholics (and other Christian denominations) believe in the first century 'Council of Jerusalem' or 'Apostolic Conference'. This group of older Christians debated on the issue of circumcision. Catholics date this council as convening in the year 50.

Jehovah's Witnesses have adapted the idea of a central council and applied it to the Governing Body in New York.

The difference :

The 1st century council decided on ONE issue concerning the Christian congregation.

The 21st century Governing Body dictates every aspect of an individual JW's thought, feelings, career, education, finances, entertainment, association, career choices, medical choices, family relationships and more...

ginger

13

CHRISTIANS: Are we meant to identify the last days?

by Zoos in

i've been reading articles from ronald e. frye's, the christian respondent.

he puts forward this understanding of mark 13, mathew 24 and luke 21:.

(1) the destruction of jerusalem is set forth in graphic detail.

gingerbread

For the past 10 centuries, there is historic evidence of persons in the Western world who identified the time period they were living in as 'the last days' based on the writings of 1st century christians. It requires a 'parallel fulfillment' of prophecy.

This method of explaination of scripture produces a fundamentalist/literalist form of christianity.

ginger

30

Did a householder at the door ever cause you doubts

by perfect1 in

recently on a saturday morning there was a knock on my door.

two ladies asked me if i was familiar with the jws.

i said: yes unfortunatley.

gingerbread

Growing up 'witnessing' in the rural southern US, most folks were very polite and listened. In fact they listened to their detriment.

JW's that moved from in the north ("to help where the need was greater") were overwelmed by the "amazing, positive response" they got at the door. Everyone invited you in to talk about the bible. Little did the newcomers understand that this was southern hospitality....and when you left the house, the 'householders' were trash talking you before you reached the car.

As an adult I began to doubt the 'work' that was being done. Pioneers who went out all week - driving around the county 'doing calls' - and never brought anyone to the Hall. My obligitory Saturday service morning was spent riding around in a car and at the local Hardees with a biscuit and coffee.

A sense of urgency? Not with me...or anyone else.

ginger

29

Am I in a "cool hall " or what?

by ?me? in

jw
friends

anybody else in the situation i am?

me and the wife go to a hall that is pretty "hands off".

i have not really been out in service for probably 1.5 years and my wife has went out maybe 3 times in the last year.

gingerbread

I walked the same tightrope as you for the past couple of years. Last spring the brother in charge of our 'service group' called for our time. He then qualified his question with 'not that you show up for service anymore'.

Now I don't report any service time (real or imagined).

ginger

67

3 more branches closed?

by Viva la Vida in

jw
friends

it seems the finland branch has taken over the work from estonia, latvia and lithuania (see http://www.jw.org/en/jehovahs-witnesses/offices/finland/).

gingerbread

You are correct Scotoma. Of course it all depends on the 'slice' of the statistics that are examined - especially in terms of percentage of gain.

For example, when a small country is cited in the Yearbook with publishers increasing from 12 to 24 over the previous year...oh my! They've had an increase of 100%. That's not such a 'big deal' when it's realized the the country's population is ten million.

In 1980 there was just over 2 million active JW's. Twenty years later the numbers jumped to 6 million. In the eyes of all of us active during those years, 'we' had grown beyond our wildest imagination. During that time the money was filling the contribution boxes and the push to build additional branches came with it.

From a personal perspective, I can only remember back to the time when Jehovah's Witnesses had 1 million publishers.

ginger

29

Am I in a "cool hall " or what?

by ?me? in

jw
friends

anybody else in the situation i am?

me and the wife go to a hall that is pretty "hands off".

i have not really been out in service for probably 1.5 years and my wife has went out maybe 3 times in the last year.

gingerbread

?me?

I'm assuming that you still turn in a monthly service report - there's no way they would allow an inactive JW to work with an RBC. That's strictly against their 'rulebook'.

ginger

49

What's in it for them? (GB)

by SyntaxError1974 in

jw
friends

if the wbts is just another business?

then what do the gb get out of all this?.

tim cook (ceo apple) makes around 378 million a year.. donald trump makes around 60 million a year.. i understand the wbts may have vast property holdings, stocks, bonds, and revenue from donations.. but i can't grasp the incentive for the gb to make this stuff up.

gingerbread

Remember too that it is only through the direction and training of the anointed / GB that the 'great crowd' can received the paradisaic new world & everlasting life.

Now that's some power!

ginger

67

3 more branches closed?

by Viva la Vida in

jw
friends

it seems the finland branch has taken over the work from estonia, latvia and lithuania (see http://www.jw.org/en/jehovahs-witnesses/offices/finland/).

gingerbread

When economic times are good the WT historically expands. When the world economy contracts, the WT (like any other international company) will downsize/streamline.

I suspect the expansion of facilities and 'staff' in the 80's and 90's was also induced by emotions. The JW membership was growing like crazy (compared to the previous 50 years) and the big cheeses saw this as a sign from heaven to get big, big, BIG...

A circuit overseer expressed to us (about 8 years ago) that the organization was "now more than ever" being run like a business. They began paying particular attention to the "balance sheet".

ginger

49

What's in it for them? (GB)

by SyntaxError1974 in

jw
friends

if the wbts is just another business?

then what do the gb get out of all this?.

tim cook (ceo apple) makes around 378 million a year.. donald trump makes around 60 million a year.. i understand the wbts may have vast property holdings, stocks, bonds, and revenue from donations.. but i can't grasp the incentive for the gb to make this stuff up.

gingerbread

The men who now make up the governing body haved always LOVED the organization.

They come from different parts of the world and all have different backgrounds. But the organization is the tie that binds them together.

Rising through the 'ranks' of the organization to a seat at the board of directors table is a dream come true. They LOVE their jobs & their lifestyle.

And they - individually and collectively - will protect the organization and their positions.

Of course there is always exceptions to this rule - Ray Franz being the obvious example.

ginger

293

AGM 5 OCTOBER 2013 (UNOFFICIAL RUMORS)

by WatchTower87 in

- 23 day to go .. annual meeting unofficial rumors.

- new bible.

- new nwt (revision).

gingerbread

Another thought -

Have you noticed that even the 'headquarters' in the United States is now officially refered to as 'the Branch'?

Perhaps a 'new idea' to be revealed next month is that the REAL headquarters is in .... HEAVEN.

All directions, rules and regulations are made in heaven and distributed through the Warwick, NY Branch...

Long time faithful members will say 'we always understood that to be the case'.

Imagine the legal department using this argument to release them of the responsibility of sexual abuse cases...

ginger