Posts by 88JM

59

Any gay exJW's?

by Trapped in JW land in

jw
friends

was just wondering how many gay exjw's were on this site, and how did you deal with being in this organization?

and also, how did you end up leaving?.

I'm always amazed at the gay ex-JWs that don't get angry at what this cult put them through - some people seem to be better at letting go and moving on with their lives. Sometimes I feel so angry for having to go through it all, and especially for those still trapped in as many have said.

A link to the study below was posted here a while ago, and I think it's really good at putting into words the dual stigmatism that being gay and being a JW involves:

http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00918369.2010.517076?url_ver=Z39.88-2003&rfr_id=ori:rid:crossref.org&rfr_dat=cr_pub%3dpubmed
("Download full text" link to the PDF in the green box)

25

Circuit Overseer says the Theocretic Ministry School may become a thing of the past

by Brother Mike in

my congregation was in charge of host week where the d.o.

spend the week with a congregation the week before an assembly.

didn't show up because he was "sick" so the c.o.

88JM

That makes sense if other rumors are true that assembly's are being cut down to a two-day district/"regional" and two special assembly days - they'll be keeping the programs as lean as possible.

10

Can Ministerial Servant give a prayer for wine or bread at the Memorial?

by Iamallcool in

jw
friends

there was a guy in his early 20's that gave the prayer for the bread or wine at my memorial (i just do not remember which one, wine or bread?

) he does not look like elder material at all.

if ms can't give the prayer at the memorial, then he must be an elder by now.

88JM

Yes - I was asked as an MS despite there being other elders. Some congregations like to rotate things around a bit. Or maybe some elders just "delegate" more.

51

So Spill the Beans, Brothers: Were There More or Fewer At this Year's Bore-Fest

by steve2 in

the jw date-worshipped memorial has just completed its bleak worldwide commemoration.

that wasn't a dust cloud you saw; it was a millionfold hearts limply beating themselves into another round of great tribulation expectations.

i was knocked into a deep, deep sleep by the imagined experience of being at several thousand consecutive kingdom halls as the platformed drones spat forth the predictable sludge that, once released, hits and stains white clothing and bleach is useless.. we know that memorial attendance worldwide has dipped for two consecutive years since 2011 when it reached a high of 19,374,737 and for the promised land, obama's usa, the all time memorial attendance high was also 2011 when it hit over 2.5million (2,563,518) but shrunk in shame back to 2,502,055 in 2012 and spluttered upwards a handful or two to 2,504,114 last year.. so, what was attendance at the date-obsessed bore-fest this year in your neck of the woods?

88JM

71 here (small congregation) - most they've ever had here, but only by a few.

Again, I would echo the sentiment that the tract campaign was pretty innefective. 4000 tracts were ordered, and about 3800 were placed.

Most of the visitors who were there were already bible studies or return visits - I can only think of one person that came off the back of the tract campaign alone.

44

OMG!! Andre from the YPA video gave our Memorial talk.. My thoughts:

by BU2B in

jw
friends

our memorial was held at a music hall with roughly 1300-1400 in attendance.

there was a guest speaker from bethell, guess who??

andre!

88JM

" Thank goodness no jw.org stuff at our Memorial. "

Are you sure? It was in the letter that gets read out at the end? Did your elders just forget it or something?

6

Was Mark the template for the other gospel accounts?

by awakening in

jw
friends

i was checking out why the watchtower study was using the book of matthew regarding the last days during the meeting.

i read somewhere, and please correct me if i am wrong, that mark was written in advance of the other accounts.. i thought the differences were startling.

mark makes no mention of "as in the days of noah".

88JM

While I don't always endorse Wikipedia, they do have some pretty good articles on this kind of stuff:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Markan_priority

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Q_source

Any gay exJW's?

by Trapped in JW land in

jw
friends

was just wondering how many gay exjw's were on this site, and how did you deal with being in this organization?

and also, how did you end up leaving?.

88JM

There are a few LGBT ex-JW groups on Facebook too if you're looking for folks to chat to. There's worldwide and also regional groups, depending on where you live, sometimes with meetups.

If you're worried about being found out on Facebook though, you might want to use another login, though most of the groups are now closed groups so any posting is private within the groups, but worth checking first.

77

Did You Go To The Memorial?

by minimus in

jw
friends

i didn't and i don't care about it..

88JM

Poztate - I think this is still the outline:

http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/watchtower/bible/222257/1/Does-anyone-have-the-2012-Memorial-Talk-outline

I did see a scanned copy floating around somewhere on here, but the link above does have the correct text.

7

Memorial talk fact checking - a story

by 88JM in

jw
friends

this was in the memorial talk here last night, used as an illustration i guess.. i think there is some direction to use an experience like this in the outline, but the story that the speaker told (presented as fact) sounds totally bogus to me, or at best urban legend.. does anyone know if this is actually true?

here is the story the speaker told:.

"some years ago there was a tragic train accident in england, and sadly some lost their lives.

88JM

This was in the memorial talk here last night, used as an illustration I guess.

I think there is some direction to use an experience like this in the outline, but the story that the speaker told (presented as fact) sounds totally bogus to me, or at best urban legend.

Does anyone know if this is actually true? Here is the story the speaker told:

"Some years ago there was a tragic train accident in England, and sadly some lost their lives. In one of the carriages that was wrecked were about 14 or 15 passengers and safety depended on the gap that was between them and some land. What one of the passengers did was strech himself out as far as he possibly could and his legs were left in the carriage, and he encouraged the passengers to cross over him to safety. And as one, two, three crossed over... they all got to the other side and survived because that man used his body as a human bridge. But sadly in this event, this man lost his life."

12

How isnt anyone connecting the dots?!?! Ugh memorial.

by Jon Preston in

tonight the talk was given and he speaker talks about the two hopes, i roll my eyes.

then he talks about how the evening meal is onky for the elite 144,000. i think to myself "why the hell does paul say in 1 corinthians 11 when hes referring tothe entire corinthians congregation (right?

) that they should do it in remembernce of christ?

88JM

Jon Preston - They even read Romans 8:16,17 to try separate out the "anointed" but conveniently omit the preceeding verse 14:

"For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God"