Rattigan350

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Posts by Rattigan350

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  63

  Watchtower crackdown on anointed expansion - are they reaching for a solution to the expanding numbers problem?

  by slimboyfat in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  if this has been discussed i missed it.

  i think the january study watchtower is a concerted attempt to reduce the numbers claiming to be anointed.

  but i love the sneaky way they go about it this time.

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  Rattigan350

  Why does this matter to people? What good is it going to heaven as a spirit. They can't communicate with the ones on earth, they can't affect anything here. Maybe they are just exploring the rest of the universe.
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  75

  How did you feel when you found out "the truth about the truth"?

  by stuckinarut2 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  so when you first found out specific facts about the organisation, how did you feel??.

  the un membership.

  the way 1914 was calculated from pyramid measurements.

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  Rattigan350

  None of what you listed, except their focus on money, meant anything to me.

  It was the inaction of God and their control issues.

  How it makes one feel?

  When people became JWs, the feeling was that we have something new and better.

  When people leave JWs the feeling is that we now have something new and better.
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  10

  The scripture most taken out of context

  by Coded Logic in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  for whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that through patience and through comfort of the scriptures we might have hope.- romans 15:4. ever consider that paul wasn't referencing his own letters to the congregations?

  and he certainly wasn't referring to the gospels which hadn't even been written yet.

  anybody else ever notice this?.

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  Rattigan350

  "Ever consider that Paul wasn't referencing his own letters to the congregations? And he certainly wasn't referring to the Gospels which hadn't even been written yet. Anybody else ever notice this?"

  Of course he is referring to the law and the prophets and not anything post Jesus. The same goes for 2 Tim 3:16 'all scripture is inspired'. Paul was inspired in the sense that he got the idea from past writings, but they were his interpretation of them.
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  39

  Reasons for doubting.

  by New day in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  somebody mentioned in a recent topic that they had a conversation with a former elder whose breaking point was when the overlapping generation was highlighted in recent times and how he would never serve again until somebody gave him a scriptural reason to believe it.

  i am in a similar position.

  i have gone in the last 18 months from taking the wt study, leading fs groups, and doing talks on the mtngs to doing almost nothing, as i resigned a little over a year ago as an elder due to a combination of family responsibilities and huge doubts.

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  Rattigan350

  "They take all the money away from congregations and say they need it for the worldwide building projects, then they put all the worldwide building projects on hold because there isn't enough money."

  Back in 2012 there was an announcement that they needed money to build the Rome Georgia Assembly Hall. March 2014 there was a letter posted on the board that said that they had raised $4 million for that.

  Not long after there was an announcement that the project was canceled. What became of the $4 million? People don't care. They just think that it is for Jehovah.
  
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  27

  Message from an elder

  by paradisebeauty in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  elder: plese watch the november programm on jw broadcasting.. me: what i hope for is the change of the doctrine that states that jesus is not the mediator between jehovah and all jw's but only between jehovah and the 144000. i believe jesus is my mediator even if i am not one of the 144000. .

  elder: may jehovah open your mind and heart.

  me: may he open everyone's mind and heart.

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  Rattigan350

  " What I hope for is the change of the doctrine that states that Jesus is not the mediator between Jehovah and all jw's but only between Jehovah and the 144000. I believe Jesus is my mediator even if I am not one of the 144000."

  And does your believe actually do anything or mean anything?

  That is why I really hate the objection above. The GB can't change God's will. What He does is what he does.
  
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  10

  The Shocking Origins Of...

  by freemindfade in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i can't deal with this crap witnesses plaster on social media (facebook).

  "the shocking origins of christmas!

  " first off no one cares, leave the people alone.

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  Rattigan350

  Beth Sarim said "Especially the chronology of how C.T. Russell came up with the 1914 theology. "

  He got it from Nelson Barbour. But when he split with Barbour, he didn't reject the chronology or reexamine it.
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  44

  Decrease of numbers in Jehovah's Witnesses via Deaths, DFings, or Turning Inactive

  by flipper in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  so i'm sure a good number of us saw the chart that i believe the poster splash put on another thread of figures since 1990 regarding how many baptized and % of increase each year .

  i started analyzing it ( and i know some referred to it briefly on the other thread ) and guessing of reasons the % of increase didn't match the number of newly baptized.

  and of course common sense tells us that either jw's leave the cult each year through death, fading into inactivity, or getting dfed.

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  Rattigan350

  When people are studying, they become publishers and are counted as such when they report. Then the number of publishers would increase but without a addition in the baptism number.

  Then when the person gets baptized, maybe in another service year, that person would be counted as a baptism and still a publisher. There is no correlation between publishers and baptisms. Children could be publishers for years before getting baptized.

  Publishers are counted for each slip turned in in a month and reported to the branch. All the months are totaled and divided by 12 to get the average publishers for a year.

  When people turn in reports late, say from April then in May 2 reports would be counted for that person. There would be 2 publishers counted. Enough of those gets the numbers up. That way it will average out but the peak is the highest individual month of reporting.
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  26

  Didn't get the Watchtower today at all

  by Pioneerbot in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  i know it's dumb to think it would make sense.

  i've been telling myself to lay low because everytime i ask a question now my husband says i have a negative attitude and i sound like an apostate.

  hmmm wonder why.

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  Rattigan350

  "there have been several articles within recent memory that really hammered home that the great crowd aren't God's children until after the 1000 years are up"

  That is how it has always been taught. This is nothing new.

  I don't see why it matters whether the GC is God's children, if they are living for 1000 years, then they are not dying from sin. Isn't that what you want?
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  35

  Seems odd that the Bible never mentions Pryamids?

  by dropoffyourkeylee in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  doesn't it seem strange that the bible never mentions the pyramids?

  how could someone go to egypt at that time and not even so much as mention the huge monuments?

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  Rattigan350

  Phizzy said: "Check out the circumference of the "Molten Sea" copper bowl, (tub) used at the Temple, the writer had no knowledge of the true value of Pi."

  Some have criticized the Bible about that. I don't know why.

  "And he [Hiram] made a molten sea, ten cubits from the one rim to the other it was round all about, and...a line of thirty cubits did compass it round about....And it was an hand breadth thick...." — First Kings, chapter 7, verses 23 and 26

  Circumference is 30 and diameter is 10. pi*diameter =circumference. or Pi=circum/diameter. 30/10 =3 Pi = 3. That is correct. Some will quibble on 3.1415 The text would then have to say that it is 31 cubits around. 3 is close enough to PI.
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  104

  New Light: Don't hold hands during prayers

  by RR in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  from the watchtower november 15 study edition.. 19 when we are being represented in public prayer, we need to display reverential "fear of god.

  " (1 pet 2:17) there may be a proper time and place for some actions that would be inappropriate at a christian meeting.

  (eccl 3:1) for instance, suppose someone sought to have all in a group link arms or hold hands during prayer.

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  Rattigan350

  "This might offend or distract some, including visitors who do not share our beliefs"

  My comment would be: I am so sick and tired of everyone getting offending over everything. To hell with everyone who gets offended.

  Or to those who still go, make this comment: "This kind of counsel and instruction stumbles me and thus I will not be returning".