no longer a ms ........................... can't give details atm, for it might be a dead-giveaway and it ain't quite over yet.
but, it really taught me one thing: if you're trying to fade or stay in, trust no one.
and i mean no one.. eden.
Just low enough to keep family and friends connected.
As some elders have put it, Satan has used my "intelectuallity" (LOL, really??) to ensnare me, and they will pray for me to come back to my senses.
I suppose Jesus said "woe to you, intellectuals, for you don't discern my organization and stop others from discerning it".... I can't find that elusive Bible text, but I'm sure it must exist somewhere in a dark corner of one of the gospels.
Eden
no longer a ms ........................... can't give details atm, for it might be a dead-giveaway and it ain't quite over yet.
but, it really taught me one thing: if you're trying to fade or stay in, trust no one.
and i mean no one.. eden.
Kate, time will tell how long will I be able to withstand with it.
I've come to realize just to what extent many of the Elders are truly 'worshippers of the organization', in the sense that, no matter what the WT does or writes, the errors, the false prohecies blunders, the contradictions with the Bible ... it's all under the permission and blessing of Jehovah, and we do best to obey and heed to it all, without questioning. It's mind-blowing, really. My wife is shocked with it and now when something is said from the platform that we both find hilarious, we just eye each other and pinch each other's hands...it's a good sport, actually. :P
Eden
no longer a ms ........................... can't give details atm, for it might be a dead-giveaway and it ain't quite over yet.
but, it really taught me one thing: if you're trying to fade or stay in, trust no one.
and i mean no one.. eden.
Ok, time for an update.
My resignation is official now. I lost my "privileges" as MS, have a limited participation in the theocratic school, but I was allowed to retain everything else.
I guess my "quirkiness" is being tolerated for the time being, as long as I don't attempt to spread my ideas in the congregation. My wife now agrees with me in my views about the "organization" (we both agree it is seriously flawed, and not compliant with the holy spirit; it's unecessary for salvation, athough has a degree of usefulness), although doesn't share my views on hope.
Anyway, not a bad outcome, I'd say. I know I will have eyes on me from now on, but I'll keep a low profile in the congregation.
Eden
according to a new "bible questions answered": " the wild beast with seven heads introduced at revelation 13:1 represents the worldwide political system.".
i know that they have quietly been backing away from the un identification for awhile.
is this feature on jw.org a new official teaching, or just a spin for the sake of the public?.
I'm speaking out of memory here, but the rendering of the greek text in Revelation says something to the effect that they 'made an image TO the wild beast', not 'an image OF the wild beast'. I have written some notes about it, can't remember now where I placed them. But that certainly changes the meaning.
Eden
yesterday evening my wife and i were invited to friends house for new year's eve.
we met them when i was a christian and we have kept in touch.
they had a few other friends there as well, including the new church pastor and his wife.
Cofty,
Now there were some present at that time who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilatehad mixed with their sacrifices. 2 Jesus answered, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? 3 I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish. 4 Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them—do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? 5 I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish.” What do you think Jesus was trying to say here?
I believe Jesus disentangled sin from suffering; What people suffer has no co-relation with their sins.
Yet, he definitively tied sin with salvation or failing to attain salvation.
Eden
" no one, when he has lit a lamp, puts it in a cellar or under a basket, but on a stand, that those who come in may see the light.".
now that the 8 most important men on earth, the governing body, have been revealed as the faithful and discreet slave, to whom all the masters.
belongings have been given, now that the most important news of the the 21st century has been brought to light, it is time for the world to be informed.. therefore, 2014 will become the year in which all world leaders will be informed that to survive, and to help the people of their respective nations to survive,.
Although they consider that they weren't given the Master's belongings yet, they sure feel entitled to receive them and to lord over them already.
Eden
i have recently read for the umpteenth time the 4 gospel accounts.
what caught my attention this time around was how many times jesus makes mention of the endeared expression father (with f in caps) when referring to his god as recorded by matthew, mark, luke and john.. what was also interesting by comparison is how little jesus actually makes reference to his father on a first name basis (jehovah) in these four books.. note my findings with the help of the comprehensive concordance:.
jehovah: matthew 11 times mark 8 times luke 26 times john 4 times (total 49 times).. father: mathew 43 times mark 4 times luke 21 times john 119 times (total 187 times).. .
marked
i just took the first page of the 2013 report and added two new columns to look at alternative ways of calculating the 'increase'.
first column: 2013 av.
pubs minus 2012 av.
What is a negative number of leavers supposed to show? I'm confused with that one.
I see that you are calculating a co-relation between increase in publishers and baptized. The negative number happens when the number of baptized is lower than the number of publishers increase. But how can you establish that relation, when a "leaver" is someone who has already been baptized, and the number of "increase" included both baptized and unbaptized publishers?
I'm confused.
Eden
hi all.. just letting know that i've published a new article on my website, titled "the tree of life and its meaning".. you're welcome to visit, read and discuss it.. eden.
Simon, we need a "eating popcorn" emoticon here....
Eden
the 2014 yearbook is out, and i have scanned the publisher figures into a more readable format at 2013 service year report.
i have updated some of the graphs at http://www.jwfacts.com/watchtower/statistics.php and will do the rest tonight.
there are no real surprises, with very similar results as during the last couple of years.
mariu,
one possible reason is that publishers are migrating from the countries more impacted with the finantial crisis, thus decreasing the numbers in their countries of origin, and move to more prosperous countries, thus increasing the numbers in the countries of destination. Germany currently isn't a very welcoming country for new imigrants, despite their relative prosperity.
Eden
