Absolutely loved this. What a great read and very enlightening. Thanks for you time in writing and posting. Kudos!
AJ
AverageJoe1
JoinedPosts by AverageJoe1
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10
Critique/Rebuttal of May 2018 Watchtower study article - "Know Your Enemy"
by doubtfull1799 inimportant note: i am not a theist and this is all meaningless of course from an atheist perspective, but this critique is written from a theistic perspective for those who are interested in picking apart jw theology or are still religious.
if this is not you, please just ignore!.
comments, additions, corrections to my crazy ramblings all welcome.
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Circuit Overseer's Outlines
by AverageJoe1 inhere's the outlines in english and spanish, grouped together in order for september 2018-february 2019.. english: https://we.tl/6orrqltrya.
spanish: https://we.tl/6w0acsdefr.
as per usual, these links will expire in 7 days from the date of this post so get them whilst they're hot!.
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AverageJoe1
Here's the outlines in English and Spanish, grouped together in order for September 2018-February 2019.
ENGLISH: https://we.tl/6oRRqltRYa
SPANISH: https://we.tl/6W0AcsDEfr
As per usual, these links will expire in 7 days from the date of this post so get them whilst they're hot!
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S 147 for august 2018
by obarac inanyone have s 147 for august?.
rumors about big announcement.. any hear about that..
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AverageJoe1
Thanks Sir82.
Data-Dog, lets not forget the new JW contact card with only the JW logo on it. Why on earth would they need a photo of the Bible on it anyway?ha ha
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S 147 for august 2018
by obarac inanyone have s 147 for august?.
rumors about big announcement.. any hear about that..
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AverageJoe1
Here you go!
ANNOUNCEMENTS AND REMINDERS
August 2018
Coordinator of the body of elders: The announcements and reminders for the congregation should
be read at the next midweek meeting and thereafter posted on the information board for one month.
FOR THE ELDERS ONLY
1. Memorial: In preparation for the 2019 Memorial, please review the direction in the February
13, 2017, letter to all bodies of elders on selecting a Memorial speaker and selecting Memorial
meeting times.
As in previous years, there will be a worldwide effort to invite as many as possible to attend.
This special campaign will begin Saturday, March 23, 2019, and extend through Friday, April 19,
2019. Each congregation should submit a request for invitations by Monday, September 10, 2018,
using item number 7959. If a request is not received from your congregation by the due date, a ratio of
40 invitations per publisher and 120 per pioneer will be sent to your congregation. The same artwork
that was used for the 2018 invitation will be used for the 2019 invitation. Thus, to avoid confusion,
please ensure that any 2018 invitations have been discarded. A Memorial invitation in Braille will
automatically be sent to publishers who regularly receive Braille items from the branch office. Additional
invitations in Braille can be requested beginning January 1, 2019. Publishers will be allowed
to leave Memorial invitations where no one is at home if the elders deem this to be practical.
2. Special Public Talk: The prerecorded special talk mentioned in the announcement to the
congregation will be available on JW Stream about one month prior to the week it is to be presented.
Please assign an elder or a ministerial servant to download the prerecorded talk from JW Stream
(using his jw.org credentials) several weeks before the congregation is scheduled to view it. Since
there may be multiple recordings available in the same language, in early 2019 the branch office
will inform groups and congregations which recording they should use. If possible, a backup speaker
should be assigned in case of technical problems with the recording. If a congregation or group
does not have the necessary equipment to view the recording or if the recording is not available in
the language of the congregation or group, the body of elders should assign a qualified speaker to
give the talk in the usual manner. Since the special talk will be a revised version of Talk No. 90,
“Reach Out for the Real Life!,” the current version should not be presented after September 1,
2018.
3. Global Assistance Arrangement: In harmony with the announcement to the congregation,
please arrange for a resolution to be considered by the congregation authorizing the following
amount to be sent from congregation funds each month for the 12-month period of September 2018
through August 2019: (per-publisher amount noted on jw.org) x (number of active publishers). If
preferred, the entire amount may be sent at one time. If the body of elders thinks that the suggested
amount would impose a hardship on the congregation or that the congregation is in a position to
contribute more, the resolved amount may be adjusted accordingly.
The resolution should be written as follows: “In support of the Global Assistance Arrangement,
we, the _____________ Congregation, resolve to donate _________ to the worldwide work
during the 2019 service year. These donations will be made from congregation funds, which are
contributed in our boxes marked for congregation expenses. The resolved amount will be donated
(in one payment/spread over the course of the year).”
• Coordinator of the body of elders: If before the next midweek meeting the body of elders
has approved the amount to be included in the resolution, arrange for the resolution to be
presented following the reading of the attached announcement. Otherwise, inform the congregation that the resolution mentioned in the announcement will be presented the following
week. Before the announcement is made and posted on the information board, fill in
the per-publisher amount noted on jw.org.
• Secretary: Ensure that the resolution approved by the congregation is given to the accounts
servant along with the appropriate instructions for remitting the resolved donation to the
branch office.
4. New Contact Card: Language-coordinating congregations may use the mnemonic jwcd4 or
the item number 8524 when requesting the new contact card mentioned in the announcement to the
congregation.
5. Contribution Box Labels: New contribution box labels are being provided for use in all
Kingdom Halls. An icon is used on each label to identify the specific purpose of the contribution
box. For the worldwide work, the label has artwork depicting a globe. For local congregation expenses,
the label has artwork depicting a Kingdom Hall. If online donations can be made via jw.org
in your country for the corresponding donation type, the URL “donate.jw.org” will be included on
the label. As a result of this design, the labels are not language-specific. A consignment of two sets
of labels per auditorium will be included in congregation literature shipments starting this month.
The body of elders, or Kingdom Hall Operating Committee if more than one congregation uses the
Kingdom Hall, should ensure that these labels are placed on contribution boxes as soon as they are
received. If additional labels are needed, they may be requested from the branch office in the same
way that publications are requested. Please use the item number or mnemonic noted on jw.org when
submitting requests for additional labels. If the bodies of elders using the Kingdom Hall decide that
the existing labels with the words “Worldwide Work” or “Local Congregation Expenses” are still
needed, they may continue to be used along with the new labels.
6. Social Events: The congregation does not organize or sponsor social events. Individuals
who host social events bear personal responsibility for what occurs at the event. Such individuals
should not state or imply that they are acting on behalf of the congregation. They should not use
terms such as “congregation picnic” or “congregation gathering.” (od pp. 127-128 par. 19) Thus,
invitations should not be posted on the information board and announcements regarding social
events should not be made from the platform.
FOR THE CONGREGATION
1. Memorial: On Friday evening, April 19, 2019, we will gather to observe the Lord’s Even-ing Meal. (Luke 22:19) Starting in 2019, the meeting schedule will be adjusted during the week of the Memorial so that more attention can be given to the annual observance. When the Memorial falls on a weekday, no midweek meeting will be scheduled. When the Memorial falls on a weekend, no weekend meeting will be scheduled. Additionally, please note that the 2020 Memorial ob-servance will be held on Tuesday, April 7, 2020. The 2021 Memorial observance will be held on Saturday, March 27, 2021.
2. Special Public Talk: To generate enthusiasm for the Memorial, the 2019 special talk, enti-tled “Reach Out for the Real Life,” will be presented one week before the Memorial, during the week of April 8, 2019. Congregations that have an assembly or the visit of the circuit overseer the week of April 8 will usually have the special talk one week earlier. Most congregations will view a talk that has been prerecorded by the branch office, and in many cases, given by a member of the Branch Committee. We hope this advance notice will be helpful to you in preparing for these im-portant events.
3. Global Assistance Arrangement: The Global Assistance Arrangement allows the organiza-tion to care for incidents at Kingdom Halls, Assembly Halls, and branch facilities—including dam-age resulting from a natural disaster, fire, theft, or vandalism. For the next service year, the antici-pated cost for these incidents would be covered if each publisher contributed approximately ____________. This does not mean that each publisher is expected to contribute this exact amount. Instead, each congregation may choose to pass a resolution to contribute to the worldwide work and publishers can then contribute to their local congregation in harmony with their resolution.
4. New Contact Card: A jw.org contact card that features only the jw.org logo on the front is now available for request. The card has lines on the back on which publishers can write a brief mes-sage, Bible verse, or other information. This card is part of the Teaching Toolbox, and you may begin to use it as soon as the congregation receives it.
5. 2019 International Conventions: We are pleased to inform you that 24 international con-ventions will be held in 18 countries during 2019. This will be the largest number of international conventions held by our organization in recent years! Over 130,000 publishers, representing more than 80 countries, will be invited to serve as delegates. Due to your generosity, some 5,000 brothers and sisters in special full-time service who serve in foreign assignments will have the opportunity to enjoy international and regional conventions in their home country or another preferred destination. We pray that all of the 2019 conventions bring praise to our great God, Jehovah!—Ps. 57:9.
2019 International Convention Locations
Argentina: Buenos Aires
Greece: Athens
Spain: Madrid
Australia: Melbourne
Korea: Seoul
United States: Atlanta
Brazil: São Paulo
Mexico: Monterrey
Houston (English)
Canada: Toronto
Netherlands: Utrecht
Houston (Spanish)
Denmark: Copenhagen
Philippines: Manila
Miami (English)
Ecuador: Guayaquil
Poland: Warsaw
Miami (Spanish)
France: Paris
Portugal: Lisbon
Phoenix
Germany: Berlin
South Africa: Johannesburg
St. Louis
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EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: Angus Stewart QC on Jehovah’s Witnesses and the Australian Child Abuse Royal Commission (by Lara Kaput and Louise Goode)
by jwleaks inangus stewart qc, senior counsel, has had a long and distinguished legal career, beginning with his passion for justice in south africa, fighting apartheid, then later working in the truth and reconciliation commission, and more recently acting as senior counsel in the case studies on jehovah's witnesses in the australian royal commission into institutional responses to child sexual abuse.
angus discusses, from his own personal point of view, and not representing the carc or the commissioners, what the journey was like, learning about the internal law and policy of watchtower society, how he became determined to stand for justice for all the victims and for the whole community of ex jehovah's witnesses and how he felt about the evidence being presented to him and the people presenting it.. interview by lara kaput and louise goode for jw community podcast.. https://jwcommunitypodcast.simplecast.fm/cf4d380d.
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AverageJoe1
Hey Dubstepped. Printed form is always handy to be able copy from and quote, refer back to etc.
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Smart Phones and Tablets Turning JW's Into Dummies
by scotoma inlook up the article in the wall st journal "how smartphones hijack our minds".
a flood of evidence has come in that people are outsourcing their thinking to their electronic devices.
when you feel you will always be able to look up important information on your cell phone you simply don't remember it.
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AverageJoe1
Ah but they are fantastic for us PIMOs as a way to alleviate the boredom at the meetings!
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The Latest Thing Waking People Up...
by pale.emperor insince i woke up and left i've been contacted by others i knew from my youth who've also left the cult.
also people around the world on facebook adding me out of the blue because we have mutual friends and they occasionally ask me stuff or share their story.. what i've noticed in the vast majority of cases, is that people are waking up not because of the arc or doctrine but apathy.
active jws are becoming less and less interested, less and less bothered.
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AverageJoe1
Not being allowed beards and being forced to sign the GDPR form (or faced being tarnished as having a bad attitude) have been two things waking JWs up where I live.
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Explain why you are happy if you believe there is no afterlife vs when you joined JW's
by Bad_Wolf inone thing that has intrigued me are so many who have left, who are wholly convinced everything in existence is merely by chance now, also claim they wouldn't want to live forever, and perfectly fine if this is the only life.
now, i would understand that if you were raised into the religion.
i was raised into it.
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AverageJoe1
I remember that old booklet you mentioned Freddo. The great thing about that title is that if you put a comma in it, the meaning changes completely:
Is there a God, WHO CARES? ha ha
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My Convention Experience and Thoughts !
by jdash inso during the week of july 6-8th i went to the convention.
i had a funny experience.. to start off, i'm usually with my close friends that i know and who basically have the same mindset as i do.
but during saturday, during lunch, me and my buddies were walking outside and we noticed someone was singing real loud and kinda in a deep voice.
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AverageJoe1
Attended ours recently and can't really say anything more than has already been said by those other unfortunate individuals who were pressured to attend.
The only thing I will add is how many speakers were repeated: we had 6 elders give two talks as well as being involved in interviews. This did not go unnoticed by the Dubs and there were a few "again?"s said out loud within my earshot. I know there are lots of good speakers in the area but maybe they are not "yes men" like me.
Most of the ones on the program were butt-kissers, self-righteous pharisees who love prominence as could be seen by announcing "who serves as an elder in the such-and-such congregation (plus any other spiritual curriculum)" even though the outline states they should just announce the name.
Only good feedback I heard from PIMI Dubs was how they enjoyed the videos... nothing about the talks!!
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Jehovah`s Witnesses Do Not Have a Clergy Class.
by smiddy3 inno , they have the governing body { some would say the popes of the religion }.
and you do not under any circumstance go against what they say./ .
they also have branch overseers , district overseers .circuit overseers , and elders in a congregation .. they are all up and above the rank and file of the average ordinary jehovah`s witness and they are looked upon as such by the rank and file member as equivalent to a clergy class.. oh and lets not forget the legal department that has a lot to say in how the jehovah`s witness organization responds to allegations of child sexual abuse around the world.. and when an allegation arises about child sexual abuse the w.t.
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AverageJoe1
If that was true, then you wouldn't have elders or servants. Everyone would be just called a publisher and have equal decision making rights.
That will never happen. They love the prominence too much.