Surreptitious

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Posts by Surreptitious

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  14

  Better say what they want to hear

  by JH in

  1. jw
  2. friends

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  did it bother you that you had to make comments that reflected their way of thinking all the time.

  wouldn't you have loved to say something completely different from what they expected to hear, when making a comment.

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  Surreptitious

  Excellent point!! Mary, you have chosen the good portion.
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  10

  Who died and made you Grand Pooh-Bah?

  by BB in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  ever get the feeling that some from these or perhaps other boards view themselves in some sort of leadership capacity?

  its as though they might not have gotten enough of being an elder or ministerial servant and still relish the idea of being in charge.

  one of the best ways to determine if an individual still has visions of grandeur is to disagree with them.

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  Surreptitious

  Fuzz? Yeah, I hate it when it gets in my belly button.
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  30

  2002 Service Year Report

  by ignored_one in

  1. jw
  2. friends

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  not sure how well these come out.. .

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  Surreptitious

  It seems to me from looking at the report, that all of the substantial increases are in areas where the insertion of a missionary or two would represent the majority of the increase. Of course this has always been the case historically. Furthermore, thousands who previously did not report time due to circumstances (age, health, etc.) are now able to report even as little as 15 minutes in a month. The previous minimum was an hour. With more now qualifying as active publishers, this quite naturally would have the effect of instantly swelling the ranks. Without this "lowering of the bar" I wonder how the report would look???
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  13

  Really Downsizing? Then Howcome....

  by CaptainSchmideo in

  1. jw
  2. friends

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  at tonight's service meeting (u.s.), another one of those "thank you for your continued contributions (hint hint, beg beg)" letters was read.. in the text, they talked about needing funds to renovate/remodel the squibb and 107 (i think that's the right number) in an effort to bring them up to building guidelines that match the other branch facilities.

  this doesn't sound like shutting down in ny and retiring to patterson, as i saw in an earlier thread.. anybody in the know want to add some insight to this?.

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  Surreptitious

  It seems to me from looking at the report, that all of the substantial increases are in areas where the insertion of a missionary or two would represent the majority of the increase. Of course this has always been the case historically. Furthermore, thousands who previously did not report time due to circumstances (age, health, etc.) are now able to report even as little as 15 minutes in a month. The previous minimum was an hour. With more now qualifying as active publishers, this quite naturally would have the effect of instantly swelling the ranks. Without this "lowering of the bar" I wonder how the report would look???
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  18

  Did you know??

  by fulano in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  the gb-laundry has to be washed seperately?

  missionaries get a annual total-control visit (what do you do with the $$$) from the branch?

  a yearly keep-up-the-good-work speach from the gb?

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  Surreptitious

  We know that the laundry bit must be true because it was published in the Washtower.
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  18

  Did you know??

  by fulano in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  the gb-laundry has to be washed seperately?

  missionaries get a annual total-control visit (what do you do with the $$$) from the branch?

  a yearly keep-up-the-good-work speach from the gb?

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  Surreptitious

  Good one Grumbly! There are other sheets which are not of this fold.

  Fulano, tell us the story about the murder in Africa.
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  17

  Internet Influence

  by JH in

  1. jw
  2. friends

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  if it wasn't for the internet, and sites like these, would you still be an active witness?

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  Surreptitious

  Nope, not for me. The questions I have have been nagging me for years and do not stem from any outside influence whatsoever. Just me thinking and wondering.

  I started poking around on the internet just to see if others felt the same way or not. I was somewhat surprised to find that many share the same doubts and subsequent conclusions!

  I was raised as a Witness and have been "strong" for many years, serving in various capacities (albeit with those nagging doubts banging around in the vacuous back of my head). As a result of this "strength", I must confess that I've always lumped togther apostates, opposers, and those who "fell away" as ones who were disgruntled over "human" issues, or were at odds with the Society because of major doctrinal disagreements, etc., etc..

  While this may be true too in some cases, I am finding (much to my interest and delight) that I'm not some lone faithless slob. I have always suffered with a measure of guilt for having these doubts, and questioning certain things. Having never discussed this with anyone, I thought it might just be me. Wished I could "get a grip", "pull myself back in line", quite wondering about these questions. I've thought, "What's wrong with me? Why am I having these doubts? What, am I some kind of "spiritual pervert" or something??"

  What a relief to read that many of the very things that have made me go hmmm, are in other's minds as well!
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  14

  creepy thinking

  by Vivamus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i just saw president bush on the tv.

  he was saying in his very slow way of speaking "we must defend ourselves against the enemies of freedom"and "a great evil is upon the world".

  and all of a sudden i had this thought "what if the jw are right..."

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  Surreptitious

  I have my thoughts but I won't express them here!

  Jim, I wish you would. I'm sincerely interested in hearing them.
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  17

  "Jehovah's hand"

  by Surreptitious in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  anyone have a "hand of jehovah" experience?

  something that happened that at the time made you feel it had to be jehovah intervening?

  if so, how do you feel about it now?

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  Surreptitious

  Always been hard for me to understand why some think that God intervened on their behalf.... If he does, then what's the criteria for selecting this person over that one? Why didn't he answer the screams of the pregnant JW mother who was eviscerated at the hands of a madwoman? What about the terror of the JW missionaries in the Philippines right before they were relieved of the burden of having heads?
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  5

  Beer: nectar from the gods

  by teejay in

  1. social
  2. humour

  forwarded email:.

  "sometimes when i reflect back on all the beer i drink i feel ashamed.

  i look into the glass and think about the workers in the brewery and all of.

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  Surreptitious

  He who goes forth on the fourth with a fifth, might not go forth on the fifth.