Posts by no-zombie

21

New ministry, you don’t give a witness

by Mikejw in

there are assignments on the life and ministry school now where they are suggested to just talk to people without giving a witness.. they are supposed to practice starting conversations with strangers and listening to them to talk about whatever they want to talk about .

there is an assignment this week where the conversation ends without giving a witness.

jws don’t look like jws anymore and now they don’t actually preach.. you could get bearded men with sweaters or other such tops and women in pants or slacks coming upto you in the park or on the street and starting a conversation with you.. then you hear them listening to you and talking about whatever they think that you wanted to talk about .

no-zombie

Of course you are right Mikejw, but I think that this spirit of one's service, is now only formalized. Our pioneers were effectively behaving that way for years. Yet I must confess that as we get older, the people we've known in the past, move out from the circle of our lives. And so to remain mentally healthy, we must maintain being socially connected.

However seeing our 'friends' at the meeting or in the letter writing groups may seem like we are satisfying this need, we all know of the superficiality and pressures that still exist in the congregations. On the other hand, if you joined a community knitting, chess or some kind of sporting club you might find people with less of an agenda, than those at the Kingdom Hall. Plus you might actually learn, that most worldly people aren't the violent, immoral individuals we were lead to believe.

20

So Let's Say Bigger Change Happens

by peacefulpete in

if a change in the blood policy happens, who will be more upset, jws or former jws?

i suspect the latter.

when the beard thing went down, jw's seem to immediately embrace it, whereas many former jw's have been brooding about it.. did it take away a pet gripe we had?.

no-zombie

An interesting thought peacefulpete and perhaps you are generally right. I feel this way because while it is true that we are a older religion (in regards to age demographics) the type of person in the congregation are quite different to those of the recent past.

In the past, Witnesses lived more by principles where they took pride in taking the moral high ground. And actually were happy to suffer because of it. When these ones were disfellowshiped most (while not enjoying the process) accepted their mistakes and the consequences.

Today though I see most Witnesses as a whole lot weaker morally. Not that they are more immoral (say about sex) but less directed by personal conscience. In stead our people today are more like spiritual jellyfish that float on the current coming from the Governing Body. And so have no real problem with the beard or pants thing ... or anything else that appears in the future. Yes, some might become a bit perplexed, but not bitter.

Its a bit like kids who used to get told to do their school homework every night, and then realize that they don't have to do it during the holidays. Are they 'bummed' that they had to do it in the past? No. They are just happy that they don't have to do it now.

Those on the outside, might have a different view of things though.

23

How they could change blood doctrine

by Person in

many people say gb will soon dump blood doctrine to appear less fanatical.

others saying it is impossible for them to do that because of legal ramifications.

i think there is a way that could potentially be solution to those problems.

no-zombie

The Governing Body might say ... "because of our deep love for you, after much deep study and reflection, there is a chance that Acts 15:29 could be referring to one's physical health, as a result blood transfusions could become a matter for your personal conscience."

85

Disaster preparedness

by ElderBerry in

as your family considers its disaster preparedness plan, please ensure that the secretary has up-to-date contact information for you and your emergency contact.

also, we have re- peatedly seen good results when brothers and sisters are prepared with go bags and are ready to obey direction when they face various kinds of disasters.

please be sure you have a go bag, and review its contents at least once a year.

no-zombie

Much of what has been said here is good. However I would like to add a couple of more points.

Firstly you can't prepare for every kind of natural disaster or emergency. So don't bother. Luckily, the area were you are living now, most likely has only one kind risk. You might live in a earthquake zone, an area prone to flooding or fire, so just focus and plan for that.

Secondly, understanding whether your disaster is a local event or a regional one, should influence your decision to go or stay. So gather reliable intel ... not hearsay.

Finally, 95% of all people leave things too late. Its far better to evacuate over nothing (and laugh about it after), than being trapped with everyone else. Remember, if you have to see the danger with your own eyes before you do something ... then you'll probably die along with your family.

46

New light: the GB are infallible

by AEnEm in

amazing new light in the latest morning worship by gary breaux.

the gb "never lie or deceive us.

we can have absolute trust in the governing body".. he then makes a very helpful point, so as to avoid being deceived and avoid lies.

no-zombie

While on paper the Governing Body has never claimed papal infallibility, in practice they have always had it. By the fact that they leave no room for an individual to choose whether to believe a particular teaching or not. Its 100% acceptance of their role as God's spokesmen or nothing at all.

44

The org. Came out with a Christmas song!!!!

by nowwhat? in

holy nativity batman!

on jw broadcasting.

final song for this year's convention.

no-zombie

It does sound to me more like they are preparing the Brotherhood for some more "new light".

37

Did you suffer from not saluting the flag in school as a kid?

by Sea Breeze in

what happened?.

no-zombie

The problem here is that, the Governing Body has turned the WatchTower movement into an American centric religion, and as such have formulated its rules accordingly. But America is not the whole world. For example here in Australia, our views on nationalism and how we express it is completely different. As a result most Witness youths (me included) never had much an issue over the flag or the National anthem.

But like DesirousOfChange said, you always get those few who insist on making a point of things, on both sides of the fence.

3

The Times of Restoration of All Things

by no-zombie in

i thought of something during last weekend's wt study article, that made me think that perhaps we are on the wrong track on how the governing body is going to handle the whole 607-1914 thing.in paragraph 9 it referred to the the messianic kingdom rule as a period as called 'times of restoration of all things' taken from acts 3:21. this period of 'restoration', started in 1914 with jesus becoming king in heaven, and led to pure worship being restored 'soon after that'.and it was the last comment, that got me going.you see, in previous wt study articles (and i went through the 1990-2024 references) this term of 'times of restoration' was applied rather generally and more like a description of what jesus and jehovah was going to do during the messianic rule, rather than a formal title and a fulfillment of prophesy.however, what if the governing body keeps 1914 as jesus' invisible crowning ... but dumps 1918 as the date for the beginning of true worship?

firstly this paragraph reinforces the previously announced removal of russell being a part of the slave class, for obvious reasons.

but if 'true worship' had a soft start around the 1920s and making that the elastic part, then the embarrassment of his teachings and maybe even rutherford's, all of it could be excused as the speech of john the baptist.

no-zombie

I thought of something during last weekend's WT study article, that made me think that perhaps we are on the wrong track on how the Governing Body is going to handle the whole 607-1914 thing.

In paragraph 9 it referred to the the Messianic Kingdom rule as a period as called 'times of restoration of all things' taken from Acts 3:21. This period of 'restoration', started in 1914 with Jesus becoming King in Heaven, and led to pure worship being restored 'soon after that'.

And it was the last comment, that got me going.

You see, in previous WT study articles (and I went through the 1990-2024 references) this term of 'times of restoration' was applied rather generally and more like a description of what Jesus and Jehovah was going to do during the Messianic rule, rather than a formal title and a fulfillment of prophesy.

However, what if the Governing Body keeps 1914 as Jesus' invisible crowning ... but dumps 1918 as the date for the beginning of true worship?

Firstly this paragraph reinforces the previously announced removal of Russell being a part of the slave class, for obvious reasons. But if 'true worship' had a soft start AROUND the 1920s and making THAT the elastic part, then the embarrassment of his teachings and maybe even Rutherford's, all of it could be excused as the speech of John the Baptist. In effect saying. "Yeh, they had a good heart but the real out pouring of the Holy Spirit came latter". And secondly and perhaps more importantly, by breaking the linkage between 1914 and 1918-9, they can still keep 607BCE and the major part of the 70 weeks of years prophesy, without upsetting those who have known this understanding for years.

Of course, future WT articles may clarify this topic, and I could be completely wrong. But I just thought this might be a way out for the Writing Committee problems in dealing with our early Adventist teachings and the more bombastic decisions of the past.

19

I think I know what the GB is doing

by HowTheBibleWasCreated in

read:.

but if ever that evil slave says in his heart, ‘my master is delaying,’b 49 and he starts to beat his fellow slaves and to eat and drink with the confirmed drunkards.

hmm... let's see is anyone on the governing body a strict master and a drunkard?

no-zombie

I see that laying down the 'evil slave' card can be a practical thing for the Governing Body to use one day, as part of a purge. However, I also think that its a one time use ploy. As the Brotherhood would get suspicious quite quickly, if the Governing Body just kept using it to get rid of guys that embarrassed them.

19

Super Duper Awkward

by Slidin Fast in

jw
friends

did anyone else find the teen section on the meeting tonight massively cringeworthy?

i saw two kids who will be laughing stocks for life after their world wide exposure.

complete exploitation in my opinion, unforgivable..

no-zombie

What makes these videos obviously stupid, is the portrayal of worldly people as being either, a violent criminal or a sexual deviant, which even Witness teenagers know that this is not true, particularly at school.

You see, when I was in High School, the student body (like the broader community it represented) was stratified into different social groups. You had your sporting jocks, the trendy rich girls, the poor, the anti-social types (like today's Goths and Emos), the Greek kids, the Italians and the list went on ... none of which would be seen dead, in the company of the others. But what about the over-sexed students so often described in Watchtower productions? Well I'm sure they existed at my school, as they must have been in all others, but percentage wise (once you deducted everyone else), were not an large group by any means. And they (like everyone else) kept to themselves.

Personally for me as a Witness, high school was sort of ok. I was one of the library nerdy types and I had a couple of worldly friends, who like me, kept apart from the others in our own little corner playing chess during lunch.

But yes, it is true that more kids are having sex than in the past, but it's not as much as people think. In fact, most sociologists will tell you that, conservative moral values are once more on the rise in the West. Which deflates the whole narrative the Governing Body likes to push. That's why I feel quite confident in saying that 95% of high school students today are more worried about Friday's math test, than hooking up with Jodie or Brad after class.