Posts by ProfCNJ

89

An Elder Reads CoC !!

by TTATTelder in

i have recently joined the site.

i was just appointed an elder this summer.

i started discovering the ttatt (the truth about the truth) last year after putting a few things together myself concerning the leadership and then doing some research online.. i really enjoyed jwfacts.com, jwsurvey, and others.

ProfCNJ

What a bold step dear bro.! I have read a few pages of the CoC in pdf form and I uttered the same "OMG", "really", "you got to be kidding" expressions. Sent you a PM. Hope you will read it.

89

An Elder Reads CoC !!

by TTATTelder in

i have recently joined the site.

i was just appointed an elder this summer.

i started discovering the ttatt (the truth about the truth) last year after putting a few things together myself concerning the leadership and then doing some research online.. i really enjoyed jwfacts.com, jwsurvey, and others.

ProfCNJ

Just barely 2 months ago, I was being recommended to serve as elder in our congregation. An elder approached me to discuss things over. But I still declined.

After realizing much while doing independent research about the organization, I could not accept such a privilege/authority. Being an elder compels one to defend WT teachings at all cost! I could not in my own conscience expel erring Christians, be one of the causes for them to suffer deep emotional trauma. Being an elder makes you a direct channel of the GB where you execute instructions that are not aligned with what our Lord Jesus Christ taught early Christians. And you cannot just say no or you will be feeling GUILTY for falling out of expectations.

If one has begun a journey of sorting things out and discovering "NEW LIGHT", it will be very hard to just go a notch higher in the heirarchy of the organization.

293

AGM 5 OCTOBER 2013 (UNOFFICIAL RUMORS)

by WatchTower87 in

- 23 day to go .. annual meeting unofficial rumors.

- new bible.

- new nwt (revision).

ProfCNJ

We are in for some fresh news about the rumors folks!

After my very recent call from a good friend in Bethel, one special development will really be about a NEW BIBLE. However, as regards it's exact form or kind (hardbound or scroll-like) remains to be a mystery. That's the best clue my friend can give it to me in order not to preempt the official announcement.

46

No bibles at any kingdomhalls, strong rumors the annual meeting is regarding the bible...

by EndofMysteries in

from relatives and contacts in 2 states, there have been no bibles available for a couple months.

one person mentioned to me as well about supposed quotes in the magazines from other bibles.

rumors are that they will announce a new bible, or possibly tell everyone to buy a bible from another place that they approve of.

ProfCNJ

We are in for some fresh news about the rumors folks!

After my very recent call from a good friend in Bethel, one special development will really be about a NEW BIBLE. However, as regards the it's exact form or kind (hardbound or scroll-like) remains to be a mystery. That's the best clue my friend can give it to me in order not to preempt the official announcement.

57

Attention Lurkers- Consider the effectiveness of your lifesaving work

by stuckinamovement in

jw
friends

hypothetical scenario.

you are a city manager in a major metropolitan city with a population of 3,000,000.. .

if the governing body was truly convinced themselves of the impending disaster and the fact that the end is imminent would they not focus their efforts in spreading the message through effective means such as telephone, television, internet, social networks etc?

ProfCNJ

Hi folks. In other words, the GB through its publications, e.g. WT, is telling us the end of age or system of things is "very close, imminent, coming without delay" yet the way they preach and warn the public of the impending destruction (Armaggedon), there seems to be no real sense of urgency.

And if there is a difference between words and actions, we believe the act more than the words spoken.

28

Apostles were first governing body????

by NeverKnew in

and paul was not a part of the governing body????

am i hearing this correctly or are these people making things up?.

ProfCNJ

Very good point raised here. Thanks for sharing.

@Data Dog, my wife and I just saw this Youtube video series (Intro up to Part 2). It was so enlightening. As Christians, we are supposed to follow Christ's footsteps, and not make an absolute obedience to the Organization. What happens now to free will which God has given to us?

And if Pastor Russell did not make an independent and prayerful study of the Scriptures, apart from the rest of religious heirarchy, would there be a JW right now? Why is it that the WT not condemning his act - independent study of the Holy Bible? But for an ordinary JW to do it and make some critical questions after some realization, the act itself makes them suspects of being apostates, or leaning to apostasy? Isn't this double standard?

27

The WT study yesterday

by molybdenum in

( apologies for the large space at the top i don't quite know why .

i sat through the wt study that dealt with all the new understanding.. the conductor started by by saying .

well we wont spend too much time on what we used to believe, we will consider what we believe now.. i took a look round to see how the members of the congregation were reacting to this.. nothing.... .

ProfCNJ

@Molybdenum - I had smile on my face after reading your analogy. Following the same line of reasoning, you can just imagine Noah declaring God's judgment, that it would rain for 40 days & 40 nights (Genesis 7:4).

What would happen if after just 7 days the rains have stopped, flood has subsided? And we now see Noah saying: "Ooops, I have to change my understanding of what God said... It used to be 40 consecutive days and nights, but after considering the circumstances and further deep reflection, the no. of days to rain were cut short by God due to ....

However, on the 10th day or after 3 days, rains have resumed, but now heavier, floods begun to rise more than ever. Then it continued for another 10 days w/out let-up. Suddenly, Noah comes out of the ark and declared: "Rains have resumed for 10 consecutive days... It will be reasonable to conclude that the 40 day promise will be fulfilled."

Imagine how would the people of his generation react in viewing his integrity as God's messenger.

11

Beginning of Great Tribulation: UN (Disgusting Thing) Attacks False Religion but HOW?

by ProfCNJ in

hi folks, good morning.

finally, we have studied wt july 15, 2013 study article this morning as a congregation.

while the wt is so certain that the signal of the start of the great tribulationis the attack of the un against false religion, i could not help but to ask the following:.

ProfCNJ

Hi folks, good morning. Finally, we have studied WT July 15, 2013 study article this morning as a congregation. While the WT is so certain that the signal of the start of the great tribulationis the attack of the UN against false religion, I could not help but to ask the following:

1) In attacking the False Religion (non-JWs), will the UN attack only their religious "leaders" of the various religions (non-JWs) or will they attack both their leaders and their followers? (WT is silent on the composition or details of this scary assault.)

2) If this attack will include both false religious leaders and their followers, would this not be pre-empting our Lord Jesus Christ role as the JUDGE of all the nations, separating the sheep from the goat? (WT July 15, 2013, Page 6, par. 11-12).

LOGIC: If the UN at some future time will have the authority to identify the false ones, which we can reasonably infer as the same people as goat-like members of false religions, then what would happen now to our Lord Jesus Christ ROLE as the one to execute judgement on who will be the sheep and who will be the goats? Why would the UN have the WISDOM to judge and attack False Religion (which is composed of its leaders and followers who are goat-ones), when such role is evidently reserved for the Christ?

The Bible has clearly and undoubtedly identified the Christ as the Judge; conversely, it has not directly identified the UN as the disgusting thing to attack all false religions (outside of the WT organization) not did it imply anything at all. Question is: Which side will you believe in? The one which the Holy Scriptures have stated w/out an aota of doubt or the ones which the WT has delcared and interpreted based on its understanding of the bible prophesies?

11

Pangs of Distress & UN as Disgusting Thing in 7/15/2013 WT Study Article

by ProfCNJ in

[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:officedocumentsettings> <o:relyonvml/> <o:allowpng/> </o:officedocumentsettings> </xml><![endif].

[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>normal</w:view> <w:zoom>0</w:zoom> <w:trackmoves/> <w:trackformatting/> <w:punctuationkerning/> <w:validateagainstschemas/> <w:saveifxmlinvalid>false</w:saveifxmlinvalid> <w:ignoremixedcontent>false</w:ignoremixedcontent> <w:alwaysshowplaceholdertext>false</w:alwaysshowplaceholdertext> <w:donotpromoteqf/> <w:lidthemeother>en-us</w:lidthemeother> <w:lidthemeasian>x-none</w:lidthemeasian> <w:lidthemecomplexscript>x-none</w:lidthemecomplexscript> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:snaptogridincell/> <w:wraptextwithpunct/> <w:useasianbreakrules/> <w:dontgrowautofit/> <w:splitpgbreakandparamark/> <w:dontvertaligncellwithsp/> <w:dontbreakconstrainedforcedtables/> <w:dontvertalignintxbx/> <w:word11kerningpairs/> <w:cachedcolbalance/> </w:compatibility> <m:mathpr> <m:mathfont m:val="cambria math"/> <m:brkbin m:val="before"/> <m:brkbinsub m:val=" - -"/> <m:smallfrac m:val="off"/> <m:dispdef/> <m:lmargin m:val="0"/> <m:rmargin m:val="0"/> <m:defjc m:val="centergroup"/> <m:wrapindent m:val="1440"/> <m:intlim m:val="subsup"/> <m:narylim m:val="undovr"/> </m:mathpr></w:worddocument> </xml><!

[endif][if gte mso 10]> <style> /* style definitions */ table.msonormaltable {mso-style-name:"table normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0in; mso-para-margin-right:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0in; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"times new roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} </style> <![endif].

ProfCNJ

Hi folks. My wife and I have begun dissecting with eagerness the 7/15/2013 WT Study Article (Sept. 3-9, 2013) last week. On Sunday, it will be the start of the day of reckoning!

I am happy to gain valuable insights from this forum as well as from Cedar's JW Survery blog. I have invited one of our elder-friends and some very close friends to study the said article with us prior to the WT study schedule this coming Sunday. While much has been covered already, I just found a couple points.

First, Page 4 par. 5 states that: ...Thus, the events that began in 1914 were, not the beginning of the great tribulation, but the "beginning of pangs of distress." These pangs of distress correspond to what took place in Jerusalem and Judea from 33 CE to 66CE." This is where I need some help from our friends and brothers here. What are the events that took place between 33 - 66CE that made the WT writers conclude that such period correspond to "pangs of distress”? I Googled this period and found nothing so far to support the idea.

Second, Par. 6 refers to the United Nations as the modern day disgusting thing. WT prophesied or interpreted that the UN will attack False Religion - just like when Roman army attacked Jerusalem and its temple during its first century fulfillment. I have embraced this doctrine since 1990; however, I didn't know what happened last Sunday during my personal study. It occurred to me that the parallelism or analogy of WT is weak and would not hold water.

The Roman army and the Jews in Jerusalem are two different races/people. Simply put it, the Romans are different from the Jews in Jerusalem in a lot of respects (e.g. origin, nationality, political and religious beliefs). The attack is coming from the outside of Jerusalem. It's like Japan vs. US naval base in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii thing. Now examine closely how the WT identifies the UN as the modern disgusting thing to attack false religion.

I told my wife the UN is an international organization composed of close to 200 member states/countries. Each country is composed of diverse religions or religious groups. A UN representative from a specific country has his/her own religion. A UN member-country virtually carries not only its own political and security interests to the UN body but the total interests of such member-country, including those matters that can affect the exercise of religious freedom.

The intriguing question now is: How can the UN - as backed up by its member states - attack all false religions when such false religions WT are referring to are composed of the same people (practicing different religious beliefs) who are part of the UN? I am deeply confused how such an attack will happen? Even political officials are respectful of their own religious leaders (though there is always an exception). Would this mean the UN will order a bloody attack against all religions/churches in all their member-countries when the UN itself supports the exercise of religious freedom (see below)?

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1948. A Lutheran pastor, Frederick Nolde, represented the World Council of Churches in the deliberations that led to the Universal Declaration. He is credited as being the main drafter of Article 18, which reads as follows: Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his (sic.) religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his (sic.) religion or belief in teaching practice, worship and observance.

If ever this happens, this would be tantamount to annihilation of civilization. Imagine the governments destroying their very own churches, causing their extinction, and would just favor one organization - Jehovah's Witnesses? This also runs contrary to what happened to the people of Nineveh, an ancient city. They were saved from destruction by the Almighty God after they have heeded His message and repented. Take note that Nineveh was not part of God's chosen people .

I know that to humans, things are impossible but to God, all things are possible. Nevertheless, they way the WT believes it will be the UN to destroy all false religions seems to be illogical and complicated to say the very least .

25

Wait on Jehovah - What does is it truly mean?

by ProfCNJ in

good evening folks!

we have encountered this advice countlessly on wt study articles.

this especially comes out to ease the waiting pain of brothers eagerly waiting for god's new world and the end of the old system of things - with all the sufferings that go along with it.. i also noticed this being floated to try to extend the patience of brothers who are jumping ahead of the organization in terms of thinking - as if they are pre-empting the organization on certain sensitive views and issues.. if a brother has gotten an idea or insight that is far more superior than the present affairs in the society, or regarded as way in advance - he can be branded as a brother "not in order".

ProfCNJ

Hi guys and fellow JWN members, thanks for sharing your insightful comments and perspectives.

In retrospect, there could be occasions a Christian can display a waiting attitude for one cannot expect all his wishes to come true all at the same time. Nevertheless, there are certain situations at hand when one can INITIATE goodwill especially if he/she has the ability to do it. And this would not necessarily mean to wait for the Most High to act. I believe a well-meaning and sincere Christian can be as creative as he can be no matter what his/her privilege in the organization.

Suggestions from rank-and-file should be treated with utmost respect and well-received under the spirit of love and understanding and not frowned upon. Everything boils down to 1 Cor. 13.

Romans 12:10 (ESV) also reminds us: "Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor." NIV rendered the same verse more aptly: "Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves."

Question is: How do the GB, Branch Committee Heads, travelling overseers and elders, APPLY this principle when hearing out opinions and suggestions from fellow believers who are just publishers?

Our Lord Jesus Christ has demonstrated unconditional love even to children in Luke 18: 15-17.

15 Now they were bringing even infants to him that he might touch them. And when the disciples saw it, they rebuked them. 16 But Jesus called them to him, saying, “Let the children come to me, and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God. 17 Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.”

If children Jesus regarded as subjects of God's Kingdom, what more are well-meaning Christians with pure motives to help - regardless of privilege in the organization - when they have bright ideas and suggestions that can help quality of teaching in the Congregation?

Waiting on Jehovah is not simply waiting for his divine judgement vs. the wicked not just bearing patience when one is reaching for a privilege. It is exercising divine qualities and Christ-like character in making things happen. No amount of organizational position (e.g. GB, DO/CO or Elder) can justify a Christian not to cling to the principles of these scriptures. Otherwise, they might be unknowingly subscribing to the ugly attitude of the Pharisees.

We cannot just wait on Jehovah and just act like programmed robots. R&F JW's are endowed also with enormous amount of talent and gifts. They are given not to be suppressed. They were given to be harnessed to the fullest with the guiding principle under Colossians 3:23-24 which states: " Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, 24 knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ."