Posts by truthseeker

8

Street Work With the Sisters

by truthseeker in

jw
friends

"be there at 7:30" i'm told.

that's where the action is.. it's early saturday morning in passaic, nj.

it's january and i'm bloody freezing.. i'm standing on the street corner in my black trench coat getting ready to ply my wares.

Street Work With the Sisters

by truthseeker in

jw
friends

"be there at 7:30" i'm told.

that's where the action is.. it's early saturday morning in passaic, nj.

it's january and i'm bloody freezing.. i'm standing on the street corner in my black trench coat getting ready to ply my wares.

truthseeker

"Be there at 7:30" I'm told. That's where the action is.

It's early Saturday morning in Passaic, NJ. It's January and I'm bloody freezing.

I'm standing on the street corner in my black trench coat getting ready to ply my wares. Besides me is a sister holding some tracts in her hands. Sisters outnumber us three to one. Not many brothers want to do street work. But I have to get my time in.

We're getting ready to work the streets. My hands are so cold I can barely hold the magazines.

There's about a dozen of us out on Main Street.

I can't speak a word of Spanish but this sister can and she babbles away to random strangers and leaves them Panda tracts. I stand there not understanding a word of what she's saying. All I can think about is the nearest Dunkin Donuts.

We start at one end of the street and dutifully walk to the other end before crossing the road and going back down. The residents are mostly Spanish - Puerto Ricans, Dominicans and some Mexican's. They don't pay much attention to us.

For some unknown reason, Randy Crawford's lyrics from Street Life come into my head. I mentally swap "Life" with "Work" and make a few other mods and it seems to make sense: "I play the street work, because there's no place I can go, street work, it's the only way I know, street work, I placed a 100 mags today, Now I've played my life away."

I have some Spanish literature and hand it out to strangers who pass us by. They must think we're a weird lot.

In half an hour I've placed all my magazines at the laundromat and the sister working with me shows no signs of slowing down.

Finally it's 8:30 and we meet up with the rest of the car group.

"Does anyone want to get coffee before the meeting for field service?"

"Yes please"

We're 5 mins away from Dunkin Donuts.

Due to the cold weather the line is short.

"I'd like a hot latte with extra sugar please" I say to the girl at the counter. I skip the donut. I don't like eating in other people's cars. Especially one covered in powdered sugar.

The hot cup warms my hands. I look at the clock. It's 9am. The day has barely begun. I think I've got at least an hour and a half in and placed 20 magazines. At least the people in the laundromat will have something to read.

13

A different viewpoint of "many will come in my name saying I am the Christ"

by truthseeker in

jw
friends

most jws are familiar with the scripture at matthew 24:5: "for many will come in my name, saying, ‘i am the christ,’ and they will lead many astray.".

it is implied that people would come in jesus' name declaring that they were christ - but could there be another view on this scripture?

could this also mean that jesus said many would come in his name saying he is christ?.

truthseeker

Most JWs are familiar with the scripture at Matthew 24:5: "For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and they will lead many astray."

It is implied that people would come in Jesus' name declaring that they were Christ - but could there be another view on this scripture? What if Jesus and Christ were two separate identities or persons?

Look at it again:

Matthew 24:5 "For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and they will lead many astray."

Could this also mean that Jesus said many would come in his name saying he is Christ?

When did Jesus become Jesus Christ?

6

Just got my DVD Apostasy.

by blownaway in

my dvd arrived from amazon today.

will be having pizza corona and a movie night tonight.

.

truthseeker

Enjoy! It's definitely worth watching,

15

Born ins: did you have "near life experiences"?

by truthseeker in

jw
friends

i recently watched the 90s movie fight club for the first time and heard the phrase "near life experience.".

for me, a different definition of this phrase would be someone who grew up in the truth and led a very secluded and restricted life (like me) but on rare occasions actually experienced something that was considered quite normal by most people.. growing up in "the troof" was depressing.

it was characterized by long periods of loneliness.

truthseeker

I recently watched the 90s movie Fight Club for the first time and heard the phrase "near life experience."

For me, a different definition of this phrase would be someone who grew up in the truth and led a very secluded and restricted life (like me) but on rare occasions actually experienced something that was considered quite normal by most people.

Growing up in "the troof" was depressing. It was characterized by long periods of loneliness. I didn't seem to fit in anywhere. however, while pursuing my diploma at college, I was invited to play football by my classmates (soccer for US readers) and for the first time in my life I felt like I was part of something. At the end of the day, I'd take the train back home to reality station and that was it till the next day.

Those times were what I call "near life experiences" because it was as close to normal life as I could get.

You have to understand that it was the little things for me, that seem so ordinary and mundane to others, that made a small difference and made me realize that there is life outside the cult.

Truthseeker

19

"Confessions of a teenage Jesus jerk"

by stuckinarut2 in

has anyone else seen the movie "confessions of a teenage jesus jerk"?.

im still processing it, and trying to work out my thoughts..... i would be interested in others thoughts..

truthseeker

I absolutely hated being a Jehovah's Witness. The teen years were horrible. Absolutely horrible.

I will be watching this movie.

286

Supreme Court Rules in Favor of Baker Who Refused to Bake Cake for Gay Couple

by Simon in

seems like such an obviously correct decision to overturn the previous overreach - it should never have been necessary to go to the supreme court but happened because the rights of the religious were being ignored.. as the fundamental level, no one should be able to compel you to work for them or to provide services that go against your beliefs, and certainly not have the government be able to force you to comply.. if this was allowed there would be so many unreconcilable situations that would clog up courts over nonsense.. i also have little patience for these activists that intentionally look to be offended.

it really doesn't do their cause any good to go round looking to make trouble for people.

it's also misguided because it ends up strengthening religious rights over effectively stupid issues.. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/04/us/politics/supreme-court-sides-with-baker-who-turned-away-gay-couple.html.

truthseeker

Simon speaks sense.

As JWs we were, at one time, willing to not salute the flag, sing the national anthem and sign a birthday card because our conscience would be violated. Some governments who had a national draft provided alternative service for those who would not take up arms against their fellowman.

If a gay couple walks into a bakery they can buy any cake they want.

If a gay couple walks into a bakery and asks the baker to decorate a cake with a gay themed wedding then this would violate the baker's conscience.

The baker has options:

# 1 He can ask an assistant (if he/she has one) to do the artistic expression or

#2 He can sell the pre-made cake as it is and ask the gay couple to find an artist to decorate the cake.

#3 If said wedding cake does not exist, he could meet them half way, make the cake with the marzipan and the icing according to the gay couple's specifications and ask them to finish their decoration. The baker gets paid and the couple get their cake.

#4 The gay couple can find another baker knowing they can still get their cake (and eat it too).

The JWs here might consider this case a "conscience matter"

5

Kingdom Hall Bait and Switch - Need your help

by ttdtt in

can anyone put a comprehensive list of documents and or dates of how the wt has been effect taking the publishers money and i guess property - when it comes to the change in kingdom hall building and loans?i dont have the order and cant find the letters.. the special video meeting about how we need thousands of mcdonald's looking kingdom halls - and eliminating the rbc -then the elimination of loans - and the request for monthly monies.. i need to talk to someone about it soon..

thanks!!

!.

truthseeker

Not sure this is what you're looking for, but this thread contains a link to a list of JW charities I compiled for the UK.

https://www.jehovahs-witness.com/topic/5666357703081984/resource-all-congregations-united-kingdom

It gives the last six years of accounts and you can see from 2015-2016 a great deal of money was sent to WT HQ, whether in London or NY.

Many of those who left wills had almost the exact sum of money sent to HQ.

35

Not Being Invited To Gatherings.

by kennylazo1 in

jw
friends

have you ever found out that your "buddies" from the kingdom hall went out to have fun and did not invite you?

if so how did you feel?.

truthseeker

To follow up, when they did give me a "sympathy invite" to a "video evening" I felt alone sitting with "young ones" who ignored me at the hall and pretty much ignored me at social events.

35

Not Being Invited To Gatherings.

by kennylazo1 in

jw
friends

have you ever found out that your "buddies" from the kingdom hall went out to have fun and did not invite you?

if so how did you feel?.

truthseeker

This happened to me all the time. It hurt and this is one of the things that led to my eventual exit from the Borg.