Shirley, I've seen that question directed at me a few different times, I thought it was a joke or an apostate code to insult me or something. I even recieved some PMs questioning whether or not I was this Miz person. No, I am not.
Stand for Pure Worship
JoinedPosts by Stand for Pure Worship
-
187
The reason behind why the ex-JW community can never match Jehovah's Witnesses' success.
by Stand for Pure Worship inan average of five kingdom halls being constructed daily, almost 8 million brothers and sisters, dissemination of bible literature in 595 languages, 111,795 congregations worldwide, distribution of 179 million bibles available in 116 languages, 239 countries where jehovah's witnesses have a presence, etc.. need i go on?.
on the other hand........... crisis of conscience, freeminds, the awaa, jw.net, ummmmmm........hmmm........idk six screens or something?
not exactly working out for you guys.
-
-
-
187
The reason behind why the ex-JW community can never match Jehovah's Witnesses' success.
by Stand for Pure Worship inan average of five kingdom halls being constructed daily, almost 8 million brothers and sisters, dissemination of bible literature in 595 languages, 111,795 congregations worldwide, distribution of 179 million bibles available in 116 languages, 239 countries where jehovah's witnesses have a presence, etc.. need i go on?.
on the other hand........... crisis of conscience, freeminds, the awaa, jw.net, ummmmmm........hmmm........idk six screens or something?
not exactly working out for you guys.
-
-
Stand for Pure Worship
Giordano,
One major finding was that Jehovah’s Witnesses “had the lowest retention rate of any religious tradition” – only 37 percent of those who were reared Jehovah’s Witnesses still identified themselves as Witnesses as adults (2008, p. 26).
Matt 7:13, 14 stated that the far majority of mankind would be on the side of opposers. Why should we expect anything less within this time considering Satan has increased his attacks. He does so just like a roaring lion, and what kind of prey do predators such as lions go after? The inexperienced, the young, the weak, the ones who've strayed from the flock.-1 Pet 5:8
The Witnesses had one of the lowest levels of education of all the religions surveyed. Nineteen percent had only a high school education or less, the lowest education level of all religions surveyed (p. 56).
The apostles had limited education but no one in their right mind would deny that God was using them with the exception of the religious leaders in that day who were concerned about their own position.-Acts 4:13
About half (42 percent) of the Jehovah's Witnesses had incomes below 30,000 and only nine percent had incomes above 100,000 dollars. Only those involved in historically black churches had incomes below the Witnesses (p. 60).
Jesus indicated that he was of little means, but that's what kept his focus where it needed to be.-Luke 9:58; Paul set the fine example in that Christians have to support themselves, but we only seek to earn as much as is needed to further Kingdom interests-2 Thess 3:10
Also of interest is the fact that 14 percent of the Witnesses were divorced or separated, higher than all groups except historically black churches and “other faiths” (p. 67). No doubt the strain of Witness teaching also strains mixed marriages.
2 Cor 6:14 reminds us to avoid becoming unevenly yoked. Certainly the majority of those in this study you've linked Giordano, were ones that became believers after already being married. Jehovah's Witnesses certainly don't encourage divorce in situations like this.-Malachi 2:16; We'd like to see the spouse take notice of the good Christian qualities manifest by his/her wife and then act upon it appropriately-1 Pet 3:1
-
187
The reason behind why the ex-JW community can never match Jehovah's Witnesses' success.
by Stand for Pure Worship inan average of five kingdom halls being constructed daily, almost 8 million brothers and sisters, dissemination of bible literature in 595 languages, 111,795 congregations worldwide, distribution of 179 million bibles available in 116 languages, 239 countries where jehovah's witnesses have a presence, etc.. need i go on?.
on the other hand........... crisis of conscience, freeminds, the awaa, jw.net, ummmmmm........hmmm........idk six screens or something?
not exactly working out for you guys.
-
-
Stand for Pure Worship
Jgnat, who said the sword Christ spoke up was meant to be taken, literally? If I were to call you a son of a gun, that doesn't mean you were the seed of a literal pistol.
-
187
The reason behind why the ex-JW community can never match Jehovah's Witnesses' success.
by Stand for Pure Worship inan average of five kingdom halls being constructed daily, almost 8 million brothers and sisters, dissemination of bible literature in 595 languages, 111,795 congregations worldwide, distribution of 179 million bibles available in 116 languages, 239 countries where jehovah's witnesses have a presence, etc.. need i go on?.
on the other hand........... crisis of conscience, freeminds, the awaa, jw.net, ummmmmm........hmmm........idk six screens or something?
not exactly working out for you guys.
-
-
Stand for Pure Worship
It is an entirely valid comparison. You assert that Scientology is a religion which "follow[s] the directives of other imperfect men". Are you implying that the Governing Body is comprised of perfect humans, or are you implying that they do not in fact lead the worldwide community of Jehovah's Witnesses?
Well the difference is, they follow the directive of only one man, Misciviage I belive his name? Something like that, but the buck starts and stops with him. Whereas within the WT, you have semi-autonomous congregations headed by "bodies" of elders as opposed to only one man(Congregation Servant). Where there's one man running the show, you'll see the groundwork for disaster. Whether that be on a nationalistic level, Iraq duing Sadaam anyone? Or on a religiouis level, Koresh for instance. Jehovah's Witnesses follow the direction of several Scriptually qualified individuals with experience in life and spiritual discernment. That way no one man is running the show which could potentially lead to a theocratic tyranny. We're probably the only religion with a system of balances and checks.
Indeed, the WTBTS has invited comparison with other religions since its inception. Even the Roman Catholic Church was often vilified as the Whore of Babylon and a bastion of false teaching. Nevertheless, the JW Organization actively resists its own members doing due diligence research on their own faith from outside sources, and the punishment for such (if discovered) is disfellowshiping.
You're being fantastic with the latter end of this post. Nobody can get DFd for studying or researching with outside sources. Now the holding to of ideas contrary to what's taught in the Christian Congregation, and/or spreading of such so as to cause division, will land you in the blue room, as it should.
-
187
The reason behind why the ex-JW community can never match Jehovah's Witnesses' success.
by Stand for Pure Worship inan average of five kingdom halls being constructed daily, almost 8 million brothers and sisters, dissemination of bible literature in 595 languages, 111,795 congregations worldwide, distribution of 179 million bibles available in 116 languages, 239 countries where jehovah's witnesses have a presence, etc.. need i go on?.
on the other hand........... crisis of conscience, freeminds, the awaa, jw.net, ummmmmm........hmmm........idk six screens or something?
not exactly working out for you guys.
-
-
Stand for Pure Worship
The WTS has passed it's first century. So I think we can count it as one of the big boys now.
To be fair, the Watchtower has not passed it's first century. Now an argument can be made that it went through a John the Baptizer phase during Russell's time, but it wasn't until the 30's that Jehovah's Witnesses really came into their own. Anything prior was building the foundation of what was to come.
I would also challenge that love within the membership is inadequate as well. A loving, Christ based church must show love to all humanity, not just within their own membership. On this, the WTS is a collossal fail. If a mother is forbidden to call her son, this is not a loving organization.
Matt 10:34-37
I think you do have to explain yourself. This is not apparent at all. Have you checked out Charter for Compassion?
Never heard of it, but I'll check it out. I'll check it out.
You follow every word of a committee of eight imperfect men who take their guidance from the same source you do, and pride themselves in their extensive checks and balances to keep themselves "pure". Except when they make mistakes. Which they do. Being imperfect
That's not true. They give us counsel and Scriptural based suggestions. They're not in any position of authority, but when we submit to their direction it benefits us. At the end of the day we all have to answer for our own decisions.
-
187
The reason behind why the ex-JW community can never match Jehovah's Witnesses' success.
by Stand for Pure Worship inan average of five kingdom halls being constructed daily, almost 8 million brothers and sisters, dissemination of bible literature in 595 languages, 111,795 congregations worldwide, distribution of 179 million bibles available in 116 languages, 239 countries where jehovah's witnesses have a presence, etc.. need i go on?.
on the other hand........... crisis of conscience, freeminds, the awaa, jw.net, ummmmmm........hmmm........idk six screens or something?
not exactly working out for you guys.
-
-
Stand for Pure Worship
Why not what?
-
187
The reason behind why the ex-JW community can never match Jehovah's Witnesses' success.
by Stand for Pure Worship inan average of five kingdom halls being constructed daily, almost 8 million brothers and sisters, dissemination of bible literature in 595 languages, 111,795 congregations worldwide, distribution of 179 million bibles available in 116 languages, 239 countries where jehovah's witnesses have a presence, etc.. need i go on?.
on the other hand........... crisis of conscience, freeminds, the awaa, jw.net, ummmmmm........hmmm........idk six screens or something?
not exactly working out for you guys.
-
-
Stand for Pure Worship
Jgnat, just busy, been meaning to get back to this along with a couple other threads(Data, LisaRose I didn't miss your posts). I joined this forum at the wrong time. Don't think I don't read your posts, and I do take them to heart. I'm not brushing anyone's comments off at all.
One thing that surprised me, was a couple posts which attempted to compare the growth of other religions with Jehovah's Witnesses, and I don't think that's a fair comparison. For one thing, and it goes without saying, most of those other religions mentioned have had centuries to flourish as weeds left unchecked. Their teachings and lack of harmony with God's word and unity and love within themselves make that abundently clear. On the other hand, the other religions that haven't been around that long, in some cases only a little bit longer than Jehovah's Witnesses, when looking at their belief system it goes without saying that they're a cult that follow the directives of other imperfect men. We're talking the Mormons, and Scientology at that point. That said, I don't believe it's fair or even logical to compare Jehovah's Witnesses with groups like Scientology.
-
34
Stands For True Worship - Blood
by problemaddict inhello sftw,.
when you have a moment.
why not have a respectful conversation about the societies blood doctrine, the evolution of that doctrine, and the implications of that doctrine.
-
-
Stand for Pure Worship
Problemaddict, you're right. That was extremely judgemental of me. I posted out of emotion which is not an excuse. Please accept my apology.
-
187
The reason behind why the ex-JW community can never match Jehovah's Witnesses' success.
by Stand for Pure Worship inan average of five kingdom halls being constructed daily, almost 8 million brothers and sisters, dissemination of bible literature in 595 languages, 111,795 congregations worldwide, distribution of 179 million bibles available in 116 languages, 239 countries where jehovah's witnesses have a presence, etc.. need i go on?.
on the other hand........... crisis of conscience, freeminds, the awaa, jw.net, ummmmmm........hmmm........idk six screens or something?
not exactly working out for you guys.
-
-
Stand for Pure Worship
An average of five Kingdom Halls being constructed daily, almost 8 million brothers and sisters, dissemination of Bible literature in 595 languages, 111,795 congregations worldwide, distribution of 179 million Bibles available in 116 languages, 239 countries where Jehovah's Witnesses have a presence, etc.. Need I go on?
On the other hand........... Crisis of Conscience, FreeMinds, The AWAA, Jw.net, ummmmmm........hmmm........IDK Six Screens or something? Not exactly working out for you guys. Acts 5:38, 39 come to mind.
-
34
Stands For True Worship - Blood
by problemaddict inhello sftw,.
when you have a moment.
why not have a respectful conversation about the societies blood doctrine, the evolution of that doctrine, and the implications of that doctrine.
-
-
Stand for Pure Worship
Hey Problem, this will be the last time I speak on this subject, possibly the last time I speak on this wicked forum, at least for a while as I'm swamped with work. Just so you know, it's not Marvin. Not remotely him, especially so after his 250,000 estimates. It's somebody else whom I'm sympathetic towards.