Posts by Pete Zahut

40

Any word yet on the Annual Meeting?

by careful in

it's just a week or two away and still no sign of the usual hype?

very strange.... anyone heard anything about it?

perhaps from those still in to some degree or from relatives/friends still in?.

Pete Zahut

I haven't heard anything about the meeting itself but new outfits are being purchased and after parties are being planned. It's the final social event of 2018.

25

My Mom's Challenge to Me

by lriddle80 in

jw
friends

so my jw mom messages me on facebook last night and says she wants me, for a month, to read the bible, but first pray using the name jehovah and in jesus name and then read it with an open mind.

she is so ridiculous!

first of all, i do pray but i usually just say father and i always pray in jesus name and i find it ironic that she is saying i should have an open mind when hers is closed.

"So my JW mom messages me on Facebook last night and says she wants me, for a month, to read the Bible, but first pray using the name Jehovah and in Jesus name and then read it with an open mind. She is so ridiculous! First of all, I do pray ..."

"I am going to journal what I learn over the month and then have lunch with her showing her what I hear the spirit saying to me. It may open her mind a little to the actual truth. Nothing is impossible with God!"

"Also, I don't believe God is choosing my side or hers. I believe God is working in her heart and mine. He is all about restoration and reconciliation and unity. I think God works in amazing ways," You say you believe that God is working in her heart and yet you think she is so ridiculous for asking you to pray using his name etc. How do you know that he isn't using her to open YOUR mind? Nothing is impossible with God right?

I think he does help starving people. I know tons of missionaries and secular people fighting this problem around the world.

I think people who's lives are going relatively well and who's bellies are full at the moment find it easy to assume that god himself is actually doing something to help starving and sick people. It's easier than realizing that he is the one who intentionally cursed the earth and mankind. Supposedly the current human condition is exactly what he wanted ...why would he turn around and help us?

I think he works in global and individual lives. Each person who is starving and or sick is an individual and I'm sure if he is working globally they'd welcome more of his "work"in their vacinity of the earth. For now, all the hope they have is in the charitable works of their fellow humans, many of whom are not even christian and or don't even believe in the existence of god.

I don't think we can put God in a box. He is for me, he is for her and he is for you. His will is for all to come to salvation, but he also knows that some people won't.
To me, that comment is in and of itself putting god in a box. A box that you've created for him in your own mind. How is it that you presume to know so much about what god does or doesn't think about anything?

Magical is a curious word. I would say someone who doesn't have the spirit cannot discern spiritual things. So, this may be a little weird to you and that's ok!

You can probably tell that after a lifetime of being a JW and spending decades agonizing over what God supposedly wants, does and thinks, I have no room left in my brain for anymore religious speculating. My eyes immediately begin rolling back in my head when I hear people speaking for or about the "lord" as if they are on some higher plain than everyone else. That's why some of your comments to me, seem a bit condescending, presumptuous and narcissistic in a way. Rather than thinking you have the inside track when it comes to god and the Bible, perhaps its time for a little humility and admit to yourself that like the rest of us (and your mother) don't have a clue about anything really. It might help your relationship if you both realized that there is very little in the Bible that is actually provable and you both only know what you've been told by others.

25

My Mom's Challenge to Me

by lriddle80 in

jw
friends

so my jw mom messages me on facebook last night and says she wants me, for a month, to read the bible, but first pray using the name jehovah and in jesus name and then read it with an open mind.

she is so ridiculous!

first of all, i do pray but i usually just say father and i always pray in jesus name and i find it ironic that she is saying i should have an open mind when hers is closed.

Pete Zahut

I had been praying that God needed to set something up with her if he wanted me to see her because I had no desire to and then he did!

When I read that part of the comment I couldn't help but wonder why he would take the time to set up this little arrangement between you and your mother but doesn't bother to help the starving children and billions of sick and dying persons around the globe.

It seems as if you and your mother are engaging in the same magical thinking but each of you is calling it by a different name. In your mind, God is on your side and is working to make things between the two of you work out the way you want and all you had to do was put in an order. In her mind, Jehovah is on her side and things will magically go her way if only you'd use his name when you read the bible.

90

Is attendance down in your location too?

by StarryNight9 in

jw
friends

i was commenting on another thread about how local kh attendance is down.

memorial attendance was also way down and the circuit assembly had hundreds less people than what is typical.

my jw family has even mentioned it.

Pete Zahut

As you will remember, an increase in Congregation size means Jehovah is blessing the work

A decrease means that the love of the greater number is cooling off and Bible end times prophesy is being fullfilled.

Either way it's always good news for JW's.

90

Is attendance down in your location too?

by StarryNight9 in

jw
friends

i was commenting on another thread about how local kh attendance is down.

memorial attendance was also way down and the circuit assembly had hundreds less people than what is typical.

my jw family has even mentioned it.

Pete Zahut

Counting buildings, empty parking spaces, or the amount of members you don’t personally observe preaching means nothing. At all. Not a bit.

When JW's hear something favorable about themselves in the news or from other outside sources, they are quick to beleive it but when something unfavorable is said, they readily dismiss the source as unreliable because it is from the "wicked system" that is backed by Satan. They want it both ways because finding a way to dismiss information that scares them, is easier to face.
If someone here made a post observing that the attendance at their Hall was increasing and their parking lot was full, Doubter would most likely have no problem acknowledging this even though no actual data was available.

Doubter is a good user name since he or she seems to be regularly visiting this site (against the admonition of JW leaders) because of doubts or curiosity and yet is doubting and giving the "thumbs down" to everyone who makes simple observations regarding meeting attendance in their area, even though no outright claims are being made by them.

This reaction is called Cognative Disonance.

When someond experiences internal inconsistency from having his or her current beliefs challenged, they become so psychologically uncomfortable that they must dismisses anything that contradicts their current belifs, in order to lessen the psycholical discomfort they are experiencing.

90

Is attendance down in your location too?

by StarryNight9 in

jw
friends

i was commenting on another thread about how local kh attendance is down.

memorial attendance was also way down and the circuit assembly had hundreds less people than what is typical.

my jw family has even mentioned it.

Pete Zahut

Ok so now we are determining membership health based on parking lot usage. lol

If the parking lot is full during the meeting, there's a pretty good chance that the K, Hall will be full as well. If the meeting has started and the parking lot is relatively empty, one would have to assume that either attendance is low or the Hall is indeed full and everyone either walked to meeting or they car pooled with eachother for some reason.

I think it's safe to assume that in the case of our old Hall, attendance is low, especially since the Hall is located off the main road and one can't help but observe what's going on in terms of parking in comparrison to all the other churches that are overflowing.

90

Is attendance down in your location too?

by StarryNight9 in

jw
friends

i was commenting on another thread about how local kh attendance is down.

memorial attendance was also way down and the circuit assembly had hundreds less people than what is typical.

my jw family has even mentioned it.

Pete Zahut

I live in a desirable area 25 miles outside of a major west coast U.S. city where there are lots of nice new houses, new large shoping facilities, new schools and new parks that have been built in the last few years. On the main road into town, there are 6 churchs within 3 miles of my house (not counting the K, Hall) l, all of them were already very nice but each expanded and have built on new and very elaborate facilities to their existing building. Their parking lots are full on Sunday and often people need to parked on the main road and walk to the church. Most of them are casually but neatly dressed rather than wearing suits and ties.

Our Old old Kingdom Hall is the same as it has been since the late 80's 90's when it was remodled. It still looks nice but In the last 8 years JW's have only called on us 3 times. It has been about 5 or 6 years since the last time anyone one calld on us. There used to be two english speaking congregations that met at or kingdom hall but I've heard that there is now only one english speaking congregation and our hall is made up mostly older people. When we attended, any growth came from when a JW family moved into the territory and there we no new converts. The other congregtation that meets there now is now a spanish speaking mexican group. The parking lot on Sunday for our old Hall is not very full but the spanish speaking Hall seems to have a normal number number of vehicles in the parking lot.

I think there is something going on because this summer when we drove by the stadium where the District Assembly was, there was only one parking lot being used rather than all of them being full the way they used ot be.

22

Funny occurrences

by Freedom rocks in

what were some funny experiences you had of things that happened during talks at the meetings?.

a few of mine:.

- a brother had dyed his hair before his talk and it was raining heavily when he arrived at the hall and the dye was running down his face during his talk and his skin went more and more grey as the black dye ran down it.

Pete Zahut

My mom played the piano at the Hall so we had to be there on time. We were running late one Thursday evening and had to get ready quickly and dash out the door. In her haste, Mom forgot to put her dress on and put her coat on right over her slip. We got to the Hall just as the meeting was starting and she went directly to the front where the piano was and took off her coat. It was then that she realized that she had no dress on. (Comedy ensued and we never let her live that one down)

25

What would you do or say?

by Butyoucanneverleave in

a brother who is not baptized ( so there's still hope for him ) had a sister recently run into him at a store.

show wanted to know if he's going to the kingdom hall.

she asked him to write a letter for her to give to his mother ( who's deceased) in the paradise explaining why he didn't make it.

Pete Zahut

I would have asked her,

"When you see me walking down the street in the "new system" will you be glad to see me or will you be pissed off that someone who you view as deserving of the same judgement as Adolf Hitler, actually made it?"

18

J.W.Sisters are not recognized as part of the 144000 Anointed class by the Governing Body of Jehovah`s Witnesses and never have been.

by smiddy3 in

rev.14: 1-6 describes the 144000 as males who do not defile themselves with women and are classed as virgins.?.

how does the governing body of j.w.`s explain that a man having a sexual relationship with a woman defiles a man?.

isn`t this or shouldn`t this be an affront to women who are jehovah`s witnesses ?

Pete Zahut

Rev.14: 1-6 describes the 144000 as males who do not defile themselves with women and are classed as virgins.?

This could explain why it has taken so long for this "wicked system" to end.