Posts by Pete Zahut

26

My presentation (new one here!)

by Skepsis in

jw
friends

i registered in the board and i wanted to present myself.. i used to visit this forum some time ago and even register an account but then i tried to convince myself all was ok in the congregation.

now, i'm coming back :).

i live in a southern european nation, i'm a young jw, a good example in the congregation serving as a regular pioneer and ms. for all in the congregation i'm the good guy, one of the best examples in the area i live.

Pete Zahut

2. Pressure from family, friends, brothers... They all expect me to continue doing things the same way I've been doing all these years.

You are young....in a number of years, you'll realize that people are not thinking about you and what you are doing, as much as you may think they are. They are more concerned about themselves. I don't mean that in a bad way, I just mean that people naturally think about their own responsibilities and what's going on in their own lives first and are somewhat interested in what you are doing.

Most of their interest in you has to do with how what you do, affects them. They want you to stay the same as you are, so that they don't have to question what they are doing. Humans are creatures of habit. They often don't want to spend any of their energy on thinking about you and adjusting their idea of where you fit into their life and their routine. They want you to stay in the pigeon hole they've created for you . This isn't out of concern for you....it's out of concern for their own comfort.

Other than family, people come and go in your life and if you build your life around everyone else's wants, they'll move on and you'll be left wondering who's life you are living. My advice is to decide what you want for yourself and set a plan in motion to achieve it. There's no reason to cut anyone out of your life over this, however what other people think about your new direction should only be of mild and passing interest to you. You can politely thank them for their advice but offer no comment, apologies ,explanations or excuses to them about your personal decisions. You will see that once you own your decision, they will adjust quickly and will move on. Thankfully you did this to get through University (congratulations) . Imagine where you'd be today if you let pleasing others, stand in your way.

10

The Santa Claus Class! 🎅

by Cold Steel in

what we need is clarification.

when caleb approached his mother and wants to know whether, in the resurrection, he will enjoy the heavenly hope or be a part of the "great crowd.

as he looks at her with his piercing black eyes, she reminds him that jehovah can't lie.

Pete Zahut

Caleb is a computer generated cartoon so he's resurrected electronically every time someone watches his antics on their screen.

9

Hey, remember when Family Guy had a Watchtower?

by schnell in

jw
friends

hey, remember that one time on family guy when the evil monkey in chris's closet became a jw?.

i remember thinking, pssht, they'd never do that.. hey, remember when they did it?.

i am dying to know if someone awake at bethel in the art department or whatever saw that episode and recommended this cover a few years ago.

Pete Zahut

Fast Forward to 0:50

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CrE1FIlIU8s

23

Odd choice of words

by Nevuela in

why is it that when a jw gives someone a magazine, they use the word "place" instead of "give"?

as in "i placed a magazine with him".

and why do regular door-to-door jws of no special rank refer to themselves as publishers?

Pete Zahut

It's all about projecting a certain image and to use the word place or placement gives the idea that some thought and care was put into rather than it being a random haphazard occurrence such as "left" or "dropped off", "deposited" or handed out.

When you give away a litter of puppies, it sounds better if you say they were "placed " in new homes or "placed" with a new family, even if they were just gotten rid of to whomever would take them.

As far as the term "Publisher", again this is about projecting a more elevated image. A paperboy or paper carrier, delivers, drops off or distributes newspapers yet he is not considered to be a publisher. The Newspaper Publisher is a usually the owner of the Paper such as a large corporation. JW's used to use the magazines as an avenue to speak to people about their message and since they were part of a printing organization, the probably went with a newspaper term that projected a certain importance to what they were doing..

Now that they're silently standing by carts full of literature, I'm not sure what they'd call this. Possibly Cart Attendants?

19

When 2 JWs have the same call...

by schnell in

jw
friends

as i was driving past a certain gas station today, i recalled that the family who own it are called on by a friend of mine, and in a territory where it's hard to find interest.

it reminded me of an incident months back when this friend, brother d, discovered that another friend, brother b, was calling on that family too.

hey, gotta make your time.. those two went at it.

Pete Zahut

I forgot to mention in my post above....

At one point, the Sisters in the Hall convinced my Mom that some of the stuff she'd picked up at garage sales might be demonized and that could be why she was having such a hard time. I was in high school at the time and I vividly remember the sisters burning clothes and other things in the fireplace.

I remember suspecting that my Mom's recovery had to do with them giving her an "out"....blame it on the demons rather than your own weakness or immaturity. As kids, we didn't care so long as she back on her feet again.

19

When 2 JWs have the same call...

by schnell in

jw
friends

as i was driving past a certain gas station today, i recalled that the family who own it are called on by a friend of mine, and in a territory where it's hard to find interest.

it reminded me of an incident months back when this friend, brother d, discovered that another friend, brother b, was calling on that family too.

hey, gotta make your time.. those two went at it.

Pete Zahut

I remember how after decades of knocking on doors and auxiliary pioneering, my Mom finally found someone to study with that was actually making "progress". She was over the moon when this 20 something young woman started coming to meetings. It was as if she had a new purpose in life.

After a few meetings, another sister in the Hall befriended the young woman and talked her into studying with her instead. I remember my Mom going into a deep depression over this. She was hurt that the other sister would do this and that the young woman would agree to it. She began to feel that Jehovah wasn't blessing her efforts for some reason and quite literally took to her bed for several months.

It was awful...my fun beautiful fashion model-like mother got extremely thin and couldn't even bathe herself or do her hair. My Dad had to go to work and didn't know what to do for her so it was up to us kids to look after her and the house. Back then, JW'd didn't go to doctors about this sort of thing. They believed that reading and applying scriptures and prayer was all that was needed. Some of the other Sisters used to come by and admonish her with scriptures and eventually they convinced her that Satan was testing her faith and that she was failing. They convinced her that the important thing was that someone was studying and it didn't matter who was studying with her.

Little by little she came around but she wouldn't go back to the same Kingdom Hall. We eventually started going to another Congregation so she could make a "fresh start". She was never the same about "the truth" after that.

19

When 2 JWs have the same call...

by schnell in

jw
friends

as i was driving past a certain gas station today, i recalled that the family who own it are called on by a friend of mine, and in a territory where it's hard to find interest.

it reminded me of an incident months back when this friend, brother d, discovered that another friend, brother b, was calling on that family too.

hey, gotta make your time.. those two went at it.

Pete Zahut

This post reminds me of the time me and another brother were going from door to door and a householder answered the front door with the most perplexed look on her face. She stepped aside and through the open door I could see that there was another set of JW's at the back door. The woman said " Do you people even know each other??" then started to laugh at us. It was kind of embarrassing but hey... I've had more embarrassing moments while out in field service.

31

Well, the Apostasy Accusations Begins...

by Sorry in

so, it finally happened.

the first time i have been called out for being an apostate.

it started out innocently enough: my family and i were watching a tv show.

Pete Zahut

Good Job SORRY. I've found that things work best if I simply ask my JW family questions that I sincerely want to understand and no matter what they say... just leave it at that.

Often in the process of answering your simple questions, they see the lameness of their answers and they begin looking at their beliefs in a literal way and you come off as someone who is wanting to understand "the truth" better.

For example:

You: Have you ever wondered why Jehovah needed the Israelites to have an army when sometimes he used angels to wipe out his enemies?

Them: Well Jehovah always has his reasons.

You: Yeah... I know but I wonder if any Israelites were killed or injured in any of the battles? The Bible talks about them having won these battles but surely some of the Israelites must have gotten killed or injured.

Them: Well if any were killed they'll be resurrected in the new system.

You: Yeah that's true....I'll bet they're going to be surprised to find out that the resurrection happen 2 thousand years later or maybe more if it doesn't come in our lifetime. I wonder if they thought the new system would arrive in their own lifetime like we do.

Just leave it at that and let them say whatever they want. Tthe next time ask them something simple like:

You: So when the Angel was posted at the entrance of the garden of Eden, he had a spinning sword that kept Adam and Eve away. I wonder what it was made of since steel and even the sword itself hadn't been invented yet?

Them: Well Jehovah's intellect and ability to create is far beyond mans.

You: True....I suppose you could say Jehovah was the inventor of the first weapon.

Anyway you get the idea, just get them to think beyond what they've always thought about, but don't argue with them or contradict them. JW's are used to the comfort of thinking they have all the answers and they have it made. Don't be confrontational....help them save face while they sort out this new way of looking at things, that you are presenting to them.

19

Do you have a Virtual Reality headset for your smartphone yet? Be prepared - Soon all the press will be using VR to tell stories

by AndersonsInfo in

jw
friends

for your information, i'm absolutely not in the virtual reality (vr) headset business, but take it from me, you should get one.

soon all the press will be using vr to tell stories, so get prepared for extraordinary experiences using your vr headset and your smart phone.

“virtual reality!

Pete Zahut

My phone has a crank on the side of it and making phone calls involves asking Flora the town operator to connect me to the party I'm trying to reach. Do you think I'm ready for this thing they are calling V.R.?

Seriously though... I'm looking forward to watching videos featuring Brother Lett, in Virtual Reality....can you imagine??

31

Well, the Apostasy Accusations Begins...

by Sorry in

so, it finally happened.

the first time i have been called out for being an apostate.

it started out innocently enough: my family and i were watching a tv show.

Pete Zahut

Good story SORRY but tread lightly. Tempting as it is to have the last word, be sure you have a plan and know how you want things to turn out. Try to work it so that you don't loose your family just for the sake of having the satisfaction of having your say. It's possible in many cases (if you play your cards right) to have your cake....and eat it too.