Sorry, I messed up before I could put the right title on this New Light from our Circuit Overseer, his visit show's a great desperation in the Organization's mindset, adding more anxiety and guilt to JWs who already feel they don't measure up!
Hi, I attended the Circuit Overseers visit and got really angry because our C.O. gave information coming from the Governing Body's Chief Apologists regarding "Meeting Attendance" and "the couple who missed one Meeting and lost their entire family because they did not get the "411" when Armageddon was coming! He start's out with a illustration about the Exodus of the Jews from Egypt, the 10th Plague and mentions that faithful Israelite were attending every Meeting that Moses and Aaron were delivering every Wednesday and Sunday. Than after the 9th plague of "Darkness" the couple get's too self-confident, too self-assured their going to make it through Jehovah's Final Plague! Everyone in the audience shook their head in agreement thinking of that family or single mother who missing Meeting because she has to pay for the dead-beat JW father who won't help with child support. Some were thinking of this really cool sister who is attending University because she want's to be a architect, how do I know, some of the friends told me "You need to make more meetings or you will end up like the family in his example, sister-so-and-so and young-college sister so-and-so miss too many meetings, don't be like them!
"Let's put what happen to the ancient Israelite s in terms we can understand today, ok? There is a couple with flickering meeting attendance, they seem to think missing one or two meetings a month is permissible. When the Jehovah's Final Judgement comes, they decided to stay in and miss the most important Meeting ever! They miss the day when Jehovah's Faithful Slave tell's them "its time to go in the secret room and put blood on your front-door (be at the Kingdom Hall where the Elders put blood and it's the safe place".. Here's the kicker!
By chance a group of people attended the Meeting because witnesses doing their job put them on their door, handed them out with trolleys, gave them at work (The Great Mixed Company that left with Isreal from Egypt's bondage, they left their financial riches and life-styles to join because they had good hearts and Jehovah drew them out of that wicked world!) not slacking or taking it easy on the most important preaching work ever! Imagine the joy those brothers and sisters who were out in Field Service felt to see their works saved all this people who attended the meeting when that blood was put on the doorposts, their works saved them and the people who attended the Kingdom Hall meeting that night!" Great job on making everyone accept brother and sister Pharisee feel even more anxiety and guilt than we already do! Those of us trying to make it in this Economy working two or three jobs might as well throw in the towel because his message was not pretty!
The couple who were witnesses for decades slowed down during the last stretch of this Wicked System, they decided Meeting was not convenient or allowed tiredness to keep them from gaining life! "Can you imagine brothers how that couple felt and how they had to tell their children they all were doomed? One Meeting really counts! That Meeting can be the last one before Jehovah ends this Wicked World!" and he said "Don't miss any Meetings, your playing with life or death, when the Governing Body give the Signal "It's Time! or The End is now, "We need to be like the faithful Ancient Israelites who saw and obeyed Jehovah by not missing a single meeting because they knew it was life or death! We too will get this information from the Modern Moses (Faithful Slave, Governing Body) and it might be at the Meeting you decided to miss! We should never miss any meeting because it could be the final meeting Jehovah locks the doors (think of Noah's Ark) of the Ark (Kingdom Hall) so let's not be like this couple who lost their Eternal Life and their kids because they decided to stay home before the "Safe place" and "Blood poured on the Doorposts were announced at Meeting" applause while thinking about "Am I going to make it in to God's New World if I am not jumping through all these hoops and obeying like some Circus Dog? I left that meeting with a sour taste in my mouth, these COs are totally not in touch with reality, what say you?