Posts by slimboyfat

117

2017 Yearbook released

by bohm in

jw
friends

i saw this on reddit:.

https://www.reddit.com/r/exjw/comments/5mlgsm/2017_yearbook_of_jehovahs_witnesses/.

overall the numbers are better than last year (1.8% growth compared to 1.5% last year -- as i predicted ;-) ) with an increase in all major figures including 1300 more congregations (i assume this is not physical kingdom halls?).

slimboyfat

There's something very strange going on in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Last year they decreased by 2% and this year they they increased by 22%, meaning that this one country adds 38,000 publishers to the overall increase for the year.

If we remove the Democratic Republic of Congo from the overall figures, growth for last year would still have been 1.5% but the increase for this year would have been just 1.3% instead of 1.8%.

If you ignore the Republic of Congo the overall figures don't look very good. In particular it is very interesting to note that the number of congregations is beginning to decrease in a number of countries. In my opinion this is the most significant development and it is the key number to keep an eye on for decline.

The peak publisher figure for the United States is down slightly from last year. Plus the number of congregations is down in the United States. Is that the first time ever there has been a decrease in congregations in the United States?

36

An interesting reasoning for the existence of God (from JW public talk)

by anointed1 in

i was on an official tour last week to another part of my country.

on my way to the hotel, i noticed sign-board of jw kingdom hall.

i thought i would attend sunday meeting as i knew no one would recognize me.. seeing “a new-comer” in the audience, public speaker adapted his material making it especially appealing to me.

slimboyfat

That's an interesting rule. Does it apply to theists who are Nobel prize winning physicists too?

Antony Hewish "The ghostly presence of virtual particles defies rational common sense and is non-intuitive for those unacquainted with physics. Religious belief in God, and Christian belief... may seem strange to common-sense thinking. But when the most elementary physical things behave in this way, we should be prepared to accept that the deepest aspects of our existence go beyond our common-sense understanding."

73

The con is completed - comments from the US branch's LDC chief

by sir82 in

jw
friends

recently attended a special assembly day.. guest speaker was thomas chicky, a member of the us branch committee and the head of the us ldc (which has replaced the rbcs).. the last talk of the day is scheduled for an hour.

it was the usual boring mumbo-jumbo.

he appeared to have blasted through his hour-long outline in just about 45 minutes, so he "treated" us to informal comments on recent developments.. he commented on the new wt complex in fishkill ny.. then he dropped the bomb (well, to anyone with ears and at least 2 functioning synapses).. the following is not a word for quote, but presents the gist of his comments:.

slimboyfat

It don't think the mystery is so great. Lett explained it in simple terms: "we have more money going out than we have coming in brothers". In that situation you need to sell assets and cut costs to survive financially. It's not a question of "what are they going to do with all the money". The cutbacks and begging for donations are all about keeping afloat.

In many ways it's been a long time coming. They've been living on borrowed time since they stopped charging for literature in the 1990s. The displacement of print media, the crash of 2008, the abuse claims, declining recruitment, and aging staff have all exacerbated the problem.

What will they do when they run out of assets to sell? Can they cut costs enough to make the religion sustainable long term?

32

Irregular to meetings, can I partake in memorial?

by Squekylive in

hi friends .

i don't believe in jw doctrines anymore but because of family i have to be a jw for now.. i am not regular to meetings, and don't answer in meeting, but i report some hours so i remain as active jw now.. .

congregation knows that i am not spiritual and i don't talk to people and i don't care what they think about me.. now, i believe it's important to observe lord's supper as a christian as per john 6:53, so in the coming memorial if i attend i want to partake in the communion,.. i believe it is a sin to pass the bread and wine inspite of knowing it's flesh and blood of jesus.. it's like rejecting jesus.. so i want to partake.. but i dont consider i am anointed etc.

slimboyfat

Thinking about it, they've already tried shaming ordinary JWs into not partaking by implying you might be mentally unstable if you partake. The next logical step could be instructions to elders to be stricter in who they count as a partaker.

32

Irregular to meetings, can I partake in memorial?

by Squekylive in

hi friends .

i don't believe in jw doctrines anymore but because of family i have to be a jw for now.. i am not regular to meetings, and don't answer in meeting, but i report some hours so i remain as active jw now.. .

congregation knows that i am not spiritual and i don't talk to people and i don't care what they think about me.. now, i believe it's important to observe lord's supper as a christian as per john 6:53, so in the coming memorial if i attend i want to partake in the communion,.. i believe it is a sin to pass the bread and wine inspite of knowing it's flesh and blood of jesus.. it's like rejecting jesus.. so i want to partake.. but i dont consider i am anointed etc.

slimboyfat

Pretty much anyone can partake. Or else wrestle you to the ground?

Will they count you? That's a different question.

They might ask you why you partook after the meeting. If you sound "humble" they might count you and if you sound like a "trouble maker" they won't.

28

Bro Knorrs Notes RE Disfellowshipping & Two Witness Rule

by pale.emperor in

hi guys.

a fellow ex jw shared this with me.

haven't time to read them yet (i'm using my phone to go on internet).

slimboyfat

Presumably these are notes someone typed up from a meeting conducted by Knorr. It's not Knorr's own notes because the notes refer to "Bro Knorr's answers".

And much of it sounds like reported extemporaneous speech.

52

You wake up one morning and see

by A Believer in

jw
friends

the un has banned religion.

what are you're thoughts?.

also changes to it seem to be on the way.... http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/12/trump-vows-israel-vote-161224040133216.html.

slimboyfat

This is true. The strange attribution of menacing and demonic power to the UN is one thing that marks JWs as a peculiarly American sect, because it's a particularly American obsession/distortion of the global reality.

28

Bro Knorrs Notes RE Disfellowshipping & Two Witness Rule

by pale.emperor in

hi guys.

a fellow ex jw shared this with me.

haven't time to read them yet (i'm using my phone to go on internet).

slimboyfat

Sits in as an outsider. He should be felt ashamed of.

I think many of us are felt right ashamed we were ever part of this whole set up.

Give him no literature at company rates.

Just like it says to do at Corinthians 17:4.

If report handed in, it should be destroyed.

Because it's far too risky just to put it in the bin.

At public meetings could come in if he behaves.

If he lapses into behaviour half way through the meeting there's always the spanking room.

Shemiah cursed David. Bounds put around him. Leaves city. Dies.

Come again? Bind them and do what?

9

December 28, 2016 BOE Re: One Study Edition of The Watchtower in Languages Other Than English

by wifibandit in

december 28, 2016 to all congregations re: one study edition of the watchtower in languages other than english.

dear brothers:.

for several years, the simplified edition of the watchtower has been produced in french,.

slimboyfat

In the future, simpler language will be used in the study edition of the Watchtower.

Jeezo it sounds like they're dumbing down even more, if that's even possible.

How come they don't give a reason for cutting the foreign editions? It's almost as if they think ordinary members are not worth explaining decisions to.

6

Isn’t teaching of grace (undeserved kindness) a great apostasy?

by anointed1 in

in the old testament the basic teaching is that no sin would go unpunished.

suddenly, it takes an opposite turn in the new testament where grace is shown as flowing through jesus to sinners who put faith in the sacrificial death of jesus.

interestingly, new testament writers admit that both the teachings are in opposition to each other.

slimboyfat

What the New Testament teaches on this subject is mixed to say the least:

James 2:24 You see that a person is considered righteous by what they do and not by faith alone.

Ephesians 2:8, 9 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.

In the early church the biggest advocates of "once saved always saved" were the Gnostics. The church fathers on the other hand taught a Catholic or JW version of salvation that could be lost by wrong action.