having problem pasting this...
Ooops. Yes, John not Paul. My bad. sorry.
All in all I really enjoyed Bethel. The camaraderie that we all shared along with our youthful ignorance and energy made for a fun time. Did we get in trouble? Sure. But, it wasn't serious long lasting trouble.
We were smart and always left goodies for our housekeeper. She never ratted us out for music, books or anything else.
having problem pasting this...
Couch's rhetoric was in the 80s.
He used to mention how some Bethelites would walk across the Brooklyn Bridge and visit the club CBGBs. He would go so far as to ask rhetorically 'how could anyone touch a door handle that hoooommmmmmooooooooosexuuuuuuuuuuuals touched?'
It's been a long time but as I recall it he was fixated on homosexual behavior. What does that say about him? I have no idea.
"it's the truth because it follows the bible, rejects the trinity and hellfire, engages in worldwide preaching.".
i hear that from the jw's in my life.
the last time, i challenged the aspect of a worldwide preaching work.. i said that the work is barely scratching the surface in 2/3rds of the world- muslim, hindu, buddist lands.
OTWO,
My wife always throws this conversation stopper out to me: "The Israelites were just like we are now. They were God's chosen people. They made mistakes like we do, they made corrections to their worship like we do and they followed Jehovah's orders, like pooping outside the camp and not eating certain foods, even though they had no idea why these laws were beneficial. Why do you have to nitpick the WTS so much?"
For arguments sake, I don't nitpick.
Any disagreement with the WTS is nitpicking in my wife's book.
We've developed a solid don't ask don't tell policy about the truth. I would like to overcome this particular thought of hers however.
I hope this doesn't derail your thread. If it does, I'll start another one.
having problem pasting this...
Gangas would always ask biblical questions like he was testing your loyalty to God or something. If there were 2 or 3 of us in an elevator with him you tried to go unnoticed so he didn't ask a question you didn't know the answer to. I think he did it to keep his memory strong.
George Couch as the most anti-gay heavy (non-GB member) I ever met. Every time he spoke at morning worship or in person he had to throw something in about homosexuality (when he said the word he would stttttreeeeeeetttttttccccchhhhhh out the pronunciation.
Anyone remember when Fred Franz would give a prayer? He would semi-whisper the entire thing and then yell out AMEN, JEHOVAH!! and scare the poop out of everyone.
I also remember (either Couch or Gangas) saying their prayers and going on and on about how great Jehovah is. Something like "oh Jehovah, you are wonderful, wise, our mighty God, our rock and counselor, mighty aqnd wonderuful Jehovah God....."on and on he'd go. I'm thinking it was Couch but I could be wrong. I do remember counting the number of adjectives.
I haven't heard many people discuss Glass or Redford (gilead registrar and instructor respectively). Glass was the model for the apostle Paul in the Revelation book. He was old and frail; his wife drove her electric wheelchair like a bat out of hell. She didn't care who she hit or how hard. Jack was a firecracker of a man. He would have been as an oil field roughneck. He always referred to groups, when he was instructing, as an orchestra. God forbid if your part of the orchestra didn't have their volume up.
Can anyone tell me where the old 360 Furman overseer is now? Devine.
1. bethel in ny suspect high level apostate, cant identify it but know its there.
2. major organizational changes about to start rolling out, one is changes to the "service committee" and titles, po to be done away with, thats all i know for now.
was told that if you are the sort of person that cant handle changes, you wont stay in the org for long.
I love this thread.
I've been faded for a few years but I will try to contact some old buddies of mine to see what's up. Since I've faded and I'm not apostate I can use their desire to save me to gather information. If I find anything out I'll post it.
By the way, perhaps the name will officially be changed to "Christian Witnesses" sort of like the corporation's name of "Christian Congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses". Just a thought.
i was speaking to my mom on the phone yesterday, and despite my trying to avoid it, we got to talking about wacky jw topics -- again.
actually, it was nearly unavoidable, since she had just returned from her summer convention.
aside: nice way to celebrate your wedding anniversary, mom & dad; at an assembly!
Just throwing my confirmation in with the others that this is has been policy for a long time. It isn't done very regularly but the CO will ask.
the reason given for combining the bookstudy with the tms and service meeting was rising gas prices.
whether that was society's true reason for the change or not, that was what the publishers were told.. if i were a publisher contemplating this coming weekend's field service activity and a near-empty gas tank, i simply would not go out.. do you think there will be a corresponding reduction in the number of field service hours as gas prices increase?.
has anyone noticed a trend in the monthly reports published in the km?.
I'd agree WTWizard except that the WTS already gave the dubs an out for complaining about the expense of gas with the letter on the bookstudy change.
The dubs are masters at alleviating their consciences while following the rules.
the reason given for combining the bookstudy with the tms and service meeting was rising gas prices.
whether that was society's true reason for the change or not, that was what the publishers were told.. if i were a publisher contemplating this coming weekend's field service activity and a near-empty gas tank, i simply would not go out.. do you think there will be a corresponding reduction in the number of field service hours as gas prices increase?.
has anyone noticed a trend in the monthly reports published in the km?.
Think of it from a real believing dub's point of view. They truly believe they are doing God's work.
I believe the following will result due to higher gas prices:
-Car groups will drive straight to the territory and dilly dally along the way with trying to start their time at an RV first. (remember? closest RVs to the hall always got the Saturday morning wake up call).
-Driving from one end of the territory to the other for easy time, I mean Return Visits, will drop dramatically.
-service hours will drop; hardly any truly believing dubs will fudge their service report more than an hour or so
-placements will drop due to less RVs.
-The most popular form of face to face service will be the Bible Study.
-Internet, Email, Telephone, and informal witnessing at malls, parks, etc will quickly become major time earners.
In the end we'll see less hours, less placements, more focus on alternative witnessing methods.
brief historical recounting.... 3rd generation of 4 generation jw family.
elder for three years.
realized "the truth" wasn't in september of 2004. tried to fade by moving from michigan to southern california in june of 2005 with my (then) 17 year old daughter (who eventually left the organization herself.
It sounds great Confession. I'm glad it went "normal".
I'm in a similar situation with relatives - I'll be using you as an example of courage.
just a little tidbit i found for anyone keeping track of property sales.
the property was sold in the scranton, pa area.
bryan.
Did someone leave the house to the WTS in their will? How else would they own a house like that?
I didn't find anything interesting Marla Cain and she's probably not a witness just a home buyer.
