Welcome back snowbird!!
(Nice to see Baba Yaga as well.)
om
Open mind
JoinedPosts by Open mind
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83
I'm Happy to be Back
by snowbird ini've been in the vale of deep shadows, but am feeling more and more like myself.. i'm grateful to my doctors and modern medicine.. sylvia.
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42
24 baptized at Tucson, AZ today - attendance 5,670
by Gayle ina friend, non-jw, went to convention today.
she observed about 1/3 baptized were youth.. ***********************************************.
i read article:.
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Open mind
Annual baptisms for a District are probably only about 1/3 represented by the DC baptism count, IMO. The other 2/3 would happen at the CA and SAD. I remember plenty of Bible Studies who specifically held off getting dunked at a DC because they felt uncomfortable getting dunked in a pool in a stadium.
Having said that, 24 x 3 = 72 baptisms for that District of 6,000 publishers per year. US Death rate in 2011 was 8.38 per 1,000 population, so 8.38 x 6 = 50.28 deaths per year for that District.
So, if no one went inactive or got DFed, they would have a net gain of 12 publishers for the year. I'll bet they lost around 1% (60 pubs) to inactivity/DFing. So that's a net loss of 48 pubs for the year.
That what I get on the back of my envelope.
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141
"Theocratic Warfare" and the Annual Report
by Billy the Ex-Bethelite inone of the things i certainly noticed as a jw, and even during the time i was in bethel, was the complexities of reporting "truth.".
beginning with an observation on a personal level, i consider myself an honest person.
but something happened along the way, beginning when i pioneered.
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Open mind
Thanks for the bump Scott77.
And thank you Billy for this excellent, brutal stroll down memory lane.
Marked to share with the family later.
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73
Some "Publisher" Is A Rat Here! The Elder's Are Inquiring If I Am Apostate Material!
by Sunflower Samurai ini knew this party was too good to last, some inquiring mind is a troll (yes, here on jwn we have moles!
), i think we have a rat here!
i don't feel like "apostate material" and i am not the only one who is going down for this offense!
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Open mind
OK, here's a little exercise in denial.
Pick out your least favorite Nazi elder.
Got him? OK, now you're going to frame him on JWN. Suppose you were to post every personal detail about him you can think of, posing as him having doubts. (Don't ACTUALLY do this as it is a blatant violation of the posting guidelines of JWN, not to mention morally bankrupt.)
Now someone "turns him in" to the local BOE.
Chairman of the JC: "Brother Göring, what do you have to say about all these posts you made on JWN? You plainly identified yourself as being born on 12 January 1893 at the Marienbad sanatorium in Rosenheim, Bavaria. You mentioned that you were the fourth of five children. You admitted that you married your first wife Baroness Carin von Kantzow on 3 February 1922. Etc. WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO SAY FOR YOURSELF?"
Nazi Elder: "It wan't me. Someone else posted that. Clever people can pose as anyone with a computer these days."
End of investigation.
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10
Good family news
by GeneM inmy little brother (age 19) just got df'ed and is likely going to come live with me.
the entire family (who are all still devout) know that if he decides to do that, he is never coming back since i da'ed years ago and will set him straight.
my only concern is that he may appeal it to keep from losing the family... he only stayed the night at her house twice got to second base.
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Open mind
"16 hours of full frontal fornication."
Billy the Ex never fails to bring a smile to my face.
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12
untitled
by FrenchFreeJW in[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>normal</w:view> <w:zoom>0</w:zoom> <w:hyphenationzone>21</w:hyphenationzone> <w:punctuationkerning /> <w:validateagainstschemas /> <w:saveifxmlinvalid>false</w:saveifxmlinvalid> <w:ignoremixedcontent>false</w:ignoremixedcontent> <w:alwaysshowplaceholdertext>false</w:alwaysshowplaceholdertext> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables /> <w:snaptogridincell /> <w:wraptextwithpunct /> <w:useasianbreakrules /> <w:dontgrowautofit /> </w:compatibility> <w:browserlevel>microsoftinternetexplorer4</w:browserlevel> </w:worddocument> </xml><!
[endif][if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:latentstyles deflockedstate="false" latentstylecount="156"> </w:latentstyles> </xml><!
[endif][if !mso]> <object classid="clsid:38481807-ca0e-42d2-bf39-b33af135cc4d" id=ieooui> </object> <style> st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } </style> <!
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Open mind
Welcome to JWN!!!
It was mentioned here a while back that the English Watchtower study article that gave an experience of a woman whose husband "hit" her.
The Watchtower was in essence implying that it was a good idea for this woman to stay in a physically abusive relationshiop.
Apparently, in other languages, they didn't translate the word as "hit" though, thus watering down the meaning.
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104
Hear ye!hear ye!!!!Take notice
by mouthy intomorrow the 22nd i will be 85 years old .
good wishes only please,remember if you say something nasty i will cry.
and my mum told me it is a sin to cry on your birthday .
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Open mind
Happy Birthday Grace!!!
You've probably long-since forgotten, but I'll never forget the warm welcome you gave to me on my very first post here.
Best regards,
Open Mind
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35
Could you 'Wake Up Happy' if you were an active Witness, knowing what you know now? (A 2012 Convention invitation)
by ScenicViewer ina convention invitation.
i came home the other day and found an invitation to the upcoming district convention in my door.
i don't believe these are left in the doors of the general public, so a well-meaning witness must have been thinking of me, even though i have not been to the kh in about 7 years.. the leading question on the front immediately got my attention, and made my jaw drop a bit.. i thought i would ask the forum, .
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Open mind
Great description by Billy the Ex: "pre-recorded propagandist lip-sync melodrama"?
I hate to give the Watchtower good ideas, but they could actually make it a live play and not alienate the Brits so much if they just used body microphones. The "actors" would still be going off a manuscript, but the reduced melodramatic hand-gestures and off-putting accents would be a plus for the JWs.
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78
6/15 WT - WT Society can Run it's Business - but JW's Can't Have their Own
by flipper inin the typical do as we say , not as we do type mentality - the wt society puts forth in this current wt study article ( jw's only wt ) - that it's not " advisable " or " reasonable " for jehovah's witnesses to seek entering their own business ventures , or further themselves by getting a college education, or even have a career - due to the imminent coming of the alleged " end of the system " or alleged " paradise " .
the guilt and control used here is ridiculous.
in the article titled , " why put jehovah's service first ?
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Open mind
Flipper: "Bottom line in my opinion is that the WT society wants to steal away ANY individuality or motivation Witnesses have towards bettering themselves financially"
I agree 100%.
And, as usual, I am blown away by what a hospitable thread host you are.
om
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78
6/15 WT - WT Society can Run it's Business - but JW's Can't Have their Own
by flipper inin the typical do as we say , not as we do type mentality - the wt society puts forth in this current wt study article ( jw's only wt ) - that it's not " advisable " or " reasonable " for jehovah's witnesses to seek entering their own business ventures , or further themselves by getting a college education, or even have a career - due to the imminent coming of the alleged " end of the system " or alleged " paradise " .
the guilt and control used here is ridiculous.
in the article titled , " why put jehovah's service first ?
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Open mind
Hey there Flipper! You know I love ya bro, but I gotta put on my "defend the Watchtower" hat for just a minute.
I think you may be reading more into this than really is there.
Here are the quotes you referenced:
pg 21, par 4
Do you think that it would have been reasonable for
Noah and his family to focus their efforts
on developing a business, getting
ahead among their contemporaries, or
establishing a comfortable lifestyle? Of
course not! Knowing what lay ahead,
they avoided such distractions.
pg 21, par 6 (actual quote is at very top of pg 22)
Rather than focusing on a career or any
pleasures of this system of things, our
focus must be on Jehovah and his service.
(Pardon my bolding, but those words jumped out at me as I was wondering how my Elder dad or Elder brother would try to explain this stuff away.)
It is not wrong for a JW to develop a business, get ahead of their contemporaries or have a comfortable lifestyle. We all know plenty of JW elders who fit the bill perfectly.
The question is, where is the individual JW's FOCUS?
If you're born into money, no problem. If you were a money-grubbing, career-advancing "weak" JW for a while and now you've seen the light, no problem. We're glad you're now a Pioneer/Elder and looking good on assembly parts.
I know most here will probably say I'm splitting hairs, but, IMO, this is exactly the explanation most Elders I know would give for these quotes.
Also, there's the word "develop". It's one thing to "have" a business, it's quite another to FOCUS on it and "develop" it into something bigger. All the while letting "Kingdom Interests" (unpaid work for the WT) slide into the background.
My $.02.
Let the flames begin.
omp.s. Looking forward to sharing the campfire flames in Tahoe!