a co-worker of mine whose family (2 daughters, wife) are jw's related a funny story yesterday.
his wife and daughters missed the friday portion of the convention last week in order to attend a wedding of a worldly relative.
at dinner she mentioned to him that she would go to the convention this friday to make up for the one she missed.. he then asked why and she said so she could get the information she missed.
Sort of - I used to take notes!
I don't know whether they still do it now, but they used to have a Service Meeting that reviewed each day of the assembly a few months later. I hated getting one of those parts and often had to borrow someone else's notes if I had nodded off in the afternoon!
what about the responsibility of being an elder did you dislike the most?
i served from september 2003 - june 2006. there were two things that bugged me the most the first was i got sick of the bickering amongst the body.
we had 7 elders and in nearly every situation, big or small, there was some division that got personal.
Being an elder really does open your eyes to the in-fighting that goes on within bodies of elders and sometimes between the bodies of elders of one congregation and another. And then the situation where you have to deal with something tricky but but elder X 'knows' some one at Bethel.
This happened to me several times and one occasion Bethel wrote a very snotty letter to our body elders (though in reality me) about a case that they really didn't know all the facts about having only heard one side of things. So much for being fair judges.
this scripture stands out to me...... 1 cor 1:17-21 for christ dispatched me, not to go baptizing, but to go declaring the good news, not with wisdom of speech, that the torture stake of the christ should not be made useless.. 18 for the speech about the torture stake is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is gods power.
19 for it is written: i will make the wisdom of the wise [men] perish, and the intelligence of the intellectual [men] i will shove aside.
20 where is the wise man?
The JWs certainly haven't 'filled the earth with the knowledge of Jehovah'.
There are lots of Christian groups, such as the Pentecostals and Assemblies of God, who have had a far bigger impact in Africa and other 3rd world countries than Jehovahs Witnesses.
being raised in the jehovah's witnesses for 44 years ( exited 7 years ago ) - i observed many different variables that made each witness tick or operate.
but one of the most common variables was witnesses wanting to excel in progressing to positions becoming elders, ministerial servants, or pioneers because then and only then would they be looked at as allegedly " spiritual " or closer to jehovah.
but i learned as years went by that having a " position " in the congregation didn't make a person anymore " spiritual " or closer to god than witnesses who were not in appointed positions.. myself- having been appointed a ministerial servant at the tender baby age of 20 yrs.
Flipper you are spot on with your observations.
This is never more apparent than when at Circuit and District Conventions. How the high ups love their prominence on the platform and as heads of departments, assistant heads of departments etc. Often this is just an excuse to find some comfortable spot to sit and while away the hours whilst the masses have to put up with sitting in the stands.
The visiting Bethel VIPs are even worse - they sit behind closed doors often guarded by attendants whose job it is to keep the masses at bay.
i am going to meet attractive lady that is from morocco on july 3rd.
she teaches the language of french for living.
i do not know anything about morocco culture or anything like that.
I have visited Marrakesh and the Atlas mountains. Marrakesh is fabulous mixture of the exotic, chaos and centuries old traditions - I loved the place. The deserts and mountains are beautiful.
As stated by other posters, the second language (after Arabic) is French so I would suggest that you brush up on that. Good luck!
this is probably in the wrong section, but i couldn't decide where to put it.
i was raised a jw and i still suffer effects from that kind of upbringing.. anyway, they said they were local community volunteers and they wanted to give me something related to the community.
i didn't open the door but they put a jw tract through it.. i don't think it's right to be so devious about recruitment.
Isn't this a bit like cold telephone callers who sya they are not selling anything!
while the watchtower leaders smugly bury their glorious leaders and eulogise about their dedication to jehovah i.e.
watchtower publishing company , their brothers and sisters of the lower order in the uk are begging for charitable donations through the jah jireh care home home site.. it seems as if some of the millions who will never die are now doing just that and are in need of urgent help because armageddon or cloud cuckoo land as it is known to the sane, refuses to show up.. maybe the past w/t presidents who have reached their sell by dates residing in the heavenly realm can speed things up a little.. if you would like to make a donation go to the jah jireh website and check out the latest news..
This is a problem of the JWs - they only practice their brand of Christianity to those of their own faith. This is why they have no real programs aimed at helping the poor and needy regardless of creed or race. They shame the Christ whom they profess to follow.
how about you?.
.
middle bay lighthouse on mobile bay.. syl.
Hi Snowbird
Have you read a book called "The Snow Goose" by Paul Gallico? (1) It is about a selfless and somewhat mystical snowbird (like yourself) and (2) it is set in a lonely lighthouse.
What more could you possibly want?
Eyeslice
initially i suppose i did.
i know i over studied the articles for the wt study because i thought my enthusiasm as a study would make me more accepted.
but after awhile i didnt read the awakes at all except for a cursory glance because i was giving them to people.
Yes I read most of the literature, Watchtower, Awake and all of the publications, though I didn't care that much for the yearbook.
I still skim read the Watchtower and Awake as my wife still attends. There's not a lot new though and they still use those aweful cheesy pictures in the Awake. I always though they were old fashioned even when I was a kid over forty years ago.
The Van Gough museum in Amsterdam is well worth a visit.
