Posts by Mattieu

15

Hello everyone

by Jezebel2 in

some of you may recognize me from jwr and jws where i am the only resident "jezebel".

my mother decided we were to become witnesses when i was 3 years old.

my father disagreed, they divorced.. the "friends" set her up with a "nice new brother" and they married that same year.

Mattieu

Hi Jezebel2,

I enjoyed reading your experience, sad that you have had to go through an emotional rollercoaster thuogh. Congrats on doing a PhD, hope it all works out.

Mattieu...

28

For how long can they massage the figures ?

by leo999 in

jw
friends

so looking at the worldwide report , the baptisms are down , many countries are 0 growth ,publishers, hours , and studies up because of changes in reporting methods .

but just how long can the propping up of numbers happen for , before the real downward slide starts ?

a year or two tops , which will be real close to 2014 .

I always used to laugh when they would read out the convention attendance and the figure would end in a 1 (eg, 8,501). Cue: applause and gentle ripple of laughter over the 1 and then the chairman makes a joke thanking that 1 for attending).

Having worked in the attendant department and being anal about carrying out the privilege to do the “count”, I was shocked when the brother overseeing the dept would make a lot of “guestimates” for different areas of the count. It was an in-joke between him and his sidekick that they would always come up with an odd number to finish off the attendance figure, either the 1 or 99 or 69!

I was in a cong where the secretary would always “fill out” the report cards of those who never reported on time, just making a guesstimate based on previous reports (that he had filled in for them).

What I don’t understand is, why would Jehovah punish the Israelites for undertaking a census yet approve the wtb$ for doing exactly the same thing?

Also, when there is an increase, its put down to being a blessing from Jehovah. Yet when there is no increase or a decrease, it’s not considered being a sign of Jehovah’s disapproval of the org, but blame is put on the local bro & sis for not being zealous enough!

Mattieu...

37

URGENT Advice Needed

by babygirl30 in

jw
friends

hey everyone!.

i will be going into the hospital for surgery on tues...my first one ever!

the surgeon has gone over the procedure and informed me that it's 'bloody' and so she gave me all my options.

Mattieu

Hi babygirl, enough good advice already posted, just wanted to wish you all the best!

Mattieu..

44

Circuit Overseers

by Eiben Scrood in

jw
friends

some circuit overseers leave lasting impressions either for good or bad.

others i barely remember.

three that had the most impact on me were rodricks (that's how it's pronounced, not sure of the spelling), casino and shepherd.

Mattieu

Eiben, hello & welcome.

A CO down under that was a large influence was Br Slaiman, he is no longer in the org, moved back to Sydney from Melbourne and faded due to differences with the society over dates and teachings, supposedly.

JWfacts, hopefully you may know him as it was a big deal when he left the borg. Would love to get in touch with him.

Mattieu.

19

The Kind of Publicity the WT Loves

by WalkTall in

jw
friends

http://strausnews.com/articles/2010/02/11/warwick_advertiser/news/3.txt.

Mattieu

Why are they trying to help save the lives of people in Haiti when they are just going to be killed at Armageddon??

Awildflower, I loved that line so much I posted it on the newspaper article, hope you do not mind.....

Mattieu

14

The Watchtower Is Never "Really" Wrong

by minimus in

jw
friends

no matter what they say, they're never really wrong.

misstatements serve a purpose!

they always reinvent their words or simply deny ever teaching certain things.. the witnesses are not a humble group of christians.

Mattieu

They always turn “being wrong” into:

“We are being lovingly readjusted by Jehovah’s hand. Surely brothers, another indication that Jehovah is indeed using this organisation to dispense loving truths to his chosen people in these last days.....”

“Some of you brothers may have interpreted material from our publications and formed opinions or dates in regards to the period of time we are living in or in relation to the fulfilment of Bible prophecies concerning the times in which we are living in. We are wisely encouraged not to run ahead of Jehovah’s organisation or to delve into the deeper spiritual things of God’s Word. Is it not wise then brothers, to patiently wait upon Jehovah to discern these matters in a time frame that Jehovah deem fit to do so through his loving earthly organisation, which has been accurate and truthful in these matter.....”

Mattieu.........

322

God and Suffering

by AK - Jeff in

a few weeks back, in the midst of the haiti tragedy, much discussion took place in cyberland about the tolerance [or indeed the insistence on] suffering by a loving god.

the furor over haiti has settled a bit [as unfortunately most tragedy is wont to do far too quickly in the human mind], but this persistent matter continues to chew at my subconscience.

today i came across this:.

Mattieu

Hi Jeff,

I was at a cemetery yesterday visiting the gravesite of my younger brother and as I always do, I look at the thousands of plots/graves/tombstones (particularly those who died at a young age like my brother) and just ask why....

After 40 years of knowing so called truths and promises regarding resurrection and of why God allows suffering to continue, I just cannot equate the reasoning’s of what I was taught as a child with how I feel now as an adult.

As a softie (I tear up during soppy/heartbreak movies, though hide it so as not to be a wus), I can’t look at some of the news stories in regards to natural disasters and the effects on people, especially little kids, without tearing up.

I’m no spiritual/theological academic and I wish I knew why God does permit so much suffering, because all the spin put out by the wtb$ does not add up to me. If I knew, it would at least stop me asking “why?” every time I visit my little brother.

Mattieu....

60

"Youth book" said 97% of teenagers Masturbate...but none of them are Witnesses! Is this unrealistic?

by Witness 007 in

"youth" book and "young people ask" admitts that 97% boys and 92% of girls masturbate but of course none of the holy decent witness teenagers would ever do such a thing and earn jehovahs anger!

how realistic is this?

97% of the world have t.v's or a telephone!