All I can say is, they better be getting some DAMN cheap hotel rates...
Posts by agonus
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20strange experience by a Br. from the GB at assembly
by inbetween inwas on summer, experience went like that:.
"a couple from russia, sold even their house in order to be able to attend an assembly in germany.....".
basically no more information given.
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30
That doesn't sound cultish at all...
by Mickey mouse in.... "this is an unofficial group for fans of the watchtower.
keep all comments upbuilding and encouraging please.
no debates or questionings or criticisms are allowed.
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agonus
There are more "classes" in the Watchtower than in John Carmack's code...
(sound of crickets chirping)
tee hee... lil' programmer humor (very little)
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7
Jehovah's Witness Sunday Meetings
by Cold Steel inwhat can visitors expect who just pop in?.
do they offer communion?
pass the plate?
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agonus
The Public Talk is sort of like a sermon - it's probably the closest thing offered at the KH to a "normal" or mainline church. Except the words "church", "sermon" and other liturgical terms make JWs cringe. The WT Study is utterly alien to any normal churchgoing experience. It's a little like school, I guess, except that it feels a lot more like indoctrination. Forget about communion. The Memorial is an absolute Christ-denying farce, a commercial for the next Public Talk. And yes, you will get lots of love... at first.
Don't mean to editorialize. It's just that being in this organization for so long made me realize with absolute lucidity how far they were keeping me from Christ. I ultimately rejected Him when I felt Him calling me out of the WT out of fear of losing my wife and kids. I ended up losing them anyway. Please don't make the same mistake. If you want a personal relationship with your Lord and Saviour, then just go ahead and have one. Church and fellowship are merely tools to enhance that relationship. Find a gathering of people who you really make you feel like you're in the presence of the Lord, if you're able to. If you seriously find that in the JW religion, well, then, don't let anyone stop you. But please educate yourself and realize what you're in for. Their "Dedication to Jehovah" is as much dedication to the organization as anything, much more so than to Christ in my opinion.
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agonus
Oh, and don't forget doublethink.
-Apologies to George Orwell
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agonus
Irony of ironies that the story of the origin of The Judge's famous quote is entitled "My Life in Jehovah’s Spirit-Directed Organization".
Blackwhite bellyfeel duckspeak.
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30
That doesn't sound cultish at all...
by Mickey mouse in.... "this is an unofficial group for fans of the watchtower.
keep all comments upbuilding and encouraging please.
no debates or questionings or criticisms are allowed.
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agonus
There's nothing strange about trusting, loving, and being friends with God (whether you call him Jehovah, Yahweh, Jesus, just plain "God" or something else entirely). I still do, even though I'm a little pissed off at Him at the moment. It's like any other relationship.
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20
The Assembly Experiences - Standard Format
by sd-7 inmatthew 6:1: "take good care not to practice your righteousness in front of men in order to be observed by them; otherwise you will have no reward with your father who is in the heavens.".
"now we'd like to call to the platform brother so-and-so, a [let's face it, capital letters should be used] regular pioneer and elder in the blah-blah-blah congregation.
brother so-and-so, what helped you to put kingdom interests first?".
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agonus
And don't forget, for every moving JW-child-in-peril-from-evil-blood-transfusion-who-miraculously-pulled-through there's a JW who not-so-miraculously, er, died...
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20
The Assembly Experiences - Standard Format
by sd-7 inmatthew 6:1: "take good care not to practice your righteousness in front of men in order to be observed by them; otherwise you will have no reward with your father who is in the heavens.".
"now we'd like to call to the platform brother so-and-so, a [let's face it, capital letters should be used] regular pioneer and elder in the blah-blah-blah congregation.
brother so-and-so, what helped you to put kingdom interests first?".
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agonus
I'd love to hear some uplifting experiences about the Bethel layoffs...
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agonus
There was a story written by Ray Bradbury many years ago - can't remember the name of it, it was in his Illustrated Man anthology. In the story, everybody in the world woke up one morning and started talking to each other about a dream they had, and it turned out everybody everywhere had the same dream. It was about The End. The End of what? Time? Space? Humanity? It was never really spelled out, but somehow everybody just KNEW, like a book that was on the last page, about to be closed, that that day would be their last. The funny thing was, nobody did anything particularly exceptional - they just sort of peacefully accepted it and were a little bit more loving to each other that day. I would not be at all surprised if the End Times (whatever they may be) play out in such a fashion.
But who knows? Perhaps Tolkien was right. Maybe we just wake up one day in Rivendell with Sam, Frodo and the gang, and all is well, and the chosen really do get to venture to the Undying Lands while the rest of us just go back to our homes and live happily ever after.
Shame that the WT looks down upon the Lord of the Rings trilogy, especially the last one. Their depiction of the End of All Things is actually quite moving and believable and could be faith-strengthening in its own way. Especially since the WT is so vague about just what the hell is actually going to happen at Armageddon. They just tell us to shut up and believe, Big J will take care of it and details aren't important.
Although we do occasionally get some cringe-inducing fanfic from JWs about Armageddon, always prominently featuring JWs rejoicing over the death of all the Satanic Evil Non JWs and happily moving into the beautiful homes of those who were just struck down by their loving god...
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agonus
"Religion" is based on faith, not fact. Don't get me wrong, I'm a man of faith. The problem is, since religion is by definition faith-based, it's impossible to declare any religion "true" or "false" in the factual sense, because if that could be done, it would cease to be religion - it would be science.
Personally, I believe that one day, we will all achieve a state where we all just "know" the truth (and I mean "religious" truth). Whether we all wake up one day after having the same dream (and something inside tells me something very similar will happen one day) or achieve it gradually, I think it is inevitable. But until that happens, declaring any religion "true" or "false" is pretty much pointless. I mean, if a religion teaches that the sky is red, that's obviously untrue. But as to whether or not God even exists, much less has a true church/org/congregation - I mean, that's a matter of faith. It can't be proven. The whole "God's Organization" vs. "Satan Organization" scenario, while not impossible, is not really Scriptural - and let's not forget that it was cooked up by Rutherford (a lawyer - surprise surprise), not Russell. Hell, JWs/Bible Students didn't even like to refer to themselves as a "religion" for decades!