yesterday evening my wife and i were invited to friends house for new year's eve.
we met them when i was a christian and we have kept in touch.
they had a few other friends there as well, including the new church pastor and his wife.
If someone approaches you in a social setting about your beliefs then they are taking a huge risk. It is also impolite to ambush you in this way however well motivated.
You gave him the courtesy of an honest response and that is the best he could have hoped for.
one of the friends at extj forum provided this list of wt branches that have been closed so far, there is also a mention that two large ones are in the process of being dismantled, they are spain and argentina.
posted for informational purposes and it seems to be accurate.. thanks for reading.
1) alaska.
Wow I do so hope that global communications are still available after Armageddon or that the society has trained carrier pigeons otherwise what will all those congregations in the outlying ccountries do? After all there aren't many specialists in the organisation to get things up and running.
This organisation is planning for economies of scale not for global recovery after an apocalypse. It is a business built on the gulible for the preservation of the greedy. I pity those putting their faith in it.
Have a great evening and enjoy yourself. New Year is full of promise get it off to a good start.
i see no option to reply to topics.
things have changed, or i'm having major senior moments yet again..
Try clearing the Cache and if all else fails log off log back on again.
have been visiting jwn for about a week now and it motivated me to join.
i look forward to meeting everyone i can and learning from their experiences and wisdom as i search for more and more reasons not to get reinstated.
here's most of my story:.
Welcome hope we can help if needed.
the magazines were left in my door today.
skinny little things with a lot of pictures and bullet-type commentary.
actual articles are almost non-existent.
When we left I did not complain when my husband trashed all the bound volumes. As soon as I realised how poor the writing was and how poorly researched I couldn't stand them taking up space in the house. It is a sad fact that they had no intellectual value even as basic reference works. God knows how the latest 16 page excuses for magazines would stand up to scrutiny and why would anyone want to keep them for long term research if all they are is bullet points.
i think it may have been in the mid '80s a new arrangement was started for the 2nd and 4th saturday of every calendar month.
they were designated "magazine days" and the idea was to place as many as possible with 30-60 second presentations.
personally i hated feeling like a magazine seller, i wanted to talk to people.. i think this, and the release of the "reasoning book" was the beginning of the end of jehovah's witnesses as evangelists..
I remember them well. It is funny that all these things are designed to give pressure points when witnesses should be out. But actually they reduce the obligation from weekly to threee times a month.
i found taking the traveling overseers out for a meal, to be a waste of time.
our literature regulary spoke of the upbuilding talk the local congregations received by entertaining our brothers.
now some of the modern cos look at their telecommunication devices, talk of things not related to our ministry or phone it in.
It was always a relative few people who were allowed to entertain the CO when he stayed. We did lunch once and I cooked and invited a few over. As I remember it was a pleasant lunch with the CO not wanting to get involved in congregation politics nothing too heavy.
I did find going out with JWs generally was a nightmare, especially when it came to settling the bill. Many did not want to pay for service and on occasions would leave without having paid appropriately. We were once left to pay the balance of £50 because half the party had left without clearing their bill completely and the other half had people who refused to leave a tip even though the service had been wonderful. What was annoying was that we probably were the least well off people there and yet the others had no embarrassment leaving us to pick up the bill.
fyi.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tgpk-swadf0.
The Watchtower's world view is very rigid and makes so many assumptions that are incorrect. It is right to challenge their viewpoint as it highlights how their followers are constantly being misled.
im at a crossroads my friends.
im beginning to feel that my oppurtunities to get my wife out are waning.
weve misssed many meetings she still smokes a cig a day.
People who feel weak spiritually are also those more likely to find fault in others and cling to the organisation. Your wife still believes but also thinks she is not doing enough this makes her vaccilate between sinning and then guilt and wanting to be more spiritual. But she is also looking for someone to blame as it is easier than facing her shortcomings.
In addition this is the season when JWs feel most isolated from the world and most different. The place where you get validation at this time of the year is the Kingdom Hall so it is not surprising she is making noises about meetings.
This is not a time to make any decisions or force any issues especially as you are at the start of your journey in relative terms. Why has your wife started smoking? And why does she not feel the need to confess to the elders? She is quite a contradiction and things may not be as hopeless as you think. As it is early days it is important to invest in your relationship rather than force the issue of religion.
