Posts by snakeface

30

Facial Hair a Perfect Fading Strategy

by zarco in

jw
friends

startfragment.

so a brother wants to fade, but would rather not explain his reasons.

lets say he grows a nice beard or goatee.

snakeface

frigginconfused, you're right.

I moved to a different circuit and immediately grew a goatee. (I can grow a full beard in less than a week.) No one in the new congregation said anything about it. It's as if they didn't even notice it. An elder and a MS invited me out in service with them, and I went. The householders seemed to notice that I looked "different" from the usual JW's but overall nothing was said or done about it. Then after a few months I simply disappeared. Now, JWs from both congregations see my facebook photos with the goatee but still contact me. I notice that some of their "friends" are people who had disappeared before I did.

20

Volunteering

by MrFreeze in

jw
friends

does anybody here do any volunteer work?

i mean real volunteer work.

not the jw "knock on doors and annoy people" kind of volunteer work.

snakeface

I was not raised as a JW. As a teen I volunteered during the summer to tutor younger students in Reading and Math. After becoming a JW I volunteered in the local Emergency Room and in an animal shelter. After being appointed I volunteered in the prison system to be a spiritual advisor to death row inmates, along with ministers from a variety of religions. After leaving the JW's I still do many of these things plus I joined the Civil Air Patrol, and I participate in fundraisers for cancer research.

36

Assembly changes

by d in

i was wondering what changes have you seen with assemblies now.compared to assemblies in the 1950's..

snakeface

Remember all the "counsel" we'd review at the Service Meeting before the distrct conventions? It would cover: don't save seats, conduct/attrie at the motels, conduct during the sessions, and so on. They always stressed "Do not save seats, except for those in your own car group." Well several times I'd arrive there early and be one of the first individuals to get in the doors at 8AM. I would actually RUN into the area - and I would see the entire front row and most aisle seats already covered with Watchtowers! That proved that the workers, who were allowed in before 8AM, were the ones saving the seats. The elderly and disabled were already S.O.L. before the doors even opened.

50

Don't you DARE to get up!!

by stillin9 in

interesting points from this week's wt study (dec 15 2010 study edition):.

par 12: "do i encourage my children not to view the song between the theocratic ministry school and the service meeting or the one between the public talk and the watchtower study as a sort of intermission,an opportunity for them to leave their seats unnecessarily, perhaps just to stretch their legs?".

why do they have to make such a big deal out of everything?

snakeface

Par 11: "i f you were thrown into prison, how many of our Kingdom songs would you be able to sing from memory?"

No one gets "thrown" into prison; you get "escorted" into prison. You walk in, handcuffed, with an officer on either side of you.

50

Don't you DARE to get up!!

by stillin9 in

interesting points from this week's wt study (dec 15 2010 study edition):.

par 12: "do i encourage my children not to view the song between the theocratic ministry school and the service meeting or the one between the public talk and the watchtower study as a sort of intermission,an opportunity for them to leave their seats unnecessarily, perhaps just to stretch their legs?".

why do they have to make such a big deal out of everything?

snakeface

Interesting. They expect children to sit like stautes for 2 hours. Yet when I was a MS, I and some other MS would go in the back and take naps during the meeting. We'd cover for each other. For example, if one brother had the last part on the service meeting, he'd go sleep in the back room and someone would go wake him up in time for him to give his part. I was the one who started that arrangement in my congregation. The brother on the sound system would sit and work on the accounts report or literature order while the meeting was going on. I would sometimes sit in the audience and write letters to not-at-homes and count the time, not paying attention to the meeting until it was my turn to go up and give my part.

21

Song- "we're Jehovah's Witnesses" in honor of this weeks WT study

by stuckinamovement in

jw
friends

this was the last song of the service meeting this week.

the new version sounds like a death march anthem.

the melody has changed and i think the words have also.. i truly used to like that song and it was one of the first song's i could sing as a kid.

snakeface

saltyoldlady, I agree with you. I am a muscian and I loved the songs in the brown book. When sung correctly (which unfortunately was difficult) they had feeling and passion. As soon as I got the new songbook and started looking thru it (and playing them on my piano in order to learn them) my first thought was that all the new ones were written by one person. I thought of the scripture where Jesus said that his sheep flee from the voice of a stranger. It was as if the organization abruptly got taken over by some other religion. The songs are more like chants. Lifeless, shallow, without much feeling. I felt "stumbled".

35

What do you think 2012 Convention theme will be?

by Iamallcool in

jw
friends

.

snakeface

Probably:

"The End Is Near!"

or maybe:

"The New System Is Right Around The Corner"

73

My Labrador died can anyone please help me. I can't stand the pain.

by Witness 007 in

my wife recovered from depression just 14 months ago and things have been going well.....so much so that i started a buisness for her and we are two weeks into it.

my labby was ill vomiting abit of discomfort, i thought great, you ate something bad again!

the vet gave him a shot and sent us home.

snakeface

Yes, aquagirl, sometimes a cat or other animal who needs a loving home can help us to move on with our lives.

34

I swear some JWs don't believe in forgiving and forgetting. It's like a tattooed scarlet letter.

by miseryloveselders in

jw
friends

my dad ticked me off the other night, to the point i had to hang up.

i didn't abruptly hang up, but rather i told him i had company.

we were discussing a sister at my hall who did something years ago.

snakeface

I have seen this too. Not only a past disfellowshipping but even minor things and also gossip and rumors are held against the person indefinitely and follow him/her to their next congregation.

Witnesses are conditioned to look at the bad in each person so they can tell them how much "they" (the other person) need the kingdom. Other religions teach to look for the good in others and build on it.

I knew of an elderly couple, (couple A) now deceased, who were baptized in 1950 (before I was born!) Shortly thereafter they witnessed to their friends (couple B). couple B also got baptized. Later on Couple A became inactive for many years. When I met them they had just returned and were active in the congregation, and remained so till their deaths. But behind their backs Couple B always made comments like, "Well I never fell away or had any doubts, not for one second. I was always completely faithful.." I always LOVED to use the scriptures on them (couple B) about being "faithful in what is least" and "gadding about, talking of things they ought not..."

54

Do you think a lot of JWs are ashamed of their beliefs?

by I quit! in

jw
friends

the reason i asked this is because i'm going to the funeral of a man who wasn't a jw.

my mother-in-law has lived in the same neighborhood as him for years and knows his wife.

i asked her if she was going attend the funeral service.

snakeface

Even when I was very "high profile" and very active - giving Sunday talks, conducting the Theocratic Ministry School, etc - I went to neighbors/relatives/coworkers funerals and weddings in their churches - was even a best man in a Baptist wedding, and pretty much everyone in the congregation knew about it. I'd tell them, "It's a conscience matter, right? RIGHT?"

All my neighbors and coworkers knew I was a "deacon" (as they'd say) in my church. However, I was able to tell that most in the congregation - even "appointed servants" - were ashamed of their beliefs. I guess many did not want to be there but had to because of families or other ties, and some were just not sure of their beliefs, and others just did not want to be "a theatrical spectacle".