Just asking: Is it just the 10 commandments? Or Jesus' teachings of the beatitudes?
bats in the belfry
JoinedPosts by bats in the belfry
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Which Bible doctrines are incontestably established on scriptural evidence alone?
by bats in the belfry injust asking: is it just the 10 commandments?
or jesus' teachings of the beatitudes?.
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Did a 'copy and paste' of Annual Meeting Notes done previously
by Gayle ini know this was not opening up for other about: (hope works this time)transcript of annual meeting notes and events from unknown source by itsibitsybrainbutbigenoughtosmellarattoday, october 12, 2011, 4 hours ago .
october 1, 2011 annual meeting of watch tower bible and tract society of pennsylvania at the jersey city assembly hall .
the meeting began with the singing of song #28 the new song followed by the opening prayer.
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bats in the belfry
Steve Lett: "Lions are exceedingly strong. You cannot stand up against them in battle. You will lose. The Devil is a strong spirit creature. You cannot stand up against him in battle. Unless Jehovah is in your life you WILL lose!"
Gosh, don't these people ever read their own Bible?
(Judges 14:5-6) 5 Accordingly Samson went on down with his father and his mother to Tim´nah. When he got as far as the vineyards of Tim´nah, why, look! a maned young lion roaring upon meeting him. 6 Then Jehovah’s spirit became operative upon him, so that he tore it in two, just as someone tears a male kid in two, and there was nothing at all in his hand. And he did not tell his father or his mother what he had done.
35 And I went out after it and struck it down and made the rescue from its mouth. When it began rising against me, I grabbed hold of its beard and struck it down and put it to death. 36 Both the lion and the bear your servant struck down; . . .
(1 Chronicles 11:22) 22 As for Be·nai´ah the son of Je·hoi´a·da, the son of a valiant man, who did many deeds in Kab´ze·el, he himself struck down the two [sons] of Ar´i·el of Mo´ab; and he himself descended and struck down a lion inside a waterpit in the day of snowfall. -
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Is there a list of WTS Branch Office shutdowns available?
by bats in the belfry init appears so many offices are being sold, it is not easy to keep up with their liquidity.. has someone already compiled a list of these closures?
wts appears to suffer a real revenue tailspin, and the "waters are definitely drying up".
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/commercialproperty/2011/1012/1224305632482.html.
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bats in the belfry
It appears so many offices are being sold, it is not easy to keep up with their liquidity.
Has someone already compiled a list of these closures? WTS appears to suffer a real revenue tailspin, and the "waters are definitely drying up".
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/commercialproperty/2011/1012/1224305632482.html
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Gilead school was built as an Armagedon bombshelter for Bethelites!
by Witness 007 inrutherford's book "enemies in 1937 said america would become a fascist catholic country and start armagedon...so where do you hide the bethel family?.
watch 82 8/15 p.10 "...for the safety of the bethel family a place was built in south lansing new york...it was never needed for that purpose...later transformed into a missionary school...".
watch 81 12/15 p.28 "rutherford believed that intense persecution against the witnesses may require them to leave headquarters...thus he built a building in upstate new york that could be used to house the bethel family...".
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bats in the belfry
blondie > I don't believe it until I see it - I do not see a picture at all. Pls provide or reference to it if you can. Thank you.
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January 2012 WT Study edition on PDF pulled from JW.org website
by bnybyt inthe wt study edition is getting a facelift for the new year.. the january issue had been posted on jw.org but.... the boes hadn't received notice by letter of such a change.. the wts likes to play up every opportunity to have a new release.. this time the jw.org techies jumped the gun and went on to post.
the issues for download according to their established schedule.. unfortunately, they went ahead of the fds/gb who too late .
realized the cat was out of the bag, sort of saying.. well, it got pulled off the website, for now at least.. what's so secretive about it?.
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bats in the belfry
Q.: Is it just me, or do I see the page margins getting wider? And the amount of pictures more abundantly?
I surmise: They nothing much have to tell us anymore.
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Timothy T: The Anointed and Me
by compound complex ini have never had any personal help from a member of the fds apart from what i read in the literature... which was very little because id rather read the bible.
even as a jw, if i had any encouragement it came from the elders or the bible.
they were the ones that did the hard work and cared.
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bats in the belfry
CoCo >
Nowadays, Samuel Herd, member of the current Governing Body,
personally will befriend ordinary believers of the 'footlocker' class,
as seen in this recent snapshot. w11 12/15, p. 26
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Shunning..... at Meetings ???
by IMHO incan someone explain why jws shun disfellowshipped ones when they are at their meetings (i.e.
making moves to come back)?.
i can understand why you may not want to 'socialize' with ones who do not share your beliefs.. but surely shunning such ones at the 'meetings'; assuming they are not there to cause trouble, is unloving; should they not be welcomed like the prodigal son.. true christians are known by the 'love' they show.
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bats in the belfry
Home brew rules & regulations:
Regarding the relationship between husband and wife, Jesus’ words at Matthew 19:5,6 must be adhered to. No one can set apart man and wife, not even if one of the two is disfellowshiped. The exception, of course, is where adultery has been committed. Then the innocent mate may depart if so desired. (Matt. 19:9) When attending congregation meetings at the Kingdom Hall, husband and wife, together with children, are to remain together and not be separated because one is disfellowshiped. There is no spiritual communication involved here. They are merely sitting together as a family. This family bond must not be tampered with. However, it would be improper for the mate in good standing to try to force the company of the disfellowshiped mate on other brothers in the congregation when conversing with them. While the family unit stays together, the excommunicated member of the family still may not associate with other members of the congregation.
w63 7/15 p. 445 -
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told my parents to never ever tell me they love me again....
by oompa in...i told them in a very serious sitdown in their living room....said..."because if you cant show it then it does not count...that is not real love no matter who tells you it is....because it is how it makes me feel that determines if it is love....not if you just say it...and me and my sons do not feel that love at all now"....and i stayed calm and talked slowly and barely shed a tear as i held them back...and i had asked them to not say a word but just listen...dad said they would as long as it was not about religion as i knew he would.
this was two of the worst days of my life in a row..i told them the pain me and my boys feel from their shunning is worse than if they had died...that then i could grieve naturally and move on because that is normal....grief helps you cope...my grief is different because they choose to act like i am dead and normal grief does not seem to work on that.
i shared an epiphany with them i had about mens rules vs gods great idea of dna (but no i am not sure about a god anymore)it went kinda like this:.
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bats in the belfry
...take comfort in their very own teaching!
THESE OUGHT TO KNOW BETTER
Some professed Christians are oh so kind and forgiving toward persons outside the Christian congregation who commit some trespass. But let their Christian brother become guilty of the same misdeed against them, and, instead of showing the same mercy, these become cold as ice and as hard as stone. To justify their hardheartedness, they will often say these ought to know better, whereas we have to make allowances for people outside because they do not know any better. So they show no love to their brother. Jesus classed these unforgiving ones with the scribes, Pharisees and hypocrites, saying, You “have disregarded the weightier matters of the Law, namely, judgment and mercy and faithfulness.” (Matt. 23:23, NW) Instead of saying he should have known better, perhaps it would be better to say, He is still weak and imperfect in the flesh, as we all are. Paul shows that could be quite possible.—Rom. 7:15-25.
If we show a hardhearted attitude we bar out God from showing us mercy. “With the merciful thou wilt shew thyself merciful; with an upright man thou wilt shew thyself upright.” (Ps. 18:25) Do we have grounds for refusing mercy to fellow brothers because, in our view, these should have known better? Let us apply the same rule to ourselves and reason that God will henceforth not forgive us or be patient with us because we, too, should know better, now that we have come into the truth.
There is an opposite side to this too. If we withhold mercy it will be withheld from us. To add mercy to others is to have it added to us. To multiply mercy toward others means that it will be multiplied in an even greater abundance to us. “With the measure that you are measuring out they will measure out to you.” (Matt. 7:2, NW) To withhold mercy is to be cruel.
Wicked men are without mercy. “But the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel.” (Prov. 12:10) In the illustration of the unforgiving slave, the one who withheld mercy from his fellow slave had it withheld from himself in turn. The unmerciful slave the master called wicked. “Wicked slave, I canceled all that debt for you, when you entreated me. Ought you not, in turn, to have had mercy on your fellow slave, as I also had mercy on you?” Jesus added: “In like manner my heavenly Father will also deal with you if you do not forgive each one his brother from your hearts.” (Matt. 18:32-35, NW) “For the one that does not practice mercy will have his judgment without mercy.”—Jas. 2:13, NW.
Mercy for the Merciful / w53 11/15 pp. 682-683 -
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Scans of "man with the secretary's inkhorn"--by request!
by Atlantis inscans of "man with the secretary's inkhorn"--by request!
request from researcher: could you post some scans of wt artwork showing illustrations of the man with the secretary's inkhorn?
************************************************************************** my reply: coming right up!
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bats in the belfry
Marking People for Survival
10 The importance of the house-to-house ministry can be seen from a vision given to the prophet Ezekiel. In that vision, Ezekiel sees six men with weapons in their hands as well as a seventh man clothed in linen with a secretary’s inkhorn at his side. The seventh man is told to “pass through the midst of the city” and “put a mark on the foreheads of the men that are sighing and groaning over all the detestable things that are being done in the midst of it.” Following that marking work, the six men with the slaughtering weapons are commanded to execute all those who do not have the mark.—Read Ezekiel 9:1-6.
11 We understand that in the fulfillment of this prophecy, the man “clothed in linen” represents the remnant of spirit-anointed Christians. By means of the preaching and disciple-making work, the anointed class puts a symbolic mark on those who become part of Christ’s “other sheep.” (John 10:16) What is the mark? It is the evidence, as if displayed on their uncovered foreheads, that such sheep are dedicated, baptized disciples of Jesus Christ and that they have put on the Christlike new personality. (Eph. 4:20-24) These sheeplike ones become one flock with anointed Christians and assist them in their vital work of marking still others.—Rev. 22:17.
12 Ezekiel’s vision highlights one reason why our ongoing search for people who are “sighing and groaning” is so urgent. It involves lives. Soon, Jehovah’s heavenly executional forces, represented by the six men with weapons, will destroy those who do not have the symbolic mark. Concerning that coming judgment, the apostle Paul wrote that the Lord Jesus, accompanied by “his powerful angels,” will bring “vengeance upon those who do not know God and those who do not obey the good news about our Lord Jesus.” (2 Thess. 1:7, 8) Notice that people will be judged on the basis of their response to the good news. Hence, the proclamation of God’s message must continue unabated right to the end. (Rev. 14:6, 7) This places a heavy responsibility on all of Jehovah’s dedicated servants.—Read Ezekiel 3:17-19.
13 The apostle Paul felt a personal responsibility to share the good news with others. He wrote: “Both to Greeks and to Barbarians, both to wise and to senseless ones I am a debtor: so there is eagerness on my part to declare the good news also to you there in Rome.” (Rom. 1:14, 15) Out of gratitude for the mercy he had been shown, Paul felt compelled to try to help others to benefit from the undeserved kindness of God just as he had benefited from it. (1 Tim. 1:12-16) It was as if he owed a debt to each person he met, a debt that could be repaid only by sharing the good news with that person. Do you feel such a debt to the people in your territory?—Read Acts 20:26, 27.
14 As important as the preservation of human life is, there is a far greater reason for preaching from house to house. In the prophecy recorded at Malachi 1:11, Jehovah declares: “From the sun’s rising even to its setting my name will be great among the nations, and . . . a presentation will be made to my name, even a clean gift; because my name will be great among the nations.” In fulfillment of this prophecy, Jehovah’s dedicated servants are publicly praising his name in all the earth as they humbly carry out their ministry. (Ps. 109:30; Matt. 24:14) Rendering “a sacrifice of praise” to Jehovah is our foremost reason for preaching publicly and from house to house.—Heb. 13:15.
w08 7/15 pp. 5-6 The House-to-House Ministry—Why Important Now?
w07 7/1 p. 13 Highlights From the Book of Ezekiel — Vol. I
A PROPHETIC PATTERN
Corroborating the foregoing is the prophecy found at Ezekiel chapter 9, which foreshadowed the house-to-house activity of Jehovah’s Witnesses today. It tells of a vision that the prophet Ezekiel had some 2,500 years ago.
In the previous chapter the prophet tells of having been given a vision showing various kinds of idolatries and apostasies carried on by the Jews at their temple in Jerusalem. Then, in chapter 9, Ezekiel records a vision of six men armed with slaughtering weapons and a seventh man clothed not in armor but in linen with a secretary’s inkhorn at his side. This man was told to go through the city of Jerusalem and “put a mark on the foreheads of the men that are sighing and groaning over all the detestable things that are being done in the midst of it.” (Verse 4) The six men with slaughtering weapons were commanded to follow after him and to execute all those who did not have that mark, yes, all those who did not groan and sigh because of all the wickedness being practiced in the city.
How was this man in linen to locate all those who were sighing and groaning? The Watchtower of January 15, 1972, explained: “Not just by going to the public square or to the marketplace, but to the homes of the people, going from house to house. In that way he would be able to hear their heartfelt expressions and decide whether they should be marked on the forehead or not. This was no speedy operation, by any means, but called for patiently and conscientiously going from house to house or from door to door and making an honest inspection, showing no partiality but marking only those who sincerely grieved at all the detestable things that others were doing inside the royal city. . . . he put the distinguishing mark upon their foreheads where it could be publicly seen by friend or foe.”
Even as it required house-to-house visitation for the man clothed in linen to discharge fully his obligation of marking those deserving to be spared from execution, so today it takes house-to-house activity on the part of Jehovah’s Witnesses to find all those who love truth and righteousness and give them the opportunity to flee to God’s kingdom.
What today would correspond to the mark that the man in linen put upon the foreheads of those deserving to be spared? Being marked in the forehead appears to represent the cultivating of a Christlike personality. Only by possessing such a personality would one merit being spared by Jehovah’s executioners at the coming “great tribulation.” (Matt. 24:21) A Christlike personality would be something for all to see, even as a mark on the forehead could be seen by all. Cultivating such a Christlike personality is repeatedly urged in the Scriptures. Of course, to mark a person in such a way takes much time, energy and means, but Jehovah’s Witnesses are glad to make such sacrifices. Thereby also they are showing lifesaving neighbor love.—Eph. 4:20-24; Col. 3:9-11.
Yes, important as is the first step of going from house to house to find those lovers of truth and righteousness who are sighing and groaning because of the wicked conditions prevailing, it is but the first step. Showing lifesaving neighbor love requires the servant of Jehovah to follow through by making return visits and conducting Bible studies. Such Bible students also need to learn how to pray, they need to associate with the Christian congregation and they need to apply Bible principles in their lives. In turn, they themselves need to share in letting still others know about the things they are learning. All of this should lead to their dedicating themselves to Jehovah God to do his will and to their being baptized. Such a course, it should be added, is essential to being ‘marked,’ to putting on the Christlike personality. And by carrying on this activity the witnesses of Jehovah are truly showing lifesaving neighbor love.
w81 5/15 pp. 11-12 Showing Lifesaving Neighbor Love -
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New Literature Arrangement
by Quarterback injust recently the org has changed the literature distribution to the congregation members.. the changes are:.
1) publishers are to pick-up their mag's weekly in preparation for what they think they will use that week.
2) group conductors shall now distribute the study article of the wt, and the km.. wonder why they have changed this?.
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bats in the belfry
... to save paper costs ;-)
“Do You Have a Standing Order?” A talk, preferably by the elder or ministerial servant who handles the magazines. Let the congregation know how many magazines are received each month and the average number that are reported as placed. We should not let magazines go to waste. Offer suggestions showing how older copies can be distributed.
km 4/99 p. 2 Service Meetings for April
The service overseer will also cooperate with the brother who cares for the magazine department. From time to time, the service overseer and the brother handling the magazines should compare the number of magazines that are requested each month with the number of magazines that are actually placed in the ministry. It may be that some publishers should reduce their requested quantity of magazines if these regularly accumulate in their homes. Magazines should not be wasted.
km 7/92 p. 3 Question Box
Avoid Waste: To be of real benefit, our literature must get into the hands of truth seekers, that is, those who are genuinely interested in our message and work. (Matt. 10:11) We should therefore avoid giving away literature indiscriminately to those who have not manifested real appreciation for the Bible’s message. Waste can also occur if we allow magazines, books, or other literature to pile up at home.
km 10/91 p. 8 par. 4 Presenting the Good News—By Using Publications Wisely
Each congregation should give careful attention to the ordering of magazines. It is good to order what you need. Quantities can be adjusted as the needs increase or decrease. It is good not to run out of magazines. At the same time, it is not good to have magazines accumulate, thus wasting paper.
km 11/76 p. 7 Magazine Supply
