Don't the elders use form letters provided by WTBTS for any D/F & D/A occasion?
bats in the belfry
JoinedPosts by bats in the belfry
-
25
I wrote a D.A. letter
by snakeface ini used to be very active int he organization, "high profile" so to speak.
always taking the gorup out in service, always having parts on the platform etc etc.
almost 5 years ago, i simply did not show up anymore.
-
-
-
14
Those 50+ years of age ... don't overexert in service
by bats in the belfry intake this to heart:.
but after the age of fifty years he will retire from the service company and serve no longer.
and he must minister to his brothers in the tent of meeting in taking care of the obligation, but he must render no service.
-
-
bats in the belfry
Man, just take a look at the ample supply of scriptural references backing up their claim !
• In Numbers 8:25, 26, concerning the Levites who served at the house of worship of Jehovah, we read: “But after the age of fifty years he will retire from the service company and serve no longer. And he must minister to his brothers in the tent of meeting in taking care of the obligation, but he must render no service. In accord with this you will do to the Levites in their obligations.” Since the appointed ministers among Jehovah’s witnesses on earth today do not retire from their service at any age, how applicable at the present time is the principle of this considerate law of Jehovah here quoted?
In the ancient nation of Israel there were three main families of Levites. All the male members of these who qualified served as assistants to the priests of Jehovah at his holy tabernacle or temple. In the course of time, as Jehovah himself foresaw, these Levite families became very populous in male members who were eligible for service at his temple sanctuary. The number of service openings for them at the temple sanctuary was limited. In order to provide for all the Levites to have a hand at enjoying these service privileges it finally became necessary for King David to divide up all the Levites in twenty-four courses, each course or division being assigned to one week of service at the temple each half year, or a total of two weeks in a full year, besides all Levites together serving at the special festivals, three times annually, in Jerusalem. It was doubtless not merely out of consideration for their age but to prevent overcrowding of such offices that Jehovah God instructed in the law stated above that those reaching the end of their fiftieth year of age should be retired from obligatory service. They could assist voluntarily those who were still eligible to serve at the temple, but they themselves were given no direct assignment nor were they held accountable to fill such. Although retired from assigned service they still received the benefit of the sacrificial offerings made by the Israelites and also of the tithes that the twelve tribes of Israel paid in support of the temple service and worship.
This does not establish any rule for Jehovah’s appointed ministers at his spiritual temple today to be retired from preaching or from any other ministerial service. The spiritual Israelites or Christians, who are anointed with God’s holy spirit for his service, are not under the Mosaic law that anciently applied to the nation of natural Israel. Since the day of Christ the Mediator, spiritual Israelites are under a new covenant with Jehovah God.
Now as regards the priests of Israel, these were not retired at the end of their fiftieth year, and the high priest himself served in his holy office until death if he continued capable. The fact is, the first high priest of Israel, Aaron the brother of Moses, was chosen for service at eighty-three years of age, and he served for almost forty years afterward. At the beginning of the Christian era the spiritual Israelite, the apostle John, was nearing a hundred years of age when he wrote five inspired books of the Holy Bible and completed the canon of the Holy Scriptures.
For the Christian there is no retiring of him from Jehovah’s service at fifty years of age, no more than there is a withdrawal of his anointing with the holy spirit of God to preach God’s Word when he reaches fifty years of age. Today the field is the world, the entire globe; and this good news of God’s established kingdom must be preached in all the inhabited earth for a witness to all the nations before the end of this old world comes. By virtue of their dedication to Jehovah God to do his will forever, Jehovah’s witnesses today are under obligation to continue in the fulfillment of their commission to preach the good news of God’s kingdom until the witness work is finished. There is no Scriptural precedent for retiring them from service, even after they have served for fifty years, and then putting them on a pension. If old age or advancing years incapacitate a dedicated Christian for a particular kind of responsibility, then he may be shifted to another form of service that he can perform. The obligations that his dedication to God imposes upon him do not allow for him to be relieved of all service responsibilities and privileges and to be retired thereafter to live at ease on a pension, to become a sheer financial burden upon a congregation or upon the organization that supervises the New World society of Jehovah’s witnesses.
The Watchtower 1958, May 15, page 319
-
14
Those 50+ years of age ... don't overexert in service
by bats in the belfry intake this to heart:.
but after the age of fifty years he will retire from the service company and serve no longer.
and he must minister to his brothers in the tent of meeting in taking care of the obligation, but he must render no service.
-
-
bats in the belfry
Take this to heart:
“But after the age of fifty years he will retire from the service company and serve no longer. And he must minister to his brothers in the tent of meeting in taking care of the obligation, but he must render no service. In accord with this you will do to the Levites in their obligations.”
Numbers 8:25, 26
Of course, the WTBTS wants you to carry on until you expire. What is your resolve?
-
21
What would be the standing of a born-in who were always there (field work and all) but never baptized?
by dgp inthis may be an elementary question but i was never a jw.. i wonder if such a person can actually exist.. i assume a born-in knows basically all about jehovah's-witnesses by the time he is, say, 16. if he were to postpone baptism, this person would not be in the same situation as a worldly who doesn't know an iota of anything, but would not be a brother, either.
what would be his real standing?.
-
-
bats in the belfry
Baptism is just the ritual for joining the club. Afterward you are allowed to be participant in an extended list of privileges.
No baptism, no privileges.
Excerpt from the Menlo Park Congregation Trial:
The WTBTS is surpassing Jesus in extending privileges to followers superabundantly, as can be seen by the WT-Library CD. Even their Bible is moderate in using the word "privileges".
Really, how privileged we are to have learned the truth! - The Watchtower 2002, 8/1 p. 19 par. 19
What about us? Jehovah has seen fit to teach us the truth, and he may have granted us special privileges of service through his organization, or he may have used us in some way to carry out his will. - The Watchtower 2004, 8/1 p. 9 par. 6
Their doctrinal mouthpieces The Watchtower and Our Kingdom Ministry just thrives
on the word combinations of privilege / privileges / privileged.The Watchtower: 5.848 counts
Our Kingdom Ministry: 780 counts
The NW Translation: 10 counts (incl. appendix)The WTBTS gives the people what they want: Privileges
-
62
Could UFO Disclosure Bring About A Golden Age?
by metatron inthere are a great many people - and internet sites- that preach a sort of 2012/ufo gospel.
while they may contradict one another, they mostly teach that ufo's will intervene and save us, especially if governments admit that they exist.. yeah, ok..... been there, heard that..... but could there be a core of truth to this idea?.
what would happen if the world acknowledged that et's exist?.
-
-
-
1
How privileged we are to have learned the (mutating) truth!
by bats in the belfry injesus exalted his followers but to a possible position in heaven.
the wtbts is surpassing jesus in extending privileges to followers superabundantly, as can be seen by the wt-library cd.
the watchtower: 5.848 counts.
-
-
bats in the belfry
Jesus exalted his followers but to a possible position in heaven.
The WTBTS is surpassing Jesus in extending privileges to followers superabundantly, as can be seen by the WT-Library CD. Even their Bible is moderate in using the word "privileges".
Really, how privileged we are to have learned the truth! - The Watchtower 2002, 8/1 p. 19 par. 19
What about us? Jehovah has seen fit to teach us the truth, and he may have granted us special privileges of service through his organization, or he may have used us in some way to carry out his will. - The Watchtower 2004, 8/1 p. 9 par. 6
Their doctrinal mouthpieces The Watchtower and Our Kingdom Ministry just thrives
on the word combinations of privilege / privileges / privileged.The Watchtower: 5.848 counts
Our Kingdom Ministry: 780 counts
The NW Translation: 10 counts (incl. appendix)The WTBTS gives the people what they want: Privileges
-
22
2013 CA and SAD programs released. More Safegaurd your mind control stuff.
by darthweef insong no.
1:30 song no.
2:45 song no.
-
-
bats in the belfry
Insight on the News - Trendy Sermonizing
What about today? “The sermons now seem to give people what they want instead of giving them what they ought to be saying,” Wentz says. Today’s sermons are short, averaging 10 to 20 minutes, are usually in the form of stories with “cutesy characters” and are meant to entertain. Most people want something to “titillate their feelings and emotions,” he adds.
w84 3/15 p. 26
-
40
Tiresome Speculation
by Wayward Son inthe boys at wt hq seem pretty sincere about the end being just a whisper away.
much of what they are doing smells of a batten down the hatches and brace for impact mindset.
i know this is a drum they have been beating for decades, but.... [if !supportlists]- [endif]the intensity seems to be ramping up.. [if !supportlists]- [endif]they know more about the lawsuits, low baptisms, youth retention rate, apostate uprising, etc... than we do.. [if !supportlists]- [endif]i think many of them really believe they are gods one true organization and they view these events as prophesy-fulfilling.. [if !supportlists]- [endif]i think they foresee their own impending demise.. they are taking all the guess work out of the state of their stability.
-
-
bats in the belfry
How true.
-
-
-
bats in the belfry
*** BUMP ***
-
14
Todays Bloomberg/ Business Week story: Religion and Money in the U.S.A.- "How the Mormans make Money".(explains how the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society hides assets).
by Balaamsass inthe church of latter-day saints has amassed financial holdings worth billions.
here's an inside look at its business empire.
read the story on businessweek.com: http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-07-10/how-the-mormons-make-money.
-
-
bats in the belfry
On page 5 of that story:
Until the 1990s, wards—the Mormon equivalent of parishes—kept some donated member money locally to distribute for aid and activities as they saw fit. Today all money is wired directly to Salt Lake City. McMullin insists that not one penny of tithing goes to the church’s for-profit endeavors, but it’s impossible for church members to know for sure.
Although the Mormon Doctrine and Covenants says “all things shall be done by common consent in the church,” members are not provided with any financial accounting. Daymon M. Smith, a Mormon anthropologist, points out that tithing slips read, “Though reasonable efforts will be made globally to use donations as designated, all donations become the Church’s property and will be used at the Church’s sole discretion to further the church’s overall mission.”
Doesn't the WTBTS also require to send local KH surplus donation to HQ?
They are all the same - fleecing the flock. (ABBA song: Money, money ... )
