this notice is not official yet and it should be confidential until released thru the proper channels.
a friend of mine told me about a huge elders meeting in southern california.
the subject was the relocation and dissolution of some congregations; it seems that this is the result of some project that has been going on for some time and is going to be implemented right now.. please let me know if this is happening all over the country?.
I wonder if the upcoming Annual Meeting will introduce a new impetus for shuffling congregations around, selling halls.
It wouldn't surprise me at some point if purportedly to prepare for the Great Tribulation, and “in imitation of first century Christians”, smaller groups of publishers met in private homes. It might be arranged in such a way so as not to make Watchtower liable in a lawsuit the way books studies might have.
we all gossip.
it is only human.
watchtower actually tries to instruct adherents not to gossip and it can land a jw in front of a judicial committee—some do try to follow this admonition.
Seeing the JW religion through the eyes of those who never were was therapeutic early on. It helped me see that it was not a normal environment.
i applaud anyone, male or female, who overcomes shallowness and looks at a person’s deeper qualities, especially in regard dating and marriage.
the movie and fashion industry does much to institute shallowness to the point that, in my opinion, it promotes outright discrimination and judgmentalism even as they give lip service to tolerance..
on the other hand, among jehovah’s witnesses, there seem to be a preponderance of incompatible marriages.
Wow, that is a good point. It would be interesting to know the details of that!
It could be a case of "do what I say, not what I do."
The recommended JW courtship is usually at least a year of dating and as Sam Herd said at a circuit assembly when he was my DO, "Not someone fresh out of the pool".
I remember a pioneer who had a single bible study about to be baptized. The pioneer told her, "The bad ones will try to ask you out you right away...the good ones will wait and observe." So usually even before a year or so of dating, new ones are supposed to pass a period of "observation" before they are viewed as datable. Of course, all of this is unwritten lore.
It is a case of control. The organization likes to control who is allowed to marry...those it favors get to marry, those who do not measure up to high standards are left to whither in loneliness. I'm so glad not to be part of this mess anymore.
we all gossip.
it is only human.
watchtower actually tries to instruct adherents not to gossip and it can land a jw in front of a judicial committee—some do try to follow this admonition.
Unless it is about the org...then it is "apostate lies".
we all gossip.
it is only human.
watchtower actually tries to instruct adherents not to gossip and it can land a jw in front of a judicial committee—some do try to follow this admonition.
That is a good point about gossip about non-JWs...it is part and parcel of the JW religion to make notes about return visits and Bible studies, including intimate details about their private lives (even bedroom details of married couples), and troubleshoot these things with other JWs. "So-and-so has a problem with...how do I approach this with them?"
I remember years ago a young pioneer placed a Mankind's Search For God book with some folks in a fast food restaurant. He related this "experience" to the other pioneers. Two pioneer women called on them later that day or the next day. They were buzzing with enthusiasm when they learned they had received the book and exclaimed the young pioneer's name who placed it with them. The non-JWs at the door said something like, "You know? You talk about these things with each other?"
And of course, growing up with elders in my family I would overhear things I should not have.
i've always been a bit of a reader - but only reading about topics i find interesting, e.g.
natural history, dinosaurs, etc.. recently i've started to select, buy and read novels.. this year i've bought and read frankenstein (mary shelly), dracula (bram stoker), the hound of the baskervilles (a. conan doyle), 'salem's lot (stephen king), jurassic park (michael crichton) and the firm (john grisham).. i have an inclination towards horrors and thrillers.. what fiction have you been reading?.
could you recommend anything?.
I used to be an avid reader of fantasy novels...the thicker the better. I second Robin Hobb's series...among the best fantasy there is...especially the Liveship trilogy.
Recently I've been slowly rereading Lord of the Rings and appreciating the vast parts that have been left out of the movies, parts I've completely forgotten.
i think the single biggest mistake the governing body have made in the last 10 years has to be creating jw broadcasting and putting their gb members on there... on a weekly basis too.. when i was a kid, i had no idea who the governing body were, what their names were or what they looked like.
there was one or two long term pioneers that knew the names of two of them but that was about it.. when i was about 10yo i imagined they looked something like this:.
ahh.... those learned men with a lifetime of bible knowledge just oozing out of their very hearts.
The green Your Will Be Done was my favorite too. I made verse by verse notes on the whole King of the North/South interpretation. I loved reading about the 1260, 1290, and 1335 days. I wish I'd verified this stuff rather than reading it uncritically and being in awe.
As a JW, I felt it important to know the "deep things" and didn't understand my fellow JWs who just felt it was "over their head" and "glad the brothers figured it out". I gladly the regurgitated nonsense in comments at the meetings.
Of course, I knew old-school pioneers who knew this nonsense better than me and would debate non-JWs at the door about it. There is likely not a cart-tending pioneer today who could even compare. The Watchtower has given them the "We do not debate" duck and run defense.
i think the single biggest mistake the governing body have made in the last 10 years has to be creating jw broadcasting and putting their gb members on there... on a weekly basis too.. when i was a kid, i had no idea who the governing body were, what their names were or what they looked like.
there was one or two long term pioneers that knew the names of two of them but that was about it.. when i was about 10yo i imagined they looked something like this:.
ahh.... those learned men with a lifetime of bible knowledge just oozing out of their very hearts.
Overall, I have to say JW Broadcasting is an evil genius idea. JWs nowadays are not the readers and debaters they used to be. They are not tackling and retaining information like in the days of the red Babylon book or the Your Will Be Done book. They cannot defend their doctrine (thus they usually run when questioned) and the stuff that has made it into print in the last 16 years has been very simplified. Basically it boils down to: go in field service and attend all meetings.
JWs (like my parents) are TV addicts. Watchtower has given them a TV channel to watch...whenever I've visited my parents they've it playing nonstop. It's noise in the background even when they are not watching directly. It's like 1984.
had two lovely jws (stephen and ruth) visit this morning.
this was our second study in the last 2 weeks.
they first knocked on my door (bell is out) 3 weeks ago and i shared my testimony and we arranged to meet last tuesday which we did.. our first study went like this:.
Yes, that is often a question I would like to ask a JW to get them thinking, "When did the truth become the truth?"
i think the single biggest mistake the governing body have made in the last 10 years has to be creating jw broadcasting and putting their gb members on there... on a weekly basis too.. when i was a kid, i had no idea who the governing body were, what their names were or what they looked like.
there was one or two long term pioneers that knew the names of two of them but that was about it.. when i was about 10yo i imagined they looked something like this:.
ahh.... those learned men with a lifetime of bible knowledge just oozing out of their very hearts.
When I was in, I could've only named a couple of them, but had a reverent awe for those in that position.
Some of the more bubble-popping moments as a JW were when a GB member would show up at an assembly or convention. At best, it was a letdown. At worst, it was outright demoralizing.
