Posts by konceptual99

119

Latest rumor - all WT construction "suspended", except for Warwick

by sir82 in

jw
friends

heard 4th-hand, but from a full-on believer, so not likely to be an "apostate lie":.

apparently, at bethel's morning worship this morning, it was announced that all worldwide wts construction is "suspended" for an indefinite time, except for the new world headquarters at warwick.. also, the "relocation" of remote translating teams is also suspended.. finally, there will be a "worldwide" reduction in bethel personnel.. all this came to me in a non-english language, and,as noted, 4th-hand.

so it is possible something may have been lost in translation and/or in the multiple steps between bethel morning worship & me.. but if true, it would be quite stunning.

konceptual99

Magnum...

What is going on? In this thread (http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/topic/479610001/wt-slow-ly-changing-importance-door-door-preaching-work-something-more-profitable), it is indicated that the org is slowing down on preaching and focusing more on construction. Now, supposedly, they're halting construction and focusing on preaching. Why such a rapid, abrupt change?

That's a good question. Let's see how this is communicated to the masses (if at all). Don't forget much of what the society does now is propaganda. They have spun numbers of publishers/partakers/lands/bethels for years. Now those numbers have been debunked openly on the internet it's now about amount of literature thrown out by carts and building projects.

Nevermind that the amount of hours needed on a cart to get some literature picked up and then thrown away is huge. Nevermind that fixing up some paint in a hall now counts as a LDC project. They can spin the number of planned projects. They can spin the figures anyway they like to indicate momentum and activity,

This could be the prelude to some other change of course. Remember good dubs must be ready to obey even if the course taken does not make strategic or logical sense...

119

Latest rumor - all WT construction "suspended", except for Warwick

by sir82 in

jw
friends

heard 4th-hand, but from a full-on believer, so not likely to be an "apostate lie":.

apparently, at bethel's morning worship this morning, it was announced that all worldwide wts construction is "suspended" for an indefinite time, except for the new world headquarters at warwick.. also, the "relocation" of remote translating teams is also suspended.. finally, there will be a "worldwide" reduction in bethel personnel.. all this came to me in a non-english language, and,as noted, 4th-hand.

so it is possible something may have been lost in translation and/or in the multiple steps between bethel morning worship & me.. but if true, it would be quite stunning.

konceptual99

The other possible factor is the move to the LDC. There is alot of change in process here and perhaps they are simply not able to make it work effectively. They were trying to have full time people running projects, more third party contractors and not so many long weekend workers. Maybe it's simply not possible to do without spending lots of money...

119

Latest rumor - all WT construction "suspended", except for Warwick

by sir82 in

jw
friends

heard 4th-hand, but from a full-on believer, so not likely to be an "apostate lie":.

apparently, at bethel's morning worship this morning, it was announced that all worldwide wts construction is "suspended" for an indefinite time, except for the new world headquarters at warwick.. also, the "relocation" of remote translating teams is also suspended.. finally, there will be a "worldwide" reduction in bethel personnel.. all this came to me in a non-english language, and,as noted, 4th-hand.

so it is possible something may have been lost in translation and/or in the multiple steps between bethel morning worship & me.. but if true, it would be quite stunning.

konceptual99

They surely can't be stopping the Bethel works underway in the UK, South Africa, France and elsewhere?

50

Is the WT SLOW-ly Changing the importance of the Door to Door preaching work to something more profitable?

by John Aquila in

its been a couple of weeks since a new c.o.

was appointed to the circuit and im starting to hear tidbits of his talks..

one brother told me that in one of his talks he asked the question; .

konceptual99

Interesting thread.

I've spoken to a couple of people recently who are close to Bethel in the US and UK. They have both provided anecdotal "evidence" that jw.org gets lots of request for bible studies, especially from areas where there are few witnesses.

What the facts are about this I don't know but bearing in mind you only need a handful of requests from each country each day to get some fairly impressive figures then it could be true.

I really don't believe the carts are effective. I have seen the carts in lots of situations now and it's simply a good way of counting time. I have watched the carts in areas like Oxford Circus and several of the London main line stations and never ONCE seen anyone come up and take literature.

Interestingly enough, the carts do make effective use of literature. If no one takes anything then you don't need to restock much. If carts were used instead of the D2D work then the literature requirements would drop massively.

It would be very interesting to see some analysis of the publications over the past 10 years and see what the stats are of the mentions of D2D ministry v construction & donating. I know it's probably not possible to do but I would suspect there has been more and more mention of donating and construction support than people realise.

I don't think the D2D work is going away any time soon. It's a great distraction for the masses. The other thing is it's a great barometer for judging "faith". The WTS has always equated lack of zeal for the ministry with spiritual weakness. They've spent years banging on about the D2D activity being done by the 1st century Christian. It's also considered a command from Jesus therefore they would need to find a way of mitigating any U-Turn on D2D work. Regular field service is a key aspect of the Witness profile and there is not enough cart work to keep all visibly occupied.

What I think we are seeing, however, is an increase in the discussion of construction projects, especially the numbers. The goal is to keep the numbers looking large so people are prompted to donate and give their free labour.

8

Japan beats South Africa in the World Cup rugby

by joe134cd in

i just want to congratulate any japanese apostates in their win over south africa.

have to say it was a bit of a wtf moment for me.

konceptual99

Grata game that I regret not going to. I could have gone but thought it would have been a whitewash. Grrrrrrr

39

Jehovah's Witnesses want to invite you to their newly refurbished hall!

by username in

i just seen this on goggle news.

a report into a hall actually being refurbished!.

http://www.thecomet.net/news/stevenage_s_jehovah_s_witnesses_celebrate_worship_hall_s_makeover_and_invite_public_to_come_along_1_4228859.

konceptual99

I don't think I've been in a hall in the UK with arm rests on the chairs other than assembly halls.

The standard chairs they have used on builds for a while now are not that bad. It's not the chair that is the problem, it's the dull, dreary talks...

29

Need clarification from someone who speaks JW: What is an "apostate" ...or... an "apostate website?"

by Faithful Witness in

http://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2015/jul/27/jehovahs-witnesses-destroyed-notes-about-child-sex-abuse-inquiry-told.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/07/27/us-australia-religion-sexcrimes-iduskcn0q10ih20150727.

http://www.cnn.com/videos/world/2015/07/28/australia-jehovah-witness-sex-abuse-hannigan-lklv.cnn.

konceptual99

The Shepherd Book says the following ( chapter 5 pp65-66

16. Apostasy: Apostasy is a standing away from true worship, a falling away, defection, rebellion, abandonment. It includes the following:
• Celebrating false religious holidays: (Ex. 32:4-6; Jer. 7:16-19) Not all holidays directly involve false religion and require judicial action.
• Participation in inter faith activities: (2 Cor. 6:14, 15,17,18) Apostate acts include bowing before altars and images and sharing in false religious songs and prayers.—Rev. 18:2, 4.
• Deliberately spreading teachings contrary to Bible truth as taught by Jehovah's Witnesses: (Acts 21:21, ftn.; 2 John 7, 9, 10) Any with sincere doubts should be helped. Firm, loving counsel should be given. (2 Tim. 2:16-19, 23-26; Jude 22, 23) If one obstinately is speaking about or deliberately spreading false teachings, this may be or may lead to apostasy. If there is no response after a first and a second admonition, a judicial committee should be formed. -Titus 3:10, 11; w89 10/1 p. 19; w86 4/1 pp. 30,31 ;w86 3/15 p. 15.

Strictly speaking you cannot be DF'ed for having doubts. Of course it's not unknown. The problem comes if you start talking about those doubts as even minor conversations can be used against you.

Note the catch all "deliberately spreading teachings contrary to Bible truth as taught by Jehovah's Witnesses". This means that whatever the current view as dispensed by the GB is forms the "truth". If there is a change one day to the next then you better step into line. If you express reservations on a subject then you can be accused of apostasy.

The label is used to demonise and control people. Being a wife beater is less reprehensible than being thrown out just because you can't get your head around some teaching. Criticising the organisation is an absolute no-no and counts as much as apostasy as disagreeing with doctrine.

The attitude is optimised on JWTalk. Anyone who expresses a liberal or cautious view on a matter risks being flamed, knocked down or banned. Comments of even moderate criticism are swiftly jumped on. Many on here who have tried to make comment on matters have been quickly banned.

23

ELEVEN YEARS on this Discussion Group

by Terry in

jw
friends

i looked at my statistics this morning:.

terry.

joined 11 years ago.

konceptual99

Just to add my thanks for your posts during my time on the board Terry.

21

In 3 and one half-hours time..

by snugglebunny in

jw
friends

in 3 and one half-hours time..queen elizabeth will become the longest reigning sovereign ever.. you go, girl!.

.

konceptual99

Not just the British SecretSlaveClass. The French and the Dutch were pretty well practised in similar efforts.

I am no royalist and have no time for the sense of entitlement and privilege that is endemic in the British upper classes. I do wonder however what is really that different about many republics. If the UK ditched the maonarchy would it really be that much different?

The UK political scene is a nonsense of middle of the road policies that suit the well off regardless of the party proposing them. The US political landscape still features as much nepotism and family ownership of power as you would expect from an unelected monarchy. The legacy of imperialism and empire in places like South Africa still means those in power struggle to bring real change to the majority of those that were already oppressed yet abuse of power can continue unabated.

The truth of the matter as far as I can see is that man just keeps dominating man to his injury - one of the few sets of true words from the Bible.

60

New light from GB member David Splane!

by Island Man in

in the latest jw broadcast splane is quoted as saying:.

"suppose there was a man who died 10 minutes before joseph was born.

would he be part of joseph's generation?

konceptual99

Clearly, by most definitions of the term there is zero support for this dogs dinner of an explanation.

If you are generous then I think it is possible to concede some kind of acceptance that you could claim the term refers to those people alive during some more nebulous "age" - e.g. the "age of steam" - you could claim a term such as the "steam age generation" means people that were alive for the 200 odd years when steam trains were dominant.

The real question however for those that wish to believe anything in Matt 24 is worthy of taking as the truth, is how did Jesus intend it to be understood?

Is there anything in the wording that indicates any other understanding that what the common person back then would have understood by the term "generation". What part of "by no means will this generation pass away" gives any context or clarification that it would not refer to a group of people alive in the same 30-40 year period? What happened in the first century? What was the indication of what a generation was then in relation to when Jesus spoke these words and when Jerusalem fell?

As far as I can see there is zero evidence to suggest it should be taken any other way than the obvious one.