Seeker4

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Posts by Seeker4

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  32

  Favorite Xmas Tunes?

  by undercover in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  someone started a thread asking everyone's favorite xmas movies.. how about favorite xmas music/songs?

  even when i was an active jw i had a soft spot for certain xmas music.

  the standards, the jazzy ones, the rocknroll ones.. while i like a lot of different ones...i even collected my favs onto a playlist that i keep for this time of year...there are a few that really stand out as my favs.

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  Seeker4

  Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas - it seems my soft spot is for the melancholy ones.
  
  S4
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  38

  I Just Got My Electricity & Heat Back!

  by minimus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i've been living in a sheraton the last 4 days because i got flooded out and due to the severe storm, lost power.

  unbelievable few days!

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  Seeker4

  Sorry about the mess, Min. We only lost power for about 14 hours or so, though there are still several thousand people without it.
  
  Uh, just wondering, did you get the porn channels free too??
  
  Really glad to hear you are OK. And Hubert. Any word on Coffee Black?
  
  S4
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  17

  anyone getting any of this ICE?

  by SnakesInTheTower in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i just had a lovely 64 mile round trip to my office this evening.. i should have left sooner, but survivor finale was on so i was distracted...left late... here in the midwest us, sunday started windy this afternoon and almost 60f...still 53 at 7pm...dropped to 40 and raining when i left the house at 1045...on the way home it had switched to ice...... and when i got back home and hit refresh on weather dot com, it was 30 at 1225am (little after midnight) ...on the way to 19 overnight.... not as bad as the 0 and below north of us in nd.... or the ice storm out east.... or as bad as the ice storm here in 06/07..... any one else getting it bad tonight?

  hope every one is safe... .

  snakes (.

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  Seeker4

  VT and NH were hit bad. We were out of electricity until Friday afternoon, and some folks are still out.
  
  Lots and lots of accidents and a few multi-car pileups.
  
  S4
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  36

  NY Times: "Bad times are good for churches." Why so little JW growth?

  by Seeker4 in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  in today's ny times there is an article on this topic, and here are two quotes:.

  "bad times are good for evangelical churches.

  'its a wonderful time, a great evangelistic opportunity for us,' said the rev.

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  Seeker4

  Great comments.

  About the Christian rap artist - of course that would be stifled by the JWs.

  I remember once I hit on one of the Gospel singing programs on the religious channels, where there are like 50 performers on stage taking turns singing. I loved the fact that they were of all colors, young, old, long haired guys, short haired guys, beards, fancy clothes, plain clothes, nice suits and blue jeans.

  And everyone seemed to be having a hell of a fun time.

  I wondered then why the Witneses weren't like that if they really had the truth and god's blessing and spirit. Most of the folks on that television show would have been counseled by the JWs for their "worldly" dress or appearance.

  Even the WT Study where the audience participates, it's simply by rephrasing what the paragraph says only "in your own words." How brain numbing is that!!??

  S4
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  95

  Please read condemnatory email sent to me and help me reply

  by AndersonsInfo in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  i received the following emails, one yesterday and the other today and thought you'll like to see an example of the positive and the negative messages i regularly receive through webmaster at my website, watchtower documents, llc, www.watchtowerdocuments.com.. .

  here's the negative message:.

  "i must say that after reading your biography, i am shocked.

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  Seeker4

  My friend's name was Dan. He sought out the artists and muscians and writers among the students and was a cool guy. I stayed in touch with him until he passed away.

  When I was still in school Dan wrote an epic poem where Jehovah, Allah and Buddha are all together in heaven having a discussion. I thought it was brilliant. I happened to mention it to one, at the time, especially earnest young elder. He told me that if the poem actually used the name Jehovah in that context, it was blasphemy. What an arse!

  I invited Dan to my wedding when I got married in 1972. He gave us some very nice sheets as a wedding present with a card that simply said, "Happy Landings!"

  S4
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  4

  I went to a few diferent religions to hear Christmas music

  by Cheetos in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  yup i went to the methodist church and heard them sing it was great wow in their rec room they had coffee and donuts and cookies people sat around got to know each other.

  what a switch the witness's could take a lession with them, the only time you see goodies being shared is if the pioneer school is there or during a hall build, i think the gb is afraid to have rank and file have fun and enjoy each other like that at each meeting for some sick reason.

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  Seeker4

  Last Sunday ol' S4 went to the Community Messiah Sing at the United Church. i was taking pics for my paper, but stayed for the whole thing. I had some interesting thoughts there about how it was listening to an opera about the Norse gods, say, only Christians take it as fact.

  I was surprised when an old friend turned out to be one of the soprano soloists. Afterwards she introduced me to her boyfriend. I was thinking how, in a Kingdom Hall she'd be hauled before a judical committee instead of being a soloist!

  S4
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  36

  NY Times: "Bad times are good for churches." Why so little JW growth?

  by Seeker4 in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  in today's ny times there is an article on this topic, and here are two quotes:.

  "bad times are good for evangelical churches.

  'its a wonderful time, a great evangelistic opportunity for us,' said the rev.

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  Seeker4

  Jeremy, you make some good points.

  Some of these churches handle what is essentially the equivalent of a JW district convention every weekend. They use their member's talents in the special groups and ministries you mentioned, as well as with professional quality bands, singers, actors etc. I may not agree with much of what is taught, but you've got to admit they make things entertaining!

  I can see the appeal and draw that they have. The Witnesses don't trust their member's talents in much of anything. Talks are from detailed outlines or even manuscripts. The music is pre-recorded - hell, it's a wonder they still let us sing! And the dramas are all pre-recorded. The room for artistic creativity is nearly nil in the WTS. At least the churches do better than that.

  S4
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  29

  Life after being a Witness...What are your beliefs now?

  by Quirky1 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  some here have moved on, some have found new faith and some have haven't.

  did you maintain christianity or do you no longer believe?

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  Seeker4

  I'm an atheist and have no belief in the supernatural. If something comes along that is evidence for the supernatural, I'll be glad to consider it. Religion as a dominate force in history is very interesting to me. Religion as a way of belief personally is not.

  I've been taking the time to study science and rational thinking, trying to learn at least a little about this incredible world I live in before I die. Developing a more cohesive and workable philosophy and way of living has also been important for me.

  Being an intellectual rebel is very appealing to me.

  S4
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  36

  The Reason ex-JWs Don't Communicate Well With Others

  by StAnn in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i've been giving this a lot of thought.

  i'm thinking that, as a born-in, i was raised thinking that everybody who wasn't a dub was stupid and i had to go door-to-door to enlighten them.

  and that the ones who were so stupid and stubborn as to not respond to my message (which was all of them, lol!

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  Seeker4

  I have a buddy in Florida who has faded. He has struggled with relationships he said, partly because as a born in JW, he grew up feeling he had an answer for everything, and that attitude he continues to struggle with. People aren't too keen on someone who has an answer for everything.

  Snakes - glad to hear about the hat. I like it when people are willing to do something a little different to draw attention to themselves - partly because that was such a no-no when we were JWs.

  As I recently told my FL buddy - we were always into music and art and literature - that we were closet Bohemians and artists and had to stifle all that. Today he wears his hair long and in a ponytail and a very cool cowboy hat. He plays a lot of music now, and is a great photographer, and when he's shooting at some concert or festival, people ask for his autograph figuring he's got be famous and in one of the bands.

  Me, I always liked things a little out there, wore rings and bracelets as a JW and didn't put up with any shit about it when some self-righteous bro tried to make me feel guilty about it.

  This year I've let my hair grow long, I've lost 20 pounds and really muscled up, and when I want to dress like a musician or whatever, I do just what I want.

  It sucked to have all that fun and creativity suppressed for so long.

  S4
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  80

  Doctrinal ramifications of large increase in 2008 memorial partakers?

  by yadda yadda 2 in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  the nearly 10% increase in partakers at the memorial in the 2008 annual service report is a huge increase.

  there were increases in the previous years too.. this massive increase is no doubt attributeable to the 'new light' this year that the calling of the 'heavenly class' was not closed in 1935, as previously taught.

  the new understanding this year is that the calling of the 'anointed' class is 'evidently' still open.

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  Seeker4

  Yeah, I've heard that before. Those poor, ignorant folks in 3rd world countries just can't seem to grasp the deep intellectual aspects of The Truth - such as don't eat the bread and drink the wine!

  One year when there was a big jump they attributed it to the fact that the Iron Curtain had come down and now we had all the figures from the East European countries.

  Another time there was a big jump a COs wife told me that it seemed every congregation had a middle aged sister who hit menopause and suddenly decided she was anointed. It was funny, because that was true in my own congregation at the time. As elders, we kindly visited her to talk her out of partaking, but she's still at it, as far as I know!

  It couldn't possibly be that the WTS has an insane doctrine that 99.99% of it's 6 million members don't have Jesus as their mediator, that the Bible was not written for them, and that they cannot take part in the one thing Jesus commanded his followers to do until he returned? Oh yeah, and they ain't goin' to heaven, neither!

  S4