Posts by jonahstourguide

25

Another One Bites the Dust!

by freddo in

jw
friends

it's goodbye to bristol - hengrove congregation of jw's and the inmates ... err ... members, will be sent to two other bristol congregations either side of it.. i'm told by two elders from bristol, england it is being disbanded on may 1st 2018. this is the 2nd congregation in this circuit to be disbanded recently - the 1st being portishead in late 2014.. hooray!.

jonahstourguide

well folks,

For wot its worth. The word on the street in Melbourne Australia is that Williamstown, St Kilda and Kealba halls are earmarked for sale and congregants will need to travel elsewhere. There have already been some shifts with Vietnamese and other foreign groups. At the recent MS school the attendees were told to expect a reconfiguration of territories and meeting places. This was met with riotous laughter untill the speaker stated "We are not joking, be prepared". So, there you go,,, we will see.

jtg

Will keep you posted of developments. The speaker stated this would happen within the next twelve months.

15

Regarding this so called judgment message..

by nowwhat? in

will our fearless leaders the gb call a news conference and invite all the major news networks and outlets and put their asses on the line and declare "you are all doomed!

" or will they have the rank and file do all the dirty work while they sit back in their gated corporate country club?!

ask any jdub that question!.

jonahstourguide

Well, for wot its worth. in the months and years to come, they could always twist their "join us or die" message as having been a judgement message since 1914 !?. I raised this aspect with a 'pee in your ear' eldub and believe it or not he said "you know what,, you may have a point" Unbelievable!!!!!!!!

jtg

edit,,,, of course with no scriptural basis.

17

So is there any truth to more Northeast Ohio congregations being merged or dissolved?

by My Name is of No Consequence in

i know of some congregations and even circuits that have already met this fate recently.

are there any more to come for certain?.

jonahstourguide

Hey stuckinarut2, in Melbourne its starting also. Two bayside khalls are earmarked for sale and congregants will be told to go elsewhere. A foreign language group has already moved to another hall.

jtg

10

The most pressing question on people's minds? Watchtower artwork & Paul's Baldness!!!

by doubtfull1799 in

with hundreds, if not thousands, of letters being sent in to the society asking for answers re their child abuse policies and poorly supported doctrines, what does the watchtower decide is the most important question from readers to answer this month?

why is paul always depicted as bald apparently!.

???????

jonahstourguide

In the actual quote from wikipedia regarding the above mentioned apocryphal book. He was described as 'middling', not short. ,,,

"Paul is given a full physical description that may reflect oral tradition: in the Syriac text "he was a man of middling size, and his hair was scanty, and his legs were a little crooked, and his knees were projecting, and he had large eyes [8] and his eyebrows met, and his nose was somewhat long, and he was full of grace and mercy; at one time he seemed like a man, and at another time he seemed like an angel.""

fwiw.

jtg

14

New NWT, then and now - a comparison of the 2013 NWT, 2013 vs 2017.

by MeanMrMustard in

acts 2:9. old text:.

acts 2:10. old text:.

acts 2:11. old text:.

jonahstourguide

Love your work triple M,

And thank you for it mate,

jtg

16

Gradualism for the blood doctrine?

by no-zombie in

here in australia, during the service meeting this week, the local needs part was taken up to quickly discuss a letter from the organization stating that there will no longer be a annual meeting part to discuss or remind the congregations about their blood cards.. i found this quite odd.. its not like that there is a shortage of meeting time to discuss this issue, as the society has recently been hijacking more and more local needs parts for its own messages.

and for a supposedly important doctrine, you would think that it should be mentioned more often rather than less, to keep everyone in line.. could this be a beginning of the movement away from the blood doctrine, through the process of gradualism?.

no-zombie .

jonahstourguide

Our meeting was Thursday night and we just got a re-hash of disaster bags. Melbourne.

Keep Ya posted on next weeks meeting.

jtg.

11

Is this a World Wide Pattern?

by Slidin Fast in

jw
friends

hundreds baptized at jehovah's witness convention.

at first sight this afican rc looks as though it's acheiving the quantity of baptisms of another era.

348 is a substantilal number and impressive until you see the sunday attendance 28,300. so a baptism rate of 1.2%, in africa.

jonahstourguide

Well, for what its worth, in Australia.

Regional convention last weekend in Melbourne at the Assembly Hall, recently re-furbished for just under 2 million dollars. Figures are as follows: Attendance 1,656

Baptized 7

Ages approx. 11, 12, 15, 19, 25, 45, 90. (first three born-ins)

So, am I correct in seeing a less than .5% increase??

However, the weather was not too bad for Melbourne and I enjoyed many a long walk through the grounds thereafter,,,,,,, It's healthy to walk I'm told.

jtg

29

Do they take the GB seriously?

by Tech49 in

jw
friends

so this is an honest question that i have been thinking about for some time.. do regular jehovahś witnesses in other countries (other than the usa) take the governing body in new york seriously?.

i mean, i cant help but wonder about the publishers in japan, or south africa, or mexico, or new zealand, or even the uk, or spain, or italy...... or russia?.

not you and i (we know what you think of them), but the regular jwś...... do they take these american buffoons seriously?

jonahstourguide

Um, from my position in Oz, land down under also, NO.

jtg...

PS I got a few in friends that are with me on this.

19

"No junk mail". How witnesses ignore these signs!

by stuckinarut2 in

as we know, many people have "no junk mail" signs on their home letterboxes.

this clearly means that they do not want unsolicited mail or advertising material.. so how are witnesses getting around this?.

during the campaign to distribute the convention invitations, when they come across a house with "no junk mail", they are just putting the leaflet inside an envelope and hand writing "to the householder" on the front and putting it in the letterbox!.

jonahstourguide

Ok Stuck, My bad, the instruction to address to person directly is an wt directive to pubs here in Victoria as I understand it. I re read my post !!. I wasn't clear enough. I also get the to the hh junk mail. But, I will also look further into that. However I keep junkmail reply paid envelopes, jam them full of junk mail and send them off to the addressee.......

jtg

19

"No junk mail". How witnesses ignore these signs!

by stuckinarut2 in

as we know, many people have "no junk mail" signs on their home letterboxes.

this clearly means that they do not want unsolicited mail or advertising material.. so how are witnesses getting around this?.

during the campaign to distribute the convention invitations, when they come across a house with "no junk mail", they are just putting the leaflet inside an envelope and hand writing "to the householder" on the front and putting it in the letterbox!.

jonahstourguide

Here in Australia the Freedom of religion right ceases at the front gate and, if the occupant of a property puts up a "do not knock" sign "no hawkers" or, "no trespassers", your right of access to the property has been denied. If you knock, you break the law. If a no junk mail sign is on the mailbox, no literature is to be placed therein. Any mail you try to place in the mailbox must be addressed to the person directly and not simply "to the householder"

Most jw's that I know respect any occupants' request in this matter. There are of course the uber zealous and illiterate ones, as there are in society generally.

I must say, there is an increase in signs stating jws directly as not being welcome.

The best one I've heard of is where the occupants sign states that "before you knock. be aware that a charge rate of au$50.00 per minute will be made for any religious discussion. If you agree with this then feel free to knock". I kid you not its a ripper. apparently a few of them have been spotted.

jtg