Anna

25 minutes ago, George88 said:

It is precisely for this reason that I strongly discourage the utilization of this particular website.

And yet here you are

10 hours ago, Anna said:

The admonition to abstain from blood seems pretty clear, I don't know how else one could interpret that..

My only wish is that not only fractions but also whole blood became a conscience matter, and not a disfellowshipping offense. Only because there  are some unanswered questions (although I did say it seems pretty clear to me).

6 hours ago, Thinking said:

I agree with him as well…all this thread does is make me stronger in my personal stand 

I'm kind of split in half......I can't make my mind up. The thought of having someone's blood pumped into my veins, that dark red bag hanging from the IV stand, makes me feel physically sick. But that may be because of years of "indoctrination". (I don't mean that in a bad way....just that this is what we have been taught and believe).

The main thing is how does Jehovah feel about it of course. The admonition to abstain from blood seems pretty clear, I don't know how else one could interpret that....I mean I know this whole thread has attempted that, but then some of the arguments get too ridiculous and again, remind me of the cat parody....

3 hours ago, TrueTomHarley said:

my ‘righteous years.

I had those too....and then I lived a little longer and began to understand more

6 hours ago, xero said:

Soul patches and hair donuts should be grounds for immediate disfellowshipping and so should those with man-buns.

What about man boobs?

8 hours ago, Many Miles said:

No worries. He's right. I love my crickets. They sing me to sleep. Unless one's in the house. That's dog just won't hunt! He's gotta go! But them ones outside, they be fine by me.

Now when the cicadas come out. They drown out my crickets and a soul can hardly sleep with all that noise.

But crickets? They be fine!

I like crickets and cicadas

By the way, since this is a beard thread I thought I would mention that so far we have one elder and two MS with a full beard, one elder with a soul patch, as of the midweek meeting. 

4 hours ago, TrueTomHarley said:

I think it indicates that people want a ‘king,’ somewhat like in Samual 8. They can’t handle subtle. They want a king.

4 hours ago, TrueTomHarley said:

I think those seeking the downfall of the earthly organization also resemble those Israelites who demanded a king. Those ancients couldn’t handle the seeming vagaries of judges popping up here and there. They wanted a king, with all the trimmings, that they could see strutting around at all times.Similarly, people look real closely into the GB, see it is composed of men who have all the differing idiosyncracies of the first century disciples and they can’t handle it. How can God’s direction come from such a human arrangement? They either want an undisputed miracle-backed single entity (which we all know is not going to happen today) or they want dissolution of the whole model, going back to a ‘Jesus and me’ model.

I tend to agree.

4 hours ago, Srecko Sostar said:

All in all, they shift all responsibility for their stupidity to God, because, well, that's God's way, not man's.

We don't need to worry about that.

Each person will render an account to God for what they did or didn't do, or say or didn't say. Romans 14:12.

53 minutes ago, TrueTomHarley said:

Judging from your down-home profile photo, you’re used to them.

Now, now boys, behave!

8 minutes ago, Anna said:

That's why there is a need for "new light" all the time. It's because some passages in the Bible are not easy to interpret and we got it wrong in the past.

That is why I think some of JWI's tongue in cheek* predictions are not too far fetched.

*(Or maybe he was being completely serious, not sure this time) 

16 hours ago, ComfortMyPeople said:

It could, from our point of view, have been made clearer.

I think the beard issue is a perfect example. I am talking about how unclear instructions can be sometimes. In 2016, as we all know, the beard article was written, and it was so ambiguous and unclear that for 7 years it caused problems until finally the GB were "forced" as it were, to make it black and white. 

Similarly, some Bible passages are unclear "from our point of view" (to out modern way of thinking). Sometimes it's as if we have to guess at the correct answer. And sometimes reading other scriptures on the same subject doesn't help. 

I think to understand some things that were written thousands of years ago correctly, we would have to think like  people did when these things were written. And this is not easy. Not only that, but we would have to know the culture too.

So just as a illustration, we can imagine that someone reading the 2016 WT two thousand years from now might get confused by it and not really understand if beards were ok or not. And imagine that they were setting up a new religion and they had to make a decision on beards. 

Maybe it's not a very good example, perhaps someone can think of a better one.

That's why there is a need for "new light" all the time. It's because some passages in the Bible are not easy to interpret and we got it wrong in the past.

12 hours ago, Pudgy said:

That means they only have two years to find those abandoned Gold Mines, and the “mother lode”under their property in Ramapo, NY. for the planned Sterling Mine Road upgrades.

https://rcbizjournal.com/2022/09/29/watchtower-bible-world-headquarters-project-in-ramapo-moves-ahead/

 

 

I have heard (from a reliable source) that Ramapo has hit another hiccup. The brother who moved there so he could help has been reassigned to a project on Long Island, NY where a new assembly hall is being built. (JWI might know something about that).

4 hours ago, Thinking said:

then each would have to stand before Jehovah on their decision..and have done the homework…

As it should be.

So, then, each of us will render an account for himself to God. (Ro 14:12)

3 hours ago, JW Insider said:

My speculations aren't worth the time to read them, but I'm guessing a timeline like the following: 

2024: No more Circuit Overseers. (The reason that the District Overseers were let go was not because they were costing too much money for cars, convention travel, etc, but because they tended to draw too close a connection between the Headquarters (WTBTS) and the direction followed within all the congregations. This resulted in some legal problems when WT lawyers claimed that the elders shepherd the flock on their own, and the guidance from HQ is not rule-based but only principle-based. But the same legal issue applies with Circuit Overseers.

2025: Shunning is now a matter of conscience. We should all be wary of our associations, but exactly how we implement a shunning policy is up to each one of us. Scriptures will include some Mosaic Law principles related to immediate family, and especially Jesus' parable of the Prodigal Son who was welcomed from afar off, before the father knew anything about motives or repentance.

2026: Blood related therapies in any form are now (officially) a matter of conscience. 

2027: All Bible prophecies said to have a specific fulfillment in 1918, 1919, 1921, . . even into the 1940's will now be officially off the books.

2028: Head coverings now a matter of conscience. But no sister will dare conduct in front of a brother without one.

2034: October 1st "JW Broadcast" and additional GB announcement on October 2nd both offer renewed speculation about 1914 + 120 years = 2034 (i.e. "on or about October 4th, 2034")

2034: Amidst winks and nods, and even some outright laughter, the Annual Meeting will be announced for Sunday October 8th 2034 with simulcasting everywhere to all congregations. Expect announcement that "after careful consideration over the previous several days" ...the 1914 doctrine will be dropped completely at this meeting on October 8th.

2034: Great Tribulation and Armageddon begins October 9, 2034.

Perfect! 😂 And all duly noted!

13 minutes ago, Anna said:

to speak clearly so that every Tom, Dick and Harry understood.

I hope this will become a future trend. 

If anyone has read the satirical piece about why Jehovah’s Witnesses should not own cats will know what I mean, and understand.

A lot of talk here about some possible ulterior motive to the lifting of the beard ban (although it hasn't been a "ban" for some years now, but still, WT illustrations kept using the no beard as a sign of spirituality). It really was a little hard to fathom whether the GB were for or against beards and were just trying to be subtle knowing there is no Biblicaly sound reason to outright ban them, but they didn't like them and wished no one really wore them. Sometimes WT's subtlety forces one to read between the lines, but often it can give those in responsible positions (elders) too much power because those bits between the lines can be individually interpreted. And this is evidently what happened. 

Finally the GB's hand was "forced" to speak clearly so that every Tom, Dick and Harry understood. After all, wouldn't it be silly if the brotherhood fell apart over a beard misunderstanding!

But has anyone wondered about all these pretty big changes (hour requirements, pulling two disfelliwshiping videos, another chance during the GT and beards) coming shortly after the rearrangement of the members of the GB? 

11 hours ago, Srecko Sostar said:

That demand for "answers" from GB is actually a reflection of the devastating spiritual condition of the flock in so called true Christianity aka JW Church.

You are looking at it wrongly 

13 hours ago, Pudgy said:

Since neither have any physical bodies, and any beards are just human artist’s concepts,

That wasn't the point

(I know that 😂)

16 hours ago, JW Insider said:

But we shouldn't try to keep up with Jehovah's organization because that would mean we will be "running ahead" of the earthly organization. In that case, keeping up with Jehovah's organization (the chariot) will cause division and show a bad attitude. It's always better to humbly stay behind Jehovah's organization, but keep up only with the earthly part of that organization. 

Yes, that was really weirdly worded. Makes no logical sense. What did they mean? It's one of those mind games/word salads that makes you scratch your head. 

37 minutes ago, TrueTomHarley said:

So it has proved today, with issues taking longer to resolve than you might hope would be the case

I wonder if head coverings will be next....Out in service this morning I asked the car group (of six) who wants to come with me (on a study), they can't be male though because I haven't got anything to put on my head...

I just found the remark about keeping up with Jehovah's chariot a little strange, and not quite sure what was meant by that.

"All of us need to remember that the earthly part of Jehovah's organization is always striving to reflect the heavenly part-to keep up with it, as it were. Remember how fast the chariot in Ezekiel's vision moved? Like flashes of lightning! (Ezek. 1:14) Any who seek to run ahead of that chariot, trying to force change prematurely,.."

It is obvious that the no wearing beards policy was never from Jehovah in the first place,, obviously not as he created men with the DNA to grow one. 

But somehow we have now compared this new decision  to the issue of circumcision in the 1st Century. Jehovah also created men with foreskins, but he was also the one to give the law about circumcision. But he never gave a law about needing to be clean shaven. That was a purely a man made law. So how was that trying to keep up with Jehovah's chariot and striving to reflect the heavenly part? Are they saying they failed in this regard? I think I would have probably left that part out....

1 hour ago, Thinking said:

he had a ned Kelly beard..( long one ) don’t know how he got away with it.

Obviously because he was 6'5!

4 hours ago, Pudgy said:

for all the ruined lives

I don't know Pudgy, isn't that being a little over dramatic?