How the New European Data Law Will Affect Jehovah’s Witnesses - My Take

[TrueTomHarley]

4 minutes ago, JOHN BUTLER said:

Or is it because they have exalted themselves with the title of 'Faithful and discreet slave', above all the anointed Earthwide ?

That is what Witness thinks. Go to her for your spiritual food if you like. She will never be stingy in supplying you with it.

[Srecko Sostar]

12 hours ago, Witness said:

 Then the prophet Jeremiah said to Hananiah the prophet, “Hear now, Hananiah, the Lord has not sent you, but you make this people trust in a lie. Jer 28:15

Gerrit Loesch:  “Since Jehovah God and Jesus Christ completely trust the faithful and discreet slave, should we not do the same?”

Excellent comparison ! Up-vote 

[TrueTomHarley]

1 hour ago, Srecko Sostar said:

Excellent comparison ! Up-vote 

You, too, like John, appear to be in search of a “true” anointed one. You have found her,  right here on the WorldwideMediaNews. And you didn’t even have to search.

[JOHN BUTLER]

3 hours ago, TrueTomHarley said:

That is what Witness thinks. Go to her for your spiritual food if you like. She will never be stingy in supplying you with it.

No thanks, I'll leave it to JW's to go to other humans for spiritual food. Until I find out who the Anointed really are then I don't think I will be taking much notice of what any person says. 

[Witness]

14 hours ago, TrueTomHarley said:

I gave a brief Witness to someone who quite obviously wore his righteousness on his sleeve, and he said “No thank you. I’m Christian”

(I would never do the following it were but an honest statement of fact. But—believe me on this—it was plainly meant to play the “Superior” card. “No thank you—I’m Christian” - to convey his judgement that I was not.)

”Actually, only a Christian would do what I am doing,” I told him. “Frankly, I’m a little surprised that you are not doing it yourself.”

Slowly fade smug smile.

It seems to be a superior opinion of yours, to believe he wasn't speaking about Christ, in some form or manner; or had great respect for his teachings.  

The Watchtower admitted at one point that they moved away from preaching about Jesus, and put their focus on "Jehovah".  I wondered why they would change the concept of the apostle's message centered on Christ, and shifted it to "Jehovah".  There is no balance in your "preaching".   The organization baptizes in the name of itself.  The apostles baptized in the name of Jesus; giving thanks to the Father for sending His Son.1 Cor 6:11

So, was there really a centralized organization to be acknowledged by the early Christians as you are continually taught, which bolsters your belief in Watchtower as the path to salvation?  Of course, to build an organization, one must suppress the true path God gave us for salvation, Jesus Christ; thus, the move to exalt "Jehovah's organization" over Jesus.  

 Can you see why the man said, "No thank you.  I'm Christian"?  

[TrueTomHarley]

“My territory is part of a large metro area and is apathetic and unintested. Middle class suburb that has achieved the American dream.”

Karen, you never know. Recently my wife and friend approached people at the service station. Her friend’s first contact was dismissive. So was my wife’s first contact. But the second person her friend spoke with said, “I think you must have been sent to me.” He spoke of his  16-year-old daughter who is trying to help a friend and it is starting to take a toll on her. “Well, we do have a website that offers a lot of practical help and...” my wife’s friend began and showed the magazine online Is Life Worth Living, which greatly interested the man. It turned out that my wife had a paper copy (they were working separately) and the friend sent her niece (they were a threesome) back to see if the fellow wanted it. (He did) “I know how hard it is to be 16,” the 16-year old niece said. 

The day prior my wife was making return visits with another sister who didn’t have any so my wife was pulling out all the stops. Being right in the area, she stopped in where a once seemingly interested woman had told her not to return because the boyfriend was opposed. “Maybe the creepy boyfriend has moved out,” my wife said. She spoke with the woman who answered the door, and got a puzzled expression on her face, and my wife realized that both of them had moved out and this was someone new. So she explained what she had been doing and the woman told her that her husband’s friend had just taken his life. This, too, made the magazine Is Life Worth Living? just the right food at the right time. 

These experiences are many. Don’t assume that the fancy suburbs are immune to them. They are not. The facades just hide the problems inside.  Do what you are doing, friendly as can be. If it is safe, work alone from time to time, with a companion just within sight, or even all by yourself—it helps you think of your ministry and nothing else. Don’t worry about English being your second language. If anyone puts you down for not being polished, agree with them. It is ordinary people that make up the congregations. It always has been. “For you behold his calling of you, brothers,” the apostle wrote at 1 Corinthians 1:26, “that not many wise in a fleshly way were called, not many powerful, not many of noble birth.” Say to whoever you must: “It would be nice to have sent someone smoother, but they are not available, so you are stuck with me.” 

What does Srecko or Jack have to offer on these matters? What might they reply? That there are agencies? That there are anti-depressants? People routinely fall through the cracks of sieve-like agencies, and they do not necessarily help long term (and sometimes even short) even when they are firing on all cylinders. What people need is a fresh way of thinking to help them cope, and a source of power greater than themselves. They may or may not grab hold of what we offer, but it is certainly well to offer it.

The JW year text for the present year is Isaiah 41:10: “Do not be anxious, for I am your God.” The year text of the greater world? So far as I can tell, it is “S**t happens. Maybe we can hold someone accountable and make them take responsibility.” I like ours better.

Last year it was “S**t happens. Maybe we can vote out these current turkeys and vote in a new crop of politicians who will fix things.” I forget what the JW one was for last year, but I do remember that I liked  it better.

[JOHN BUTLER]

Another JW comparing the JW Org to the 'rest of the world'. Oh dear. 

Living in my house is much better than living in a sewer you know.  

That is the comparison these people are using.

If Tom wants to quote Forrest Gump so be it.  Quite funny this 'being no part of the world' but quoting a worldly film. 

Oh by the way Tom, whilst you are saying that your wife or friend helped a 16 year old, I'd like to remind you that lots of teenagers are desperate to leave the JW Org and many have already left it. 

And can you be sure that the message you offer today will be the same message you offer next week, or will the GB / writing dept have changed the meaning of scriptures again  

 

[TrueTomHarley]

The suggestion to lead with a scripture is not something original on my part. From time to time it has been suggested by the theocratic organization. I have run with it as a staple more than is usually emphasized, but the idea is not mine. I mean, how can it be going off on one’s own tangent by leading with a scripture? If one finds that it works well. one tends to do it more and more, and that has been the case with me.

Similarly, the working with the video ‘Would You Like Good News’? which leads to the ‘Good News From God’ table of contents & the invitation to the householder to choose any one he/she likes was not my idea at all. That came from the circuit overseer on his last visit. I was at almost every meeting for field service and he worked to make us all familiar with how videos could be used. Not once did he mention the current CLAM presentation of ‘Where are the Dead?’ Was he going off on his own tangent & thinking he knew better than God’s organization? No, he is just showing that there are a lot of ways to present the good news and he was putting emphasis on a method that works well.

Q: Recently I went out with one of our elders and was a little disappointed when he was only delivering tracts. He was not trying to initiate conversation at all. 

Q2: Different ones will often fall back on old habits, even bad ones (and even Elders).

Q2, I am going to be very very bold here and suggest that if he is merely offering tracts and making no effort to start conversations it is because he finds the suggested presentations cumbersome and awkward, and he would benefit by trying the scripture-first or the video one. I mean, he is an elder. He wants to be seen taking the lead. Everyone varies the pace and settings vary, as does one’s mood on any given day. Yet limiting one’s ministry to offering tracts with no effort to converse is faithful, but it is not taking the lead, and unless I am very mistaken, his conscience is letting him hear about it (unless he has switched into auto-pilot, turning it off.)

One disadvantage of some of the CLAM presentations is that they require getting one’s head around. They require preparation. One advantage of the scripture-first or the Would You Like to Hear Good News presentation is that they do not—to just read a verse with a sentence or two as to why you chose it is not hard. We all know the experience of working with a new presentation and the first householder or two becomes a lab rat while we work the bugs out. The problem is gone with scripture or video first.

Q3: I also try to talk about something that is interesting to any person, to cite a scripture and direct the person to our website at the end of the presentation

Yes. Whatever works. By all means give the suggested presentations a try, even a workout if you like, but don’t feel that they must be adhered to in order to be following Jehovah’s direction. 

[Melinda Mills]

8 hours ago, TrueTomHarley said:

Q: Recently I went out with one of our elders and was a little disappointed when he was only delivering tracts. He was not trying to initiate conversation at all. 

Q2: Different ones will often fall back on old habits, even bad ones (and even Elders).

Q2, I am going to be very very bold here and suggest that if he is merely offering tracts and making no effort to start conversations it is because he finds the suggested presentations cumbersome and awkward, and he would benefit by trying the scripture-first or the video one. I mean, he is an elder. He wants to be seen taking the lead. Everyone varies the pace and settings vary, as does one’s mood on any given day. Yet limiting one’s ministry to offering tracts with no effort to converse is faithful, but it is not taking the lead, and unless I am very mistaken, his conscience is letting him hear about it (unless he has switched into auto-pilot, turning it off.)

Truly disappointing, but maybe he (the elder) is normally very good, but was trying very hard to not make (you or whoever it was) intimidated or feel uncomfortable because of his status. You never know.  The person should work with him another time and see what happens. It is best not to form an opinion on the first instance. 

The organization has always said that if your presentation works for you, continue it.  There are so many suggested presentations that it is hard to remember them all.  But I always endeavour to try them.   Most are practical and well thought out.  But I like my presentations the best. When the presentation is truly you own, it comes alive. When one has enthusiasm and uses practical illustrations and one speaks from the heart the person is spellbound and listens well.   Last Wednesday I found myself saying to a sister, who just joined our congregation, on approaching an elderly lady:  "No don't offer the new copy, offer this one (the one on "Will we Ever Feel Safe?"), the old lady's face lit up when she saw the magazine.  (We were offering it for two months and she did not get  a copy) Then again I got the urge to tell the sister, no don't use that scripture, use this.  Micah 4:3,4.   The lady's face lit up again.  (The sister is a very good reader, you should have heard her read it.) I don't know why I did it, I don't usually do it. But it worked.  We had a good chat and the lady sent love to another Witness who is known to her.  I plan to remind the sister to go back to the lady and will go with her if she wants.  We have all ammunition in our bags, magazines of all subjects, tracts, videos, etc.  But I think we are the ones that make the presentations successful, because we can light up the day for people by our zeal and conviction, enthusiasm, our loving interest, etc.  Imagine Jesus giving the sermon on the Mount. He was not dead pan or robot--like. 

[Evacuated]

16 hours ago, TrueTomHarley said:

Q: Recently I went out with one of our elders and was a little disappointed when he was only delivering tracts.

I suppose most of us feel that we want to make some sort of impression when we witness to people. I don't mean "impress" in the sense of "bigging ourselves up" (although, sadly, maybe some seek to do this), more in the sense that we want them to take note of what we are sharing with them.

We do actually care about the people we talk to and the fact that the way of life we recommend  will bring them immediate benefits, let alone the promises for the future. I currently study with a former heroin user. They are almost clear of drug dependency now, on a managed program, and this will be completed by the end of summer. This is completely due to motivation from Jehovah, provided through the Bible Study program, and in the year's duration of the study there have been no relapses to the amazement of support workers. Tobacco, cannabis, and other substance abuse have also been left behind. To see the tangible benefits enjoyed by this person physically, mentally, and spiritually as they get their life back is a real joy.

So it does not matter what method or media is used to bring a person into contact with Jehovah and the healing power of his spirit as expressed through his living word. (Heb.4:12). "True worshippers will worship the Father with spirit and truth". Remember, "the Father is looking for such like ones to worship him".John 4:24. 

Don't underestimate the power of a tract to spark a fire in an honest heart that cannot be put out . (Compare James 3:5:  "See how small a fire it takes to set a great forest ablaze"). My first encounter with Jehovah's Witnesses was by means of a tract that got into my house. It escaped my mother's predatory Roman Catholic surveilance of all things sans Imprimatur and fell into my curious hands. The information it presented piqued my curiosity for the next 12 years until I finally sourced a contact with those who had produced it. Oh yes, it may fall into the category of literature that now embarasses the likes of John Butler, but for me it was the key to a better life with immediate benefits, and a future hope. Here is an extract from the tract. What intrigued me most was who on earth were these sheep that Jesus died for, and what was the creature in the tree with Adam and Eve?

From the day I got that tract, I registered every media mention (and otherwise) of Jehovah's Witnesses, but I never met one until finally I sought them out over 12 years later.

I was 8 years old when I got that first tract. 

 

[JW Insider]

9 minutes ago, Outta Here said:

and what was the creature in the tree with Adam and Eve?

We thought that all snakes had legs up until they were cursed to travel on their belly and eat dust.

[Evacuated]

6 minutes ago, JW Insider said:

We thought that all snakes had legs

And I thought it was an Eden Iguana!     https://encircleworldphotos.photoshelter.com/image/I0000Cii27nwox5w