As A Kid I Was Told Armageddon Was Near, So I Wouldn’t Need A Job. Now I’m A BDSM Model.

[Anna]

6 hours ago, JW Insider said:

But there is still a lot of prejudice against pioneering in most congregations I know.

Did you mean to say higher education?

[TrueTomHarley]

42 minutes ago, Anna said:

Did you mean to say higher education?

Naw, his was that rouge congregation we used to hear about where even a ministerial servant appointment required a 6-year degree.

[Anna]

1 minute ago, TrueTomHarley said:

that rouge congregation

Did you mean to say rogue?

[TrueTomHarley]

7 minutes ago, Anna said:

Did you mean to say rogue?

No. It was an outlier congregation in every way. Even the guys wore makeup.

[JW Insider]

4 hours ago, Anna said:

Did you mean to say higher education?

Yes. Thanks. Hope no one was confused. Now I finally understand why CC gave me the downvote. 😉

[TrueTomHarley]

9 hours ago, JW Insider said:

Now I finally understand why CC gave me the downvote. 😉

THAT I can explain to you any day of the week with my eyes closed.

[Srecko Sostar]

23 hours ago, JW Insider said:

and ended up providing jobs for about 20 pioneers.

This remind me of similar here. A lot of years have passed since then, so I can’t say for sure when that was topical. But I think it started sometime after 1990. The former Yugoslavia in particular, and later Croatia, is late for the USA, so this idea is very easily a copy of what happened in your country.

Some brothers founded a company to make orthopedic insoles. So there were JW doctors involved, JW craftsmen and .... now this most interesting, a large number of JW pioneers and those who wanted to be pioneers and work for money. So, that "bunch" of pioneers were actually traveling traders who offered orthopedic insoles to people who had sore feet. They took footprints and sent them to Rijeka (a city on the sea) and I think Zagreb also. So these brothers and sisters regular pioneers (90 hours) had two roles, traveling pioneers and traveling merchants. At one point, it was no longer known when they were doing what, because the two activities were intertwined. This lasted for some time, but there were more and more problems in the spiritual-financial-management relations. I don’t know does something similar exist today, but I recall how that great idea of having a lot of pioneers and private business together ended ingloriously.

[Patiently waiting for Truth]

On 2/8/2021 at 6:55 AM, Srecko Sostar said:

 had two roles, traveling pioneers and traveling merchants

Wasn't the Apostle Paul and/or some of the other Apostles, Tent makers ?

So they too would have had two roles, one spiritual to serve God through Christ, one practical to earn the money they needed to live. 

[Patiently waiting for Truth]

On 2/7/2021 at 11:02 AM, JW Insider said:

On the other hand, I wish they didn't think that telling us how close we are to the end was so important.

Huh,  It brings the money in. Frighten people into the congregation, then tell those people to 'support' the Org.  They send out Witnesses into the 'field' to tell people the doom story. "You must enter the JW Org to be saved".  

On 2/7/2021 at 11:02 AM, JW Insider said:

Development of true Christian character (i.e., love for God and neighbor) has always been much more important than trying to find visible signs upon which to hang our faith in the promises.

YES You know that and I know that BUT it seems the GB and their helpers don't want to know that.  

On 2/7/2021 at 11:02 AM, JW Insider said:

And it wasn't the GB trying to get attention by continuing to "cry wolf" as you said above. That would be a sure way to get people to stop paying attention, just like it works out in the story of the boy who cried wolf.

The difference being that the Leaders of the Watchtower / Org  'cry wolf'  around every ten years or so. Hence the previous cry has been forgotten and it is a different 'audience' listening to the 'new cry'.  

[Srecko Sostar]

2 hours ago, 4Jah2me said:

Wasn't the Apostle Paul and/or some of the other Apostles, Tent makers ?

So they too would have had two roles, one spiritual to serve God through Christ, one practical to earn the money they needed to live. 

Yes, but he was his own boss :))