Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 15:41 — 11.9MB) | Embed
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | RSS | More
[From ws1/18 p. 12 for March 5 – March 11]
“How good and how pleasant it is…to dwell together in unity!”—PS. 133:1.
We find immediate issues with accuracy in the first sentence of the opening paragraph where the claim is made that “’God’s people’ will assemble for the memorial.” That expresses an opinion of the organization rather than a fact. It would be accurate to say “Jehovah’s Witnesses” instead of “God’s people”.
The final sentence then states “Each year, this observance is the most amazing unifying event that takes place on planet Earth.”
According to Wikipedia at least, “The Arba’een Pilgrimage is the world’s largest public gathering that is held every year in Iraq. And last year was estimated at between 20 and 30 million.”
Perhaps what is more important to our discussion here though is the claim that the observance is unifying.
At this point, we would invite comments from our readers. Does the highly formalized way the emblems are passed with no one partaking create a sense of unity? And how about the ritualistic manner in which the emblems are passed between the servers and the speaker? Does this evoke images of the loving manner in which Jesus introduced the “Lord’s Evening Meal”?
Paragraph 2 opens by saying “We can only try to imagine how Jehovah and Jesus must rejoice as they observe hour after hour millions of earth’s inhabitants attending this special event until that day ends.” So let us examine this thought. What happens at the memorial? There is a talk, then a prayer and the bread is passed round, and then another prayer and the wine is passed round. But, except in very rare instances, no one partakes. Are Jehovah and Jesus happy with this? Let the words of Jesus himself answer. “Most truly I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in yourselves. He that feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has everlasting life, and I shall resurrect him at the last day;” (John 6:53-54). From this would you conclude Jesus is happy at the symbols of his body and blood just being passed round, rather than eaten and drunk? Or does it sadden him to see so many turning down the opportunity to obey his command.
The article then goes on to discuss the following four questions:r
- How can we individually prepare for the Memorial and benefit from attending it?
- In what ways does the Memorial influence the unity of God’s people?
- How can we personally contribute to that unity?
- Will there ever be a final memorial? If so, when?
This year we are not even treated to a flawed discussion on “Should we or shouldn’t we partake?” and on what Jesus death means for us. No, it seems the most important point to take away from the memorial this year is “unity”.
So in paragraph 4 discussing question (1) they immediately try to guilt us into attending.
“Remember, congregation meetings are part of our worship. Surely Jehovah and Jesus take note of who makes the effort to attend this most important meeting of the year.”
The subtext to this sentence is: You are being watched from above. If you don’t attend, then you may go into Jesus’ black book. Then they take off the cotton gloves:
“Frankly we want them [Jehovah and Jesus] to see that unless it is physically or circumstantially impossible, we will be present at the Memorial….When we show by our actions that meetings for worship are important to us, we give Jehovah added reason to keep our name in his ‘book of remembrance’ – ‘the book of life’“.
How this message from the organization contrasts to the message given by Jesus in the Scriptures. In John 4:23-24 Jesus says “the true worshipers will worship the Father with spirit and truth”. James wrote under inspiration in James 1:26-27 “If any man seems to himself to be a formal worshiper [going to 2 meetings a week, and the assemblies and memorial every year] and yet does not bridle his tongue, but goes on deceiving his own heart, this man’s form of worship is futile.” What type of worship was not futile? James continues “The form of worship that is clean and undefiled from the standpoint of our God and Father is this: to look after orphans and widows in their tribulation, and to keep oneself without spot from the world.”
Try as you will, you will not find one scripture that supports the idea that we need to meet to worship. Rather as Jesus said in John 4, it’s how we live our lives. Are we truthful? Do we teach truth? Do we display the fruits of the spirit? It is this display of the fruits of the spirit that shows our love, honour, respect and worship for our heavenly Father, not showing our faces at a meeting. Finally, being at a meeting, even the memorial will not lead to our being written in the ‘book of life’, if we ignore Jesus clear statement quoted above “unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in yourselves.”
Paragraph 5 suggests that “In the days leading up to the Memorial, we can set aside time to examine prayerfully and carefully our personal relationship with Jehovah (Read 2 Corinthians 13:5)”. We concur wholeheartedly with that statement. But I am sure our readers have already spotted the glaring omission. It is the Memorial of Christ’s death. Why are we not also examining carefully our personal relationship with Jesus Christ, our Saviour and our Mediator? (1 Timothy 2:5-6, Acts 4:8-12)
After all, Israelites and then the 1st Century Jews might strive to have a personal relationship with Jehovah, but Jesus coming to earth and giving his life as a ransom sacrifice changed all that. John 14:6 quotes Jesus words saying “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” Therefore if we do not have a relationship with Jesus, how can we have a relationship with Jehovah?
The paragraph continues “How can we do that? By ‘testing whether we are in the faith’. To do that, we do well to ask ourselves: ‘Do I really believe that I am part of the only organization that Jehovah has approved to accomplish his will?” If only our dear brothers and sisters would actually take time to examine prayerfully and carefully this statement. Sadly most Witnesses will read this and automatically respond ‘Of course I believe that’ without thinking about the question: How and when did Jehovah clearly show he had approved the organization as the only one to accomplish his will? To which of course the answer is, there is no evidence he has chosen any particular organization currently on earth.
If the answer to this question is No, (which it certainly is on my part) then how can we answer the majority of the pointed questions that follow because they all involve compliance with the organization’s interpretation and requirements for doing anything? Such as “Am I doing my utmost to preach and teach the good news of the kingdom [according to the organization]?” We cannot preach and teach an incorrect version of the good news, we therefore need to ascertain what real good news the Bible gives us before we can preach it and teach it.
In the same line of thought, we have: “Do my actions show that I truly believe that these are the last days and that the end of Satan’s rule is near?” As Jesus clearly said in Mark 13:32 “No one knows the day or hour”. These may be the last days, or they may not be. No one knows. Nevertheless, we can show by our actions that we are true Christians regardless of where we are in God’s timetable.
The final question in this paragraph is “Do I have the same confidence in Jehovah and Jesus now that I had when I dedicated my life to Jehovah God?” The real question should be, ‘Do I have more confidence in Jehovah and Jesus?’ The answer to this question depends on a number of things.
- Have we personally made an in-depth study of God’s Word the Bible to understand for ourselves what it really teaches, the good news and what is God’s will for us?
- How much has the realisation that we have been taught untruths shaken our faith in God’s word?
- Have we learnt from the experience so that we always double-check properly in the Scriptures anything we are told?
We need to beware because the Organization’s misdirection continues in paragraph 6 where we are encouraged to “read and meditate on Scriptural material that discusses the significance of the Memorial.” To do this would continue to fill our minds with the Organization’s interpretation of these events. If we want accuracy and truth we should always go to the original witness (God’s Word the Bible) rather than through a third party, especially as the original witness is still available to us.
In paragraph 8 when discussing Ezekiel 37:15-17 and the stick for Judah and the stick for Joseph we are treated to another case of ‘When does a prophecy also have an antitype? Whenever it suits us, although we will say ‘Only when the Bible itself clearly indicates it’. This means that the organization hopes all Witnesses will swallow the fabrication hook, line and sinker by assuming that the Bible clearly indicates it is an antitype solely on the basis that the Watchtower says so. The first five paragraphs of the “Question from Readers” are okay, but the last four paragraphs are purely conjecture in an attempt to bolster the false teaching of two groups of righteous people (the anointed and the great crowd). The desperation to do this shows through with the statement of the final paragraph where it says “Although the ten-tribe kingdom does not usually picture those with the earthly hope, [we will make it do so this time to support our fallacious argument] the unification described in this prophecy does remind us of the unity that exists between those with an earthly hope and those with a heavenly hope.“ [words in brackets ours].
Paragraph 9 then makes more of this interpretation of Ezekiel suggesting that the “unity described in Ezekiel is clearly evident each year as the anointed remnant and the other sheep gather to observe the Memorial of Christ’s death!” Really? Most congregations do not have a member claiming to be ‘anointed’. In those that do have such a member in reality it can cause disunity because of the ‘celebrity status’ bestowed on the ‘anointed’ one as this can lead to others claiming ‘anointing’ to receive the same status. Of course, now there are also those of us who through prayer and conscientious study of God’s word believe that all true Christians should partake. (See this previous article for a more in depth discussion)
Once again we are reminded in paragraph 10 to cultivate humility. Sadly, it seems the Organization only believes developing this quality is of use in being able to “help us to be submissive to those taking the lead”. There is no mention of those taking the lead striving to maintain their humility and avoiding “lording it over those who are God’s inheritance, but becoming examples to the flock” (1 Peter 5:3) thereby making it easier for the flock to follow their lead.
The article then goes on to touch on the significance of the emblems used during the Memorial citing 1 Corinthians 11:23-25. In discussing these verses the article omits to highlight that Jesus said “Keep doing this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.” He did not say ‘Only you of the anointed should drink it, the great crowd should only watch it passed round.’
After encouraging us not to hold grudges and to try to be peacemakers to keep unity by forgiving our imperfect brothers and sisters, they quote Ephesians 4:2 to remind us we should be “putting up with one another in love”. That is what we should do as much as we can. However, it then goes on to make a generalization in paragraph 14 which most, if not all victims of child sexual abuse and grave injustices, would find hard to take. It says “In our congregations there are found all sorts of people whom Jehovah has drawn to him. (John 6:44) Since Jehovah has drawn them to him, he must find them lovable. How, then, could any of us judge a fellow worshipper as being unworthy of our love?” Here we face a serious question. It is true that Jehovah draws people to Jesus and himself as John 6 states. It is also a fact that good people can get corrupted by bad associations, even as did Adam and Eve and millions since then. Jehovah and Jesus have love for all mankind as they do “not desire any to be destroyed” and have provided the ransom so that all that repent of wrongdoing can have life everlasting . (2 Peter 3:9) However this does not mean that Jehovah finds a child molester (along with other serious sinners) as lovable simply because they are in the congregation. They have to repent and truly turn around. The very fact that they exist in the congregations of Jehovah’s Witnesses would argue against it being his organization. The verses in John 6 show that he draws people to himself and Jesus, there is no indication of any imperfect organization being drawn to him. There may therefore be fellow worshippers who either have not been drawn by God, but are there for their own selfish ends, and who are no longer worshipping God in spirit and truth.
In conclusion, yes, we should celebrate the Memorial, and meditate on what it means for us and our relationship with our saviour Jesus Christ. But as to it being a unifying event for Jehovah’s Witnesses, that is a highly questionable assumption.
That was a fine witness Brain, maybe it will start some thinking and questioning.
One things for sure you honoured Christ and his command in front of men , heaven was listening.
Thanks for sharing the experience. Will share it to a trusted friend. 🙂
Thank you Tadua, and Eric for this site and clear reasoning on the scriptures.
Last year I couldn’t bring myself to attend the memorial being ‘awake’ to their false teachings and their ritualistic memorial meeting. This site has helped me to see that there is nothing wrong in partaking of the bread and wine. This year I plan to do so at home.
Hi Amitafal. For 2-3 years already, a day before the Org’s Memorial, we as a family did a re-enactment of the Lord’s evening meal, the Memorial.
We prepared our own home-cooked unleavened bread. I let the children and my wife read passages from the Bible about Jesus and the occasion. We still remember watching Youtube videos about Jesus. Then finally we partake of the bread.
In essence, we did it successfully only it’s outside of the walls of the Kingdom Hall. 🙂
Very nice you can do that as a family Mailman. There are a lot of good videos on YouTube dealing with Jesus, kinda makes JWorg a bit redundant .
Do you feel having your own family memorial has benefitted them in any specific way?
Jesus’ words to “Keep doing this in remembrance of me”, has become a recruiting vehicle for the organization. People that we refer to as “wordly”, all of a sudden become special targets for admission into the “only organization” being used by God today. Then we tell them that Christ is not their mediator; they’re not in the New Covenant; not going to heaven; the Bible wasn’t written for them; you get the picture. And those of us who are anointed are put under a gag order not to say anything about our hope. “Ambassadors substituting for Christ” are being told… Read more »
Paragraph 9 states: “Now both groups serve unitedly under one King—the glorified Jesus Christ, who is prophetically spoken of as God’s “servant David.” (Ezek. 37:24,25) (Ezekiel 37:24,25 My servant David will be their king, and they will all have one shepherd. They will walk in my judicial decisions and carefully observe my statutes. They will dwell on the land that I gave to my servant, to Jacob, where your forefathers lived, and they will dwell on it forever, they and their children and their children’s children; and David my servant will be their chieftain forever. Insight 1 page 634 paragraph… Read more »
Hang on a moment ! Who separated the anointed and the Great Crowd in the first place ?
In Israel it was the 10 tribe Kingdom which rebelled. In JW. Org it was the GB which made the divisions in 1935 and have persisted in dividing them ever since.
There is a parallel. Where is it ? It’s just a prophecy which was fulfilled many years ago.
For a different perspective the apostles were not yet anointed on the night they partook. The anointing happened after his resurrection
Agree. Isn’t it anointing of the apostles came on Pentecost when they along with the other disciples were filled by the Holy Spirit?
Hence, they were not yet technically anointed yet.
Jesus’ invitation is so simple to reach the hearts of ordinary people yet the organization’s leaders have made it complicated.
Our Lord said: Eat and drink. Governing Body aka Faithful and Discreet Slave: Watch and pass. Who shall we follow?
Deep Thanks to Tadua & All here,blessed with such insights,comments,as make me feel- acutely,brothers and sisters,each of your individual perplexities,and active pains;trauma…over what the org.covers up or dims;deflects(at the very least)our Lord’s clear,simple direction to(as Robert pointed out)Actively partake;not’observe’. I too am torn this year over’attending’at the local hall;it’d be my 3rd year partaking at a hall(and harshly-outright’judged’for such,right after,in a previous hall).Last year at the new hall(&the only time I was there),the attendant actually gasped”no!”enough for others nearby to hear,as I reached for the cracker piece.I cannot describe fully how- a’flash’instantaneously appeared between us;my split-second gaze then up to… Read more »
Thanks for the review and all the comments. This article is another nail in the control system, this control system is so effective that majority of jw don’t care to reason on it, they swallow every bit of information from GB hook line and sinker. Their thinking faculty is on a default setting: listen(to GB), obey (GB), and be blessed. Despite apostle Paul, Peter, John’s warning to “make sure of all things”, ” another good nnews”, “false teachers”, ” not to believe all inspired sayings ” but to examine if it conforms with the Scripture, making it a personal responsibility,… Read more »
To address some of the questions brought up here on this subject we only need to consider the methods of control that the organization has incorporated over the decades. The memorial being just one of many. The memorial has just been another way to install control and obedience. 1- The talk reinforces the two class system every year to the R&F and preps any new ones and Bible studies who may show to start thinking in this manner. 2-The brothers passing the emblems are an intimidation tool as they are watching for partakers. 3- The Group peer pressure “not to… Read more »
I partake at home by myself as I don’t know any others who I can share the memorial with in this way – I don’t attend meeting s anymore When I did attend the Kingdom Hall for the memorials they always lacked in enthusiasm and soulfulness – over the years when I had invited friends to come along , they commented to me how confusing and low energy the service was and had no inclination to go back I also have wonderered why such a big effort the organization asks the b&s to invite the public – as the original… Read more »
Par.5-How do they explain GB member Geoffrey Jackson’s answer to the ARC that it would be presumptuous to conclude that we, (JW’s), are the only ones God is using as his spokespersons? I’m tempted to give this comment at the meeting.
I feel sorry for poor old Geoffrey , he ran out of balls at the critical moment, Ime sure he’s going to regret what he said that day.
The event is called Memorial Observance (not sure if it was always called that way). In other words, it is to observe as spectator the memorial…..how can one explain this? Either it is a memorial or not. It now has become an event that one can observe. Actually, if that is the case, you do not have to be there…you could observe it from anywhere… right?
How can they call themselves a Christian organisation if they are not even able to organize a proper memorial for the death of Jesus and have all participating or partaking in the event.
So I heard that the memorial’s sequel a.k.a the ‘special talk’ is going to be a video broadcast this year. I hope someone interesting to watch like brother Lett would be starring in it. Otherwise I like to vote for Caleb and Sophia: the movie so at the very least we can all stay awake instead of taking a sneaky naps when the lights dim down.
Good point, Candace. It was also mentioned that this talk would serve the purpose of showing Elders how public talks are supposed to be given. So, it becomes an instructional video, taking the focus off our Lord Jesus Christ.
As one born into the “truth” At around the age of 30 when I began to seriously question things around me in the congregation,I began to wonder at the tradition of passing around the emblems at the Memorial. I asked many a “mature Brother” including Circuit Overseers as to the origins and the necessity of doing this, why we did this,what was the point, what was the significance of the exercise? I would say what would be the difference of just leaving them all on the table on the platform? As there was, most of the time nobody ever there… Read more »
Hi Tadua. What an excellent dissection of the article on unity, sorry, the memorial. Both this week and last week, and goodness knows how many other articles recently, we are treated to the reminders (Para 12,13) to be forgiving, to be peacemakers. Is there really such a serious problem in the congregations ? Yet we could easily discuss the importance of truth (Eph 4:15), or maybe some details about the memorial, such as how it was an identifying mark for all first century Christians, how passing it among each other (Luke 22:17) was meant with the intention of sharing the… Read more »
Hello all,
Thanks Tadua for your review. One point I noted was in the opening sentence in paragraph 9 of the wt study it says “9 From the year 1919 onward, Jehovah first gradually reorganized and reunited the anointed, who were symbolically like the stick “for Judah.”” Ephesians 5:23 says that Christ is head of the congregation. If any reorganising was done wouldn’t it be by Jesus and not Jehovah?
It is amazing what unity can do.
Israel unitedly made a golden calf and started worshipping it, they also unitedly demanded a human king, they also unitedly demanded Jesus be executed, and on memorial night they will unitedly reject the new covenant ,yes unity is a wonderful thing.
So much flawed reasoning on the part of WT, and so little time to refute it. It’s disheartening to even think about it, much less to feel obligated to pick this article apart and show up all of its shortcomings. 1. First, let’s point out the obvious: Luke 22:19: “Keep doing this in remembrance of me.” WT: ‘Keep observing this, in remembrance of me.’ In order for one’s beliefs and actions to be “in the truth” you have to go back to the beginning and note the original command. That command is not being followed, but rather, an unscriptural substitute.… Read more »
Thank you Tadua for another great summary and break down of the watchtower. I found it shocking about he stress on unity and uniformity, obedience to the organization being most important, not the sacrifice our King made for us. As a fairly new “woken” jw it is very hard to break the conditioning to not partake. It’s actually scary to think of, shows how deep life long indoctrination runs. I don’t know what I will do this year but partaking in front of others I am not sure I am ready for. But Jesus own words bring out we should… Read more »
Hi Pekanman. I know what you mean about the memorial. I was off the same mind until a couple of months ago. Not sure where you are in the world but there is an excellent UK website that discusses the Memorial. It is http://reachouttrust.org/watchtower-memorial-meal/
Let me know what you think.
I looked the UK site you mentioned. While it aptly points out problems in WT doctrine, I found much of its reasoning to be flawed. For instance, they take the verse that says “all have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory” and take that to mean if Jesus were a man then he sinned too, so either Jesus sinned or he wasn’t a man. I wasn’t real impressed with this man.
Thank you for reading my post Robert-6512.Again, I was just trying to be helpful. Please see my previous posts. Coming from a born again hippie of 60 years of age and in the words of our British pop group ‘all you need is love’. (I hope nobody takes that too seriously – British humour).
Welcome Truthsearcher, it’s good to see another English member here. I’m also 60, brought up as a JW and recently awoken. My story is very much like yours, although mine started 5 years ago. Those of us who have found our way to Beroeans have a deep love for truth, and you are one of us. Those of us that have been badly treated in ‘the truth’ are very sensitive to any perceived coercion or pressure. Im glad you were able to express your feelings and that you and Tadua were able to settle it in such a Christian manner.… Read more »
Martha, thank you for your very kind reply. It uplifted me. After 18 months of not associating with the congregation I am hearing of more and more with horror stories. I am truly sorry that you too have experienced bad things in the org. I started to read Watchtower literature at a young age. I was extremely busy in the congregation and was traveling at 100 mph. I then, almost suddenly, hit a brick wall. It hurts. My wife and I have heard both sides of the coin for many of the subjects that were considered not scriptural, i.e. trinity,… Read more »
Well there you are…. Yorkshire! ?
I’m a Yorkshire girl born and bred; but I was uprooted and moved to Cheshire in my late teens, which turned out fine actually because I met my lovely husband and here I stayed.
Yorkshire’s still in me old bones though.
At least it’s raining now, not more snow!
Greetings to you both from Cheshire.
Hi everyone Be aware that “ Reachout Trust is a British evangelical Christian organisation. Its stated aims are to “Examine in the light of the Christian gospel the beliefs and spirituality of people within the cults, occults, new age and all not upholding to biblical truth.” Despite this claim much of the article you cite is full of assumptions and assertions without scriptural backing, much like the wt in fact. They are not searching for truth, they believe they have it including the Trinity. P.s. To avoid any misunderstanding the intent of the last sentence was to say ‘The writer… Read more »
Hello Tadua First of all I would like to thank you for a very enjoyable and helpful article. I have to say that I found your reply very distasteful and not helpful to me. Please let me explain. I have been a JW for 40 years. Nearly two years ago my wife and I suffered terribly from things that happened within the local congregation. We were pushed into a corner. We then started to ask questions and because the elders were not helpful we looked for answers in God’s word and elsewhere, Beroeans.net being one of them. I have just… Read more »
Hi Truthsearcher Firstly I would like to offer my sincerest apologies for any upset I may have given you. That was never my intention. I am also very sorry for the way you were treated in your local congregation and have no wish to compound the hurt from that. I fully understand you are trying to help others as we all are. The comment was not intended as a criticism of yourself, it’s purpose rightly or wrongly (in retrospect perhaps the latter) was simply to inform any potential readers of the link as to what type of material they would… Read more »
Thank you Tadua and I appreciate your apology. Coming out of the JWs and as I am presented with doctrines it is apparent that there are often good arguements for both sides of the coin. I am firmly of the opinion that I will have to go with my concience and leave our creator to do the judging. As far as I understand things, love is the greatest command and yet it seems to be lacking more and more. We see that situation within the Watchtower where adhering to doctrines is necessary despite what our concience might dictate. Again’ thank… Read more »
Hi Pekanman You should follow your conscience and move at your own pace. You need to be convinced in your own heart first. If it helps, Partaking was the hardest thing for me too. The first year I didn’t partake even though I was beginning to realise I should. But Since then I have not attended the memorial in my home congregation and have partaken privately at home. Partaking at the congregation would be like a red rag to the local elders. Besides which, listening to their talk with all its teachings I now know to be false would ruin… Read more »
Same for me, Tadua. I have partaken privately at home for two years now, this will be the third but I won’t be attending the JW memorial this year as I’ve stopped attending. This will come as a big shock to family and friends, as I guess there’s a general supposition that although I might not attend meetings I would still attend the memorial. Pekanman, Tadua is absolutely correct, you must follow your own pace and do as your conscience leads you. I knew I should partake for two years but couldn’t bring myself to do it at the KH.… Read more »
I wholeheartedly agree with you MarthaMartha
You make some fine points Martha, by doing it the way the org specifys are you indeed going along with something false? My answer would be yes. I pondered the same thing, as what I don’t want to do is create a spectacle , but that’s what it becomes by default. I personally don’t hold to the idea that it has to celebrated on a specific day , Jesus did so to finish up up the old covenant, but Paul was dead set against going back to Jewish traditions, so I feel this gives me permission to celebrate christs sacrifice… Read more »
I agree, WO, I love my little ceremony, it has much more meaning to me. It’s amazing how often JWs are persuaded into keeping the old law alive by the GBs attachment to it. The gymnastics they go through to make it still apply makes me gasp. Not in admiration. I understand what it says in Romans about the things that happened before being a warning to us… But I take that to mean how people acted and the outcome, is something we can learn from. I can’t see it meaning that we should forever use the old law as… Read more »
Love what your saying Martha. I can understand the conflict you have felt over partaking and also the blood issue, but in the final analysis,we have this confusion because of WT teaching , certainly not from the persons of Jehovah or Jesus. It amazes me that despite all that’s been taught and said about Jesus , and Ime including other denominations besides JWs, that no one seems to be able to just stick with his simple commands and guidelines , it almost seems that the imperfect ego always overrides the straight forward and basic things that Jesus taught , which… Read more »
I began partaking in 2016, Pekanman, and my life has changed drastically since then. The so-called Elders in my congregation immediately started looking at me with suspicion and doubt. The GB is partially to blame for this, in my opinion. They published an article a few years ago implying that we were “mentally diseased”. I was instructed not to make my “anointed status” known to congregation members, as this would be drawing attention to myself. I responded that those who have an “earthly hope” are always talking about it, so why shouldn’t I speak of mine, the only real scriptural… Read more »
Hi Astoriaboy Well haven’t you been put in a box ? Listening to how the elders have treated you brings back memory’s for me. Way back in the 70s I used to hear of similar incidents . One brother I knew who was anointed was disfellowshipped 3 times and reinstated after approximately 2 month waiting periods, I could never understand why this was happening because he was a spiritual giant with a grown family in the truth, I now know its because he was challenging false teaching in the watchtower. Now it’s reached the stage that any non conformity ,… Read more »
You are one brave olive, WO.
Thank you so much, wild olive, for your encouraging reply. I was baptized in 1969, and served as an Overseer for many years. I had to give up my position for health reasons, but I continue to assist the friends any way I can. A brother asked me to help him prepare for baptism. He said the Elders had given up on him because he didn’t understand the question and answer format in the Live Forever and God’s Love books. I agreed, and informed the COBE of my intent. He said he didn’t have a problem with it. When the… Read more »
Glad I could be of encouragement to you AB, I feel what your going through for the sake of real truth, Ime so glad to hear that your still in there for the bro and sis, others have left when faced with the same circumstance as yourself , and I don’t blame them, but ,love for others no matter how unfavourable , is the gauge of true Christian love , and you are upholding it , Ime trying to do the same and it is hard , putting up with the hypocrisy and wrong teachings that are dished up at… Read more »
Ánimo querido hermano cristo esta contigo .Este año será mi primera vez. ..Tengo miedo pero cristo será mi poder y fuerza
Fuerza y corage, mi hermano. Cristo esta contigo.
Seria muy facil abandonar esta congregacion para otra. Pero, no soy cobarde, y dejar mis hermanos queridos en estos tiempos dificiles seria aun peor. Lo Siento por la gramatica tan mala, y
gracias por todo.
I think I been to 3 memorials my whole life and every time I went I felt like a fish out of water. Last year I went and what I observed was Satan’s deeply planted roots, the way they all turned their nose from the wine and the bread, it seemed like they couldn’t pass it fast enough. I think it was about 25 years ago when I attended one before that and I seen 1 older man partake. Keep doing this in remembrance of me is what the scripture says, but they keep doing this in remembrance of the… Read more »