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Post by rare breed on Jul 13, 2007 14:44:07 GMT -5
My uncle has been in the work over 30 years. about 70 outsiders total have professed in his missions, less than two dozen of them lasted and were still professing after 5 years.
So outsiders who come in are rarer than hens teeth.
However, he judges those who come in are typically lonely or needy in some way.
he also thinks that with b&r the stronger the ties to family and friends, the more likely they are to profess and stick with it.
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Post by sharonhargreaves on Jul 13, 2007 16:45:09 GMT -5
This post remeinds me of a time or two I was feeling so down with little sense of worthwhileness about my life in the work - I sat down and listed all who had 'stood up in meetings I had had a part in since going in the work in 1961.
If anything it made me feel worse - because even among the few who did 'profess' very few stayed with it.
Then I would have a 'conversation' with myself about it isn't numbers that God is interested in - you know " quality not quanty" - we heard often.
But then I felt quantity should have been better also!
I certainbly never felt there was much to show for all the effort, years, sacrifice and even to learning other languages.
sharon
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Post by nitro on Jul 13, 2007 17:55:28 GMT -5
If you want to know the "Truth OF THE MATTER" no pun intended Same people that get cought up in Amway,HERBALIFE. Did you ever notice how many where involved with these scams. www.falseprofits.com/MLM%20Lies.html
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sms
Junior Member
Posts: 68
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Post by sms on Jul 13, 2007 21:16:42 GMT -5
I'm rather surprised by these answers. Those that I've known (and I've known a few!) have sometimes experienced something hurtful in their prior religions. Many of those I knew had been Catholic prior - and I'm not trying to knock the Catholic faith, just passing along what they said - and had become uncomfortable with some of the rituals in that faith, also with the concern of their diocese with money. I'm surprised to hear it said that they don't really last too long. I haven't had that experience. In fact, the person I was most worried about "confessing" that I hadn't been to meetings was an outsider whom "professed" a number of years ago. And yep - she was the only one who asked me "WHY? ?", and was also the only one who told me "ANYTIME you feel you want to talk." I'm surprised especially at Sharon's response, because I would have thought her experiences would have been similar to mine, as many of the "outsiders" I knew were originally from the Phillipines. But interesting to hear ballpark numbers. Re: The Shaklee stuff - at one time where I grew up it started going around that we were the Shaklee people or some such thing because so many were selling the stuff. LOL. I think that one of the workers in the area started to discourage it and felt it was a bit of a religion all its own, and so it became less common after that.
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Post by ali on Jul 13, 2007 22:19:28 GMT -5
Maybe this is just my opinion, but all groups have the potential to hurt you, especially if you are a very sensitive, idealistic, harmony loving person. At some point you realize that that is why all of your trust has to ultimately be in God as opposed to a certain group. I am thankful now for my past hurts even though they were very painful at the time.
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Post by Catholic Converts on Jul 14, 2007 3:37:53 GMT -5
I'm rather surprised by these answers. Those that I've known (and I've known a few!) have sometimes experienced something hurtful in their prior religions. Many of those I knew had been Catholic prior - and I'm not trying to knock the Catholic faith, just passing along what they said - and had become uncomfortable with some of the rituals in that faith, also with the concern of their diocese with money. I'm surprised to hear it said that they don't really last too long. I haven't had that experience. In fact, the person I was most worried about "confessing" that I hadn't been to meetings was an outsider whom "professed" a number of years ago. And yep - she was the only one who asked me "WHY? ?", and was also the only one who told me "ANYTIME you feel you want to talk." I'm surprised especially at Sharon's response, because I would have thought her experiences would have been similar to mine, as many of the "outsiders" I knew were originally from the Phillipines. But interesting to hear ballpark numbers. Re: The Shaklee stuff - at one time where I grew up it started going around that we were the Shaklee people or some such thing because so many were selling the stuff. LOL. I think that one of the workers in the area started to discourage it and felt it was a bit of a religion all its own, and so it became less common after that. In my experience they don't get many outsiders at all--however whenever they get a convert from Catholicism it is regarded as a big catch and given a particularly high profile. This may cause some of those who do not know actual numbers to feel that they get lots of Catholic converts. By the way, one reason they are so proud of getting Catholic (and why there is so much resentment against the Church) is because of the circumstances under which this way got started. In that area of the world, the RCC is huge and is the competition. It is also (whether you like it or not) one of the largest, oldest and most respected organizations in the world. So if you are starting up a religion, it makes a very good target!
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Post by GuestS on Jul 14, 2007 8:06:16 GMT -5
Doesn't it stand to reason that those who fall for relgious lies would also fall for financial scams?
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cat
Junior Member
Posts: 182
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Post by cat on Jul 14, 2007 8:25:43 GMT -5
What kind of outsiders are attracted to and join the Truth? What kind of people are they? What is their personality like? My Grandmother joined in the late '40's. She had been searching a very long time for a church home. From what I understand she tried quite a few others before she joined. She had had some major trauma in her life so Im guessing "meetin' " had some thing she needed. She was professing 'til the day she died. She loved the f&w's. Right or wrong, I believe that the f&w's saved her life and gave it meaning. Its pretty sad that she believed so much in it and there is no one else anywhere in the family that is a friend. Christ's Blessings cat
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Post by Encourage on Jul 14, 2007 13:45:27 GMT -5
A dear Friend/friend brought me into the group. At the time, I was ill,this friend was constantly doing nice things for me, as well as for my family. She was bringing in food often,brought little gifts, many phone calls and always had time for me and seemingly much compassion. I became overly dependent upon her. She knew from our conversations that I was disappointed with our mainline church. She began talking about how wonderful her religion was, how much it meant to her etc. The thought, in my mind, that they were not after money and that as she said "no one ever leaves", plus the fact that they started with Jesus and only used the Bible, certainly appealed to me. I was ripe for picking!
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Post by withopeneyes (Mandy) on Jul 14, 2007 15:53:50 GMT -5
I think people are often drawn to different groups due to personality and worship styles. Personally, I like to stand up, to really sing out, maybe even sway a little. Sometimes I like to close my eyes and just.. feel God. I love to hear a well-planned sermon, not one thrown together the night before (although, sometimes a well-planned sermon is set aside for something God reveals just before).
I love to see people reaching up and praising. I love when our church does solo songs, or when a member comes forth to play a song on their own instrument during the service.
Others like to sit still, be very very quiet, sing quietly, etc.
I DO enjoy bible studies, and I still attend bible studies (not "meetings", mind you), but I also go to services as well and get involved in the children's ministry when I can.
We are all made to worship and praise God, but we all have different ways of doing so. Also, we all learn differently, so, for some, they learn more from a sermon than from a bible study. Others feel opposite.
My worship/praise/learning personality is a part of why we joined the church we now attend, along with the fact that we "tested the spirits", and prayed about it.. and felt God was leading us there.
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Post by lilmissred on Aug 4, 2007 11:46:05 GMT -5
My aunt who is married into my family grew up in a catholic home, she quit that church when she was a teen, and searched through many churches until her late 20's , she came across meeting from another outsider and she said after that first gospel meeting she knew she was home! My aunt then was a worker for 5 years , and then she rested at my grammas house....... and ya then thats where she met my uncle and they married and she is still professing to this day and she is 50! My aunt is a fantastic person also very fun, outgoing and i love her, lol!
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Post by ranman77007 on Aug 5, 2007 5:34:43 GMT -5
Doesn't it stand to reason that those who fall for relgious lies would also fall for financial scams? or the wrong women...
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Aug 5, 2007 22:40:14 GMT -5
My uncle has been in the work over 30 years. about 70 outsiders total have professed in his missions, less than two dozen of them lasted and were still professing after 5 years. So outsiders who come in are rarer than hens teeth. However, he judges those who come in are typically lonely or needy in some way. he also thinks that with b&r the stronger the ties to family and friends, the more likely they are to profess and stick with it. Thanks, these are interesting statistics. I wonder how representative they are of the aggregate of the whole worker group over the last 30 years. My guess is that both the new professions and the attrition rates have steadily declined and increased respectively over the last century. That is, early workers had more new people profess and more of those stuck for the long term than today's experience. In our city in the last 30 years, there have been far less profess from the outside than the above worker's experience, although the complete field may be somewhere in the same ballpark. In our city, of those who did profess, all have left except for two, plus one died while still professing. Interestingly, practically all who professed and did not stay were people who were needy in some way(s). Several had health issues, physical or mental, or some had significant social needs. The two who have stuck today for over 10 years weren't particularly needy in any visible way that I have been able to see. Both were friends of high school "friends" and have been able to fully integrate into all the peculiar customs and habits of our group. Neither would show any distinguishability today from any other of the friends. While it is discouraged for young people to date and marry "outside", my experience is that this is the primary group that comes in and sticks. If not for this group, there would be very few who stick for more than 5 years. I am hardpressed to name any complete family who have professed and stayed for more than 5 years at any time over the last 20 years. One couple only that I know of. It seems to be almost exclusively single people, or to a lesser extent, married people but the spouse does not come. There is a message in the fact that complete families do not come in at all essentially, as this was quite common in the early 20th century. Then, sometimes couples professed together, or one followed the other in a fairly short time. That pattern is almost completely gone now.
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