Anna

I attended 2 mega churches for several years, this type of music is nice to listen to but being in that concert type environment week after week gets old. Knowing what goes on behind the music also makes it out as just a show. Followed up by a regurgitated topical teaching that may use a scripture. And I found most people who go to mega churches are biblically illiterate. Even a pastor once said they were there to entertain people.

Ahh, interpretation of scripture, who can get it right? That is the question. In my opinion, the most important scriptures, those that help us to live as Christians, do not need much interpreting. When read in context they are self explanatory. It is prophetic books that are written in riddles that need interpreting. Also some of Jesus' illustrations about the Kingdom etc. We have made a number of adjustments to our interpretation of prophecies, but there is no quarantee that we have got even the latest right. (It always makes me laugh when we say that sometimes prophecies are understood after they have occurred. I always wonder, what is the point of the prophecy then, lol. At the same time, I believe that full understanding of prophetic words won't happen until they are revealed not by people, but by Jesus himself in a supernatural way. And I think this will occur when other supernatural things are already occurring, i.e. during and after Armageddon). 
The point is, if you live your life as best as you can, according to what you know the scriptures that need no interpretation say about it, then that is all you can do presently. If you are unsure about the interpretation of something the GB teaches, especially things that pertain to the future, like the order of what will occur during the great tribulation etc. and who will attack who, then you have to evaluate if that is something God will judge you on. Or will he rather judge you on how you lived your life. I think the latter. I believe the Witnesses are the only group that teach people how to live their life in order to be pleasing to God, using scriptures which need no interpretation. The book Enjoy Life Forever covers it all. There are just three lessons out of a total of 60 which personally I am unsure about. Those three I put on the back burner. I have not covered them  with a Bible student yet but when I do, I will let the Bible student form their own opinions, of course. It will be up to them how they receive them, I am definitely not going to influence them either way. And if they by any chance ask my opinion, I will tell them my opinion is irrelevant, they have to form their own opinion on the information they have read...
 

I think some do indeed live under a rock. Plus the org. of course would never say anything negative about our numbers* (and why should they). It is only those who are in positions where they have to know i.e. elders connected to Bethel branches. One elder and his wife told me a few years or so ago that hundreds are leaving the truth. This was before the pandemic. Now things must be even worse as the pandemic made "fading" easier. Personally I do not know anyone in our congregation who has faded like this but I do have reports from friends. Actually that is a lie, I do know of one who is POMO now. I wish I could have a heart to heart with him, but I am supposed to not know why he left, and I am not that close with his wife. I only found out from his MIL that he had been talking with apostates....
The elder and his wife I mentioned above did make a point of saying that the online presence of opposers is playing a big role in one's leaving....
Over all, our congregation is pretty solid, as far as I know. But all it takes is some disappointment in the org. or misunderstanding and then reading stuff on line ...
*I don't know how others mid week part on the annual service report went but ours talked about growth on some obscure islands and two born in young people getting baptized. Then we had 4 experiences which were more about how to take the opportunity to talk to people informally. But there were no results, at  least not yet. (But that's OK because whatever we say may stick and re surface during the GT). 
As for the actuall annual report numbers, has anyone really looked at them and compared them with last year? I haven't. Maybe JWI? 

I think some do indeed live under a rock. Plus the org. of course would never say anything negative about our numbers* (and why should they). It is only those who are in positions where they have to know i.e. elders connected to Bethel branches. One elder and his wife told me a few years or so ago that hundreds are leaving the truth. This was before the pandemic. Now things must be even worse as the pandemic made "fading" easier. Personally I do not know anyone in our congregation who has faded like this but I do have reports from friends. Actually that is a lie, I do know of one who is POMO now. I wish I could have a heart to heart with him, but I am supposed to not know why he left, and I am not that close with his wife. I only found out from his MIL that he had been talking with apostates....
The elder and his wife I mentioned above did make a point of saying that the online presence of opposers is playing a big role in one's leaving....
Over all, our congregation is pretty solid, as far as I know. But all it takes is some disappointment in the org. or misunderstanding and then reading stuff on line ...
*I don't know how others mid week part on the annual service report went but ours talked about growth on some obscure islands and two born in young people getting baptized. Then we had 4 experiences which were more about how to take the opportunity to talk to people informally. But there were no results, at  least not yet. (But that's OK because whatever we say may stick and re surface during the GT). 
As for the actuall annual report numbers, has anyone really looked at them and compared them with last year? I haven't. Maybe JWI? 

I think some do indeed live under a rock. Plus the org. of course would never say anything negative about our numbers* (and why should they). It is only those who are in positions where they have to know i.e. elders connected to Bethel branches. One elder and his wife told me a few years or so ago that hundreds are leaving the truth. This was before the pandemic. Now things must be even worse as the pandemic made "fading" easier. Personally I do not know anyone in our congregation who has faded like this but I do have reports from friends. Actually that is a lie, I do know of one who is POMO now. I wish I could have a heart to heart with him, but I am supposed to not know why he left, and I am not that close with his wife. I only found out from his MIL that he had been talking with apostates....
The elder and his wife I mentioned above did make a point of saying that the online presence of opposers is playing a big role in one's leaving....
Over all, our congregation is pretty solid, as far as I know. But all it takes is some disappointment in the org. or misunderstanding and then reading stuff on line ...
*I don't know how others mid week part on the annual service report went but ours talked about growth on some obscure islands and two born in young people getting baptized. Then we had 4 experiences which were more about how to take the opportunity to talk to people informally. But there were no results, at  least not yet. (But that's OK because whatever we say may stick and re surface during the GT). 
As for the actuall annual report numbers, has anyone really looked at them and compared them with last year? I haven't. Maybe JWI? 

And what about the most important thing: they know everything!

Al Kapp, the cartoonist, stuck to traditional ‘follow the flag’ values. He didn’t think much of the young people protesting, and lampooned them with the group, S.W.I.N.E. (Students Wildly Indignant about Nearly Everything) 
He would appear on campus and tell them off. One of the protesting youths asked the pugnacious fellow whether he thought young people held any advantage at all over older ones. ‘Yes, they’re better at carrying luggage,’ he replied.

I got into some trouble with this post on FB. Several who use Zoom a lot were indignant, thinking I was calling them luke-warm Christians or worse. One, who has always been a pal, proceeded to tell me off on no uncertain terms.
Of course, it is my own fault, as @George88 pointed out. Had I made clear from the beginning that the opening question was not mine, it would not have happened. I told this brother that 
“I wasn’t speaking at all about you or any of the situations you mention. I should have stated—and would have were I to do it again—that the Question about ‘boring meetings’ is not mine, but was taken off a social media site (Quora) that pitches out questions for anyone to answer. I decided to answer it, and so the next three paragraphs are mine, but not the question itself. It may be the question was not written by a current Witness at all, but a former one. There are some in that population that openly boast of being PIMO, with the eventual ‘goal’ of being POMO (physically out/mentally out). Many of the friends have never even heard of that terminology, but it is sort of a modern-day ‘Demas has forsaken me because he loved the present system of things.’ It is among the reason that our numbers have been stuck around 8 million for many years now, barely growing at all. I wasn’t in any way speaking of ones like you.”
upon which, he made a graceful reply and all is well again.
On the one hand, I was heartened that so many black screens chewed me out, taking umbrage that I should think them PIMO. On the other, I was disheartened that so many had never even heard of the term—not the term itself, really, but the phenomenon. Alas, it does kind of smack (in the case of those who are shepherds) of not knowing the appearance of the flock.
 

…..

Nonetheless, from this point on, I strapping on a guitar when preaching among the young.

😂
😂
Yes, not bad, and and most of them were somewhat modestly dressed.
 
If you read the comments left by people it seems like they're not really interested in who Jehovah really is. Most lump him together with God and Jesus, perhaps the new Trinity? And they're tight with them all.
We have a mega church like this close to us and it's packed (you can tell by the huge parking lots being full). At Christmas time they bring in live nativity animals. At other times they have concerts and make business deals. But they're all baptized in Jesus. It makes me wonder what will happen to churches like this when supposedly the governments shut them down. Will they even be able to? And the question is why would they? Most churches like this are also tight with senators.

😂
😂
Yes, not bad, and and most of them were somewhat modestly dressed.
 
If you read the comments left by people it seems like they're not really interested in who Jehovah really is. Most lump him together with God and Jesus, perhaps the new Trinity? And they're tight with them all.
We have a mega church like this close to us and it's packed (you can tell by the huge parking lots being full). At Christmas time they bring in live nativity animals. At other times they have concerts and make business deals. But they're all baptized in Jesus. It makes me wonder what will happen to churches like this when supposedly the governments shut them down. Will they even be able to? And the question is why would they? Most churches like this are also tight with senators.

Not just the younger ones. But I don't think they are necessarily mentally out in the sense that they don't believe anymore (and live double lives) but because they get bored. Perhaps PIMB?
Also reminds me of an anecdote where a teacher was asked how he knew a student was looking at his phone when they were being so stealth about it. He said: no one smiles at their crotch.
 

😂
😂
Yes, not bad, and and most of them were somewhat modestly dressed.
 
If you read the comments left by people it seems like they're not really interested in who Jehovah really is. Most lump him together with God and Jesus, perhaps the new Trinity? And they're tight with them all.
We have a mega church like this close to us and it's packed (you can tell by the huge parking lots being full). At Christmas time they bring in live nativity animals. At other times they have concerts and make business deals. But they're all baptized in Jesus. It makes me wonder what will happen to churches like this when supposedly the governments shut them down. Will they even be able to? And the question is why would they? Most churches like this are also tight with senators.

I AM going to try and work my way through all 11 pages (so far) of this soon....

Not just the younger ones. But I don't think they are necessarily mentally out in the sense that they don't believe anymore (and live double lives) but because they get bored. Perhaps PIMB?
Also reminds me of an anecdote where a teacher was asked how he knew a student was looking at his phone when they were being so stealth about it. He said: no one smiles at their crotch.
 

Well, we don't do it often (zoom) but when we do it's because we are sick/not feeling good, so we don't want to show our sickly mug, and as soon as the meeting is over we sign out. We are definitely not PIMO. So if you're ever zooming into our meeting and we're all blacked out don't make that connection, but bring us some hot chicken noodle soup, actually, just leave it on the doorstep. Thank you.

Well, we don't do it often (zoom) but when we do it's because we are sick/not feeling good, so we don't want to show our sickly mug, and as soon as the meeting is over we sign out. We are definitely not PIMO. So if you're ever zooming into our meeting and we're all blacked out don't make that connection, but bring us some hot chicken noodle soup, actually, just leave it on the doorstep. Thank you.

Maybe Nathan Knorr had just a slice of that pie.
Or maybe he started out with just Knorr's Wiener Schnitzel Company and then shortened it to Nathan's Hot Dogs.
Maybe they should have tried my marketing idea:
  Pizza and Hot Dogs -- For Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner 
  It's Always Food At The Proper Time!  

See the Chihuahua?

Actually, it's an Alien. A sign that they're coming!

Actually, it's an Alien. A sign that they're coming!

For $2.99 anyone can have Knorr on their pizza!

Father Guido Sarducci on SNL had a skit called "Find the Pope in the Pizza." 
A woman sold her actual slice of pizza with an apparent image scorched onto the back for $28,000 on eBay. There have been similar occurrences with Jesus' face on a slice of toast, for example. https://birdinflight.com/en/world/20160525-litso-boga.html

Well I had my own very similar experience today, when I sliced a pear in half.