Anna Rajala

In 1994, I was working in Midtown Manhattan and someone handed me a 26 page booklet called "Four Years of Struggle against Texaco's Dark Legacy in the Ecuadorian Amazon." There is also a tract inside called "Boycott Texaco - Star Polluter of the Ecuadorian Rainforest."
I never read them at the time, but I find them today in pristine condition, and didn't even know about the tract inside until this morning. Representatives of indigenous groups, along with supporters around the world, brought a case against Texaco which had devastated the lands, killed the fish, and chased away the animals that the rural people of Ecuador had relied upon to live. Texaco had agreed to clean up their mess, but this is in a part of the world that cannot enforce a cleanup in the way Texaco had been forced to clean up messes affecting the United States.
Texaco continued to flout the laws, while claiming to uphold them, without a care that they were literally killing people by their roughshod processes. (Separately, not in the tracts, they have been investigated for suspicion of being in cahoots with actual hitmen who murdered indigenous people in Ecuador when they tried to stand in the way of Texaco and other oil companies there.)
If any company or group had come into the United States and done something similar it would easily have been seen as a declaration of war. Similarly, a lot of people don't realize that when a group or government destroys the food supplies of another nation that it is the same thing as a declaration of war. When the US sanctions Venezuela, or Iraq, or Iran, (or perhaps Turkey) for example, if it attempts to enforce a total blockade of goods going into and out of the nation through pressure on other nations, too, it has not only declared war (unofficially) but has found a way to kill more civilians than an outright declaration of war would accomplish. Most people think of Bush II as the person who killed the most Iraqis, but when Clinton enforced the sanctions promoted through the UN, and continued to bomb infrastructure such as electric power plants, airports, clean water facilities, etc., Clinton had been able to accomplish the killing of at least a MILLION women, children, and men. When Saudi Arabia, with US help, bombs Yemen's water, and power, and resources, it creates the same situation where the majority of the population of men, women, and children can die of starvation and disease. 
There have been dozens of cases where governments have promised to help survivors of such campaigns, and dozens of cases where corporations have promised to help out the survivors who have had a livelihood taken away. If the country or corporation is rich enough, however, they always find a way to avoid the promised expenditures. And they don't worry much about the negative publicity, because if they break their promises long enough, they can usually just wait until the demonstrators get violent so that they can be termed "criminal" and most of the world will just look away.

"Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard its spots ? 
Neither can you do good who are accustomed to doing evil " Jeremiah 13:23
 
You've no doubt read the old fable about the scorpion and the frog.

It illustrates how man's nature is much more devious and controlling than is his logic.

The fable says how,...

" One day a scorpion arrived at the bank of a river he wanted to cross, but there was no bridge.

He asked a frog that was sitting nearby if he would take him across the river on his back.
The frog refused and said,... " I will not, because you will sting me "

The scorpion replied,..." It would be foolish for me to sting you because then we would both drown "

The frog saw the logic in the scorpion's words, and agreed to carry the scorpion across.

But when they were halfway across the river the scorpion stung the frog.

The stunned frog asked,..." Why did you sting me, now we will both die ! "

The scorpion replied,... " Because I'm a scorpion … and that's what scorpions do "

Sad to say some people today are more concerned about being " politically correct " than they are about being " Biblically correct ",...

They change the name of sins to justify people's sinful behavior.

They do this because they are more concerned about the approval of man than they are about the approval of Jehovah God.

To Jehovah God, sin—all sin—is sin by whatever name we call it, and all sin is ultimately self-destructive regardless of how we seek to justify it.


Furthermore, God's Word reminds us that no matter how good, how noble, how educated, how refined, or how sophisticated we may be, we are all sinners.
Romans 3:23

Like the leopard that cannot change its spots neither can we change our nature.

We are not sinners because we sin, but rather, we sin because we are sinners.

That's our nature and that's why we need Jehovah God's salvation to save us from the eternal consequences of our sin—which is eternal separation from Jehovah God for all eternity.

I have always wondered if the Bible is for 'all of us' to understand fully, or if it's only for a chosen few to fully understand.
I don't mean is it just for one 'religion' to understand, I mean is it just for say 'an anointed group of people to understand'? 
Jesus spoke in illustrations to the people, but the disciples asked Jesus what the illustrations meant. Then Jesus would explain the illustration to them fully. 
Jesus told his disciples that 'to them the sacred secrets would be revealed' but that the crowd would not get the meaning of such things. 
It was also that after Jesus was resurrected he opened the eyes of his disciples / apostles so that they began to fully understand all things.
For my part I would never expect to fully understand God's word the Bible. A lot of it is straight forward of course, and easy to comprehend.
But I think a lot of it is 'in deep code' so to speak, only fully understood by those that Jehovah chooses.. 
It still seems strange to me, but it would be a separate topic, that God allows it to be so difficult for people to find any truth amongst the huge amount of lies in 'religion'. 
However, in my opinion, there has to be a 'group of humans' 'anointed people' that do have some direct contact with God, through Jesus Christ. 
We no longer have 'miracles' being done in Christ's name, so it is difficult to know exactly who the 'chosen ones' are. 
If there was a 'body of people' that could prove that they had God's approval and God's holy spirit, that would make life much easier. 
However when those that say they are chosen either make mistakes or tell lies about the meaning of scripture, and then their predictions fail, then they seem to prove themselves false or without God's guidance.
So we go back to square one. Is there really a 'body of people' being truly guided and upbuilt by God's holy spirit at this time ? 
Is the Bible and it's prophecies being fully opened up to such ones ?
 

YIKES!

Isn't an idol something you worship? Otherwise it's just sticks and stones in the shape of a man isn't it?
Or firewood:
"He plants a laurel tree, and the rain makes it grow. Then it becomes fuel for a man to make fires. He takes part of it to warm himself; He builds a fire and bakes bread. But he also makes a god and worships it. He makes it into a carved image, and he bows down before it. Half of it he burns up in a fire With that half he roasts the meat that he eats, and he is satisfied. He also warms himself and says: “Ah! I am warm as I watch the fire. But the rest of it he makes into a god, into his carved image. He bows down to it and worships it. He prays to it and says: “Save me, for you are my god.” They know nothing, they understand nothing,Because their eyes are sealed shut and they cannot see, And their heart has no insight.  No one reflects in his heart Or has knowledge or understanding, saying: “Half of it I burned up in a fire, And on its coals I baked bread and roasted meat to eat. Should I, then, make the rest of it into a detestable thing? Should I worship a block of wood from a tree?”” Isaiah 44: 15-19

The Book of Daniel is the angel Gabriel’s witness to Daniel about God’s Kingdom.  Gabriel gives details about God’s Kingdom, what that Kingdom will do for mankind, and he witnesses about the coming Messiah and identifies to Daniel who the Ruler of God’s Kingdom would be.
“In the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed. And this kingdom will not be passed on to any other people. It will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms, and it alone will stand forever,” (Daniel 2:44)
“You should know and understand that from the issuing of the word to restore and to rebuild Jerusalem until Mes·siʹah the Leader, there will be 7 weeks, also 62 weeks. She will be restored and rebuilt, with a public square and moat, but in times of distress.  “And after the 62 weeks, Mes·siʹah will be cut off, with nothing for himself.” (Daniel 9:25-26) The Hebrew word Messiah is translated ‘Christ’ in English.  The prophecy mentions “7 weeks, also 62 weeks”—a total of 69 weeks.  Therefore, the prophetic 69 weeks amount to 69 units of 7 years each, or a total of 483 years. If we count from 455 B.C.E., a period of 483 years takes us to the year 29 C.E. That was exactly the year when Jesus was baptized and became the Messiah! * (Luke 3:1, 2, 21, 22)
The Jews in 29 CE where in expectation of the arrival of the Messiah!  “Now the people were in expectation and all of them were reasoning in their hearts about John, “May he perhaps be the Christ?”  (Luke 3:15)
In the final Chapter of Daniel, Gabriel gives detailed information about the Ruler of God’s kingdom that would mark the End of the Gentile times.  At that time, “the appointed times of the nations” ended, and Jesus Christ was installed as God’s heavenly King. *—Psalm 2:1-6; Daniel 7:13, 14.  The prophecy is detailed to Daniel in the following scripture from Gabriel. “During that time Miʹcha·el will stand up, the great prince who is standing in behalf of your people. And there will occur a time of distress such as has not occurred since there came to be a nation until that time. And during that time your people will escape, everyone who is found written down in the book.” (Daniel 12:1)
Yes in 1914, Michael the Great Prince stands up to begin Ruling as King of God’s Kingdom.  Michael is the Mighty God in Isaiah 9:6, the Prince of Peace, the Angel of Great Counsel who is Wisdom in Proverbs 8.  Michael is the one Philippians spoken of has being given the Name. “Keep this mental attitude in you that was also in Christ Jesus,  who, although he was existing in God’s form, gave no consideration to a seizure, namely, that he should be equal to God.  No, but he emptied himself and took a slave’s form and became human.  More than that, when he came as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death, yes, death on a torture stake” (Philippians 2:5-8)
For this very reason, God exalted him to a superior position and kindly gave him the name that is above every other name,  so that in the name of Jesus every knee should bend—of those in heaven and those on earth and those under the ground—  and every tongue should openly acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:9-11)
“And she gave birth to a son, a male, who is to shepherd all the nations with an iron rod. And her child was snatched away to God and to his throne.” (Rev 12:5)  “And war broke out in heaven: Miʹcha·el and his angels battled with the dragon, and the dragon and its angels battled  but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them any longer in heaven.  So down the great dragon was hurled, the original serpent, the one called Devil and Satan, who is misleading the entire inhabited earth; he was hurled down to the earth, and his angels were hurled down with him.” (Rev 12:7-9)
Notice what the following verse calls Michael. “I heard a loud voice in heaven say:
“Now have come to pass the salvation and the power and the Kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ, because the accuser of our brothers has been hurled down, who accuses them day and night before our God!  And they conquered him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their witnessing, and they did not love their souls even in the face of death.” (Rev 12:10-11)
“the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a commanding call, with an archangel’s voice and with God’s trumpet, and those who are dead in union with Christ will rise first.” (1 Thessalonians 4:16)  Commanding Call, an Archangel’s Voice and with God’s Trumpet all point to the Word of God, the Lord himself Jesus Christ.  “As for you, Daniel, keep the words secret, and seal up the book until the time of the end. Many will rove about, and the true knowledge will become abundant.” (Daniel 12:4)
Then Gabriel tells Daniel: “Go, Daniel, because the words are to be kept secret and sealed up until the time of the end.  Many will cleanse themselves and whiten themselves and will be refined. And the wicked ones will act wickedly, and none of the wicked will understand; but those having insight will understand.” (Daniel 12:9-10)
“If, in fact, the good news we declare is veiled, it is veiled among those who are perishing,  among whom the god of this system of things has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, so that the illumination of the glorious good news about the Christ, who is the image of God, might not shine through.” (2 Corinthians 4:3-4)
“For we are preaching, not about ourselves, but about Jesus Christ as Lord and ourselves as your slaves for Jesus’ sake.” (2 Corinthians 4:5)  “For if you publicly declare with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and exercise faith in your heart that God raised him up from the dead, you will be saved.  For with the heart one exercises faith for righteousness, but with the mouth one makes public declaration for salvation.” (Romans 10:9-10) “And this good news of the Kingdom will be preached in all the inhabited earth for a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.” (Matthew 24:14)
This is a small synopsis of the scriptures of the glorious good news about the Christ.  To gain understanding to keep on living: “Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, so that he may exalt you in due time,  while you throw all your anxiety on him, because he cares for you.” (1 Peter 5:6-7)
For a Free Study of the Bible, click here.

What is the theme of your baptism year??
Mine was... Kingdom Truth~1982

(Although mine was at a Circuit Assembly in Natick, Massachusetts not a district convention)

Try telling this to the Crusader Militant Christians. They will scream at you and attack you.
That being said, the context and references in regards to the symbolic lake of fire should not be blown into something that it is not. Since we know death is thrown into the lake of fire, as well as the grave, which is also called hades, sheol, or hell, is tossed in there too. The Bible informs us that death will be no more for it will be the last enemy God will do away with, and there is no need to buried people in hades in this regard. Another verse some crusaders will take issue with his in regards to the commandments whereas they think God gives them the right to justify killing. Although they will not do it, but a few months back when there was an clash with Christians and Atheists, crusaders were very vocal in the discussion, but there misguided ignorance shows.
But yes, such ones believe hell is eternal, yet somehow they make claim they can go back and forth. For if their belief in such is spoken of as eternal, how do they have the hall pass to such? The plot thickens.

Good. I'm glad they are being exposed and families are being empowered to speak up and speak out.  I'm glad persons who commit these types of crimes are reaping what they have sown.  No longer will the KH be used as a hiding place for pedophiles.   
I hope healing takes place rapidly and thoroughly for all involved.  
 

I like this what you wrote. Intresting.

I like this what you wrote. Intresting.

This is rather old, nonetheless I tried to do it justice when it first appeared:
Few things cause more distress in the world of celebrities than a neglected birthday celebration. Yet Serena Williams presented them exactly that woe with regard to her baby daughter, soon to turn one. “Serena and husband Alexis Ohanian won’t be throwing an over-the-top birthday bash for their baby girl…In fact, they won’t be throwing a party at all,” reported Caitlyn Hitt for the Daily Mail. Why?
Serena says: “We’re Jehovah’s Witnesses, so we don’t do that.” She repeats the tack that she took with President Obama, back when she was “excited to see Obama out there doing his thing….[but] I’m a Jehovah’s Witness, so I don’t get involved in politics. We stay neutral. We don’t vote...so I’m not going to necessarily go out and vote for him. I would if it wasn’t for my religion.’’ Let me tell you that she took heat for it from people immersed in civic affairs, not to mention from those who dislike Witnesses.
Notwithstanding that the support organization of Jehovah’s Witnesses encourages congregation members to give reasons for their stands and not just say “I do it because I’m a Jehovah’s Witness,” there are times when the latter response is exactly the right thing to say. The actual reason takes a while to explain and people don’t necessarily want to hear it. You have to know your audience. I have come to like Serena Williams more and more. She doesn’t buckle under pressure, mumbling something half apologetic. No. She says: “We don’t do that.” She reminds me very much of a young Witness named Jackie who was hounded at school for her modest way of dress. She threw it right back at them. “I set the style!” she told the would-be bullies. “If you want to be cool, you dress like me!”
Speaking of modest dress, Serena hasn’t exactly done that over the years on the tennis court. Even given that you want freedom of movement in sports, you will hear her criticized for that from time to time, often from people who think they can embarrass Jehovah’s Witnesses on that account. Outspokenly she has thanked Jehovah for her tennis victories, yet how does that work with the flag at the Olympics? Jehovah’s Witnesses are circumspect about the flag of any nation, declining to salute, not for any reason of protest, but because of the second of the Ten Commandments. And didn’t she cuss out that official at a certain match? Ah, well, athletes have been known to do that and people cut them slack. After all, if she was mild-mannered Clark Kent, she would find transition into Superwoman difficult.
So she has sent mixed signals over the years. Why would that be? Ah, here it is in the Caitlyn Hitt article: Last year she told Vogue, “Being a Jehovah’s Witness is important to me, but I’ve never really practiced it and have been wanting to get into it.” Okay. She was brought up in the faith and has made part of it her own but not entirely. Apparently, she is not baptized, a big event for Witnesses. Now, with a child, she means to change some things. The birth of a child will frequently trigger a shift in priorities. Likely, she is conscious of a spiritual need not completely attended to in her own case and she does not want the same for her daughter. Since Jehovah’s Witnesses call each other brother and sister and I am old enough to be her dad, I tweeted: “Knock it out of the park! You go, my daughter.” I’m sure she saw it out of the gazillion tweets she receives each day, many from JW detractors telling her that she is nuts.
Her outspokenness has served her well in another instance. When the man she was dating wished her a Happy Birthday and she responded as she does now for her daughter, the man admired the courage. He “saw this gesture as Serena stepping outside her comfort zone for him and decided immediately that he wanted to marry her.”
It only gets more interesting. He is Reddit founder Alexis Ohanian. He is not a Jehovah’s Witness and was not raised with any religion at all but is reportedly okay with Serena’s faith. Now, it turns out that Reddit is a huge online discussion forum in which topics are hosted for everything under the sun. One of those groups, with thousands of participants, is dedicated to bringing down the organization of Jehovah’s Witnesses. When the Philadelphia Inquirer reporter wrote four incendiary articles about Jehovah’s Witnesses, he used this group as his source of information and between articles he checked in with them, as though Trump playing to his base.
It therefore reminds—I mean, it is not a type/antitype kind of thing—but it sure does remind one of Jewish Queen Esther of long ago, married to the wealthy Persian King who had been maneuvered by enemies into decreeing that her people be destroyed. The sentence surely would have been carried out but for Esther’s (putting her life at risk to do it) bold intervention. Yeah, why don’t you go in there to Mr. Ohanian, you Reddit Witness haters, and tell him that his wife is crazy? That sounds like a brilliant plan to me. Tell him that the reporter from the Philly paper is on your side. Just make sure that you read up on Haman before you do it.
Look, it is not parallel in all respects. Nobody is literally threatening to kill anyone, but they are threatening to kill the Christian organization that supports and coordinates the worldwide work that Jehovah’s Witnesses carry out, just as like-minded Witness haters are now doing in Russia. Moreover, Mr. Ohanian cannot be expected to pull the group’s Reddit credentials; he runs a website dedicated to free speech. There is also a pro-JW group on the site, as well as a squirrelly in-between one, seemingly supportive of Witness teachings but unsupportive of the human leadership. Such will always be the sticking point in the divine/human interface.
See Doesn't Do Birthdays. Part 2
From the book TrueTom vs the Apostates!

In my opinion surgeons / hospitals do not save lives,  they merely prolong them a bit.
Only God's love and Holy Spirit, through Jesus Christ, can save lives.
I would willingly die today (painlessly of course) as I fully believe in the resurrection of both the righteous and the unrighteous. Knowing I'm of the latter I hope on God's mercy and wish for life in the 'New world'.
But Sir, i love your humour and sense of reasoning. 

True, but God's approval ... AND being able to pay $195,000 for  a coronary bypass, entirely without blood, saved my life.
If I had to do one, but not both ... which would have kept me alive?
In this case, both did, as I avoided "Manny the Used Car Bone Saw Surgeon", by insisting on NO BLOOD or blood fractions, and had to transfer to another hospital with more skilled surgeons.
Abraham had both God's approval, and was immensely wealthy.
So was King David.
Having Gods approval means you may (may!) not starve.
Having God's approval, and money means you eat three times a day ... and well!
There is no shame to be in poverty ... but it has absolutely NOTHING to recommend itself.

Some people enjoy their money too much they tend to be careless (at least the Sunglasses didn't suffer from the impact)
And the debt clock continues to rise, and rise, and rise, and rise... and rise some more: http://www.usdebtclock.org/

@Anna Very well explained, thank you. 
As for me knowing anything  um. There is a song i think that says something like 
'The more I learn the less i know' And my problem now is retaining anything in my head. Memory loss I presume. Plus the problem of not knowing what is truth and what is lies. 
I once, not long ago, wrote on my Facebook page, The one thing I've learnt in life is that i don't know the truth about anything. 
I wish you well with your 'possible new bible student' and with your gaining of knowledge, political or otherwise. 
 
 

Yes of course, Satan is in control of the world, and that perfectly explains the "mess", but by discussing these things we are not making ourselves a part of it are we? Not only that, but notice that my reason for my initial comment was because I have someone who is interested in the Bible, but who is actually involved in one sector of what we are discussing. The reason for me to "educate" myself, at least with what the various terminology means, is so that I can better understand what this person is talking about. If I have no idea, then how can I address anything they say properly? Besides, there is no harm in educating ourselves, no matter what it is. Being ignorant can make someone believe things are false to be true, or conversely, things that are true they may believe are false,  and that in turn can lead to bad decisions and as a consequence a host of other undesirable things. So I don't think anyone is trying to sidetrack or smokescreen. On the contrary, these kind of conversations help to establish facts. No one knows everything, so although you say you are uneducated, you probably know a host of things others don't. I wouldn't say I am educated, but I do have a thirst for knowledge, and I crave facts Of course a Christian's prime focus should be in gaining accurate knowledge about God and his purpose. That's a given.

Just out of interest, what is the whole point of this topic ?  We all know that Satan is in control of the 'world' and that we  'should' be in the last days -ish.  And I thought JW's were supposed to be 'no part of this world'.  To an uneducated person like me it does seem to be a side track / smoke screen, um, just like politicians use  

It might be a "stretch", but, how about "The Last Days"?
I Corinthians 15:52 states: "Behold, I show you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed."
Historian David Montaigne noted that it is possible to look into such verses and explore what they might be saying about God's plans concerning Trump.
"I am not suggesting that Donald Trump absolutely *IS* the last trump – but since the LAST TRUMP is one of the most clear and final signs in end times prophecy, can we overlook the possibility that a presidential candidate named Trump is being used as a sign by God?" he posed.
Coincidence?
Do you REALLY think it's a coincidence that Elizabeth Taylor and Ernest Borgnine were NEVER shown in the same photograph?
I think NOT!
 

If this news is true and if the investigation is carried out properly then it is good news, both for victims and for children.
It would be nice to see this happen Earthwide, if done properly when evidence was available to show genuine reason to do so. 
I cannot understand why HQ in USA / Bethel USA  / GB members homes, are not 'raided' for similar reasons. I presume there is some form of protection racket going on. 
But the cleansing has started and it will continue. If God wants the JW Org clean then He will have it clean, and if God wants the JW Org destroyed then He will have it destroyed. Jesus Christ will do the will of his Father. There will, one day, be a pure organisation here on this Earth through which people will serve God properly. 
Ten men clinging to the skirt of a ' spiritual Jew ', it will happen. Only then will people know truth and be able to face Armageddon. 

they stay on the ground and should be placed in komposts.

Down to one meal a day ? Doing their own laundry. Downsizing British building project.
Maybe bread and water once a day will be next.
So the GB is now going to do their own laundry, cook their own food, clean their own room? Not!

Looking at the 'news' on MSN. Yes I know I've been warned not to believe MSN etc.... 
But my point is that world conditions appear to be getting much worse more quickly.
I'm wondering, is it because we have the world wide web, this internet, that tells us everything. Or is it because I'm getting old and not liking 'change'. 
Or, is it really getting much worse more quickly ?
God's words warns us as to what is coming. God's words gives us the signs of the times. But is it now ?
If it is now and if God really wants more people to be saved, then hopefully God will put things into place, so that honest hearted people will know where to find the honest Truth.
10 men clinging to the skirt of a Jew. That keeps coming back into my mind every day now. Spiritual Jews, the Heavenly chosen ones. 
Yes i come on here and spout out loud, sometimes with anger in my heart, but underneath i am looking for truth. May God be kind enough to show us the way forward.