James, I know the Shepherding book is online, but it's not supposed to be, hence congregants shouldn't be looking for it there. And as you've said the US Armed Forces 'rule book' is available to all that are entitled to read it. 

With such a book deliberately NOT freely available to congregants it makes it clear to me that the GB do not want congregants to 'know the rules'. It makes it so easy for individual Elders to make up their own interpretation of each and every rule. If the GB really believe they are the F&DS and if they believe they have the GOD given right to rule it over the congregation, then i would have thought they would have made their rules available to all congregants to read. But no, the Elders can use the excuse 'Causing a Division in the Congregation' to have anyone removed from the congregation. 

But James, you own experience you mention above, about being basically shunned, gives proof of the lack of love in the CCJW.  I'm sure many of us could relate similar instances which would show lack of love, mercy, justice , friendship etc in the CCJW.  To me it just proves the hypocrisy within the whole organisation. To 'Go out and make disciples of people, to then push them away after they are baptised members of the Org.  It seems to prove that it's just about adding numbers / quantity of people, or in fact quantity of money, to the Org. 

So, voting, um, can you write directly to the GB on this one ?  Would they answer you ? 
 

" More reason for updates and further directives if this is a problem for overseers, and validating why Bro Rook wants to see something more detailed written."

BUT the 'updates and directives' would be in THAT secret little book for the Elders, so no good for the congregants. 

What the CCJW needs is an open book for the whole CCJW congregation. A rule book that everyone can read. On every subject. A rule book that congregants can quote to the Elders. 

Is that what Bro Rook wants ? 

" Whoever we are, if our heart yearns for truth, Holy Spirit will lead us to it. "

I wish this were true. I no longer believe it. 

OTHERWISE ... we chase more conscience driven, honest hearted people away from the Truth, than we can recruit.

Of course you do, you always have.

Back to the CSA issue. It doesn't matter what is put in writing. I would have thought you have been involved with the CCJW long enough to know that. 

It is PERSONAL OPINION OF INDIVIDUAL ELDERS and Circuit Overseers that do the damage. But it is allowed to happen from the top down. It's all personal opinion, even the GB's rules and regulations. NONE OF IT COMES FROM GOD OR CHRIST. 

@Kosonen And it all made sense because at that time all the anointed were considered to be part of the faithful slave. 

And, Do tell me who had the right to change that ?  Your GB think they have the right to demote the Anointed and to EXALT themselves, and exalt the Elders, but you still serve them ?

@TrueTomHarley Can you explain this please  :-

Many of those who carry on about anointing here have or will soon lose all sense of there being 144K and even the reason for anointing. It seems to be that they largely go back to the church model that ‘all good people go to heaven.’

Where do you get this idea from ? I do realise of course that as you serve your GB, and the GB care not for the Anointed, that you probably also care not for the Anointed. However the scriptures tell us to care for the Anointed ones, Christ's brothers. 

The situation is not good earth wide. 

Quote " He will need counsel and discipline and we [elders] need to be alert to the OVERALL spiritual welfare of the brother. "

That somehow reminds me of the excuse "Causing a division in the congregation" 

It covers a multitude of sins or accusations there of. 

Coronavirus: Jehovah’s Witnesses Cancel Historical Evangelism In UK

With the apparent failure of the western powers to contain a further spread of the contagious coronavirus, a religious organisation, the Jehovah’s Witnesses (JW), has cancelled its historical mode of evangelism across the United Kingdom.
For fear of the disease, the Christian religion organisation, for the first time in the history of its existence, announced the cancellation of its evangelism activities, including house-to-house, street and literature cart witnessing in the entire UK.
The cancellation was coming for the first time in 139 years since the religion sect got to London in 1881 and the opening of its first branch there in 1900.
A source based in London told Tribune Online that the JW has further announced the cancellation of their usual Sunday meeting gatherings in their entire place of worship, known as Kingdom Halls, in the whole of the United Kingdom.

“Local congregation body of elders now awaits further directives from JW headquarters and branches in what will unfold in the coming weeks,” the source further revealed.

Source : 

https://tribuneonlineng.com/coronavirus-jehovahs-witnesses-cancel-historical-evangelism-in-uk/

1 minute ago, Joe Derrick said:

man of little trust ....

Trust in whom though ? 

28 minutes ago, Kosonen said:

My wife, active JW, does not go to meeting today. She says meetings are canceled due to the Corona virus.

Very interesting.

A speculation rose in my mind, could this be the beginning of the fall of the WT organization. A soft start to the liquidation of the WT organization? The congregations would already had canceled normal meetings and then it would not be a big deal to close the headquarters.

The situation is no doubt very special.

Then the foretold flight to the desert could occure.

I have been having similar thoughts. Maybe God through Christ could use this virus to do His will. 

I must keep some of my thoughts to myself as i do not wish to be d/fed from this forum. 

So how are you all ? I hope you are all fit and well.

Have all of your meetings and assemblies around the earth been cancelled ? and if so is it a government cancellation or an Org cancellation ? And has all door to door ministry been cancelled ? 

I hear that our dear Boris (UK PM) might put be putting folks like me (people over 70 years old) on complete lock down for more than a month. That would give me time to do some reading. Being 70 and having had pneumonia in 2015 maybe I've more chance of catching this thing, i don't know.  But I'm not in panic. My faith in God and the resurrection is enough to keep me happy. 

It would be nice to know how this is affecting JWs around the earth though. 

Keep well but more importantly keep faithful in God through Christ.. 

Tom you live in a dream world. Your GB doesn't tell JWs to trust in Jesus. Your GB tells JWs to trust in the GB.

Don't you remember that being said by one member of the GB. To trust them. 

Your words " Trust in him would set those Jews apart from others. Truth would then set them free through acceptance and obedience."

So the trust should be in God through Christ right  ?

Acceptance and obedience should then also be to God through Christ right ?

But your Governing Body call themselves the F&DS and they want acceptance and obedience to them, to those 8 men. But at the same time they admit to NOT being inspired or guided by God's Holy Spirit. 

They admit that they make mistakes and get it wrong but they still expect 'acceptance and obedience'. 

They make up rules, they take over people consciences, they domineer. They exalt themselves above all the true Anointed ones. 

Truth would set a person free from lies, but your GB do not have truth. All they have is their own personal opinions. You and I have our own personal opinions, but you wouldn't obey me and I wouldn't obey you. So why should anyone obey those 8 men that have exalted themselves above others ? They are no better than politicians that exalt themselves. 

I voted to leave the EU and we are half way there. 

But it's so lovely not to have to worry about the GB's opinions and the Elders opinions on things. 

It is now THREE weeks, and nobody knows the answer.

Maybe your bosses, the GB, haven't decided on an answer yet . 

Nothing sets us free. We as humans are never and will never be free.

Humans are in subjection and always will be. 

Quote " Before the truth sets you free, it tends to make you miserable. "

Nothing can 'make you miserable'. People own their own feelings. A person can make themselves miserable. 

For instance, if one is completely shunned by the CCJW, one can decide how they will deal with it.

A person could become self centred and feel sorry for their position. OR, a person could find other things to make life feel better. Remembering that God and Christ do not shun. God and Christ are always there. No one can take your prayers away from you.

And a person should only be miserable if they are having negative thoughts and feelings. So, control your own thoughts and feelings. But remember that we all live within limitations. We have physical limitations and spiritual ones. I've concluded that i will never truly understand scripture, so be it. I don't intend crying about it. I've also concluded that I'm not really as spiritual as I should be, and once again I'll just live with that. But I'm not seeking to 'be free', because we were designed not to be free. 

Humans were designed to be guided by God. God has stopped guiding us it seems. My faith tells me that a time is coming when God will once again guide humans that want to be guided. I'm waiting on God to act. Maybe I'll die before God acts, who knows. Meanwhile I'll fill my life with other things. 

But there is no freedom for humans. We are in subjection to God through Christ, or, subjection to 'the devil through this world'.  We are also in subjection to growing old and to death, unless God changes that. 

Unfortunately the CCJW continue with their lies which makes million of  people in subjection to the GB and the CCJW. Do they call that being free ? 

The CCJW does not have truth. Nor can they have because they are not inspired of God's Holy spirit. 

Truth is from Almighty God through Jesus Christ, not through 8 men claiming to be the F&DS but who have failed in every way to provide true guidance. 

The foundation of truth from God's word has been known for a long long time. So what have the GB of CCJW offered ? False prophecy, lies, heavy burdens and traditions of men. They are indeed a stumbling block of great magnitude and they will suffer for it. Luke 17 v 1&2. 

@Kosonen 's thoughts seem to run in line with what I've said previously about a True Anointed 'rising up' within the next few years. But I think or hope they will be an International Anointed, not just American.  It would give the Org more balance. 

Seems like a lot of scaremongering to me    Armageddon is a long way off yet. 

I've just heard rumours that gatherings of people will be stopped soon, including 'religious meetings' will be stopped here in the UK due to the Corona virus.  Any news of such in USA ? 

Quote @James Thomas Rook Jr. "You complain without offering a better solution, as to what to call those trying to keep over 8 million people directed, focused, organized, and productive with fine works."

Um, more like keeping 8 million people as puppets, under strict control, fearful of being shunned or d/fed, fed false information and complete lies, just so the GB can be happy having complete control as dictators and keep the money coming in.  Whilst at the same time the GB keep the Anointed down trodden but want praise given to the Elders, Elders that I would not trust with my pet cat and certainly not with my spiritual health. 

Actually your tittle for the GB seems quite fitting "Ugly Bags of Mostly Water." 

But if the people 'Serving' the Org were International as it should be, then it could be something like "International Servants" of CCJW. 

After all, aren't they supposed to SERVE not GOVERN ? 

Spiritual Gift of Serving and Ministering

The spiritual gift of service, or ministering, covers a wide range of activities in its application.  There are two Greek words for this gift.  The first one, found in Romans 12:7, is Diakonia.  The basic meaning of this word is “to wait tables,” but it is most often translated in the Bible as “ministry.”  It refers to any act of service done in genuine love for the edification of the community.  The word Antilepsis is translated “helping” and is found in 1 Corinthians 12:28. It has a similar meaning: to help or aid in love within the community.

I really am glad I'm not American, sorry folks. Do we get this type of problem here in UK ? I've no idea, I've never been that deeply involved in worldly thinking. But really, misuse of material that is for public use anyway ? Sorry it makes no sense to me. John Butler got D/fed. I wonder if he was about to get sued for some made up story about  'threat to human life' ? 

47 minutes ago, Leander H. McNelly said:

How can you teach humility when someone questions their own Org? Teaching humility comes from understanding scripture in a knowledgeable, way. People here, especially "witnesses" continue to pick and choose what they like about scripture to apply to their lives, while they want to condemn parts of scripture they don't find palatable just because the message of encouragement comes from wise spiritual men.

Witnesses need to understand, there is NO such thing as sitting on the fence. Either you do, or you don't. 🤔

Those that do, can teach, those that sit on the fence, have already chosen to go against our heavenly father.

You need to learn the difference between serving God through Christ, OR serving the CCJW through the GB. 

I don't think people question scripture, but they do question how your GB misuse scripture. 

10 hours ago, James Thomas Rook Jr. said:

 

 

All that aside, Losch was in my opinion a craven coward for NOT appearing as ordered ... and chickened out on a magnificent opportunity to defend Truth, whatever it was.

He was the PMQ (Person Most Qualified), as determined by the California court system, as he was the only Governing Body Member whose institutional memory went all the way back to the beginning (?) of the CSA cover-ups.

He chose to subvert the determination of what is true, to save  a great deal of money, and a great deal of real estate.

Righteousness comes when TRUTH comes first, and your survival comes second.

He did not, at his age, want to be a greeter at the door of Wal-Mart, and live at poverty level.

 

 

James, you make me laugh. As TTH has said, you do have a way with words. 

But still you seem to support the 'cause'. 

To quote Jesus words at Luke 9 v 50  “Do not try to prevent him, for whoever is not against you is for you.”

So if you are not against the Governing Body of CCJW, I presume you must be for them. 

Or are you 'sitting on the fence' ? Playing both sides. 

It is not I that has "rejected" scripture, it is you that has done so, and for what, to find an excuse to further your personal cause. A cause riddled in ignorance.

My 'cause' is to get closer to God through Christ and through God's written word, not through men. My search is for truth. The CCJW does not seem to have truth. 

It's obvious that Billy the Kid / Allen / Mc Nelly, does not want to live by God's standards, and does not want the GB and CCJW to live by God's standards either. 

No point in repeating scripture as he doesn't have faith or belief in it. 

The same "due process" is afforded to all that enter into a legal challenge. Therefore, what's good for opposers is also good for the Watchtower. 

BUT JESUS SAID 

Do not resist the one who is wicked, but whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other also to him.b ⁴⁰  And if a person wants to take you to court and get possession of your inner garment, let him also have your outer garment;c ⁴¹  and if someone in authority compels you into service for a mile, go with him two miles. ⁴²  Give to the one asking you..

What part of that do you not understand ?