Patiently waiting for Truth

I do not agree with you- the "man of lawlessness" is not JW elders.  Both Titus and Timothy gives a list of elder qualifications and "teaching" is one of them. 
 The man of lawlessness was already present in time of Paul.  The Greek philosophy and its loose sexual practices had already entered the congregation together with this following feature:  by means of Greek oratory style some had become leaders and appointed themselves over others.  Jezebel (mentioned in Revelation) was one of them. A few others was mentioned by Paul.
Later when pagan teachings were ingrained in the "church" and it became a political entity the "man of lawlessness" established itself as a permanent entity on the world scene.  Christendom literally ruled over the domain.  She is a large part of Babylon the Great which is going down in destruction soon.... but before she goes into destruction the 'lawlessness" will be revealed.  
The catholic community is at present up in arms because the Pope is signing an agreement next year in May with some heads of the Jewish and Muslim religions- the Abrahamic religions. They are building a large religious complex in Abbu Dahbi  next year.  It seems the "man of lawlessness " will soon be revealed because this agreement has removed Jesus as randsom-giver from the bible.  Only one God (with different names -it seems) will be accepted.  Homosexuality is a side-issue as it is not mentioned but as we all know LGBTQ has been adopted in the church and many other Christian denominations have "voted"  to have it accepted in their renegade churches called Christian.
The man of lawlessness will be revealed on a world-wide scale before the end..........for breaking Jehovahs moral laws on an unmeasured scale - allowing spiritistic practices and immorality, worshipping idols and appointing themselves even over kings.  You,  no-doubt will feel happy when our elders or GB is imprisoned for something which is not allowed in our congregations. This may ge a sign to you that you were right....... but the "man of lawlessness" is the Christian part of Babylon the Great.
Your life is  messed up by resentment.  You see absolutely everything you interpret in scripture through ONE window only. The perceived injustice of your elevated place which is not acknowledged by elders or the GB. 
 
Please read the illustration of the wheat and the weeds (Mt 13).  This was the foretold largescale apostacy that would grow until the time of the end.  A clear revolt against jehovah and Jesus. 
I can only urge everyone to re-read the man of lawlessness in the Insight book. I read it again after writing my little piece here. Some good scriptures are mentioned..

Agreed- my brother is an elder and his wife handles all money matters. He says he spends too easily and she does the job better.  Some mucho men find this strange because they still cling to cultural traditions and not following Jehovahs way. BUT I can assure you his wife is not trying out to be an elder.  She has many bible  studies and is serving her congregation in this and many other capacities.
A slaves life was his master's. If he calls him in the night he had to do his bidding.  Jehovah gas given his slave the task to feed his sheep and to preach.   This is their task -to see that this is done well.  They are now preparing us for Armageddon.

The picture below speaks to a fundamental problem with women in the minds of many men.

Bible speaks about stones who witnessing and children who gives a praise. What is strange if some women doing what some men don't? 
You doing the same here. Would we ( who are males) have to reject and make funny of your thoughts and words just because you are woman?
WT publications said that same idea. And your explanation is based on that. .... But articles explained how NO ONE KNOWS FOR SURE who are and who are not anointed. Based on this clam from WT and such information, it is good to be careful about GB too. :))
What is work of anointed and what is work of slave? What is difference? What their service to God and to people making to be different in the past and today (1st century ...... 2000 years later)?

Always the OCD.  You want to rule and teach right now do you?   A woman?  You do not want to wait until the time for this comes?   You conveniently forget that arrogantly pushing ahead is a sin?  
You never explain what is the role of elders!   Because you feel that you should be doing their job and they are oppressing you - the true anointed who is higher than they are ?
We all know that Jesus was "appointed"  as judge - so in effect jehovah is judging.
Throughout the 2 millenia there have been anointed but it is only in connection with the "presence"  in last days that a slave is mentioned. 

When Jehovah kills the billions of people who are not baptized publishers, he's gonna kill the ones living in North America with hailstones, the ones in Africa he'll kill with fireballs, the ones in Russia, grizzly bears...so on and so forth.

They mean they're speculating

Apologies, if I came across disrespectful. Unfortunately there are so many people on here which do not even respect God.  I know I should be kinder to them but they are really hardened in their hate of JWs and only find fault.  They do not come across as reasonable at all. Some come here to troll or mislead. 

" Stay Alive 'Till 500,001,975 ! "
... and DO try not to look so raggedy!

Arauna I refrain discussing anything with you, I feel you don't know how to talk to people in a respectful manner., You are always dimmining other person's points of view.
 
 

The Hailstone message has to do with proclamation of Armageddon which is going to happen any day now.... 😆😆😆

Someone bought me a big chrome and red NO BLOOD square metal 'block' that is supposed to be a key ring. It looks like an un-lucky charm. It actually has the picture of a bag of blood with the line across it. It's horrid and i would never use it. I cannot imagine getting in one of my cars with that hanging on the keys. Yuk. 

Mr Harley is a story teller, sorry, writer. So it is the nature of the beast to use a thousand words to say, well basically, nothing.  He seems a bit hurt here. A bit angry, but still says, basically nothing. There is nothing to answer, he is just having a writer's rant. 
Mr Harley says " As already stated, if he was so obsessed about leaving a positive note on the end, he would not have supplied his negative note at the beginning. " 
Oh dear, well in my opinion the information wasn't negative to start with. It was just truth about a situation. As he had lived through that actual situation then i presume he has the correct details. However, to JWs such as Mr Harley the information was negative, as I would have expect from Mr Harley.  So i said that he had put a positive ending to it to please other JWs now and to give them hope that these things might not happen in the future.
People such as Mr Harley, i would think, would rather keep that sort of information hidden forever. Hence Mr Harley tries to bring the focus around by criticising me, to keep the focus from that important information. Nice try Mr Harley, but fail.  
 

Someone bought me a big chrome and red NO BLOOD square metal 'block' that is supposed to be a key ring. It looks like an un-lucky charm. It actually has the picture of a bag of blood with the line across it. It's horrid and i would never use it. I cannot imagine getting in one of my cars with that hanging on the keys. Yuk. 

Or a pin that says..jw.org, I'm one of the anointed?

The burning question on MOST peoples' minds is:
If all four windows in the house face South .... what color is the Bear ?

JW Insider, is a JW now. Think hard Mr Harley. If you were giving such information would you not  try to top it off with a positive note on the end ?  JW Insider gave FACTS, then gave his opinion. I believe his FACTS, I will take note of his opinion. 
I have known enough Elders in enough UK congregations to form my own opinion of their 'experience' or capabilities. The life time of an Elder isn't that long you know. They seem to become Elders at around 30 years old and die at around 70, but they loose their marbles at around 55 / 60. Then it's new ones that have to learn it all.  
Oh and did you take note of Mr Rook's comments too ? Or did you overlook that one ?   

Maybe. But like I said, I would not be comfortable in an association that got involved in divisive politics and war either, and I think we're right on the idea of a paradise earth. Find me another church with approximately the same teachings and practices JWs have on war, politics, trinity and hell, and a future paradise on earth, and I will visit it with an open mind.
Shunning is a bit like what Jesus said regarding divorce. Even though it came from the perfect law of God, Jesus said it was just a concession that came from Moses out of regard for human hard-heartedness. We all have a lot to learn about love, but this doesn't mean we associate so freely with just anyone, either.
I can find it at almost any meeting, especially visible at the very largest of our conventions, but I also can see it from afar when I happen to drive near a group of Witnesses working a local suburban territory. I can wave and see all smiles, no matter what kind of a day they are having.  I have even run across Witnesses in Paris and other places and can get the same reaction. Yes, up to a point this is at least partly true of many clubs, associations, and even other religious groups. But I know what is driving that smile among Witnesses, and I like it.
Not all congregations have the same level of joy, love, "spirit" etc. Revelation 2 & 3 lets us know that this shouldn't be surprising.
Speaking of southern England, I was using a flight simulator just last night and took off out of London over satellite-imaged terrain to see if I could keep a purely visual course from Gatwick to Paris just by guessing when to adjust slightly over a SSE direction. I just watched the compass, and altitude, and crossed the Channel from Eastbourne to Dieppe to Paris. Did OK, but then I thought of "you" and turned around to see if I could find a house I thought you and your wife were working on, which I had found a year ago from satellite imagery and some Google help. Even at 400 mph it was going to take too long, and when I got closer I switched to a slow prop plane to get a better look at the ground. This time I couldn't find that house from memory, although I'd recognize the area from a few thousand feet.
Now it turns out you are in "southern England" a whole new spot no doubt.from the place I thought you were at. 😉

Thank you all for your replies.  It is most strange to see the contrast though. 
Quote @TrueTomHarley "There is some piece of information not supplied. What it is I have no idea. But one would not be disfellowshipped for leaving one’s husband, whether he was violent or not."
Quote @JW Insider "Basically, she was disfellowshipped for defying the counsel of the elders, who were "only trying to avoid bringing reproach on the congregation." (To her they accused her of "bringing reproach on the marriage bed.") The circuit overseer agreed with them, and she remained df'd for a while."
Quote @James Thomas Rook Jr. " I am a Barbarian, and my record is better than theirs for understanding what scriptures really mean, as their understanding is policy and agenda driven, and they can enforce under penalty of disfellowshipping any crazy nonsense a normal person would immediately see as nonsense."   (I have put as bold to highlight the point).
So what we have here is, one JW saying how it should be, 'by the JW rule book'. And two JWs saying how it really is. Boots on the ground / Real life happenings. 
There is a man who uses the name @Space Merchant that often talks of how the JW Org is 'managed'. He tends to think that the JW Org operates 'by the book'. Whether that be by God's book or by their own JW handbook. 
But what are we seeing here ? We know that God and His son Jesus Christ are full of love and mercy, and they want the best for as many humans as possible, as long as those humans obey God's rules and show love to God and to neighbour. 
So where is this 'force for evil' coming from ? Is it the GB making the rules that are wrong ?  Is it the Elders in the congregations that are wrong ? Is it the Circuit Overseers that are wrong ? 
The point is, there is no love or mercy for the victims there.  There is only this idea of 'Cleaning the outside of the dish, but leaving the inside dirty'. The idea of protecting the name of JW Org. It in no way protects God's name, because God does not need His name protected. God cannot be made 'unclean' because He is perfect and righteous. 
However there is a danger to face. IF people inside and/or outside JW Org, believe Mr Harley's thinking, then the blame will always be put on the Victims. The Elders and Ministerial Servants will always get away with committing sins against God and Christ, and causing suffering to many people in many ways. 
@Srecko Sostar I like your suggestion. i think it would be in line with 'caring for widows and orphans'. But as you say it may encourage 'misuse'. 
(Sorry for big writing, it happened after third quote. But it did change back to smaller writing again, on it's own  )
 

https://www.therockymountaingoat.com/2019/12/new-shelter-for-women-children-in-valemount/
 
New shelter for women, children in Valemount
It marked almost 20 years to the day that she fled her husband with a year and a half old child, pregnant with a second child. For leaving, she was excommunicated from her Jehovah Witness church and no longer allowed contact with her family.
“I was not only on my own with two babies, but I had no family support,” she said. “If it wasn’t for community, I would have been lost.”
Thoughts on this please.
I have read that women have been told to return to their husbands even if the husbands are violent. Does anyone have any personal experience of this happening to ones close to them ? 
 
 

You may, therefore, beat yourself with whips in lamentation.
.... don't overdo it!

Very true! . . . . . But I don't get it.

You must forgive me on this, but the more I think about this remark, the dumber it appears.
As already stated, if he was so obsessed about leaving a positive note on the end, he would not have supplied his negative note at the beginning. 
It gets dumber. It is not just a fact that he has offered in your eyes— it is a FACT! But his opinion? Obviously he doesn’t know what he is talking about and he may even be lying. Yet when it comes to chronology you are like a child at his feet, lapping up every word—never doubting for a second his judgement, even while admitting it is over your head because you don’t really dig into things.
His grasp of Witness lore and governance is so unequaled that his opinion might be more of a fact than his FACT. I don’t doubt what he says, but the point is to you he is just an uncorroborated single witness. People are notoriously unreliable in relating even their own experiences, where emotion can easily taint memory. There are people who stumble over the trees, but their grasp of the forest is unhindered. There is nothing but your own prejudice to say it is not that way here.
You are sort of a screwball who appears to assume that the very purpose of this site is to supply you with dirt on the faith that you were once a part of and now can’t see a single point that is upright—to the point where, if fresh dirt is not supplied, you chide participants here for not adding anything of “value.” You are like the antitypical nutty farmer diligently cultivating weeds, ripping out any wheat that raises its nasty head since that is NOT what you are looking to harvest.

@JW Insider Thank you once again.  I'm laughing again but not at you, just at situations, such as, " Other translations get the sense of the Greek a little better like this: "   is not coming with signs to be observed; (Luke 17:20). Isn't that just so much easier to understand...  Why didn't the NWT just say that ? 
OK, moving on, Matt 24 v 11 & 12 Many false prophets will arise and mislead many and because of the increasing of lawlessness, the love of the greater number will grow cold.  
Now, an important question which I will couple up to what we've already spoken about. 
Dos this scripture relate to inside the JW Org ? (I think the translation used to say 'cool off' but now says 'grow cold').  
My thinking here is that if the GB / JW Org are not getting things quite right, and if we need to keep on the watch about ourselves, then do we truly need to be a JW ?  Is there any scripture that relates to saying, we must be one of Jehovah's Witnesses to gain either spiritual blessings and/or salvation ? 
I'll repeat one comment from you from above.
"Most Witnesses have found no outlet to safely discuss these conflicts and contradictions between the Bible statements and the Watchtower doctrines. "
Quote below from JW Org website.  Matt 24 v 10 
Then, too, many will be stumbled ...... 
Matthew 24:10
will be stumbled: In the Christian Greek Scriptures, the Greek word skan·da·liʹzo refers to stumbling in a figurative sense, which may include falling into sin or causing someone to fall into sin. As the term is used in the Bible, the sin may involve breaking one of God’s laws on morals or losing faith or accepting false teachings. In this context, the term could also be rendered “will be led into sin; will fall away from the faith.” The Greek word can also be used in the sense of “to take offense.”—See study notes on Mt 13:57; 18:7.
If GB / W/t / JW Org are giving false teachings as 'food at the proper time', then would they be the 'cause for stumbling' ?  Repeating that :-
"Most Witnesses have found no outlet to safely discuss these conflicts and contradictions between the Bible statements and the Watchtower doctrines. "  That seems to show that there are conflicts and contradictions between the Bible statements and the Watchtower doctrines
My point relates to your comment where you say  "We don't watch for signs. We watch out for ourselves, we watch out for false teachings, ... " 

@JW Insider  Sorry but I'm laughing. You lost me half way through. But i do wonder how much time was spent looking at dates / years. And I'm still lost as to whether the year 1914 should have any serious meaning to a true Christian. 
I'm also confused as to what one should be 'on the watch for' if all the 'happenings' around the earth mean nothing anyway. 
Quote "This is one of the problems with 1914 playing a prominent role in prophecy. The very role it most likely plays, in my opinion, is that it became a primary instance of proving Jesus right. He said not to be fooled by wars into thinking that the parousia was imminent. I believe that this prophecy has come true, not just in 1914, but in many wars over the past hundreds of years. People hear about wars, earthquakes, pestilence, famine, persecution, imprisonments, etc., and are easily misled into thinking they are seeing a sign of the parousia. "
So what does one look for when keeping 'on the watch' ? 
One important point i did take from your comment was :-
 "Most Witnesses have found no outlet to safely discuss these conflicts and contradictions between the Bible statements and the Watchtower doctrines. "
This is of very serious concern.