Evacuated

10 minutes ago, Queen Esther said:

I  will  post  it  for  our  German  members  too.

I did already to save time, but feel free to embelish as my German is.......Ahem!.  

14 hours ago, Kurt said:

"After the fall of communism, there was a great abyss ..., a void, because everything began to fall down into the black hole. All the certainties, all the truths, all the things that were taken for granted in one moment disappeared," Dugin says.

With Putin's help, Dugin explained, the Russian Orthodox Church is filling this void.

Matt 12:43-45:

“When an unclean spirit comes out of a man, it passes through waterless places in search of a resting-place and finds none. Then it says, ‘I will go back to my house from which I moved,’ and on arriving, it finds the house unoccupied but swept clean and adorned. Then it goes and takes along with it seven different spirits more wicked than itself, and after getting inside, they dwell there; and the final circumstances of that man become worse than the first. That is how it will be also with this wicked generation.”

http://www.sueddeutsche.de/leben/zeugen-jehovas-schon-wenn-ihr-mich-mustert-ist-das-ein-erfolg-1.3689191

31 minutes ago, Queen Esther said:

Our  pioneer sister  Olgica,  by  Cart - witnessing  in  MUNICH

I love to see these photos around the world showing the borthers and sisters on the literature carts.

Did you see this report?

http://www.sueddeutsche.de/leben/zeugen-jehovas-schon-wenn-ihr-mich-mustert-ist-das-ein-erfolg-1.3689191

4 hours ago, Srecko Sostar said:

So this WT organizational arrangement (Bethel, missionary, pioneers, some traveling elders) where some people are in position to live on other people's expense is not normal.

You're just jealous aren't you?

This is an interesting example of incomplete reporting to sensationalise an issue in favour of the reporter's bias.

Further to an article in The Humanist of 26 Feb 2014 which said, in part,

"When the government erects an exclusively Christian monument on government property, it violates this central command of the Establishment Clause by sending a clear message that Christianity is the preferred religion over all others. When the religious monument is dedicated to fallen soldiers, it sends an even more egregious message that only Christian soldiers are worth memorializing. Non-Christian soldiers such as atheists and humanists are inherently excluded."

a case was brought b y the American Humanist Association.

Fuller and broader reporting on this issue can be found here: 

https://www.snopes.com/liberals-demand-offensive-wwi-memorial-torn/

7 hours ago, Cos said:

You are mistaken; we can be “sure”, from the context, exactly what Ellicott meant.

This will only ever be opinion. We may be sure of our opinions, we may share the same opinion, we might even change our opinions. But we cannot change the fact that the writings of dead men will only ever be open to interpretation, as those men are not alive to verify our understanding of their words.

7 hours ago, Cos said:

I don’t know what you accredit as “operation in [your] life”

In connection with the operation of God's spirit in my life, I would cite the words of the apostle Paul who stated in his letter to the Phillipians: 

2:13: "For the one at work in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure, is God.

4:13: "I am able to do all things by the one who strengthens me."

and in his letter to the Galatians:

5:22-23: "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self control. Against such things there is no law."

22 hours ago, James Thomas Rook Jr. said:

23 hours ago, Gone Fishing said:

Maybe it's just another case of Ei pidä tehdä kärpäsestä härkää.

... and you need to DO SOMETHING, about that "bully" cough!

Ask Burl Ives

3 hours ago, Cos said:

somehow want to align his meaning

Not really. I can't be sure of Ellicott's meaning as he is long dead. Also, he may have made many other attempts to express his views on the same subject. 

However, his choice of words on this occasion almost perfectly captures the thought for me: God's Holy Spirit is: "Divine operative energy".  (NB. only the phrase within inverted commas is from Ellicott).

3 hours ago, Cos said:

and not something else

What else?

23 minutes ago, James Thomas Rook Jr. said:

The Finnish Government found out about the book

This was May 2014 wasn't it? And what have they decided? Doesn't seem to be an issue of national security?

32 minutes ago, James Thomas Rook Jr. said:

if copied  by a non-elder, had to be WATCHED to make sure they did not read it.

By two Witnesses presumably??

Maybe it's just another case of Ei pidä tehdä kärpäsestä härkää.

Cos.

3 hours ago, Cos said:

You don’t want to be guilty of having someone falsely believe something when it’s not the truth, do you?

I am only concerned that I speak the truth as far as I can know it. I am not concerned about how others chose to misinterpret what I say. Ambiguity is a fact of life, and the genuine enquirer can always seek clarification.

3 hours ago, Cos said:

for some who might be completely naïve and unacquainted with Ellicott,

In that case, the quote would not have any value as an endorsement.

In any case, my use of Ellicott's expression serves as MY endorsement of HIS excellent choice of words.

3 hours ago, Cos said:

what backing do you have for your understanding that the Holy Spirit is “power in action/active force”?

It's operation in my life.

4 hours ago, AllenSmith said:

no update reported

Very interesting set of figures for the USA.

Does the "no update" comment mean no increase or that the figures for the previous year were not given?

3 minutes ago, TrueTomHarley said:

Let's see, GF....You quoted 8 scriptures. Matt quoted 15.

Look geezer.......................................... you think that that's all I got?

One of them alone is enough to dosh the rest.                     Where do you come from anyway????????

5 hours ago, Matthew9969 said:

Jehovahs Witnesses? It is ok for them to boast?

Judge for your self:

2 Cor 12:9: 

But he said to me: “My undeserved kindness is sufficient for you, for my power is being made perfect in weakness.” Most gladly, then, I will boast about my weaknesses, in order that the power of the Christ may remain over me like a tent."

Jer 9:24

"“But let the one boasting boast about this:That he has insight and knowledge of me,That I am Jehovah, the One showing loyal love, justice, and righteousness in the earth,For in these things I take delight,” declares Jehovah."

Is 61:6

"As for you, you will be called the priests of Jehovah;They will call you the ministers of our God. You will eat the resources of the nations,And about their glory you will boast."

Heb 3:6

"but Christ was faithful as a son over God’s house. We are His house if, indeed, we hold on firmly to our freeness of speech and the hope of which we boast down to the end."

1 Cor 1:31

"so that it may be just as it is written: “The one who boasts, let him boast in Jehovah"

2 Cor 1:12

"For the thing we boast of is this, our conscience bears witness that we have conducted ourselves in the world, and especially toward you, with holiness and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom, but with God’s undeserved kindness"

Gal 6:14

"But may I never boast, except in the torture stake of our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom the world has been put to death with regard to me and I with regard to the world"

Ps 34:2

"I will boast in Jehovah;The meek will hear and rejoice."

3 hours ago, James Thomas Rook Jr. said:

In Las Vegas, about two weeks ago, a man stole a truck when the keys were left in the ignition .. admits it openly, and is NOT repentant ... and can NEVER be repentant...............if he had been one of Jehovah's Witnesses, he would be disfellowshipped as an unrepentant thief with an apostate morality.................The fact that he used that stolen truck to rescue people being massacred, the wounded and dying, to the hospital, does not fit into the robot software program of the current "clerk" administered rules.

DO YOU KNOW ANY REAL LIFE EXAMPLES ... ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD where the WTB&TS has shown mercy for an unrepentant  brazen wrongdoer?

1. This example (presumably true) has no connection whatsoever to your challenge.

If you said that a Jehovah's Witness who stole a truck to ferry wounded and dying people to hospital, then sold the truck and refused to give the proceeds to the rightful owner and used the money for XYZ so was disfellowshipped because he refused to repent of the theft, there might be some grounds to evaluate what went on. But this didn't happen. Even if it did, it would still have no relationship to your challenge.

2. To then ask for examples of unrepentant, brazen, wrongdoers that have been shown mercy is ridiculous.

I think you are trying to make a legitimate point here, but, (insult my intelligence all you like), I am afraid it is lost in your extreme, bombastic, and unrealistic examples.

As I said, I have a feeling that you are trying to make a legitimate point here, but you will have to do better than this James, otherwise, quite frankly, it is LOST. 

On 10/14/2017 at 8:50 PM, Nicole said:

The man, who was a member of the Jehovah's Witnesses

Says "was", not "is".

Even so, is as relevant as his collar size or number of toes to the report without contextual reasoning.

He seems to have got off lightly by the way

On 10/15/2017 at 10:56 AM, JW Insider said:

I am here for more than a week

You will cross paths with some of my cong then as they are on Bible related exhibit tours there this week also. Small world indeed!

Any pre-1st Century ancient references to the Tetragrammaton would be interesting, Hebrew or otherwise, secular or sacred.

Look forward to hearing about any other interesting findings.

7 minutes ago, Cos said:

So I thought, wow this guy says one thing and then does another, which I stated in my post.

So let's hope you have corrected that misunderstanding now. 

 

7 minutes ago, Cos said:

how the Watchtower wants you to understand the Holy Spirit.

Forget this "what the Watchtower wants" litany please. 

I think we have established that we both have an understanding of what the holy spirit is and that this understanding differs.

If you want to present aspects of your understanding and the reasons for why it is so, that's fine with me. I am quite happy to credit you with control of your own mind on matters, if you are prepared to reciprocate. I cannot see a basis for discussion otherwise.

43 minutes ago, TrueTomHarley said:

HA! Bypassed college, I'll bet.

lIke me.......... Hee Hee!

16 hours ago, Queen Esther said:

from  *2018*  is  finished  with  our  LITERATURE

Not sure I heard it quite like this??

Have to wait for the AGM to go on line I suppose to get the clear message.

16 minutes ago, TrueTomHarley said:

You have misunderstood my comment and it is my fault for not being more clear. 

Fair enough. But I am not talking about your personal dress code preferences. I am talking about this:

3 hours ago, TrueTomHarley said:

It is the first series of Watchtower pictures I have ever seen in which a person starts well-dressed, finishes less so, and the result is used to illustrate an improvement.

The illustration here  is about quick action to discard a soiled garment regardless of being engaged in other activity. How much more should we be quick to discard those traits that contribute to  "spiritual soiling" whenever we become aware of them?

There was also a particular focus on what Christians do when they are not in public view or in a formal setting. The later pictures in the article show someone similarly dressed down (and with 3 different outfits it appears) although it is illustrating how to successfully strip off the old personaility. There is nothing unusual, innapropriate, or innovative about Christians in casual clothes when not in the ministry or at meetings. But there is no place for a casual attitude to Christian qualites or aspects of the new personality when out of the "public eye".

This has nothing to do with Russian transcripts, so why not get a new thread started as the topic of appropriate ministry dress is an interesting one.

What do these have in common:

2 hours ago, TrueTomHarley said:

and the result is used to illustrate an improvement.

C'mon Tom!!

This picture (and the study) is mainly about stripping off the old personality. Doing that isn't enough to make you "well-dressed" in Jehovah's eyes is it?

Next week is about putting on the new personality and the picture then indicates this process. (Might even be the same model in the first shot).

21 hours ago, James Thomas Rook Jr. said:

One particular problem I see is that there is no one on Earth to fire the Governing Body

Why a problem?

5 hours ago, Cos said:

It is very misleading to quote three words out of context from Ellicott’s Commentary

Cos.

Thankyou for your reply.

With respect, the statement above is complete nonsense.

I can quote anything I like when I like especially as this material is public domain. I am not saying anything about Ellicott's teachings or beliefs, and neither do I appeal to him for authority regarding what I say. He used an excellent choice of words in my opinion, and that is what I acknowledge. Any ingenuous enquirer can look at the commentary to further their knowledge or interest in Ellicott, which is why the reference is included. And, if they choose, they can select or reject from it whatever they wish. I personally do not share all of Charles Ellicott's opinions, but I do acknowledge that he was both erudite and articulate in expressing them, not the least in the phrase that has captured my interest.

That addresses your second question also.

6 hours ago, Cos said:

I guess the Watchtower wants you to “understand” that the Holy Spirit is some sort of “power in action/active force”

No need to guess on that one. However, it might save you some frustration if you concentrate on the subject matter rather than waste effort in attacking  the Watchtower. You run the risk of engaging in a rather Quixotic quest. Let Gamaliel be your guide on that one.