James Thomas Rook Jr.

33 minutes ago, 4Jah2me said:

However Mr Rook, your ship is sinking, the murky water is getting in, the JW ship, as you know, is no longer clean. And why would I wish to be part of what is unclean ? 

Your premise is faulty.

The problem is NOT that the "organization is "unclean" ... the problem is that it is plagued by the exact same things that plague ALL organized religion.

It is crystal clear that God has a Congregation ... unless you can show me one NOT plagued by all things common to man .. you have no case to make.

You have made many good and true, and valuable points (mostly). But you have not made the case until you have a better solution.

The question for YOU is ..... same as Noah's neighbors were asked by Noah, as they stood around, watching Noah and his family build a huge Ark in his suburban driveway, and they asked him what he was building.

He replied , "How long can you tread water, ha ha ha?"

Fortunately ... humans are biodegradable.

YAY!

Not YAY! for the innocent that were killed,and/or wounded .... but YAY! that someone was prepared and took down the assassin in SIX SECONDS.

3 hours ago, TrueTomHarley said:

An amazing find. Do you know that stuff holds up virtually forever in the dessert on account of the dryness?

That probably works especially well for a mummified pecan pie..

... that was, by the way, an example of dry humor.

( Merriam-Webster: Definition of dessert. 1 : a usually sweet course or dish (as of pastry or ice cream) usually served at the end of a meal.)

We have two security guards at our Kingdom Hall ....one sits in a chair at the entrance to our large glass front door, and one sits in a chair at the opening to the main auditorium.

I refer to them as "Sheep victim No. 1", and "Sheep Victim No. 2".

And speaking of something that is NOT an example of pansy festooned  sheepness .... this report from near Fort Worth, Texas, about eight hours ago:

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Dateline Sunday, December 29, 2019

Texas church shooting: Gunman kills 2, 'heroic' parishioners take down shooter

By Travis Fedschun, Bradford Betz | Fox News

Police: At least two dead, one critically injured in Texas church shooting

Christina Coleman has the latest update on the deadly shooting at a Fort Worth church.

A gunman opened fire in a Texas church on Sunday, killing two people and injuring others before two "heroic" parishioners shot and killed him at the scene, police said.

The shooting unfolded around 10 a.m. at the West Freeway Church of Christ, in the city of White Settlement, just outside Fort Worth, police said.

"It's all very tragic," Fort Worth Fire Department spokesman Mike Drivdahl told reporters.

An FBI agent standing outside West Freeway Church of Christ after the shooting Sunday in White Settlement, Texas.

White Settlement Police Chief J.P. Bevering told reporters Sunday afternoon that the gunman entered the church and sat down with the parishioners. He then got up, pulled out a shotgun, and shot two parishioners who died at a nearby hospital.

Two armed parishioners who were volunteer security guards returned fire and killed the gunman.

"The suspect was stopped thanks to the quick and heroic actions of those safety members inside the church," Bevering said.

Separately, two people who suffered minor injuries were treated and released at the scene.

During a news conference later Sunday, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick lauded the quick reactions of the church’s "well-trained" security team, calling their heroism "unparalleled."

He said, "This team responded quickly and within six seconds, the shooting was over."

He noted that the security team's quick response saved an "untold number of lives."

A large emergency response after a reported shooting at a church in White Settlement, Texas. (KTVT via NNS)

The victims ranged in age from 30 to 60 years old, according to MedStar, the ambulance service provider to Fort Worth and other cities in North Texas.

A witness to the shooting told KTVT the gunman walked up to a server with a shotgun during communion and opened fire before parishioners inside the church took him down.

Two people were killed in the shooting, first responders said. (KDFW)

“It was the most scariest thing. You feel like your life is flashing before you," Isabel Arreola told the television station. "I was so worried about my little one."

The church was apparently live streaming the service when the shooting took place, Fox 4 reported.

"Unfortunately, this country has seen so many of these that we've actually gotten used to it at this point. And it's tragic and it's a terrible situation, especially during the holiday season," Jeoff Williams, a regional director with the Texas Department of Public Safety, said at the news conference. "I would like to point out that we have a couple of heroic parishioners who stopped short of just anything that you can even imagine, saved countless lives, and our hearts are going out to them and their families as well."

The shooting happened Sunday morning at the West Freeway Church of Christ, which is located in the city of White Settlement, Texas. (Fox News)

Images from the scene showed a massive emergency response. Texas Gov. Gregg Abbott called the shooting an "evil act of violence" at the church.

"Places of worship are meant to be sacred, and I am grateful for the church members who acted quickly to take down the shooter and help prevent further loss of life," the governor said in a statement. "Cecilia and I ask all Texans to join us in praying for the White Settlement community and for all those affected by this horrible tragedy."

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton tweeted about the shooting, asking for prayers for "any victims and their families, this congregation, and the law enforcement officials at the scene."

Agents from the Dallas Field Division of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives said they were responding to the scene of the reported shooting.

Local and federal law enforcement agencies were continuing to investigate the shooter's identity and motivation for the shooting. The identities of the deceased were not released.

White Settlement is located about eight miles west of Fort Worth.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

10 hours ago, 4Jah2me said:

@James Thomas Rook Jr. I say the same to you. You tell the truth about the GB and the Org, yet you stick with it. I think it was you that commented about Germany and Hitler. But it's as if the Org is Germany and the GB are Hitler, But still you serve . 

... place  keeper for reply after my nap ..... my eyelids are slamming shut.

OK...back.

I was only making the illustration about how things changed from the Kaiser Germany, to the Hitler Germany to give a generic example of how things change in one's surrounding environment over time.  I was NOT alluding to the WTB&TS, Jehovah's Witnesses, or the GB being anything like Nazi Germany, or Hitler.

I am very disappointed in what has happened in the "Truth" over the years, and do not try to defend what should not be defended, but that does not mean I am going to "jump ship".

Years ago there was a TV show called "Slattery's People", about a congressman's adventures and escapades  living and working in the swamp that is Congress, and the opening of each show a deep male voice said "It's not that Democracy is the best system of government, it's that the others are so much worse" ( or something to that effect).  That made a hell of an impression on me, and other than Richard Crenna playing the congresscritter, that's all I remember about it.

That's the attitude I have about Jehovah's Witnesses as practiced as ordered by the WTB&TS.

There is a LOT wrong ... but there is a LOT that is right

And besides, there will be clueless officers and crew on that ship to make you miserable ... but if you "jump ship", you better have a better place to go.

When you look at that "sea of humanity " .... that's only the top.

With all of its fantasys and foibles, being one of Jehovah's Witnesses is the best thing that ever happened to me ...and I appreciate that.

ANY OTHER WAY AND I WOULD BE DEAD OR IN PRISON.

I hope that gives you my perspective.

9 hours ago, James Thomas Rook Jr. said:

Also, an edged weapon, such as a sword, or a cudgel, such as a bat, is ineffective at contact distances ...

When you selectively edit to change the meaning of reference material, you may qualify to get a job with the FBI to create dishonest FISA Court warrant applications.

Swords and bats can be very effective at arm's length.

But then again, both perspectives are only general rules, and can be disproved by any one example, in a specific instance, depending on divine providence, and pure dumb luck.

I was basically trying to show WHY the scriptures quoted above about having a hard forehead made instant sense to a person that understands the context of the times, which quite often survival depended on being GOOD at hand-to-hand combat, and today most people would not understand what the Bible writers were talking about.

44 minutes ago, ComfortMyPeople said:

So, in the following posts, I would like to bring up approaches on Daniel 7 and 11, Revelation 6, 11 and 12 among others and may be enlightening about what we are discussing. I hope

I look forward to reading your thoughts on the matter ... as long as it is in short paragraphs, a decent type size, and does NOT mention Gog of Magog.

On 12/27/2019 at 12:52 PM, TrueTomHarley said:

“Look! I have made your face exactly as hard as their faces and your forehead exactly as hard as their foreheads. Like a diamond, harder than flint, I have made your forehead” (Ezekiel 3:8-9)

Why should everyone have hard heads? Maybe they should be more like those of eastern martial arts—duck the punch and the big slob’s own momentum sends him hurtling off-balance, and as he stumbles by you kick him in the rear.

Everybody today are pansy studded sheep, at least among our contemporaries ... but back then, it was common knowledge that if you were in hand-to hand combat with another person for your life, that the forehead is the hardest bone on your body, and you do not stand off and do fisticuffs.  You get in close, and you get in fast, and you have daggers in your hands, and you fight with your weight, smashing their face with your forehead. Do it hard enough and you can smash the nose through the bottom of the skull, into the brain, and hopefully blind your adversary with his own blood.  ALSO, you fight with your elbows, being MUCH harder , and harder to damage than your fist and fingers. For massive blows, fingers often break before the other guys jaw, but an elbow is stronger than a jaw.

Also, an edged weapon, such as a sword, or a cudgel, such as a bat, is ineffective at contact distances ... but if you are fighting with your forehead, elbows and two daggers,  you want the combatant's blows to hit your arm at a glancing angle, not at 90 degrees, where either a bat or sword can sever your arm off, more readily.

The rest depends on divine providence, and pure dumb luck.

Now... go out and have a nice day !

.... and be sure to floss regularly.

When I was a pre-teenager, I used to stick my four fingers into an energized electric fan, just to "see" what would happen.

I hated it when it caught on my fingernails.

Hint: always have the palm of your hand facing the incoming blade.

I suppose things like this is why women live longer than men.

1 hour ago, JW Insider said:

I think it was about once a month that the Congregation Servant pulled the huge number chart out from behind the curtain at the Service Meeting to go over how well we were meeting our quotas.

I started getting interested in the Truth about 1961, and I remember that huge number chart, as big as a 4x8 foot piece of plywood.  No one ever walked me up to it and explained it to me, and I figured it was "quotas", although at the time I did not even understand that.

53 minutes ago, Anna said:

Most of the time, whoever does this, wants something from you, but never gives anything back. However, in this case, (1914) I am thinking the person or persons just doesn't want to lose face...

To the best of my knowledge and belief (please correct me if I am wrong ...) the WTB&TS has made hundreds of "mistakes", from "devil pus vaccinations", to continuously hyping Armageddon as "next week" .. and they have NEVER apologized for ANYTHING ...... EVER.

Of course, it's hard to be humble, when you are perfect in every way, and your credibility and contributed donations, which must be like showering under a waterfall (which I once did, in the Grand Canyon, many years ago ...) depend on the publishers having and keeping that impression.

As Bullwinkle the Moose sez: "OOPS! .... wrong hat!"

It's like when you hire a hit man to whack someone.

You need a second one to kill the first one, so it cannot be traced back to you ...

Then a third one to kill the second, one, etc.

... but ULTIMATELY, it's all free!

Just a passing thought ... could be the Day that was the "Rest Day", which if  creative day, and the rest day are actually 500,000,000 solar years (3.5 billion year old Earth, divided by 7 "days" - 500 million solar years), then A dam and Eve DID die DURING ( perhaps at the very beginning ??) that  500,000,000 year day..

My understanding of the meaning of that scripture could be accurately paraphrased as: "..Sometime during the epoch that you eat of the tree, you will surely die.", a pronouncement Jehovah made before there were any human garden rats running sround. ... as they were born OUTSIDE the Garden of Eden.

Only a guess ... please feel free to disprove the logic.

I make the "sign of the fish", whenever I pass an Aquarium based Pet Store .

I hear they have cultists that make the "sign of the turtle", which is a bit more complex....

Wow! ... and here I thought Iran would be a glass-topped sandbox by June of 2020 .....

...  but NOBODY ever asks ME!

NOOOoooooo.

1 hour ago, JJJ-AUSTRALIA said:

This all interisiting but how come there is not mention about the Germans and Rutherford?

Specially Rutherford brought a lot of the persecution to the society because of his stand with Germans! 

Uh .... how about because the conversation was about the World War I era ?

Uh ....how about because this is not a 292 page book?

Uh ... how about because your question is so general that it approximates "Why is Planet Earth made of dirt?" ?

Say what?

Sorry, TTH, I was distracted, collecting fingernail clippings, and balled up "nose-blow" Kleenex from the bathroom trash can for your requested video.  (If I had a fetish, it might be  a feet fetish, hey!, but whatever floats your boat.)

You are in luck ... I am recovering from the flu, and just recently sharpened my talons.

As far as predicting theocratic events in the future, in the last thousand and more years NO ONE who has lived has been right about future events, not individually, or collectively as an organized religion.

I suspect that will continue for the foreseeable future.

When I predicted that Vladimir Putin would relax and restore Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia, by the end of 2020, that guess had NOTHING to do with religion ... only my understanding ....or my perceived understanding ... of Russian politics, and the fact that I believe Putin thinks like an adult.

3 hours ago, TrueTomHarley said:

JTR has an ear for a jingle. Let’s see how he feels about this one:

All will be fine post-29!!!

How about this little ditty ...

"The Democrats are nuts, but feelin' fine.

Not a chance for them, till post '29 !"

"Judgement Day" can be caused by God, Global Thermonuclear War, or even a pesky virus that started out as the flu.

As Marvin Webster sez: "Y'all think about it."

9 minutes ago, 4Jah2me said:

But didn't God reduce that life span to 120 years then 70 years ? 

I don't remember that, but then again, I do not remember what my first wife looked like.

Do you have a reference, and some context that might be self explanatory?

29 minutes ago, TrueTomHarley said:

know from my Bible study that murder is wrong. However, guns were not invented at the time of writing. It is probably okay, then, so long as you use a gun.

Say wha?

Oh, I get it.

nevermind.

29 minutes ago, TrueTomHarley said:

57 minutes ago, b4ucuhear said:

If you've got something better to direct people to, let's have at it. 

Can you wait ten years? 4Jah says it may even be ready before then. Nothing but squat right now, though.

" Stay Alive 'till 500,001,975 !! "

.... this is what is known in religious circles as a "Gross Prophet Margin".

Then there is the problem of minor children .....

Ever notice ho much the 1960's Rocky the Flying Squirrel looks like the 1950's Ipana Toothpaste spokesrodent Bucky Beaver?

Coincidence?

I think NOT!

( I think I will let you do the homework on this one ....)

1 hour ago, César Chávez said:

Did you attend the same college JTR attended? Please, give me a heads up, so as not to attend that school of higher education.

... as in heads up ...on a pole in the yard?   I have no objection to helping you with that.

I am a graduate of Wossamotta U.

HIGHLY recommended by Moose and Squirrel.

( Notice ... no head ! )

The classic example of this is the movie "The Sound of Music".

Eric Von Trapp willingly served Germany during World War II as a submarine captain, but when the Nazis came along Germany was no longer Germany, and he and his family (Julie Andrews included) did their best to escape to Switzerland. He was a loyal, patriotic Austrian/German ... but he had not forsaken Germany ... Germany had forsaken him.

( The Society had the blood issue correct the first time ... then changed it to stop being being sued and lose money. etc.)

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

Theology is now being decided on the basis of economics.

I can still see Julie Andrews running up that 25 degree slope Swiss mountain with a suitcase and a guitar, and swinging them around as she sang "The hills are alive .... with the sound of  .... muuuuuusiccc ...", as the camera zoomed in.

I remember thinking if I did that, I would have a heart attack, and die right there.

Since there is no Switzerland for us ... I guess we will just have to endure.

Could be worse ... the Dinosaurs lost all of their WD-40.