James Thomas Rook Jr.

Hard to get anything past me... I type with TWO fingers!
It would go faster if I removed the finger-tip rubber chicken heads.

Remember the song in the old pink shirt cardboard songbook,  that I used to call the "Let's drag the stones to the Pyramid" song?  I forget the name ...
 Bum dee dee BUM de de,  BUM BUM BUM dum bum.
BUM de de BUM de de bum dum dum dum DUM.
Bum de de, Bum de de DUM,  DUM ....
... etc.
I miss that song ....
 

People making a lot of money these days out of unconventional things. You never know. Continue writing, don't mind me.
 

Always happy to learn things like this about people. Without details, I can imagine anything from from music lessons to a professional recital hall.
I think I mentioned once that I played a harmonica at the District Assemblies (aka Summer Conventions), not an instrument one would normally associate with the assembly orchestra. (In fact, we currently associate no instruments with assembly orchestras.) We also don't have choirs anymore. My parents met each other in the volunteer portion of a convention choir. In the early 1950's there was always a core choir assigned from past volunteers, and then they would often invite more volunteers, if they wished, to join them in a section up close to the actual orchestra/choir.
Hey! Maybe we should create a section for posting "Kingdom Songs," or other songs.

Forgot to use this scripture in my first post.
Reason we go to meetings and conventions and assemblies (apparently these two are not synonyms)
(Hebrews 10:24, 25) And let us consider one another so as to incite to love and fine works, 25 not forsaking our meeting together, as some have the custom, but encouraging one another, and all the more so as you see the day drawing near.
Plain and simple.
 

All you have said, Melinda, is true, but .... (assuming you have already attended the 2019 Convention ...) the question remains,
WHAT DID YOU LEARN THAT WAS NEW AT THE 2019 "LOVE NEVER FAILS" REGIONAL CONVENTION ?
By the way ... I met my first wife at an Assembly ( she ran out on me with my best friend, an ex Bethelite and a Pioneer).
I met my second wife in Peru, and we both worked on helping to build Bethel, there ( she ran out on me for no specified reason, other than she never loved me ).
and ... I met my current and third wife, Susan,  on a JW dating website, and after six years, she is the love of my life, and my best friend.
My three children, very VERY dedicated to the Organization, and who live within a 200 mile radius, have visited me less than ONE DAY in the last ten years ( this coming December 19th), so you can see why it is important for me to find out how OTHER people process information, and ...
WHAT DID YOU LEARN THAT WAS NEW AT THE 2019 "LOVE NEVER FAILS" REGIONAL CONVENTION ?
 

Like the old saying goes here in the South (USA) ..
" There are two things that money can't buy.
True Love, and home-grown tomatoes ".

It sounds SO familiar.  

OK, great! Go ahead. Going to music now - have to perform a little piece.

Who would pay me to watch Youtube Videos and take notes?
You interested in buying them?
I do have reasonably good handwriting!
( Hmmmmm.... I could scan them, and post them here ... photons are cheap! )

Hope you are not getting paid to take the notes.

Susan and I are watching the whole thing now on YouTube, and we are taking notes.   I hope the information is worth the effort.
" ... Law of diminishing returns ... ", as you already understand.
Besides, my face and arms are covered with poison ivy from working on my chicken coop, and it's 93 degrees out there.

Next week DV I will know, and will tell you.   
Maybe this time your children will learn something that will show them the need to visit more often and to process information so they practice godly devotion more fully which includes checking on your parents. (mentioned somewhere in 1 Timothy.) Work in progress.

All you have said, Melinda, is true, but .... (assuming you have already attended the 2019 Convention ...) the question remains,
WHAT DID YOU LEARN THAT WAS NEW AT THE 2019 "LOVE NEVER FAILS" REGIONAL CONVENTION ?
By the way ... I met my first wife at an Assembly ( she ran out on me with my best friend, an ex Bethelite and a Pioneer).
I met my second wife in Peru, and we both worked on helping to build Bethel, there ( she ran out on me for no specified reason, other than she never loved me ).
and ... I met my current and third wife, Susan,  on a JW dating website, and after six years, she is the love of my life, and my best friend.
My three children, very VERY dedicated to the Organization, and who live within a 200 mile radius, have visited me less than ONE DAY in the last ten years ( this coming December 19th), so you can see why it is important for me to find out how OTHER people process information, and ...
WHAT DID YOU LEARN THAT WAS NEW AT THE 2019 "LOVE NEVER FAILS" REGIONAL CONVENTION ?
 

Law of diminishing returns is also a fundamental principle in Economics, not only Engineering.  And you talking money already.
But remember you go to meeting every week and you don't  necessarily learn anything new, it costs clothes, gas, tyres, road tax, etc.  The Convention is just a bigger meeting.  You don't complain for regular meeting, so why complain for a more exciting, bigger meeting, even if you are eating ordinary spiritual food served in prettier plates or settings.   Where did you meet your wife?  Put yourself in the place of those who are new to the spiritual food, are now meeting other Witnesses/Christians or are even looking for mates, all these are normal things Jesus mentioned in Matthew 24.  But he said some would take no note of the spiritual things until they are swept away. 
So what can you/I do to show more  appreciation for what may begin to look ordinary?  Form a longing for the ordinary food (milk) - it is necessary to grow from infancy to maturity both literally and spiritually; it will help you to grow to salvation.  You know a year in advance and you prepare with anticipation. When it comes you show appreciation.  I already have three sets of clothes put out and a bag packed. My convention is next week. I got my lapel card today.
(1 Peter 2:2) "As newborn infants, form a longing for the unadulterated milk of the word, so that by means of it you may grow to salvation,"
Even if we really knew everything that we need to know, we are all works in progress, we need to work on what we know.  There is always room for improvement in putting on the complete suit of armour and the new personality; in setting spiritual goals.
(Ephesians 4:23, 24) And you should continue to be made new in your dominant mental attitude, 24 and should put on the new personality that was created according to God’s will in true righteousness and loyalty.
Always remember that the Israelites complained about the manna, then God send the bird with lots of flesh and while they were still eating they were punished.  (Someone can enlarge on the reasons why he gave them meat and then punished them.)
(Numbers 11:31-34) 31 Then a wind from Jehovah sprang up and began driving quail from the sea and causing them to fall around the camp, about a day’s journey on this side and a day’s journey on the other side, all around the camp, and they were about two cubits deep on the ground. 32 So all that day and all night and all the next day, the people stayed up and gathered the quail. No one gathered less than ten hoʹmers, and they kept spreading them all around the camp for themselves. 33 But while the meat was still between their teeth, before it could be chewed, Jehovah’s anger blazed against the people, and Jehovah began striking the people with a very great slaughter. 34 So they gave that place the name Kibʹroth-hat·taʹa·vah, because there they buried the people who showed selfish craving. 
Let's appreciate the spiritual manna.  Fancy a dish prepared by God himself and people were complaining about it!
If we were starving and someone gave us plain rice and water,  it would help us to survive, though it might not satisfy us completely. While we are excited about new information, we still need the milk of the word as it would help us to live to salvation. It would help us renew our goals, remind us of what we already know,  and keep us on the path to salvation as the apostle Peter said. We need manna and milk to live, grow and mature.  People would be there who are at different stages of Christian development; some still need milk, some would be there who need solid food, some would be there who need the deeper things of God to satisfy them, but we all need spiritual food.   "Happy are those conscious of their spiritual need". Matt 5:3.
 
If and when we get into the Kingdom of God, we will be learning about love forever, as there will always be Jehovah, Jesus, and people to love.  Love (Agape) never fails. (1 Cor 13:8)
 

There is a free piece of software that will download about 90% of all YouTube Videos, called "Youtube Downloader".  Also a piece of software I use that is TERRIFIC ( and $20) is FastStone Capture which will download ANYTHING that can be displayed on your monitor ... even "protected stuff" that go to great lengths NOT to be downloadable.  A series of tutorials on how to use FastStone Capture is on Youtube.
 
...hope this helps.
JTR

.... Just as a point of interest ... if I was a wretched cur, wouldn't my God be the human that fed me, and took me to the Vet?
Seriously though ... I seem to remember that both Allen Smith and BillyTheKid46 have both alluded in the past to being mentally ill, and castigated those of us (?) who were ridiculing his/their "condition", when in fact I knew nothing about it until he/they brought it up.
I make jokes about this or that person being mentally off, but then again I make jokes about everything and most of the time it is in jest, and the other person is mock-insulting me right back, which is what guys do.
I even make disparaging jokes about myself, if I think the jokes work.
I personally believe that Allen, Billy and Foreigner and perhaps one other are the same person, as a matter if casual speculation .... but perhaps we are making the mistake of assuming that the "Fantastic Four" are mentally competent, and at least marginally sane ... and therefor holding him/them to a higher standard than would be reasonable.
What disturbs me is when a person that appears to be borderline insane "has" a fantasy .50 caliber BMG sniper rifle, in addition to another possibly fantasy arsenal, and is as insulting and bitter as he/they is/are.
In 1972 I spent 6 hours in a psych ward from an allergic reaction to a drug I was taking for asthma, as I was delirious, my estranged first wife sent me there after the ambulance rescued me from the asthma .... and I walked around for awhile looking at the "crazy people" in the ward, and decided I had to get out of there quick, or soon I would become like them.
The "doctor" wanted to keep me for further observation, although I was fine, until I said "You know, of course, that I am not going to pay you.", and I signed myself out.
The point of this shaggy dog (cur?) story is that interacting with crazy people can make an empathic person just as nutso as they are, and I suppose that is why even psychiatrists have psychiatrists.
If you get a chance, be sure to see the movie "One Flew Over The Cookoo's Nest", with Jack Nicholson getting electric shock therapy, walking out and winking at the Indian.  That scene was worth the whole movie!
"Sling Blade" .... was another story!
 
 

There is of course, a simpler explanation .... " WDS - The sword that cuts both ways."

.... Just as a point of interest ... if I was a wretched cur, wouldn't my God be the human that fed me, and took me to the Vet?
Seriously though ... I seem to remember that both Allen Smith and BillyTheKid46 have both alluded in the past to being mentally ill, and castigated those of us (?) who were ridiculing his/their "condition", when in fact I knew nothing about it until he/they brought it up.
I make jokes about this or that person being mentally off, but then again I make jokes about everything and most of the time it is in jest, and the other person is mock-insulting me right back, which is what guys do.
I even make disparaging jokes about myself, if I think the jokes work.
I personally believe that Allen, Billy and Foreigner and perhaps one other are the same person, as a matter if casual speculation .... but perhaps we are making the mistake of assuming that the "Fantastic Four" are mentally competent, and at least marginally sane ... and therefor holding him/them to a higher standard than would be reasonable.
What disturbs me is when a person that appears to be borderline insane "has" a fantasy .50 caliber BMG sniper rifle, in addition to another possibly fantasy arsenal, and is as insulting and bitter as he/they is/are.
In 1972 I spent 6 hours in a psych ward from an allergic reaction to a drug I was taking for asthma, as I was delirious, my estranged first wife sent me there after the ambulance rescued me from the asthma .... and I walked around for awhile looking at the "crazy people" in the ward, and decided I had to get out of there quick, or soon I would become like them.
The "doctor" wanted to keep me for further observation, although I was fine, until I said "You know, of course, that I am not going to pay you.", and I signed myself out.
The point of this shaggy dog (cur?) story is that interacting with crazy people can make an empathic person just as nutso as they are, and I suppose that is why even psychiatrists have psychiatrists.
If you get a chance, be sure to see the movie "One Flew Over The Cookoo's Nest", with Jack Nicholson getting electric shock therapy, walking out and winking at the Indian.  That scene was worth the whole movie!
"Sling Blade" .... was another story!
 
 

I think that people were noticing some language issues, and he mentioned dyslexia, hardly in a category of "mental illness."
But there is good reason for concern, not the least of which is the evidence that not just the three names, but literally more than 30 different names have been used by him. The "projection" and "blame-shifting" and something I'll call "grudge echolalia" seem to come too natural to be faked. And I think several here have suspected certain obsessions and pathological tendencies.
That said, I think his defense of the WTS is actually sincere.

You probably remember the time about 4 years ago, when I first mistook Allen Smith for a disgruntled ex-JW trying to make JWs look bad. At that time I came to the defense of other Witnesses on here (the old jw-archive.org forum at the time) and made it clear that all other Witnesses that I know, or have ever known, weren't at all like him. I certainly hope you not playing a game just to make JWs look bad.
Then again, you appear to think that my goal is to make JWs look bad, although I would say that I'm pushing for improvements. Even if you can't see a need for any improvements in processes and doctrines, you might still understand why others could want better explanations for certain difficult doctrines, and want more transparency when it comes to certain decisions and policies.
At any rate, I still find many of your points interesting, especially when you are talking to others here. When you talk to me, however, you seem to give up too easily, avoiding evidence offered, and offering non-responsible material in return. You do yourself no favors by merely lashing out with ad hominem vitriol, because it makes it look like you didn't have anything reasonable to offer.
For example, I asked:
You're answer was this:
Maybe it's just me, but I really can't get the sense of this answer. I can't see how it lets your reasonableness be known to all.
(Titus 3:2) " . . .  to speak injuriously of no one, not to be quarrelsome, but to be reasonable."

To be honest @JOHN BUTLER, I just couldn't be bothered to give you a detailed reply because your reasoning is so out of whack. But here goes:
As far as I am aware there is not much difference between an error and a mistake, they are just synonyms of each other. Once you put the adjective "deliberate"  in front of any of those words, then it changes the meaning to being  ummmm....deliberate, intentional, calculated, wilful etc. And no, I do not think their errors are deliberate. To which you will no doubt say I am brainwashed. It's good to have an opinion John, it doesn't mean someone is brainwashed, to the contrary.
Sure. But ultimately it is God. 
It's still up to God to grant that, not up to the GB. You could be part of the WT/JW etc. and still be disapproved by God. Just being a part of something is no guarantee.
The WT org. didn't foretell anything new, it just repeated what the Bible already foretold.
As for moral standards, you already forgot how high they are. You don't remember if someone is found to be unrepentantly flaunting God's moral standards they are out on their ear? 
Already covered above
Your opinion 
You are reading FAR too much into this! My inconsistency has nothing to do with the intention of twisting anything. Just laziness.
1975 was speculation. To be baptized as JW to be saved is a belief. Armageddon being close is also a belief.
Sorry, can't finish. Got to go. Will carry on later.
 

Good observation and reminder. I think it's always a good idea to keep in mind the "customs" and general attitude of society in times past when judging a situation from the the perspective of the present. It explains a lot of things. For example we can see why the organization was so weary of certain things in the past, which it now accepts. (organ transplants, vaccinations, cooking with aluminium etc.....etc...) We can also better understand things in the Bible, some of which might sound positively traumatic to the "modern" mind.

Had anyone ever noticed that Russell allowed himself to be identified as the "angel of Jehovah" here?
(1 Kings 19:7) 7 Later the angel of Jehovah came back a second time and touched him and said: “Get up and eat, for the journey will be too much for you.”
This was long before Russell had been identified (in print, at least) as the "angel" of the church at Laodicea, or "the seventh messenger."

You can also use this image to play "Where's Waldo?"

I've learned it's never a good thing when I see more than 6 notifications, especially if I've been away only a few hours...