Manuel Boyet Enicola

The understanding of "Keep Watch" among Christians in the past should not be underestimated. Just as no one can predict when a thief will enter a home, it does not imply that we should not take precautions and remain vigilant for any signs of neighborhood thefts. Only an unbalanced person would teach otherwise.
So, Matthew would have to be understood correctly along with Mark.

Mark 13:5-37
Common English Bible
Keep watch!
5 Jesus said, “Watch out that no one deceives you. 6 Many people will come in my name, saying, ‘I’m the one!’ They will deceive many people. 7 When you hear of wars and reports of wars, don’t be alarmed. These things must happen, but this isn’t the end yet. 8 Nations and kingdoms will fight against each other, and there will be earthquakes and famines in all sorts of places. These things are just the beginning of the sufferings associated with the end.
9 “Watch out for yourselves. People will hand you over to the councils. You will be beaten in the synagogues. You will stand before governors and kings because of me so that you can testify before them. 10 First, the good news must be proclaimed to all the nations. 11 When they haul you in and hand you over, don’t worry ahead of time about what to answer or say. Instead, say whatever is given to you at that moment, for you aren’t doing the speaking but the Holy Spirit is. 12 Brothers and sisters will hand each other over to death. A father will turn in his children. Children will rise up against their parents and have them executed. 13 Everyone will hate you because of my name. But whoever stands firm until the end will be saved.
14 “When you see the disgusting and destructive thing standing where it shouldn’t be (the reader should understand this), then those in Judea must escape to the mountains. 15 Those on the roof shouldn’t come down or enter their houses to grab anything. 16 Those in the field shouldn’t come back to grab their clothes. 17 How terrible it will be at that time for women who are pregnant and for women who are nursing their children. 18 Pray that it doesn’t happen in winter. 19 In those days there will be great suffering such as the world has never before seen and will never again see. 20 If the Lord hadn’t shortened that time, no one would be rescued. But for the sake of the chosen ones, the ones whom God chose, he has cut short the time.
21 “Then if someone says to you, ‘Look, here’s the Christ,’ or ‘There he is,’ don’t believe it. 22 False christs and false prophets will appear, and they will offer signs and wonders in order to deceive, if possible, those whom God has chosen. 23 But you, watch out! I’ve told you everything ahead of time.
We are currently witnessing a phenomenon of apostasy in the world, and it is also present here. Those who disagree should provide solid evidence to challenge scripture, rather than making baseless accusations. Comparing Russell's early teachings, which have been manipulated and distorted, to the present doctrines of the Watchtower is not only ignorant but also perpetuates a path built on deception and falsehoods.

What if Satan knew that Jesus said that no one would knows the day and hour of his return, that it would be at a time we would not think to be it, and that the times and seasons are in Jehovah's jurisdiction, not for us to know. And what if he knew that Paul had said "As for the times and seasons, you need nothing to be written to you -- because you very well know that the day will come as a thief."
So Satan is seeking to devour people who are otherwise determined to be Jehovah's named people, but he would love to see them become disobedient to the spirit of Jesus's words and show the kind of hubris and pride that would make them think that what Jesus said doesn't really matter: that we want to claim that we can know the times and seasons anyway. 
So Satan finds a group of honest-hearted people looking for truth, but he needs them to have at least one major stumbling block -- disobedience to Jesus' words about realizing that the end comes as a complete surprise, just the way that Sodom was destroyed without warning. This way it's also possible to get people serving for a date, or not completely whole-souled because they think that they will be able to wait until the signs get even more specific [like a "cry" of peace and security] before they completely clear their conscience of all the things that could weigh them down in this system. They will be looking for signs, but won't be focused on what sort of persons they ought to be - and to be ready for that revelation/manifestation/parousia at any time, including 5 minutes from now. 
So making persons get absorbed in date-setting not only produces a lack of readiness, it always produces one more thing that most people don't realize. Everyone who sets certain expectation for certain dates is displaying presumptuousness and pride. They will also invariably fail, just as Russell failed with every single prediction and expectation for 1914, and 1915, and 1878, and 1881, and just as Rutherford failed in his published predictions for 1918 and 1925. The pride angle is obvious, because a leader like Russell or Rutherford (or Ellen G White, or Nelson Barbour, or William Miller, or Garner Ted Armstrong, or Frederick Franz, or Harold Camping, etc.) is saying in effect, "I know Jesus said that no one would know, but he is making an exception for me, and therefore for the group that listens to what I am saying. We are so special!"
But that type of pride has a secondary effect when the dates fail -- and they invariably do fail. To save face, every single person who has predicted something must backtrack (with few exceptions) and try to make it look like it wasn't really a failure. Instead of admitting failure, it becomes "Well it wasn't us, it was people listening to us but getting too carried away." Or, "We were expecting the right thing, just at the wrong time - a little to early." Or, "We had the time right, we were just expecting the wrong thing." And then there is the whitewashing of history, as when the Watchtower began "bragging" about how only Jehovah's Witnesses (called Bible Students at the time) were preaching for decades in advance that Jesus' invisible presence would begin and Christ's kingdom would be born in 1914." Of course, that's a dishonest statement, yet we have heard versions of it so many times that some of us believe it's true. No one ever preached in advance that Christ's kingdom would begin in 1914. No one ever preached in advance that Jesus invisible presence would begin in 1914.
There is nearly always an element of dishonesty that goes with every religion that has ever tried to set dates related to end time events. So if Satan could find a way to feed into that idea of date-setting either through a typo or through manipulation of world leaders to fool Russell into thinking one of his dates was right all along, I wouldn't doubt that Satan would try.

Here is the material for May 6-12 and May 13-19, 2024. TB
Additional Highlights -MAY 6-12, 2024.doc Additional Highlights -MAY 13-19, 2024.doc Meeting Workbook and CBS week of MAY 6-12, 2024.doc Meeting Workbook and CBS week of MAY 13-19, 2024.doc Watchtower May 6-12, 2024.doc Watchtower May 13-19, 2024.doc Additional Highlights -MAY 6-12, 2024.pdf Additional Highlights -MAY 13-19, 2024.pdf Meeting Workbook and CBS week of MAY 6-12, 2024.pdf Meeting Workbook and CBS week of MAY 13-19, 2024.pdf Watchtower May 6-12, 2024.pdf Watchtower May 13-19, 2024.pdf

Here is the notebook that I did for the 2024 "Declare The Good News" RC. TB
2024 Declare The Good News Convention Notebook.pdf 2024 Declare The Good News Convention Notebook.doc

At the mid-week meeting we had the Bible reading that included Psalm 26. We also sang song #34.
It's a very beautiful melody, even though I have other favorites. What I like most about the song is that it follows the Psalm very closely. It's a good reminder that the words of the original Psalm 26 were also sung, even though we don't know the original melody. But the tune and music we use seem very appropriate for the tone of the Psalm itself. 
Last week, of course, we had this for the 23rd Psalm, too. And I think the same about that melody and how appropriate it is to the words of the Psalm. 

Speaking of insights …. have you ever wondered why you have NEVER seen a picture of Ernest Borgnine and Elizabeth Taylor, in the same picture?

Judaism was the true religion during Jesus' times. But most Jews did not accept Jesus as the prophesied messiah; hence, the whole nation was rejected by God and replaced with Christianity. This 'new' religion is still based on Judaism sans observance to the Mosaic law. The additional belief is faith in Jesus' ransom sacrifice. Ergo, no resignation letter needed.... 😁

Judaism was the true religion during Jesus' times. But most Jews did not accept Jesus as the prophesied messiah; hence, the whole nation was rejected by God and replaced with Christianity. This 'new' religion is still based on Judaism sans observance to the Mosaic law. The additional belief is faith in Jesus' ransom sacrifice. Ergo, no resignation letter needed.... 😁

Here is the weekly material for the weeks of Feb. 12- 18 and Feb. 19-25, 2024. TB
Additional Highlights -FEBRUARY 19-25, 2024.pdf Meeting Workbook and CBS week of FEBRUARY 12-18, 2024.doc Meeting Workbook and CBS week of FEBRUARY 12-18, 2024.pdf Meeting Workbook and CBS week of FEBRUARY 19-25, 2024.doc Meeting Workbook and CBS week of FEBRUARY 19-25, 2024.pdf Watchtower February 12-18, 2024.doc Watchtower February 12-18, 2024.pdf Watchtower February 19-25, 2024.doc Watchtower February 19-25, 2024.pdf Additional Highlights - FEBRUARY 12-18, 2024.doc Additional Highlights - FEBRUARY 12-18, 2024.pdf Additional Highlights -FEBRUARY 19-25, 2024.doc

This story is about a fairly unknown R&D engineer at a Japanese company. 
So naturally, I'll start off by somehow making this about myself. Just kidding. I'll make it about my father. Just kidding . . .well, almost.
From 1964 to 1984 my father ran a couple of electronics labs for the University of Missouri. This was great fun for him and even more fun for me and my brother. The world was transferring from tubes to transistors, and my father invented a "semiconductor curve tracer" onto a simple oscilloscope screen that made testing transistors as easy or even easier than the old ways of testing vacuum tubes. The University got a patent for it. 
And from 1984 to 2004 he designed amplifiers and sound systems for a company in California, and also for several Assembly Halls. I had fun with the electronics stuff, but never really learned it very deeply. Mostly because I quit school when I was 15 to start regular pioneering, and then I went off to Bethel to draw pictures for the publications and then do library research. But my brother was a few years older than I was, and graduated HS and went into an electronics company immediately. He went to Bethel just after I did and he was assigned electronics projects and had a little research lab which was a mini version of what my father had. 
In the 1990's My father was always going on about how they make transistors and spoke about gallium arsenide "doping," silicon "doping" and other terms I had never heard of. In the mid-1990's a company sent him some blue LEDs. He said even one small one cost a few hundred dollars. Blue LEDs were a kind of "holy grail" of LEDs. If one could be made with the same brightness control and at the same cost of Green and Yellow LEDs, then any color could be mixed. (With paint and ink you can create almost any color by mixing red/magenta, yellow, and blue/cyan -- but with light you can only get any color by mixing red, yellow, and green.) My father used to try to fake the blue by putting a blue transparent plastic cap on a bright red/green combination, because red+green=yellow, and a blue cap would then make a blue-green color, but not bright enough or "true" enough to mix well with the other colors.
Anyway that brings me to the video of the blue LED hero. The story would also make a great story of a working-man hero standing up against the stronger and more monied corporate powers. Someone has probably made a book about him, or they should. 
 

Here is one method that I find to be the easiest to understand and support. 
.PREMISE: Babylon was destroyed in 539 BCE (Won't go into it here, but there are many ways to reach this date. Even the Watchtower "accepts" this date, in spite of the fact that the Watchtower does NOT accept the evidence for it. Because accepting the evidence for it means rejecting 607 BCE as NEB 18.)
PREMISE: Babylon was to have its period of greatest domination over all the surrounding nations for 70 years. Biblically supported by direct statements in Jeremiah 25:8-17 and accepted by the Watchtower publications as shown in the following statement found here:
 https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/pc/r1/lp-e/1200270023/388/2 *** ip-1 chap. 19 p. 253 par. 21 Jehovah Profanes the Pride of Tyre ***
Evidently, the 70 years represents the period of Babylonia’s greatest domination—when the Babylonian royal dynasty boasts of having lifted its throne even above “the stars of God.” (Isaiah 14:13) Different nations come under that domination at different times. But at the end of 70 years, that domination will crumble. 
CONCLUSION: If the Babylonian Empire ended in 539, we can count back 70 years and see that it must have started when the Assyrian Empire fell in 539+70 = 609. That means NABO 17 (fall of final Assyrian capital Harran) = 609, therefore NABO 14 (the fall of Nineveh) = 612 BCE

So that you can select from this small group of faiths the one comprised of true followers of Christ. If a religious group is not hated, it is disqualified from consideration, since the Bible repeatedly says that true Christians will be hated. For example: 
If you were part of the world, the world would be fond of what is its own. Now because you are no part of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, for this reason the world hates you. (John 15:19)

Just wondering why so much 'hatred' (sorry for lack of term; do help me here.) for the GB/JWorg.  Same thing could be said of other religious groups --- and even worse.  😁

WTJWorg has affiliate organizations all over the world. The smallest of them are called by the name - congregation. Congregations are part of, under the administration of a national body registered in a particular country. Shortened, colloquial name - Betel. Each such religious registered body receives a certain amount of money from its state and thus has financial support for its activities. It may also have some other financial benefits, such as exemption from tax on purchases and the like.
In addition to donations from its own membership and government money, WTJWorg buys, sells and builds real estate. So organization (GB) is also involved in the real estate business. I guess that's what Jesus recommended. lol
Furthermore, WTJWor goes so far as to sue the state if it wants to be denied its "annual appanage."

 

I fully agree with doctrinal unity. But uniformity? Mmmm, creation shows us to leave room for variability. 

What you generally describe does seem to work with the gospel accounts. There are some specific points I would still question, including the fact that Anna already pointed out: Jesus was not nailed until reaching the final place of execution.
Some have shown concern about whether Jesus could really have carried his stauros considering the weight. There is some evidence that the Roman execution process could include putting a notch in the patibulum beam of the stauros that was carried in public on the way to the execution site. 
Some have also shown concern about the extra time it would take to prepare a patibulum with a notch while in the midst of a "rush" to judgment. But if a stake/tree was already standing at the place of execution "Skull Place" it could have already contained the notch that the patibulum was merely hoisted onto.
The idea of the arms stretched wide across a patibulum to carry it, and then later having the hands nailed widely apart onto that same patibulum also solves an issue about whether a ladder was needed. If Jesus were already nailed to a patibulum then 2 or 3 soldiers who were 6-feet tall could easily hoist it to a notch (already prepared) about 8 feet off the ground. If the arms remain at about the same level as the head, then Jesus' feet are still a foot or two off the ground depending on his height. And they would need to be nailed, too.
Previously, some have speculated that the very fact that this Skull Place existed and two criminals were being executed there on the same day could be an indication that the scarce timber of this country was already standing in place ready for constant re-use without the need to dig new holes and hoist tall poles into them and shore them up so that they could not fall over. The patibulum practice of making someone march through the public carrying it on their back, makes perfect sense in such an environment. 
But it's still speculation. To me it's a matter of which way the overall evidence leans.

Let's boil down to the 'practicality' of this discussion:  
1.  The Romans are not stupid.  They must have figured out after their first few executions that it is very tedious to plant a stake or cross each time somebody is executed.  It will be far more easier to use a dead tree or have a permanently planted pole (stake / xylon) and simply raise and attach on top a stauros / patibulum with the condemned nailed to it.  
2.  A whole cross would weigh well over 135 kg (300 lb), but the crossbeam would not be quite as burdensome, weighing around 45 kg (100 lb). (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2651675)  If Jesus was to carry the pole (stake / xylon) only, that would still amount to 90 kg (198 lb) and is no easy task.  Carrying the crossbeam (stauros / patibulum) is deemed more realistic.  But then, an exhausted person deprived of sleep would easily stumble even on the lighter weight, so that Simon the Cyrene was compelled by the soldiers to carry it for him. 
3.  While the bible is silent on the details, it is interesting to note that nailing is associated with stauros, and hanging with xylon. 
Bottom line:  there is no conflict on translating stauros as torture stake/stake and xylon as stake or tree.  Using the word cross for any of the Greek words mentioned likewise do not give a clear picture. 
 
 
 
 

Let's boil down to the 'practicality' of this discussion:  
1.  The Romans are not stupid.  They must have figured out after their first few executions that it is very tedious to plant a stake or cross each time somebody is executed.  It will be far more easier to use a dead tree or have a permanently planted pole (stake / xylon) and simply raise and attach on top a stauros / patibulum with the condemned nailed to it.  
2.  A whole cross would weigh well over 135 kg (300 lb), but the crossbeam would not be quite as burdensome, weighing around 45 kg (100 lb). (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2651675)  If Jesus was to carry the pole (stake / xylon) only, that would still amount to 90 kg (198 lb) and is no easy task.  Carrying the crossbeam (stauros / patibulum) is deemed more realistic.  But then, an exhausted person deprived of sleep would easily stumble even on the lighter weight, so that Simon the Cyrene was compelled by the soldiers to carry it for him. 
3.  While the bible is silent on the details, it is interesting to note that nailing is associated with stauros, and hanging with xylon. 
Bottom line:  there is no conflict on translating stauros as torture stake/stake and xylon as stake or tree.  Using the word cross for any of the Greek words mentioned likewise do not give a clear picture. 
 
 
 
 

Hi folks. Just tuned in late, but this is how I see it: 
1.  Jesus carried the stauros or stake. 
2.  Both of his HANDS were nailed to it while grasping it, a meter or a yard apart.  That is, nails were driven from the back, not from the palms.  
3.  He was then HANGED on a stake, creating a letter "T" cross.  Probably the stauros (patibulum) had a notch that would fit nicely at the top of the already upright stake. 
4. The feet were then nailed or tied tight to prevent a further escape. 
With the above, we can reconcile the following: 
1.  Jesus was nailed to a STAKE (stauros). 
2.  He was HANGED upon a tree. 
3.  With arms outstretched and gripping the 'cross beam', he could last for hours until exhaustion did its job. Otherwise, any healthy person hanged with both hands tied together won't last an hour owing to a compressed lungs.
4.  Finally, we get to understand the implication of John 21:18,19 regarding 'arms outstretched' and the 'manner of death' mentioned. 
Cheers everyone!
 

Jesus carried it initially.  Later, the Roman soldiers "compelled" Simon of Cyrene to carry it for him....
 

Dear Librarian, 
Let us be vigilant lest we inadvertently post spoofs and inaccurate "news" like this one! 

I totally agree with you brother.  Going over your posts, I noticed some concerns of yours are global, some local.  But just like in he first century, the apostle Peter said: “Lord, whom shall we go away to? You have sayings of everlasting life..."  (John 6:68) Today, no other organization is as close to Jehovah than the JWs.  And blessed too despite the numerous "imperfections".  Let's stick together and look forward to a brand New World!  Cheers.... 

Did you opened the link?  That was the proof!
Anyway, to make it convenient for you, here it is again, just click on it:  http://www.eliyah.com/lxx.html 
 

It's funny, really.  There are a lot of "false" prophets out there that caught media attention, but it seems the internet is picking mostly on just the Jehovah's Witnesses.  Goes to show that JWs are "different" and NOT part of the world.  After all, you won't pick on your own, wouldn't you?  

If we have to believe everything posted "as is", then that also makes Jonah a false prophet. He prophesied that Niniveh would fall in 40 days and it did not happen.  And also Moses who believed that he was anointed by Jehovah and it was time to liberate Israel from Egypt - only to wait 40 years more....