The Librarian

Kent Morrill's memorial Saturday April 23,2011. The brother that wrote and sings this song. He served Jehovah faithfully for 41 years. Outstanding and impressive that although a famous muscian gave all praise to Jehovah in his own memorial talk given by a close friend. On his memorial program he had listed Ecclesiastes 12:13
 
 

Jehovah's Witnesses walk the walk, inviting guests to 3-day convention in Jacksonville
 
Posted: May 24, 2012 - 8:33pm | Updated: May 25, 2012 - 5:35amJView this story on the All-Access Members site
 
BOB SELF/The Times-UnionThea Johnson holds a copy of the invitation she and her husband, Ralph, were handing out to residents of the Ortega Bluff neighborhood off Collins Road Wednesday afternoon. The public is invited to attend any session of the JehovahÂ’s Witness convention today through Sunday.
About the conference
From mid-May through mid-September, Jehovah's Witnesses will hold 385 conventions in 103 cities throughout the United States. The convention theme "Safeguard Your Heart" focuses on the Bible's references to the figurative heart. Jehovah's Witnesses believe that the figurative heart needs protection if one is to have a good relationship with God and lasting happiness in life.
The public is invited to attend any session or the entire program today through Sunday at Veterans Memorial Arena. The morning sessions will begin at 9:20 each day. Today, the afternoon session will begin at 1:50. On Saturday, the afternoon session will begin at 1:35, and on Sunday the afternoon session begins at 1:25.
About the religion
Jehovah's Witness is a religious denomination founded in the United States during the late 19th century in which active evangelism is practiced, the imminent approach of the millennium is preached, and war and organized governmental authority in matters of conscience are strongly opposed. Christmas is not celebrated because Christmas and its observances are not mentioned in the Bible, and members will not say the Pledge of Allegiance or donate blood.

By Larry Hannan
No one was home at the first door Ralph and Teah Johnson knocked at on Broadgate Court in the Ortega Bluff neighborhood.
The second door produced a barking dog, but no people. The third door finally produced a man who looked like he'd just woken up from a long nap.
"He was nice and we told him about the convention this weekend," said Teah Johnson after walking down the street. "We said we hoped to see him there."
The Johnsons were spreading the word about the 2012 Jehovah's Witness "Safeguard Your Heart" district convention that is starting today at Veterans Memorial Arena. The three-day event will be attended by about 11,000 people of the Jehovah's Witness faith, and people who don't practice the religion are also welcome to attend.
There is no admission fee. People from Savannah to Palm Coast will be attending the event, with about 70 congregations coming.
There are about 6,000 Jehovah's Witnesses in the Jacksonville area, said spokesman Frank Woodcock.
Like most members of the Jehovah's Witness Faith, walking door-to-door is nothing new to the Johnsons. Talking about their faith to strangers is an essential part of what they do.
And the Johnsons say on most days people are very polite.
"If someone says something mean, it does hurt," Ralph Johnson said. "But that doesn't happen very often."
And when it does happen he reminds himself that he's a messenger of God, and it's not his responsibility to please the person receiving the message, Johnson said.
"If someone doesn't want to here what we have to say we move on," he said.
But Mark McCumber, a local Jehovah's Witness who's known to most people as a professional golfer who won the 1988 Players Championship, said the biggest challenge isn't unfriendly people so much as it's people being too busy to talk.
"We're here to help people build better families and a better relationship with God," he said. "But nowadays it's a challenge to find the time to talk."
Jehovah's Witnesses, who have been around since the 19th century, are probably most well known for their door-to-door evangelism, refusing military service, not celebrating Christmas and declining to say the pledge of allegiance.
But McCumber said their religion is more than that.
"We're all loyal citizens," he said. "Except when it conflicts with our beliefs."
Julie Ingersoll, professor of religious studies at the University of North Florida, said evangelizing is a much higher priority to Jehovah's Witnesses compared to other religions.
"You have to remember that the word 'witness' is right in their name," Ingersoll said.
While other religions like Mormonism and Scientology have fought for acceptance, and pushed hard against suggestions they are weird, or a cult, Jehovah's Witnesses have never really sought acceptance.

http://jacksonville.com/news/metro/2012-05-24/story/jehovahs-witnesses-walk-walk-inviting-guests-3-day-convention

Mark McCumber is a professional golfer. He is an active, baptized Jehovah's Witness who attends congregational meetings and engages in field service.

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Agape!
@The Librarian

Definitely. I see some definite superiority of the Law in many ways, and this area is no exception. Best leave that conversation over there, on the other thread however. (Although I would still like to know about that COJ quote you might have been interested in following up.)

@Ann O'Maly  I agree @Ann O'Maly
I will try to restrain my powers of banning people to a minimum. But at some point it becomes ridiculous.

I'll get a lot of mileage out of this one. @AlanF will pounce on every single word. And I'll paste him over each one, the opinionated oaf.
Look, we have destroyed JWI's thread and he has started another one. I messaged him that (tentatively) I would not go there. I would not have gone here except that Alan is so obnoxious that he draws people in. He's been the ruin of many a poor boy, and Lord I know I'm one. Ann and many others make parallel points on the subject, but because they are all reasonably civil, nobody feels they must do battle with them.
I have learned my lesson. (tentatively) I will not mess with JWI's other thread. (probably) @The Librarian is right. You can't destroy every thread by kicking every dog that barks at you. Not if you want to get very far. Rodney King said it best: 'people, can't we all just get along?' The Beatles said it second best: we must 'come together.'
This thread is a goner, and it will die a quick death if no fuel is heaped on. But there is yet (some) hope for JWI's new thread. Let know one trample upon it, at least not for 42 months.

@Ann O'Maly  I agree @Ann O'Maly
I will try to restrain my powers of banning people to a minimum. But at some point it becomes ridiculous.

@Ann O'Maly  I agree @Ann O'Maly
I will try to restrain my powers of banning people to a minimum. But at some point it becomes ridiculous.

@Ann O'Maly  I agree @Ann O'Maly
I will try to restrain my powers of banning people to a minimum. But at some point it becomes ridiculous.

A recent topic about whether the Watchtower view of 607 BCE is SCRIPTURALLY supported is linked below. This new topic should provide a better place to discuss the SECULAR evidence. I also think it would be useful to discuss the methodology that the Watch Tower Society has historically used to treat this evidence.
I would hope that we can do this without so much side discussions of unrelated topics. To avoid another topic that goes on for 30+ pages where only half of them were on-topic, I would suggest that if we get enough off-topic posts, we merely move them to another more appropriate topic.
The link to the most recent topic on a similar subject is here:


 

Some people think the first description of a probable dinosaur fossil bone discovery can be found in a book written around 300 AD by the Chinese scholar Chang Qu.  He describes the finding of “dragon bones” at Wucheng, in what is now Sichuan Province (south-western China).

I'm going to remember this one in PERPETUITY !!!
Good to see you back. Catch anything?

typewriter

I'll definitely add that to my REPERTOIRE!

Quite right. Which means that people who are demonstrably incapable of posting anything besides ad hominems ought to keep their mouths shut.
AlanF

Wow. I get called all the cusswords under the sun ... just for calling AllenSmith[insert#here] a kumquat several pages ago? Â 

JW's obey the teachings of Jesus. For example, at Matt. 28:19, 20 Jesus tells his disciples:
“Go, therefore, and make disciples of people of all the nations, baptizing them … teaching them to observe all the things I have commanded you…”
So the JW's obey that command by teaching the people of all the nations.
 

God warned his people to not adopt the ways of the nearby pagan nations.
God does not approve of pagans.
This is why true Christians do not practice the pagan customs that are practiced by Christendom today.

The triune aspect of God is actually a Pagan belief.
Many of the Pagan Gods and Goddesses were in a triple form.
In an effort to convert the pagan nations to Christianity,
the early Christian church adopted many Pagan customs, holidays and beliefs
including promoting the Triple God concept for the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

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Agape!
@The Librarian

Here is the Watchtower of 1916:
w1916_E.pdf
I am intrigued by the Roman Toga comment there..... any ideas? 
Was he considering himself ready to go to heaven and prepared in his white robes for his salvation?
@JW Insider might remember the story of A.H. Macmillan standing on the bridge in his white robes ready to be raptured. I forget the details though.
 
Here is the archive list 
 

1916_Russell_Death_Letter.pdf

Just to make it easier to read page 2:
 

The robes story may have shown that A.H.MacMillan was a good story-teller, but didn't care so much for research. He says there was a newspaper story about the occasion in Pittsburgh, but was probably confusing this with a story of some non-Russellite Second Adventists in Philadelphia. All the major Pittsburgh and Allegheny newspapers from the time period still exist and nothing like this was reported in Pittsburgh. The other thing is that the original "white robes" or "ascension robes" stories were probably made up out of whole cloth by non-Adventists making fun of Adventists, continuing since the Great Disappointment of 1843 and 1844, and repeated on a smaller scale among "Barbourite" Adventists in 1873 and 1874, with some Barbourite/Russellite Adventists trying again in 1878 and 1881.
But "ascension robes" were not a real, confirmed part of any of these stories. Biblically, it was the "Lord" who was going to give the robes. Boston newspapers made up stories about clothes manufacturers working overtime to create these robes in time, but there was never any evidence. 
By 1916 however these stories of white "ascension robes" had become an accepted part of the supposed culture of Second Adventists, from outsiders, but had become "true" through repetition. So it's possible that Russell believed they were a useful symbol of his true faith in his imminent ascension. And it's possible that MacMillan writing in the 1950's was recalling events through those later "filters." But at the time, Sturgeon and Rutherford made an effort to distance the "toga" from that interpretation. 
I think it was possible that Russell's mind was gone by then. The type of sickness he had was the close equivalent of being poisoned to die slowly until the mind goes, too.
 

Whenever I think "Toga", I think of John Belushi and "Food Fight".