The Librarian

Elderly Jehovah's Witness convicted of illegal evangelism
NEARLY-80-YEAR-OLD GRANDMOTHER FINED FOR TALKING ABOUT HER FAITH IN CHELIABINSK PROVINCE
Jw-ru.blogspot.com, 1 July 2017
 
Imagine an elderly woman who is about 80 years old. Strolling along the street she unwittingly chatted with other ordinary people, as many elderly people of such an honorable age do. As a result of her chatting she talked about various subjects, including topics of a religious nature. And the elderly woman, who has broad life experience and her own personal convictions, talked about this with people who did not mind talking with her and sharing their own opinions.
 
But the prosecutor's office of Cheliabinsk province opened an administrative case against this woman on the basis of part 4 of article 5.26 of the Code of Administrative Violations of Law of the RF (Conducting missionary activity with violation of the requirements of legislation on freedom of conscience and freedom of religious confession and on religious associations).
 
Just imagine, appearing before a judge is a grandmother who is almost 80 years old in whom representatives of law and order saw someone who is just about a hardened criminal. And all of this simply because this elderly woman shared her belief in God and topics she had read in the Bible.
 
But somebody will say, this cannot be. After all, just about every day we hear statements of Orthodox priests and other believers telling about their faith. Yes, that's so. But the point is that this grandmother does not attend the Orthodox church but as a Christian she is a Jehovah's Witness.
 
So it was for this reason that the prosecutor's office of Emanzhelinsk instigated an administrative case against the nearly-80-year-old grandmother, whose faith did not please the personnel of the prosecutor's office. (tr. by PDS, posted 2 July 2017)
 
RETIREE WHO PROCLAIMED JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES TEACHING FINED IN CHELIABINSK PROVINCE
Znak Internet Gazeta, 21 June 2017
 
In Emanzhelinsk a 76-year-old retiree, who spread information about the activity of the religious organization of Jehovah's Witnesses on the street, was fined 5,000 rubles. The press service of the prosecutor's office of Cheliabinsk province told Znak.com that an administrative case was opened against the woman on the basis of part 4 of article 5.26 of the Code of Administrative Violations of Law of the RF (Conducting missionary activity with violation of the requirements of legislation on freedom of conscience and freedom of religious confession and on religious associations).
 
"The prosecutor's office of Emazhelinsk, in the course of a joint inspection with personnel of the territorial police department, established that a 76-year-old local resident in April 2017, in public places in the city, publicly conducted missionary activity, spreading information about the doctrine of the religious organization of Jehovah's Witnesses among people who were not participants (members, followers) of said religious association."
 
Meanwhile, on 20 April the Russian Supreme Court found the activity of the religious organization of Jehovah's Witnesses to be extremist and prohibited its work in Russia. (tr. by PDS, posted 2 July 2017)

A  Fire  Tornado. These  are  not  exceptionally  rare,  just  rarely  documented. Mt. Conner  outback,  Australia...
NEVER  SEEN  IN  REAL !!

Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (pronounced /ˈaɪzənhaʊər/, eye-zən-how-ər; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was the 34th President of the United States from 1953 until 1961. He was a five-star general in the United States Army during World War II and served as Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces in Europe; he had responsibility for planning and supervising the invasion of North Africa in Operation Torch in 1942–43 and the successful invasion of France and Germany in 1944–45 from the Western Front. In 1951, he became the first supreme commander of NATO.[2] He was the last U.S. President to have been born in the 19th century.
Eisenhower was of Pennsylvania Dutch ancestry and was raised in a large family in Kansas by parents with a strong religious background. He attended and graduated from West Point and later married and had two sons. After World War II, Eisenhower served as Army Chief of Staff under President Harry S. Truman then assumed the post of President at Columbia University.[3]
Eisenhower entered the 1952 presidential race as a Republican to counter the non-interventionism of Senator Robert A. Taft and to crusade against "Communism, Korea and corruption". He won by a landslide, defeating Democratic candidate Adlai Stevenson and ending two decades of the New Deal Coalition. In the first year of his presidency, Eisenhower deposed the leader of Iran in the 1953 Iranian coup d'état and used nuclear threats to conclude the Korean War with China. His New Look policy of nuclear deterrence gave priority to inexpensive nuclear weapons while reducing the funding for conventional military forces; the goal was to keep pressure on the Soviet Union and reduce federal deficits. In 1954, Eisenhower first articulated the domino theory in his description of the threat presented to United States' global economic and military hegemony by the spread of communism and anti-colonial movements in the wake of Communist victory in the First Indochina War. The Congress agreed to his request in 1955 for the Formosa Resolution, which obliged the U.S. to militarily support the pro-Western Republic of China in Taiwan and take a hostile position against the People's Republic of China on the Chinese mainland. After the Soviet Union launched the world's first artificial satellite in 1957, Eisenhower authorized the establishment of NASA which led to a "space race". Eisenhower forced Israel, the UK, and France to end their invasion of Egypt during the Suez Crisis of 1956. In 1958, he sent 15,000 U.S. troops to Lebanon to prevent the pro-Western government from falling to a Nasser-inspired revolution. Near the end of his term, his efforts to set up a summit meeting with the Soviets collapsed because of the U-2 incident.[4] In his 1961 farewell address to the nation, Eisenhower expressed his concerns about future dangers of massive military spending, especially deficit spending and government contracts to private military manufacturers, and coined the term "military–industrial complex".
On the domestic front, he covertly opposed Joseph McCarthy and contributed to the end of McCarthyism by openly invoking the modern expanded version of executive privilege. He otherwise left most political activity to his Vice President, Richard Nixon. He was a moderate conservative who continued New Deal agencies and expanded Social Security.
Among his enduring innovations, he launched the Interstate Highway System; the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), which led to the internet, among many invaluable outputs; the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), driving peaceful discovery in space; the establishment of strong science education via the National Defense Education Act; and encouraging peaceful use of nuclear power via amendments to the Atomic Energy Act.[5]
In social policy, he sent federal troops to Little Rock, Arkansas, for the first time since Reconstruction to enforce federal court orders to desegregate public schools. He also signed civil rights legislation in 1957 and 1960 to protect the right to vote. He implemented desegregation of the armed forces in two years and made five appointments to the Supreme Court. He was the first term-limited president in accordance with the 22nd Amendment. Eisenhower's two terms were peaceful ones for the most part and saw considerable economic prosperity except for a sharp recession in 1958–59. Eisenhower has consistently been ranked by scholars as one of the greatest U.S. Presidents.
Early Life and Education
The Eisenhauer (German for "iron hewer/miner") family migrated from Karlsbrunn, Germany, to North America, first settling in York, Pennsylvania, in 1741, and in the 1880s moving to Kansas. Accounts vary as to how and when the German name Eisenhauer was anglicized to Eisenhower. Eisenhower's Pennsylvania Dutch ancestors, who were primarily farmers, included Hans Nikolaus Eisenhauer of Karlsbrunn, who migrated to Lancaster, Pennsylvania, in 1741.
Hans's great-great-grandson, David Jacob Eisenhower (1863–1942), was Dwight's father and was a college-educated engineer, despite his own father Jacob's urging to stay on the family farm. Eisenhower's mother, Ida Elizabeth (Stover) Eisenhower, born in Virginia, of German Lutheran ancestry, moved to Kansas from Virginia. She married David on September 23, 1885, in Lecompton, Kansas, on the campus of their alma mater, Lane University.
David owned a general store in Hope, Kansas, but the business failed due to economic conditions and the family became impoverished. The Eisenhowers then lived in Texas from 1889 until 1892, and later returned to Kansas, with $24 to their name at the time. David worked as a mechanic with a railroad and then with a creamery.[9] By 1898, the parents made a decent living and provided a suitable home for their large family.
Eisenhower was born on October 14, 1890, in Denison, Texas, the third of seven boys. His mother originally named him David Dwight but reversed the two names after his birth to avoid the confusion of having two Davids in the family. All of the boys were called "Ike", such as "Big Ike" (Edgar) and "Little Ike" (Dwight); the nickname was intended as an abbreviation of their last name. By World War II, only Dwight was still called "Ike".

The Eisenhower family home, Abilene, Kansas.
In 1892, the family moved to Abilene, Kansas, which Eisenhower considered as his home town. As a child, he was involved in an accident that cost his younger brother an eye; he later referred to this as an experience teaching him the need to be protective of those under him. Dwight developed a keen and enduring interest in exploring outdoors, hunting/fishing, cooking and card playing from an illiterate named Bob Davis who camped on the Smoky Hill River.
While Eisenhower's mother was against war, it was her collection of history books that first sparked Eisenhower's early and lasting interest in military history. He persisted in reading the books in her collection and became a voracious reader in the subject. Other favorite subjects early in his education were arithmetic and spelling.
His parents set aside specific times at breakfast and at dinner for daily family Bible reading. Chores were regularly assigned and rotated among all the children, and misbehavior was met with unequivocal discipline, usually from David. The Eisenhowers were River Brethren, a branch of Mennonites known now as the Brethren in Christ. They believed in nonviolence. When Dwight Eisenhower was a boy, his parents joined the International Bible Students Association, later known as Jehovah's Witnesses. The Eisenhower home served as the local meeting hall from 1896 to 1915, though Eisenhower never joined the International Bible Students. His later decision to attend West Point saddened his mother, who felt that warfare was "rather wicked," but she did not overrule him. Dwight Eisenhower would write in his book, “At Ease, Stories I Tell to Friends,” about his mother and his decision to enter the military academy.“She saw me off, and then went back home to her room. Milton (his brother) told me later that for the first time in his life he heard Mother cry.”
While speaking of himself in 1948, Eisenhower said he was "one of the most deeply religious men I know" though unattached to any "sect or organization". He was baptized in the Presbyterian Church in 1953.
Eisenhower attended Abilene High School and graduated with the class of 1909. As a freshman, he injured his knee and developed a leg infection which extended into his groin and which his doctor diagnosed as life-threatening. The doctor insisted that the leg be amputated but Dwight refused to allow it, and miraculously recovered, though he had to repeat his freshman year. He and brother Edgar both wanted to attend college, though they lacked the funds. They made a pact to take alternate years at college while the other worked, in order to earn the tuitions.
Edgar took the first turn at school, and Dwight was employed as a night supervisor at the Belle Springs Creamery. Edgar asked for a second year, Dwight consented and worked for a second year. At that time, a friend "Swede" Hazlet was applying to the Naval Academy and urged Dwight to apply to the school, since no tuition was required. Eisenhower requested consideration for either Annapolis or West Point with his U.S. Senator, Joseph L. Bristow. Though Eisenhower was among the winners of the entrance-exam competition, he was beyond the age limit for the Naval Academy. He then accepted an appointment to West Point in 1911.
At West Point, Eisenhower relished the emphasis on traditions and on sports, but was less enthusiastic about the hazing, though he willingly accepted it as a plebe. He was also a regular violator of the more detailed regulations, and finished school with a less than stellar discipline rating. Academically, Eisenhower's best subject by far was English. Otherwise, his performance was average, though he thoroughly enjoyed the typical emphasis of engineering on science and mathematics.
In athletics, Eisenhower later said that "not making the baseball team at West Point was one of the greatest disappointments of my life, maybe my greatest." He did make the football team, and was a varsity starter as running back and linebacker in 1912, tackling the legendary Jim Thorpe of the Carlisle Indians that year. Eisenhower suffered a torn knee in that, his last, game; he re-injured his knee on horseback and in the boxing ring, so he turned to fencing and gymnastics.
Eisenhower later served as junior varsity football coach and cheerleader. At West Point he played football. He graduated in the middle of the class of 1915, which became known as "the class the stars fell on", because 59 members eventually became general officers.
Personal Life

Mamie Eisenhower
Eisenhower met and fell in love with Mamie Geneva Doud of Boone, Iowa, six years his junior, while he was stationed in Texas.[6] He and her family were also immediately taken with one another. He proposed to her on Valentine's Day in 1916. A November wedding date in Denver was moved up to July 1 due to the pending U.S. entry into World War I. In their first 35 years of marriage, they moved many times.
The Eisenhowers had two sons. Doud Dwight "Icky" Eisenhower was born September 24, 1917, and died of scarlet fever on January 2, 1921, at the age of three; Eisenhower was mostly reticent to discuss his death. Their second son, John Sheldon Doud Eisenhower, was born on August 3, 1922, while they were in Panama. John served in the United States Army, retired as a brigadier general, became an author and served as U.S. Ambassador to Belgium from 1969 to 1971. John, coincidentally, graduated from West Point on D-Day, June 6, 1944. He married Barbara Jean Thompson on June 10, 1947. John and Barbara had four children: Dwight David II "David", Barbara Ann, Susan Elaine and Mary Jean. David, after whom Camp David is named, married Richard Nixon's daughter Julie in 1968. John died on December 21, 2013.
Eisenhower was a golf enthusiast later in life, and joined the Augusta National Golf Club in 1948. He played golf frequently during and after his presidency and was unreserved in expressing his passion for the game, to the point of golfing during winter, and ordered his golf balls painted black so he could see them better against snow on the ground. He had a small, basic golf facility installed at Camp David, and became close friends with the Augusta National Chairman Clifford Roberts, inviting Roberts to stay at the White House on several occasions; Roberts, an investment broker, also handled the Eisenhower family's investments. Roberts also advised Eisenhower on tax aspects of publishing his memoirs, which proved to be financially lucrative.
After golf, oil painting was Eisenhower's second hobby. While at Columbia University, Eisenhower began the art after watching Thomas E. Stephens paint Mamie's portrait. Ike painted about 260 oils during the last 20 years of his life to relax, mostly landscapes but also portraits of subjects such as Mamie, their grandchildren, General Montgomery, George Washington, and Abraham Lincoln. Wendy Beckett stated that Eisenhower's work, "simple and earnest, rather cause us to wonder at the hidden depths of this reticent president". A conservative in both art and politics, he in a 1962 speech denounced modern art as "a piece of canvas that looks like a broken-down Tin Lizzie, loaded with paint, has been driven over it."
Angels in the Outfield was Eisenhower's favorite movie. His favorite reading material for relaxation were the Western novels of Zane Grey. With his excellent memory and ability to focus, Eisenhower was skilled at card games. He learned poker, which he called his "favorite indoor sport", in Abilene. Eisenhower recorded West Point classmates' poker losses for payment after graduation, and later stopped playing because his opponents resented having to pay him. A classmate reported that after learning to play contract bridge at West Point, Eisenhower played the game six nights a week for five months.
Source and references. (Subsequently updated from other sources)
President Dwight Eisenhower´s Religion

In religion, as in so much else, Ike was far more sophisticated than commonly realized. Often, America’s religious life in the 1950s is dismissed as sterile and conventional. Supposedly President Dwight Eisenhower typified generic, superficial religion with his oft quoted quip: “Our government has no sense unless it is founded in a deeply felt religious faith, and I don’t care what it is.” The quote actually came from Eisenhower in 1952 after meeting his WWII fellow commander, Soviet Marshal Grigori Zhukov. Ike was explaining to reporters how America’s creed of equality was based on the “Judeo-Christian concept,” contrasting with the Soviet understanding of religion as the “opiate of the people.” Eisenhower was not describing his own personal theology. Grandson David Eisenhower’s Going Home to Glory, a new memoir of his grandfather’s retirement years, helps to clarify the record. (For a review, go here.) In religion, as in so much else, Ike was far more sophisticated than commonly realized. When still a young man in the 1970s, as part of research for the book published 35 years later, David Eisenhower interviewed the clergy who knew his grandfather well, including Billy Graham. David’s remembrance is not chiefly about religion, of course. But the book’s title captures its underlying theme of an aging solider and statesman who is preparing to go “home to glory.” Ike’s mother was the devotee of the River Brethren, an Anabaptist sect, and she trained her sons extensively to memorize Scripture. Much later she joined the Jehovah’s Witnesses. For much of his adult life, though not irreverent, Ike had not belonged to a church, sometimes attending liberal Mainline Protestant congregations that he complained focused more on politics. Upon his 1952 election to the presidency, the former general resolved to become a church member. Joining a pacifist, separatist sect from his childhood was unlikely for the nation’s chief magistrate and commander in chief. Billy Graham steered Eisenhower to National Presbyterian Church, whose pastor had been a World War II military chaplain. Perhaps Graham also surmised that orderly Presbyterianism would appeal to the organizer of D-Day. And Mamie Eisenhower had been Presbyterian. National Presbyterian Church was then in a stately downtown sanctuary just south of Washington’s Dupont Circle, only a brief drive north of the White House. Andrew Jackson and Woodrow Wilson, among other presidents, had attended the congregation. J. Edgar Hoover was a member. It offered the perfect dignified stage for a President’s attendance. But Eisenhower, who was far more complex than the avuncular golfer often imagined by friends and critics, was interested in more than show. Reputedly the Rev. Edward Elson explained to the new President that all new church members had to be catechized in a membership class. Eisenhower’s schedule would not allow attendance. But he invited Elson to instruct him one-on-one at the White House in the ways of Presbyterianism, which Elson supposedly did. Ike was the first and only sitting president to be baptized while in office. Eisenhower composed his own prayer that he read at his first inaugural. And he also invited cabinet members to open cabinet meetings with prayer. Urbane sophisticates, then and now, mocked this supposedly pitiable bourgeois exercise in civil religion. But like other American statesmen, Ike probably intuited that Judeo-Christian civil religion was a unifying moral force that was infinitely preferable to most of its likely alternatives. Ike took his churchgoing seriously and sometimes had Rev. Elson over to the White House to explain his sermons. David Eisenhower recites in his book how one sermon, “The Love of Christ Controlleth All Men,” provoked the President into pondering the impact of his golf course rages. Amusingly, Eisenhower once hosted the Methodist Council of Bishops at the White House but kept the meeting very brief so as not to delay his golf holiday. The bishops could hear the departing helicopter even before they left the grounds. After retirement, the Eisenhowers became active at Gettysburg’s Presbyterian congregation, whose young pastor, the Rev. James MacAskill, Ike especially appreciated. Young David as a teenager even found the minister “spellbinding.” Having a former president in MacAskill’s flock attracted offers of larger churches with greater salaries. Unwilling to see him leave, Ike intervened to ensure a higher salary for the minister. In turn, MacAskill was impressed with Eisenhower’s own depth of religious faith and his immunity to passing fads. Reputed to have cited his appointment of Earl Warren as U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice as one of his greatest errors, Eisenhower disapproved of the 1963 court ruling banning Bible readings from public schools. Ike saw religion as a crucial moral force, particularly for civil rights. He had been the first president to sign civil rights legislation since Reconstruction, and he supported the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964. As David Eisenhower writes, his grandfather thought the “Warren Court’s bias against the church undermined its promotion of equal rights because sociology was no substitute for moral teaching.” In that ruling’s wake, Ike delivered a sermon at his Gettysburg church. “I do not see how any Supreme Court in the world can declare teachings in this vein illegal,” Ike preached. “There is no reason for Americans to raise their children in a communist type school that denies the existence of a God.” He noted that the “theory of the equality of man is religious in origin.” And he observed: “To raise our children in a moral atmosphere is to recognize the existence of a Supreme Overlord.” Five years later, Eisenhower was confined to Walter Reed Medical Center for his life’s remaining months. One of the last visitors he summoned was Billy Graham, whom he asked to recite the plan of salvation Graham had first shared to him 14 years earlier. Graham did so, to which Ike responded, “I’m ready.” Ike’s deep but non-dogmatically articulated faith, reinforced by his active churchmanship, was reassuring and unifying for America before the social revolutions and culture wars of later decades. No president since has quite been able to repeat the feat. Eisenhower’s religious beliefs and practices may have seemed conventional, but they were deeply felt, and effectively served the nation.
Source
President Eisenhower and Jehovah's Witnesses Abilene Congregation - Records and Related Materials - PDF
JW ABILENE CONGREGATION - Records and Related Materials, 1912-1943.pdf

President Eisenhower and the Influence of the Jehovah's Witnesses.pdf
 

The mother of US President Eisenhower

Did Ida Eisenhower Die a Jehovah's Witness?
When researching Eisenhower's religion "Since so little original documentation exists, most historians have relied on interviews with persons who knew David and Ida" (Branigar 1994:1). Of the large amount of information available, one has to determine which conclusions were historically accurate--sometimes no easy task. One of the most reliable sources is Gladys Dodd's thesis because she used scores of personal interviews with the family, many of whom she was personally acquainted with, to study the religious background of the Eisenhower family in the late 1950s. Unfortunately, some Watchtower sources are questionable.
Dr. Holt, the director of the Dwight D. Eisenhower library in Abilene, Kansas indicates that the Watchtower may be involved in passing documents off as real which are evidently forgeries (1999). Specifically, interviews with family members has led J. Earl Endacott, a former Eisenhower library curator, to conclude that it was a 1944 incident which led to the dismissal of Ida's nurse, Mrs. Engle, who was then an active Jehovah's Witness.
The source of this information was Mrs. Robinson, who became Ida's nurse after Engle's dismissal. She claimed that Engle and another Witness conned Ida to write her name several times on a blank sheet of paper under the pretense of giving her "practice." According to Mrs. Robinson, the most legible signature was then physically cut from the sheet and pasted on the bottom of the letter to Mr. Boeckel which was not written by Mrs. Eisenhower but by Engle. Endacott concluded Engle had "more loyalty to the Witnesses" than to the Eisenhower's to whom she was distantly related. Later "in one of her lucid moments Ida told Mrs. Robinson what had happened and gave the sheet with the cut out name to her. When the Eisenhower foundation took over the home, Mrs. Robinson told me the story and gave me the sheet which I still have" (Endacott, N.D.).
This letter she allegedly wrote was to a Richard Boeckel, a young man who had become a Jehovah's Witness while still in the army (Boeckel, 1980). In August of 1944 Boeckel attended a Watchtower assembly in Denver where he met Lotta Thayer, Ida's neighbor from Abilene. In his conversations with her, Boeckel explained the difficulty of being a Witness in a military environment. Thayer then reportedly told him that her neighbor was General Eisenhower's mother, and added that "she's one of Jehovah's Witnesses" and asked Boeckel if he would like her to write to him (Knorr, 1980:24-29). Boeckel wrote Ida, and part of the letter Ida allegedly wrote back to him stated,
To encourage Boeckel to accept Watchtower doctrines, the letter mentioned several current events which the Watchtower then taught was evidence that Armageddon would occur very soon, concluding that "Surely this portends that very soon the glorious Theocracy, the long promised kingdom of Jehovah...will rule the entire earth and pour out manifold blessings upon all peoples who are of good will towards Him. All others will be removed [killed at Armageddon]. Again, may I urge your ever faithfulness to these 'Higher Powers' and to the New World now so very near." The letter dated August 20, 1944, evidently had the taped signature "Ida Eisenhower" affixed to it and closed with "Respectfully yours in hope of and as a fighter for the New World" (Cole, 1955:191).
This Ida Eisenhower letter, Endacott concluded, was "not in the words of Ida, who at the time could hardly write her own name" and evidentially she was not always mentally alert although her physical health was good. Her memory started to fail soon after her husband died and was at times so poor that she could not even remember her own son's names (Eisenhower, 1974:188). Furthermore, this letter is very well written quite in contrast to the letter she wrote in her own hand dated 1943 (see Cole 1955). When the Eisenhower sons found out about this event (evidentially a reporter published the letter putatively written by Ida Eisenhower to Mr. Boeckel) and other similar incidences, they wrote to Engle exploiting Ida (Kornitzer 1955). The letter was evidentially ignored by Engle and then Milton was given the task of dismissing her. At this time, Milton hired non-Witness Mrs. Robinson to help take care of Ida.
It would appear that Richard Boeckel would immediately be suspicious when he received the letter with Mrs. Eisenhower's signature obviously taped on it. He should have confirmed that the letter was genuine before he made claims about receiving a letter from Ida Eisenhower. His story and a photo reproduction of the letter was published in Marley Cole's book Jehovah's Witnesses and other sources, and Boeckel repeated the claims about the letter in his life story published in the October 15, 1980 Watchtower. At the minimum, the Watchtower Society, Mr. Boeckel, and Marley Cole have unethically presented a letter as genuine evidentially without verification. If Mrs. Eisenhower's letter is verified to be valid, the allegations that her letter is a forgery should be squashed. So far the Watchtower has not answered several inquiries about this matter. The Eisenhower museum has agreed to pay for a handwriting expert to examine the letter, but all attempts to obtain the cooperation of the Watchtower have so-far failed.
Merle Miller related an experience involving Boeckel and this letter which reveals the irony of Eisenhower's mother's faith:
Suspicion that the letter was a forgery is also supported by a Watchtower teaching called The Theocratic Warfare Doctrine. The Theocratic Warfare doctrine essentially teaches that it is appropriate to withhold the truth from "people who are not entitled to it" to further the Watchtower's interests (Reed, 1992; Franz, 1971:1060-1061). Reed defines Theocratic War Strategy as the approval to lie "to outsiders when deemed necessary" and also to deceive outsiders to advance the Watchtower's interests (Reed, 1995:40). In the words of Kotwall the Watchtower teaches that "to lie and deceive in the interest of their religion is Scripturally approved" (Kotwall, 1997:1). Jehovah's Witnesses do not always lie outright, but they often lie according to the court's definition--not telling "the whole truth and nothing but the truth," which means the court requires the whole story, not half-truths or deception (Bergman 1998). In the words of Raines, theocratic warfare in practice means "deceiving" to protect and advance the interests of "God's people" especially God's "organization the Watchtower" (Raines, 1996:20).
Nonetheless, I found no evidence that either parent was not a devoted Watchtower adherent when the Eisenhower boys were raised. If Mrs. Eisenhower's allegiance to the Watchtower waned as she got older, this would not affect the fact that her boys were raised as Witnesses, but would help us to better understand Ida Eisenhower.
In conclusion, Ida probably did not resign from the Witnesses and still saw herself as one. The reasons for concluding Ida Eisenhower mailed other letters at about the same time that she allegedly mentioned her Witness commitment to Boeckel include a handwritten letter to fellow Witness Mrs. H. I. Lawson of Long Island, N.Y., in 1943 (Cole, 1955). Although this letter could be a forgery as well, no one has voiced this concern yet.

New York Times, Sept. 12, 1946, p. 7. In addition, a front page Wichita Beacon (April 1943) article about Ida's Watchtower assembly attendance gave no indication that she was then disenchanted with Jehovah's Witnesses. The article stated that "the 82 year old mother of Americas famous military leader. . . was the center of attraction at the meeting Sunday, and her name was heard in just about every conversation, speech and discussion. The program's subject was 'how to become a good Jehovah's Witness." No evidence exists that only a year later she rejected Watchtower teachings or had resigned. These facts do not prove the letter is not a forgery, nor do they demonstrate the commonly alleged view that she became a Witness only in her later years when she was becoming senile, as often implied by many authors.

History of Bergman's perspective:
Eisenhower's family originally belonged to the local River Brethren sect of the Mennonites. However, when Ike was five years old, his parents became followers of the WatchTower Society, whose members later took the name Jehovah's Witnesses. The Eisenhower home served as the local WatchTower meeting Hall from 1896 to 1915, when Eisenhower's father stopped regularly associating due to the WatchTower's failed prophesies that Armageddon would occur in October 1914 and 1915. Ike's father received a WatchTower funeral when he died in the 1940s. Ike's mother continued as an active Jehovah's Witness until her death.
President Eisenhower and the Influence of the Jehovah's Witnesses.pdf

Revelation; It's Grand Climax at Hand! - 2006 version

1988_Revelation--It's Grand Climax At Hand! (2).pdf
 
2006 - Revelation book Adjustments.pdf
1989_The_Watchtower_Societys_end_of_world_prediction_1989.doc
 

via TheWorldNewsOrgWorld News

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The Third Clause: ΚΑΙ ΘΕΟϹ ΗΝ Ο ΛΟΓΟϹ
Finally, the clause in question. The author writes that Ο ΛΟΓΟϹ (“the word”) ΗΝ (“was”) ΘΕΟϹ. In the second clause, ΘΕΟϹ in the form of the definite, accusative ΤΟΝ ΘΕΟΝ referred to the Father (Yahveh, the creator of heaven and earth). But, Ο ΛΟΓΟϹ could not logically be identical with the Father because the second clause also stated that Ο ΛΟΓΟϹ was “with” the Father. To express a simpler analogy: if David was with Saul, then David cannot be the same person as Saul. Rather, the clause indicates that Ο ΛΟΓΟϹ and ΤΟΝ ΘΕΟΝ (1:1b) are two distinct persons.
 
https://hermeneutics.stackexchange.com/questions/1161/in-john-11c-should-the-greek-word-θεὸς-be-translated-into-english-as-a-god-o
 
 
the example is very simple .... if I was WITH @The Librarian .... I can not be the Librarian myself !!!!
and here we have 2 persons AND NOT 3 .... . 

Where they disrespectful?
Ex 18:17: Moses’ father-in-law said to him: “What you are doing is not good.” A non-Israelite making amends to the greatest prophet!
2Sam 12:7: Then Nathan said to David: “You are the man! (Murderer and adulterer!)
1Chro 21:3 “But Joab said: “May Jehovah multiply his people 100 times! My lord the king, are not all of them already servants of my lord? Why does my lord want to do this? Why should he become a cause of guilt to Israel?” The anointed interpellated as causing trouble to the nation!
Gal 2:14 “But when I saw that they were not walking in step with the truth of the good news I said to Cephas before them all…” Even the behavior was anything but exemplary.
Likewise, JWInsider, me and other have scriptural evidence that disagreement is not equal to disrespect. We’re not saying the GB are persons that deceitfully want to exploit us. On the contrary, many of us think these brothers are, basically faithful and prudents. We would not want to be marked with these strong words: (Jud 8) “…despising authority, and speaking abusively of glorious ones…”
But we think the brothers in the GB are LIKE US… mere mortals, mere humans, imperfects. With their phobias and philias. They, like me, are afraid of losing authority or credibility when recognizing mistakes. They, like me, are afraid the humbles ones perhaps start thinking this is not the correct religion when seeing mistakes…
Do these commentaries make others to stumble?
Do vaccines hurt? Absolutely. The necessary hurt to get immunity. You probably are aware Native Americans almost disappeared because their bodies lacked defenses. And this is our intention (JWInsider and me). To inoculate defenses against doubts asking the similar questions these other brothers would find, sooner or later.
And don’t obviate the obvious! We’re are active JW. We’re giving support to this people. We’re following the direction of the brothers on authority… year after year, for decades.

I was singing  *Kyrie eleison* as 16 year old girl in a church with a chorus ! Called * Missa brevis*  from W.A. Mozart. But also starting with the words Kyrie eleison !  I still have it on a sep. hard disc.  A nice reminder and experience... LOL

South Africa
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In 2005 a lawsuit against the South African Department of Labour was taken to the Labour Court of South Africa on behalf of the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of South Africa and members of the Worldwide Order of Special Full-Time Servants of Jehovah’s Witnesses serving at the South Africa Bethel. The lawsuit sought a ruling that would establish that the Bethelites should not be classified as employees under South Africa’s labor laws. In March 2009 the Labour Court issued a favorable decision confirming this fact and also substantiating the religious nature of the activities carried on at Bethel.
Uganda
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In 2007 the Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) issued a ruling that members of the Worldwide Order of Special Full-Time Servants of Jehovah’s Witnesses serving at the Uganda Bethel are employees as defined in Uganda’s Income Tax Act. The matter was submitted for resolution to the High Court of Uganda in Kampala on behalf of the International Bible Students Association (IBSA) against the URA. In June 2009 the High Court ruled in favor of IBSA, finding that the Uganda Bethelites are not employees. The court took special note of the fact that the Bethelites “receive the same support regardless of the tasks they perform.” The court concluded that the Bethelites are members of a religious order and receive food, shelter, and modest support only to care for personal necessities in the course of carrying out charitable and religious activities in Uganda.
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http://m.wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/302010009?q=religious+order&p=par

This certainly offers a rather crass view of the priorities. It makes it seem like the primary focus is on money. But it should not be overlooked that the contributions to the worldwide work are also designed to be providing the initial funds to set up Kingdom Halls in places that can't afford to build their own. Then the contributions in those congregations with new Kingdom Halls will pay back the cost through their own contributions at the rate that they can afford it. If and when the confiscation of properties in Russia is considered legally irreversible, the funds to the worldwide work can be used to help them rebuild when and if their situation changes. In the meantime, their excess contributions can be redistributed to places where Assembly Halls and Kingdom Halls are built legally.
In our current suburban congregations, we are considered to be in a wealthier area, so the push is to build in areas of prime real estate value. In just a few years, we have sold off two halls, as soon as they were paid for, and the new bigger hall was built in a fancier area, with more congregations paying for it through maximized contributions. Any other halls in this area that are already paid for become prime targets for selling off and being replaced with bigger and better ones. There are two problems with this. One is that the hall must be set for the size of the largest congregation (of four that meet here) with room for a bit of expansion, so this means that the other three congregations meeting here fill up only 30 to 50% of the seats. The other problem is that we have created an environment where more people think that the idea is to keep all of us maximizing our contributions to pay for a hall that is much bigger and fancier than anyone would have thought reasonable. (This also makes it look as though the primary goal is to keep "feeding" the contribution boxes even though the profit on the last two "flipped" Kingdom Halls was enough to pay for most of the single, new hall where congregations from those last two halls now meet.)

... perhaps a short ANALOGY will bring clarity .....
 
 

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The smart and determined runner trains hard for the finish line. Every nerve, every muscle, every sinew must be strained. His lungs must bellow if he wants to win. And he knows that the worst thing that can happen to him is to start out with a burst of speed only to have his legs give out and his lungs fail as he reaches his goal. So what does he do? Long before the event, he trains. He trains hard to acquire the strength, endurance, proper technique to learn obedience to the rules, because only in this way can he make his dash to the finish a winning success.Now the alert runner takes note as he runs his course because all along the way there are markers that tell him where he is in the race. This tells him how he must harness his energies, it tells him whether he is near the finish and whether his kick needs to be stronger and higher; whether or not he needs to put all his speed into it or whether he needs to measure his gauge, or his stride.Now so it is with the Christian. As we move to the conclusion of this system of things, as we come to the finish line, there are markers all along the way that tell us where we are and what we should be doing. I want you to open your bibles to the book of Matthew chapter 24, and this is where the heart of our discussion is going to be tonight.
It is going to be based primarily on Matthew 24, although we will be using other scriptural text.Our interest lies particularly in Jesus statements found in the 24th chapter of Matthew. Here in the 24th chapter of Matthew Jesus said something that certainly ought to catch our attention because it is a marker. It tells us where we are and what we should be doing. Beginning with verse 21 of Matthew chapter 24 Jesus said, “For then there will be great tribulation such as has not occurred since the worlds beginning until now, no nor will occur again, in fact, unless those days were cut short no flesh would be saved. But on account of the chosen ones, those days will be cut short.” And then Jesus goes on to add other mile post, he says first as you make your dash to the finish; you’re going to see a thing called the great tribulation. He said this thing is going to be horrendous. And unless it’s cut short absolutely no one would be able to survive it, because it’s going to be just that bad.Immediately he says in verse 29, let your eye go to verse 29, “Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened and the moon will not giveits light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will beshaken. ” See that’s another marker. And quickly you come upon another marker (verse 30), “And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will beat themselves in lamentation, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. (verse 31) And he will send forth his angels with a great trumpet sound, and they will gather his chosen ones together from the four winds, from one extremity of the heavens to the other extremity.”Now what Jesus is outlining for us here is the dash to the finish itself. These markers are going to come clipping along as we move to the conclusion of this system of things.And the reason why we’re raising this question is because once you get into that first marker, it will be a steady and very rapid downhill slide to the goal from then on. It will not be a time for you to adjust your stride, or to rethink your position. It will be a fast moving time. It will happen like this; and then, and then, and then, and then… and then it will be over. What you have not done you will not be able to do. Where you have not adjusted, you will not be able to adjust. You will not find some new supposed strength at that particular time. You are going to run the way you have been trained to run. Have you been running with the world? It is just as if a runner who has trained for years for a race, he’s not going to all of the sudden on the day of the race change his style, it’s too late for that! And chances are if he tried to change during the course of the race, he’d lose anyway because it would cause too much confusion.Let’s take a look at the first marker, go back to the 24th chapter of Matthew and look at verse 21. “For then there will be great tribulation” The first marker opens up with the destruction of Babylon the Great. That is when everything kicks off. Immediately with this destruction of Babylon the Great you and I are in for the race of a lifetime. Open your bibles to Revelation now and you’ll get an idea as to some of the things that will occur once the tribulation begins. It will start with the fall of Babylon the Great.
Turn to Revelation 17 and here you will see a very exciting thing occur. Beginning with verse 2, start in part of verse 1, it says, “Come, I will show you the judgment upon the great harlot who sits on many waters, (verse 2) with whom the kings of the earth committed fornication, whereas those who inhabit the earth were made drunk with the wine of her fornication.” Well cast your eyes down to verse 10, “And there are seven kings; five have fallen, one is, the other has not yet arrived, but when he does arrive he must remain a short while (verse 11) And the wild beast that was but is not, it is also itself an eighth king, but springs from the seventh, and it goes off into destruction.” Rev 17: 10 -11. And then in verse 13, “These have one thought, and so they give their power and authority to the wild beast.” And what do they do with this new found power, this singular thought? Verse 16, “And the ten horns that you saw and the wild beast, these will hate the harlot and will make her devastated and naked, and will eat up her fleshy parts and will completely burn her with fire. Verse 17 For God put it into their hearts to carry out his thought; even to carry out their one thought by giving their kingdom to the wild beast.” In other words Jehovah God is going to cause some sort of madness, some kind of crazed madness to come over the world powers in the near future, and they will attack Babylon , and they will rip and tear at her for all she’s worth. If you pay real close attention the stage is already being set for that. Already they have no compulsion whatsoever about putting the religious clergy in jail. They have no sanctity or feeling toward the religious clergy; they are cutting and slashing them in the face in New York . Thieves are breaking into the convents and churches and robbing them, nuns are being raped. They’re even breaking into churches and robbing them, they’re robbing preachers on the streets. So the appetite to attack Babylon is already there. Jehovah is going to simply open their mouths wide and they will chew her all to pieces and burn what’s left. It will be a most frightening time brothers when that marker shows up. Even the world will be terrified at what they see actually happening to the churches. Look at what it says Rev 18: 9 “And the Kings of the earth who committed fornication with her and lived in shameless luxury will weep and beat themselves in grief over her…” when they look at the smoke from the burning of her (verse 10) while they stand at a distance because of their fear of her torment and say “Too bad, too bad, you great city Babylon you strong city because…” we don’t have any more Christmas, no more Easter, and we can’t have any more political elections in your churches. And Babylon will be destroyed. This will not be a funny matter with us either; because once you see it happen the religious clergy will be cut down and the political leaders will obviously know that they are next. They stand back because they see that this must be the hand of God, they will know that something is terribly different here when they see the religious parties and other things being destroyed. Now this is very important, because once that time hits, what will you and I need? What will we need when we see this system coming to the conclusion?• A new car?• A new house?• A new pair of shoes?• A new coat?• A new bottle of perfume?• Fashionable clothes?• Money for the education of our children?Once you see that happening it will not be your money; you’re most valuable possession at that time will be your faith in God. Because once it hits it is going to be furious, no one will survive it except by the grace and protection of God himself. And the question is; will you be ready for that? Will you have the courage to go out and speak whatever message God will dictate for that particular time and situation if we tremble now, and find it difficult to have a share in the preaching of the good news under these circumstances, if this is our training at this point, Please don’t imagine that you’re going to find some new found courage to get up and to speak when they are busting Babylon all to pieces and anyone who dares to come up and say anything religious whatsoever. Don’t imagine that you’re going to find some new found courage to tell the truth or to speak the truth if you can’t do it now. And then, immediately after Babylon the Great is destroyed, almost without a break, look at Matt 24:29 –immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.Now in what sense will the sun be destroyed and the moon not give its light? In what sense will the stars fall and the heavens be shaken? Doubtless in the early part of this great tribulation the many luminaries, prominent clergymen of the world, the political lights, the economic lights, those who are supposed to know their way out of things; the religious clergy who are supposed to be able to cut a deal with God so that you’ll be saved; the economic prognosticators who tell you how you can make money so that you can be rich; perhaps the political guru’s who tell you how they’re going to work out this world’s problems and situations. When that time hits, the bible will thoroughly expose them as being nothings and nobody’s and they will not be able to save anyone. It will be as if all the stars in the heavens went out, and all the powers of the very heavens will be shaken. Can you imagine the confusion of the people who put all their stock and faith in the religious clergy only to see them destroyed at the opening of the great tribulation? Can you imagine people walking around the streets looking for whoever might be left of the religious clergy? Looking for them yes! “We want to find you because you know we had a chance to get a bible study, a 19 free week course, and you told us that those Jehovah’s Witnesses are not to be fooled with. And you told us that all we had to do was to come down here and sit and listen to you and we’d be saved. And now the church is gone and it’s all burned up and this stuff is gone and we don’t have a prayer and we don’t have a chance, and you fooled us!” And they are going to finish off whose left. And they are going to find those college professors, “You told us if we listened to you we will have earth’s good things. And now the stock market has crashed, Money is of no value. You told us that if we just get this education we’ll have the good life and now we have no treasures stored up with God and we’re facing this great thing called Armageddon that Jehovah’s Witnesses talked about all along!” And they are going to finish them off. There will be no light brothers when that time comes, will you be ready for it? Will you have something to say that is worthwhile? Will you have proof at that time that you have been running the race correctly? Why is that such an important question? Matt 24: 29 – 30 because the Bible says just as quickly as the sun, moon, and stars become dark, the bible says, “And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven and then all the tribes of the earth will beat themselves in lamentation.”Now what is this appearance of the Son of Man in the Heavens? It is the same thing that is spoken of in Matthew chapter 25: 31-32 – “When the Son of Man arrives in his glory and all the angels with him, then he will sit down on his glorious throne and all the nations will be gathered before him (including Jehovah’s Witnesses) and He will separate people one from another, just as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.” Why? Turn back to Matt 24 evidently, even the people of the world will know and understand that they are in the final judgment period, and they will see something that will be evident; they will come to discern something that will be evident that this is it! And they will cry and weep because this will not be a time where they can make any adjustments, have any bible studies, have any return visits, or have any change in the judgments they are about to be rendered.Are you ready for that brothers? Do you understand what this actually means? Once that sign of the Son of Man appears in the heavens, where Jesus sits down on his glorious throne, He (Jesus) will judge you and I at that point in history as to whether or not you are actually a sheep or a goat. You and I will not be able to adjust or modify or rearrange the outcome of that judgment at that particular time. You will not be able to say to Jesus, “Oh Jesus just wait a minute, I’m disfellowshipped; but let me get reinstated,” Oh no, Oh no! You see all the evidence will have been brought into the court as to who you are and what you are as a person. And once he sits down, you will not be able to change your record, not one iota! So you can say, “Well Jesus you know I was an irregular publisher, give me a little time, let me…” NO! “I meant to turn my…” NO! Because everything at that point, once it hits, everything that you were from here back will be dragged into that courtroom and Jesus will judge it right then and right there, and you and I will not be able to alter that situation. Not one iota! It will be finished! The judgment will be rendered; it will be cut and dry. You will either be a sheep or a goat. You will not be able to make any adjustment to the judgment. Serious business!Are you ready for that? What are you training yourself to be now? What kind of person are you now? Are you trying to get as close to the world as you possibly can?- by looking like them- by dressing like them- by acting like them- by dancing like them- by speaking like them?Once Jesus sits down on his judgment throne you will not be able to say “Oh let me take this stuff off” Nope, Nope, you had it on then, you have it on now. That’s the way you were then, this is the way you are going to be judged as you stand. What evidence you brought into that courtroom between now and when Jesus sits down on his throne, that is the evidence that will be stacked up, and that will be the determining factor as to whether we are sheep or goats. Understand that brothers; Understand that.Let me illustrate it another way; Have you ever seen these advertisements where they have these muscle men, they show you this picture and they say “your body can look like this." They give you the idea that if you just lift up a few weights, if you go on a diet and eat specific food that you too will have these big bulging muscles or you have this shapely trim. Don’t even think that you want to believe that! It takes years of serious training and meticulous dieting. Those pictures that you see don’t imagine that it takes just a couple of days or a few weeks of dieting. Years! Years! Now once the Great Tribulation starts remember everything is going to happen like this –clap! Clap! Clap! Very quickly, so you’re not going to have time to reach back and develop some kind of spirituality that you hadn’t already developed. Think about it! How long does it take for a person to come into the truth now? Doesn’t it take a minimum, a very minimum of 19 weeks? (about 6 months) and then they have to go out in the field ministry, so don’t imagine that all of a sudden you’re going to see Babylon fall and you’re going to change your whole record, your whole outlook! NO! You’re going to run the way you’ve been trained and the way you’ve trained yourself. Generally speaking, when an emergency occurs, when a crisis happens, people fall back on what they know. They don’t reach back and get something they don’t know. They fall back on what they know. So if you have known irregularity, if you have known hard-headedness, if you have known skipping around obedience to the rules, if you have known worldliness, then you’re not all of the sudden going to know the truth! You are going to fall back on what you know. Are you ready for the finish line?Are you putting distance between you and the world? Are you claiming to serve Jehovah and at the same time getting close to Satan’s world?Let me share something interesting from the bible; go back to Eph. 4: 20 – Speaking about Christ it says; “But you did not learn the Christ to be so…”As I have traveled around the circuit I can tell and it is very obvious to me that honestly many of us are not training the way we think Armageddon is going to be. Some of us are too close to the world. Some of us are not running hard like we should. Remember what you learn here in the Kingdom Hall, what you studied in the books, everything you learned in the bible, you did not learn Christ to be that way – the way you see the world. Christ was not anywhere near the world; if Christ were here today do you imagine that he would be walking around in baggy pants or with earrings in his ear? You never read anything in the bible that gave any hint or suggestion that Christ would look like that. If he were here today do you imagine that he would be dressed up and looking as much like the radical elements the world today? He would never do a thing like that. The world has the habit of saying, “look at me!”When I went to the grocery store the other day, to show you the way things are, here’s a woman she’s being paid I don’t know how much an hour, and you know the world pays much attention to efficiency. They want people to be efficient, so what is she doing? She is trying to wait on me and she’s picking up the money but she can’t even use her hands with her fingernails! Now if Christ were here, would he have even resembled or hinted or suggested in any way that the sisters or the brothers go to any extremes. Did you ever read anything in the bible that gave you the idea that Christ Jesus would have been like that or approved of that? And this is the point that we have to appreciate brothers Armageddon will be the biggest thing that you and I will ever experience. The firmer we are trained to serve Jehovah the better we are going to be when the time comes. But believe me when that time hits you will never be able to reach back and try to grab something that you never trained yourself to be. Give it some serious thought. Your heart, spiritual lungs, and limbs must be flailing away at trying to be as close as we possibly can to Jesus Christ and the way he trained himself to be, because that’s the only way that we are going to be able to win this race. Now immediately, shortly thereafter, once Jesus does this separating work of the sheep and the goats something very interesting is going to happen. He (Jesus) is going to gather… Let’s go to Matt 24: 31- for a minute because these things are going to be happening quite rapidly- otherwise as Jesus said, no flesh would be saved – NO flesh would be saved if it didn’t happen in this fast fashion.Matt 24: 31- “And he will send forth his angels with a great trumpet sound and they will gather his chosen ones together from the four winds, from one extremity of the heavens to the other extremity.” At that time there will be no question as to who the anointed are. Who are the true anointed ones? Sometimes we see people who are just barely in the truth partaking of the emblems. We don’t have to judge them, it’s not our business, but we will know who they are because once they have been sealed, no doubt many will be gathered at that particular time, you will know for a certainty who those truly are; those who are anointed and those who are fakes. Sometimes in traveling about, and I am not trying to make any judgments, but sometimes I see those who claim to be of the anointed not representing anything that I’ve seen of the anointed. Sometimes they’re the biggest troublemakers in the congregation. Sometimes they cause more fights, literally fighting I’ve actually seen that. Difficulty and trouble that they cause within the congregation; I went on a bible study and this person wasn’t baptized and they were sitting there figuring out whether or not they were of the anointed. Well, when Jesus gathers his anointed ones you know it might prove to be a bigger test on you than you think. If you and I have the habit of not listening now, when most of the anointed ones are gone off the earth and there is nothing left hardly but those of the great crowd, will you listen then?Will you say, “Well you know you’re not of the spiritual anointed. They’ve all gone to heaven. Who are you to be telling me? I didn’t turn my time in back then when they were here on the earth and I’m turning it in now to you?” You see brothers that wrongheaded spirit, or lack of cooperation can get you in serious trouble and can create an attitude problem in you. Jesus said “he who is faithful in what is least will also be faithful in what is much.” It’s all part of our training. And then something else will happen, don’t imagine that Satan the Devil, who looks around and sees his false religion devastated; he sees economic system that he put together in a shambles, he sees the whole political world he carved and woven all torn apart, don’t imagine that he isn’t going to come for you! Don’t imagine that he’s not going to try and get Jehovah back in some way, or that he’s not going to strike a blow at the very heart of Jesus Christ himself. Don’t imagine that he’s going to let it go like that. That he’s just going to walk away and get off the field and say that the fight is over. Although he knows its over, don’t imagine that he’s going to give up like that; because he won’t.And then will come the attack of Gog of Magog. The only way Satan can get at Jesus and Jehovah is to get at YOU! And who are you? What are you? If you have been hiding it you won’t be able to hide it then. Because only those who have absolute faith in Jehovah, and who absolutely put their confidence in Him, and there can be no question in their minds as to whether God will protect us. If you have any questions in your minds, you simply will not make it. If you have any doubts Satan will gobble you up. You will run out in fear and you will be strangled or caught or killed like some young animal in the hands or the paw of some attacking lion. Any dark secrets, any lack of faith, any bad motives, regrets, misgivings, once the Gog of Magog makes his attack, and you don’t have the absolute confidence that you have done all you can… well…See here’s now where the question of whether or not we’ve been serving Jehovah whole souled will be answered. It will not be answered by a time sheet or by an elder. It will be answered right then and there. And the question is will you be ready for it? Because once he makes his attack, Jehovah is going to come at him with all fury and then you’ll finally be in Armageddon. That will be the last of the hoorahs. Once Gog makes his attack on God’s people, Armageddon then will begin. That will be when it will all come together. Oh what a wonderful time that will be brothers! If you and I have worked hard, if we have exerted ourselves, if we have cooperated then you can say to yourself, “You know I’m glad I used all my money to pay for the Kingdom Hall, and I sat down in there and I got the education. I was sitting in that Armageddon survival class that they had at that Kingdom Hall. They had classes Tuesday, and Thursday, they had class on Sunday, and I was at every last one of them. And now I’m getting ready to go through Armageddon and I’m confident that I have been properly educated, and I’ve trained myself to run, and I’m ready for Armageddon, because I used everything I had to support the Kingdom; I used my funds, I didn’t try to hold back anything knowing that the money was not going to be any good. Ha! You got the last laugh because your financial means had been used to honor and praise Jehovah, and all those others who’ve been saving theirs they’re going to see the stock market crash, they’re probably going to see dollar bills, blowing in the streets as worthless pieces of paper! And yours would have served every night purpose to honor Jehovah.Oh what a wonderful time that will be! And then, and then, after the great tribulation begins and after the sun, moon, and stars fall, and the sign of the Son of Man appears in the heavens, the separating of the anointed, the attack of Gog of Magog, the battle of Armageddon, and then… THE NEW WORLD! THE NEW WORLD! Won’t you be glad when there will be just the new world? And you’ll be glad when you’re little legs, your heart, and your lungs come charging over the hill gasping for breath because you knew how to run like you were supposed to, and you’ll be saying to yourself, “I’m so glad that I was at these meetings. I’m so glad that I was in the field ministry, and I’m so glad I listened to the elders, I’m so glad that I got away from the world! And you’ll fall across the finish line into the New World ! Oh won’t that be wonderful!But are you ready for it? You won’t have time to train then, everything will be moving too fast. It will happen too fast. NOW is the time to train brothers. And one of the things that we need to do, we need to train harder to be at our meetings because every meeting is an Armageddon training session. Just like those who pump weights, it may not be the one where they lifted it up like that, it may not be the one that got him the big muscles, it never happens like that. You never pick up a weight one time; it’s the consistency and constancy that puts the spiritual bulges on your chest. That’s what gives you the neck, arms, legs, the physique of somebody beautiful. Not the one time that you did something, but the consistency and the regularity, that’s what produces the ability to run like you’re supposed to run. That is what produces strong legs, strong hearts, and strong lungs. That’s what produces faith and fearlessness and determination. You can’t do it when it starts – You have to do it NOW!So, are you ready for the finish line? Are you training yourselves? If the tribulation were to break out tomorrow, can you guarantee that you look enough like Christ Jesus that could get you through? Are you assured that you have proven irrevocably and unconditionally that you are sure that you are devoted to Jehovah whole-soled? Aren’t you glad that we have a few more minutes yet before the end comes? And that perhaps, where there is some weakness in our running style, perhaps you have just a little bit more time to finish off that kick, to get your stride together, to learn how to be obedient. Obedience is a wonderful thing.Let me tell you one little experience before I close, it’s an experience that affected me, and I never forgot. For this reason, it taught a lesson; I recall being in a literal race, it was at school. And lined up were some of the boys; and in my mind I could beat them ten ways to Sunday. I knew I could beat them. When the teacher gave the gun to go, I took off! And sure enough I beat them! The teacher told me that I got a zero. I couldn’t believe me ears, I thought “What? I didn’t win?” I not only hadn’t won but I got a zero. I was stunned. Well you see, in a race there are these things called lanes, and they have rules, and the rule is that you have to run in your lane, you can’t run in the other man’s lane. Well I was all over those lanes, and when I got down to the end of that race, I had lost.Now, you might laugh, but here’s the point, Jesus not only requires that you run the race with good flare but he also requires that you run according to the rules.Your can run as hard as you want, but when you get down to that point where he sits on his judgment throne and he sees that zigzag, you cut all across the lanes, he may well say that you’re a goat and not a sheep, much to your surprise. We don’t want that brothers.Learn to run with endurance; learn to run with obedience; learn to run hard; learn to train yourself because once we get to the marker of the great tribulation you will not be someone that your are not. Your will not prove yourself to be something that you haven’t trained yourself to be all along. And I hope we get the message clear – NOW is the time to get ready before the battle of Armageddon occurs, and only then, by such vigorous training will we prove ourselves winners and come across the finish line to our everlasting life and Jehovah’s glory.

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The smart and determined runner trains hard for the finish line. Every nerve, every muscle, every sinew must be strained. His lungs must bellow if he wants to win. And he knows that the worst thing that can happen to him is to start out with a burst of speed only to have his legs give out and his lungs fail as he reaches his goal. So what does he do? Long before the event, he trains. He trains hard to acquire the strength, endurance, proper technique to learn obedience to the rules, because only in this way can he make his dash to the finish a winning success.Now the alert runner takes note as he runs his course because all along the way there are markers that tell him where he is in the race. This tells him how he must harness his energies, it tells him whether he is near the finish and whether his kick needs to be stronger and higher; whether or not he needs to put all his speed into it or whether he needs to measure his gauge, or his stride.Now so it is with the Christian. As we move to the conclusion of this system of things, as we come to the finish line, there are markers all along the way that tell us where we are and what we should be doing. I want you to open your bibles to the book of Matthew chapter 24, and this is where the heart of our discussion is going to be tonight.
It is going to be based primarily on Matthew 24, although we will be using other scriptural text.Our interest lies particularly in Jesus statements found in the 24th chapter of Matthew. Here in the 24th chapter of Matthew Jesus said something that certainly ought to catch our attention because it is a marker. It tells us where we are and what we should be doing. Beginning with verse 21 of Matthew chapter 24 Jesus said, “For then there will be great tribulation such as has not occurred since the worlds beginning until now, no nor will occur again, in fact, unless those days were cut short no flesh would be saved. But on account of the chosen ones, those days will be cut short.” And then Jesus goes on to add other mile post, he says first as you make your dash to the finish; you’re going to see a thing called the great tribulation. He said this thing is going to be horrendous. And unless it’s cut short absolutely no one would be able to survive it, because it’s going to be just that bad.Immediately he says in verse 29, let your eye go to verse 29, “Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened and the moon will not giveits light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will beshaken. ” See that’s another marker. And quickly you come upon another marker (verse 30), “And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will beat themselves in lamentation, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. (verse 31) And he will send forth his angels with a great trumpet sound, and they will gather his chosen ones together from the four winds, from one extremity of the heavens to the other extremity.”Now what Jesus is outlining for us here is the dash to the finish itself. These markers are going to come clipping along as we move to the conclusion of this system of things.And the reason why we’re raising this question is because once you get into that first marker, it will be a steady and very rapid downhill slide to the goal from then on. It will not be a time for you to adjust your stride, or to rethink your position. It will be a fast moving time. It will happen like this; and then, and then, and then, and then… and then it will be over. What you have not done you will not be able to do. Where you have not adjusted, you will not be able to adjust. You will not find some new supposed strength at that particular time. You are going to run the way you have been trained to run. Have you been running with the world? It is just as if a runner who has trained for years for a race, he’s not going to all of the sudden on the day of the race change his style, it’s too late for that! And chances are if he tried to change during the course of the race, he’d lose anyway because it would cause too much confusion.Let’s take a look at the first marker, go back to the 24th chapter of Matthew and look at verse 21. “For then there will be great tribulation” The first marker opens up with the destruction of Babylon the Great. That is when everything kicks off. Immediately with this destruction of Babylon the Great you and I are in for the race of a lifetime. Open your bibles to Revelation now and you’ll get an idea as to some of the things that will occur once the tribulation begins. It will start with the fall of Babylon the Great.
Turn to Revelation 17 and here you will see a very exciting thing occur. Beginning with verse 2, start in part of verse 1, it says, “Come, I will show you the judgment upon the great harlot who sits on many waters, (verse 2) with whom the kings of the earth committed fornication, whereas those who inhabit the earth were made drunk with the wine of her fornication.” Well cast your eyes down to verse 10, “And there are seven kings; five have fallen, one is, the other has not yet arrived, but when he does arrive he must remain a short while (verse 11) And the wild beast that was but is not, it is also itself an eighth king, but springs from the seventh, and it goes off into destruction.” Rev 17: 10 -11. And then in verse 13, “These have one thought, and so they give their power and authority to the wild beast.” And what do they do with this new found power, this singular thought? Verse 16, “And the ten horns that you saw and the wild beast, these will hate the harlot and will make her devastated and naked, and will eat up her fleshy parts and will completely burn her with fire. Verse 17 For God put it into their hearts to carry out his thought; even to carry out their one thought by giving their kingdom to the wild beast.” In other words Jehovah God is going to cause some sort of madness, some kind of crazed madness to come over the world powers in the near future, and they will attack Babylon , and they will rip and tear at her for all she’s worth. If you pay real close attention the stage is already being set for that. Already they have no compulsion whatsoever about putting the religious clergy in jail. They have no sanctity or feeling toward the religious clergy; they are cutting and slashing them in the face in New York . Thieves are breaking into the convents and churches and robbing them, nuns are being raped. They’re even breaking into churches and robbing them, they’re robbing preachers on the streets. So the appetite to attack Babylon is already there. Jehovah is going to simply open their mouths wide and they will chew her all to pieces and burn what’s left. It will be a most frightening time brothers when that marker shows up. Even the world will be terrified at what they see actually happening to the churches. Look at what it says Rev 18: 9 “And the Kings of the earth who committed fornication with her and lived in shameless luxury will weep and beat themselves in grief over her…” when they look at the smoke from the burning of her (verse 10) while they stand at a distance because of their fear of her torment and say “Too bad, too bad, you great city Babylon you strong city because…” we don’t have any more Christmas, no more Easter, and we can’t have any more political elections in your churches. And Babylon will be destroyed. This will not be a funny matter with us either; because once you see it happen the religious clergy will be cut down and the political leaders will obviously know that they are next. They stand back because they see that this must be the hand of God, they will know that something is terribly different here when they see the religious parties and other things being destroyed. Now this is very important, because once that time hits, what will you and I need? What will we need when we see this system coming to the conclusion?• A new car?• A new house?• A new pair of shoes?• A new coat?• A new bottle of perfume?• Fashionable clothes?• Money for the education of our children?Once you see that happening it will not be your money; you’re most valuable possession at that time will be your faith in God. Because once it hits it is going to be furious, no one will survive it except by the grace and protection of God himself. And the question is; will you be ready for that? Will you have the courage to go out and speak whatever message God will dictate for that particular time and situation if we tremble now, and find it difficult to have a share in the preaching of the good news under these circumstances, if this is our training at this point, Please don’t imagine that you’re going to find some new found courage to get up and to speak when they are busting Babylon all to pieces and anyone who dares to come up and say anything religious whatsoever. Don’t imagine that you’re going to find some new found courage to tell the truth or to speak the truth if you can’t do it now. And then, immediately after Babylon the Great is destroyed, almost without a break, look at Matt 24:29 –immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.Now in what sense will the sun be destroyed and the moon not give its light? In what sense will the stars fall and the heavens be shaken? Doubtless in the early part of this great tribulation the many luminaries, prominent clergymen of the world, the political lights, the economic lights, those who are supposed to know their way out of things; the religious clergy who are supposed to be able to cut a deal with God so that you’ll be saved; the economic prognosticators who tell you how you can make money so that you can be rich; perhaps the political guru’s who tell you how they’re going to work out this world’s problems and situations. When that time hits, the bible will thoroughly expose them as being nothings and nobody’s and they will not be able to save anyone. It will be as if all the stars in the heavens went out, and all the powers of the very heavens will be shaken. Can you imagine the confusion of the people who put all their stock and faith in the religious clergy only to see them destroyed at the opening of the great tribulation? Can you imagine people walking around the streets looking for whoever might be left of the religious clergy? Looking for them yes! “We want to find you because you know we had a chance to get a bible study, a 19 free week course, and you told us that those Jehovah’s Witnesses are not to be fooled with. And you told us that all we had to do was to come down here and sit and listen to you and we’d be saved. And now the church is gone and it’s all burned up and this stuff is gone and we don’t have a prayer and we don’t have a chance, and you fooled us!” And they are going to finish off whose left. And they are going to find those college professors, “You told us if we listened to you we will have earth’s good things. And now the stock market has crashed, Money is of no value. You told us that if we just get this education we’ll have the good life and now we have no treasures stored up with God and we’re facing this great thing called Armageddon that Jehovah’s Witnesses talked about all along!” And they are going to finish them off. There will be no light brothers when that time comes, will you be ready for it? Will you have something to say that is worthwhile? Will you have proof at that time that you have been running the race correctly? Why is that such an important question? Matt 24: 29 – 30 because the Bible says just as quickly as the sun, moon, and stars become dark, the bible says, “And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven and then all the tribes of the earth will beat themselves in lamentation.”Now what is this appearance of the Son of Man in the Heavens? It is the same thing that is spoken of in Matthew chapter 25: 31-32 – “When the Son of Man arrives in his glory and all the angels with him, then he will sit down on his glorious throne and all the nations will be gathered before him (including Jehovah’s Witnesses) and He will separate people one from another, just as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.” Why? Turn back to Matt 24 evidently, even the people of the world will know and understand that they are in the final judgment period, and they will see something that will be evident; they will come to discern something that will be evident that this is it! And they will cry and weep because this will not be a time where they can make any adjustments, have any bible studies, have any return visits, or have any change in the judgments they are about to be rendered.Are you ready for that brothers? Do you understand what this actually means? Once that sign of the Son of Man appears in the heavens, where Jesus sits down on his glorious throne, He (Jesus) will judge you and I at that point in history as to whether or not you are actually a sheep or a goat. You and I will not be able to adjust or modify or rearrange the outcome of that judgment at that particular time. You will not be able to say to Jesus, “Oh Jesus just wait a minute, I’m disfellowshipped; but let me get reinstated,” Oh no, Oh no! You see all the evidence will have been brought into the court as to who you are and what you are as a person. And once he sits down, you will not be able to change your record, not one iota! So you can say, “Well Jesus you know I was an irregular publisher, give me a little time, let me…” NO! “I meant to turn my…” NO! Because everything at that point, once it hits, everything that you were from here back will be dragged into that courtroom and Jesus will judge it right then and right there, and you and I will not be able to alter that situation. Not one iota! It will be finished! The judgment will be rendered; it will be cut and dry. You will either be a sheep or a goat. You will not be able to make any adjustment to the judgment. Serious business!Are you ready for that? What are you training yourself to be now? What kind of person are you now? Are you trying to get as close to the world as you possibly can?- by looking like them- by dressing like them- by acting like them- by dancing like them- by speaking like them?Once Jesus sits down on his judgment throne you will not be able to say “Oh let me take this stuff off” Nope, Nope, you had it on then, you have it on now. That’s the way you were then, this is the way you are going to be judged as you stand. What evidence you brought into that courtroom between now and when Jesus sits down on his throne, that is the evidence that will be stacked up, and that will be the determining factor as to whether we are sheep or goats. Understand that brothers; Understand that.Let me illustrate it another way; Have you ever seen these advertisements where they have these muscle men, they show you this picture and they say “your body can look like this." They give you the idea that if you just lift up a few weights, if you go on a diet and eat specific food that you too will have these big bulging muscles or you have this shapely trim. Don’t even think that you want to believe that! It takes years of serious training and meticulous dieting. Those pictures that you see don’t imagine that it takes just a couple of days or a few weeks of dieting. Years! Years! Now once the Great Tribulation starts remember everything is going to happen like this –clap! Clap! Clap! Very quickly, so you’re not going to have time to reach back and develop some kind of spirituality that you hadn’t already developed. Think about it! How long does it take for a person to come into the truth now? Doesn’t it take a minimum, a very minimum of 19 weeks? (about 6 months) and then they have to go out in the field ministry, so don’t imagine that all of a sudden you’re going to see Babylon fall and you’re going to change your whole record, your whole outlook! NO! You’re going to run the way you’ve been trained and the way you’ve trained yourself. Generally speaking, when an emergency occurs, when a crisis happens, people fall back on what they know. They don’t reach back and get something they don’t know. They fall back on what they know. So if you have known irregularity, if you have known hard-headedness, if you have known skipping around obedience to the rules, if you have known worldliness, then you’re not all of the sudden going to know the truth! You are going to fall back on what you know. Are you ready for the finish line?Are you putting distance between you and the world? Are you claiming to serve Jehovah and at the same time getting close to Satan’s world?Let me share something interesting from the bible; go back to Eph. 4: 20 – Speaking about Christ it says; “But you did not learn the Christ to be so…”As I have traveled around the circuit I can tell and it is very obvious to me that honestly many of us are not training the way we think Armageddon is going to be. Some of us are too close to the world. Some of us are not running hard like we should. Remember what you learn here in the Kingdom Hall, what you studied in the books, everything you learned in the bible, you did not learn Christ to be that way – the way you see the world. Christ was not anywhere near the world; if Christ were here today do you imagine that he would be walking around in baggy pants or with earrings in his ear? You never read anything in the bible that gave any hint or suggestion that Christ would look like that. If he were here today do you imagine that he would be dressed up and looking as much like the radical elements the world today? He would never do a thing like that. The world has the habit of saying, “look at me!”When I went to the grocery store the other day, to show you the way things are, here’s a woman she’s being paid I don’t know how much an hour, and you know the world pays much attention to efficiency. They want people to be efficient, so what is she doing? She is trying to wait on me and she’s picking up the money but she can’t even use her hands with her fingernails! Now if Christ were here, would he have even resembled or hinted or suggested in any way that the sisters or the brothers go to any extremes. Did you ever read anything in the bible that gave you the idea that Christ Jesus would have been like that or approved of that? And this is the point that we have to appreciate brothers Armageddon will be the biggest thing that you and I will ever experience. The firmer we are trained to serve Jehovah the better we are going to be when the time comes. But believe me when that time hits you will never be able to reach back and try to grab something that you never trained yourself to be. Give it some serious thought. Your heart, spiritual lungs, and limbs must be flailing away at trying to be as close as we possibly can to Jesus Christ and the way he trained himself to be, because that’s the only way that we are going to be able to win this race. Now immediately, shortly thereafter, once Jesus does this separating work of the sheep and the goats something very interesting is going to happen. He (Jesus) is going to gather… Let’s go to Matt 24: 31- for a minute because these things are going to be happening quite rapidly- otherwise as Jesus said, no flesh would be saved – NO flesh would be saved if it didn’t happen in this fast fashion.Matt 24: 31- “And he will send forth his angels with a great trumpet sound and they will gather his chosen ones together from the four winds, from one extremity of the heavens to the other extremity.” At that time there will be no question as to who the anointed are. Who are the true anointed ones? Sometimes we see people who are just barely in the truth partaking of the emblems. We don’t have to judge them, it’s not our business, but we will know who they are because once they have been sealed, no doubt many will be gathered at that particular time, you will know for a certainty who those truly are; those who are anointed and those who are fakes. Sometimes in traveling about, and I am not trying to make any judgments, but sometimes I see those who claim to be of the anointed not representing anything that I’ve seen of the anointed. Sometimes they’re the biggest troublemakers in the congregation. Sometimes they cause more fights, literally fighting I’ve actually seen that. Difficulty and trouble that they cause within the congregation; I went on a bible study and this person wasn’t baptized and they were sitting there figuring out whether or not they were of the anointed. Well, when Jesus gathers his anointed ones you know it might prove to be a bigger test on you than you think. If you and I have the habit of not listening now, when most of the anointed ones are gone off the earth and there is nothing left hardly but those of the great crowd, will you listen then?Will you say, “Well you know you’re not of the spiritual anointed. They’ve all gone to heaven. Who are you to be telling me? I didn’t turn my time in back then when they were here on the earth and I’m turning it in now to you?” You see brothers that wrongheaded spirit, or lack of cooperation can get you in serious trouble and can create an attitude problem in you. Jesus said “he who is faithful in what is least will also be faithful in what is much.” It’s all part of our training. And then something else will happen, don’t imagine that Satan the Devil, who looks around and sees his false religion devastated; he sees economic system that he put together in a shambles, he sees the whole political world he carved and woven all torn apart, don’t imagine that he isn’t going to come for you! Don’t imagine that he’s not going to try and get Jehovah back in some way, or that he’s not going to strike a blow at the very heart of Jesus Christ himself. Don’t imagine that he’s going to let it go like that. That he’s just going to walk away and get off the field and say that the fight is over. Although he knows its over, don’t imagine that he’s going to give up like that; because he won’t.And then will come the attack of Gog of Magog. The only way Satan can get at Jesus and Jehovah is to get at YOU! And who are you? What are you? If you have been hiding it you won’t be able to hide it then. Because only those who have absolute faith in Jehovah, and who absolutely put their confidence in Him, and there can be no question in their minds as to whether God will protect us. If you have any questions in your minds, you simply will not make it. If you have any doubts Satan will gobble you up. You will run out in fear and you will be strangled or caught or killed like some young animal in the hands or the paw of some attacking lion. Any dark secrets, any lack of faith, any bad motives, regrets, misgivings, once the Gog of Magog makes his attack, and you don’t have the absolute confidence that you have done all you can… well…See here’s now where the question of whether or not we’ve been serving Jehovah whole souled will be answered. It will not be answered by a time sheet or by an elder. It will be answered right then and there. And the question is will you be ready for it? Because once he makes his attack, Jehovah is going to come at him with all fury and then you’ll finally be in Armageddon. That will be the last of the hoorahs. Once Gog makes his attack on God’s people, Armageddon then will begin. That will be when it will all come together. Oh what a wonderful time that will be brothers! If you and I have worked hard, if we have exerted ourselves, if we have cooperated then you can say to yourself, “You know I’m glad I used all my money to pay for the Kingdom Hall, and I sat down in there and I got the education. I was sitting in that Armageddon survival class that they had at that Kingdom Hall. They had classes Tuesday, and Thursday, they had class on Sunday, and I was at every last one of them. And now I’m getting ready to go through Armageddon and I’m confident that I have been properly educated, and I’ve trained myself to run, and I’m ready for Armageddon, because I used everything I had to support the Kingdom; I used my funds, I didn’t try to hold back anything knowing that the money was not going to be any good. Ha! You got the last laugh because your financial means had been used to honor and praise Jehovah, and all those others who’ve been saving theirs they’re going to see the stock market crash, they’re probably going to see dollar bills, blowing in the streets as worthless pieces of paper! And yours would have served every night purpose to honor Jehovah.Oh what a wonderful time that will be! And then, and then, after the great tribulation begins and after the sun, moon, and stars fall, and the sign of the Son of Man appears in the heavens, the separating of the anointed, the attack of Gog of Magog, the battle of Armageddon, and then… THE NEW WORLD! THE NEW WORLD! Won’t you be glad when there will be just the new world? And you’ll be glad when you’re little legs, your heart, and your lungs come charging over the hill gasping for breath because you knew how to run like you were supposed to, and you’ll be saying to yourself, “I’m so glad that I was at these meetings. I’m so glad that I was in the field ministry, and I’m so glad I listened to the elders, I’m so glad that I got away from the world! And you’ll fall across the finish line into the New World ! Oh won’t that be wonderful!But are you ready for it? You won’t have time to train then, everything will be moving too fast. It will happen too fast. NOW is the time to train brothers. And one of the things that we need to do, we need to train harder to be at our meetings because every meeting is an Armageddon training session. Just like those who pump weights, it may not be the one where they lifted it up like that, it may not be the one that got him the big muscles, it never happens like that. You never pick up a weight one time; it’s the consistency and constancy that puts the spiritual bulges on your chest. That’s what gives you the neck, arms, legs, the physique of somebody beautiful. Not the one time that you did something, but the consistency and the regularity, that’s what produces the ability to run like you’re supposed to run. That is what produces strong legs, strong hearts, and strong lungs. That’s what produces faith and fearlessness and determination. You can’t do it when it starts – You have to do it NOW!So, are you ready for the finish line? Are you training yourselves? If the tribulation were to break out tomorrow, can you guarantee that you look enough like Christ Jesus that could get you through? Are you assured that you have proven irrevocably and unconditionally that you are sure that you are devoted to Jehovah whole-soled? Aren’t you glad that we have a few more minutes yet before the end comes? And that perhaps, where there is some weakness in our running style, perhaps you have just a little bit more time to finish off that kick, to get your stride together, to learn how to be obedient. Obedience is a wonderful thing.Let me tell you one little experience before I close, it’s an experience that affected me, and I never forgot. For this reason, it taught a lesson; I recall being in a literal race, it was at school. And lined up were some of the boys; and in my mind I could beat them ten ways to Sunday. I knew I could beat them. When the teacher gave the gun to go, I took off! And sure enough I beat them! The teacher told me that I got a zero. I couldn’t believe me ears, I thought “What? I didn’t win?” I not only hadn’t won but I got a zero. I was stunned. Well you see, in a race there are these things called lanes, and they have rules, and the rule is that you have to run in your lane, you can’t run in the other man’s lane. Well I was all over those lanes, and when I got down to the end of that race, I had lost.Now, you might laugh, but here’s the point, Jesus not only requires that you run the race with good flare but he also requires that you run according to the rules.Your can run as hard as you want, but when you get down to that point where he sits on his judgment throne and he sees that zigzag, you cut all across the lanes, he may well say that you’re a goat and not a sheep, much to your surprise. We don’t want that brothers.Learn to run with endurance; learn to run with obedience; learn to run hard; learn to train yourself because once we get to the marker of the great tribulation you will not be someone that your are not. Your will not prove yourself to be something that you haven’t trained yourself to be all along. And I hope we get the message clear – NOW is the time to get ready before the battle of Armageddon occurs, and only then, by such vigorous training will we prove ourselves winners and come across the finish line to our everlasting life and Jehovah’s glory.

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The smart and determined runner trains hard for the finish line. Every nerve, every muscle, every sinew must be strained. His lungs must bellow if he wants to win. And he knows that the worst thing that can happen to him is to start out with a burst of speed only to have his legs give out and his lungs fail as he reaches his goal. So what does he do? Long before the event, he trains. He trains hard to acquire the strength, endurance, proper technique to learn obedience to the rules, because only in this way can he make his dash to the finish a winning success.Now the alert runner takes note as he runs his course because all along the way there are markers that tell him where he is in the race. This tells him how he must harness his energies, it tells him whether he is near the finish and whether his kick needs to be stronger and higher; whether or not he needs to put all his speed into it or whether he needs to measure his gauge, or his stride.Now so it is with the Christian. As we move to the conclusion of this system of things, as we come to the finish line, there are markers all along the way that tell us where we are and what we should be doing. I want you to open your bibles to the book of Matthew chapter 24, and this is where the heart of our discussion is going to be tonight.
It is going to be based primarily on Matthew 24, although we will be using other scriptural text.Our interest lies particularly in Jesus statements found in the 24th chapter of Matthew. Here in the 24th chapter of Matthew Jesus said something that certainly ought to catch our attention because it is a marker. It tells us where we are and what we should be doing. Beginning with verse 21 of Matthew chapter 24 Jesus said, “For then there will be great tribulation such as has not occurred since the worlds beginning until now, no nor will occur again, in fact, unless those days were cut short no flesh would be saved. But on account of the chosen ones, those days will be cut short.” And then Jesus goes on to add other mile post, he says first as you make your dash to the finish; you’re going to see a thing called the great tribulation. He said this thing is going to be horrendous. And unless it’s cut short absolutely no one would be able to survive it, because it’s going to be just that bad.Immediately he says in verse 29, let your eye go to verse 29, “Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened and the moon will not giveits light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will beshaken. ” See that’s another marker. And quickly you come upon another marker (verse 30), “And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will beat themselves in lamentation, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. (verse 31) And he will send forth his angels with a great trumpet sound, and they will gather his chosen ones together from the four winds, from one extremity of the heavens to the other extremity.”Now what Jesus is outlining for us here is the dash to the finish itself. These markers are going to come clipping along as we move to the conclusion of this system of things.And the reason why we’re raising this question is because once you get into that first marker, it will be a steady and very rapid downhill slide to the goal from then on. It will not be a time for you to adjust your stride, or to rethink your position. It will be a fast moving time. It will happen like this; and then, and then, and then, and then… and then it will be over. What you have not done you will not be able to do. Where you have not adjusted, you will not be able to adjust. You will not find some new supposed strength at that particular time. You are going to run the way you have been trained to run. Have you been running with the world? It is just as if a runner who has trained for years for a race, he’s not going to all of the sudden on the day of the race change his style, it’s too late for that! And chances are if he tried to change during the course of the race, he’d lose anyway because it would cause too much confusion.Let’s take a look at the first marker, go back to the 24th chapter of Matthew and look at verse 21. “For then there will be great tribulation” The first marker opens up with the destruction of Babylon the Great. That is when everything kicks off. Immediately with this destruction of Babylon the Great you and I are in for the race of a lifetime. Open your bibles to Revelation now and you’ll get an idea as to some of the things that will occur once the tribulation begins. It will start with the fall of Babylon the Great.
Turn to Revelation 17 and here you will see a very exciting thing occur. Beginning with verse 2, start in part of verse 1, it says, “Come, I will show you the judgment upon the great harlot who sits on many waters, (verse 2) with whom the kings of the earth committed fornication, whereas those who inhabit the earth were made drunk with the wine of her fornication.” Well cast your eyes down to verse 10, “And there are seven kings; five have fallen, one is, the other has not yet arrived, but when he does arrive he must remain a short while (verse 11) And the wild beast that was but is not, it is also itself an eighth king, but springs from the seventh, and it goes off into destruction.” Rev 17: 10 -11. And then in verse 13, “These have one thought, and so they give their power and authority to the wild beast.” And what do they do with this new found power, this singular thought? Verse 16, “And the ten horns that you saw and the wild beast, these will hate the harlot and will make her devastated and naked, and will eat up her fleshy parts and will completely burn her with fire. Verse 17 For God put it into their hearts to carry out his thought; even to carry out their one thought by giving their kingdom to the wild beast.” In other words Jehovah God is going to cause some sort of madness, some kind of crazed madness to come over the world powers in the near future, and they will attack Babylon , and they will rip and tear at her for all she’s worth. If you pay real close attention the stage is already being set for that. Already they have no compulsion whatsoever about putting the religious clergy in jail. They have no sanctity or feeling toward the religious clergy; they are cutting and slashing them in the face in New York . Thieves are breaking into the convents and churches and robbing them, nuns are being raped. They’re even breaking into churches and robbing them, they’re robbing preachers on the streets. So the appetite to attack Babylon is already there. Jehovah is going to simply open their mouths wide and they will chew her all to pieces and burn what’s left. It will be a most frightening time brothers when that marker shows up. Even the world will be terrified at what they see actually happening to the churches. Look at what it says Rev 18: 9 “And the Kings of the earth who committed fornication with her and lived in shameless luxury will weep and beat themselves in grief over her…” when they look at the smoke from the burning of her (verse 10) while they stand at a distance because of their fear of her torment and say “Too bad, too bad, you great city Babylon you strong city because…” we don’t have any more Christmas, no more Easter, and we can’t have any more political elections in your churches. And Babylon will be destroyed. This will not be a funny matter with us either; because once you see it happen the religious clergy will be cut down and the political leaders will obviously know that they are next. They stand back because they see that this must be the hand of God, they will know that something is terribly different here when they see the religious parties and other things being destroyed. Now this is very important, because once that time hits, what will you and I need? What will we need when we see this system coming to the conclusion?• A new car?• A new house?• A new pair of shoes?• A new coat?• A new bottle of perfume?• Fashionable clothes?• Money for the education of our children?Once you see that happening it will not be your money; you’re most valuable possession at that time will be your faith in God. Because once it hits it is going to be furious, no one will survive it except by the grace and protection of God himself. And the question is; will you be ready for that? Will you have the courage to go out and speak whatever message God will dictate for that particular time and situation if we tremble now, and find it difficult to have a share in the preaching of the good news under these circumstances, if this is our training at this point, Please don’t imagine that you’re going to find some new found courage to get up and to speak when they are busting Babylon all to pieces and anyone who dares to come up and say anything religious whatsoever. Don’t imagine that you’re going to find some new found courage to tell the truth or to speak the truth if you can’t do it now. And then, immediately after Babylon the Great is destroyed, almost without a break, look at Matt 24:29 –immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.Now in what sense will the sun be destroyed and the moon not give its light? In what sense will the stars fall and the heavens be shaken? Doubtless in the early part of this great tribulation the many luminaries, prominent clergymen of the world, the political lights, the economic lights, those who are supposed to know their way out of things; the religious clergy who are supposed to be able to cut a deal with God so that you’ll be saved; the economic prognosticators who tell you how you can make money so that you can be rich; perhaps the political guru’s who tell you how they’re going to work out this world’s problems and situations. When that time hits, the bible will thoroughly expose them as being nothings and nobody’s and they will not be able to save anyone. It will be as if all the stars in the heavens went out, and all the powers of the very heavens will be shaken. Can you imagine the confusion of the people who put all their stock and faith in the religious clergy only to see them destroyed at the opening of the great tribulation? Can you imagine people walking around the streets looking for whoever might be left of the religious clergy? Looking for them yes! “We want to find you because you know we had a chance to get a bible study, a 19 free week course, and you told us that those Jehovah’s Witnesses are not to be fooled with. And you told us that all we had to do was to come down here and sit and listen to you and we’d be saved. And now the church is gone and it’s all burned up and this stuff is gone and we don’t have a prayer and we don’t have a chance, and you fooled us!” And they are going to finish off whose left. And they are going to find those college professors, “You told us if we listened to you we will have earth’s good things. And now the stock market has crashed, Money is of no value. You told us that if we just get this education we’ll have the good life and now we have no treasures stored up with God and we’re facing this great thing called Armageddon that Jehovah’s Witnesses talked about all along!” And they are going to finish them off. There will be no light brothers when that time comes, will you be ready for it? Will you have something to say that is worthwhile? Will you have proof at that time that you have been running the race correctly? Why is that such an important question? Matt 24: 29 – 30 because the Bible says just as quickly as the sun, moon, and stars become dark, the bible says, “And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven and then all the tribes of the earth will beat themselves in lamentation.”Now what is this appearance of the Son of Man in the Heavens? It is the same thing that is spoken of in Matthew chapter 25: 31-32 – “When the Son of Man arrives in his glory and all the angels with him, then he will sit down on his glorious throne and all the nations will be gathered before him (including Jehovah’s Witnesses) and He will separate people one from another, just as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.” Why? Turn back to Matt 24 evidently, even the people of the world will know and understand that they are in the final judgment period, and they will see something that will be evident; they will come to discern something that will be evident that this is it! And they will cry and weep because this will not be a time where they can make any adjustments, have any bible studies, have any return visits, or have any change in the judgments they are about to be rendered.Are you ready for that brothers? Do you understand what this actually means? Once that sign of the Son of Man appears in the heavens, where Jesus sits down on his glorious throne, He (Jesus) will judge you and I at that point in history as to whether or not you are actually a sheep or a goat. You and I will not be able to adjust or modify or rearrange the outcome of that judgment at that particular time. You will not be able to say to Jesus, “Oh Jesus just wait a minute, I’m disfellowshipped; but let me get reinstated,” Oh no, Oh no! You see all the evidence will have been brought into the court as to who you are and what you are as a person. And once he sits down, you will not be able to change your record, not one iota! So you can say, “Well Jesus you know I was an irregular publisher, give me a little time, let me…” NO! “I meant to turn my…” NO! Because everything at that point, once it hits, everything that you were from here back will be dragged into that courtroom and Jesus will judge it right then and right there, and you and I will not be able to alter that situation. Not one iota! It will be finished! The judgment will be rendered; it will be cut and dry. You will either be a sheep or a goat. You will not be able to make any adjustment to the judgment. Serious business!Are you ready for that? What are you training yourself to be now? What kind of person are you now? Are you trying to get as close to the world as you possibly can?- by looking like them- by dressing like them- by acting like them- by dancing like them- by speaking like them?Once Jesus sits down on his judgment throne you will not be able to say “Oh let me take this stuff off” Nope, Nope, you had it on then, you have it on now. That’s the way you were then, this is the way you are going to be judged as you stand. What evidence you brought into that courtroom between now and when Jesus sits down on his throne, that is the evidence that will be stacked up, and that will be the determining factor as to whether we are sheep or goats. Understand that brothers; Understand that.Let me illustrate it another way; Have you ever seen these advertisements where they have these muscle men, they show you this picture and they say “your body can look like this." They give you the idea that if you just lift up a few weights, if you go on a diet and eat specific food that you too will have these big bulging muscles or you have this shapely trim. Don’t even think that you want to believe that! It takes years of serious training and meticulous dieting. Those pictures that you see don’t imagine that it takes just a couple of days or a few weeks of dieting. Years! Years! Now once the Great Tribulation starts remember everything is going to happen like this –clap! Clap! Clap! Very quickly, so you’re not going to have time to reach back and develop some kind of spirituality that you hadn’t already developed. Think about it! How long does it take for a person to come into the truth now? Doesn’t it take a minimum, a very minimum of 19 weeks? (about 6 months) and then they have to go out in the field ministry, so don’t imagine that all of a sudden you’re going to see Babylon fall and you’re going to change your whole record, your whole outlook! NO! You’re going to run the way you’ve been trained and the way you’ve trained yourself. Generally speaking, when an emergency occurs, when a crisis happens, people fall back on what they know. They don’t reach back and get something they don’t know. They fall back on what they know. So if you have known irregularity, if you have known hard-headedness, if you have known skipping around obedience to the rules, if you have known worldliness, then you’re not all of the sudden going to know the truth! You are going to fall back on what you know. Are you ready for the finish line?Are you putting distance between you and the world? Are you claiming to serve Jehovah and at the same time getting close to Satan’s world?Let me share something interesting from the bible; go back to Eph. 4: 20 – Speaking about Christ it says; “But you did not learn the Christ to be so…”As I have traveled around the circuit I can tell and it is very obvious to me that honestly many of us are not training the way we think Armageddon is going to be. Some of us are too close to the world. Some of us are not running hard like we should. Remember what you learn here in the Kingdom Hall, what you studied in the books, everything you learned in the bible, you did not learn Christ to be that way – the way you see the world. Christ was not anywhere near the world; if Christ were here today do you imagine that he would be walking around in baggy pants or with earrings in his ear? You never read anything in the bible that gave any hint or suggestion that Christ would look like that. If he were here today do you imagine that he would be dressed up and looking as much like the radical elements the world today? He would never do a thing like that. The world has the habit of saying, “look at me!”When I went to the grocery store the other day, to show you the way things are, here’s a woman she’s being paid I don’t know how much an hour, and you know the world pays much attention to efficiency. They want people to be efficient, so what is she doing? She is trying to wait on me and she’s picking up the money but she can’t even use her hands with her fingernails! Now if Christ were here, would he have even resembled or hinted or suggested in any way that the sisters or the brothers go to any extremes. Did you ever read anything in the bible that gave you the idea that Christ Jesus would have been like that or approved of that? And this is the point that we have to appreciate brothers Armageddon will be the biggest thing that you and I will ever experience. The firmer we are trained to serve Jehovah the better we are going to be when the time comes. But believe me when that time hits you will never be able to reach back and try to grab something that you never trained yourself to be. Give it some serious thought. Your heart, spiritual lungs, and limbs must be flailing away at trying to be as close as we possibly can to Jesus Christ and the way he trained himself to be, because that’s the only way that we are going to be able to win this race. Now immediately, shortly thereafter, once Jesus does this separating work of the sheep and the goats something very interesting is going to happen. He (Jesus) is going to gather… Let’s go to Matt 24: 31- for a minute because these things are going to be happening quite rapidly- otherwise as Jesus said, no flesh would be saved – NO flesh would be saved if it didn’t happen in this fast fashion.Matt 24: 31- “And he will send forth his angels with a great trumpet sound and they will gather his chosen ones together from the four winds, from one extremity of the heavens to the other extremity.” At that time there will be no question as to who the anointed are. Who are the true anointed ones? Sometimes we see people who are just barely in the truth partaking of the emblems. We don’t have to judge them, it’s not our business, but we will know who they are because once they have been sealed, no doubt many will be gathered at that particular time, you will know for a certainty who those truly are; those who are anointed and those who are fakes. Sometimes in traveling about, and I am not trying to make any judgments, but sometimes I see those who claim to be of the anointed not representing anything that I’ve seen of the anointed. Sometimes they’re the biggest troublemakers in the congregation. Sometimes they cause more fights, literally fighting I’ve actually seen that. Difficulty and trouble that they cause within the congregation; I went on a bible study and this person wasn’t baptized and they were sitting there figuring out whether or not they were of the anointed. Well, when Jesus gathers his anointed ones you know it might prove to be a bigger test on you than you think. If you and I have the habit of not listening now, when most of the anointed ones are gone off the earth and there is nothing left hardly but those of the great crowd, will you listen then?Will you say, “Well you know you’re not of the spiritual anointed. They’ve all gone to heaven. Who are you to be telling me? I didn’t turn my time in back then when they were here on the earth and I’m turning it in now to you?” You see brothers that wrongheaded spirit, or lack of cooperation can get you in serious trouble and can create an attitude problem in you. Jesus said “he who is faithful in what is least will also be faithful in what is much.” It’s all part of our training. And then something else will happen, don’t imagine that Satan the Devil, who looks around and sees his false religion devastated; he sees economic system that he put together in a shambles, he sees the whole political world he carved and woven all torn apart, don’t imagine that he isn’t going to come for you! Don’t imagine that he’s not going to try and get Jehovah back in some way, or that he’s not going to strike a blow at the very heart of Jesus Christ himself. Don’t imagine that he’s going to let it go like that. That he’s just going to walk away and get off the field and say that the fight is over. Although he knows its over, don’t imagine that he’s going to give up like that; because he won’t.And then will come the attack of Gog of Magog. The only way Satan can get at Jesus and Jehovah is to get at YOU! And who are you? What are you? If you have been hiding it you won’t be able to hide it then. Because only those who have absolute faith in Jehovah, and who absolutely put their confidence in Him, and there can be no question in their minds as to whether God will protect us. If you have any questions in your minds, you simply will not make it. If you have any doubts Satan will gobble you up. You will run out in fear and you will be strangled or caught or killed like some young animal in the hands or the paw of some attacking lion. Any dark secrets, any lack of faith, any bad motives, regrets, misgivings, once the Gog of Magog makes his attack, and you don’t have the absolute confidence that you have done all you can… well…See here’s now where the question of whether or not we’ve been serving Jehovah whole souled will be answered. It will not be answered by a time sheet or by an elder. It will be answered right then and there. And the question is will you be ready for it? Because once he makes his attack, Jehovah is going to come at him with all fury and then you’ll finally be in Armageddon. That will be the last of the hoorahs. Once Gog makes his attack on God’s people, Armageddon then will begin. That will be when it will all come together. Oh what a wonderful time that will be brothers! If you and I have worked hard, if we have exerted ourselves, if we have cooperated then you can say to yourself, “You know I’m glad I used all my money to pay for the Kingdom Hall, and I sat down in there and I got the education. I was sitting in that Armageddon survival class that they had at that Kingdom Hall. They had classes Tuesday, and Thursday, they had class on Sunday, and I was at every last one of them. And now I’m getting ready to go through Armageddon and I’m confident that I have been properly educated, and I’ve trained myself to run, and I’m ready for Armageddon, because I used everything I had to support the Kingdom; I used my funds, I didn’t try to hold back anything knowing that the money was not going to be any good. Ha! You got the last laugh because your financial means had been used to honor and praise Jehovah, and all those others who’ve been saving theirs they’re going to see the stock market crash, they’re probably going to see dollar bills, blowing in the streets as worthless pieces of paper! And yours would have served every night purpose to honor Jehovah.Oh what a wonderful time that will be! And then, and then, after the great tribulation begins and after the sun, moon, and stars fall, and the sign of the Son of Man appears in the heavens, the separating of the anointed, the attack of Gog of Magog, the battle of Armageddon, and then… THE NEW WORLD! THE NEW WORLD! Won’t you be glad when there will be just the new world? And you’ll be glad when you’re little legs, your heart, and your lungs come charging over the hill gasping for breath because you knew how to run like you were supposed to, and you’ll be saying to yourself, “I’m so glad that I was at these meetings. I’m so glad that I was in the field ministry, and I’m so glad I listened to the elders, I’m so glad that I got away from the world! And you’ll fall across the finish line into the New World ! Oh won’t that be wonderful!But are you ready for it? You won’t have time to train then, everything will be moving too fast. It will happen too fast. NOW is the time to train brothers. And one of the things that we need to do, we need to train harder to be at our meetings because every meeting is an Armageddon training session. Just like those who pump weights, it may not be the one where they lifted it up like that, it may not be the one that got him the big muscles, it never happens like that. You never pick up a weight one time; it’s the consistency and constancy that puts the spiritual bulges on your chest. That’s what gives you the neck, arms, legs, the physique of somebody beautiful. Not the one time that you did something, but the consistency and the regularity, that’s what produces the ability to run like you’re supposed to run. That is what produces strong legs, strong hearts, and strong lungs. That’s what produces faith and fearlessness and determination. You can’t do it when it starts – You have to do it NOW!So, are you ready for the finish line? Are you training yourselves? If the tribulation were to break out tomorrow, can you guarantee that you look enough like Christ Jesus that could get you through? Are you assured that you have proven irrevocably and unconditionally that you are sure that you are devoted to Jehovah whole-soled? Aren’t you glad that we have a few more minutes yet before the end comes? And that perhaps, where there is some weakness in our running style, perhaps you have just a little bit more time to finish off that kick, to get your stride together, to learn how to be obedient. Obedience is a wonderful thing.Let me tell you one little experience before I close, it’s an experience that affected me, and I never forgot. For this reason, it taught a lesson; I recall being in a literal race, it was at school. And lined up were some of the boys; and in my mind I could beat them ten ways to Sunday. I knew I could beat them. When the teacher gave the gun to go, I took off! And sure enough I beat them! The teacher told me that I got a zero. I couldn’t believe me ears, I thought “What? I didn’t win?” I not only hadn’t won but I got a zero. I was stunned. Well you see, in a race there are these things called lanes, and they have rules, and the rule is that you have to run in your lane, you can’t run in the other man’s lane. Well I was all over those lanes, and when I got down to the end of that race, I had lost.Now, you might laugh, but here’s the point, Jesus not only requires that you run the race with good flare but he also requires that you run according to the rules.Your can run as hard as you want, but when you get down to that point where he sits on his judgment throne and he sees that zigzag, you cut all across the lanes, he may well say that you’re a goat and not a sheep, much to your surprise. We don’t want that brothers.Learn to run with endurance; learn to run with obedience; learn to run hard; learn to train yourself because once we get to the marker of the great tribulation you will not be someone that your are not. Your will not prove yourself to be something that you haven’t trained yourself to be all along. And I hope we get the message clear – NOW is the time to get ready before the battle of Armageddon occurs, and only then, by such vigorous training will we prove ourselves winners and come across the finish line to our everlasting life and Jehovah’s glory.

JOYAUX DE LA PAROLE DE DIEU

Recherchons des perles spirituelles (8 min) : EZEKIEL 11 à 14

Ezékiel 12:26-28 : Selon ces versets, quelle responsabilité les serviteurs de Jéhovah ont-ils ? (w07 1/7 13 § 8).

« Et la parole de Jéhovah vint encore à moi, disant : 27 “ Fils d’homme, voici que ceux de la maison d’Israël disent : ‘ La vision qu’il contemple est pour après de longs jours, et c’est au sujet de temps éloignés qu’il prophétise. ’ 28 C’est pourquoi dis-leur : ‘ Voici ce qu’a dit le Souverain Seigneur Jéhovah : “ ‘ Rien ne sera plus différé quant à toutes mes paroles. La parole que je prononcerai, elle sera exécutée ’, c’est là ce que déclare le Souverain Seigneur Jéhovah »

Même à ceux qui se moquaient de son message, Ézékiel allait devoir dire : ‘ Rien ne sera plus différé quant à toutes les paroles de Jéhovah. ’ Nous devons faire tout notre possible pour aider nos semblables à placer leur confiance en Jéhovah avant qu’il ne mette fin au présent système de choses. TG2007

Beaucoup, certes, ne prenaient pas ces avertissements au sérieux, mais Ézékiel devait dire au peuple: “Rien ne sera plus différé.” De nos jours également, malgré le mépris pour les mises en garde et les prophéties divines, nous pouvons aider efficacement ceux qui recherchent la vérité à être convaincus qu’elles s’avéreront véridiques – TG1988 15/9 p17 § 4

Les Israélites accordaient plus que n’importe quel peuple païen une très grande importance à l’exactitude chronologique. En effet, les prophéties bibliques concernaient souvent des périodes de temps bien précises. Étant le Livre de Dieu, la Bible met en avant la ponctualité avec laquelle celui-ci exécute sa parole (Éz 12:27, 28) et elle montre que l’exactitude des prophéties prouve sa Divinité – it1 p451

Par des actes symboliques, Ézékiel montra aux exilés juifs que leur nation était sur le point de connaître le malheur (Ézékiel 12:1-7). Le prophète porta “un bagage pour l’exil” afin de montrer que les captifs n’emporteraient que quelques objets sur leurs épaules. Sous peu, l’horreur allait s’abattre sur la ville assiégée de Jérusalem. Beaucoup, certes, ne prenaient pas ces avertissements au sérieux, mais Ézékiel devait dire au peuple: “Rien ne sera plus différé.” De nos jours également, malgré le mépris pour les mises en garde et les prophéties divines, nous pouvons aider efficacement ceux qui recherchent la vérité à être convaincus qu’elles s’avéreront véridiques. — Ézékiel 12:8-28. – TG1988 15/9 p17 § 4

Ezékiel 14:13, 14 : Que nous apprend le fait que ces personnages sont mentionnés dans ces versets ? w16.05 26 §13 w07 1/7 13 § 9

“ Fils d’homme, pour ce qui est d’un pays, s’il pèche contre moi en se montrant infidèle, alors vraiment je tendrai ma main contre lui, je lui briserai les bâtons sur lesquels sont enfilés les pains en forme de couronne, j’enverrai sur lui la famine et j’en retrancherai l’homme tiré du sol et l’animal domestique. ”  ‘ Et si ces trois hommes se trouvaient au milieu de lui : Noé, Daniel et Job, eux à cause de leur justice délivreraient leur âme ’, c’est là ce que déclare le Souverain Seigneur Jéhovah ». ”

Des recherches nous révèlent que ce passage d’Ézékiel a été écrit vers 612 av. n. è. À cette époque, Noé et Job étaient morts depuis des siècles, et leurs actes de fidélité se trouvaient dans la mémoire de Dieu. Mais Daniel, lui, était encore vivant. En fait, il avait peut-être une vingtaine d’années quand Jéhovah a déclaré qu’il était aussi juste que Noé et Job. La leçon ? Jéhovah remarque et apprécie l’intégrité de tous ses serviteurs fidèles, y compris de ceux qui sont relativement jeunes – TG2016

Que dire de la femme de Noé, de ses fils et de leurs femmes? Qu’est-ce qui était exigé d’eux? Le récit biblique parle surtout de Noé parce qu’il était le chef de la famille, mais les autres membres de celle-ci ont dû, eux aussi, exercer la piété. Pourquoi? Eh bien, plus tard, s’adressant au prophète Ézékiel, Jéhovah se référa à cet épisode pour montrer que si Noé avait vécu alors en Israël, ses enfants n’auraient pu espérer être sauvés pour la seule raison que leur père était juste. Ils étaient assez âgés pour choisir entre l’obéissance et la désobéissance. Il leur fallait donc démontrer individuellement leur piété, c’est-à-dire leur attachement à Jéhovah et à ses voies justes. Les membres de la famille de Noé acceptaient ce qu’il leur enseignait, partageaient sa foi et n’ont laissé personne les détourner de leur mission Ézékiel 14:19, 20.  livre Votre survie (su) chap6 § 18

Job fut rétabli dans toute sa dignité. En Ézékiel 14:14, 20, Dieu parle de lui comme d’un exemple de justice remarquable. Le patriarche figure sans aucun doute parmi les fidèles du passé qui espéraient être ressuscités (Job 14:13-15). Livre cj chap5

Daniel avait la réputation d’être un homme juste et sage, digne d’être cité avec Noé et Job, des hommes qui craignaient Dieu.

Noé ainsi que les autres hommes et femmes de foi ont été mentionnés parce qu’ils étaient des humains dans les faiblesses et les sentiments desquels nous pouvons nous reconnaître

C’est à chacun de nous qu’il revient de travailler à son salut. Personne ne peut le faire à notre place – TG2007

Qui pourrait sauver les habitants rebelles de Juda lorsque Dieu exécuterait ses jugements sur le pays? Pas même des hommes justes comme Noé, Daniel et Job. Si nous voulons être sauvés, nous devons donc endosser nos propres responsabilités devant Dieu et accomplir sa volonté - TG1988 15/9 p17 § 3

Noé, Job et Daniel ont tous trois eu le bonheur d’entretenir des relations étroites avec Dieu. La Bible les loue “ à cause de leur justice ”. Or, la vie de ces trois hommes montre qu’ils avaient pris de bonnes habitudes – TG2001 1/8

Ils ont manifesté de l’amour envers Dieu et ont pratiqué la justice. Eux aussi sont sortis de leurs épreuves déterminés à réjouir Jéhovah, étant affermis pour porter un puissant témoignage, et animés d’une espérance véritable. – TG1994 15/11 § 2


Qu’est-ce que la lecture biblique de cette semaine m’apprend sur Jéhovah ?

Notre fidélité doit aussi nous inciter à la protéger des traîtres (Ézékiel 10:9-22). Il en existait du temps d’Ézékiel, car ce prophète vit 25 princes fomenter une révolte contre les forces d’exécution de Dieu avec l’aide des Égyptiens. Ils comparaient Jérusalem à une marmite et s’assimilaient à de la chair qui s’y trouvait en sécurité. Quelle erreur! “L’épée” des “étrangers”, des Babyloniens, allait tuer certains de ces conjurés, tandis que d’autres seraient faits captifs. Ces malheurs surviendraient parce que Dieu tenait les Juifs pour responsables d’avoir rompu son alliance (Ézékiel 11:1-13). Puisque la chrétienté prétend être en relation d’alliance avec Dieu tout en mettant sa confiance dans les alliances qu’elle a contractées avec le monde, elle périra sous les coups des forces d’exécution de Jéhovah. – TG1988 15/9 p15, 21 § 20

Étant donné que par ses prophètes Jéhovah avait prévenu les Israélites des conséquences qu’ils devraient supporter s’ils violaient leur alliance avec lui, ils sauraient que c’était Jéhovah lui-même qui agissait lorsque les choses annoncées leur arriveraient. Il leur expliqua sans détour pourquoi il allait exécuter ses jugements sur eux, en disant: “À la frontière d’Israël, je vous jugerai, et assurément vous saurez que je suis Jéhovah.” Et pourquoi seraient-ils jugés ? “Car vous n’avez pas marché dans mes prescriptions, et vous n’avez pas exécuté mes jugements, mais c’est selon les jugements des nations qui sont autour de vous que vous avez agi.” — Ézékiel 11:11, 12. La chrétienté des temps modernes n’a pas su profiter de cet exemple historique. Peu importe son attitude actuelle, dans le passé elle a toujours prétendu être comme l’ancien Israël, c’est-à-dire liée au Dieu de la sainte Bible par un pacte solennel ou alliance. Tout comme l’antique Israël, la chrétienté a préféré conclure des alliances avec le présent monde. Elle n’a pas eu confiance dans le Dieu de la nouvelle alliance – kj chap11

“ Je vous rassemblerai aussi d’entre les peuples, je vous réunirai des pays où vous avez été dispersés, et vraiment je vous donnerai le sol d’Israël. ” (Ézékiel 11:17). Pour réaliser cette promesse en faveur de l’Israël de l’Antiquité, Jéhovah avait suscité Cyrus le Perse, qui l’emporta sur la puissance mondiale babylonienne et offrit à un reste d’Israélites l’occasion de retourner dans leur pays. Au début du XXe siècle, il apparut nettement qu’un Grand Cyrus était à l’œuvre. De qui s’agissait-il ? De nul autre que Jésus Christ, intronisé dans le Royaume céleste en 1914. Ce grand Roi manifesta sa bienveillance à l’égard de ses frères oints sur la terre lorsqu’en 1919 les chrétiens oints furent libérés de leur captivité spirituelle et retournèrent dans leur “ pays ”, leur condition spirituelle. C’est ainsi qu’Ézékiel 11:17 connut un accomplissement moderne. Quel renversement pour Babylone la Grande, et surtout pour la chrétienté ! Mais quelle bénédiction pour les vrais chrétiens ! – TG1997 1/5 p19-20 § 6,7

Apprendre à connaître la pensée de Jéhovah grâce à l’étude de la Bible peut nous aider à comprendre ce qu’il voudrait que nous fassions dans une situation donnée. Plus nous connaîtrons les pensées de Jéhovah, plus notre cœur sera « réceptif », sensible à sa direction (Ézék. 11:19). En nous familiarisant peu à peu avec les pensées et les manières d’agir de notre Père céleste, nous améliorons notre capacité de discerner ce qu’il voudrait nous voir faire dans différentes situations. TG2016 Mai §9

Les personnes qui n’écoutaient pas le guetteur de Jéhovah devaient savoir que “l’épée” de Dieu ne les épargnerait pas. Jéhovah condamna donc publiquement les individus qui étaient à l’origine des idées erronées que le peuple se faisait sur la sécurité de Jérusalem et de Juda. Il compara les faux prophètes à des renards destructeurs, et déclara que des menteurs enduisaient d’un badigeon blanc les murs chancelants, c’est-à-dire les vains projets du peuple. Il dénonça également les fausses prophétesses. Le “jour de Jéhovah” était imminent, et sa face était tournée contre ceux qui ‘se retiraient de derrière lui’, ou, en d’autres termes, ‘se vouaient ailleurs en s’éloignant de lui’. Si nous nous sommes voués à Jéhovah, nous ne voudrons jamais nous détourner de son service sacré. — Ézékiel 13:1 à 14:11. – TG1988 15/9 p17 § 5

À Babylone, Ézékiel reçut une vision de ce qui se passait dans le temple de Jérusalem. À l’entrée de la porte orientale se tenaient 25 hommes. Parmi eux, deux princes, Yaazania et Pelatia. Que pensait Jéhovah de ces deux hommes ? Ézékiel 11:2, 3 répond : “ Fils d’homme, ce sont là les hommes qui méditent le méfait et qui conseillent de mauvais conseils contre cette ville ; qui disent : ‘ Bâtir des maisons, n’est-ce pas pour bientôt ? ’ ” En d’autres termes, ces messagers de paix présomptueux disaient : ‘ Jérusalem ne court aucun danger. Pour tout dire, bientôt on y construira de nouvelles maisons ! ’ Aussi Dieu demanda-t-il à son prophète Ézékiel de prendre le contre-pied de ce qu’annonçaient ces messagers trompeurs. Au verset 13 du chapitre 11, Ézékiel nous dit ce qu’il advint de l’un d’eux : “ Il arriva ceci : dès que je prophétisai, Pelatia le fils de Benaïa mourut. ” C’est probablement parce qu’il était le plus éminent et le plus influent des princes, mais aussi le plus grand idolâtre, que Pelatia fut frappé par Jéhovah. Sa mort soudaine apporta la preuve qu’il était un faux prophète.

L’exécution de Pelatia ne dissuada pas les autres faux prophètes de continuer à mentir en se servant du nom de Dieu. Ces imposteurs s’obstinèrent dans l’attitude insensée consistant à faire des prédictions contraires à la volonté divine. Jéhovah Dieu déclara donc à Ézékiel : “ Malheur aux prophètes stupides qui marchent à la suite de leur propre esprit, alors qu’ils n’ont rien vu ! ” Comme Pelatia, ils ‘ ne seraient plus ’ parce qu’ils osaient contempler pour Jérusalem ‘ une vision de paix, alors qu’il n’y avait pas de paix ’. — Ézékiel 13:3, 15, 16. Ne devrions-nous pas être reconnaissants à Jéhovah de faire savoir qui sont ses vrais messagers ? Les prophéties de rétablissement qu’il a données à Isaïe et à Ézékiel magnifient l’immense amour, la faveur imméritée et la miséricorde qu’il témoigne à ses serviteurs. Jéhovah est assurément digne de toutes nos louanges – TG1997 1/5 p8 § 3, 4,22
Quelles autres perles spirituelles as-tu découvertes dans la lecture biblique de cette semaine ?

Le char de Jéhovah se déplaça de nouveau, et Ézékiel, lui aussi, changea d’endroit. Ce fut comme si l’organisation céleste de Dieu, comparable à un char, se plaçait en observation au-dessus du mont des Oliviers. C’est là que Jésus annoncera la destruction qui s’abattra sur Jérusalem en l’an 70 de notre ère, destruction qui préfigure celle de la chrétienté (Marc 13:1-20). Quant à Ézékiel, il avait été emporté en vision loin du fleuve Kébar, mais l’esprit de Dieu le ramena à l’endroit où il vivait en exil, en Babylonie. Là, il exposa aux autres exilés ‘toutes les choses que Jéhovah lui avait fait voir’. De même à notre époque, le “guetteur” de Dieu oint de l’esprit et les témoins qui lui sont associés proclament tout ce que leur a révélé le Conducteur du char céleste. — Ézékiel 11:22-25. – TG1988 15/9 p17 § 3

Santé spirituelle. Longtemps avant l’Exil, les Juifs étaient tombés malades spirituellement. Ils étaient comme sourds et aveugles, refusant d’entendre et de voir les conseils et l’enseignement de Jéhovah (Ézék. 12:2). Si les exilés de retour en Juda devaient retomber dans ces travers, quelle sécurité auraient-ils ? Ne perdraient-ils pas de nouveau la faveur divine ? Aussi, qu’elle était rassurante cette promesse : « En ce jour-là, les sourds entendront les paroles du livre, et, de l’obscurité et des ténèbres, les yeux des aveugles verront » (Is. 29:18). Jéhovah procurerait une guérison spirituelle à ses serviteurs repentants. Tant qu’ils resteraient réceptifs et obéissants, il leur offrirait conseils et enseignement pour leur bien. A notre époque, quiconque sort de Babylone la Grande et se joint à nous pour adorer Jéhovah dans notre paradis spirituel est une preuve vivante que les promesses divines s’accomplissent  - livre kr chap22 § 6 et 13

Au VIIe siècle avant notre ère, Dieu a chargé ses prophètes Jérémie et Ézékiel de prononcer des messages de jugement contre Jérusalem, qui, par sa désobéissance envers lui, s’était pervêtie. La destruction prédite s’est bel et bien produite en 607 avant notre ère, quand bien même les messagers de Dieu avaient été contredits par des chefs religieux éminents et très écoutés. Ces derniers se sont révélés être des ‘ prophètes stupides qui ont égaré le peuple de Dieu, en disant : “ Il y a la paix ! ” — alors qu’il n’y avait pas de paix ’. Ézékiel 13:1-16  À l’instar de ces “ prophètes stupides ” d’autrefois, la plupart des chefs religieux de notre époque ne font entendre aucun avertissement relatif à la venue prochaine du jour de jugement de Dieu. Au contraire, ils annoncent avec optimisme que les organisations politiques finiront par établir la paix et la sécurité. Plus soucieux de plaire aux hommes qu’à Dieu, ils disent à leurs fidèles ce que ceux-ci ont envie d’entendre au lieu de leur expliquer que le Royaume de Dieu est établi et que le Roi messianique s’apprête à mener à terme sa victoire. En faux prophètes qu’ils sont, ils parlent de ‘ paix, alors qu’il n’y a pas de paix ’. Mais, sous peu, leur belle assurance se changera d’un coup en terreur quand ils devront affronter la fureur de Celui qu’ils ont si mal représenté et dont ils ont sali le nom plus qu’on ne saurait le dire. Les chefs de l’empire universel de la fausse religion, que la Bible dépeint sous les traits d’une femme immorale, s’étrangleront avec leurs cris de paix mensongers – km2012 août § 14

La Bible condamne catégoriquement la fausse religion. Par exemple, la Loi mosaïque mettait expressément en garde le peuple choisi de Dieu contre les faux prophètes. Tout individu qui répandait des enseignements mensongers et encourageait le culte de faux dieux devait être ‘ mis à mort, car il avait parlé de révolte contre Jéhovah ’. Les Israélites avaient ordre de ‘ balayer du milieu d’eux ce qui est mauvais ’. (Deutéronome 13:1-5.) Oui, Jéhovah considère la fausse religion comme malfaisante. — Ézékiel 13:3. Il est capital que les vrais chrétiens tiennent compte de ces avertissements et se tiennent éloignés de quiconque étouffe la vérité biblique ou répand de faux enseignements. – TG2006 15/3 p27 § 4,5

Imaginez une maison dont les fondations manquent de solidité, dont les poutres sont pourries et dont le toit s’enfonce. Auriez-vous envie de vous y installer ? Il y a des chances que non. Vous auriez beau la repeindre, sa structure n’en serait pas moins défectueuse. Tôt ou tard, elle finirait par s’écrouler. Toute paix qui provient du monde est comme cette maison. Ses fondations manquent de solidité, puisqu’elle repose sur les promesses et les stratégies de l’homme. Les humains ont connu de brèves périodes de paix, mais quelle paix ? Si deux nations sont en guerre et si la paix est proclamée soit parce que l’une est vaincue, soit parce que les deux ne voient plus l’intérêt de se battre, que vaut cette paix ? Les haines, les suspicions et les jalousies qui ont déclenché la guerre demeurent. Une telle paix n’est qu’une façade, une ‘ couche de peinture ’ sur l’hostilité ; elle ne peut durer. — Ézékiel 13:10. – TG2001 1/9 p8-13

Jéhovah parla à Ézékiel de femmes israélites qui ‘ se conduisaient en prophétesses, prophétisant de leur propre cœur ’. On en déduit que ces prophétesses n’avaient pas reçu de mission de Dieu, mais qu’elles étaient des imposteurs, prophétesses de leur propre initiative (Éz 13:17-19). Par leurs pratiques et leur propagande trompeuses, elles ‘ faisaient la chasse aux âmes ’, condamnant les justes et excusant les méchants ; toutefois, Jéhovah délivrerait son peuple de leur main. — Éz 13:20-23. – it2 prophétesse

 
 

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A Message From Behind the Iron Curtain

Via

A Message From Behind the Iron Curtain

Via

Decapitation defendant claims religious conflict, seeks new lawyer

The Wichita woman who sought an exorcism before being charged with murder in a decapitation has asked for a new lawyer based on an argument about religion.
Rachael Hilyard contended that she and her defense attorney have an “extreme religious conflict” and that he has kept her from getting a psychological evaluation.
In a court hearing Friday, a judge denied her request for a new lawyer.
Hilyard, 35, is charged with first-degree murder in the April 9 decapitation of 63-year-old Micki Davis. One of Davis’ sons was Hilyard’s ex-boyfriend. Officers responding to a 911 call found Davis’ severed head in Hilyard’s kitchen sink.
In a neatly organized and handwritten letter Hilyard addressed to a Sedgwick County judge earlier this month, she laid out her concern about her attorney, Jason Smartt.
“The victim in my case was a Jehovas Witness. I think he is one as well,” Hilyard wrote in the June 9 letter. “I am Catholic & this was a crime of God. I am requesting a change of counsel.”
Later in the letter, Hilyard expounded. “On a different case, this would be irrelevant. However, I am Catholic & and the head of a Jehovas Witness was found in my kitchen sink. I think she may have been a high ranking member in this religion.”
But one of Davis’ sons, Jeremy Rush, said Tuesday that Hilyard is wrong about his mother: “At no time whatsoever in her life was she a Jehovah’s Witness.” Davis’ daughter, Jacona Gillespie, agreed, saying that Hilyard is “absolutely wrong.”
At another point in Hilyard’s letter, with occasional typos, she wrote, “Its a known fact about Jehovas Witnesses & brainwashing. The less contact I have with Jason Smartt the better.”
Hilyard also said she has been attending Bible study and getting substance abuse treatment in jail. “If I was really a danger to society I would have trouble doing those things!”
She remains in jail on a bond that has been raised to $500,000.
Hilyard said she needs a psychological evaluation “due to my history” and has been asking Smartt “for two months to order one.”
She wrote that Smartt has told her lies, including that if she went for an evaluation, “I’d be stuck in Ossawatamie or Larned” for 10 to 15 years “waiting for trial! (That was what scared me away from the eval in the 1st place)”
In a postscript, she added: “Maybe I’m just being paranoid, but he keeps talking about this ‘neurological’ assessment coming up. Is he trying to get me hypnotized? I’m scared my lawyer is not on my side at all, he is on the side of the victim.”
At a court hearing Friday, Hilyard argued the points in her letter, but Judge Jeff Goering denied her request for a new lawyer. So Smartt is still her lawyer, Smartt said Tuesday. Smartt is Hilyard’s co-counsel, with fellow assistant public defender Chris Omlid.
Smartt said he couldn’t comment on any religious belief he might have.
Police said Hilyard summoned Davis to Hilyard’s home on West Rita near South Seneca to get her son’s property. Hilyard began attacking Davis in the garage before Davis’ 9-year-old grandson fled, police said
Hilyard’s case drew extra attention after she said in a jailhouse interview with The Eagle that she had sought an exorcism for “evil spirits” in her house just a few days before the killing.

http://www.kansas.com/news/local/crime/article158436404.html

NORTH KENSINGTON, London – Not less than four members of Jehovah’s Witnesses survived the inferno that ravaged the 24 storey Grenfel Tower, London killing at least 79 people.

None of the witnesses died in the inferno, which has led to revolution and evacuation of about 25 other blocks that have failed fire resistant test in London.
The 4 witnesses however lost their apartments and properties in the fire. 
“Witnesses that live near the now fire-gutted apartment building provided food, clothing, and monetary aid to their fellow members and their families that were affected. The Witnesses are also offering spiritual comfort to the grieving members of the North Kensington community”, the JWs said on their website.Jehovah’s Witnesses are known worldwide for their speed in mitigating the affliction of their neighbours worldwide.See full statement below.
Jehovah’s Witnesses are assisting victims of a catastrophic fire that engulfed the Grenfell Tower, a 24-story apartment building in the North Kensington area of London, in the early morning hours of June 14, 2017. Authorities are reporting that at least 79 people were killed.
Four Witnesses were evacuated from the apartment building, two of which were residents of Grenfell Tower. Fortunately, none of them were injured, although the Witnesses’ apartments were among those completely destroyed in the blaze.
Witnesses that live near the now fire-gutted apartment building provided food, clothing, and monetary aid to their fellow members and their families that were affected. The Witnesses are also offering spiritual comfort to the grieving members of the North Kensington community.
http://starconnectmedia.com/four-witnesses-survive-grenfel-tower-fire-in-london/

1958_From_Paradise_Lost_To_Paradise_Regained.pdf
also here:
https://issuu.com/testigodejehovah/docs/1958_from_paradise_lost-to_paradise_regained