Melinda Mills

Six Jehovah Witnesses have died after the car they were travelling in was swept away by floods waters at Adagya in the Bosomtwi District of the Ashanti Region.
Four of the deceased have been identified as 52-year-old Kofi Wereko, his wife Abena Mercy, who is in her late 30s, and his son 15-year-old Okyere Wereko.
Another occupant has also been identified as Asare Offei.

It took the intervention of a joint team of divers and officials from the National Disaster Management Organization and the Ghana National Fire Service to recover the bodies.
The bodies have been deposited at the Pramso Government Hospital morgue.

This article is informative, cautionary and comforting at the same time.
*** ws13 8/15 pp. 9-11 pars. 2-8 Never Become “Enraged Against Jehovah” ***
2 Today, the earth has been ruined. Its soil, water, and air are polluted. People are violent and immoral. But we have learned from the Bible that this is not Jehovah’s fault. He created the earth to be a beautiful paradise home for us. (Genesis 2:8, 15) Jehovah is a God of love. (1 John 4:8) The Scriptures tell us that Satan the Devil is “the ruler of the world,” and he is the one who causes many of these problems.—John 14:30; 2 Corinthians 4:4.
3 However, we cannot blame Satan for all our problems. Why not? Because some of our problems are the result of our own mistakes. (Read Deuteronomy 32:4-6.) We might say that we believe this. But because we are imperfect, we could begin to have the wrong view of our problems, and that can be dangerous. (Proverbs 14:12) Instead of blaming ourselves or Satan for our problems, we could start to blame Jehovah. We might even become “enraged against Jehovah himself,” that is, we might become very angry with him.—Proverbs 19:3.
4 Is it possible to become “enraged against Jehovah”? Really, it would do us no good to become angry with him. (Isaiah 41:11) We have no chance of winning a fight against God. It is true that we may never say that we are angry with Jehovah. But Proverbs 19:3 says that a man’s foolish thinking “distorts his way” and that “his heart becomes enraged against Jehovah.” This means that a person can become enraged against God in his heart and feel bitter toward Him. This can start to affect what the man does. For example, he might slow down in his service to Jehovah or stop worshipping with the congregation.
5 What might make us become “enraged against Jehovah”? How can we avoid this trap? We need to know the answers to these questions so that we can protect our relationship with Jehovah God!
HOW MIGHT WE BECOME “ENRAGED AGAINST JEHOVAH”?
6 Why might a faithful servant of Jehovah start to complain about God in his heart? This article will discuss five things that could make us become bitter, and we will review Bible examples of those who became “enraged against Jehovah.”—1 Corinthians 10:11, 12.
7 The negative talk of others can influence us. (Read Deuteronomy 1:26-28.) Think about what Jehovah did for the Israelites. He brought ten plagues on Egypt and destroyed Pharaoh and his armies at the Red Sea. The Israelites were free! (Exodus 12:29-32, 51; 14:29-31; Psalm 136:15) God’s people were ready to enter the Promised Land. But they started to complain about Jehovah. Why did they lose faith just as they were going to receive their reward? Ten spies gave a bad report to the Israelites, and this discouraged and scared them. (Numbers 14:1-4) As a result, Jehovah did not let them enter into that “good land” at that time. (Deuteronomy 1:34, 35) What can we learn? The negative talk of others could weaken our faith and cause us to complain about the way Jehovah guides his people.
8 Tragedies and difficulties could discourage us. (Read Isaiah 8:21, 22) In Isaiah’s day, the people of Judah were suffering. They were surrounded by enemies. Many were hungry because there was not enough food. But there was an even bigger problem. They had stopped listening to Jehovah and were letting their relationship with him get weak. (Amos 8:11) Instead of asking Jehovah for help, they blamed him and the king for their problems. In a similar way, if we become discouraged because of a tragedy or other problems in our life, we might begin to blame Jehovah and feel that he did not help us when we needed him.   END QUOTE

It would be good to review the whole article.

I will take the liberty of answering this one as @Gone Away has probably gone to bed. But duh! Obviously it means that God right now does not protect anyone physically, and that if you are in the wrong place at the wrong time then you will cop it, most likely.  Why doesn't God protect his people physically right now? Because he is allowing Satan to do his thing for now. However, if you die faithful, then your future life is safe with Jehovah. It is our spirituality he is interested in, because that means our (everlasting) life.

Jehovah expects us to take care and make wise decisions and not be foolhardy.  In rainy season we must pay attention to the weather and listen to government and weather announcements, etc. These things are provided by the superior authorities for our benefit.
They may have also been good and wise people but time and unforeseen occurrence befalls us all. The good work they did at the KH  and otherwise would be remembered by Jehovah forever. (Heb 6:10) (Romans 8:38,39)

Or perhaps such insects were hidden well within the fur and skin of animals on the Ark itself. You do realize animals and the like carry bugs on them, perhaps fleas as well? As for Cockroaches, those things tend to survive anything, literally.
 
Speaking about Roaches, for Educational Purposes I will link a video below, which is somewhat related:
 
Other facts: https://www.pestworld.org/news-hub/pest-articles/fascinating-cockroach-facts/
 
As for fun, Houston flood so bad roaches got boats, somewhat intelligent too:
 

If he had to save bedbugs and roaches, he would have had to save lice too.   He probably would not have had to seek for such small creatures, God could have commanded them to go into the wood crevices, the hair of animals, etc.  And he would have other ways of doing it that we would not think of. He is not limited like us.

Anybody who can walk 100 km a day, which is about 62 miles, carrying and picking up and delivering packages and mail (!!) is INCREDIBLE!
Drones are impressive, but THIS mailman is INCREDIBLE !
 

Quite true. Also, there is an issue being settled at the moment: 
"But Satan answered Jehovah: “Skin for skin. A man will give everything that he has for his life. But, for a change, stretch out your hand and strike his bone and flesh, and he will surely curse you to your very face.” Then Jehovah said to Satan: “Look! He is in your hand! Only do not take his life!” " Job 2:4-6.

If he had to save bedbugs and roaches, he would have had to save lice too.   He probably would not have had to seek for such small creatures, God could have commanded them to go into the wood crevices, the hair of animals, etc.  And he would have other ways of doing it that we would not think of. He is not limited like us.

(Matthew 5:6) 6 “Happy are those hungering and thirsting for righteousness, since they will be filled.
It was really nice meeting you and hearing your views and benefiting from your encouragement.  Keep up the good work.
(Heb 6:10; Romans 8:38,39)
 

Does the gift of this spirit identify true Christians?
Source

Is it later than I think?
I often think, as the Sun goes down, that it is really the horizon, coming up.
If I face away from the Sun and bend over, looking through my legs at the Sun, the Sun and the horizon  seem to be meeting in the middle.
Then I do a front flip, fall over, and consider it from another perspective.
Reality is what it is.

What really attracts people to Christianity is God's word as found in the scripture and by extension on that, it is Jehovah God himself. 
"No man can come to me unless the Father, who sent me, draws him" John 6:44
I sought out Jehovah's Witnesses because of what I read in the Bible. I was never "called on". I am sure that is the experience of many.

You are a thinking person. I'm sure that spending time in prison for reasons of conscience or religion will do that to you. I don't believe that Jehovah will forget the good works of all persons and religious persuasions. And I'm not one who believes we as Witnesses are handling every possible Christian ministry in the world that helps attract persons to Christianity. We are Christians, and we try to be the best we know how to be. We handle a particular ministry of evangelizing and teaching spreading knowledge and appreciation of the Bible, and of doing good for one another, especially those related to us in the faith, and we look for others who will share our particular faith and hope (paradise earth, etc.). Others may handle some of the charitable ministries in a better way, we constantly try to improve our teaching ministry. This takes nothing away from Albert Barnes or Matthew Henry or Tyndale or Wycliffe etc, who were key players in the past, and I would not doubt that there are many  individuals who excel at Christian teaching today, too. As you know the Watchtower often quotes from scholars and experts in many fields, including history, theology and Biblical studies, manuscripts, ancient languages, etc. 
 

Jehovah expects us to take care and make wise decisions and not be foolhardy.  In rainy season we must pay attention to the weather and listen to government and weather announcements, etc. These things are provided by the superior authorities for our benefit.
They may have also been good and wise people but time and unforeseen occurrence befalls us all. The good work they did at the KH  and otherwise would be remembered by Jehovah forever. (Heb 6:10) (Romans 8:38,39)

I thoroughly enjoyed the last Watchtower on Sunday gone.  That was food for a full grown man.  I like how it was drawn to our attention that God rewarded Jesus and Mary in incremental and unexpected ways, and how we have to do things to be known by God and not seek our reward now in this system of things.  It gave us similar hope that when we serve Him in spirit and truth we can also look forward to blessings that we did not anticipate. As his memory is limitless we can rest assured that he knows the good things we do daily and will not forget the love we showed by giving us sweet surprises.  I am sure Mary might not have thought that her speech would be recorded in his Word for all eternity.

I remember "back-calls" and other terms. It still slips off my tongue from time to time. Never heard those instructions before.  Thanks for the quote from the 1943 magazine.  I remember also about the 100 hours for vacation pioneers some years later - the 1950s and '60s.
My mum used to pioneer a lot, along with looking after five children, as well as being a housewife and a seamstress.  I always remember this incident when I think of vacation pioneering in those days along with the high hour requirement. (Imagine calling 30 hours high after those figures of yesteryear.)  My eldest brother was kind of "hard-ears". Mum had special instructions  for him before she left home to pioneer. On one occasion she told him not to leave the house and not to fly any kites. He not only flew the kite but he flew it from the top of the house.  When he saw her returning from pioneer service  about  a few hundred yards off, he jumped from the top of the house  to the ground and pretended he was not outside. (My Mum did not leave discipline to my father like some mothers - she was a strict disciplinarian.)  He got lashes along with the sore feet. (Of course they were other reports from the siblings about other things he did.) After his disobedience, she would take him with her - so he frequently had to put in the same hours as she. He got baptized at 13, I think.  He was faithful for some time, but after marrying a non-Witness he became inactive.
Occasionally he refers to her as one of the "real" Witnesses, a term that makes me smile. He asked me recently why there are always older people in the field service - where are the young ones?.He knows that in his day the young ones were out religiously every weekend and often during school holidays, no excuses posed or allowed.
 
Back to the idea I posited.  I don't think you can have it both ways.  Either you set your own goals, knowing your circumstances, and you give God your best, or your goals are set by someone else.  Agree it is legalistic to set hour requirements for others.

I thoroughly enjoyed the last Watchtower on Sunday gone.  That was food for a full grown man.  I like how it was drawn to our attention that God rewarded Jesus and Mary in incremental and unexpected ways, and how we have to do things to be known by God and not seek our reward now in this system of things.  It gave us similar hope that when we serve Him in spirit and truth we can also look forward to blessings that we did not anticipate. As his memory is limitless we can rest assured that he knows the good things we do daily and will not forget the love we showed by giving us sweet surprises.  I am sure Mary might not have thought that her speech would be recorded in his Word for all eternity.

In my last post I wanted to make it clear that there is more than one way to set up a kind of equivalence so that one might be seen as the near or practical equivalent of the Lord himself. I ended up mixing up all these methods into the examples I used in the last post, rather then itemize them clearly.
One way is to just claim that you represent the Lord, and make it clear that "evil" will be called down upon those who disagree. Another way is to allow others to say outright that if anyone goes against yourself (Rutherford, Russell, Governing Body, Pope, etc) that they have gone against the Lord. Another is to take the specific things that have been attributed to yourself and repeating the point that it was actually the Lord who did these things. (Rutherford made getting rid of the elder arrangement a fulfillment of Bible prophecy. He made the false doctrine of the higher authorities a fulfillment of Bible prophecy. He and later writers both claimed that it was Jehovah who "caused" the Millions/1925 campaign. et cetera.) Also, I didn't put specific quotes (evidence) of the cases where very specific rules put into place by Rutherford and later by F.Franz (N.Knorr) were attributed to the Lord. In the past I already shared some of the ones about Rutherford arguing that they should still keep selling the remaining stocks of obsolete books from Russell with "campaigns" even up to about 1933. I'll point back to that post if anyone cares to see it again.
For some reason, more recent versions of WTS history have tried to place this time back in 1927:
*** ka chap. 17 p. 347 par. 33 The “Slave” Who Lived to See the “Sign” ***
Later in the year 1927 any remaining stocks of the six volumes of Studies in the Scriptures by Russell and of The Finished Mystery were disposed of among the public. In the next post I'll include at least one of the quotes about just how strictly we were to hold to the idea that the Society speaks for the Lord.

I thoroughly enjoyed the last Watchtower on Sunday gone.  That was food for a full grown man.  I like how it was drawn to our attention that God rewarded Jesus and Mary in incremental and unexpected ways, and how we have to do things to be known by God and not seek our reward now in this system of things.  It gave us similar hope that when we serve Him in spirit and truth we can also look forward to blessings that we did not anticipate. As his memory is limitless we can rest assured that he knows the good things we do daily and will not forget the love we showed by giving us sweet surprises.  I am sure Mary might not have thought that her speech would be recorded in his Word for all eternity.

All of the above.
....and MORE.
Without irrefutable hard evidence ... NEVER assume a person's motive for ANYTHING.
If all else fails, and as a very last resort ... ask them.
 

Is it more that the conclusions were false? Evolution and creation use the same "proof", just draw different conclusions.
Here's a question.
Since 1975, 10.5 million have been baptised. Add in the av pubs of '75 gives 12.6 million. The average publisher count for  2017 was 8.2 million.Allowing for the current crude death rate, 1.7 million have died since '75, so at least 2.7 million have gone AWOL or disfellowshipped. (Approximations of course).
Why is this?
Is it: Lack of confidence in leadership? Disobedience to moral requirements? Lack of desire to preach? Preference for materialistic goals? Fear of man? Expected "end" took too long? Stumbled over other's immorality? Believe apostate distortions?
Or is it: Don't believe we are in last days? Don't believe 1914CE was when time ran out for Satan? Don't believe Governing Body are spirit appointed and directed? Disillusioned over end-time teachings?  Suspicions of financial irregularity? Don't agree with "shunning" non-dependant relatives? Don't agree with prohibition on primary blood components only?
Or what?
 
 

Thanks for asking ....
Here, near Charlotte, it was overcast today with no rain, and a 15 mph breeze.  Now, at approx. 12:30 AM Saturday, it's about the same, with no discernible wind noise.  Tomorrow it is an 85% chance of rain, with maximum 30 mph winds forecast. Sunday forecast is 30 mph and 100% chance of rain.
I bought 26 candles in  glass tubes, 5 square yellow flashlights,  24 cans of beans and 60, 2.5 gal. freezer bags to fill with water.and 45 cans of dog food ( for relatives if they have to come over ... so they will leave ASAP).
We live on a heavily wooded lot with very large trees, which I suppose will be the greatest danger, falling into the house, but we shall see.
In 1954 I was 6 years old when Hurricane Hazel tore through Richmond Virginia,  and I went out and tied myself to a tree with a garden hose, and watched roofs peel off and flop down the street.
It was fun!
.... my Mom was not pleased .
 
 
 

Even if everything we taught doctrinally was incomplete or tainted with some error, I could still find truth in this statement just quoted. You can find waters of truth at your local Kingdom Hall, because there are people of varying backgrounds and age and former beliefs who have come together to learn and be motivated by Christian activity and a Christian lifestyle. It's the "heart" (desires/motivation) of the individuals that makes it pure. Morally, we are a very clean people, and we give morality a very high priority.
There is a kind of joy in the oneness of purpose of the worldwide association of brothers and sisters. Racism and ageism is reduced to a minimum. Anyone would be willing to help out any other one. We are built up and encouraged by the experiences of others. In dire circumstances, we know we will be offering extra support to our brothers, and we can expect support from our brothers. We have come very close to recreating the first-century Christianity (even with its expectation flaws) in the twenty-first century.
Of course, I know there are specific exceptions here and there to all the good things we could say about Witnesses in general. And if we have been in other churches, religions or ideological associations, then we probably know that many of the things we cherish about the worldwide brotherhood are available even in a secular social club or band of brothers in an army platoon. But I think ours can go a little wider and deeper, meaning that we have support in a wider array of life situations and circumstances. And as to "depth," ideally, we should be willing to protect one another, or even give our life for one another as if we were all members of the same literal family.
As to doctrines, 85% or more appear absolutely correct to me. We still thirst for Bible knowledge from trusted sources. We assemble not just for the association, but because we hope to learn something new or be fortified anew by something we have nearly forgotten. But it's true we are often ready to believe all things to the point of excessive gullibility. Yet, if it were really true that the negative/positive ratio were 85%-15% then we'd be 'of all men most to be pitied.' But even on a day when I'm most ready to "make sure of all things," I can still run through one of the most recent Watchtowers and find very little that moves the needle on my "Beroean" sensors. I think it's our duty to point out where something seems unreasonable to us (or if the "food" might be spoiled now and then) but this should have almost no effect on our relationship with our brothers and sisters.
I'd love to see us remove what appears to be some of the more obvious errors from our doctrine, and that's my focus on this forum of course. We don't have that ability to discuss on jw.org or in the congregation.