Melinda Mills

Agree 100%. In fact, the Christians would probably not have considered birthdays a pagan practice as much as a "impractical" practice. It was usually only the very rich who could afford to give a feast on birthdays, so it became the purview of kings and persons of high station. Christians, like Jews, would have had no problem with excuses to enjoy a feast. Jesus participated in marriage feasts that lasted several days. He also used feasts in his illustrations. (Matt 22)
Jesus even went to a "tax collector party":
(Luke 5:27-30) . . .Now after this, he went out and saw a tax collector named Leʹvi sitting at the tax office, and he said to him: “Be my follower.” 28 And leaving everything behind, he rose up and began to follow him. 29 Then Leʹvi spread a big reception feast for him in his house, and there was a large crowd of tax collectors and others who were dining with them. 30 At this the Pharisees and their scribes began murmuring to his disciples, saying: “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?” Jesus even gave instructions for feasts that had no specific reason behind them.
(Luke 14:12-16) 12 Next he said also to the man who had invited him: “When you spread a dinner or an evening meal, do not call your friends or your brothers or your relatives or your rich neighbors. Otherwise, they might also invite you in return, and it would become a repayment to you. 13 But when you spread a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind; 14 and you will be happy, because they have nothing with which to repay you. For you will be repaid in the resurrection of the righteous ones.” 15 On hearing these things, one of the fellow guests said to him: “Happy is the one who dines in the Kingdom of God.” 16 Jesus said to him: “A man was spreading a grand evening meal, and he invited many. Since feasts were expensive, it appears that Christianity itself made it easier to afford feasts as part of the meeting arrangements, probably because it no longer depended on the generosity of a single rich person, but the sharing among all of them.
(Jude 12) 12 These are the rocks hidden below water at your love feasts while they feast with you, shepherds who feed themselves without fear; . . . And of course, even Jesus refers positively to the feast that took place on the 25th of the winter month that usually corresponds with December. (Kislev 25) Jesus went up to Jerusalem during the Hanukkah celebration, on the 25th of the month, even though Hanukkah was a feast that was not commanded in the Bible but was initiated during Maccabean times. (See John 10:22 in the NWT Reference Bible)
 
 
 

"The first recorded date of Christmas being celebrated on December 25th was in 336, during the time of the Roman Emperor Constantine (he was the first Christian Roman Emperor). A few years later, Pope Julius I officially declared that the birth of Jesus would be celebrated on the 25th December."
 
It would be unlikely that Jesus and the early Christians would have had to refuse to celebrate Christmas, since Christmas was introduced about three hundred years after Jesus left the earth.  It might be correct to say they did not celebrate birthdays  or the Roman Saturnalia.  The idea of celebrating birthdays was something foreign to Jewish custom in Jesus day and would have been considered a pagan practice.   The apostasy started around the time of Roman Emperor Constantine, so those who started to celebrate Christmas were apostate Christians.
 
 

"The first recorded date of Christmas being celebrated on December 25th was in 336, during the time of the Roman Emperor Constantine (he was the first Christian Roman Emperor). A few years later, Pope Julius I officially declared that the birth of Jesus would be celebrated on the 25th December."
 
It would be unlikely that Jesus and the early Christians would have had to refuse to celebrate Christmas, since Christmas was introduced about three hundred years after Jesus left the earth.  It might be correct to say they did not celebrate birthdays  or the Roman Saturnalia.  The idea of celebrating birthdays was something foreign to Jewish custom in Jesus day and would have been considered a pagan practice.   The apostasy started around the time of Roman Emperor Constantine, so those who started to celebrate Christmas were apostate Christians.
 
 

"The first recorded date of Christmas being celebrated on December 25th was in 336, during the time of the Roman Emperor Constantine (he was the first Christian Roman Emperor). A few years later, Pope Julius I officially declared that the birth of Jesus would be celebrated on the 25th December."
 
It would be unlikely that Jesus and the early Christians would have had to refuse to celebrate Christmas, since Christmas was introduced about three hundred years after Jesus left the earth.  It might be correct to say they did not celebrate birthdays  or the Roman Saturnalia.  The idea of celebrating birthdays was something foreign to Jewish custom in Jesus day and would have been considered a pagan practice.   The apostasy started around the time of Roman Emperor Constantine, so those who started to celebrate Christmas were apostate Christians.
 
 

1 John 5:20  "But we know that the Son of God has come,  and he has given us insight* so that we may gain the knowledge of the one who is true. And we are in union with the one who is true, by means of his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and life everlasting.
* Lit., “mental perception; intellectual capacity.
  Proverbs 2:1-4  "My son, if you accept my sayings And treasure up my commandments, By making your ear attentive to wisdom And inclining your heart to discernment;  Moreover, if you call out for understanding And raise your voice for discernment;  If you keep seeking for it as for silver, And you keep searching for it as for hidden treasures; Then you will understand the fear of Jehovah, And you will find the knowledge of God".
Is this only the privilege of the Slave/GB or is it all of the anointed and by extension those who are associated with them, the great crowd?

Millions of people are searching for happiness. This goal is attainable.
Source

Not really funny. 

No, there is no law here that states a person must say merry Christmas for the business they work for. If they work for a charity or a Christian store they may be encouraged to say it, but I highly doubt you would ever see a jehovahs witness working in a Christian store or a charity.

He wants to discuss the Trinity again. But he is the one who is raising it.
Met someone yesterday who quoted the Ten Commandments,"You Must Not covet"  but then said "God coveted Mary" because He  told her she would become pregnant with His Son.  Never heard the likes of it before.  I told him God is a Spirit and he had no fleshly interest in her.  He just wanted to transfer his Son's life from a heavenly one to an earthly one. I also mentioned that Mary was not yet married and  that when the angel related to Mary what was going to happen to her,  she agreed by  saying, "Look! Jehovah's slave girl!" May it take place with me according to your declaration".  Jehovah would have known Mary's life course, her spirituality and that she would deem this very great privilege to bear his Son. Jehovah would have known the spirituality of Joseph, her  future husband as well, as Joseph would have to an active part in raising God's son as a human.  Of course I quoted Deut 32:4, and  Daniel 4:35 which  says " . .. and he is doing according to his own will among the army of the heavens and the inhabitants of the earth. And there exists no one that can check his hand or that can say to him, ‘What have you been doing?’"
It was shocking but we were still able to break down some prejudice and the brother who told me he wastes our time, came and joined us and exchange some pleasantries about school days and shook hands.  It was the first time for me speaking to him, but this brother had spoken to him several times.  I told him not to be afraid of people like that, and gave him incidences where even people who opposed Jehovah like spirit mediums became Jehovah's servants in Africa and other places.

Artificial Intelligence has been touted since IBM came out with the PC Jr., with the chicklet keyboard, which they crushed and buried in landfills by the millions. 
How many people here remember the BASIC program Eliza, which was a fairly good psychoanalysis program?
You will know when Artificial Intelligence is perfected.
It will be six months after they perfect Artificial Stupidity.

Hi dear,  Watchtower Library 2015 updates itself each year dear. All you need is an internet connection and the program updates by itself on your computer.  So you do not need to get a new one each year. It contains all the pictures and some audio media, that has never been on the previous editions because the DVD rom has so much more room. Your best bet is to ask your local elders, who may have a link or some may have the ISO for you to burn onto a disc or setup and run directly from your computer. Hope that helps.

For now 

Lesson for today. (John 17:3) “Why, Lord, Did You Remain Silent?” THESE were the words of Pope Benedict XVI, who visited the former concentration camp at Auschwitz, Poland, on May 28, 2006. 
At the site where the Nazis killed hundreds of thousands of Jews and others, he added: “How many questions arise in this place! 
Constantly the question comes up: Where was God in those days? Why was he silent? How could he permit this endless slaughter, this triumph of evil? . . . We must continue to cry out humbly yet insistently to God: Rouse yourself! Do not forget mankind, your creature!” The pope’s speech gave rise to animated reactions. Some detected revealing omissions, such as his failure to mention the anti-Semitism that was associated with atrocities at Auschwitz. 
Others read into his words an attempt to play down the request of Pope John Paul II for forgiveness of sins that the church committed. 
A Catholic journalist, Filippo Gentiloni, observed: “It was, however, logical that many commentators when confronted with the difficult question regarding where God was—a question without an answer—instead requested an answer to the easier question: Where was Pius XII?” The commentators were referring to Pope Pius XII’s silence during the Holocaust. The Holocaust and all the other acts of genocide committed throughout human history prove that “man has dominated man to his injury.” (Ecclesiastes 8:9) 
Furthermore, man’s Creator has not been silent in the face of so much horror. Through the pages of the Bible, he has revealed his reasons for allowing wickedness. God has also assured us that he has not forgotten mankind. In fact, the time period during which God has permitted man to rule himself will soon come to an end. (Jeremiah 10:23) 
Would you like to know more about GodÂ’s purpose for us? JehovahÂ’s Witnesses will be happy to help you to see the BibleÂ’s answer to the questions that perplexed Pope Benedict XVI. - JW.ORG

I think I understand the sentiment of this first idea, that there was something appealing about being able to know the Bible's "historical sweep" of 6,000 years, and even the fact that the Bible had left enough internal evidence to count large unbroken portions of this chronology without any required references to secular support. (From Adam to Zedekiah, as it were.)  With a little help from interpretation and some secular "tent-pins" we could even reach from Adam to Jesus and fit all this into a chronological framework that included the Creation, the Flood, the Exodus, the Davidic kingdom, the coming of the Messiah, the destruction of Jerusalem and it's Temple, The Return/Rebuilding, second destruction in 70 C.E., the probable timing of Paul's missionary journeys, etc.
I was not the type of person back in 1966 to think that any of us were supposed to speculate. I heard the talk about 1975 at the 1966 summer district convention, probably twice. I thought that maturity meant that we studied the publications, reasoned on them, and then made solid decisions based on accurate knowledge. My brother was 11 and I was 9 and we both were assigned in 1966 to read the book "Life Everlasting in Freedom of the Sons of God." and "Things in which it is Impossible for God to Lie." If we read these books and studied all the baptism questions in the book "Your Word is a Lamp to My Foot" then we would both be ready for baptism in the spring 1967 circuit assembly, although we both waited until the summer convention. I don't remember personally thinking much about 1975 back in 1966 even when I read the "Life Everlasting" book that covered the topic. I read it as saying that we should be ready for Armageddon because it could happen sooner than we think. The goal, I thought, was to remind those who weren't taking Armageddon seriously, to remember that even the chronology shows that it might be "later than you think." I really didn't think that anyone was supposed to read the book and begin saying that Armageddon was going to happen in 1975.
I don't recall any "hysteria" either. There were those who took it more seriously than others, but prior to 1975, I don't really remember anyone trying to point out exactly why they were taking it more seriously based on specific wording in the publications that they had caught and other people had missed. My mother was of the opinion that Armageddon would more likely take place in 1974 or 1976 because if it happened in 1975 that's when everyone would be expecting it, and it has to come when we are NOT expecting it. Once I told her that if she could just convince everyone that this was true, then it couldn't happen in 1974 or 1976 either, could it?
This is probably correct. And I'm sure it happened that some were trying to show how the Watchtower was not being specific about Armageddon in 1975, even though we had heard about 4 District Overseers be as specific as Brother Sinutko. (My father would take us to two district assemblies per year because his work on the Sound systems kept him from paying close attention to the content. So we'd take one assembly in the Midwest and then we'd go back to California for two weeks to visit relatives and take in an assembly while we were out there. My California grandparents or circuit-overeer uncle were always sending us copies of the special talks and I think I heard about three other Sinutko-styled talks: similar content, but without his dramatic delivery. Then I remember the circuit overseers would give at least one talk per visit from about 1968 to 1971 that emphasized that there could have been very little time between Adam's and Eve's creation, just months or even weeks. I believe it was 1969 when the circuit assembly talk on 'the time left is reduced' included a big chart of the the number of months left between 1969 and October 1975. That same idea was used at another assembly. My father had a talk at an assembly in 1970 where he let slip a reminder that none of us should get so excited that we stop taking care of our teeth, for example, because "no one knows the day or the hour." He added the scripture from Matthew 24:36. The District Overseer was angry and met with my father and the circuit overseer telling my father  that this was not the spirit of the talk, which was to encourage excitement. The District Overseer read him the Watchtower from two years prior:
*** w68 8/15 pp. 500-501 par. 35 Why Are You Looking Forward to 1975? ***
One thing is absolutely certain, Bible chronology reinforced with fulfilled Bible prophecy shows that six thousand years of man’s existence will soon be up, yes, within this generation! (Matt. 24:34) This is, therefore, no time to be indifferent and complacent. This is not the time to be toying with the words of Jesus that “concerning that day and hour nobody knows, neither the angels of the heavens nor the Son, but only the Father.” (Matt. 24:36) To the contrary, it is a time when one should be keenly aware that the end of this system of things is rapidly coming to its violent end. My father got counseled for "toying" with the words of Jesus in Matthew 24:36 by adding them to an assembly talk. And he was not assigned another circuit assembly part for 3 years.
I also saw my father counsel another elder who worked for him, and who had seemingly gone overboard and had begun embarrassing him (and all other Witnesses for that matter) by starting to preach to others who came into my father's office and one of the labs my father ran at the University of Missouri. He was preaching 1975 explicitly. This brother and his wife had been Gilead missionaries back home from Ecuador when they were expecting their first baby.  My father gave him a part time job in the afternoons, and I also came back after a day of pioneering at 3:00 to work (aka "play") in the electronics labs for a couple hours. I remember this was the first work day in January 1975 and he was announcing to people that this was the year for Armageddon. This was the first time I heard a brother (fellow elder) talk to my father using argumentation from the actual wording of Watchtower publications that he was convinced were saying something more than conjecture. It was just that the Watchtower, for some reason, didn't want to word it so explicitly that it would sound like a prophecy. It was left for us to notice the clues, he thought. I can't remember any of the exact examples this elder had used. But it was clear that his general position was that it was the more astute brothers who were seeing it, and it was a serious thing to take notice, and that only the weaker, less spiritually mature Witnesses were downplaying the idea.
I disagreed and took my father's side on this. I remember only shrugging, having nothing to say when the brother looked over to me for some agreement. It was as if he was sure his argument was winning, and he was saying to me "I'm right! Right? You can see it. Right?"  I don't remember my father even looking at me, or talking about it with him. Now I wonder if he thought he had been counseled for actually missing something, but he held his ground through the rest of the year. I remember my brother and my mother would also discuss it because my brother had started a business in 1974 which was doing very well, and I went to work for him for a year before going to Bethel. My father would always encourage the business, and my mother was afraid that starting a business, especially a successful one, was a scary thing that would make him forget about 1975. My brother sold his business 3 years later and got to Bethel after me, even though 2 years older.
But my mother was not caught up in any hysteria either. As I said, I don't remember any "Armageddon Ernie" types. I don't even think anyone was really speculating in any negative sense. It's just that there were two ways to read the statements in the Watchtower from about 1966 to 1973. By 1974, the Watchtower was clearly downplaying the earlier rhetoric, so looking back I'd say the highest level of "speculation" was the idea that this "downplaying" was only for the outside public, but that we, on the inside, were supposed to continue "knowing" secretly that the earlier statements were still in effect. Of course, none of this means that the Watchtower ever predicted 1975 for Armageddon. The prediction, except for a few circuit and district overseer statements, were not about 1975, per se, but about the fact that the system could not go on more than a few months or years beyond 1975. It wasn't about what 1975 would bring, but: What will the 1970's bring?:

 

This just about caps it for me.
I came into the "truth" by a similar route although a little later than JWI, Truth Book, Things in Which It Is Impossible, Life Everlasting, Lamp book. In that whole time, nothing significant was stated to me about 1975 at all, other than (what I felt at the time was) incomprehensible mutterings about the end of 6000 years since Adam's creation. The few 1975 encounters I did have came a bit later, more 1973-4.  I remember the "Later than You Think" headline from a 1968 Awake that some used to still carry around on the ministry in later years.
The cultural angle seems even more significant after reading these recent postings. I need to be persuaded now that 1975ism wasn't predominantly an "American" thing as my experience of the matter, apart from one already mentioned brother, as a topic of talk or conversational  significance, was minimal.

This is not unlike the 'Six Stages of a Project' that used to be cynically posted at the workplace:
1) Enthusiasm
2) Disillusionment
3) Panic
4) Hunt for the Guilty
5) Punishment of the Innocent
6) Praise and Honors for the Nonparticipants.

In 1969 I lived in Hollywood, California, and they were going to have a "Parade of Virgins" marching down Hollywood Blvd. for some reason or another ... but one got sick, and the other would not march by herself.

Wow it sure is easy to misunderstood on these things. I was simply commenting on someone else's post. Not necessary to marry in the hall with a brother presiding to get Jehovah's blessing.....each to their own. I will keep my comments to myself so as not to be musunderstood. No offense intended.

It is quite weird really. Cognitive dissonance perhaps?
Just recently I listened to one of the old recordings. The "infamous" talk given by District overseer Charles Sinutko, where the phrase “stay alive till 75” apparently got coined. It was entitled “Serving with everlasting view in mind” I am sure you know which one I am talking about. Br. Sinutko begins his talk by asking “do we know what 1975 means to us? Well we don’t have to guess what the year 1975 means for us. The WT May /1 1967 is very explicit; the end of 6000 years of human existence…and…possibly …the time when God executes the wicked” Unfortunately that word possibly got completely destroyed by what he says at the end of his talk, at around mark 20:20, when referring to the Society he says; “they know what’s coming, and don’t wait till 75, the door is going to be shut before then!”.  I can only imagine what those in attendance were thinking. It must have been hard for them not to “be looking forward to a date!”.
He of course wasn't the only person with a leadership role  to have voiced things this way. There were many, many others, as you personally know. Also, there is no doubt in my mind that those of the FDS, at least Fred Franz, really believed the end would come in 1975, although never officially taught, but merely insinuated. Logically, there is no reason to believe otherwise.

I believe many will perceive the story exactly as it's presented in the video. It was an end-date that was promoted by "some" rank & file JWs--publishers in congregations like yours and mine. The good JW in the video doesn't become tempted by this hysteria and sees that the Scriptures indicate no man knows the day or hour of Christ's coming. Those that left the org over the frenzy are easily written off as weak in faith.
It's an inaccurate depiction of events, because it leaves out one crucial thing. JWs didn't get the 1975 theory out of thin air. A frenzy generated by local brothers just doesn't make sense knowing what we do about the org. The enthusiasm was generated by the organization which promoted "Stay alive still '75!" and endorsed an Armageddon-prepping mentality in its literature. These JWs--now painted as negative examples--were doing exactly what we're admonished to do today: "Be loyal to the slave!" While our organization doesn't promote an end-date, it still expects unquestioned loyalty in other areas. Has the organization really changed its attitude that much from 1975? Have JWs really learned from it? Or are we destined to repeat it as a new generation rises up?
It's very weird to see a WT produced video that actually shows a JW questioning the direction of the organization against Scripture. It's clearly not framed that way in the video, but anyone with actual knowledge of the event knows that this person wasn't questioning "some" JWs in local congregations but the organization--those taking the lead! So, it's definitely an odd choice to show at a convention--especially when a lot of JWs lived through that era. I almost wonder if there was a version of the script that involved the organization, but during the production references to the org were specifically removed.

"One consequence of the fact that the resurrection takes place at the end of the millennium is asking the question of what basis will be judged resurrected .
So far we have been taught that the resurrected would be judged based on what they would do after their resurrection , that is, over a long period in the kingdom of Christ."    - Israeli Bar Avaddhon
 ===========
Don’t think you understand this all together.  See below.
(Romans 6:23) For the wages sin pays is death, but the gift God gives is everlasting life by Christ Jesus our Lord.
(Romans 6:6, 7) . . .. 7 For the one who has died has been acquitted from his sin.
 Death acquits us of the sins we incur before death.
 (Acts 24:15) And I have hope toward God, which hope these men also look forward to, that there is going to be a resurrection of both the righteous and the unrighteous.
 We will not be resurrected perfect – just in suitable bodies – we will have the same attitude and tendencies but we will have a fresh start or in some cases to be fair a first chance to learn what is right.
 There will be a great crowd that will survive without dying that will also be imperfect still. (Rev 7:13-15,17)
Lamb will guide them to everlasting life.
 (Revelation 20:12-15) 12 And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and scrolls were opened. But another scroll was opened; it is the scroll of life. The dead were judged out of those things written in the scrolls according to their deeds. 13 And the sea gave up the dead in it, and death and the Grave gave up the dead in them, and they were judged individually according to their deeds. 14 And death and the Grave were hurled into the lake of fire. This means the second death, the lake of fire. 15 Furthermore, whoever was not found written in the book of life was hurled into the lake of fire.
Thousand year jubilee or Sabbath will be used to teach, heal and restore all mankind living on the Paradise earth.
 *** ka chap. 7 pp. 137-138 pars. 52-54 What to Expect of Judges for a Thousand Years ***
“The millennial “land of straightforwardness,” of straightforward dealing with the people and among the people, will be a place where great favor is shown to all mankind in their inborn human imperfection. Some members of the human family have gone down more deeply into sinful degradation than others and have been hardened in an unjust personality because of long failing to be brought to account. Their accustomed bent is toward injustice. It is easy to see how wicked ones of that kind would find it difficult to learn righteousness and uprightness even when all around them there is straightforwardness and divine favor is being shown to them through the King Jesus Christ. In spite of all the help proffered to them, they will be inclined to do unjustly. They will not want to recognize the eminence of Jehovah as the rightful Lawgiver nor the rightness of His standards for living. Respecting them the principle set forth by the apostle Peter seems fitting:
53 “For it is the appointed time for the judgment to start with the house of God. Now if it starts first with us, what will the end be of those who are not obedient to the good news of God? ‘And if the righteous man is being saved with difficulty, where will the ungodly man and the sinner make a showing?’”—1 Peter 4:17, 18.
54 Persons who, in the “land of straightforwardness,” receive the “favor” of God in vain, missing its loving purpose, and who prove unreformable, need not necessarily be preserved to the end of the thousand years before being executed as unfit for eternal life in the Paradise restored to earth. Without any injustice to such who prove to be beyond correction, they may be executed by the one whom God has appointed to judge the inhabited earth in righteousness. These do not get their names written “in the book of life” and hence they are fit for nothing but the “second death,” as symbolized by the “lake of fire” that causes a complete destruction. (Revelation 20:14, 15) How wise and prudent it is, then, to be obedient now to the “good news of God” and to cultivate a love of righteousness in view of that coming Judgment Day!”
 
Isa 11:9 – knowledge given about dealing with earth, animals; knowledge from the scrolls dispensed; mankind rehabilitated to perfection.
End of millennium Satan will be let out of his “pit” to test restored mankind. See Rev 20:7
 Afterward (Adamic) Death the last enemy – will be destroyed.  Adamic death will be hurled into the lake of fire. It will no longer be needed nor will it happen.  See 1 Co 15:25,26; Rev 21:3,4., Rev 20:13,14
  (1 Corinthians 15:25, 26) For he must rule as king until God has put all enemies under his feet. 26 And the last enemy, death, is to be brought to nothing.
  (Revelation 20:13, 14) And the sea gave up the dead in it, and death and the Grave gave up the dead in them, and they were judged individually according to their deeds. 14 And death and the Grave were hurled into the lake of fire. This means the second death, the lake of fire.
 (Revelation 21:4) And he will wipe out every tear from their eyes, and death will be no more, neither will mourning nor outcry nor pain be anymore. The former things have passed away.”
 Second death will always be available to Jehovah to destroy anything that threatens the universe, though this will be unlikely.  It is the second death or lake of fire that will destroy Satan and his demons, and also Adamic death. Wicked people,people who sin against the holy spirit,  the political nations, the false prophet, etc, will already have been thrown there.
 When the Rest of the “Dead” comes to life
Does not mean the order of the resurrection.  Does not mean that this is when the righteous and unrighteous are resurrected.
*** Bible Citations ***
(Revelation 20:4, 5) And I saw thrones, and those who sat on them were given authority to judge. Yes, I saw the souls of those executed for the witness they gave about Jesus and for speaking about God, and those who had not worshipped the wild beast or its image and had not received the mark on their forehead and on their hand. And they came to life and ruled as kings with the Christ for 1,000 years. 5 (The rest of the dead did not come to life until the 1,000 years were ended.) This is the first resurrection.
*** it-2 p. 249 Life ***
In his command to Adam, God implied that if Adam obeyed, he would not die. (Ge 2:17) So with obedient mankind, when man’s last enemy, death, is brought to nothing, there will be no sin working in their bodies to bring death. To time indefinite they will not need to die. (1Co 15:26) This bringing of death to nothing takes place at the end of Christ’s reign, which the book of Revelation shows is 1,000 years long. Here it is said of those becoming kings and priests with Christ that they “came to life and ruled as kings with the Christ for a thousand years.” “The rest of the dead” not coming to life “until the thousand years were ended” must be those alive at the end of the thousand years, but before Satan is released from the abyss and brings the decisive test on mankind. By the end of the thousand years, people on earth will have reached human perfection, being in the condition that Adam and Eve were in before they sinned. Now they will really have life in perfection. Those who thereafter pass the test when Satan is released for a short time from the abyss will be able to enjoy that life forever.—Re 20:4-10.
 Will answer some more later.

Just got back home. Anything happen while I was out?

Apparently, with eighty million tries, not Vladimir Putin.

True, indeed, is the Bible proverb: “As apples of gold in silver carvings is a word spoken at the right time for it.”—Proverbs 25:11. -
???????
A Letter That Touched Her Heart
???????
One traveling overseer remembers well one occasion when he and his wife returned to their accommodations after a very chilly winter day in the ministry.
He says: “My wife was cold and discouraged, and she told me that she felt she couldn’t continue. ‘How much better,’ she said, ‘it would be to serve in the full-time ministry with a congregation, stay in one place, and conduct our own Bible studies.’ I deferred any decision, saying that we would continue for the rest of the week and see how she felt by then. If she still felt strongly about quitting, I would respect her feelings.
That same day, we stopped at the post office and found a letter from the branch office that was addressed to her personally. The letter contained warm commendation for her efforts in the field ministry and her endurance, acknowledging how difficult it can be to sleep in a different bed every week.
She was so touched by that commendation that she never again spoke of leaving the traveling work. In fact, several times she encouraged me to continue when I thought of quitting.” This couple remained in the traveling work for almost 40 years. -
Who’s Heart can you touch today? 
???????
https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/2006005?q=I+spoken+word+at+the+right+time&p=par

I also meant to mention @Melinda Mills who like me, finds  other poster's comments (not the rude ones) helpful and inspire her to do more research and "reason out a matter" .