Alexa

The proconsul . . . became a believer.—Acts 13:12.
http://wol.jw.org/en/wol/dt/r1/lp-e/2016/9/27
Because the Jews were so widely dispersed throughout the Roman world, many non-Jews became familiar with the Hebrew Scriptures. They learned that there is only one true God and that those who serve him are held to high ethical and moral standards. Moreover, the Hebrew Scriptures were filled with prophecies concerning the Messiah. (Luke 24:44) Both Jews and Christians understood that the Hebrew Scriptures were the inspired Word of God, which made it possible for Paul to establish common ground with those whose hearts were inclined toward righteousness. Accordingly, the apostle customarily entered synagogues of the Jews and reasoned with them from the Scriptures. (Acts 17:1, 2) The Jews regularly met together in synagogues or at open-air meeting places. They sang songs, prayed, and discussed the Scriptures. Similar practices are followed in Christian congregations today. w15 2/15 3:16, 17

Hahaha.....   thank  you  my  funny  Alexa  ;o)) 

I know that after my going away oppressive wolves will enter in among you and will not treat the flock with tenderness.—Acts 20:29.
http://wol.jw.org/en/wol/dt/r1/lp-e/2016/9/26
Toward the end of his third missionary journey, Paul warned members of God’s name people by saying the above. He added: “From among you yourselves men will rise and speak twisted things to draw away the disciples after themselves.” (Acts 20:30) This foretold apostasy had clearly manifested itself by the end of the first century. (1 John 2:18, 19) After the death of the apostles, that apostasy blossomed and produced the churches of Christendom. Apostate Christians have even removed the divine name from many of their translations of the Bible. They have adopted pagan rituals and have dishonored God by their unscriptural dogmas, their “holy wars,” and their immoral conduct. Thus, for centuries, Jehovah had just a sprinkling of faithful worshippers on the earth but no organized “people for his name.”—Acts 15:14. w14 11/15 5:8, 9

Korea Branch Office of Jehovah’s Witnesses
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India
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LAST DAYS.....   INDEED !!

Nun travels 3 hours to the regional assembly in India and when over declared “This is the truth!”
 
 
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Again  a  funny  QUIZ....    A  little  cached  kitty  ;o)   I  tell  you !
(  a  little  help ?  here  you  find  the  cat...)   Look  to  the  green  garbage can...  your  view  to  the  ground,  and  HEY...  behind  the  stair  she  is  sitting,  haha  -  a  very  good  hideout  ;o)
(  zooming  by  tablet  is  better )

Thank you for sharing  and many liked him because he is a good looking Prime Minister. Now, and kind too  

http://disq.us/p/1c5l2ym

LOL. It wasn't a very bright day for a lot of folks.  You've probably always looked forward to being on earth, not in heaven with Jesus, so I don't know if you can imagine what it must have been like to look forward to being in heaven and then have the door shut in your face.  That's what happened to a great multitude of folks that day.  Right out of the mouth of Rutherford.

Thank you, Alexa.

Thank you HollyW, i love your reference and all of those things 

Ahem you two......he closed the door of heaven in their faces:
 “But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you shut off the kingdom of heaven from people; for you do not enter in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in."  Matthew 23:13
And the way he did it was not to even address it to THEM.  No, he had invented a class of earthly hopers a few years before whom he called the Jonadabs and at the convention he had them stand up and then pointing them he pronounced that THEY were the great crowd.
Is it any wonder everyone was speechless?!  He had just ripped a heavenly hope away from a great crowd who had remained seated when he asked those with an earthly hope to stand up.

Also, within months after suggesting that the League of Nations was like a political expression of the kingdom of God on earth, this was corrected and a stricter and more consistent separation from all organizations with political goals was maintained.

Another subcategory of this item should have been included:
Rejection of Zionism and focus on spiritual instead of fleshly Israel

I would agree. And I think this is more important than might think. Russell may have envisioned his associates to be from a very gentlemanly class, and appeared most comfortable around well-spoken, soft-spoken, deeply religious persons. In some ways he thought of the Bride class as very elite. Note what he anticipated in his first major publication, a 64 page booklet, "Object and Manner" (p.42):
"No; the "little flock," -- the bride -- is a very select company. There will be so few taken from the present generation that they will not be much missed."
The great crowd were a second-class group, and for a while were treated as second-class citizens, often criticized and sometimes insulted and always considered less spiritually-minded. But these were obviously humble persons who were sure of the primary truths and the rationality of the Watchtower's message. But they felt less worthy. (Even the context of the quote above reminded them that the 144,000 were granted their white robes but that the great crowd had to wash them.)  Of course, at the time -- and for the next 58 years -- they were still considered anointed, and were still going to heaven, just not as part of Christ's Bride. But their sense of humility and unworthiness helped them to understand and accept that earthly Paradise was held out for them as the most appropriate hope. For so many years, the teaching was that all Christians would be in heaven, and non-Christians would be resurrected to the earth. The quickness with which the change came was amazing, and is one of the reasons this doctrine is so often associated with "lightning" and "flashes of light."
*** w85 3/1 p. 14 par. 12 Shedding Forth Light Amidst Earth’s Gloom ***
These flashes of prophetic light prepared the ground for the historic discourse on “The Great Multitude,” given May 31, 1935, by the president of the Watch Tower Society, J. F. Rutherford, at the Washington, D.C., convention of Jehovah’s Witnesses. What a revelation of divine truth that was!
*** w92 3/1 pp. 20-21 par. 17 The Day to Remember ***
The brilliant flashes of spiritual light that came through The Watchtower in the 1920’s and 1930’s indicate that the gathering of the remnant of anointed ones was practically completed during that period. Those ‘washing their robes and making them white in the blood of the Lamb’ since then have a different joyful hope.
*** w95 5/15 p. 20 par. 18 Part 1—Flashes of Light—Great and Small ***
In 1935 a bright flash of light revealed that the great crowd mentioned at Revelation 7:9-17 was not a secondary heavenly class. It had been thought that the ones mentioned in those verses were some of the anointed who had not been fully faithful
*** re chap. 20 p. 125 par. 17 A Multitudinous Great Crowd ***
They were quick to appreciate the dazzling flash of divine light that emblazoned the theocratic firmament in 1935, at Jehovah’s due time.
And many more!
 

While at Bethel my table head shared a lot of really negative stories about Brother Rutherford. I had no idea if they were correct at the time, but I listened carefully to a lot of other brothers who knew Rutherford, and I even recorded several hours of interviews with older Bethelites and some of them volunteered information about him. These tapes were for use when I traveled to other congregations to give public talks, because they made giving a public talk very easy. I had a lot of material that I could not use without editing because two of them gave a much more negative view than the publications give. The brothers and sister interviewed were F.W.Franz, Grace DeCecca, Maxwell Friend, Sam Friend, and Bert Schroeder.
 
But another side of Rutherford also shows up, not just in the interviews, but also in his own speeches and writing. Most of the brothers credit Rutherford as the one who promoted the changes made to doctrines single-handedly. He was fearless when he thought he was right. There were dozens of doctrinal changes made between 1927 and 1931, and a large number of those who were active in the organization decided to leave during that time period. But I believe that while he lost a majority for a while, he had an attitude that one brother likened to Judge Gideon, his all-time favorite Bible character. It didn't matter how many persons left the organization, if the change was the right thing to do. (Gideon went from 32,000 to 10,000 and after a final test ended up with only 300 faithful with whom he would fight the battle against Midian.)
 
With that in mind he wanted to root out "creature worship" from the organization. This was his word for the "cult of Pastor Russell" wherein people wanted to dress like him, look like him, talk like him, carry his picture, name their kids after him, etc. Rutherford did not want such a thing for himself, and knew he was the person with the "faith" to get rid of it, even if it meant the majority of Bible Students would leave. It was in effect, the "sword of Jehovah and Rutherford."
 
Also, there were very few progressive changes under Russell. Very early on they had already set a solid doctrinal course when it came to Trinity, Hell-fire, Immortal Soul, Ransom, Restitution, Salvation, Morality, Christian Character, but only a very few changes, except where these were forced upon them in the area of chronology. Rutherford, from the start, turned the Bible Students into a progressive organization that came to expect change, and that very soon would constantly looked forward positively to more changes. Naturally, he got a few things wrong, but I believe a majority of the changes reflected the Bible more accurately.
 
For example, if we were to solely give Rutherford the credit for being the author of these changes, we'd have to admit that he got the following right:
Getting rid of Pyramidology. Getting rid of Creature Worship Getting rid of almost all the complexities and methodologies of the old Barbour/Second Adventist chronology Ultimately turning a system that included 539 C.E. (not BCE) 1799, 1844, 1859, 1873, 1874, 1878, 1881, 1910, 1914, and 1915 into a simpler system that still included most of those dates but focused almost exclusively on just 3 or 4 dates. He put the organization on a road to a more consistent political neutrality including the view that flag salute was a form of idolatry helped true Christians see the folly of involvement in divisive wars and social movements helped Christians recognize political and religious hypocrisy He pushed for legal freedom of speech, and freedom of religion before the world was even ready for it, and these battles were hard-won. He also prompted true Christians seriously consider the relationship between national and religious holidays and their unchristian origins. He promoted the wider use of Jehovah's name Didn't hold back from using the "Old Testament" for life lessons Set an example as a strong personality, full of strong commitment, without mincing words, or pulling punches Prepared the congregations for persecution so that they were not surprised and not weakened Look at how well JWs handled persecution in many countries, not just Germany under Hitler Organized a very efficient organization in terms of ability to publicize and mobilize with the message Made use of all available technologies and venues to spread the word to large assemblies and audiences Organized for growth, envisioned and prepared for expansion Promoted practical, active Christian conduct and morality, but not the mere, quiet internalized form of worship Promoted a purpose and identity that helps Witnesses produce an international brotherhood that transcend class, nationality, and race. Lots of doctrinal specifics are left out to avoid too many off-topic doctrinal discussions, but even where disagreement exists, the bulk of most publications drove more attention to the Bible, Jesus, Jehovah, and Bible characters that we could learn from as examples in our daily lives  
And from the perspective of "executive leadership" he was both serious and successful with these changes. The numbers he lost from Russell's time were gained back again and multiplied a couple of times over before Rutherford died. Outsiders have been impressed with the levels of activity, and participation, and therefore the levels of growth and conversion over the years. Ultimately, a very strong and powerful organization has been built that rivals the Mormons and the Seventh Day Adventists in terms of its current size, rate of growth and stability. And those religions, for the most part, had a bit of a head start in the 19th century. It outpaces most other religions in terms of publications distributed internally, and definitely outpaces every religion when it comes to publications distributed externally. Most of the foundation for the current organization was made workable under Rutherford's watch. This has created an excellent foundation for an international brotherhood where people show love and generosity and good works toward one another and which continues to bring teachings into closer harmony with the Bible.
 

Works better than this one
" We praise Thee, Blessed Trinity. 
With the Angels' sacred hymn,  "

"Amazing undeserved kindness, how sweet the sound......"
Just doesn't work, does it.

via TheWorldNewsOrgvia journal.theworldnewsmedia.org

;o) ❤️ 

This is also given by our Circuit Overseer (not himself in the report)