Anna

This is a reference to a Caleb and Sophia video which would be seen as praiseworthy were it for any other cause.
If Sophia had had an epiphany and donated her ice cream money to the ‘world hunger fund,’ or the ‘world peace fund,’ or the ‘save the planet fund’ or the ‘animal rescue fund’ or almost any charitable fund, the video would be lauded. It represents training a child that not everything is about her, and that used to be seen as a good thing.
It is only because the malcontents here despise the Witness organization dedicated to the relief of ‘spiritual hunger’ that this video is so attacked. Were it for anything else, it would be lauded.

My wife, Susan,  sent me a link to this from the downstairs computer, of a woman reunited with her dog who somehow got into a shelter.
If you want to distill three days of words, words, and more words, into one photograph ..... look at this one.

That also works for famous movie star frogs, and bears.

That mutt has a lot more artistic and business savvy than I was aware of.

Good thing you don't live in the Caribbean - that would be accepted as lyrics for a double entendre calypso for the carnival season.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Yes, I remember those times when  song 212 (We Thank You) used to be sung at all conventions. It was indeed a favourite for most persons.
When I am preparing for the meeting I usually check all the songs.  (I still can't sing some of the new ones without the recorded music.) I review them just in case the music does not play at the KH.  It is sometimes problematic.  Even in "raising" the song one has to know what pitch to start at so the song won't be too high for most persons. This is important as most brothers don't know vocal music.  I also check to see if one of those songs I know the alto for is going to be sung, especially "We Thank you Jehovah".  I also look forward to singing No.3 in the new Book - "Our strength, Our Hope, Our Confidence". This makes me look forward to the meeting even more when a favourite song is going to be sung. Participation by commenting and singing makes the meeting more enjoyable. It is like bringing a gift for Jehovah and everyone there.  And we should not appear before Jehovah empty-handed (unprepared).

No, of course God does not want us to misuse nor misunderstand scripture, and to understand scripture we need to ask God for help, which as you mention is the holy spirit. But holy spirit can only do so much. Since we are all free moral agents, but are imperfect at the same time, we CAN make mistakes in understanding where holy spirit is leading "us" (the person in question). Just because the holy spirit guides, doesn't mean that someone is capable of following it perfectly all the time.  Look how long it took Jonah to finally do what he was told. "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23) including the anointed. I think one of your problems John is you are waiting for someone to interpret the scriptures to you perfectly.  But the irony is, how would you know? How would you know what that one person is saying is better than what another person is saying? Jesus gave people identifying marks so we can recognize his true followers. It's not complicated. Matthew 7:21, John 13:35, John 17:16 etc... The Bible  lets us know clearly and unambiguously what is important to God. That's not complicated either. 1 Corinthians 6:9, 10 1 Corinthians 5:11, Ephesians 4:28, Colossians 3:8, Corinthians 7:1, 1 Timothy 5:8, Galatians 5:20, 21 etc....
Perhaps they are not going beyond what is written. How would you know?
Yes, in fact God and Jesus want us to be obedient; "Be obedient to those who are taking the lead among you and be submissive, for they are keeping watch over you as those who will render an account"... (Heb 13: 17)
But complete obedience is first and foremost to God. It's a no brainier. The GB know that. Yes, God and Jesus support trustworthy older men. Paul told Timothy: "You, therefore, my child, keep on acquiring power in the undeserved kindness that is in Christ Jesus;  and the things you heard from me that were supported by many witnesses, these things entrust to faithful men, who, in turn, will be adequately qualified to teach others". (2 Tim 2:2). And as you know, not only do God and Jesus trust older men, but they trust all Christians who strive to obey God, since they entrust them with "shining as illuminators" and with preaching the good news
"“You are the light of the world. A city cannot be hid when located on a mountain. People light a lamp and set it, not under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it shines on all those in the house.  Likewise, let your light shine before men, so that they may see your fine works and give glory to your Father who is in the heavens" (Matt 5:14-16)
 

To be honest @JOHN BUTLER, I just couldn't be bothered to give you a detailed reply because your reasoning is so out of whack. But here goes:
As far as I am aware there is not much difference between an error and a mistake, they are just synonyms of each other. Once you put the adjective "deliberate"  in front of any of those words, then it changes the meaning to being  ummmm....deliberate, intentional, calculated, wilful etc. And no, I do not think their errors are deliberate. To which you will no doubt say I am brainwashed. It's good to have an opinion John, it doesn't mean someone is brainwashed, to the contrary.
Sure. But ultimately it is God. 
It's still up to God to grant that, not up to the GB. You could be part of the WT/JW etc. and still be disapproved by God. Just being a part of something is no guarantee.
The WT org. didn't foretell anything new, it just repeated what the Bible already foretold.
As for moral standards, you already forgot how high they are. You don't remember if someone is found to be unrepentantly flaunting God's moral standards they are out on their ear? 
Already covered above
Your opinion 
You are reading FAR too much into this! My inconsistency has nothing to do with the intention of twisting anything. Just laziness.
1975 was speculation. To be baptized as JW to be saved is a belief. Armageddon being close is also a belief.
Sorry, can't finish. Got to go. Will carry on later.
 

Good observation and reminder. I think it's always a good idea to keep in mind the "customs" and general attitude of society in times past when judging a situation from the the perspective of the present. It explains a lot of things. For example we can see why the organization was so weary of certain things in the past, which it now accepts. (organ transplants, vaccinations, cooking with aluminium etc.....etc...) We can also better understand things in the Bible, some of which might sound positively traumatic to the "modern" mind.

I've learned it's never a good thing when I see more than 6 notifications, especially if I've been away only a few hours...

Used to be sung at the close of every assembly /convention years ago. Made me tear up.

I truly believe that kids are great. And how they are sincere little people. In comparison to "mature", "spiritual"  people, like You or me, or @James Thomas Rook Jr.,  @Anna and @JW Insider you had mentioned. 
We all here, can be or not have to be "spiritual" by your' or someone else Measurement Tool , but more important question is: Are we always Sincere ... like children??!!  

Come come. That is you pretending to be him.

I was going to mention this song, and you got to mention it first. This is one of the songs for which the little choir was taught altos.  I can still remember that alto after all these years but I think this song was missing from the book in recent years, if I am not mistaken. I am glad it is back in the book.  I just looked it up. The old one was in the key of D, but this one is in C and just  about three accidentals in the bass. I will add this song to the ones I want to practise on the piano as well as the two you mentioned above. 
 "We thank You Jehovah" is another. The bass is even more beautiful than the alto. I sung the alto the other day and a sister looked back and said, "that was beautiful, Melinda". I think there is one or two more songs for which the alto was taught for that occasion but can't recall them now.   (That brother is deceased now and I am glad that I can still remember these altos - that his work lives on.)  
It is so  good when we have the same appreciation for these things.
 

When singing with her sister, my mum would always sing second voice, and she still does that at the KH with some of the songs. I can't do it....

My 1944 is red. My 1950 is green. 1966 is pink/magenta. (Not shown with correct proportional sizes)

"Ave Maria!, (Latin: “Hail Mary”), original German title Ellens Gesang (“Ellen’s Song”) III, song setting, the third of three songs whose text is derived of a section of Sir Walter Scott’s poem The Lady of the Lake(1810) by Austrian composer Franz Schubert. It was written in 1825. Probably because of the song’s opening words, Schubert’s melody has since been adopted for use with the traditional Roman Catholic prayer (in Latin) of the same name.
Although the song is a prayer, Schubert’s “Ave Maria!” was not written with religious practices or the Catholic church in mind. "   Taken from Internet.
Yes, quite a few of these compositions were taken over by the church but were not written for religious purposes as can be seen in the quote above.  However, I won't sing this attractive song because "Ave Maria" means Hail Mary and one could think we are worshipping her like the Catholics.   There is also a pop song with those words in the chorus which I don't sing either.
On Handel's Messiah,  I can play a small part of the Hallelujah chorus which is in one of the piano tutor books, but I have not had time to listen to it although I have a CD with it, which was given to me. Handel, like Schubert, developed it without the church, but it later came to be required agenda in Christmas services, although it is not really about Christmas.  They say Handel wrote the music but one of his friends (Jennings) wrote the words, part of which were taken from a church prayer book but the majority were from the Bible books prophesying about the Messiah.

Here is a list of the "simple" TOP 40 (45) songs from the current 2017 songbook. There are a few that might not seem so simple, but they are here because they have a long history in Witness memories, especially for the slightly older ones among us. But even the most complex from pre-2009, are still much simpler than the more complex ones since then. (Although the more complex ones are generally much prettier.)
I have tried to include EVERY current song that goes back at least to the 1966 songbook, and a few of these also go back to the green 1950 and some to the grey 1928 songbook.
These are the "TOP FORTY-FIVE" 2017 songs that go back almost unchanged musically to at least 1966:
Note that some have the same title, and almost the same words, but the music is completely changed, and they won't be included. Some have completely different words, even a completely different topic, but the music is almost identical to a prior song, and they will be included. Some have nearly the same melody but with only a very few adjustments, and they will be included. Some have similar music, and the melody is different, but it's close enough so that the previous version could still harmonize with it, or even match it in several places, and if enough similarities are there, they will be included. Some of the new songs were known only through songs repeated since the 1970's in convention "dramas" (72, 110, 149, etc.) and will not be included.  
4. “Jehovah Is My Shepherd”   6. The Heavens Declare God’s Glory 7. Jehovah, Our Strength 8. Jehovah Is Our Refuge 9. Jehovah Is Our King! 13. Christ, Our Model 14. Praising Earth’s New King 23. Jehovah Begins His Rule   29. Living Up to Our Name 31. Oh, Walk With God! 32. Take Sides With Jehovah! 33. Throw Your Burden on Jehovah 34. Walking in Integrity 36. We Guard Our Hearts 42. The Prayer of God’s Servant    46. We Thank You, Jehovah  48. Daily Walking With Jehovah  55. Fear Them Not!   59. Praise Jah With Me 61. Forward, You Witnesses! 63. We’re Jehovah’s Witnesses!   66. Declare the Good News    71. We Are Jehovah’s Army!   78. “Teaching the Word of God”   82. “Let Your Light Shine” 85. Welcome One Another 90. Encourage One Another   93. Bless Our Meeting Together 94. Grateful for God’s Word 98. The Scriptures—Inspired of God 99. Myriads of Brothers   105. “God Is Love”  106. Cultivating the Quality of Love 107. The Divine Pattern of Love 108. God’s Loyal Love     113. Our Possession of Peace 114. “Exercise Patience” 115. Gratitude for Divine Patience 117. The Quality of Goodness   120. Imitate Christ’s Mildness     125. “Happy Are the Merciful!”   128. Enduring to the End     133. Worship Jehovah During Youth  144. Keep Your Eyes on the Prize!  146. “Making All Things New"      Others that at least partially match 1966 or 1950 songs are here:
21. Keep On Seeking First the Kingdom  (First part harmonizes, second part matches.) 37. Serving Jehovah Whole-Souled (music matches an older 1950 song)  40. To Whom Do We Belong? (First half harmonizes, second part matches.) 50. My Prayer of Dedication (Music harmonizes with 1950 song "Dedication," with many of the same words.)     62. The New Song (An old 1950 song.)  75. “Here I Am! Send Me!” (Only harmonizes, although words nearly the same.)   83. “From House to House” (Only harmonizes, although words nearly the same.)   86. We Must Be Taught (Only harmonizes with a previously known song, words completely different.)   116. The Power of Kindness (Second part was removed - tho removed part partially included in different new song.) I think of the above as "easy" because they are so well known for so long, but some of the newer ones are very easy, too. These following two, are just a couple examples, and both are in the Key of C, with no additional sharps or flats in the melody:
 3. Our Strength, Our Hope, Our Confidence  28. Gaining Jehovah’s Friendship

That's a shame that your father had to keep them under wraps.  It was still able  to influence your taste in music and interest in playing music. Reminds me of what happened to people like Galileo and others who had to hide beneficial beliefs from others because of the ignorance of some in authority.  My take is that these gifts are from God, and that they were allowed to come about to uplift mankind when things were especially dark in the world; e.g. lack of human rights, slavery, inquisitions, concentration camps, etc. There was even a period called the "Dark Ages".  Some pieces of classical music are so good that you feel you were transported "out of this world" for a few minutes. ( Look at the comments under these videos of classical music.  Also look at he attendance  at some of these concerts and what people pay to attend.)  Many people in their comments say it is a shame such good music is in the world and few people know about it. Look at the quality of the music that is played daily - cannot even compare.
Look at the Jewish lady (I think she was from Poland) that survived the concentration camps because she could play music to a very high level and they let her live, though other members of her family perished. 
Also a lot of the music written by Handel, for example,  was written for the enjoyment of mankind but the church, being powerful at the time, hijacked it for themselves and called  it church music.
All brothers are not unappreciative. In the seventies on the occasion of a new Kingdom Hall dedication, classical music  was played in the background before the start of the dedication service. We have so much theocratic music now that that  won't be needed now,  that but that is just to show that all brothers are not prejudiced to classical music. 
I have just remembered that Mozart was introduced to me through the high school I attended. Every morning before the school prayers, it would be played on the school stereo until the headteacher came in to start prayers.  Afterwards I got the LP with some of his Concertos.

I agree. It makes me also think of the amazing artists from the Renaissance period, all of them heavily influenced by the church. But then there was nothing else at the time was there? They didn't know any better.....
I also love Handle's Messiah and Schubert's Ave Maria. And Gruber's "silent night" is beautiful when sang by a professional choir. Of course I would never sing it in front of anyone for fear of stumbling them.
 

I agree. It makes me also think of the amazing artists from the Renaissance period, all of them heavily influenced by the church. But then there was nothing else at the time was there? They didn't know any better.....
I also love Handle's Messiah and Schubert's Ave Maria. And Gruber's "silent night" is beautiful when sang by a professional choir. Of course I would never sing it in front of anyone for fear of stumbling them.
 

I like Mozart the best as well, but I believe I was partial to his music since I got a gift of a long-playing LP with quite a few of his concertos when I was at high school.  I used to listen to them over and over again; my eldest brother also became an enthusiast and used to borrow it from me often.  Recently I fell in love with Andante from Mozart's Concerto No. 21.  I also discovered Rachmaninov,  one of the composers from the Romantic period (just after Mozart, Lizst, Chopin, etc)  I think he was a Russian. The pop song, All by Myself is derived, from his Concerto No. 2, Adagio Sostenuto.  I also love singing and was fairly competent at it, but ageing affects one's lung capacity, I believe. 

I guess Missouri is mostly country folk?

You ridiculous woman! Those, too, are easily gleaned from remarks already made. The only reason that “we two have come to a standstill” is because you don’t have the sense to acknowledge an answer when given. You simply repackage one of your complaints and run it through again—as you are doing here, ever breathing life into corpses that have been buried.
 
I did though, didn’t I? My goal was to find out if there was anything that you believed in other than that the current GB was doing it all wrong, while somehow keeping you and the other “true” anointed prisoners in the abyss. And when I did ask questions to that end, you immediately took it as evidence that I was finally coming around to view you as the true teacher! It was unbelievable!
How can eight ‘false’ anointed so hamstring the countless ‘real’ anointed?—for the one thing that I did learn from the exchange is that you hold there are countless real anointed, not at all the limited number JWs point to. Send the eight out into the wilderness, forget they ever existed, and use your overwhelming numbers to feed the sheep yourselves, if that is the case.
The reason that you cannot draw them in, in the spirit of Haggai 2:7. (And I will shake all the nations, and the precious things of all the nations will come in) is that you have no “in” for them to come into. Your “in” is no more than tirades that the GB is wrong. You don’t actually do anything otherwise, or at least nothing that you have identified.
They, on the other hand, have a considerable “in,” which you do nothing but disparage. Say anything about deeds of the organization, and you say “Who needs deeds? Who needs organization? Just believe in the Lord Jesus.” 
Say it already: “Just believe on the Lord and go to the church of your choice.”
Your hate-filled diatribes against the GB (as opposed to JTR’s, which are crass and insulting, but seldom if ever hate-filled) even earn you rebukes from the Librarian (that old hen) from time to time, whereas I have only been rebuked by her once, mostly unwillingly since it was Admin’s displeasure that triggered it, and that was her own fault for putting me on a thread I didn’t want to be put on in the first place, “TrueTom vs the Apostates” and, come to think of it, you were one of the apostates, but in hindsight, I am glad that she did it because I built that exchange into a book called “TrueTom vs the Apostates” and made use of that rebuke in the very first chapter:
https://www.tomsheepandgoats.com/2019/01/confrontation-atop-gotham-tower-1.html
So ridiculous woman that you may be, I owe you a significant creative debt.

You played both songs magnificently, JW Insider. I wish I could contribute to this thread with an instrument or even song, but alas I do not play anything, and my voice is nothing special. I wish I had listened to my mum and learned to play the piano, but alas, I was more interested in running through the fields and climbing trees to read a book. HOWEVER, I do think I have some musical talent though, that was just never channeled (lol, lol) and I love singing and music of all sorts (in the classical department Mozart is my favourite, especially his operas, but then I also like many of the groups and bands from the 80' up to the present. I discovered a talented young rock band not long ago; "Greta van Fleet" sorry, I digress,  this is supposed to be about kingdom songs).
I wish that the friends were more into singing and playing instruments, it seem that it was quite common in years past where brothers and sisters would get together to play and sing Kingdom Songs. Trying to get them to do this now is like pulling teeth. At least in America it seems. Maybe this is why the organization has introduced the "original" songs, which sound more like something younger people would like.
I remember as a young teenager getting together with friends who played the guitar and we would sit around the campfire, cook bratwursts and sing "tramp" songs, a kind of folk genre. This original song reminds me of a "tramp" song: https://www.jw.org/en/publications/music-songs/original-songs/just-around-the-corner/
There are a few older ones, in our hall in their late 70's and older who remember the days when they would get together to sing. One brother in particular (he is 94) could have sang professionally but he didn't chose that path. I can tell his voice was amazing at one time, because despite his age he still sounds great. I try to do a sing song gathering every other month in our house, and it's so much fun once everyone relaxes a bit. I got quite frustrated with some of the younger ones (the under 60's)  at one time, but discovered the beauty of wine or bourbon. Everyone seems much more cooperative once they've had a few. I also grow mint for Mojito. Whatever it takes!
I apologize, I know the intention of this topic was to post music, and not my blabbings...