Anna

It really is not about rejecting the organization, it's because not everyone who has faith in God qualifies to be one of Jehovah's Witnesses. It's about rejecting God's standards. For example, you may have faith in God, but believe the Trinity. Or you may have faith in God but see nothing wrong with celebrating Christmas, or practicing homosexuality, or living an immoral life style, or smoking......etc.

Maria followed me on Twitter one fine day and she was drop-dead gorgeous. No, I did not follow her back for that reason. Trust me on this: drop dead gorgeous women throw themselves at me all the time; it is a great nuisance because all I want to do is think about God.
In fact, I didn’t follow her back at all, not even for the reassuring profile photo she displayed, consisting solely of “Jehovah” in gold-embossed letters. However, I did scroll her timeline and found a suitable place to leave a comment. She soon replied that she had just texted me.
Sorry, I told her, I don’t do DM. I stay on the public side of Twitter. “Why?” she wanted to know. “Because if I do so I am immersed in dozens of private chats and I can’t keep up,” said I. She responded that, in that case, I could contact her on WhatsApp. I didn’t reply to that one.

Next thing you know she has disappeared and all her notifications with her! I searched out her username: “Account suspended for violation of Twitter rules.” Hmm. I searched for the name on Facebook. It links to a certain bit-coin trader, also drop-dead gorgeous.
No, Maria, my dear, I have all the bit-coin I need, thank you very much—even though you are drop-dead gorgeous, even though your profile does say ‘Jehovah’ so I know you are one of us, probably belonging to the congregation right next door. I’ve no doubt she has a separate profile that says Jesus, another that says Buddha, Dagon, Moroni, Baal, and a dozen others. 
It is called ‘Affinity Fraud,’ winning someone’s confidence through feigned common roots. It factors into the making of E.T—The Sequel, a movie you may not have seen. In the original, cute, adorable, toddler E.T. charms all who are pure enough to let him into their hearts. But in E.T.—the Sequel, he returns as a surly teenager. He curses, spits, brawls, swears, and in the end destroys the earth with his white-hot power beam, starting with Wall Street. 
Steven Spielberg, the movie’s creator, had just lost an ever-loving fortune to the Bernie Madoff Ponzi scheme. Both were Jews. Virtually all of Madoff’s victims were Jews. It was affinity fraud. Not that Maria’s scheme is a fraud, necessarily, but her means of contact certainly was. She’s probably not even drop-dead gorgeous. She’s probably an old hen. And even if she is not, so what? Is not Mrs. Harley also drop-dead gorgeous?
 

Our little brothers and sisters in Ghana singing for the children in Hamburg.
VID-20230318-WA0000 lil bros and sis singing one of our songs.mp4

Lol, yes, I had looked at all the various depictions of Jesus in other cultures. They all make him look like one of their own. What I meant was that God's organization should have known better than to make him look like a 40's all American boy from California 😂

I messaged her earlier. She says they are OK. Sent our love to them and anyone they know affected by the tragedy. 

I know, this is an indication of his delusional importance. He probably felt underappreciated, and then the nail in the coffin was when he got warned about it by the elders. 

I know, this is an indication of his delusional importance. He probably felt underappreciated, and then the nail in the coffin was when he got warned about it by the elders. 

I know, this is an indication of his delusional importance. He probably felt underappreciated, and then the nail in the coffin was when he got warned about it by the elders. 

I have just read a "report" and have no idea of its accuracy. Anyway, apparently that night of the midweek service meeting it was announced that Mr. Philipp Fusz (35) no longer one of JWs. During the prayer, Fusz left the KH, went to his car to retrieve a gun and started randomly shooting into the auditorium through an open window that was behind the podium. (The window is apparently opened after the meeting to allow for fresh air). He emptied one magazine and then after putting a new one in he climbed through the window and emptied that one too. It was 9:15 when the police smashed the glass in the entrance door and entered the KH. The shooter ran up the stairs to the second floor where he shot himself. 

NPR announced this morning that he was a former member of the Watchtower Headquarters. Even mentioning the United States. But this seems very doubtful now that I have read his bio and website and self-promotional writings and his own book review.

Let's hope our @Queen Esther is ok 😓

I hazard a guess, but his book was probably the reason for his disfellowshipping.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1915852889/ref=redir_mobile_desktop/143-8026614-4687531?_encoding=UTF8&language=de&qid=1674059227&ref_=tmm_pap_swatch_0&sr=8-1

This seems to be the guy:
https://philippfusz.com/about-me/
If it is him, then it looks like he was mentally unhinged, with delusions of grandeur.

Some more information here from SKY news:
https://news.sky.com/story/hamburg-shooting-unborn-baby-among-those-killed-at-jehovahs-witness-building-12830180

I have just read a "report" and have no idea of its accuracy. Anyway, apparently that night of the midweek service meeting it was announced that Mr. Philipp Fusz (35) no longer one of JWs. During the prayer, Fusz left the KH, went to his car to retrieve a gun and started randomly shooting into the auditorium through an open window that was behind the podium. (The window is apparently opened after the meeting to allow for fresh air). He emptied one magazine and then after putting a new one in he climbed through the window and emptied that one too. It was 9:15 when the police smashed the glass in the entrance door and entered the KH. The shooter ran up the stairs to the second floor where he shot himself. 

I hazard a guess, but his book was probably the reason for his disfellowshipping.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1915852889/ref=redir_mobile_desktop/143-8026614-4687531?_encoding=UTF8&language=de&qid=1674059227&ref_=tmm_pap_swatch_0&sr=8-1

This seems to be the guy:
https://philippfusz.com/about-me/
If it is him, then it looks like he was mentally unhinged, with delusions of grandeur.

Some more information here from SKY news:
https://news.sky.com/story/hamburg-shooting-unborn-baby-among-those-killed-at-jehovahs-witness-building-12830180

I have just read a "report" and have no idea of its accuracy. Anyway, apparently that night of the midweek service meeting it was announced that Mr. Philipp Fusz (35) no longer one of JWs. During the prayer, Fusz left the KH, went to his car to retrieve a gun and started randomly shooting into the auditorium through an open window that was behind the podium. (The window is apparently opened after the meeting to allow for fresh air). He emptied one magazine and then after putting a new one in he climbed through the window and emptied that one too. It was 9:15 when the police smashed the glass in the entrance door and entered the KH. The shooter ran up the stairs to the second floor where he shot himself. 

This seems to be the guy:
https://philippfusz.com/about-me/
If it is him, then it looks like he was mentally unhinged, with delusions of grandeur.

I have just read a "report" and have no idea of its accuracy. Anyway, apparently that night of the midweek service meeting it was announced that Mr. Philipp Fusz (35) no longer one of JWs. During the prayer, Fusz left the KH, went to his car to retrieve a gun and started randomly shooting into the auditorium through an open window that was behind the podium. (The window is apparently opened after the meeting to allow for fresh air). He emptied one magazine and then after putting a new one in he climbed through the window and emptied that one too. It was 9:15 when the police smashed the glass in the entrance door and entered the KH. The shooter ran up the stairs to the second floor where he shot himself. 

It's made US national news all over this morning. Authorities believe the shooter is among the dead. This is how it is currently reported on jw.org:
 
BREAKING NEWS | Shooting at Kingdom Hall in Hamburg, Germany
 
On March 9, 2023, a shooter attacked the Hamburg-Winterhude Kingdom Hall after the midweek meeting had concluded. Sadly, four brothers, two sisters, and a sister’s unborn child were killed in this shooting. Several other brothers and sisters were injured. Local elders are providing spiritual comfort to the family members and friends of those affected. We appreciate the courageous help provided by the police and emergency services. Our prayers are with all those affected by the attack. We are confident that Jehovah, the God of peace, will continue to be a refuge and strength in this time of distress.—Psalm 9:9; 46:1; Philippians 4:9.
 

"...Vehren said police were alerted to the shooting about 9:15 p.m. and were on the scene quickly. He said that after officers arrived and found people with apparent gunshot wounds on the ground floor, they heard a shot from an upper floor and found a fatally wounded person upstairs who may have been a shooter. He said police did not have to use their firearms.
Vehren said there was no indication that a shooter was on the run and that it appeared likely that the perpetrator was either in the building or among the dead.  "
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/hamburg-germany-shooting-jehovahs-witness-hall-gross-borstel/

That was not the impression TTH gave me. Nor do I think that's the attitude of JW  leaders. I think it's ignorance of how child sexual molestation really works, and naivete regarding "repentance" is what has caused all the doo doo.to happen.

Something I thought might be relevant since we are studying the God's Kingdom book. Not long ago, in a WT article, it was mentioned in reference to the "Kingdom being preached in all the inhabited earth" that this will not mean that literally everyone on Earth would have heard about the Kingdom before Armageddon starts.
When one does a bit of mathematics (not my forte) and calculates the percentage of current Jehovah's Witnesses in comparison to the World's population we arrive at 0.1%. This is a very small percentage indeed. (8 million JW to 8 billion population)
If we were to assume some averages, and use the United States as a fair example, then we can assume the ratio of 1 publisher to roughly around 400. This seems a fair number since "only a few are the ones finding the road to life". However, as we know, there is practically a non existent ratio when it comes to India and China, two of the world's countries with a population of over 1billion each (the majority of whom have never heard of the Bible, never mind Jehovah's Witnesses).  If we would assume the same ratio of 1:400, then this would immediately create over 3 million Witnesses in each of the two countries, i.e. over 6 million in India and China alone, bringing the total of JWs to over 14 million. If we were to also add 650 thousand in Indonesia, 485 thousand from Pakistan, and 402 thousand from Bangladesh that adds another 1.5 million bringing the total to over 15 million, almost doubling the Witnesses today.
If we go by the fact that all people are equal in Jehovah's eyes, and that no nation is above another when it comes to salvation, and that all people are basically the same, then we have to assume that there are people in those countries who, if given the chance, would embrace the truth and put themselves on Jehovah's side and create that ratio of 1:400.
With that in mind, it is evident that either there is going to have to be a lot of preaching done, verging on the miraculous, in order to bring in over 7 million new Witnesses within the allotted time of the "Generation", or, Jehovah will judge their hearts and allow nearly HALF of the people, (agnostics or believers in false Gods) entry into the new world without them even needing to know him.
Or, is "this Generation" a lot longer than we think.....
Any scriptural thoughts?