Message from the US Branch Committee RE: Hurricane Irma

[TrueTomHarley]

"Wake up, dogs, wake up! At such an hour you are sleeping and taking your rest? @James Thomas Rook Jr.Is ridiculing God's organization again. You may have to do more than rearrange his furniture this time."    ...   TopCat O'Malighan

[James Thomas Rook Jr.]

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TTH:

Soon enough ... in about a year, we will ALL KNOW.

At least all those paying attention will know.

The rest will be as oblivious as ever.

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[TrueTomHarley]

1 minute ago, James Thomas Rook Jr. said:

Soon enough ... in about a year, we will ALL KNOW.

"Just you wait, Henry Higgins, just you wait!"...

OH HO HO! Henry Higgins, down you'll go, Henry Higgins!!!"

Just you wait!"

[James Thomas Rook Jr.]

18 minutes ago, TrueTomHarley said:

"Just you wait, Henry Higgins, just you wait!"...

OH HO HO! Henry Higgins, down you'll go, Henry Higgins!!!"

Just you wait!"

... looks like you waited far too long to get your prescriptions refilled.

[James Thomas Rook Jr.]

.....

 

[Top Cat O'Malighan]

14 minutes ago, James Thomas Rook Jr. said:

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Finally! The first non-offensive post I have ever seen from this fellow, and his best work to date. Looks like Otis and his friend 'persuaded' him a little.

[Melinda Mills]

On 9/24/2017 at 3:25 PM, The Librarian said:

He quoted:

We were reminded of this scripture last night at the mid-week meeting along with a letter relating to the arrangements to assist the brothers in the hurricane-devastated island of the Commonwealth of Dominica (not Dominican Republic). The Barbados Branch and the French Branch are working together to assist the brothers.

[Melinda Mills]

On 9/24/2017 at 11:51 PM, Jay Witness said:

Three questions:

Why would they need to "supplicate Jehovah" in behalf of someone else, isn't he aware of what's going on with his people or does he have to receive a certain amount of "supplications" or "supplications" from noteworthy individuals such as the GB memebers, before he will do anything to help ?

What other kind of "supplication" is there other than one that is earnest...are their times when their "supplications" are insincere? 

Why would he do anything, since his (supposed) intent was that the earth be cursed and life on it be made difficult so that human kind would suffer and pay for the sins of Adam and Eve?

Jehovah will help us to cope as it is His will that we survive and do the warning work. However since Satan is ruling the world, He is not going calm all the storms and prevent all the earthquakes and floods,etc.  He is showing us that man has ruined the earth (Rev 11:18)  and that Satan's rule will not be successful and that it will certainly be a disaster and not a success.  Please read the excerpt from the Bible Teach book.

*** bh chap. 11 pp. 109-113 pars. 9-17 Why Does God Allow Suffering? ***
9 It is comforting for us to know that God does not cause suffering. He is not responsible for the wars, the crimes, the oppression, or even the natural disasters that cause people to suffer. Still, we need to know, Why does Jehovah allow all this suffering? If he is the Almighty, he has the power to stop it. Why, then, does he hold back? The loving God that we have come to know must have a good reason.—1 John 4:8.
A VITAL ISSUE IS RAISED
10 To find out why God allows suffering, we need to think back to the time when suffering began. When Satan led Adam and Eve into disobeying Jehovah, an important question was raised. Satan did not call into question Jehovah’s power. Even Satan knows that there is no limit to Jehovah’s power. Rather, Satan questioned Jehovah’s right to rule. By calling God a liar who withholds good from his subjects, Satan charged that Jehovah is a bad ruler. (Read Genesis 3:2-5.) Satan implied that mankind would be better off without God’s rulership. This was an attack on Jehovah’s sovereignty, his right to rule.
11 Adam and Eve rebelled against Jehovah. In effect, they said: ‘We do not need Jehovah as our Ruler. We can decide for ourselves what is right and what is wrong.’ How could Jehovah settle that issue? How could he teach all intelligent creatures that the rebels were wrong and that his way truly is best? Someone might say that God should simply have destroyed the rebels and made a fresh start. But Jehovah had stated his purpose to fill the earth with the offspring of Adam and Eve, and he wanted them to live in an earthly paradise. (Genesis 1:28) Jehovah always fulfills his purposes. (Isaiah 55:10, 11) Besides that, getting rid of the rebels in Eden would not have answered the question that had been raised regarding Jehovah’s right to rule.
12 Let us consider an illustration. Imagine that a teacher is telling his students how to solve a difficult problem. A clever but rebellious student claims that the teacher’s way of solving the problem is wrong. Implying that the teacher is not capable, this rebel insists that he knows a much better way to solve the problem. Some students think that he is right, and they also become rebellious. What should the teacher do? If he throws the rebels out of the class, what will be the effect on the other students? Will they not believe that their fellow student and those who joined him are right? All the other students in the class might lose respect for the teacher, thinking that he is afraid of being proved wrong. But suppose that the teacher allows the rebel to show the class how he would solve the problem.
13 Jehovah has done something similar to what the teacher does. Remember that the rebels in Eden were not the only ones involved. Millions of angels were watching. (Job 38:7; Daniel 7:10) How Jehovah handled the rebellion would greatly affect all those angels and eventually all intelligent creation. So, what has Jehovah done? He has allowed Satan to show how he would rule mankind. God has also allowed humans to govern themselves under Satan’s guidance.
14 The teacher in our illustration knows that the rebel and the students on his side are wrong. But he also knows that allowing them the opportunity to try to prove their point will benefit the whole class. When the rebels fail, all honest students will see that the teacher is the only one qualified to lead the class. They will understand why the teacher thereafter removes any rebels from the class. Similarly, Jehovah knows that all honesthearted humans and angels will benefit from seeing that Satan and his fellow rebels have failed and that humans cannot govern themselves. Like Jeremiah of old, they will learn this vital truth: “I well know, O Jehovah, that man’s way does not belong to him. It does not belong to man who is walking even to direct his step.”—Jeremiah 10:23.
WHY SO LONG?
15 Why, though, has Jehovah allowed suffering to go on for so long? And why does he not prevent bad things from happening? Well, consider two things that the teacher in our illustration would not do. First, he would not stop the rebel student from presenting his case. Second, the teacher would not help the rebel to make his case. Similarly, consider two things that Jehovah has determined not to do. First, he has not stopped Satan and those who side with him from trying to prove that they are right. Allowing time to pass has thus been necessary. In the thousands of years of human history, mankind has been able to try every form of self-rule, or human government. Mankind has made some advances in science and other fields, but injustice, poverty, crime, and war have grown ever worse. Human rule has now been shown to be a failure.
16 Second, Jehovah has not helped Satan to rule this world. If God were to prevent horrible crimes, for instance, would he not, in effect, be supporting the case of the rebels? Would God not be making people think that perhaps humans can govern themselves without disastrous results? If Jehovah were to act in that way, he would become party to a lie. However, “it is impossible for God to lie.”—Hebrews 6:18.
17 What, though, about all the harm that has been done during the long rebellion against God? We do well to remember that Jehovah is almighty. Therefore, he can and will undo the effects of mankind’s suffering. As we have already learned, the ruining of our planet will be undone by the turning of the earth into Paradise. The effects of sin will be removed through faith in Jesus’ ransom sacrifice, and the effects of death will be reversed by means of the resurrection. God will thus use Jesus “to break up the works of the Devil.” (1 John 3:8) Jehovah will bring all of this about at just the right time. We can be glad that he has not acted sooner, for his patience has given us the opportunity to learn the truth and to serve him. (Read 2 Peter 3:9, 10.) Meanwhile, God has been actively seeking sincere worshippers and helping them to endure any suffering that may come upon them in this troubled world.—John 4:23; 1 Corinthians 10:13.
 

[Anna]

 

On 9/25/2017 at 8:19 AM, JW Insider said:

is that the tall lamp makes a distinct shadow, but none of the apostles, etc., make any shadows

I think this might be because the lamp is very close to the wall, whereas the apostles are not. They do cast some shadow, on each other, and the scroll, but not on the wall because of their distance, and the position of the light source.  But I agree, the shadow of the lamp looks a little exaggerated, probably to add interest and depth....It looks like the like the light source is coming from 3 o'clock and 4 o'clock...

[James Thomas Rook Jr.]

Well, here it is May 15, 2018. ... eight months later and more.

Has anyone seen any update of the success or failure of the massive relief effort?

[Melinda Mills]

https://www.jw.org/en/news/jw/region/global/love-in-action-hurricane-irma-maria-relief-work/

Nice video report on JW.org website.

Thanks for emailing me about this.