The Good News of God's Kingdom... News Alert!

[BroRando]

The Good News of God's Kingdom...

 

Preaching the Good News of God's Kingdom in Satan's World often brings a hostile and violent reaction from the unfaithful and lawless one. If this is how they react when the Good News of God's Kingdom is declared, how do you think they will react to the final message of divine destruction is delivered? Soon, those who reject the Good News will have no recourse.

 

What to look for to help gain discernment for the coming events:

• Brothers and Sisters who are 70 and 80 now, becoming 90 and 100
• 144,000 Congregations
• No Response in the preaching work
• An outbreak of peace and security proclaimed by the political kings
• Treat those coming for you with hospitality and kindness

[xero]

7 hours ago, BroRando said:

The Good News of God's Kingdom...

 

Preaching the Good News of God's Kingdom in Satan's World often brings a hostile and violent reaction from the unfaithful and lawless one. If this is how they react when the Good News of God's Kingdom is declared, how do you think they will react to the final message of divine destruction is delivered? Soon, those who reject the Good News will have no recourse.

 

What to look for to help gain discernment for the coming events:

• Brothers and Sisters who are 70 and 80 now, becoming 90 and 100
• 144,000 Congregations
• No Response in the preaching work
• An outbreak of peace and security proclaimed by the political kings
• Treat those coming for you with hospitality and kindness

So where can I get a T-Shirt or bumper-sticker, plus do you have any coupon codes I can use for some sick merch?

[BroRando]

Fast Facts—Worldwide

• 240—Lands where Jehovah’s Witnesses worship

• 8,695,808—Jehovah’s Witnesses

• 7,705,765—Free home Bible courses conducted

• 17,844,773—Attendance at the annual Memorial of Christ’s death

• 120,387—Congregations and counting!

[Witness]

2 hours ago, BroRando said:

and counting!

• Percentage of Increase Over 2019: -0.6    

      2020 Service Year Report of Jehovah’s Witnesses Worldwide

[JW Insider]

On 12/8/2021 at 8:57 PM, BroRando said:

Preaching the Good News of God's Kingdom in Satan's World often brings a hostile and violent reaction from the unfaithful and lawless one.

This might often be true. But more often it brings a polite "no thank you" from those who don't want to listen. The proportion of countries where there is outright persecution and banning of our work has actually improved. In most countries of the world the reaction to our message is non-violent, even peaceful. And sometimes, it is obviously still quite enthusiastically positive. The 8.6 million plus publishers in 2019 conducted 9.6 million Bible Studies, and 300,000 new ones were baptized. That's nearly a third of a million new persons. And shows that on average there was more than one Bible Study conducted per publisher.

Of course, you picked the numbers from 2020 which dropped from 2019. @Witness already pointed out that they actually dropped .6% (which is based on the average monthly publishers, not just the "peak" which you quoted above). But the bigger drop from 2019 to 2020 was the number of Bible Studies which dropped 20%.

• 2019: Average Bible Studies * Each Month: 9,618,182
• 2020: Average Bible Studies * Each Month: 7,705,765

They dropped by nearly TWO MILLION in one year! (Partly because we were asked not to keep studying with persons if there was no apparent progress.) But notice that they weren't replaced by new studies, so that the average is now much less than one Bible Study per publisher.

Also note the number of new ones baptized also dropped by 20%:

• 2019: Total Number Baptized *: 303,866
• 2020: Total Number Baptized *: 241,994

And unfortunately, this also means that over 300,000 persons left the Witnesses between 2019 and 2020 for there to still be a decrease even though so many were baptized. Some leave by death or disfellowshipping, but the vast majority of these 300,000 must have decided to leave.

And the 2021 numbers are already in, and the Society was not able to report an increase in publishers this year, except in a few individual branches.

17 hours ago, BroRando said:

120,387—Congregations and counting!

This also means that there is no need for additional congregations, so I'm guessing that the number will continue to remain about the same, or more likely decrease. I wouldn't look for a 20% increase in congregations to 144,000 even though you think that number of congregations is somehow significant. Anecdotally, I already heard about a couple special language congregations (New York and Los Angeles) that are being dropped and reverting to their original congregations.

On 12/8/2021 at 8:57 PM, BroRando said:

Brothers and Sisters who are 70 and 80 now, becoming 90 and 100

You are telling people that this system will go on for another 20 years, which is very unfaithful and indiscreet in light of Jesus' warning that the end could come at any time, as if without warning, like a thief in the night.

On 12/8/2021 at 8:57 PM, BroRando said:

No Response in the preaching work

The response appears to be diminishing, but wasn't your original point about how violent and hostile we can expect the response to be?

On 12/8/2021 at 8:57 PM, BroRando said:

An outbreak of peace and security proclaimed by the political kings

There is nothing about this in the Bible. Paul wasn't speaking of an outbreak resulting in a proclamation, he was just agreeing with 2 Peter 3:3 that there have been ridiculers since the first century saying they don't believe this parousia is coming because they can still talk about the relative peace and security that allows them to eat, drink, get married, etc. Adding to the Bible that we should wait for a proclamation by political kings shows a lack of discretion and a lack of discernment. Remember that Jesus, too, spoke of the time coming as a time of relative peace and security when he compared it to a time when you might be asleep in your house, or working in a field, or grinding at a mill, or doing any of the things that people were doing in Noah's day or in Sodom when the end came, essentially without warning.

Just like Jesus, both Paul and Peter added that it would come "as a thief in the night." This way, no one would get the impression that we should look for some "proclamation by political kings" of peace and security. (Nor wait for some specific proclamation by ridiculers that "things are going on [peacefully and securely] just as from creation's beginning.")

For the same reason, there can be no specific time when any of us (GB included) can declare in advance that it is now time for a "final message of divine destruction." That would only show a level of presumptuousness and indiscretion. It would make us wise in our own eyes, and completely unfaithful to Jesus' words that "no one knows the day or the hour" because "it will come as a thief in the night."

On 12/8/2021 at 8:57 PM, BroRando said:

Treat those coming for you with hospitality and kindness

Ah! Something we can agree on! 😊

[BroRando]

4 hours ago, JW Insider said:

This might often be true. But more often it brings a polite "no thank you" from those who don't want to listen. The proportion of countries where there is outright persecution and banning of our work has actually improved. In most countries of the world the reaction to our message is non-violent, even peaceful. And sometimes, it is obviously still quite enthusiastically positive. The 8.6 million plus publishers in 2019 conducted 9.6 million Bible Studies, and 300,000 new ones were baptized. That's nearly a third of a million new persons. And shows that on average there was more than one Bible Study conducted per publisher.

 

Think about it. Everything I stated got what type of reaction from those who don't want to hear the Good News about God's Kingdom.  The earth is being pummeled by pestilences and plagues, yet people are more blind and deaf to the Good News, now more then ever. 

[Matthew9969]

5 hours ago, BroRando said:

Think about it. Everything I stated got what type of reaction from those who don't want to hear the Good News about God's Kingdom.  The earth is being pummeled by pestilences and plagues, yet people are more blind and deaf to the Good News, now more then ever. 

I read the book of Revelations several times, I know Who wins and I'm on His side. I don't need to belong to the jw doomsday cult to be saved.

[Matthew9969]

Aren't babies born in with jw parents counted as jw's as well?

[BroRando]

21 minutes ago, Matthew9969 said:

Aren't babies born in with jw parents counted as jw's as well?

You're not saved.

[Pudgy]

As a two-dimensional cartoon dog, I am not saved, but thanks to "Pudgycoin", which has massive global investments in wet cardboard boxes, I am well invested.

[Pudgy]

Used cardboard boxes are bought and sold by weight ... we buy em dry, hose em down, and sell em.

[JW Insider]

1 hour ago, Matthew9969 said:

Aren't babies born in with jw parents counted as jw's as well?

Not babies, per se. Only when they are becoming "publishers." But it is true that this is where most of the newly baptized ones come from.