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The slave is using this photo to make it clear what is not allowed in the dress of men for meetings and preaching.


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Amazing how fashion dictates a person's thinking without them really being aware of the influence. The guys on the right look like they have been sleeping out in the rain a couple of days, or tha

My point exactly, Q. Esther. Jehovah sees the heart and even if a poor servant of Jehovah doesn't have much, Jehovah still provides for them just like He did for the nation of Israel. He can make a po

Exactly. We should reflect the fruitage of the spirit even by the way we dress   

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11 minutes ago, AveragePub said:

There was a young sister who wore an embarrassingly tight dress once, my wife and I felt sorry for her and wondered how her parents didn't notice.  We weren't the only ones shaking our heads.  It happens, move on. 

It would not be surprising how some would want to take her out into the Kingdom Hall parking lot, and have her CRUSHED, by the 350 pound Sisters.

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9 hours ago, sami said:

@JOHN BUTLER "Traditions of men" are the designers of the couture of the day. Whatever a so called fashion house thinks will sell. Those are the traditions of men which have nothing to do with being modest but blatantly immodest.  Are the designers looking to please God or their pocket book?

There is a wide variety of styles and/or colors that can be chosen as long as the clothing is not revealing breasts or emphasizing genitalia. However, "traditions of men" do not follow those guidelines. The apostle councils "Obey your spiritual leaders, and what they say. Their work is to watch over your souls, and they are accountable to God. Give them reason to do this with joy and not with sorrow. That would certainly not be for your benefit."

Acts 20:28 " Pay attention to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the holy spirit has appointed YOU overseers, to shepherd the congregation of God, which he purchased with the blood of his own [Son].

I must emphasize that the door opens the same whether your going out or coming in. The world welcomes all those who desire to look as though they are wearing their baby brother's clothing. "Traditions" are waiting for you on the other side of the door.

The Governing Body is there to do oversight of Jehovah's organization, just as in the first century. If you can speak 930 languages, send out thousands of envoys into 240 lands - then feel free, no one is stopping you. If you can build Bethel homes and translation facilities, If you can care for disaster relief for millions then have at it.

But markedly, those who constantly find fault with the "Governing Body, The Slave" do not leave because they want to preserve their complaining behinds. They actually think that they will be preserved alive through the tribulation and that Jehovah has not already read their hearts. Free Will, The Choice is yours.

Jesus said the Pharisees followed the 'Traditions of Men'. Surely you know and understand that much ?

THE GB seem to have given themselves the title 'Faithful and discreet slave'. However there are many things that would prove otherwise. But that would be going off topic, which I constantly get told of about.

You have quoted scripture to show that the GB are the boss. However there are scriptures which tell the 'leaders' ' not to lord it over the congregation'. 

I'm sure anyone can find a scripture to suit their own needs. 

One other point on the clothing of brothers and sisters.  Assemblies and conventions are where the young ones / single ones go to find a marriage mate. Well they are not supposed to be looking 'in the world', so it has to be at the conventions. Not everyone wants someone from their own congregation. 

Hence the young and single want to look like young and single and who can blame them. Just because the GB are old frumps doesn't mean everyone has to be... And just because you don't like something doesn't mean everyone has to dislike it. 

As I've said before, Jesus said 'Remove the rafter from your own eye before trying to remove the straw from your brother's eye'. 

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11 hours ago, AveragePub said:

Really?  You need to go to a real KH.

Every Kingdom Hall is different. Every congregation is different.

Having moved around a bit here in England I've noticed the differences. 

When i was living in Bristol for instance some Brothers would come into meetings wearing a tie of the football team they supported. Each wearing different ties, so funny :). No part of the world, um.  

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@James Thomas Rook Jr.

 
 
YOUR 20 SECOND BLURB OUT OF A HALF HOUR TALK IS TYPICAL OF AN APOSTATE.
WHY WOULD ONE DO THAT IF NOT TO DECEIVE.  SEXUAL INTERCOURSE = PORNEIA

Porneia

This is the definition of

Porneia

The Greek word porneia refers to prostitution, with the related terms porne and pornos referring to female and male prostitutes, respectively. In ancient Athens prostitution was legal and was taxed, although it was considered both illegal and shameful for freeborn citizens. Thus, in seeking to discredit a rival, the Athenian orator and politician Apollodorus charged his enemy's partner Neaira with being a porne (c. 340s bce; Demosthenes, Against Neaira). In another famous case Aeschines prosecuted his opponent Timarchus for prostitution, arguing that a man who sold his body for profit could never be trusted with the affairs of the city (c. 346–345 bce; Aeschines, Against Timarchus).

Porneia thus had a decidedly negative connotation, and expressions such as pornes huios ("son of a whore") were used as pointed slurs. In the moralizing literature of the first and second centuries ce, men were warned not to squander their inheritance on pornai and were condemned as licentious (akolasia) if they overindulged in trips to the brothel. Tax receipts, legal documents, and historical writings from the Roman period show that prostitution continued to be regulated and taxed despite the fact that porneia—with an expanded sense indicating any illicit sex—was condemned by Greco-Roman moralists. A double meaning of porneia prevailed: porneia as a recognized profession forced upon slaves or taken up by impoverished persons of low status and porne or pornos as a sharp insult that could be directed at "honorable" men or women.

The rhetorical potential of the category porneia was used effectively by early Christian authors to target outsiders accused of visiting prostitutes, engaging in incest at brothels, and confusing former prostitutes with inspired prophetesses (1 Corinthians 5-6; Revelation 2:20-22; Hermas, Similitudes, 9.13.9; Justin, 1 Apology, 36; Irenaeus, Against the Heresies, 1.6.3, 1.23.3, 1.25.3). Those authors built upon a tradition they had inherited from the Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible), in which idolatry—worshiping gods other than the god of Israel—was associated with improper sexual acts, including incest, male homoerotic sexual intercourse, and bestiality. Thus, Israelites were warned not to "play the whore" (porne) by going after other gods (Hosea 4:15-19, Septuagint) and Canaanites were said to "prostitute themselves" (ekporneuo) to their gods (Exodus 34:15-16, Septuagint). Equating false religiosity with sexual acts, authors such as John of Patmos called their enemies "whores" (pornai; Revelation 2:21-22, 17-18).

A tendency to confuse highly charged Christian rhetoric with historical fact has contributed to the stereotype of the "pagan" or "heretical" commitment to sexual excess, especially in the context of religious rituals. For example, Paul's anxiety about porneia in Corinth (1 Corinthians 5-7), combined with comments in other first-century literature about the hetairai ("companions" or "courtesans") associated with the temple of Aphrodite (Strabo, Geography, 8.6.20), has been taken as evidence of sacred prostitution despite a lack of archaeological evidence. This interpretation fails to recognize the metonymic equivalence of porneia and impiety in Christian sources. Porneia was and continues to be a widely applied loaded term that is as useful for slandering various targets as for describing a social and economic practice.

 

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@James Thomas Rook Jr. MASTURBATION IS NOT INTERCOURSE - IT IS SELF ABUSE.

The Bible’s View of Masturbation

There are those that have said that the Bible describes masturbation in Genesis chapter 38, and that Onan was put to death for the offense. But this is not true. The Bible says that when Onan “did have relations with his brother’s wife he wasted his semen on the earth.” (Genesis 38:9) So apparently Onan interrupted sexual relations with Tamar, spilling his semen on the ground rather than giving it to Tamar. He did this because he did not want to raise up children in the name of his dead brother. And it was for this failure to perform “brother-in-law marriage” that Onan was put to death.

Two other passages in the Hebrew Scriptures have been discussed in literature dealing with the Bible’s view of masturbation. The first, Deuteronomy 23:10 and 11, tells of the situation when the Israelites were in a military encampment. According to Today’s English Version, it says: “If a man becomes unclean because he has had a wet dream during the night, he is to go outside the camp and stay there. Toward evening he is to wash himself, and at sunset he may come back into camp.” But what is mentioned here is not masturbation. Masturbation is defined as: “Erotic stimulation of the genital organs commonly resulting in orgasm and achieved by manual or other bodily contact.” (Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary, 1981) Jehovah God so created males that, when they do not engage in sexual intercourse, they will from time to time spontaneously emit semen during sleep. This emission is often accompanied by an erotic dream, hence the expression “a wet dream.” Since the emission usually occurs at night, it may also be called a “nocturnal emission.”

The other passage discussing this matter is Leviticus 15:16, 17, which says: “Now in case a man has an emission of semen go out from him, he must then bathe all his flesh in water and be unclean until the evening. And any garment and any skin upon which the emission of semen gets to be must be washed with water and be unclean until the evening.” Apparently this passage is not referring to masturbation. Evidently it is referring to the aforementioned “wet dream.” Although the Bible mentions an ‘uncleanness’ in association with the emission of semen, this is a ceremonial not a moral uncleanness. This is obvious when we note in the next verse Le 15:18 that an Israelite man and wife incurred the same uncleanness when engaging in their God-approved marital relations.

Well, then, do the Christian Greek Scriptures say anything about masturbation? No, they do not discuss the subject. Not even wet dreams are mentioned. But does that mean that the Christian Greek Scriptures give no direction in forming a proper attitude toward masturbation? No, it does not. Consider Colossians 3:5, which reads: “Deaden, therefore, your body members that are upon the earth as respects fornication, uncleanness, sexual appetite, hurtful desire, and covetousness.” And 1 Thessalonians 4:4, 5 says: “Each one . . . should . . . get possession of his own vessel in sanctification and honor, not in covetous sexual appetite such as also those nations have which do not know God.” Such counsel applies to married Christians as well as to those who are single, but even more restraint needs to be exercised by single persons since finding relief of passion by sexual relations is limited to those who are married.

Can you see that masturbation is a practice that violates the command to deaden “sexual appetite”? True, Jehovah created humans with an appetite, or desire, for sex, even as he created us with an appetite for food and drink. So the Bible is not saying that having sexual appetite is wrong, just as it does not condemn having a natural, proper appetite for food and drink. Yet we know that in our imperfect condition, appetites can get out of control. A person can come to have an inordinate desire for food or alcoholic beverages and become a glutton or a drunkard. Similarly, sex can become a chief or prominent part of a person’s life, and he can thus become like people of the nations who have a “covetous sexual appetite.”

A person who masturbates is putting improper emphasis on sex. He feeds and enlivens his sexual craving in a wrong way. Yet not only men are involved; there has been an increase of masturbation among women. God, however, provided humans the gift of sex to use within the arrangement of marriage. But a masturbator is using sex outside the marriage arrangement for personal gratification. Such a person needs to deaden his sexual appetite in order to please God. He needs to cultivate the self-control that is necessary to de-emphasize sex in his life and to leave his sexual organs to adjust to any pressures in the normal way.

Jesus taught: “Everyone that keeps on looking at a woman so as to have a passion for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” (Matthew 5:28) A masturbator often has such kinds of passionate thoughts, fantasizing about having sexual relations. Such a person is certainly not living in accordance with Christ’s teaching. There can be no question that these who feed their sexual appetite by masturbating are violating God’s instructions to DEADEN their sexual appetite.

But how can a person deaden his sexual appetite and keep from masturbating? True, for people who have practiced this type of self-abuse, it can be a real fight to stop it. But one should not give up in the fight! With Jehovah’s help, a person can succeed. He should first develop a hatred for the practice. (Psalm 97:10) Then it is vital that he make the firm determination in his mind and heart to stop masturbating. He must make it a continual subject of his prayers; then he needs to work at what he prays for. He cannot, as it were, feed the flames of passion by reading or looking at things that stir his sexual appetite. Nor can he be talking about matters that feed his inclination to masturbate. Rather, he must keep busy in theocratic pursuits, in meeting attendance, field service, making return visits, conducting Bible studies, helping others spiritually, and he will receive the strength to control his sexual appetite. If the problem persists, he should not hesitate to seek help from an elder in his congregation. A sister with the problem might seek the help and support of an older sister in the congregation.

There is no question about it—keeping integrity to Jehovah calls for a hard fight. But it is worth it! If we fight now against our sinfully inclined flesh, then Jehovah will grant us complete victory in his righteous, clean New Order. Just imagine! Then we will see Jehovah’s glorious purpose fulfilled—an earth filled with people living in Paradise—all of them brought into existence as a result of the marvelous gift of sex with which God created us.

 

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@James Thomas Rook Jr. BROTHER LETT'S TALK WAS FROM THE 2014 INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION WHICH RELEASED THIS BOOK https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/publication/r1/lp-e/kr/E/2014

"OH WHAT A TANGLED WEB" YOU'VE TRIED YOUR BEST TO WEAVE....BUT DO IT WITH SOMEONE ELSE.

 

MEʹNE, MEʹNE, TEʹKEL  (Daniel 5:24, 25MEʹNE, God has numbered your days - TEʹKEL, you have been weighed in the balances and have been found deficient.”

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sami:

One thing I have learned in this life, is that if a person is not able to explain something in his own words, succinctly, and clearly ... and with as few a words as possible, the likelihood of whatever he is TRYING to propose as "truth", diminishes greatly .... and the more arcane, general references used to support that idea, or those ideas, the probability of whatever it is being true rapidly diminishes to  approach zero.

Your post, above, reminds me of the guy walking down a street in the business district of New York City,  waving his hands and arms and yelling incoherent religious nonsense to the air.  

As a joke, I thought about getting TWO of them, and handcuffing them together.

If you are not ALREADY in New York City, you may want to stay clear.

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@JOHN BUTLER 

WHO REALLY IS THE FAITHFUL AND DISCREET SLAVE AND HOW CAN THEY BE IDENTIFIED?

In Ezekiel chapter 47 we begin to see an expanded vision of  Revelation, chapter 22. Again there is a “river” of water of truth being channeled to the earth out from Jehovah’s spiritual temple. The waters begin to flow through the channel of the “slave” class from their restoration in 1919. This “river” is described as going eastward, in the direction of greater light, signifying that the Society’s publications of truth would be progressing in the light of truth as the years advanced after 1919. Ezekiel makes a periodic survey, every thousand cubits, of the increasing depths of this river, which first was ankle deep, then up to the knees, and further up to the loins, and finally the river was so deep that one had to swim if he wished to cross it.—Ezek. 47:1-5.

So in the latter days of fulfillment a periodic survey of every three years shows a steady increasing in the spiritual depth and clarity of the published waters of truth by the Watch Tower Society.

From whom then, have these waters of truth flowed? Who has brought to light the false teachings of an immortal soul or hellfire and the trinity doctrine or all good people go to heaven?  From whom did we learn of God's kingdom and the earth becoming a paradise and a resurrection would take place here on earth?

What organization brought to light the history of the pagan celebrations of Christmas, Easter, Birthdays, Samhain (halloween)  purgatory, limbo etc. etc.?

So then, who is the faithful and discreet slave whom his master appointed over his domestics to give them their food at the proper time? The slave and the domestics are the same persons, only from different viewpoints. Under the term “slave” Christ’s anointed followers of today are viewed as a class, a composite slave or composite servant. God himself so interprets matters: “Ye are my witnesses, saith Jehovah, and my servant whom I have chosen.” (Isa. 43:10, AS) Note that many witnesses are called one servant. Under the term “domestics” those making up the slave class are viewed as individuals. They are spoken of as “body of attendants” at Luke 12:42 (NW). Murdock’s translation from the Syriac agrees in using “domestics” at Matthew 24:45, and another translation from the Syriac, by A. S. Lewis, renders it “companions”, that is, companion slaves. They are domestic slaves in the household of God and, as a united class or society, are termed “the faithful and discreet slave”. Similarly, when a number of domestics turn wicked and start to beat their fellow slaves these evildoers become the foretold “evil slave” class.—Matt. 24:48-51, NW.

 

 Matthew 24:45-51 shows the service privileges granted to the faithful ones as a class and the punishment meted out to the unfaithful ones as a class. Matthew 25:14-30 shows the Lord’s dealing with faithful and unfaithful slaves as individuals. As individuals each one must strive to measure up to the Master’s requirements. United as a faithful company of slaves they comprise a visible theocratic organization and in Jesus’ illustration here under discussion are pictured as a “faithful and discreet slave”, and this composite slave class must see to it that it provides properly for all its individual members, the domestics. Prior to the coming of the Master, Christ Jesus, it must be providing for all its members “their food at the proper time”. It must also be noted that God does not have several discreet-slave classes, several theocratic organizations among which the work is divided. “Does Christ exist divided?” No! It is “one body”.—1 Cor. 1:13; 12:12, 13

 

“Who really is the faithful and discreet slave whom his master appointed over his domestics to give them their food at the proper time?” In 1878, forty years before the Lord’s coming to the temple for judgment, there was a class of sincere consecrated Christians that had broken away from the hierarchic and clergy organizations and who sought to get back to true Christianity, as practiced by early Christians before the grievous wolves ravished the flock after the death of the apostles. They launched a campaign to restore the fundamental truths for the spiritually hungry to feed upon, to replace the pagan doctrines that had been adopted by apostate Christendom. It was the proper time for such spiritual food, to prepare the way before Christ’s coming for judgment at the temple. (Mal. 3:1; 4:5, 6) This group of faithful students began publication of The Watchtower, then called “Zion’s Watch Tower and Herald of Christ’s Presence”, and in the first issue, July 1879, its announced purpose was to provide “meat in due season” to the “little flock”. The facts show that it did this from 1879 on. In 1884 they formed a legal corporation to represent in a business or legal way the society of witnesses or ministers. Down to this day the legal corporation, the Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, has been used as an agency to publish for and direct and unify the preaching activities of the society of witnesses overspreading the earth. When Christ came for judgment in 1918 he found some associated with this group that thought the Lord had delayed his coming and they were oppressing their fellow slaves in Christ. These were cast off as the “evil slave” class. Those faithfully serving God were identified as the “faithful and discreet slave” class.

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