David Normand

Interesting. Related to the plight of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia? Who knows. But it does highlight the effects of locust and how devastating they can be. Often times when people think of a plague of locust they think of the Israelis and the ten plagues on Egypt, not really cognizant of the locust plague and how they are still around and can be quite devastating. 

How sad. It took the judges 20 minutes to decide the fate of 175,000 Russian citizens and freedom of worship. A picture of things to come? Only Jehovah knows for sure. Putin has already signed into law that the Russian supreme court does not have to consider the ECHR if in their opinion, it is not in Russia's best interest. We could go through the motions, but nothing would probably change. 

How sad. It took the judges 20 minutes to decide the fate of 175,000 Russian citizens and freedom of worship. A picture of things to come? Only Jehovah knows for sure. Putin has already signed into law that the Russian supreme court does not have to consider the ECHR if in their opinion, it is not in Russia's best interest. We could go through the motions, but nothing would probably change. 

@AllenSmith Many have diseases, we pray for God's Kingdom to remedy them. Prayer is essential in our life, not to complain or want something, but to grateful for all we have. Many don't have the necessities of the day. Prayer helps us through. Some serious problems like, Bipolar or Diabetes need Doctors. Extreme mental problems can be inherited not because of their way of life. It is correct at times health professionals are needed. Even mental health counselors. The Congregation Elders are not Doctors nor do they want to be. In EVERY SITUATION PRAYER MUST BE FIRST IN OUR LIFE! Gambling, vices for dishonest gain is what the article is about. Many also look to witches for their fortune on even gambling or making decisions. Many do say, GOOD LUCK!! We can get support with heath issues. Even mental health can be a chronic problem for some. If our lives are damaged due to disobedience to God's laws, then we pay the penalty. Let us not judge those that have either health issues or mental health issues. Disobedience to God's Laws are a whole different matter. One day we will say, sickness will be know more! Pray for yourself and others, the only solution is God's Kingdom. May it solve everything we need and hold out our promises for. 

Notice what the people in Noah's day were doing: eating, drinking, marrying, planting, harvesting. Just ordinary everyday occurrences. What condemned them was they were so busy doing these things they failed to take note of God's warning and as such were swept up in the judgment. 
Same will be at the end of this system. 

This is not true. Apparently somebody was sleeping at the latest regional convention when they specifically stated that there is nothing wrong with going to a medical professional for mental problems. They explicitly stated that some people have physical problems due to imperfection and seeding medical help is appropriate. 

This is not true. Apparently somebody was sleeping at the latest regional convention when they specifically stated that there is nothing wrong with going to a medical professional for mental problems. They explicitly stated that some people have physical problems due to imperfection and seeding medical help is appropriate. 

This is not true. Apparently somebody was sleeping at the latest regional convention when they specifically stated that there is nothing wrong with going to a medical professional for mental problems. They explicitly stated that some people have physical problems due to imperfection and seeding medical help is appropriate. 

Notice what the people in Noah's day were doing: eating, drinking, marrying, planting, harvesting. Just ordinary everyday occurrences. What condemned them was they were so busy doing these things they failed to take note of God's warning and as such were swept up in the judgment. 
Same will be at the end of this system. 

Notice what the people in Noah's day were doing: eating, drinking, marrying, planting, harvesting. Just ordinary everyday occurrences. What condemned them was they were so busy doing these things they failed to take note of God's warning and as such were swept up in the judgment. 
Same will be at the end of this system. 

Yes, Jehovah is watching all and his memory is long. He will take care of things in his due time. 

Sad that you cannot meet in private homes. If you have friends over for dinner you cannot even speak about your favorite topic. This is just nuts. 

RUSSIAN CONGREGATION. - THEIR  ROOM  HAS  BEEN  CLOSED  BY  THE  AUTHORITIES  ;-(
AND  ITS  FORBIDDEN  NOW  TO  MEET  IN  PRIVATE  HOMES...   poor  Brothers
Jehovah  is  watching  ALL !!
 

"In short, a gambler seeks to get something for nothing. " This is patently an untrue statement. You are offering up something. It may be $1 but that is something. Just because the reward is outrageous, does not make the initial investment of no consequence. If a farmer plants one kernel of corn and gets 15 ears if corn that is a good investment. However, based upon the weather it could also be considered a gamble. Depends upon which farmer you talk to about it. 
Also, what about those times around the holiday season when grocery stores are offering turkeys or hams and such. All you have to do is put your name in a bucket. No purchase necessary at all. Is that gambling? (might be celebrating the holidays, but that is another question) 
No, gambling is not forbidden per see in the scriptures. You have to really reason on the scriptures to get to that point and even then you have to be a contortionist to get the the point where gambling is forbidden. 
Shepherd the Flock of God page 69
32. If a business gives out prizes or prize money to winners of a contest or to potential customers for advertising, accepting the gilt is an individuals personal decision to make. However, a person needs to be careful that accepting such a prize not does stir up greed.
(Rom. 14:21; 1 Cor. 10:31-33; g7S 7/8 p. 28; w73 p. 127) The elders do well not to involve themselves in what individuals do with regard to petty gambling solely for entertainment. They may need to give counsel if this becomes a cause of stumbling for others or affects the spirituality of the individual or the congregation.-w02 11/1 p. 31.
So, how do you define petty gambling? Is it the size of the wager or the size of the prize? Also, something to think about is how do you define being greedy? If a person donates most of the winnings to charitable causes perhaps even the Watchtower Society can you say the person is greedy? 
At any rate, all accusations of wrongdoing should be based firmly on scripture and not convoluted reasoning. 
Cheers,
 
 

The problem with tablets and other electronic devices is they will eventually die without a power source. Books of course will get old and brittle with age, but it takes many years. No idea what books we will have in NW, but my goal is to be there to find out. 
When some apostate or other opposed brings up some older publication I generally say that I am not interested in what they we believed in the past, but am interested in what we believe now. I am very thankful that Jehovah's Faithful Slave is willing to admit mistakes of the past and move forward. 
Cheers my friends.

The problem with tablets and other electronic devices is they will eventually die without a power source. Books of course will get old and brittle with age, but it takes many years. No idea what books we will have in NW, but my goal is to be there to find out. 
When some apostate or other opposed brings up some older publication I generally say that I am not interested in what they we believed in the past, but am interested in what we believe now. I am very thankful that Jehovah's Faithful Slave is willing to admit mistakes of the past and move forward. 
Cheers my friends.

My wife and I studied in the Paradise book and the United in Worship book. We also studied for a time the Truth book, but allowed family pressure to dissuade us from studying for a time. We have added some of the older books to our collection over the years just for the novelty of it. Sadly though, some apostates love to take what was spiritual truth at the time when the older publications were published and trash talk the society for some of their beliefs. It is time for friends to have these in their personal library, but there is a reason they are no longer in print and many are no longer cited in current articles at all. 

My wife and I studied in the Paradise book and the United in Worship book. We also studied for a time the Truth book, but allowed family pressure to dissuade us from studying for a time. We have added some of the older books to our collection over the years just for the novelty of it. Sadly though, some apostates love to take what was spiritual truth at the time when the older publications were published and trash talk the society for some of their beliefs. It is time for friends to have these in their personal library, but there is a reason they are no longer in print and many are no longer cited in current articles at all. 

Without watching the video, I would not hand a tract to a child, or would do so only with asking the child whether he thought that okay. Even then it can backfire, but if you've laid the groundwork is easy to mitigate trouble.
at one door in the evening, I met a teenager. After brief innocuous discussion, I told him my quandary: some parents don't like unknown visitors showing anything to their kids, and did he think I should or not? He said 'yes.' I should him the video on social media, a video that cannot even remotely thought to be proseletizing. I returned a week or so later, caught his brother, and did much the same.
Finally I returned and met the mother. She was miffed that I had shown things to her kids. I told her I had never wanted to speak with them in the first place - it was she I was looking for. Besides, I had specifically asked them if it was alright to speak, and they had said it was. "you know kids - they will say anything," she responded. I assured her I would not call again, she relaxed at that, and I was able even to explain why we come in the first place, referring to Matt 24:14. 'Obviously, the ones who will do this are those who believe in it - who else would be expected to?'
To another teenager, years earlier, I had said I would return later when her folks were home, and left. I was with a Spanish sister, not long in this country, who said she would have witnessed to her. It is that way in Latin America. Children take on responsibility at a very young age, and few have any problem with their kids being addressed with the Bible or anything else. They mature far more quickly than do American kids, who are sometimes still silly as can be at age 30.

Great article. Another case of injustice in this world. Glad to see (upon further research) that he was found innocent by reason of fact and not due to some technicality. The police actually arrested three other individuals and charged them with the crime which was really a murder for hire scheme related to some drug deal. Marco Contreras stated that it was his strong faith, as one of Jehovah's Witnesses,  that kept him from spiraling into depression. 

Thanks for the article - a good reminder!  Lately i have been receiving redicule or opposition and i suspect it will get worse!   The last time I had  a man lstening very well and his friend interupting with. "Fitnah" fitnah...  I pretended i did not know the word and went on preaching to the one who listened...  and he wanted to listen... but I think his friend was uncomfortable because it was revealing something he did not like! It was in the open marketplace where i do regular streetwork.
I liked the example of Paul. 

I appreciate what the brother said about preaching and the same can be said about our Christian meetings. When I get depressed and feel overwhelmed about the anxieties and skip field service or meetings, generally my problems and anxieties are still there. Same is true after preaching or meetings to a point. My problems are still there, but by focusing on something else for a short while then after field service or meetings my anxiety level is lower. Problems are still there, but being anxious about them is greatly diminished. Not only do meetings allow us to focus on Jehovah's spiritual food, we also get to associate with friends in the faith who do much to lighten our load and make us feel loved. Our friends in the faith are our "planks" that we can hold onto as this old sinking ship of a system breaks apart and sinks forever. 

Looks nice. Based on just the "cover shot" it looked like that they gave little people their own parking lot. They seem to be very appreciative, too!

It is an interesting opinion (Burnett 1943). Totally different from the 1940 decision when Felix Frankfurter was Associate Justice. Writing for the majority he felt that failure to compel students to recite the pledge would reduce loyalty to the nation. In the 1943 Burnett case, which effectively reversed the 1940 Gobitis  decision, Jackson mentioned in the opinion that merely reciting the pledge did not make a person loyal. Further, Jackson stated that compelling people to recite the pledge against their will could actually drive them further against the government. 
It is interesting to me that over the 200 plus years that this country has been a nation most if not all people who have been convicted of treason were people who not only recited the pledge of allegiance that grade school kids are familiar with, but also usually were members of government in some capacity who also took an oath of their office that further codified their allegiance, duties, and responsibilities to this country. Just  reiterating the point that merely reciting a pledge of loyalty to a particular country does not make one a loyal citizen. 

When under ban it is up to each believer to make up their own mind as to how they will respond to situations such as this. The leaders cannot make you maintain your spiritual routine. This is why it is imperative that we build up ourselves now while the climate is favorable for it. We are all going to be tested. This is surly a wake up call to all of us to stay spiritually awake.