sami

We've all been there and done that. Most Witnesses have come from a false religious background. I came from a Roman Catholic background and had aspirations of becoming a nun. I associated with nuns after school, cleaned the classrooms and sang in the choir, so my background was fully vested in the teachings of the Trinity, immortal soul, hellfire, purgatory, limbo, Jesus was Catholic, the infallibility of the Pope - he was god on earth.
But a life changing experience happened one day, a man came to our door and began to show my mother scriptures proving his point on the areas they discussed. My mother, a strong person who also had deep respect for the Bible listened and in that discussion something touched her heart.
The young man had his mother revisit my mother and discussed what had previously been initiated by her son. Within the same time frame a Seventh Day Adventist was visiting my mother voicing her version of scripture and offering a Bible study. My mother, in order to make her decision on which one to choose, asked each one to explain what the Sabbath meant and should it still be enforced as in the Law.
She listened and looked up Scripture and there was no comparison in teaching, she was confident that Jehovah's Witness had the TRUTH of the matter. She began to study the Bible and was baptized in 1952. My mother began to speak about the Bible to her siblings (who were all different religions and scattered around the U.S.) they began to study the Bible and were baptized at different times and places.(4 brothers, 2 sisters and her father and her three children)
So we've been there and indoctrinated in a variety of different religions before a selfless individual came to our door in obedience to Jesus command at Matthew 19:28,29. Yes, that Good News is being preached in 239 Lands and Islands and in over 900 languages - in over two hundred thousand congregations worldwide.
The noise that you hear on the internet cannot drown out the preaching of the Good News and the gathering of the sheep. Jesus said: John 10:3" But the one who enters through the door is the shepherd of the sheep. The doorkeeper opens to this one, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 When he has brought all his own out, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him, because they know his voice. 5 They will by no means follow a stranger but will flee from him, because they do not know the voice of strangers."
 
Apostates and other opposers are very busy in these days and the scripture tells us why Ezekiel 29:4 " And I will put hooks in your jaws and cause the fish of your Nile canals to cling to your scales. And I will bring you up out of the midst of your Nile canals and all the fish of your Nile canals that cling to your very scales. 5 And I will abandon you to the wilderness, you and all the fish of your Nile canals. Upon the surface of the field you will fall. You will not be gathered up nor be collected together. To the wild beasts of the earth and to the flying creatures of the heavens I will give you for food. 6 And all the inhabitants of Egypt will have to know that I am Jehovah,"
 
Yes Indeed! Jehovah has put the hooks in the jaws of Satan and his demonic cohorts and they cannot turn back and as Ezekiel's prophecy makes clear, it is for one reason - identify and destroy.
 
As the apostle Paul points out at 2Corinthians 4: 3 "If, in fact, the good news we declare is veiled, it is veiled among those who are perishing, 4 among whom the god of this system of things has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, so that the illumination of the glorious good news about the Christ, who is the image of God, might not shine through."
 
 
 
 

SHEMA Shema (“hear”) is the Hebrew word that begins the most important prayer not only in Judaism, but in Christianity as well. The Shema is found at Deuteronomy 6:4, which begins with the command to “Hear.”
The word sh'ma in Paleo-Hebrew
A Hebrew interpretation of the Sh'ma (Hear O Israel)
Heb., Yehwahʹ ʼElo·hehʹnu Yehwahʹ ʼe·chadhʹ.
Hear, O Israel: yhwh our God is one yhwh: And you shall love yhwh your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might. (Deuteronomy 6:4,5)
Hear
The Hebrew verb שמע (Sh.M.Ah) means "to hear" but with the Hebraic idea "to pay attention to what is being spoken and act upon it." When Israel "hears" the directions of God, they agree to act upon them (they obey his words). When God "hears" the pleas of Israel in bondage in Egypt, he acts upon them (he rescues Israel).
One
The use of the word "one" (ehhad) in this verse is commonly interpreted to mean that there is only "one" God. This verse is specific that yhwh is not only one but his actions are always clear and in unity with himself. (Malachi 3:6 says: “For I am Jehovah; I do not change…) A good example of this is the pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. A cloud and fire are opposites—one provides coolness and shade and the other heat and light. Yet, they work together to preserve the people during the day and the night.
Love
Love, the Hebrew verb אהב is not an emotion: it is an action. The context of this word in the text indicates that we are to "love" God with our actions, not with our emotions.
Heart
The heart, לבב in Hebrew, is the thoughts of the mind, not an emotion as the word is generally understood in western minds. In this passage, we are informed how to "love" Yahweh—by keeping all of our thoughts focused on him.
Soul
The Hebrew word נפש (nephesh) is literally the whole of the person. First we are told to love Yahweh with our minds, now with our entire being.

Might
The Hebrew word used here is מאד (me'od) and is a very interesting word, especially in the way that it is used in this context. This word is used throughout the Hebrew text as an adverb, intensifying a verb, and is usually translated as very, greatly, or much. This is the only time this word appears as a noun and is best translated as "muchness." This idea of muchness is expanding on the previous two ways we are to love Yahweh, first with our mind, then with our body, and now with everything we have.
A Re-Translation
Now that we have examined each word in this passage, to uncover their original meanings in the Hebrew culture, let’s translate it with a more Hebraic flavor.
"Israel, pay careful attention and respond: Jehovah works in unity with himself: and you shall act upon your love to Jehovah with your thoughts and mind, with your entire body and with everything that you possess."
The phrase "heart, mind and soul," as it is translated in the RSV, is generally interpreted to mean that we are to love Jehovah with "three" things, but the reality is that this phrase is a form of poetry that is using three synonyms to show that our love for Jehovah is to be all encompassing, beginning with our thoughts, then our bodies, then everything we possess.
 
The Masoretic Text
In modern day Hebrew Bibles, this passage is written as follows.
שמע .1
ישראל
יהוה
אלהינו
יהוה
אחד
Notice that the ayin (ע), the last letter in the first word (written right to left) is written oversized, as is the dalet (ד), the last letter in the last word. When these two letters are placed together, they form the wordעד (eyd, Strong's #5707) meaning "witness." In Judaism, the sh’ma (the name given to this verse as it is the first word in this verse) is Israel’s witness, their statement of faith if you will.
However, these oversized letters are not found in any ancient scroll such as found in the Dead Sea Caves. They first appear in the Masoretic Hebrew texts from 1,000 A.D. Whether the Masorites added them or not we don't know, in fact the origins of these oversized letters are a mystery.
Even though these letters do not appear to have been in the original texts, they are still excellent teaching tools.
The Shema is so important that Jesus used it as the beginning of His answer to the “greatest commandment” question in Mark 12:28–30:
One of the scribes who had come up and heard them disputing, knowing that he had answered them in a fine way, asked him: “Which commandment is first of all?” 29 Jesus answered: “The first is, ‘Hear, O Israel, Jehovah our God is one Jehovah, 30 and you must love Jehovah your God with your whole heart and with your whole soul and with your whole mind and with your whole strength.’
When Jesus answered with Shema He acknowledged Jehovah God as the most important and that all worship and devotion to Him is the most important of the commandments.
(Deuteronomy 5:7) You must never have any other gods besides me.
(Isaiah 42:8) I am Jehovah. That is my name; I give my glory to no one else, Nor my praise to graven images.
(Zechariah 14:9) And Jehovah will be King over all the earth. In that day Jehovah will be one, and his name one.
(Mark 12:29) Jesus answered: “The first is, ‘Hear, O Israel, Jehovah our God is one Jehovah,
 

Why put off till tomorrow what can be done today? Life, in this system, is transient so why use it to glorify yourself or country when these things are temporary. Her priorities changed when she began to study the Bible. She chose the best life ever, the life with everlasting benefits. 
It is difficult for someone self-absorbed to ever get the sense of that concept ( service to God and service to others). A force of life and attitude richly blessed and satisfying.

Why put off till tomorrow what can be done today? Life, in this system, is transient so why use it to glorify yourself or country when these things are temporary. Her priorities changed when she began to study the Bible. She chose the best life ever, the life with everlasting benefits. 
It is difficult for someone self-absorbed to ever get the sense of that concept ( service to God and service to others). A force of life and attitude richly blessed and satisfying.

Monotheism: Is it not the exclusive exaltation of the one source of all power, authority, and creativity?
The author who penned John 1:1c appears to have believed in this definition. Why wouldn't he? He was a Hebrew, and a Jew, and it is quite likely he was raised with the familiar words, "Hear O'Israel, yhwh our God is one Jehovah" ["Shma Yisra'el yhwh Eloheynu yhwh Echad" - Deuteronomy 6:4-5; also Mark 12:29-30; confirmed by the author of John in John 17:3].
So what could he have possibly been stating in John 1:1, when he renders that the logos [Jesus] was not only with God [ho theos], but that he [Jesus] was, "a god" [theos without the definite article]?

We know that the occurrence of theos in 1:1c by construct highlights the "quality" of the logos, that he was "divine", "godlike", or literally, "a god". But does this harmonize with the rest of the bible?

An individual named D.S. Russell who wrote "The Method and Message of Jewish Apocalyptic" included a comment on Hebrew monotheism, which I like, so I'll offer it here: "There is ample evidence to show that conception of monotheism was held in conjunction with a belief in a spiritual world peopled with supernatural and superhuman beings who, in some ways, shared the nature, though not the being, of God"
But is that true when examining the biblical texts?
Indeed, for at times the Bible employs the term "a god" [elohim in Hebrew, theos in Greek, both lacking the definite article, ha in Hebrew, ho in the koine Greek] to refer to those of extreme authority or power in relations to others.
Psalm 8:5 reads: "You also proceeded to make him [man] a little less than godlike ones [Hebrew, ´elo·him']," that is, angels. So angels, the malak, also called "the sons of the true God" in Genesis 6:2, and again in Job 1:6, Job 2:1, and Job 38:7, are called gods in Psalm 8:5.
In Exodus 4:15-16, Moses is told that Aaron would be to him for a mouth, while he would be "a god" (elohim) to Aaron [Vediber-hu lecha el-ha'am vehayah hu yihyeh-lecha lefeh ve'atah tihyeh-lo ‘elohim]. So Moshe was called by the title elohim, a god, as respects his position to Aaron as well as Pharaoh.
Directly in the book of subject here, in John Chapter 10, Jesus' defense against false charges that he claimed to be God [Yhwh], he noted that "the Law uses the word gods of those to whom the word of God was addressed," that is, human judges - [John 10:34, 35, JB; Psalm 82:1-6].
So human judges, are called gods, Moshe is called a god, and the sons of God [the malak, angels/messengers], are also called gods. Even Satan is called "the god of this system of things" at 2 Corinthians 4:4 by Paul, which makes sense, as ha'satan is identified among the sons of God in the above references in Job, the malak, those who were called "gods" in a specific indefinite construct [e.g., general class of].
According to the biblical texts, Jesus' resurrection placed him in a position far higher than angels, imperfect men, or Satan. Since these are referred to as "gods," mighty ones, surely Jesus can be and is "a god."
The biblical texts reserve the use of the title "Almighty God" [el shaddai] exclusively for Jehovah and no other. To call Jehovah by the title "Almighty" would have little significance unless there existed others who were also called gods but who occupied a lesser or inferior position.
And so the author of John also, calls the logos, the Christ, a god, or being of divine nature, though he never refers to him as "ho theos", the God, the one and only. He could have easily done so in John 1:1c - but he didn't.
"I am ascending to my Father and your Father and to my God and your God." (John 20:17) Even though Jesus was already resurrected as a mighty spirit, Jehovah was still his God. And Jesus continued to refer to Him as such even in the last book of the Bible, after he was glorified. - [Revelation 1:5, 6; 3:2, 12].
At John 20:31, the Bible further clarifies the matter by stating: "These have been written down that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ the Son of God," not that he was Almighty God. And it meant "Son" in a literal way, as with a natural father and son, not as some mysterious part of a Trinity Godhead where it certainly cannot be said, "Hear O'Israel, Yhwh our God is one Yhwh" ["Shma Yisra'el yhwh Eloheynu yhwh Echad"].

Acts 5:38,39  "So under the present circumstances, I say to you, do not meddle with these men, but let them alone. For if this scheme or this work is from men, it will be overthrown; 39 but if it is from God, you will not be able to overthrow them. Otherwise, you may even be found fighters against God himself."
These words were spoken by Gamaliel an esteemed Law teacher and member of the Sanhedrin.
When the book  "The Finished Mystery" was released in 1917 exposing Babylonish teachings i.e. hellfire, immortal soul, trinity doctrines as being false, the religious community came after Jehovah's people. Their smear campaigns designed to destroy the Bible Students had an affect in some quarters (politically) but the more instigators stirred the hate filled pot, the more people came in the organization. Is that a surprise? Not really....because the louder the noise, the more interest was aroused in people who had not heard of Jehovah's organization.
Hitler's third Reich were to wipe out Jehovah's Witnesses but who is gone and who is left standing? Although many hundreds of us were killed, thousands more became Jehovah's Witnesses. That chariot spoken of in Ezekiel continues moving in all directions and is our support and even though the trying times in Russia are not pleasant, we have to remember the book has already been written and we know the ending. Revelation ch.19
Apostates and disfellowshipped ones are all over the internet and interacting with you....be careful. If disfellowshipped ones didn't want to be in the organization, why are they crying now? They should be happy and rejoicing, I know we are. Those disfellowshipped have these primary reasons....IMMORAL BEHAVIOR, APOSTASY AND/OR GOSSIP and they show no remorse or repentance.  Make no mistake, there are also those in the congregations who will be exposed in Jehovah's due time. Why don't they leave? It is because they think that they will have a chance to jump back over the fence when the tribulation begins. Warped are those having such a view....they cannot fool Jehovah who has read the heart.
Those who are whining about a video or videos scaring their children, are the same people who have bought tablets and let them play violent video games for many hours a day because it keeps them quiet and out of their hair...OR they allow them to watch TV shows advocating spirit take over. 
 
INTEGRITY
Yes, the question IS one of Integrity. When one knows better do they have the integrity to do better? Integrity is a word that is used often and has, for most, lost its import and meaning and become just a word that is thrown out and not assimilated, pondered and meditated over. Does God’s Word and the reasons behind the deliberate and specific usages and word choices have meaning for you? Do we live our lives with integrity as its core or do we choose to believe every vile wind no matter from which direction it blows because it is in keeping with our own corrupted heart condition? Integrity is rooted in the heart. The Hebrew word for integrity - (tom) has its foundation in a relevant biblical concept. That is the Hebrew word for heart (lev). In the ancient Paleo or pictographs - this word is represented by the combination of the lamed and the beyt. The lamed is Lev represented by the ancient pictograph of the staff--standing for authority, as it was used to direct the flocks and it was the motivator serving to move the flock in the desired direction. It is combined then with the beyt--the picture of the tent floor plan, meaning inside, as the family lives inside the tent.
Combined, you have the “authority within”, or heart – a person’s true authority within themselves. A similar English phrase, “the heart of the matter” still reflects this understanding [also reflected in Matthew 12:40, Exodus 15:8, Jonah 2:3, 2 Samuel 18:14]. It is the lev which proves the inner most core motivator of the human being – the authority within.
In the Journal of the Society of Biblical Literature and Exegesis, 1882, page 67, offers this: “It is said to stand for the central part in general, the inside, and so for the interior man as manifesting himself in all his various activities, in his desires, affections, emotions, passions, purposes, his thoughts, perceptions, imaginations, his wisdom, knowledge, skill, his beliefs, his reasonings, his memory, and his consciousness”, and they go on to state, “not mere outward appearances but what a person really is inside is what counts with God, who is an examiner of hearts.”
Further substantiation of this concept, the bible describes that such a person is lacking, void or empty, of certain traits in their lev, or authority within - such as void of understanding, lacking good judgment or discernment, lacking experience, lacking wisdom, et al – showing that the “positive qualities of the inner person” are deficient. And so the heart or lev is not full, it is lacking, deficient, dysfunctional, and perhaps even corrupted.
Just as tom, integrity pictured by the [taw & mem] is the mark of water, or waterline, used to assess fullness, completeness, intactness – a way to measure the fullness of a lake, a water vessel, or even the human vessel [by the fullness, or “integrity” of heart], or conversely, a way of assessing whether something is not completely full, and therefore in want, or lacking something, in need of something, deficient, divided, or corrupted.
In Psalm 7:8, David states, “Jehovah himself will pass judgment on the peoples. Judge me, O Jehovah, according to my righteousness [tsedeq] and according to my integrity [tom, a full and complete heart by biblical measure] in me.”
In Psalm 26:1, David writes, “Judge me, O Jehovah, for I myself have walked in my own integrity [tom, a full and complete heart by biblical measure]”
Proverbs 26:28 “ A tongue that is false hates the one crushed by it, and a flattering mouth causes an overthrow.”
Proverbs 6:16 “16 There are six things that Jehovah hates; Yes, seven things that he detests:
17 Haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood,
18 A heart plotting wicked schemes, and feet that run quickly to evil,
19 A false witness who lies with every breath, And anyone sowing contentions among brothers.”
1 John 3:15 “. 15 Everyone who hates his brother is a manslayer, and YOU know that no manslayer has everlasting life remaining in him.”
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Monotheism: Is it not the exclusive exaltation of the one source of all power, authority, and creativity?
The author who penned John 1:1c appears to have believed in this definition. Why wouldn't he? He was a Hebrew, and a Jew, and it is quite likely he was raised with the familiar words, "Hear O'Israel, yhwh our God is one Jehovah" ["Shma Yisra'el yhwh Eloheynu yhwh Echad" - Deuteronomy 6:4-5; also Mark 12:29-30; confirmed by the author of John in John 17:3].
So what could he have possibly been stating in John 1:1, when he renders that the logos [Jesus] was not only with God [ho theos], but that he [Jesus] was, "a god" [theos without the definite article]?

We know that the occurrence of theos in 1:1c by construct highlights the "quality" of the logos, that he was "divine", "godlike", or literally, "a god". But does this harmonize with the rest of the bible?

An individual named D.S. Russell who wrote "The Method and Message of Jewish Apocalyptic" included a comment on Hebrew monotheism, which I like, so I'll offer it here: "There is ample evidence to show that conception of monotheism was held in conjunction with a belief in a spiritual world peopled with supernatural and superhuman beings who, in some ways, shared the nature, though not the being, of God"
But is that true when examining the biblical texts?
Indeed, for at times the Bible employs the term "a god" [elohim in Hebrew, theos in Greek, both lacking the definite article, ha in Hebrew, ho in the koine Greek] to refer to those of extreme authority or power in relations to others.
Psalm 8:5 reads: "You also proceeded to make him [man] a little less than godlike ones [Hebrew, ´elo·him']," that is, angels. So angels, the malak, also called "the sons of the true God" in Genesis 6:2, and again in Job 1:6, Job 2:1, and Job 38:7, are called gods in Psalm 8:5.
In Exodus 4:15-16, Moses is told that Aaron would be to him for a mouth, while he would be "a god" (elohim) to Aaron [Vediber-hu lecha el-ha'am vehayah hu yihyeh-lecha lefeh ve'atah tihyeh-lo ‘elohim]. So Moshe was called by the title elohim, a god, as respects his position to Aaron as well as Pharaoh.
Directly in the book of subject here, in John Chapter 10, Jesus' defense against false charges that he claimed to be God [Yhwh], he noted that "the Law uses the word gods of those to whom the word of God was addressed," that is, human judges - [John 10:34, 35, JB; Psalm 82:1-6].
So human judges, are called gods, Moshe is called a god, and the sons of God [the malak, angels/messengers], are also called gods. Even Satan is called "the god of this system of things" at 2 Corinthians 4:4 by Paul, which makes sense, as ha'satan is identified among the sons of God in the above references in Job, the malak, those who were called "gods" in a specific indefinite construct [e.g., general class of].
According to the biblical texts, Jesus' resurrection placed him in a position far higher than angels, imperfect men, or Satan. Since these are referred to as "gods," mighty ones, surely Jesus can be and is "a god."
The biblical texts reserve the use of the title "Almighty God" [el shaddai] exclusively for Jehovah and no other. To call Jehovah by the title "Almighty" would have little significance unless there existed others who were also called gods but who occupied a lesser or inferior position.
And so the author of John also, calls the logos, the Christ, a god, or being of divine nature, though he never refers to him as "ho theos", the God, the one and only. He could have easily done so in John 1:1c - but he didn't.
"I am ascending to my Father and your Father and to my God and your God." (John 20:17) Even though Jesus was already resurrected as a mighty spirit, Jehovah was still his God. And Jesus continued to refer to Him as such even in the last book of the Bible, after he was glorified. - [Revelation 1:5, 6; 3:2, 12].
At John 20:31, the Bible further clarifies the matter by stating: "These have been written down that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ the Son of God," not that he was Almighty God. And it meant "Son" in a literal way, as with a natural father and son, not as some mysterious part of a Trinity Godhead where it certainly cannot be said, "Hear O'Israel, Yhwh our God is one Yhwh" ["Shma Yisra'el yhwh Eloheynu yhwh Echad"].

Congress  Kiev  2. day....    27442   Attendees
 ? .•*¨`*•..¸???¸.•*¨`*•. ?

Jehovah God withdrew his holy spirit and they began to die.