xero

Due to my eyes I listen to things more frequently..... but you are giving away your age. LOL. The world is changing.....

You're absolutely right about the hypocrisy. It's all there. The cowardly behavior of some too. I understand too that some are closing their eyes to the deficiencies of yet another organization. I don't fault them for being human. I think of the parents of the man born blind who was healed, but for fear of getting kicked out of the  congregation failed to put their faith in Jesus, the one who healed their son. I don't fault those leaving because of any pain they've suffered at the hands of those they'd come to trust. So many have left and some have stayed. To me this is all in fulfillment of prophesy as well. To me it's all wheat and weeds until the end. There won't be any perfect organization now any more than there was in the 1st century. People can choose to stay or choose to leave and there's pain either way. The pain comes always when people put their trusts in nobles, the son of earthing man to whom no salvation belongs. No one should abdicate their Christian conscience to an organization, and yet what are people to do? Worship alone? Form yet another defective church? The history of Christianity is filled with these experiments in purity, but in the end all of them are impure. One has to determine how to live as a Christian in the midst of all this and try as much as possible to focus on what is for up-building. As to what people make of various prophecies and how these are interpreted, I'm certain that we won't know w/o any doubt or force-fitting what these mean until the time these things take place. I'm so sorry you lost your husband. I do appreciate your telling these things openly.

You are missing the point. Whether God does or doesn't, the assumption is that he does in the sense that the person qualifies as per the qualifications for an elder as stated in Timothy. And yet some elders may rely too much on their own biases in selecting elders, instead of looking to the qualifications in the Bible. For example they could frown on the fact that the person's shoes aren't shiny enough. So they are judging the man from a man's point of view. So by saying "because Jehovah hasn't decided yet" you are throwing the ball back in their court and maybe "shaming" them into realizing that the man they are judging as unqualified, may in fact be more spiritually minded than them. 

That doesn’t matter. I haven’t worn shinable shoes in years. What IS important is that you don’t go onstage the wrong way, entering from behind the quarter-walls. Forget the fatties. THAT ought to be outlawed:
https://www.tomsheepandgoats.com/2019/04/you-dont-enter-stage-from-behind-the-quarter-walls.html
In fact, there is some reason to think that God brought about the pandemic to shut down KHs because too many brothers were doing that.
I like this. It reminds me of Mark Twain. He told of the boy who complained that he got a spanking for something he didn’t do. The old man said, “Well—in that case it was for something you did do that you should have gotten a spanking for but didn’t!”

It may be that he simply prefers a place of sanity.

Perfect! 👍👏

I agree. It is a sin against your body if you fill it with unhealthy food and eat to excess. Why? Because you clog your arteries, get diabetes, ruin your joints and a host of other ailments directly associated with an unhealthy lifestyle, one of which is gluttony. I would say it's tantamount to smoking, unfortunately it's hard to define. How fat is too fat? How much food is too much food? Where would one draw the line? What would be the criterion for counseling someone and for forming a judicial committee? So unfortunately, it is impossible and will never happen. Unfortunately too though, these obese brothers and sisters are giving a bad witness. Perhaps if they realized this, they would try and live healthy for Jehovah, if not for themselves.
Also of course, some really cannot help it because of certain medical condition or medication. This is only a small percentage though. But you will not know everyone's circumstance, and if the elders were to pry into reasons why someone is fat, then that would border on harassment. So I don't think anyone will be disfellowshipped for being fat anytime soon, if that were the case, then congregations in America would go down by half 😂

I can understand making predictions. I can't count the times I thought to myself during a meeting "Shhh!...I'm just looking at Daniel again...nothing to see here holy spirit..." as if the answer is in plain sight but hidden unless you look really quickly when Jehovah's not looking....

I was counseled on how I walked up to the stage and that my shoes weren't shiny. I thought "What does it matter if I knuckle my way about the hall like a half-human primate? Plus, I hate dress shoes. So I found some that defied shining.?" 
I also got counseled on how I appeared to rely on human wisdom too much. So I indexed my remarks w/citations from publications. (Like the article in the awake magazine on the Heisenberg uncertainty principle as applied to free will) 
It was quite some time before I got appointed. I think they got embarrassed by the CO. What were they to do? A brother who fulfilled all his assignments, worked full time while being a regular pioneer and whose wife also was a regular pioneer? 
One brother once asked me "Have you ever wondered why you haven't been appointed as an elder?" I think I shamed/surprised him by saying "I think it's because Jehovah hasn't decided it's time yet."
You could see him get uncomfortable. (like he was thinking "wrongo bud! WE decide) 
I grew up as a gringo in Laredo, TX, so I'm used to getting picked on and hazed. I got it at home too. 
If I were to complain, what I'd get at home would be "What did YOU do to help create the situation", never taking my side.
So I'm used to taking a "What can I learn from this situation?". "I'm getting counsel. Is it biblical? Maybe. Does the brother think it is? Yes. Do I? Maybe. Do I have to tell him what I think? No. Is it good counsel for someone, even if not me? I'm sure it is somewhere and some time. Are you too proud to listen? No. Even if I think it's off."
So I think there's value in taking counsel and trying to see it from the other person's point of view.
I figured that if I help this brother use me as his crash-test dummy on giving counsel and make him feel good about the exchange, maybe he'll be less likely to do a crappy job of being an elder and maybe stop picking on people unnecessarily.
Glad to be a human punching bag. 

While I'm at it. There's this phrase we often hear. "I encouraged bro/sis X". 
I often counter something like "Well, it doesn't look that way to me from the reaction."
They react surprised.
I'll say "You may have intended to be encouraging, But intent isn't sufficient any more than telling a person you love them when they don't feel loved. It isn't about YOU it's about THEM. What makes another person feel encouraged is as different from what makes another person feel loved."
I had to explain this to my father years ago. 
I'm in IT so to use a technical illustration from the OSI model you have to have each layer of the communication stack from computer A to computer B communicate using the appropriate protocol. If one layer isn't performing the appropriate handshake and following the appropriate protocol, the message never reaches its target.
People are complicated and one size rarely fits all.
 

I was counseled on how I walked up to the stage and that my shoes weren't shiny. I thought "What does it matter if I knuckle my way about the hall like a half-human primate? Plus, I hate dress shoes. So I found some that defied shining.?" 
I also got counseled on how I appeared to rely on human wisdom too much. So I indexed my remarks w/citations from publications. (Like the article in the awake magazine on the Heisenberg uncertainty principle as applied to free will) 
It was quite some time before I got appointed. I think they got embarrassed by the CO. What were they to do? A brother who fulfilled all his assignments, worked full time while being a regular pioneer and whose wife also was a regular pioneer? 
One brother once asked me "Have you ever wondered why you haven't been appointed as an elder?" I think I shamed/surprised him by saying "I think it's because Jehovah hasn't decided it's time yet."
You could see him get uncomfortable. (like he was thinking "wrongo bud! WE decide) 
I grew up as a gringo in Laredo, TX, so I'm used to getting picked on and hazed. I got it at home too. 
If I were to complain, what I'd get at home would be "What did YOU do to help create the situation", never taking my side.
So I'm used to taking a "What can I learn from this situation?". "I'm getting counsel. Is it biblical? Maybe. Does the brother think it is? Yes. Do I? Maybe. Do I have to tell him what I think? No. Is it good counsel for someone, even if not me? I'm sure it is somewhere and some time. Are you too proud to listen? No. Even if I think it's off."
So I think there's value in taking counsel and trying to see it from the other person's point of view.
I figured that if I help this brother use me as his crash-test dummy on giving counsel and make him feel good about the exchange, maybe he'll be less likely to do a crappy job of being an elder and maybe stop picking on people unnecessarily.
Glad to be a human punching bag. 

It takes a lot of work. I have been called in to salute the flag on a few instances.
(I kept my fingers crossed)

I can understand making predictions. I can't count the times I thought to myself during a meeting "Shhh!...I'm just looking at Daniel again...nothing to see here holy spirit..." as if the answer is in plain sight but hidden unless you look really quickly when Jehovah's not looking....

I haven't enforced any GB rules. Just what's in the bible.

Thank you for posting the two articles.  I had a blast reading them... again... 

When this gathering takes place of those who cause stumbling, the good wheat are taken up to shine in the kingdom of the father.
 
We are already in this time - the conclusion of the Parousia is very near...... it just depends on how long the UN and its kings rule. UN already ruling and dictating policies in the world.  For example - WHO ordered a lock down for Corona and all governments in the world complied.  Only two (that I know of ) followed their own Corona protocol - Taiwan and Sweden...
Most countries will soon lock down everyone in the fortress of the 'internet of things' wherein everyone will be monitored.  We will all be monitored all the time so the governments can follow through on the plan of "sustainable development" on the earth.  UN Agenda 2030 is the sustainable development plan. 
This does indeed refer to those who cause stumbling but not necessarily the GB - you are inserting your own interpretation in it. Suddenly in your mind it refers to those 'taking the lead'' ....but the scripture does not say so..... lol..... talk about jumping to your own conclusions!

Yes, this clarification is important.
Unfortunately, those who are taking the lead, and believe they are in charge of producing food at the proper time, feel, and have felt, the need to put their hope into a definite prediction of sorts, rather than just talking about a hope.....that is sometime in the future. Hence we have a reworking of the 'Generation' although as far as I am aware no one requested "new light" on this. 

I can understand making predictions. I can't count the times I thought to myself during a meeting "Shhh!...I'm just looking at Daniel again...nothing to see here holy spirit..." as if the answer is in plain sight but hidden unless you look really quickly when Jehovah's not looking....

Just engaging in the same kind of thinking some of the CO's I've had private conversations with, when they were making points not yet made (yet).
I've had to be careful. I was reading the scriptures about asking, knocking, and seeking and persisting in this. The answers you may get may not be ripe for prime time (they could be wrong too). I try not to ask/knock/seek FOR other people (but here I'm doing it anyway by discussing this)
But...It could be then, that since the wheat and the weeds are still growing together one would hardly expect perfection anywhere. Anywhere.

I kindof like the happy haha face. Why wouldn't anyone like that? 
Makes me think of how people have lenses on the world.
New Microaggression Goggles Help You Find Something Offensive In Any Situation

U.S.—A new pair of Microaggression Goggles has been made available for people who want to find something offensive in any situation.
The goggles are available on Kickstarter. The promotional video claims that the goggles are able to actively identify threats to political correctness and alert you when you're about to be dangerously oppressed. "Are you tired of having to search for something to be oppressed by?" a voiceover says in the ad. "With our patented microaggression-tracking technology, you won't have to search any longer. Now, you can instantly identify up to 100 things to be offended by in any conversation."
The product will detect a wide range of microaggressions, including the following:
White privilege MAGA hats Smiling at you without your consent Manspreading Mansplaining Manbreathing Manexisting Lack of avocado toast Cultural appropriation Cultural exclusion Being hateful toward women Being too friendly toward women Not liking The Last Jedi You can back the goggles for $99 at a base level or spend $4,999 on a deluxe edition that includes a white guy who will follow you around so you can claim to be even more oppressed. The Kickstarter creator believes they will ship within the next decade.
https://babylonbee.com/news/new-microaggression-goggles-help-you-find-something-offensive-in-any-situation

I haven't enforced any GB rules. Just what's in the bible.

Whatever others have done makes no difference to me. The context makes it clear that NOT ONE of those counted righteous had a clue anyone was in some special "Christ's Brothers" category. One flock, one shepherd. Be decent to each other and don't cop a superior attitude.

Is it important? You don't see ANY of those who were accounted among the righteous as recognizing ANY as Christ's brothers in the account. They just behaved decently in accord w/their conscience. That's all. Moreover they had the attitude. "When did we EVER do anything right?". 
I've always been interested in comma placement theory, and though the context suggests (and what I've researched in lexicons) like the "truly I tell you today ,(COMMA) you will be w/me in paradise" it makes me think a person could interpret this as "To the extent you did it to these least ones,(COMMA) my brothers,(COMMA) you did it to me" as a welcoming into the family. "Welcome BROTHERS!"

4Jah - Right now we have people who profess to be anointed. None of us know whether anyone who makes such a profession is one or not. I rather suspect Paul would say to them:
“Do not go beyond the things that are written,” so that you may not be puffed up with pride,+ favoring one against the other. 7  For who makes you different from another? Indeed, what do you have that you did not receive?+ If, in fact, you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not receive it?8  Are you already satisfied? Are you already rich? Have you begun ruling as kings+ without us? I really wish that you had begun ruling as kings, so that we also might rule with you as kings.+  1 Cor. 4:6-8
Now since the heavens are Gods throne and the earth his footstool and all things on earth belong necessarily to Jesus Christ, I'd say through the whole world is lying in the power of the wicked ones, the whole of those who profess to Christianity are making professions of being the earthly part of his kingdom. This distinction has yet to be made perfectly clear as the wheat and the weeds are still growing together. "At THAT time will the righteous shine". Now this may be even more far removed from what everyone's thinking, but what it means to "shine" could mean 'reflecting like mirrors the glory of Jehovah" or it could mean this is what these appear to be in their resurrected and glorified state. I'm not dogmatic about this, but I do see that hard line dogmatism is usually about power over another's conscience.
All those who are really wearing invisible crowns (and are in recognition of their own degraded state) will not be spending their time pulling rank or worrying about others who may or may not have pulled rank as it were.
To go further, I see this in a similar jaundiced view as did Paul when he considered the chronic harping on circumcision in his time : 
 4  But that matter came up because of the false brothers brought in quietly,+ who slipped in to spy on the freedom+ we enjoy in union with Christ Jesus, so that they might completely enslave us;+ 5  we did not yield in submission to them,+ no, not for a moment,* so that the truth of the good news might continue with you.6  But regarding those who seemed to be important+—whatever they were makes no difference to me, for God does not go by a man’s outward appearance—those highly regarded men imparted nothing new to me....
12  I wish the men who are trying to unsettle you would emasculate themselves.* - Ga. 5:12
To wit - He will cull all things which cause stumbling. It doesn't matter if what's causing stumbling is a person wearing an invisible crown or not. All who profess to be under this kingdom "whether in pretense or in truth" will be culled. A Christian should focus on THEMSELVES and THEIR responsibility and let God sort the rest.