Evacuated

Eoin Joyce, thank you for your nice comment...  thousands of devotee visits this cemetery every year starting Oct. 31 to Nov. 2. On October 14, 2016, we apply for a permit to display our publications in four (4) different  locations sorrounding the cemetery. But, since the community leader is familiar to our activity, he selected the lone entrance of the cemetery for us to put the display, Because the 3 other locations are intended for commercial used. Each Pioneers and publishers contributed for the rental of the place. Boxes of publications were placed, and some people accepted to visit them. Successful indeed!

Extraordinary!!
I presume this is in the Phillipines.
I'm not sure if you can use the word "overkill" for cemetery witnessing, but it does seem a high concentration of mobile witnessing carts in that one location!
Is this a regular feature or is it particularly in connection with the Philipino version of Hallowe'en?

The September 2013 Awake article on this matter was addressed to people in this way , "you may not believe in supernatural spirits".
2 Cor. 4:4
Satan blinds peoples minds to the truth through false propoganda in many areas, religious, scientific, political etc. They construct all kinds of mental buildings based on these false foundations.
When some people hear the truth on a matter however, it can move their thinking on other issues. Bit like seismic activity in one area causes building collapse somewhere miles away. 
I had a study once with a Trotskyist revolutionary. He was active in a radical political party. It was impossible to discuss world conditions or religion in general without getting into a political debate.  After a year, I gave up and switched to talking in detail about the Bible's teaching on life after death, something he had expressed no interest in. However, this was new to him and he listened with some interest intellectually, as he did not know that mainstream church thinking differed from what the Bible taught.
Nothing happened for several months until he attended a funeral service for a close relative. He realised that the funeral discourse contradicted what he now knew was taught in the Bible. He was outraged by this. Within weeks he started attending all the meetings at the Kingdom Hall and soon dedicated his life to Jehovah. His zeal was now redirected into the preaching and teaching work and he pioneered for many years. 
So in the spirit of Ecclesiastes 11:5, I would encourage @Queen Esther to keep publishing the truth on matters. Who knows where it will have success?
Just one thing, It is good to provide a link to jw.org when quoting articles in this manner. Like this: Sep 2013 Awake

The September 2013 Awake article on this matter was addressed to people in this way , "you may not believe in supernatural spirits".
2 Cor. 4:4
Satan blinds peoples minds to the truth through false propoganda in many areas, religious, scientific, political etc. They construct all kinds of mental buildings based on these false foundations.
When some people hear the truth on a matter however, it can move their thinking on other issues. Bit like seismic activity in one area causes building collapse somewhere miles away. 
I had a study once with a Trotskyist revolutionary. He was active in a radical political party. It was impossible to discuss world conditions or religion in general without getting into a political debate.  After a year, I gave up and switched to talking in detail about the Bible's teaching on life after death, something he had expressed no interest in. However, this was new to him and he listened with some interest intellectually, as he did not know that mainstream church thinking differed from what the Bible taught.
Nothing happened for several months until he attended a funeral service for a close relative. He realised that the funeral discourse contradicted what he now knew was taught in the Bible. He was outraged by this. Within weeks he started attending all the meetings at the Kingdom Hall and soon dedicated his life to Jehovah. His zeal was now redirected into the preaching and teaching work and he pioneered for many years. 
So in the spirit of Ecclesiastes 11:5, I would encourage @Queen Esther to keep publishing the truth on matters. Who knows where it will have success?
Just one thing, It is good to provide a link to jw.org when quoting articles in this manner. Like this: Sep 2013 Awake

Extraordinary!!
I presume this is in the Phillipines.
I'm not sure if you can use the word "overkill" for cemetery witnessing, but it does seem a high concentration of mobile witnessing carts in that one location!
Is this a regular feature or is it particularly in connection with the Philipino version of Hallowe'en?

Extraordinary!!
I presume this is in the Phillipines.
I'm not sure if you can use the word "overkill" for cemetery witnessing, but it does seem a high concentration of mobile witnessing carts in that one location!
Is this a regular feature or is it particularly in connection with the Philipino version of Hallowe'en?

Wonderful experience and very apt!
I agree with you of course. I was just being too technical in my reply to Johniffer as he said "Thanks for this reminder. hope more people read this. they don't know what they are doing because they don't believe bad spirits exist". It didn't seem logical to me as why would people suddenly start believing in bad spirits based on that article...But I can see your point, some thought process could be triggered, as shown by the example you posted. I was looking at it too narrow minded! 

The September 2013 Awake article on this matter was addressed to people in this way , "you may not believe in supernatural spirits".
2 Cor. 4:4
Satan blinds peoples minds to the truth through false propoganda in many areas, religious, scientific, political etc. They construct all kinds of mental buildings based on these false foundations.
When some people hear the truth on a matter however, it can move their thinking on other issues. Bit like seismic activity in one area causes building collapse somewhere miles away. 
I had a study once with a Trotskyist revolutionary. He was active in a radical political party. It was impossible to discuss world conditions or religion in general without getting into a political debate.  After a year, I gave up and switched to talking in detail about the Bible's teaching on life after death, something he had expressed no interest in. However, this was new to him and he listened with some interest intellectually, as he did not know that mainstream church thinking differed from what the Bible taught.
Nothing happened for several months until he attended a funeral service for a close relative. He realised that the funeral discourse contradicted what he now knew was taught in the Bible. He was outraged by this. Within weeks he started attending all the meetings at the Kingdom Hall and soon dedicated his life to Jehovah. His zeal was now redirected into the preaching and teaching work and he pioneered for many years. 
So in the spirit of Ecclesiastes 11:5, I would encourage @Queen Esther to keep publishing the truth on matters. Who knows where it will have success?
Just one thing, It is good to provide a link to jw.org when quoting articles in this manner. Like this: Sep 2013 Awake

The September 2013 Awake article on this matter was addressed to people in this way , "you may not believe in supernatural spirits".
2 Cor. 4:4
Satan blinds peoples minds to the truth through false propoganda in many areas, religious, scientific, political etc. They construct all kinds of mental buildings based on these false foundations.
When some people hear the truth on a matter however, it can move their thinking on other issues. Bit like seismic activity in one area causes building collapse somewhere miles away. 
I had a study once with a Trotskyist revolutionary. He was active in a radical political party. It was impossible to discuss world conditions or religion in general without getting into a political debate.  After a year, I gave up and switched to talking in detail about the Bible's teaching on life after death, something he had expressed no interest in. However, this was new to him and he listened with some interest intellectually, as he did not know that mainstream church thinking differed from what the Bible taught.
Nothing happened for several months until he attended a funeral service for a close relative. He realised that the funeral discourse contradicted what he now knew was taught in the Bible. He was outraged by this. Within weeks he started attending all the meetings at the Kingdom Hall and soon dedicated his life to Jehovah. His zeal was now redirected into the preaching and teaching work and he pioneered for many years. 
So in the spirit of Ecclesiastes 11:5, I would encourage @Queen Esther to keep publishing the truth on matters. Who knows where it will have success?
Just one thing, It is good to provide a link to jw.org when quoting articles in this manner. Like this: Sep 2013 Awake

The September 2013 Awake article on this matter was addressed to people in this way , "you may not believe in supernatural spirits".
2 Cor. 4:4
Satan blinds peoples minds to the truth through false propoganda in many areas, religious, scientific, political etc. They construct all kinds of mental buildings based on these false foundations.
When some people hear the truth on a matter however, it can move their thinking on other issues. Bit like seismic activity in one area causes building collapse somewhere miles away. 
I had a study once with a Trotskyist revolutionary. He was active in a radical political party. It was impossible to discuss world conditions or religion in general without getting into a political debate.  After a year, I gave up and switched to talking in detail about the Bible's teaching on life after death, something he had expressed no interest in. However, this was new to him and he listened with some interest intellectually, as he did not know that mainstream church thinking differed from what the Bible taught.
Nothing happened for several months until he attended a funeral service for a close relative. He realised that the funeral discourse contradicted what he now knew was taught in the Bible. He was outraged by this. Within weeks he started attending all the meetings at the Kingdom Hall and soon dedicated his life to Jehovah. His zeal was now redirected into the preaching and teaching work and he pioneered for many years. 
So in the spirit of Ecclesiastes 11:5, I would encourage @Queen Esther to keep publishing the truth on matters. Who knows where it will have success?
Just one thing, It is good to provide a link to jw.org when quoting articles in this manner. Like this: Sep 2013 Awake

Moses was inspired, because he wrote several Bible books, but he was not infallible and made mistakes. The GB are not inspired (the Bible is complete) and make mistakes, but they do rely on God's holy spirit through the Scriptures. As we all should.

We don't need to assume it. It is a feature of all generations associated with a historical sequence. An important feature here is that the duration of the sequence of events described in Matt 24 is longer than the life span of one human at the time they occur. 
As for Matt 24 supporting the idea, it does not define the use of the word generation directly. It does not actually state something like "a generation attached to the events described here will have to extend longer than the lifetime of one man".
Instead, we need to 'reason from the Scriptures". It is clear that there is no Bible rule determining the length of a generation. Just thinking about Genesis 15:13-16 in comparison with  the context of other places where the word is used shows this. Or when you think how long people lived in earlier Bible times then obviously, the concept of a generation, if related to how long someone lives, is flexible.
The idea of a generation based on the Bro Splane's reasoning against the description of Joseph's generation at Exodus 1:6 works for me. It's not creating a new concept or anything. It just points out the fact that when a generation is associated with a historical sequence (in this case the life of Joseph), then members of that generation obviously overlap lives because people continue to be born within the parameter of time set by that sequence. The overlap occurs between the lives of 2 groups. Group 1.Those born before the event(s) referenced. Group 2. Those born after, but living at the same time as the first group. This is the case for every generation associated with a historical sequence. (I'm not forgetting that we limit the generation here to just to anointed Christians)
Whether one persons lifetime is long enough to span the duration of that sequence or not is immaterial. It is not the crucial criteria. 
Now, with regard to the duration of the period of time identified by Jesus in Matt. 24 as the "last days". If we have accepted (for various reasons which are the subject of other threads) that 1914CE commences that time period, with the 1st World War as a tangible evidence of that, then it is patently obvious that the period of time marking the "last days" exceeds the life span of humans at this time. (If humans at this time lived as long as Abraham, or even Job, did, this discussion might not be taking place).
But Jesus spoke of a generation associated with the historical sequence known as the "last days", a generation that, like all other generations before, would consist of 2 overlapping groups, a generation associated with a historical sequence of events that exceeds the life span experienced by persons at the time, but, nevertheless, a generation that will have "by no means pass[ed] away, when God's Kingdom crushes and puts an end to all other kingdoms.
So then, what you have stated about Group 2 not seeing the start of the sign is not an assumption. It is a common feature of all generations defined in this way. It's just that no one seems to have specifically pointed it out.
However, what is unique in this concept is the make up of those in the second group considered valid for inclusion in the generation. That is, Group1 consists of those alive to witness the start of the historical sequence, and Group 2, those born after the start but who are contemporary to that first group. Where the historical sequence exceeds the lifetime of any in the first group, then ONLY those overlapping with that first group are considered as part of that generation. Any coming on the scene later (ie overlapping with the 2nd group only), are excluded.
So, it is the limiting of those included in the second group that is the doctorine here, not the concept of the overlap of groups in a generation, which is a fact independent of Jehovah's Witnesses.
Some nutshell eh?
 
 

Thanks so much. I am reassured!

Yes,  of  sure  a  google  "translating mistake" -  sorry...  I  corrected  the  sentence !  Jehovah  has  ALL  under  His  control,  YES !
The  original  was  in  Spanish  -

?? Don't understand this. Is this a publication extract in another language run through Google Translate or something?
Do you know where the source material comes from

There are some strange comments and inferences in this thread. Regardless of what others may think about our stand on blood, some facts are as follows:
Jehovah's Witnesses make a personal decision to avoid the use of whole blood in medical management of health issues simply becuase they understand the prohibition at Acts 15:29 to apply ito this practice. Jehovah's Witnesses do not sign a baptism certificate because the baptism itself is seen as a public declaration of their decision to dedicate themselves to God. The so-called "blood card" that Jehovah's Witnesses use is a provision to assist them in dealing with medical authorities in case of an emergency. It serves as an expression of their will in regard to a  personal choice of medical procedure and is no different than carrying information regarding diabetes, an allergy, or any other medical preference or condition. Medical practioners wishing to respect personal choice in such matters have expressed appreciation for such a document, not least because it helps to resolve conflict in balancing their own professional responsibility against respect for an individual,s wishes. It is a personal choice to have one and no one is compelled to carry one as is inferred. The brothers who support Jehovah's Witnesses in a medical emergency are there by choice of the individual experiencing the situation. They work outside of specific situations to raise awareness amongs medical practioners of the reasons why Jehovah's Witnesses take this particular view of a medical procedure, and the existence of alternative methods of managing medical conditions where blood loss trauma is an issue. They also support Witnesses in locating practioners who respect their conscientous stand and have sufficient expertise to treat them.

Transformation Thursday …2010 and 2016. Putting on the new personality and serving Jehovah has truly changed us and has blessed us beyond belief! From homeless heroin addicts to regular pioneers, this really is the best life ever!!! Photo shared by @cara.mackin
View the full article

Koala sleepingKoalas also have special adaptations that enable them to feast on eucalyptus leaves. Very fussy eaters, they use their excellent sense of smell to select the best tasting leaves. Although there are 600 types of eucalyptus trees, koalas generally limit their diet to two or three favorite kinds. In addition, eucalyptus leaves are highly fibrous and poisonous to other animals. But koalas have bacteria in their stomachs that break down the fiber and toxic oils and allow them to absorb 25% of the nutrients. In order to survive on such a low calorie diet, they conserve energy by moving slowly and sleeping around 20 hours a day.
Koalas inhabit the forests of eastern Australia, but there are a few differences between northern and southern subspecies. They range in length from 60-85 cm (2-3 ft.), but northern koalas are on the smaller side, weighing 4-8.5 kg (9-19 lb.), while southern koalas weigh 7-13 kg (15-29 lb.). Southern koalas also have thicker fur to keep them warm in the colder winters.
Koalas are territorial animals who live separately in their own home ranges. A home range consists of suitable trees that provide food and shelter and overlaps slightly with other koalas’ home ranges. Koalas define their territories by making scratch marks on trees; males also secrete a sticky brown substance from a scent gland in their chests that they rub on the bark. From August to February, koalas meet in the overlapping areas to mate a koala’s pregnancy lasts 35 days. When the joey is born, it is only 2 cm (less than an inch) long. It is hairless, blind, and has undeveloped ears. But the newborn does have very strong forelimbs and an instinct to climb from the birth canal into the mother’s pouch. There the baby finds a nipple, which swells in its mouth keeping the joey in place.
KoalaAfter the joey spends 6 months in the pouch developing, the mother koala will produce a special substance called pap. Pap is a soft, alternate form of fecal matter that consists of the bacteria necessary to digest eucalyptus. In order for the joey to start eating leaves, it will need the bacteria in its intestines. So the joey feeds on pap in addition to milk for several weeks
View the full article

Thanks @JWInsider and @ThePraeceptor for very helpful input.
For me, the expression by no means, and it's context, seems to imply a condition.
For example, either the generation may look as if it will pass away, hence the emphatic reassurance it will by no means pass away... or,
the generation will by no means pass away in that, at the time of reference, the generation will be so evidently present that it will be ummistakeable, i.e. not a dwindling remnant.
I don't think I want to do that at all. But, point taken, and your reassurance that the Greek is a mere emphasis without further implication is useful and I shall bear it in mind when considering the context of the many other instances of this device.  
"That day and hour", of course, remains...... unknown. 

Getting there.
Now is this construction just for the sake of emphasis? Or could it be construed in an additional sense? The English expression, by no means, seems to convey more than just an emphasis that something will or will not take place. Would that be true of the Greek expression?

Since 2009 there has been a great deal of discussion around the concept of an "overlapping generation" in connection with Jesus words at Matt. 24:34.
I don't see anything particularly difficult about the idea myself. 
I mean, you have a two stage relay. Start point: 1914 CE on one end. Finish point: the "great tribulation" on the other end. The track between is the stream of time.
As it is impossible for one team of runners to span the distance from the start, 1914 CE, to the finish, the "great tribulation", there are two teams of "anointed" Christians. Starting the race, those who saw the year 1914 eventually meet up with those (born later) who will see the outbreak of the great tribulation. The baton is passed and the race completed by the second group.
The entire group are seen as the (anointed) generation of the last days in Jesus prophecy. Not really rocket science is it?
But, in all the discussion around this, I see a phrase in Jesus words at Matt 24:34 I find intriguing. He said that "this generation will by no means pass away"  (NWT)
Other translations render this differently, many saying simply "will not pass" or words to that effect. Why does the NWT render it in this particular manner?

acerbic: used to describe something that is spoken or written in a way that is direct, clever, and cruel.
This definition fits what I mean to convey by the use of the word "acerbic". You have listed a range of evidence sources for anyone wishing to investigate the substantiation of this description, although some of the postings here provide sufficient evidence for me.
This word carries many shades of meaning ,as I am sure you are aware, (as does the word "generation"), and I have seen some of those other characteristics displayed by many on both sides of  the argument, as indeed you have pointed out has been your own experience.
But in the terms of the definition above, the attacks I have seen and experienced on both chronology and other evidence strands regarding Jehovah's Witnesses beliefs on the establishment of the Messianic Kingdom in the heavens in the year we call 1914CE, closely match the description above as direct, clever, and cruel. This includes the style of commentary in the form of criticisms of the Governing Body, Jehovah's Witnesses, the Watchtower Society etc. etc. which  usually accompanies these attacks. "Acerbic", in that sense, sums the matter up quite well for me.

True. Forgot about that scripture.
Also true, because people are dying and being born all the time. It's not as if this process stops for a time being just to allow a group of people of similar age to be encompassed. In any case, secondary Biblical applications always differ, (especially when it comes to time) to the first application.
I haven't finished going through all yours and JWInsider's posts yet though. Got stuff to do. But I am sure I will have some comments later, for what they are worth

To all really.
Please don't waste time overthinking my relay race illustration. You may have noted I have abandoned it now. I only wanted to illustrate the idea of an overlap, but I realise now that there are too many tempting red herrings in the concept of a relay race. (Christian race, obstacles, training, teams, trainers, runners, false starts....dear me!)
So really this is an example of illustration overkill because it 's too vivid and rich for the purpose I intended.  

Ah! I have seen that. I went immediately for the cliché meaning when it's combined with the word attack and assumed "venomous, vitriolic, virulent, vicious" which didn't quite ring true in my experience. Even the word "attack" still didn't quite ring true, and I think I've seen more direct, clever and cruel attacks on the blood issue, supposed education policy and unfortunate prevalence of pedophilia.
But then, I decided to review Brother Splane's presentation on the issue of the overlapping generation, and instead of going to the original source, I assumed that someone would have cut it down to exactly the 10 or so relevant minutes out of the longer broadcast, so I went to Google and typed in "Splane on generation" without the quotes. I saw a couple of YouTube videos and clicked on them. One was both "direct" and "cruel" comparing it to a pile of dung. And another one was "clever" only in the sense that it seemed like the correct video, but was full of derisive laughter at the end, and YouTube itself offered a couple more options which were apparently along the same lines of those two videos at the top of the original search results.
My third attempt worked just fine, but I have no doubt now that you had more good reasons for using the term "acerbic attack" than I was aware of. Sorry to have doubted you.