John Lindsay Barltrop

................slaves, but there will be no buyer.” (Deut.68:28) NWT Dear sister.........a slip of the mind, no doubt.........Deut. 28:68, not the other way around.........sorry, just being pedantic!!!!

................."I say nothing"

..........all persons who burn fossil fuels......... I guess this is like saying "mankind started polluting the earth since he lit the first fire"............however, I personally do not hold that view, because there was a time when the "natural" cycles coped with general pollution,(climate scientists warned of the problem in the late 60's - early 70's), but due to greed, particularly of coal and oil conglomerates, politics, and man's imperfection, we find ourselves in the situation we find ourselves today. (We could probably add deforestation and millions of trees that have died in North America-due to climate change, etc, etc., only add to the problem) There have also allegedly been many energy and pollution saving inventions over the years that maybe could have "prevented," or at least slowed down the problem that we find ourselves in today - these were bought by fossil fuel companies, because they would have eaten into their profits........... Unfortunately, as you rightly pointed out, we are part of society that is the cause of these problems we face and we probably would find it extremely hard or impossible to survive, (I certainly would not be communicating with you at this present time). I think that Pauls words at 1 Corinthians 7:31 .....making use of the world, but not to the full..... We are in a world controlled by Satan and as we know, the only hope for mankind is Gods Kingdom to sort ALL the worlds and faithful mankind's problems out. With the way the world is going, what the brothers of the GB are saying by what is being brought out on jw broadcast-ing, at conventions and assemblies, it is not too far off..........we certainly are deep into the time of the end.

.......earth-wide pollution....... (Revelation 11:18) 18 But the nations became wrathful, and your own wrath came, and the appointed time came for the dead to be judged and to reward your slaves the prophets and the holy ones and those fearing your name, the small and the great, and to bring to ruin those ruining the earth.” Pollution is one form of how man is ruining the earth .........climate change can come under this category of ruining the earth as well, also alleged to increase forces of devastating hurricanes.....

...........an exceptionally "tall" man??? ..........with orange hair??? Hmmm, I wonder!!!

I am not sure what the caption says in English, I think I got the gist of it..........BUT, I guess we will have our Congregation elders driving down the aisles of our Kingdom Halls????..............sorry i could not resist that!!

My dear Sister, Queen Esther, I was not complaining about the problem..........just stating a fact, that I could not see the original picture.........i was not really concerned about it.

I could not see the original picture either.............but, this one is OK.

True Tom, there is just a small correction........the theoretical doomsday clock has just been moved from three minutes to two and a half minutes to midnight

@Ann O'maly.I would just like to mention a couple of points concerning Sodom, Gomorrah, and surrounding cities. (Luke 17:29, 30) 29 But on the day that Lot went out of Sodʹom, it rained fire and sulfur from heaven and destroyed them all. 30 It will be the same on that day when the Son of man is revealed. This sets the scene and if we read Genesis 13:18 we see that it was the whole district, with all its cities were destroyed by Jehovah. Why? (Jude 6, 7)6 And the angels who did not keep their original position but forsook their own proper dwelling place, he has reserved with eternal bonds in dense darkness for the judgment of the great day. 7 In the same manner, Sodʹom and Go·morʹrah and the cities around them also gave themselves over to gross sexual immorality and pursued unnatural fleshly desires; they are placed before us as a warning example by undergoing the judicial punishment of everlasting fire.................Just like the world today. (2 Peter 2:4-7) 4 Certainly God did not refrain from punishing the angels who sinned, but threw them into Tarʹta·rus, putting them in chains of dense darkness to be reserved for judgment. 5 And he did not refrain from punishing an ancient world, but kept Noah, a preacher of righteousness, safe with seven others when he brought a flood upon a world of ungodly people. 6 And by reducing the cities of Sodʹom and Go·morʹrah to ashes, he condemned them, setting a pattern for ungodly people of things to come. 7 And he rescued righteous Lot, who was greatly distressed by the brazen conduct of the lawless people. (This lawlessness is peoples disdain for Jehovah's laws............the earth is also filled with violence and sexual depravity) just one other point on your last: "Also, if our confidence in the Bible isn't backed up by historical evidences, then couldn't it be argued that we might as well have faith in Aesop's fables?"................ I personally, find a distinct difference between historical accounts and and archaeological findings................However, at the risk of being repetitious, we do have to be careful as to what archaeologists and historians have to say on the Bible..........their points of view are from an imperfect human standpoint, whereas God's Word is Jehovah's viewpoint, and that is where our faith should come from, from within the pages of the Bible.

Queen Esther, I thought of another scripture that goes well with the one in Psalms, that was: (Proverbs 4:7) Wisdom is the most important thing, so acquire wisdom, And with all you acquire, acquire understanding. That was the theme scripture that was used when the "Aid to Bible Understanding" was released.........oh dear! That WAS a long time ago..........its almost as if it was yesterday!

"...........at times, some of these finds do clearly back up Bible accounts." Further on that point it is of interest what the publication, "The Bible - God's Word or Mans" had to say on archaeology:........ "The New Encyclopædia Britannica answers: “Archaeological criticism has tended to substantiate the reliability of the typical historical details of even the oldest periods [of Bible history] and to discount the theory that the Pentateuchal accounts [the historical records in the earliest books of the Bible] are merely the reflection of a much later period.”........ A couple of paragraphs later, the following appears:........... "Archaeology is a much more solidly based field of study than higher criticism. Archaeologists, by digging among the remains of past civilizations, have in many ways increased our understanding of the way things were in ancient times. Hence, it is not surprising that the archaeological record repeatedly harmonizes with what we read in the Bible. Sometimes, archaeology has even vindicated the Bible against its critics.".......... The same publication, later had this to say:......... "This illustrates the fact that archaeologists often differ among themselves. It is not, then, surprising that some disagree with the Bible while others agree with it. Nevertheless, some scholars are coming to respect the historicity of the Bible in general, if not in every detail."........... ...........of course that is why we must rely on God's Word for our faith and hope for the future.

@Ann O'Maly Re Biblical Archaeology site: I read an article on Sodom and Gomorrah........I do not have the exact quote, but, the gist of one part of the article was.........that the Bible did not supply any details of the prevalence of homosexuality within those cities..........my question would be "What Bible was the archaeologist(s) reading?"...........certainly not the Word of God. Always be wary of reports of this nature........our faith is not based on archaeological finds, our faith is based on what is contained in God's Word, even though, at times, some of these finds do clearly back up Bible accounts.

Yes, I agree..........it is far better for us to watch the video "O Jehovah......I Trust in You"..........we do know that it follows accurately the Biblical account of Hezekiah, when Assyria tried to plot Jerusalem's demise. The main problem with people who put some of these other videos together and narrate them, is that they do not know Jehovah, and the cannot even read the Bible account of events accurately...........also omit "minor" things, like the angel of Jehovah destroying 185 000 of Senacharib's army in one night......only a minor point.......NOT. That was the main point of the entire incident, to my way of thinking.........Jehovah acting on behalf of his people.........and isn't that what we are all looking forward to in the not too distant future, we say in effect "O Jehovah......we trust in you"

"..............interesting, very interesting, but stupid" - Quote from Rowan and Martin's Laugh In!!!!

Thank you very much for that interesting discussion on elephants..............marvellous thing this "evolution"......NOT........we certainly should marvel at these creations, all praise going to our grand Creator, Jehovah.

The white "parrot" is a sulphur crested cockatoo, a very common cockatoo in Australia, can be trained to talk, often together in large flocks, and if a flock gets into a large tree, they can be very destructive........and is also a good talker...........and of course the red "parrot" is one of the macaw family of parrots, certainly a magnificent looking bird and, I believe, are also good talkers and imitators..........all beautiful creations of our great God, Jehovah.

I wonder if there is anything in the water just waiting for a meal, or its a case of.........may Jehovah be with you......I am sure that he would be............as far as I know (which may not be much), the main thing to watch out for in rivers is poisonous snakes.

Methinks..........a very stable bridge........NOT. I feel that if one could not swim, it would be advisable to wear a lifejacket!!!!

Yes, these Brothers and Sisters carrying out the preaching work in the Amazon certainly have a vast and different territory than most of us............and we certainly appreciate their efforts in that challenging work. I think that the boat needs a bilge pump........it would certainly make things a little more comfortable!!!

Continuing on with Hebrews 4:12...........and he will certainly fee how sharp that two edged sword will be......if he doesn't change his ways.

I meant to add to my previous.......the hottest temperature that I have experienced in Adelaide was 45,70C.........I was not in Adelaide that day, I was in Port Lincoln (still in SA), and id was a bit over 470C...........I have no particular desire to experience that heat again in a hurry..........you could have literally fried an egg on the concrete footpath.

Its a little warmer here in Adelaide, South Australia............yesterday 380C, today 400C, and tomorrow 410C. Hopefully, a cool change Sunday, it will only be 300C. Tonight's minimum will be 280C