James Thomas Rook Jr.

bruceg:
You should appreciate that SOME people go into sewers to find out what is going on.
For about 5 years I used to design sewers, and sewage treatment plants .. and have walked in flowing sewers with turds and waste of all kinds floating past my feet.  I have broken up obstructions, and repaired walls and ceilings where roots and breaks occurred.
Unless you take a crap and pee in a bucket, and bury it in your yard you should APPRECIATE Sanitary Engineers who, as a classic example, raised the entire City of Chicago so the gravity sewers would stop making the City a place of pestilence and disease.
Sanitary Engineers have saved MORE LIVES than all the doctors of the 20th Century ... AND infinitely more than Theologians ...   BECAUSE they were willing to pop a manhole, and go down that ladder into the stinking steaming sewer below.
The same is true for those who insist on TRUTH ... no matter whose "ox gets gored".
For those that disparage people who are willing to walk in the crap, and elevate those who ignore that it is there, and TELL YOU not to look at it  ... both their sewers AND their Theology will be full of crap, and it will back up ... AND KILL THEM.
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..spoken like a true member of the Nazi Party, who believed in the exact same philosophy you have.
When any in a group are WRONG, and everybody speaks in agreement ... you have CEASED being JW.ORG, and have become JW.BORG.

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You do of course (hahaHAhaha!) realize that EVERY TIME there is "new light" on any subject ... that by definition that means you are APOSTATIZING from what you believed YESTERDAY!
That is what happens when you search for TRUTH.
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Have you heard of Sir Issac Newton? Amazing information for us to see how he knew Truths in the Bible! 
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The famous mathematician Sir Isaac Newton (1642-1727) also had a keen interest in the Bible. He understood that the holy ones will be raised to heavenly life and will rule invisibly with Christ. (Rev. 5:9, 10) As for the subjects of the Kingdom, he wrote: “The earth shall continue to be inhabited by mortals after the day of judgment and that not only for a 1000 years but even for ever.”
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Newton considered Christ’s presence to be centuries away. “One reason why Newton saw the Kingdom of God so far in the future was because he was profoundly pessimistic about the deep Trinitarian apostasy he saw around him,” said historian Stephen Snobelen. The good news was still veiled. And Newton saw no Christian movement that could preach it. He wrote: “These prophecies of Daniel and John [the latter recorded in the book of Revelation] should not be understood till the time of the end.” Newton explained: “‘Then,’ saith Daniel, ‘many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.’ For the Gospel must be preached in all nations before the great tribulation, and end of the world. The palm-bearing multitude, which come out of this great tribulation, cannot be innumerable out of all nations, unless they be made so by the preaching of the Gospel before it comes.”—Dan. 12:4; Matt. 24:14; Rev. 7:9, 10.
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Why did mankind’s hope remain obscure for most people in the days of Milton and Newton?
In the days of Milton and Newton, to express ideas contrary to official doctrine of the church was dangerous. Therefore, much of their Bible scholarship remained unpublished until after their deaths. The Reformation of the 16th century failed to reform the teaching about inherent immortality, and mainstream Protestant churches continued to teach Augustine’s idea that the Millennium was past, not future. 
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You may have read about the incident involving Sir Isaac Newton and a model of the solar system. Reportedly, a visiting atheist asked: “Who made it?” When Newton answered, “Nobody!” the atheist replied, “You must think I am a fool!” Newton is then said to have told the atheist that his puny imitation of the much grander solar system proves that there has to be a designer or maker. As appealing as this account may be, historical sources, as well as Newton scholars and biographers, cannot provide evidence that this conversation really occurred. Interestingly, the earliest references to this incident appeared in the early 1800’s using, not Newton’s name, but the name of German scholar Athanasius Kircher.
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NEWTON, SIR ISAAC
account about model of solar system: yb11 12
belief in earthly paradise to come: w09 8/15 14
comments on—
Bible: it-1 311; ba 14; g96 2/8 9; pr 13; Lmn 5
blood: it-1 345-346; g86 9/8 25
Christ’s return: g 4/08 8; jv 46
God’s existence: g92 3/22 10; g88 6/8 6
“great crowd” (Re 7:9): jv 160
preaching “good news of the kingdom” (Mt 24:14): w09 8/15 14; jv 160
time for understanding Daniel and Revelation: w09 8/15 14; jv 160
law of gravitation: g89 10/8 16-17
pursuits: w15 6/1 6
relationship with—
scholar William Whiston: g 8/14 12; w94 3/15 26-27
scientist Robert Hooke: g 7/06 28
Trinity rejected by: jv 124
https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/1200274091

Before taking this story seriously, I'd like to see Putin brag about it himself somewhere. This is exactly the kind of thing that war-mongers and regime-change-mongers monger for. Daily and nightly we see two or three major USA media outlets hawk for some kind of war against Russia in vicarious support of the person who came in second in our last presidential election.
She apparently would have wanted it that way if she won, and the 52% (or so) of Americans that wanted her to win apparently think it would be poetic justice against Trump's imagined Russian friends [if we could start a war].

Actually, Newton's first love was Theology, not math and physics ... and he wrote over a MILLION words by hand about that subject, and as far as core religious beliefs go, believed almost EXACTLY what Jehovah's Witness core theology is  today ( not including the 85% drivel) ... without ever having to ricochet down the hallways of thought ... as he never published anything that could not be PROVEN.
If memory serves, his manuscripts are at the Hebrew National Library, in Jerusalem. Many are available for free download from the Internet as PDF files.
He was the world's foremost expert on LIGHT ... not old light or new light, which he would have just laughed at ...
About the things he wrote about, he was never wrong (to my knowledge), and even the Society once speculated that he may have been one of the Anointed of God.
Many of his essays on theology, although correct, could not be published until AFTER he had died, as the Church system had the power to destroy him, his job, and his life, if he exposed them as frauds.
He was possibly, and arguably, the smartest and most determined natural man that ever lived .. and we share the same core theology.
If I had to make a decision about whose counsel to take .... I would choose someone who was NEVER wrong, lacking hard evidence to the contrary. 
It is worth the time and effort to follow ALL the links provided above, about Sir Isaac Newton, and to go to a Public Library and read several Biographies of his life.
If it wasn't for "Judge" Rutherford coming up with the name "Jehovah's Witnesses", The International Bible Students Association  might have been also called "Newtonians", which is pretty much the same thing ...
Although it was never actually published ... it appears Newton's opinion was that Armageddon would occur perhaps in 2060 CE, but not before 2032 CE.
I wonder what date the "Overlapping Generations" outer limits will calculate to be.
Hmmmm?

The way to spot "lost sheep" when they are in the middle of many other sheep is to lay on your side and look at their legs and feet to see if they are all facing the same way.

Thank you for posting such a lovely poem.  I can relate to this poem very well.  Recently (within the last few years) I was in a deep depression.  I would go to meeting arriving just as the song started, sit in the back and leave as soon as the last song and prayer were over.  I didn't have the capacity to visit and the noise afterwards was very overwhelming.   I just wanted to be in the "Satan Free Zone" as I call our meetings.   There were new friends who had moved in and probably thought I was disfellowshipped.  I was visited by 2 sisters while out in service and also the brothers made a point of visiting me on a couple of occasions.  I poured out my heart to them and they were so kind and put no pressure on me, just let me know I was valuable to Jehovah, Jesus and the congregation using scriptures and gentle words.   I love them for that, that is true shepherding (sisters included).  I have recovered now and try to pay-it-forward in service and to my brothers and sisters; giving hugs and kind words seasoned with a sense of humor when appropriate.   I make it a point to look for those who don't feel included so that I can share the love I have with them so that it may encourage them to keep going.   Why should we only be searching for sheep to come through the front door when we are losing so many out the back door?  

The way to spot "lost sheep" when they are in the middle of many other sheep is to lay on your side and look at their legs and feet to see if they are all facing the same way.

Tom:
I wanted a biography of Robert Heinlein, which I could not afford .... so I went to my Public Library, and asked THEM to buy it.  They did.
THEN I asked them to buy volume 2. They did. 
Saved me about a hundred dollars.
Perhaps that would work for you with Bedunns' book (?).
"Truth in Translation" is completely , absolutely unbiased ... it tells the good, and the not so good (from an AGENDA viewpoint ...) with a fair and accurate hand.
I am a retired engineer, and I think like Spock, in a sense, so The Simplified Watchtower for me seems to be missing the nuances ... which it is.
It's SIMPLIFIED ...
.... and I am a detail type person that would make you set your hair on fire and go screaming down the hallway to get away from the pain.
... and a detail oriented person in not necessarily an opposer ... although many people would think so.
Here is how NEVER TO BE DISAPPOINTED BY FELLOW HUMANS ...
.... expect NOTHING from them, and lower your expectations.

Its unbiblical, that's what not to like about it. 

I was concerned with Darryl's OTHER brother, Darryl ...

Lengthy it is. Nonetheless, "if I want to do what is good with my own things, what is that to you?"
It's not a reproof. Please don't take it that way. i just like that line.

What you just posted is INCREDIBLY important !
THANK YOU!

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That has been my personal experience, and my direct observations in approximately 80% of all the Congregations I have attended in the past 50 and more years ...and have watched it escalate dramatically as the "love of the greater number" has cooled off.
I cherish the other 20% ... but it was such a long time ago .....
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That has been my personal experience, and my direct observations in approximately 80% of all the Congregations I have attended in the past 50 and more years ...and have watched it escalate dramatically as the "love of the greater number" has cooled off.
I cherish the other 20% ... but it was such a long time ago .....
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Agreed .... Congress is an animal with about a thousand legs, and almost no brain. Their ability to NOT solve "Heath Care" shows that getting elected does not make them competent.

Agreed .... Congress is an animal with about a thousand legs, and almost no brain. Their ability to NOT solve "Heath Care" shows that getting elected does not make them competent.

I kind of agree.
I also agree that he was not a very effective president. But sometimes when I get bored and just want to see if JTR is healthy, I think about posting something that praises either Jimmy Carter or Barack Obama. 
I think that Obama was one of our most brilliant politicians ever. I think that Carter was one of the most sincere. But brilliance as a politician has nothing to do with how well they effected policy. I think he was almost as bad as Reagan, Bush I, Bush II on that count.
Deep down there is almost no difference in the two major political parties. The American people are easily fooled into thinking that one party is twice as good as the other, depending primarily on their prejudices about rich, poor, big gov't, small gov't, race, class, religion, intervention, military, oil, climate, "American interests," etc. But the undercurrent of dissatisfaction is beginning to trump all those issues as 95% of everyone begins to realize that they have been disenfranchized by reverse socialism: transfer of wealth into the hands of the top 1% merely by playing on fears that are easily drummed up to play upon the stupidity and prejudices of the 95%.

For whatever it is worth, when I was an elder, I kept my own personal check list of all attendees. During the course of the meeting I would discreetly (I hope) look about and place a check/no check by everyone's name. It is too easy to fall through the cracks when there are many things to occupy one's attention. To the extent possible, I wished to avoid that.
I stopped serving for a variety of reasons and forgot all about my lists. Two decades later, I visited my daughter's congregation and sat next to her. There in her lap was a list on which she was discretely entering check marks.
I don't claim that we are always good at human interaction. But we are head and shoulders above the world in general where people ask: "so, what do you do?" and if there is no interesting job or interest in something contemporary and silly, have no idea how to interact afterwards and sort of look forward to slipping away.
Some of it comes with age. But if age has conspired to make one self-centered, that does not help, either. Everyone is self-centered to some degree. More than any group I know, JW's help people to break away from that.

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That has been my personal experience, and my direct observations in approximately 80% of all the Congregations I have attended in the past 50 and more years ...and have watched it escalate dramatically as the "love of the greater number" has cooled off.
I cherish the other 20% ... but it was such a long time ago .....
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It is not rocket science of course. Unfortunately there exist some members of the congregation who are a little "different" and because of that don't get included, and sometimes get outright ignored by the majority. A brother once told me about his wife and two sons. His wife had severe depression, but despite that, would come and sit at the back of the hall. From what he said, I gathered the friends pretty much ignored her. Maybe because they just didn't know what to say to her. Maybe because she was "weird". Unfortunately, it also seems that no one paid much attention to her sons either. Sadly, both her sons left the truth, and one remarked that with the true religion there is supposed to be love, and he didn't feel any love. Of course, that may have just been an excuse, but I know for a fact that there can be many cliques inside a congregation and if you happen not to fit in one, you can be very much on your own, and feel it. Cliques are a natural phenomenon. Mother's with young children hang out with other mothers with young children. Teenagers hang out with other teenagers etc. We have 3 older sisters in our congregation who ALWAYS sit together, so much so that one elder called them the 3 amigos from the platform. But there are some friends that just don't fit anywhere. That is why it's so important to "widen out" and put in special effort to include them. Which means real effort on our part, because it may mean not only inviting that "weird" family to our party, but also paying attention to them on a regular basis....

Almost .... I might need that three seconds after all.
 

I try to not upset people unnecessarily, and there are even holsters that are concealable .. many different types and styles.  Google IWB Holsters (Inside the waisteband) .
I do not expect to encounter a "fast draw" situation, as I pay attention to my surroundings, and an extra three seconds seems not that important to me.
Like a fire extinguisher ( I have six), or a first aid kit (I have several of different sizes).
I hope at the end of my life the whole exercise will have been a complete waste of time and money ... merely a hobby, in retrospect.
 

I have said all I know how to say ..... time to move on.