Arauna

Making Walmart even more efficient so the shareholders make more money.  Most of the employees earn so little that they have to supplement their incomes with food stamps..... which costs the government billions.  When corporations pay very low wages they are in effect being subsidized by government.... many people fail to see this.

Crazy world we are living in!

Thanks for article - good to know they are moving in this direction.   Even if there are international rules - so nations can refer to it to call one another out on bad behavior -  I doubt the renegades will adhere to it.   Similar to all other international laws they will have something that diplomats can discuss but with little conformity. (Human Rights comes to mind).

Pity, it would have brought cheaper services to very poor communities in Africa...

The British press are the worst at fabricating stories ... and in most cases there is no smokin' gun!  I feel sorry for the celebrities because their lives are often ruined by this and it is just too much botheration to go to court - so the press keeps doing it because there are no consequences!   

No, it is not good to be de-sensitized....  this is what is happening in this world with all the bad things going on - we are all brutalized because we see and hear too much violence and we lose our empathy.... Soldiers who have faced combat are all brutalized in some way.... but we can also become like this even if we face lesser combat.....  This is far removed from the love that Jesus taught. 

While the secular world believes all  will be Ok if everyone just shows humanism - I believe this type of philosophy is not a solution to mankind's problems.  Only the ideology of Jesus can work - the philosophy of self-sacrificing love.  If all of society cares more for others than themselves - no one will have to watch their rights because everyone will look after each other and make sacrifices to look after each other..... but first the wicked - who do not buy into this life-style - who have their own selfish goals and agendas must be removed from this earth........ As you can see from this comment I am totally sold on the ideology that Jesus taught.  There is no other solution for mankind's problems to get everyone cooperating to the collective benefit of a world-wide society.

I think this is also why the governing body is focusing more on our life-style at present and how we should change our personalities.... but most of us are just imperfect humans beings and we do not listen very well.  We know we have to do this but we do not always apply it because most individuals bring their past baggage to the table when they become Witnesses - and this can bring some discord..... and I am sure you are aware of the scripture where Paul said " miserable man that I am".

I read Isiah 64: 6 the other day.... and I realized how contaminated and unclean all humans are in the sight of a sublimely supreme God and how far we all still have to develop.  He really is a great forgiver! (Some translations refer to our uncleanness as a menstruation rag).... Tells it how it is!

 the 'coming' ('Parousia' / presence) and the final 'coming / 'erkhomenon'

And with this I am closing this discussion..... I do not expect you do agree with me.... believe what you please.....

Not surprised!  China, North Korea and Russia all showing signs of extreme nationalism..... which leads to posturing and display of power.  China building those islands.... and taking over other countries' sea space and doing this without military challenges because no-one dare challenge them...

All these politicians lie through their teeth to keep up appearances!   If people ask me in field service what I think?  I say that whomever comes to the Whitehouse is going to make large mistakes because we are in the time of the end - they are going to meet unprecedented international complications.  I quote the scripture in Luke 21: 25  "and on the earth anguish of nations not knowing the way out."  We are already seeing some of this in Europe with the refugee crisis. .... and more to come. 

Oh- neat!  Could be dangerous though!

It depends on 'which' return you are talking about. .....  I always remember that the entire world is hostile to the plans/ purpose of Jehovah and the person behind all of this is Satan - to confuse mankind.  Satan is the inspiration behind most of the false religions that cause uncertainty and confusion - so the truth/light cannot shine through.  Are you not surprised that there are always dissidents who are trying to distort the truth?  Whether they are sincere and doing it without knowledge - or deliberately.  It was the same in Jesus' day.   The main leaders were using false witnesses to get what they want. They did not want the people to recognize Jesus as the messiah - but thankfully a few ordinary, crazy (in the eyes of others) people did!

Studying the timeline of the Bible and how it fits into the greater plan of God - has been of great interest to me - how Jehovah is absolutely logical and all the time absolutely consistent in the outworking of his purpose throughout the ages.   I have no doubt that Jesus is now ruling invisibly in the heaven and that his final "coming" is eminent.  I love watching the news (and I preach to the Muslim community here)  so I have had to re-evaluate a lot of things I knew about the bible.... The world is heading for its worst tribulation ever..... and there is nothing the world leaders can do about it.  

I therefore do not debate about small points or nitpick things.  I am happy to know most of the important things we need to know....... Jehovah's name, the future government and the paradise earth, the mortality of the soul and that Jesus really put his soul in death for us; and that Jehovah is using a very insignificant group of people to do the preaching work in the whole world.... Yes Witnesses are VERY imperfect.....   but I do not want to go back into the world or its false religions - and I include in religion atheism and Darwinism and secular teachings like humanism. I am happy to be still be part of Jehovah's people....

Jesus did not answer the Pharisees - only when there were other people present who could benefit from his explanations.  He knew that they were hostile and were not there to learn something  

Well as I said before - in my comment above - one can live in the past - in the time of Russell - in the 19th century! Russell still had the date right!  All Jehovah's people have definitely moved on and received much more light since then - all the prophecies coming to their conclusion as predicted.. 

Some people are like an abusive spouse - who only look to the past and hold onto grudges so he-she can still have ammunition to beat the other spouse with.  This kind of spirit is not productive....   

The Jewish leaders were expecting Jesus around the time he was to start preaching because they asked John the Baptist if he was the Messiah when he started baptizing people. They were reading Daniel - for sure... They knew it was the time for him to 'come'.  When Jesus did not fit the picture they had in mind - the rejected him.  The stone (Jesus) became the stumbling block. .... 

You have not explained to me your version of the fulfillment of Revelation 12: 6-12 and the scripture which talks about Jesus ruling amidst his enemies.... and how you explain the two different Greek words for the English translation  "come".  

Question to you -  to think about: Why did God give so many prophecies about the timing and arriving of the first coming and dedication of the messiah- and it was fulfilled right on time (70 week prophesy in Daniel).  Would he not also give to Daniel a second prophecy which shows when he would start ruling invisibly in heaven as indicated in Daniel 7: 13 + 14?  Must we ignore Daniel ? No, we must look at all the other scriptures which also discuss the coming, arriving and the standing up of the Christ, the 'coming' ('Parousia' / presence) and the final 'coming / 'erkhomenon' - when Jesus will have the important task of executing the great Day of God almighty. The day of God the almighty will take place at an unspecified day at the end of the 'Parousia' of Christ  - which would not come as a thief to those who are on the watch. 

Many will say - "there is the Christ or there is the Christ" in the time of the end - because they expect him to come back in flesh.  The bible clearly indicates in the chapter you are quoting from - that his "chosen" ones will not be mislead - because we do not expect him in the flesh.  Why did Jesus give signs to indicate that we are in the Parousia..... because it would be 'invisible' to the world. But the final destruction?  All will be aware of it because they will see his power in action!

The scripture I quoted above Rev 12: 6-12  clearly indicates that after Jesus has ''come' in power and glory' and taken the throne he will throw Satan out of heaven and there will still be a period of time when wickedness will escalate on earth (Parousia) - which brings us to the final 'coming' "erkhomenon' - the time when Jesus would 'come' with vengeance and executer of Jehovah's judgment - just as in the days of Noah there would be a time period before the final day.

Like a pregnant woman - those people with the right heart condition - can see the woman is pregnant and the signs of birth are eminent - they just do not know the exact hour and day.  Similarly,  we know that it is eminent - the woman is pregnant (we see all the signs of the Parousia) but we do not know the day and hour of the final judgment - just like in the 'days/ period' of Noah. 

The other scripture I mentioned above (Ps 110 ) shows that Jesus would be ruling amidst his enemies... Do the enemies know that he is already ruling? No - but his disciples do - because they are awake all the time.  The final destruction will not catch the true disciples asleep because they are ready all the time.  So - there must be different Greek words that were all translated as "coming".

And this is so: there are two words: parousia (presence) as used in Matt 24: 37 - 39 just like the time of Noah - which was many years when they did not listen to Noah and the word Parousia also means to be "alongside".

The other word used is: "erkhomenon"  in Matt 24:30 which talks of the son of man coming on the clouds with "power" and glory to exact justice on earth.  This is the time when the entire world will see evidence of the authority of the Christ - that he has been ruling amid his enemies.

In 1914 Jesus used his power to throw satan out of heaven and clean the heavens but after this the earth is escalating in wickedness.  This erkhomnon will be the 'coming' which cleanses the earth of wickedness.  Truly this kingdom has a universal job - cleaning heaven and earth - but not at the exact same time.

There is so much on this in the JW literature -  so familiarize yourself with it and read it alongside your bible.  Look up under the heading: the return of the Christ....

One of the signs of the last days: People have  " No natural love" 2 Tim 3: 1-5 

 But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of stress. ² For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, ³ inhuman, implacable, slanderers, profligates, fierce, haters of good, ⁴ treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, ⁵ holding the form of religion but denying the power of it. Avoid such people. (revised standard version)

Thanks for the reply Allen ...and the encouragement.  I regularly re-evaluate the Bible and the teachings of the Governing body - and it has strengthened my faith and loyalty to "being a reality" for me.  An intrinsic evaluation of the Bible's ' logic and consistency' of the central Bible message (the theme of the Bible  - a future government of God under Jesus to restore the unity in the universe) has made me come to the conclusion that the Truth (as the Witnesses know it) is the Truth and as the meaning of Jehovah's name indicates: 'Jehovah will prove to be' - very soon - when the world will see physical evidence that he is the true god... .

When speaking to atheists I usually show them the bad conditions of the environment and the world (I follow the news to know what they are) and ask them if people are ever going to be able to resolve the overwhelming problems. There is no unity or cooperation between nations of the world or the 'will' to resolve these overwhelming issues - all look after their own interests and work 'independent' of each other.  Then I explain how, in the Bible, Jehovah is giving us the 'restoration project' of the earth.  Jehovah first identifies the ' root cause' of the problems, then provides a 'timeline of milestones' that has to be reached for the project to come to fruition.

There are many points in the timeline (prophesies that identify the timeline).  He chose Abraham (because he was willing to fully cooperate with god) and later we see that he chose the nation of Israel (who did not fully cooperate all of the time, but God still guided them to the point where the 'legal guarantee' arrived for our future - the ransom sacrifice of Jesus) which was provided.   Jesus has a genealogy of 4025 years (in this timeline given throughout the history of Israel) and he came exactly on time as predicted in the 70 week prophecy in Daniel. Timelines are very important to this ' project of Jehovah' - so we on earth can see if the plans of God are still on track. Most of the timeline has been completed - so we can have faith that the few things that still has to go into fulfillment - will come true on time.  God gives us all the necessary data we need for the timelines.  He even gives the number of years that the "nations" will be ruling before Jesus starts ruling invisibly in the heavens (1914) - and defines a time period after this (the time of the end) before the Day of Jehovah - the day and time which no-one knows - and is the time Holly is referring to in her notes above). 

Jehovah only intervened in mankind's affairs when his future plan for the earth was being jeopardized by the enemy.  He is allowing Satan to rule the earth to prove that mankind cannot rule the earth successfully when they choose to be independent from God and his moral standards.  Society will always be at war until the entire society of the earth is cooperating together in self-sacrificing love. (The secular world is now adopting humanism as its form of love - but this is not self-sacrificing love - the kind of love that will help all to love each other tenderly in equity and make sacrifices to restore the earth to paradise conditions - as predicted.) Eventually the entire society of mankind will give glory to God in the way that they are following the moral guidance of God and be living in tender love with each other and respect all life (animal and human).

It is therefore hard for me to speak to people like Holly who just goes to the letter of things and does not displaythis self-sacrificing love. She is not asking these questions to listen and learn. She has already made up her mind.

I tend to be too critical of egotistical people who always have to be right - even if they do not understand much.  I have also been a know-all - blow-all person.... but thanks to Jehovah I have learnt  to tame my own ego and it is not about winning an argument - but about sharing wonderful things about God and to strengthen each other....

In the past I have tended to get nasty with bitter opposes but thanks to people like you - who step in.... I can display the kind of love God wants us to share at all times.

So from the above one can see that Jesus would be ruling amidst his enemies before he 'stands up' to bring destruction to the wicked on the earth.  This is also a related subject.

I fail to see why people go back to Russell to evaluate the Truth we have today.  I left a Christian religion because their credo was set in stone many hundreds of years ago and when a professor publically wrote that the Witnesses were right about the earth being a paradise again - he had to withdraw what he wrote or lose his job.  If we all stuck to things said hundreds of years ago there would be no growth - like many Christian religions and Islam.  I became a Witness because there are changes and they admit at being wrong about something and move forward.

I evaluate Russell within the period he lived in - as I indicated above.  Do you see this connection? Many people evaluate everything retroactively by today's standards.  They usually fail to understand much of the Bible as Abraham and many people mentioned in the Bible lived in times much different to ours and one has to evaluate their laws and actions within the time period in which they lived. 

I study ancient archeology and I love history.  The science of archeology only began in 1815 when Napoleon went into Egypt.  It was during the following years, especially after 1830 that there was a rush to discover the ancient cultures mentioned in the Bible.  Many people got onto the bandwagon of trying to see something more in the pyramids as related to the Bible, especially when more and more discoveries of artifacts of the ancient cities came about - the frenzy escalated. This was the time of Darwin and the challenges to the Bible too! The power of the old Christian religions were getting less.  They had ruled the world for more than a millennium.  New thoughts were coming out right on time before 1914.  (Daniel 12 shows that the knowledge would grow more only in the final days)

As I said in my previous comment - Russell and his friends had some of the facts - but not all.  He was just a human being that was searching, and as I said before - it was only in 1919 (after Jesus made an inspection of the Christian religions on earth ) that he chose a group of sincere people to do the preaching work earth-wide. This was their commission. This does not indicate that they were perfect in any way. They still had to be cleansed of many false practices (pyramids, neutrality, Xmas celebrations, and many more - and this has been an ongoing improvement).

Russell's calculations were arrived at through the Bible prophecy and a secular date.  The secular date when the Jews were allowed to go back to Jerusalem is a well-established date.  Russell counted 70 years back from this (and the time it would take for them to get back) and came to 607BCE.  From 607BCE they followed bible prophecy to calculate the number of years that the world powers would rule before Jesus took the throne in heaven...  but Russell unfortunately tried to superimpose these calculations onto Pyramids....which was actually built for worship of the zodiac - to guide the pharaoh through the heavenly bodies and the stars!

Just a  thought.... have you studied the relevant prophesies and seen where the JWs today get the dates from? It is a fascinating subject.

Russell believed that Jesus would start ruling in heaven in 1914 - which was calculated correctly.  Russell thought it was at this time that Armageddon would take place - which was wrong. They did not  yet understand the scriptures referring to a "great crowd" - a great group of people that Jehovah would bring out of mankind and who would survive Armageddon.  Revelation 7: 9+ 14

Revelation 12: 6-12 Clearly shows:- (and Russell obviously did not yet understand this either - they were some of the first groups who broke away from the powerful religions teachings inherited from the reformation) - When Jesus takes authority in the heavens he would throw Satan and his demons out of heaven. (Jesus sat at the right hand of his father until 1914 when he received the Kingdom power from his father and threw Satan out.) The scriptures goes on to show that Satan would then create havoc on earth because he has a "short period of time left"   This scripture clearly shows that there would be a period on earth when Jesus would be ruling invisible from heaven amidst his enemies Ps 110:1+2.

For the calculations of the prophecies read the appendix of "What does the bible really teach" and for more on where the witnesses get the dates 607BCE and 1914CE read the insight on the scriptures. The insight on the scriptures also quotes from secular sources and you can go and check out the 'secular sources' by going to any good library or a reliable internet archive/ library. Most secular dates are not set in stone either but they give a good indication of the time period. 

Russia doing what they always did very well - kill and detain dissidents.   I see that China has also entered the fray in Syria.   All the totalitarian states working together to gain more territory and destabilize other countries.  Selling weapons to each other etc. Russia, China and Iran are bedfellows at present and Russia has made sure of its interests in Syria - the port.  I see that Iran has heavy presence in South America and pushing its influence.....  I see some territory creep... not land .... but influence.... 

I love to watch how things are developing and the more I watch - the more I am sure that we are building towards major world events...

I always remind people that when Russell was studying the Bible and learning about truths such as 1914 (they did not have the 'whole' truth about 1914 but only some of it) the rest of the world was still in the time of the industrial revolution.  People in America were still moving West in wagons and they were shooting each other because there was not much law and order.... they were still fighting Indians and this time was quite some time before WW1 (No cars or the modern conveniences - only trains and the telegraph were on the horizon).   Similarly, when we look at the seventies and some people thought the 6000 years were almost done - they naturally made assumptions.  This is normal human behavior (to speculate) if one is very interested in the Bible. So when we evaluate the past - we must always evaluate what was said within the time frame (environment) that these things were said.  What was the rest of society like in this time? What was their level of knowledge compared to the light that Jehovah was slowly revealing?

As the light is getting brighter - we now understand so much about the future Kingdom and how it is going to function. We also understand the qualities that we need to develop if we want to be part of that future government.  It seems the governing body is now mainly focusing on strengthening us for the nasty world events which lie ahead.  We need to always be ready.

If one looks at the escalation of violence in the world, the aggressive posturing of nations, and one looks at the preaching work done in the entire world - reaching even the remotest places - then one remembers where one learnt these Truths regarding the mortality of the soul, the earth being a paradise, and many more truths.  Jehovah is using the governing body, which was only appointed in 1919 with the commission to preach to the world. 

Thank Jehovah for knowing the truth and giving it to us in little bites so we can absorb it - because without it - we are lost.  Always remember that people are people and they are imperfect individuals.... (prone to speculate).... but they are drawn to Jehovah because he sees something good in them. Without Jehovah's spirit no-one can come to him.  This is why we as witnesses should never think we are better than others because we know the truth. We must always remember who gave us the truth and who gives us Spirit to understand it.

Nothing is safe these days.  Government spends 36 billion a year on cyber warfare to keep our banks safe..... but for how long...  These hackers do not think: if the world banking system falls, or a strong country like America falls into economic chaos, it will be contagious and spread to the entire world!   The wicked of this world are being drawn out by Satan and Satan is being drawn out - for sure!  Satan does not want the end to come - but he cannot help himself - and his wicked supporters - the same. 

Proud to be a Witness of Jehovah - to stand united in our neutrality regarding this worlds divisive affairs and politics.  I know we are the custodians of the Truth because no other nation has the insight to understand this: we are in this world but no part of the world.  We all are loyal only to Jehovah and his enthroned king and a peaceful, self-sacrificing lifestyle of which Jesus provided an excellent example. Let Jehovah find us all in peace and without spot from this world!

More of the same -  but do not be mislead....... these things are a sign that we are deep in the times of the end....and things are still going to get much worse.

Globalization started when deregulation gave large corporations the power to expand and gobble up smaller companies.  At first it brought prosperity in the time of Reagan and Thatcher but the aftermath has brought the consequences we see now.  Companies are so large they control legislation (in many countries) as they now have the money to lobby both sides of the political isle and make sure that both parties adopt their policies.

Absolute capitalism looks the same as communism - a few with power at the top and the rest of the populace, plebs. Absolute capitalism exploits the poor. There is no financial system or political system that can bring true justice to this planet.

This is why the world needs Jehovah's government where people willingly care for each other and willingly make sacrifices for the common good of all.... Together we will be making sacrifices to restore the earth to its natural beauty in future and work together to educate the resurrected ones to show self-sacrificing love.  Most will accept this ideology when they experience the wonderful consequences of this way of life - and see the glory that the restored earth (with the world population in love, peace, justice and happiness) brings to our grand creator.

Just read her profile online - and some of her hateful, hateful words...... How can a mother do this to her child?  The ideology is hateful and spews hate ... and yet one is not allowed to criticize it objectively because you then may be labeled as a hate monger.

Music is a difficult subject to teach because pupils need to regularly practice what they learn otherwise they do not learn anything at all.   I understand the poor man's frustration.... especially if he is graded on what students have learnt in class and how many have passed their subject. What is the world coming to? The teacher was using a non-violent, non-invasive (don't know how to express this) way to chastise a group of uncooperative children ...and they still have so much power that they can ruin your career? Writing letters to parents rarely works these days as most parents leave the total sum of the children's education (moral and academic) solely to the school.  If you ignore the child and allow him to mess up his life, you have failed at being a good teacher; and if you talk to him/her too much to help them - you may be perceived as "picking" on the child by singling them out.  The world has really gone crazy.  The secular world has left the values of the bible behind and replaced it with "humanitarian" or "politically correct" values which is useless for any form of training because there is no negative consequences for uncooperative or bad behavior. 

Just about every year many people die in the stampedes/accidents.  By the way close to this city in Mina there are 100,000 air-conditioned tents with water and lights to accommodate the attendants to the yearly Hajj.   Saudi Arabia did not offer any of these accommodations to the Muslim refugees that belong to their faith.  They make too much money during the Hajj.....