JayDubya

I see patriotism to the United States couched in semi-religious language. For most people this is not a bad thing. For many Christians it is a misplaced patriotism, because Christians --in solidarity with other Christians scattered throughout the world--do not identify with a single earthly nation:
(James 1:1) 1 James, a slave of God and of [the] Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes that are scattered about:. . . (James 1:26, 27) . . .. 27 The form of worship that is clean and undefiled from the standpoint of our God and Father is this: to look after orphans and widows in their tribulation, and to keep oneself without spot from the world.
(Psalm 39:11, 12) . . .Surely every earthling man is an exhalation. Seʹlah. 12 Do hear my prayer, O Jehovah, . . .  For I am but an alien resident with you, A settler the same as all my forefathers.
(Hebrews 11:13-16) 13 In faith all these died, although they did not get the [fulfillment of the] promises, but they saw them afar off and welcomed them and publicly declared that they were strangers and temporary residents in the land. 14 For those who say such things give evidence that they are earnestly seeking a place of their own. 15 And yet, if they had indeed kept remembering that [place] from which they had gone forth, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 But now they are reaching out for a better [place], that is, one belonging to heaven. Hence God is not ashamed of them, to be called upon as their God, for he has made a city ready for them.
(1 Peter 1:1) 1 Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the temporary residents scattered about in Ponʹtus, Ga·laʹti·a, Cap·pa·doʹci·a, Asia, and Bi·thynʹi·a, to the ones chosen
(1 Peter 2:11, 12) 11 Beloved, I exhort YOU as aliens and temporary residents to keep abstaining from fleshly desires, which are the very ones that carry on a conflict against the soul. 12 Maintain YOUR conduct fine among the nations, that, in the thing in which they are speaking against YOU as evildoers, they may as a result of YOUR fine works of which they are eyewitnesses glorify God in the day for [his] inspection.
In spite of all that, Fred Franz, at Bethel, from around 1976 to 1979, would make sure we had the American standard Thanksgiving meal (turkey, stuffing, gravy, cranberries, pumpkin pie) on the exact day of Thanksgiving, and he would make a point of saying that while the United States of America is celebrating its Thanksgiving, we have even more reasons to celebrate. I think most of us thought about it as a kind of inside joke that only Fred Franz would try to get away with, and which might stumble those on the outside if they knew about it. Fred Franz was known for saying things specifically to be provocative or make others uncomfortable. But this could also have been a trial balloon for a change, who knows?
 
 

I still think  Jehovah's Witnesses are "the only game in town"  as far as the 15% core theology goes ... but the 85% complete drivel and artificial tyranny has a very high cost in the loss of innocent lives of those who recognize the difference, and cannot stand it.
I probably endure injustice and tyranny better than most ... BUT I DON'T LIKE IT.  
Not so much for me, but for the innocents who can't handle it, and are CHASED AWAY!
With BILLIONS of hours witnessing globally, the "churn", or turnover rate of we who are blessed with true basic core theology is here in the United States about 77%.
It SHOULD be very close to ZERO.
It currently takes about 25 MAN YEARS of witnessing to get ONE convert, who stays.
It's more effective to get married, have three children, and raise them correctly to ignore the tyranny, to about age 30.

Thank You so VERY much Sereko Sostar:
I have been looking for a rational explanation for this for many years, and was not able to discern it.
The concept of NATURAL and ARTIFICIAL conscience, with the evidence, which I have also seen, was the key to understanding.
I only knew from my observations that "something" was polluting the system, as REAL Justice, reasonableness and common sense  does not exist, anymore, within our ranks ... and with the clear Bible trained conscience ... I did NOT see the painfully obvious with the clarity you just now provided.
THIS ALONE has made the years I have been bashing my head against the JW-Archive wall worth while, and I appreciate it.
Your experiences and insight  answer that all important question ...
... WHY?
JTR
 
 
 

One thing that I stress for people that want to be happy ... is do not feel guilt or shame for what OTHER people feel that YOU should feel.
If you let them ... they will load heavy bags of psychological  sand on YOUR  backs because if they can make YOU feel guilty about something that bothers them, they are empowered.
Misery LOVES company!
We should feel guilt, responsibility and shame for what WE PERSONALLY do that is inappropriate, wrong, or evil ... not what society at large does, or our particular racial, ethnic or religious group does.
Of course, some people like to play with their dandruff, and do not cure it, because they are bored, and like to fiddle with it.
 

I too, was infected with demons, so I know all of the above is true .... what happened to me is incredibly sad ... as I ALSO first turned for help to the Roman Catholic Church, which has a long history of supposedly expelling demons ... and they even have a Holy Office that is in charge of this, worldwide. Such help is available free from the Elders, but at the time, I did no know any better and I paid the Catholic Church $3200 for a bishop from Boston Massachusettes to fly down and perform an exorcism on me.  
I did not make much money in those years,  so they allowed me to pay $500 down, and I financed the rest for 24 months, at 5% interest, which I thought was reasonable at the time.
The exorcism was successful and the demons fled my body, but later on I lost my job, and several months after that I could no longer make the agreed upon payments ... and I was repossessed.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_nP8KR8dCw0
 

Interesting experience as an Orthodox Demon Exorcist, is a witness to the Lord.
Here we see the answer to the question of why people of Babylon expel demons. Satan against Satan?
Translation of the narrated experience in Ukrainian:
I've been fond of the occult since childhood, and I got some "hits" pretty early. Already in my childhood I could remove any pain, stop the blood, etc. Later, I met Jehovah's witnesses and I was almost baptized, but the life arranged differently, and I separated from them for a long period of 18 years. Resume my mania about spiritualism, already at the age of about 34 years and demons gave me more power - I began to heal the most severe of the disease and deal with the exorcism (the expulsion of demons). It was said that I was one of the strongest in Ukraine.
The official condition for demons was the presence of Orthodox Attributes (crosses, icons, incense), so I felt deeply verborizado and began to lead an active life in the church. I visited all services (not only on weekends), restored icons, di builders in church building, I was admitted to the holies, I almost became the head of the temple. I personally contacted the metropolitan of the uoc Vladimir and received blessings from him. I also took hesychasm - spiritual practice and Orthodox Ascetic, similar to. Actually, he lived like a monk, although he was not formally a monk or a priest. I prayed for several hours a day, I knew of memory many canons and achastas and did other things that very few people do today. By the way, these days you rarely see an exorcist father. Orthodoxy has almost ceased to be a religion, it is increasingly a business, and demons increasingly strengthen the common lay who are willing to work themselves.
Possession by demons is not a myth or an evangelical metaphor, but a real phenomenon. This is a type of viral disease of humanity. For most people, demons can simply damage or throw problems, but in some cases they can fully enter a person, i.e. to control their awareness and actions. They can send diseases that can't be cured. A person cannot show signs of possession, and then no other person (except the exorcist) can determine it, or himself. If it manifests itself, it often looks like a mental illness. Most people who are in psychiatric hospitals with a diagnosis of schizophrenia or violent insanity are actually possessed (although, of course, such diagnoses are real). Medicine will never admit it, but I know it because I quickly helped those people. Demons can also send physical diseases, and are treated with relative ease. The demon simply returns the victims to their original state and leaves (for a while, about this below). To treat common diseases is much more difficult and longer, but it is often also possible (although there are exceptions, for example, congenital diseases, well, Resurrect Demons who do not know how). Cure Deadly diseases the doctors couldn't face.
In order to capture the "Contagion" of possession, it is not necessary to get carried away by the occult, as they sometimes think. For example, a person can inflict harm (only if he is a real wizard, and not one of those who have been divorced today, like flies). Demons are very fond of getting into people who are hard to sin. Once I could not expel a demon from a woman who left her husband and children, she lived with her lover and tried to deceive me even to me, betraying her lover for her husband. There are also more exotic cases. For example, one day a man with very strong possession was brought to me, he did not remember his name, he was ill with many sores that could not be diagnosed. They tried to treat him, even schizophrenia, but they did not heal (naturally) and were actually sent home to die. He quickly collected it from all the problems, and it turned out that he "picked up possession" when he was digging a grave and fell into an old grave. The Motives of demons in this case are obvious: to increase fear of the dead and belief in future life. People who listen to such stories are even more full of fear of the dead, and then it's useless to show them the Bible. The deception is working.
However, over time, I realized one important thing: No exorcist has on the demons the power of Jesus and the apostles. Jesus could "send" to the demons (Sea. 9:25), the exorcist can't. First, he can expel the demon only temporarily. If a person does not change the sinful life form, the devil always returns. They took me to the same people several times. If a person really begins to lead a godly life, he observes all the canons of the church, the demon can leave it a little more time, for several years, but eventually he can return. But an even more important point: in some cases, the demon refuses in principle to release a person. The Demon could tell me before the session that there was no need to try, I would never leave this person. In this case, he had no power (as in the previous case with a woman). Finally, the devil never goes away, but he always torments his victim. People scream, tear their clothes, hair, in a word, terrible things happen. I saw things that could drive me crazy. It's always a concert for the public, and the public shouldn't be nervous. In The Bible, we will never read about such things. But in the end, there is a powerful effect, people are truly convinced that the church has great power. In fact, the demons just endure. Exorcism is not real help to people, but a contract between demons and the church for deceiving people and convincing them of the truth of Orthodoxy. The Exorcist is just an actor in this play, and the demons themselves decide whether to let them "expel" or not. These are the rules of the game.
That's why over time I realized more and more that I wasn't doing what I needed. Even the healing didn't give me satisfaction, because I understood under what tone I was dancing. He had respect, prestige and even power over people. During the sessions, a person could be almost completely unconscious in my power. But there was something deeply wrong with me, as a kind Christian, to communicate and cooperate with the demons. I was more and more displeased to pray to Mary and the saints. He often remembered Jehovah. At some point, I realized I could no longer do it, I picked up all my icons, crosses, etc., in the yard and burned them, and a week later I was in a meeting of Jehovah's witnesses. It was dangerous, because the exorcist can't just stop practicing. If you quit, you end up in the cemetery or at the psychiatric hospital. Demons don't forgive treason. It's like a mob. I knew the Lord could protect me, but I didn't know exactly how. The first few months the demons asked me to come back and even promised such forces, which I didn't have before. I refused and told the Lord. Then they changed their tactics and for several months they created crazy psychological pressure. It was a big fight. I understood that Jehovah allowed this as a test and must be temporary. And it happened
Jehovah differs from the exorcist in which he really handles demons and then forbids them to enter the person, and the exorcist simply arranges the circus. Among Jehovah's witnesses, there are no possessed, which cannot be said about the orthodox. You may be a parishioner, Monk, priest and even an exemplary and deeply religious bishop, nothing will help you. But when a person obeys the Lord, he controls access to him from demons. This is the only guarantee. You can throw him in trouble, threaten him, but you'll never get into him and control his life.
I still help people get rid of the power of demons, but in a much more effective way. I suggest that you change your lives, abandon all your sins and, most importantly, engage and serve the only true God, Jehovah. Only he provides the only reliable protection. Everything else, it's much like a temporary solution, in the worst case, a waste of time and money. Without a true God, each one of us is vulnerable to the influence of demons, his life is like a lottery, walking on a rope. Believe me as an expert.
Vitaly Perevyshko, Ukraine
http://chivchalov.blogspot.com.es/2013/01/blog-post_23.html

https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/2015486
MY  STORY....


Jehovah  of  sure  will  be  happy  bec. such  of  changes  
Wonderful,  our  Brothers !   

When my dog Cubby died several years ago, I put her obituary here on the Archive, but when they switched formats or providers (?) her picture was lost.  She died of eye cancer spread to her intestines. She was  a wonderful dog, and I taught her to play the card game "Poker". 
She was very loving and affectionate, but not very smart ... when playing Poker, every time she got good cards, she would wag her tail.

Queen Ester:
I was referring to the German language ... ( it was a joke..). I took about two months of German in High school, and had no talent whatsoever for learning a foreign language ... my Mother was one of identical twins and was almost telepathic, and I did not learn to talk until I started 1st grade in school.
There is an often used joke line in the USA when someone speaks or types in a foreign language, that when they do not understand ANY of it ... to make an astonished face, roll your eyes and say "Easy for YOU to say!", which in your case ... IS easy for you to say .... you speaking the German Language.
Another joke goes like  ....
ME: "Well .. it's a good thing I was not born in Germany!"
SOMEBODY ELSE: " Oh! ... and WHY is it a good thing you were not born in Germany?"
ME: " Because I CAN'T SPEAK GERMAN!"
bADDA-BING !
 Both jokes are better after Pizza and a pitcher of beer!
.
 

All of this is HUMOR, Queen Ester ... but don't feel bad... half the people in the United States do not understand.
I am 71 years old, and I tell myself these stories, 'cause I like hearing them!

I always have nails handy .... sometimes when I am watching TV I eat a half- bowl of nails .... they have plenty of iron, and I like the way sparks come off of my teeth in the darkened room. Sometimes I break rocks  with my fingers and sprinkle the sand on the nails, like putting cheese on a Pizza.
Ever wonder why there are no Dinosaurs anywhere on Earth?
... that was me..

Before I left my mother's home, growing up in Virginia, I had heard about the Indian Fakirs sleeping on a bed of sharp nails, and as I wanted to be a tough guy, I made one for me with a 4'x8" sheet of plywood, and about two thousand nails. 
There were problems during the "adjustment period", however, as the anxiety made me wet the bed, and the nails were getting rusty, it was SO hard to get fitted sheets, and the screaming kept my mother awake at night.

After about 1995, I have had no first-hand knowledge about their travel arrangements. Up until then, there was a lot of first-class travel in the 1970s through the mid-1990s, but it was always said to be "gifted" and did not come through the general donations to the worldwide work. Also, it depended completely on where they were going, and if a congregation or wealthy brother sponsored the travel. There were some supposed scandals in the mid 1990's too of GB taking expensive "luxury" vacations, but these were "gifted."
I traveled with Brother Schroeder to Europe and he flew first-class while I took Freddy Laker to London for $99. But I also took first-class trains and hovercraft between many destinations: London-Paris-Madrid-Barcelona-Rome-Corfu-Athens-Milan-Innsbruck-Berne-Wiesbaden-Hamburg and Brother Schroeder almost always had a small plane flight or even a car arranged between some of these same locations. Not a private plane, although this happens in Australia and Alaska and parts of Africa in places where private planes (not private jets) are more practical than cars.

Let's see, GF....You quoted 8 scriptures. Matt quoted 15.
You lose.
Especially do you lose if @Witnesscomes along and quotes 90. True, they will not be relevant and for that reason must be discounted 4 to 1. But what remains will still be enough to clobber the both of you put together 

Judge for your self:
2 Cor 12:9: 
But he said to me: “My undeserved kindness is sufficient for you, for my power is being made perfect in weakness.” Most gladly, then, I will boast about my weaknesses, in order that the power of the Christ may remain over me like a tent."
Jer 9:24
"“But let the one boasting boast about this:That he has insight and knowledge of me,That I am Jehovah, the One showing loyal love, justice, and righteousness in the earth,For in these things I take delight,” declares Jehovah."
Is 61:6
"As for you, you will be called the priests of Jehovah;They will call you the ministers of our God. You will eat the resources of the nations,And about their glory you will boast."
Heb 3:6
"but Christ was faithful as a son over God’s house. We are His house if, indeed, we hold on firmly to our freeness of speech and the hope of which we boast down to the end."
1 Cor 1:31
"so that it may be just as it is written: “The one who boasts, let him boast in Jehovah"
2 Cor 1:12
"For the thing we boast of is this, our conscience bears witness that we have conducted ourselves in the world, and especially toward you, with holiness and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom, but with God’s undeserved kindness"
Gal 6:14
"But may I never boast, except in the torture stake of our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom the world has been put to death with regard to me and I with regard to the world"
Ps 34:2
"I will boast in Jehovah;The meek will hear and rejoice."
 

(Heading is incorrect. Phillip did not get baptized  - the Ethiopian eunuch/government official did.)
Once the water is clean and the person can be immersed, it does not matter.
 

I'm glad, only being a JW sister !  Not have these many special problems... 
But I appreciate the mostly hard work of our GB  Brothers??

In a foreign language group I know of the sisters are used to read the Watchtower, control the sound equipment etc because there are not enough qualified brothers.
I don't see why sisters should not be more extensively used in a standard congregation setting as long as it does not involve teaching from the platform, (yes I am a brother).

Those that do not understand substitution think what I made was a flippant comment ... I assure you... it was as serious as a heart attack. 
Dogs are the ONLY THING ON EARTH THAT LOVE YOU MORE THAN THEY LOVE THEMSELVES.
One time I was single for 12 years and I traveled with 11 aquatic turtles in my pickup truck camper. Taking care of an aquarium full of turtles ( red eared sliders ) in a camper was an ACCEPTABLE outlet for my loneliness from Jehovah's viewpoint. 
wIERD ... (WOOeeeOOOO), but acceptable.
When I met an agreeable Sister I wanted to marry, I let the turtles go in the upper James River, near Richmond, Virginia.
I hope they lived, and did well ....
You do what you HAVE to do.  
Make a decision .... THIS I WILL DO ... and THIS I WILL NOT DO ... and be resolute. GRIT YOUR TEETH and dig in for battle., as the enemy is at the gates !
Find some acceptable "crutches" that WILL support you.
Generally, "friends" and "good advice" is useless.
 

A HARD WEEKEND FOR  ALL JW ? and many humans.  I hope,  MONSTER  "IRMA"  will not destroy our beautiful  Florida?  

In order NOT to be labeled a liar and a slanderer, Alessandro Corona ... and justifiably so ... you are going to have to PROVE EVERY ASPECT of those statements you just made. 
YOU PERSONALLY ... not just waving your hand at a PDF file link.
I assume you did not just pull them out of your imagination.
Please supply enough detailed overview and references that your seemingly OUTRAGEOUS claims may be INDEPENDENTLY checked by the average, reasonable person.
If you do not ... and it WILL take some work .... your credibility is ZERO.
...by the way, I did read about 55 pages of that PDF, and concluded that it is the rantings of a man quite mad.

For our big meal of the day, my wife and I eat at Golden Corral Restaurant almost every day, because it is right on the way home from her work, and she gets off from teaching school at 3:15PM ... and if you get there before 4PM, you can pay the special LUNCH price, and at 4 PM, the dinner menu comes out,and you can eat STEAK and the Dinner Menu, for the price of lunch.  It is cheaper than buying the same quantity and variety of foods at the grocery stores ... there is no preparation, and NO DISHES! to wash !!
I thought I could eat steak EVERY day, and did for awhile ... but it became "tiresome", and boring ... so in a limited sense I can understand how one might tire of eating people.  I have heard that human flesh tastes "just like pork" ... in fact, one nickname for human flesh is "Long Pig".
IN the Scriptures Jehovah expressed lament that Jews under siege would be driven to cannibalism, and they were ... several times while warring ...BUT HE NEVER PROHIBITED CANNIBALISM !   (... presumably war dead who had bled to death ...), so the definition of "Wrong" would have to come from CULTURAL squeamishness and aversion ... as Jehovah God NEVER said it was wrong to eat people ... just repulsive  as a cultural standard. 
I guarantee you this ... go about three weeks without eating and seeing your children starving to death in front of your eyes will add a great deal of "flexibility" to your outlook on this issue.  In the Soviet Gulags, between barracks, in winter, the prisoners would raid and murder each other, and when the bodies were found, invariably their livers would be missing.
It's really all a matter of perspective, what ideas you are used to, and how hungry you are. 
To me, wasting food is a sin, and protein is protein in an extreme emergency ... AND, Jehovah does NOT really care, except that the blood belongs to him, and must not be eaten.
When I am finished with these "mortal coils" I hope that someone can make use of it, when I no longer can ... and on my driver's license, have indicated that I am an organ donor...
...perhaps with a nice Chianti Wine, and some Fava beans. (chitchitchitchit), and some hungry Brother and his children will have me over, for dinner. ... a "Last Supper", as it were.
I will try NOT to give them indigestion.
 

This is wrong on too many levels

via TheWorldNewsOrgWorld News