Melinda Mills

Witnesses did not predict anything.  The magazine highlighted what the experts said - their educated guess - and brought it to the attention of the readers of Awake magazine, like they do with many important and timely subjects. Get over it!

Witnesses did not predict anything.  The magazine highlighted what the experts said - their educated guess - and brought it to the attention of the readers of Awake magazine, like they do with many important and timely subjects. Get over it!

In virtually every case except Jehovah’s Witnesses the ones committing the abuse were the ones holding authority or office within the institution
With Jehovah’s Witnesses, that is rarely the case. Their organization is being asked to assume responsibility for any of their members who have ever committed the crime.
It is not exactly apples to apples.
 https://www.tomsheepandgoats.com/2020/02/i-almost-wish-there-would-be-more-public-response.html

Witnesses did not predict anything.  The magazine highlighted what the experts said - their educated guess - and brought it to the attention of the readers of Awake magazine, like they do with many important and timely subjects. Get over it!

Witnesses did not predict anything.  The magazine highlighted what the experts said - their educated guess - and brought it to the attention of the readers of Awake magazine, like they do with many important and timely subjects. Get over it!

Witnesses did not predict anything.  The magazine highlighted what the experts said - their educated guess - and brought it to the attention of the readers of Awake magazine, like they do with many important and timely subjects. Get over it!

Witnesses did not predict anything.  The magazine highlighted what the experts said - their educated guess - and brought it to the attention of the readers of Awake magazine, like they do with many important and timely subjects. Get over it!

He reading Awake in wrong way. :)))
Article said how MANY EXPERTS, Medical Journal VACCINE and JOHN M. BARRY ..... PREDICTED this and that.

"According to many experts"?
What does THAT mean?
WHO in particular?
What are they experts OF?
 
What exactly makes these anonymous people experts?
The "People of the World" were what? .... about 7 Billion back in 2005?
How many copies of the Awake! actually got into the hands of 7 billion people, who ACTUALLY READ THEM, and even then ... WHAT COULD THEY HAVE DONE ABOUT IT??
.... my guess is nothing whatsoever.
It's like me ... if I heard that Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles, carrying 100 megaton yield Hydrogen Bombs MIGHT hit my home town someday in the future, as we have been 70 years and more since the World was engaged in an atomic (albeit one sided) war.
What could I do about it?
NOTHING !!!!
Disregarding the publications TOTAL lack of credibility in foreseeing the future, even a blind pig, once in a great while, will find SOMETHING to eat..
 

Five dreary months have passed since Hurricane Dorian lay waste Abaco and Grand Bahama, and daily in the local press we hear and read of persons being dissatisfied with the pace of hurricane reconstruction.
#However, I am sure that at least ninety-five if not one hundred per cent of those who were adversely affected by the hurricane were members of churches and paid collection or tithes on a weekly or monthly basis. Consequently, it is not unreasonable to think that these churches would assist their parishioners or their congregants in some meaningful way.
#When disasters have occurred in our country, and especially since hurricane Andrew, I have been impressed by the work done by the denomination of Jehovah’s Witnesses who quickly mobilised members of their organisation, both local and foreign to expertly repair and replace their places of worship and the homes of their members.
#From personal knowledge I am aware that homeowners have only to provide building supplies, if they have the means, and volunteers, at no personal remuneration, assist in making the homes habitable.
#Surely the other denominations have members who are carpenters, masons, electricians and plumbers who are willing to devote some of their spare time to assist their members in this way?
#For, whilst repairs generally are proceeding at a snail’s pace, the Jehovah’s Witnesses have successfully repaired homes and their Kingdom Hall in Marsh Harbour will be ready for their annual Memorial service in April this year. All through the unselfish work of volunteers.
http://www.tribune242.com/news/2020/feb/13/unselfish-volunteers/

Don't get carried away over it. Man is ruining the earth and God will soon ruin those who keep doing it.  Rev. 11: 18 says:
(Revelation 11:18) 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.”
I endorse the points Anna raised; however about the ground being cursed it seems that the Watchtower is saying otherwise, see quote below:
*** w17 June p. 8 par. 17 Jehovah Provides Comfort in All Our Trials ***
17 Young ones who learn to love the true God and to follow his counsel can become a source of comfort in a family. They can do so by showing respect for their parents and by helping in material ways. They can also make a valuable spiritual contribution. Before the Flood, Seth’s descendant Lamech worshipped Jehovah. That family man said of his son Noah: “[He] will bring us comfort from our labor and from the painful toil of our hands because of the ground that Jehovah has cursed.” That prophecy was fulfilled when the curse on the ground was lifted. (Gen. 5:29; 8:21) On a more personal level, children who pursue true worship can prove to be sources of comfort in their families, helping all to endure present trials and then to survive something greater than the Flood. End quote
Due to lack of knowledge and wickedness, man has ruined the earth by his ignorant mistreatment of it. Governments try to educate people on the right way to treat land, where to build, etc., and people fail to listen.  They prefer to listen to "soaps" and things like that, whereas educational documentaries and directives are not listened to.  And they don't like reading God's Word nor man's. Solomon talked about the benefit of knowledge; Jesus said it would lead to everlasting life (John 17:3)  So we need knowledge and we need righteous people and righteous government to implement knowledge.This would not happen until God's Kingdom is holding sway.  Wicked people and governments have to be removed and righteous government (by God and his Son) has to be in place for the prophecies to be fulfilled. (Dan 2:44)  God is not going to make Satan's system and rule look successful by intervening in the affairs of this world.  He will do it under his righteous rule.
As was stated by Anna, Jesus the King of the new earth will speak to the wind and will control all the elements.  Obedient mankind will also contribute to this, as the prophecy says in Isaiah 11:6-9.
(Mark 4:37-41) 37 Now a great violent windstorm broke out, and the waves kept crashing into the boat, so that the boat was close to being swamped. 38 But he was in the stern, sleeping on the pillow. So they woke him up and said to him: “Teacher, do you not care that we are about to perish?” 39 With that he got up and rebuked the wind and said to the sea: “Hush! Be quiet!” And the wind abated, and a great calm set in. 40 So he said to them: “Why are you so afraid? Do you not yet have any faith?” 41 But they felt an unusual fear, and they said to one another: “Who really is this? Even the wind and the sea obey him.”
This will also apply to all other natural disasters like floods, earthquakes, volcanoes, hurricanes, forest fires, etc. The causes of these things will be no more.  Knowledge of looking after the earth and its environment will be taught everywhere. Love for God, neighbour and the animal creation will be abundant. 
Isaiah 11:6-9:  The wolf will reside for a while with the lamb, And with the young goat the leopard will lie down, And the calf and the lion and the fattened animal will all be together; And a little boy will lead them.  7 The cow and the bear will feed together, And their young will lie down together. The lion will eat straw like the bull.  8 The nursing child will play over the lair of a cobra, And a weaned child will put his hand over the den of a poisonous snake.  9 They will not cause any harm Or any ruin in all my holy mountain, Because the earth will certainly be filled with the knowledge of Jehovah As the waters cover the sea. 10 In that day the root of Jesʹse will stand up as a signal for the peoples. To him the nations will turn for guidance, And his resting-place will become glorious. 

Eccl 7:12 For wisdom is a protection just as money is a protection, but the advantage of knowledge is this: Wisdom preserves the life of its owner. 
(Isaiah 26:9) In the night I long for you with my whole being, Yes, my spirit keeps looking for you; For when there are judgments from you for the earth, The inhabitants of the land learn about righteousness.

 

On November 24, 2019, the Sweden Ministry of Culture concluded that Jehovah’s Witnesses “contributed to maintaining and strengthening the fundamental values upon which society is based.” It allows them to receive state funding for religious communities. The same happened in Norway a month later.
https://jw-russia.org/en/news/2020/02/33.html

Thanks for the news. Typical of the old communist mindset which is returning. 

Well, what in the world do you expect? “Yeah, I know that I was impeached, but I am really guilty—can’t believe I fooled them on that—they really should have convicted me.” You think he’s going to say that, or think that?
Do you know what acquittal means? It means not guilty. So when the process finds him not guilty, as he never thought he was, in the face of critics vehemently insisting that he was guilty as sin, even a traitor to the country—and given his personality not to shrink from a fight, would you not expect him to do a victory lap or three?
Do you even know what he was impeached for? Most Americans had only a hazy idea and if you explained it to them in more detail, many couldn’t see how it was an especial big deal—it is not as though the charge he made of the former VP’s son was untrue, after all.
You’re kidding me! And everyone else in town has the countenance of an angel?
Everyone is successful until their denunciation comes to a finish. C’mon, Kos! Ask JTR to tell you about how Cool Hand Luke kept coming at George Kennedy even though he had nothing.
Look, some find the guy’s candor refreshing. You lap up the commentator painting a picture of a Congress shocked—shocked!—that he would carry on so at a prayer breakfast, as though business as normal for them is devotion to prayer?! 
Enough of the stuff to float the Spanish Armada on, methinks.
At most, he is an example of the clay that does not mix with the iron. You might think of him as a bull in a china shop, but would you really want to liken government status quo as a ‘china shop?’
Call him a junkyard dog in a junkyard and you are on safer ground. But the only dog in Revelation is the one that goes down with about a half-dozen other types of scoundrels. And don’t start pumping a prophesy out of that—it was just a throwaway line!
4Jah’s true annointed, to manifest itself out of nowhere within ten years, may have an opening for head prophet, but as for me and my household, I can find a better one at any Seven-Eleven store.

Well, yeah, but if you see fulfillment of prophesy every time Trump blasts away at an opponent, the entire Book of Revelation will be fulfilled within the week.
If Kos must go into prophesy fulfillment, tell him to focus on how Trump vs Whoever has illuminated 2 Timothy 3:1-5. It used to be that if you read those verses and the householder didn’t agree that now is the time they are taking place, there wasn’t much you can do about it. Plainly, they are subjective, 
It is very hard to deny it now, though, with a straight face. Trump vs his enemies constitute Exhibit A of the world losing its mind. But it is only Exhibit A—one must not forget B-Z.

King does not necessarily refer to one person.  Check Daniel and see that it can refer to a world power/powerful kingdom.
(Daniel 7:17, 18) 17 “‘These huge beasts, four in number, are four kings who will stand up from the earth. 18 But the holy ones of the Supreme One will receive the kingdom, and they will possess the kingdom forever, yes, forever and ever.’
Media-Persia, Greece, Rome, Britain-America (Anglo-American)
 
But I agree it can also refer to the King of a great world power.
*** it-1 p. 70 Alexander ***
“A male of the goats . . . proceeded to strike down the ram and to break its two horns.” “The ram that you saw possessing the two horns stands for the kings of Media and Persia. And the hairy he-goat stands for the king of Greece.” (Da 8:5, 7, 20, 21)
After defeating the Medo-Persian forces twice in Asia Minor, Alexander’s army pushed first to the S and then to the E, completely conquering the Medo-Persian Empire
 
 
 

King does not necessarily refer to one person.  Check Daniel and see that it can refer to a world power/powerful kingdom.
(Daniel 7:17, 18) 17 “‘These huge beasts, four in number, are four kings who will stand up from the earth. 18 But the holy ones of the Supreme One will receive the kingdom, and they will possess the kingdom forever, yes, forever and ever.’
Media-Persia, Greece, Rome, Britain-America (Anglo-American)
 
But I agree it can also refer to the King of a great world power.
*** it-1 p. 70 Alexander ***
“A male of the goats . . . proceeded to strike down the ram and to break its two horns.” “The ram that you saw possessing the two horns stands for the kings of Media and Persia. And the hairy he-goat stands for the king of Greece.” (Da 8:5, 7, 20, 21)
After defeating the Medo-Persian forces twice in Asia Minor, Alexander’s army pushed first to the S and then to the E, completely conquering the Medo-Persian Empire
 
 
 

We can learn something from what apostle Paul said in Philippians 1:15:
"True, some are preaching the Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of goodwill. 16  The latter are proclaiming the Christ out of love, for they know that I have been appointed to defend the good news; 17  but the former do it out of contentiousness, not with a pure motive, for they are intending to create trouble for me in my prison bonds. 18  With what result? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is being proclaimed, and I rejoice over this. In fact, I will also keep on rejoicing,"
The Governing Body should not limit spiritual progress on earth. Jesus told that he gives talents to each of his slaves and sends them to increase his assets here on earth. So one slave should not put limits on other coslaves of their Master Jesus Christ. We are free to examine scriptures and believe them and preach about them. 
 
Do not ordinary JWs agree that USA plays an important role in Bible prophecies?
I should not compromise with what I believe is true. 
Jesus said that we should not bother if we gain people's approval or not in a such case:
John 5:44 "How can you believe, when you are accepting glory from one another and you are not seeking the glory that is from the only God?
John 12:42 "All the same, many even of the rulers actually put faith in him, but they would not acknowledge him because of the Pharisees, so that they would not be expelled from the synagogue; 43  for they loved the glory of men even more than the glory of God."
And Jesus' apostle Paul said a similar thing:
Galatians 1:10 "Is it, in fact, men I am now trying to persuade or God? Or am I trying to please men? If I were still pleasing men, I would not be Christ’s slave."

Please don’t look for end-time prophesies here, Kos. And please don’t present network TV as the channel of love. Please don’t tell us that love emanates from Harvard. Nor tell us that Congress starts each day with consideration of the daily text: “Can’t we all just get along?”  Just don’t—on any of those counts.
Go back to your meetings, won’t you? Join your wife and kids. Tell the brothers that you’ll try to refrain from running ahead. Work on your people skills. You don’t have to parrot every little thing. It is enough not to grab the wheel.
Why is everything so American with you? NYC is Babylon the Great? Trump is the Man of Lawlessness? How are those in India or Romania going to get their heads around that?
If JTR got back in due to cherishing the core teachings, anybody can. Don’t present yourself as a true prophet arising in our midst and you’ll do fine. It’s okay to present yourself as a person having doubts about this, that, or the other thing. Congregation elders have mercy toward such ones. (Jude 22) But the mercy will wear thin if you present yourself as instructor to the worldwide organization.
 

Found on Facebook.

A Russian court has convicted three followers of the Jehovah’s Witnesses of participating in a religion banned for extremism. They were given suspended sentences of up to 2 1/2 years.
“Russian authorities today are following in the footsteps of their Soviet predecessors”, said a spokesman for the Jehovah’s Witnesses world headquarters in Warwick, New York.
The country has convicted 24 members since 2017, when it banned the denomination. Russia is known for its laws intended to crack down on opposition activists and religious minorities.
In November, Russia angered the West with by announcing a law that allows the Kremlin to label journalists and ordinary people as foreign agents if they collaborate with foreign media organisations and receive financial or other material support from them.
Last week, one of Russia’s elite universities, announced it is considering banning its students and staff from performing political speech.
https://www.neweurope.eu/article/three-jehovahs-witnesses-convicted-in-russia-amid-crackdown/

Don't get carried away over it. Man is ruining the earth and God will soon ruin those who keep doing it.  Rev. 11: 18 says:
(Revelation 11:18) 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.”
I endorse the points Anna raised; however about the ground being cursed it seems that the Watchtower is saying otherwise, see quote below:
*** w17 June p. 8 par. 17 Jehovah Provides Comfort in All Our Trials ***
17 Young ones who learn to love the true God and to follow his counsel can become a source of comfort in a family. They can do so by showing respect for their parents and by helping in material ways. They can also make a valuable spiritual contribution. Before the Flood, Seth’s descendant Lamech worshipped Jehovah. That family man said of his son Noah: “[He] will bring us comfort from our labor and from the painful toil of our hands because of the ground that Jehovah has cursed.” That prophecy was fulfilled when the curse on the ground was lifted. (Gen. 5:29; 8:21) On a more personal level, children who pursue true worship can prove to be sources of comfort in their families, helping all to endure present trials and then to survive something greater than the Flood. End quote
Due to lack of knowledge and wickedness, man has ruined the earth by his ignorant mistreatment of it. Governments try to educate people on the right way to treat land, where to build, etc., and people fail to listen.  They prefer to listen to "soaps" and things like that, whereas educational documentaries and directives are not listened to.  And they don't like reading God's Word nor man's. Solomon talked about the benefit of knowledge; Jesus said it would lead to everlasting life (John 17:3)  So we need knowledge and we need righteous people and righteous government to implement knowledge.This would not happen until God's Kingdom is holding sway.  Wicked people and governments have to be removed and righteous government (by God and his Son) has to be in place for the prophecies to be fulfilled. (Dan 2:44)  God is not going to make Satan's system and rule look successful by intervening in the affairs of this world.  He will do it under his righteous rule.
As was stated by Anna, Jesus the King of the new earth will speak to the wind and will control all the elements.  Obedient mankind will also contribute to this, as the prophecy says in Isaiah 11:6-9.
(Mark 4:37-41) 37 Now a great violent windstorm broke out, and the waves kept crashing into the boat, so that the boat was close to being swamped. 38 But he was in the stern, sleeping on the pillow. So they woke him up and said to him: “Teacher, do you not care that we are about to perish?” 39 With that he got up and rebuked the wind and said to the sea: “Hush! Be quiet!” And the wind abated, and a great calm set in. 40 So he said to them: “Why are you so afraid? Do you not yet have any faith?” 41 But they felt an unusual fear, and they said to one another: “Who really is this? Even the wind and the sea obey him.”
This will also apply to all other natural disasters like floods, earthquakes, volcanoes, hurricanes, forest fires, etc. The causes of these things will be no more.  Knowledge of looking after the earth and its environment will be taught everywhere. Love for God, neighbour and the animal creation will be abundant. 
Isaiah 11:6-9:  The wolf will reside for a while with the lamb, And with the young goat the leopard will lie down, And the calf and the lion and the fattened animal will all be together; And a little boy will lead them.  7 The cow and the bear will feed together, And their young will lie down together. The lion will eat straw like the bull.  8 The nursing child will play over the lair of a cobra, And a weaned child will put his hand over the den of a poisonous snake.  9 They will not cause any harm Or any ruin in all my holy mountain, Because the earth will certainly be filled with the knowledge of Jehovah As the waters cover the sea. 10 In that day the root of Jesʹse will stand up as a signal for the peoples. To him the nations will turn for guidance, And his resting-place will become glorious. 

Eccl 7:12 For wisdom is a protection just as money is a protection, but the advantage of knowledge is this: Wisdom preserves the life of its owner. 
(Isaiah 26:9) In the night I long for you with my whole being, Yes, my spirit keeps looking for you; For when there are judgments from you for the earth, The inhabitants of the land learn about righteousness.

 

In other words; Satan, by his action, deprived all humans of God's protective power when it comes to the elements, and over other things too. When Adam and Eve were thrown out of the garden of Eden, God said to them: " Because you listened to your wife’s voice and ate from the tree concerning which I gave you this command, ‘You must not eat from it,’ cursed is the ground on your account. In pain you will eat its produce all the days of your life. It will grow thorns and thistles for you, ...."  To me this indicates that if they had not sinned, the ground would not have been "cursed" so to speak, and there would be no "thistles and thorns" and no natural disasters. In this way, Jehovah removed his protective power from the earth, and this affects both good and bad people of course. He does not cause natural disasters, he just doesn't stop them. It is assumed that in the new world, God will control the weather (miraculously) for man's benefit, just like Jesus did when he calmed the storm.
 

We should consider the below advice before we go further on this.
*** w89 5/15 p. 31 Questions From Readers ***
...
We should find in this a caution for all of us. Ethnic or national prejudice may abound around us. (Compare John 7:47-52.) We likely hear neighbors, schoolmates, or fellow workers make categorical remarks about another people, such as, ‘Oh, those northerners are all cold and unfeeling’; ‘Well, you know how proud those southerners are’; or, ‘It’s risky to trust those people from across the border.’
We must strive to avoid giving in to broad characterizations that are probably unfounded or greatly exaggerated. Some may be more outgoing and expressive, others more reserved or slow to warm up to strangers. Yet, we should remember that some of our Christian brothers are no doubt to be found among the people of that ethnic group or nationality, as well as many others who have not yet become true Christians but who have admirable traits and who hunger for righteousness.
The apostle Peter stressed the fact that “God is not partial, but in every nation the man that fears him and works righteousness is acceptable to him.” (Acts 10:34, 35) We can be absolutely sure that Paul agreed with that, reflecting the same outlook in his writings and speech. So should we.
 
 

When I, a New Yorker, visited Florida and heard someone say that, I was furious! I called them out! “Call yourself thorough? You forgot, ‘inhospitable and rude!’”