tromboneck

People making the effort to come to meetings should see our weekly arrangements as an oasis from the daily cares and problems heaped upon them from Satan's system. Each of us should take it as a personal responsibility to make the meetings refreshing and something to look forward to for the rest of our spiritual family, where they will be valued, loved, comforted and appreciated. It starts with us and the love we have and the way we express it. Our elder body doesn't have any "lists" of who attends every meeting although we have a schedule to visit certain ones. But aside of that, we can do what we already know we should be doing individually. Of course, greeting new ones or those we haven't seen in a while, but more. As a memory aid, it may help to make notes during the meeting of what comments, parts etc we can sincerely express appreciation for afterwards. I need to write down what was said and how it helped me in order to say something like: "I'm glad I came to the meeting tonight. Your comment about (...) is something really helpful to me/I learned something/I never thought of it that way..." Or something like that. I learned something from serving in the foreign language field. We all love our brothers and sisters, but some cultures are more expressive in how they show it - which contributes to a warm, accepting and loving atmosphere. I have also seen cliques become a problem in some congregations and so it is important to widen out. Elders especially can set the tone for the congregation. True they have a lot of things to attend to, but it shouldn't be "all business" - only talking to other elders after the meeting - which can look like a clique in itself. True we can't speak to every individual during every meeting, but when we speak to others, our focus should be on them, even if it means pulling up a chair and sitting beside them while they express themselves (usually for older ones). When we learn about the love Jehovah and Jesus express toward us, it's natural that we would want to imitate them in how we treat our brothers and sisters. It is nice to see the concern reflected in some of the comments here of how inclusive we should be of those who are different.

Thanks for your compassionate comments, dear brothers & sisters.
I understand you very well;  we are all imperfect and can't watching anywhere!
We also have a bad phase and need it,  maybe some nice words or some help....
We live in an evil world and unfortunately make mistakes again and again!
I know some problems from my congregation too. Many brothers showing love, but some can't do, thats fact.
But if EVERYBODY  tries, love can grow
Let's pray for more love in our congregation and let's try watching more with our hearts ❤ 
( Jehovah will be happy...)
In this sense,  my best wishes to ALL

THANK  YOU     YES  I  KNOW,  WE  MUST  ALWAYS  PAY  ATTENTION  IN  OUR  CNONGREGATION  AND  WATCHING  A  LITTLE  OUR  BROTHERS  AND  SISTERS...   I  do  that  and  I  could  help  here  and  there  -  a  nice  feeling

What you just posted is INCREDIBLY important !
THANK YOU!

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....

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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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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.

(2 Peter 2:4) . . .Certainly God did not refrain from punishing the angels who sinned, but threw them into Tarʹta·rus, putting them in chains of dense darkness to be reserved for judgment.
When did God put the angels that sinned into Tartarus?
(1 Peter 3:18, 19) . . .He was put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit. 19 And in this state he went and preached to the spirits in prison,
When did Jesus preach to the spirits in prison?
(1 Timothy 3:16) 16 Indeed, the sacred secret of this godly devotion is admittedly great: ‘He was made manifest in flesh, was declared righteous in spirit, appeared to angels, was preached about among nations, was believed upon in the world, was received up in glory.’
Was this the same time he "appeared to angels"?

Phew!

Dunno what your driving at mate. You're gonna have to be more explicit. I know you can do it if you try. You're an engineer after all and you talk a lot of sense..... sometimes.
However, your cut-and-paste innuendos are as old hat and irrelevant this time as they have been in the past, so just get real for a change and explain yourself clearly because I just do not "get yer drift".
The scripture I quoted applies to your spiritually jaded and sarcastic comments. You yourself stated that you are  "a man with no spiritual qualifications". You have furnished your own proof of this, so what's your gripe? I'm not getting it?
Have you decided that your own hat actually does not fit?? I know you can't be offended by and don't care about anything anybody could say to you about anything, as you have stated so clearly elsewhere. So just what are you getting at??

Agreed, Jehovah is shaking the nations by preaching work (not literally shaken). ...And this preaching work is upsetting the Russian government and the Mighty Orthodox church.....because we are effective!
However, I think Jehovah is allowing satan to literally shake the nations due to the activities of man (wars, poverty etc.) which is causing stress in societies in many parts of the world. We are observing an influx of people to other areas and these have not had opportunity to get a good witness because they live in areas where the work has been banned or restricted.
 

I agree with your views expressed very well here. Just to add that whilst indeed the movement of people is due to the "shaking" of this world system, Jehovah's "shaking" of the nations (Hag.2:7) is by means of the preaching that we do. Personal focus and involvement in that activity as much as we can at this time will serve greatly in our endeavour to keep ourselves in Jehovah's love. 

I DID NOT EXPECT IT TO GO OUR WAY!  Here are my reasons:
I have been watching Russia for more than 12 years and saw its sincere "human rights lawyers and reporters" mysteriously killed on the streets with no-one being brought to justice.  In the past I have called it a thugocracy! They killed dissidents in other countries too - think of the polonium-210  killing in London which grabbed some headlines! (please watch the video link I put in my previous comment about Russia.)
Putin has made the Russian Orthodox religion his bedfellow in creating a new Russian-religious Nationalism.  Russian pride is at an all-time high and this is their food at present which unites them against all else /anything different. Many people are joining the orthodox church because Putin is the equivalent to a pop-star god and he seen as a strong leader.  He is dangerous, shrewd and a killer!  No-one stands in his way - totalitarian.... and his bedfellow church is the same! 
By shrewd selling of weapons and assistance his influence is increasing in the world  (especially the middle east). The Russians love him for it.
Satan is blinding the eyes of the world leaders.  Putin is also keeping the lid on the 27 million Muslims in his country by brutal oppression. Searches and Indiscriminate jailing of these people have made them live in fear of the government.... 
Like his cold war predecessors - Putin and the Russian government is putting on a façade - allowing this high supreme court case, just to make this ban on JWs legal in the eyes of the people - justice has been through the process..... the quality of the process does not matter.  There was never an intention to listen to arguments in a fair /just way..... It was a set decision beforehand and the entire country is in a trance propagated by the Russian propaganda machine. All "feel" the same in their nationalism.   (Remember the Nazi machine of pride and nationalism?  A modern version of it...no right and wrong standards with injustices perpetrated and victims with no rights.)
It is therefore not a surprise that Russia is the first country to stand in the "holy place" - I expect more and more to join this stance against Jehovah's defenseless people.   We do believe that it is the time of the end, don't we?  Then expect more to come. 
We will suffer - but Jehovah will cut it off at the right time.  We will be dragged before governors and give our witness.  And our enemies will be deriding us - where is your god now?  Why does he not save you?  
The propaganda of Satan (expressions of demons) is everywhere - going out to divide the earth as never before ! to get them ready for Armageddon. Rev 16:14-16.  Religious hate (religions hating each other and weapons training in religious nationalism is something new), hard-core racial hatred, and political party hatred (militant far-left and militant far-right) are getting people worked up for violence and fierceness to perpetrate unthinkable things against their fellow man in future. (brother killing brother).
In the world there is not a place where there is not one or other form of hatred being propagated.  The values of right and wrong have disappeared.  Most Christians nations (especially Europe) are Christians at face value only because philosophies of humanist nature have taken its place....All religions are equal they say.... there is no right and wrong....  
In this moral confusion the pressure pot is building - and the longer it builds- the bigger the explosion.  Whether we will see another world war - I do not know.  Whether we will see an ISIS-like organization take over in Europe and Canada - I do not know.   All I can see is signs of a building hatred amongst people which is directly from Satan.
Satan wants to control the world completely and stamp out Jehovah's worship.  He is using imperialistic false religion and political systems to do this.  In previous generations there were decent people who held back this overwhelming control of satan but now there are very little wise people left with a sincere love for god.  In many countries there is an inordinate surge in Spiritism  - practiced on a daily basis with druids and witch doctors....  I saw this while living in Africa and England and have been watching the trends.
Jehovah is now allowing the nations to be shaken (refugees moving everywhere) so that we can bring them the message and they receive an opportunity to choose... so keep busy while we have freedom to do so.
I see signs of Jehovah's Witness enemies using Facebook and false news to perpetuate and spread vile lies about us and build a hatred against us.... Who is behind this?  Satan of course.  
So my brothers....and sisters. Keep yourself in Jehovah's love..... do not stray and keep the eyes simple and focussed.  Do not collect material things or influence for yourself ..... it is not the time to contemplate these things... because they can be taken away from you in one minute....
Jesus did not say without reason it will be the worst tribulation ever! 
 
 

that suggestion is good for EVERYBODY!

Who can say what God is thinking? 
Perhaps it is a way a demonstrating he considers marriage a covenant sacrosanct. I can think of two who complied with it for many years before finally becoming free.
Much of it, I would think, depends upon how you regard this life. If this life is all there is, then such a policy is tremendously burdensome. If one regards this life as a forerunner to the real life of 1 Timothy 6:19, then it is less so.

"Forever is a long...long time."
No one gets stuck in anything longer than their current life or until Armageddon...whichever comes first.

Better back off, Trom. Just wait till you hear his answer.
 
Since they haven't explained anything else, I wouldn't hold my breath.

I don't worry so much about Satan the Devil, as I worry about clueless men trying to consolidate their own power and self-appointed authority, and who and how many they are willing to hurt to do that.

Jehovah sees all and will use this and other events affecting his named people to further his will. We just need to have faith and rely on the blessings from Jehovah. Keep our eyes on the prize and pray for endurance for all the brotherhood.  

They already did with Dvorkin and the anti-cultists venom against us saying EXACTLY what you James just said. Except Putin unknowingly already destroyed that entire concept that we destroy families just last month with the award given to a Witness family for "family values". But they don't care as this is all political.

People don't burn others at the stake because they are rational... they do it based on how they FEEL!
Reality is that the Russians .... FEEL .... that JWs are extremist with an iron fist in a velvet fur glove.
If there is ANYBODY on Earth that understands that, it is the Russians who grew up under Soviet tyranny, where families were turned against each other.
I hope the Court will, in it's ruling(s) explain the reasons WHY they ruled the way they did.
If so ... then we will know.

Everything the Defense said was fair, and true .... Jehovah's witnesses are the most peaceful and non-extremist people on Earth ... EXCEPT IN ONE AREA ... and that is how we destroy whole families to disfellowship one individual ... which unravels  and destroys the very fabric of civilization.
I hope the Court will, in it's ruling(s) explain the REASONS why they ruled the way they did.
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12  “But before all these things happen, people will lay their hands on you and persecute you,+ handing you over to the synagogues and prisons. You will be brought before kings and governors for the sake of my name.+ 13  It will result in your giving a witness." LUKE 21:12,13.

Remember the time when special occasions like the “annual meeting” taking place in the US, when the rest of us, did not have any email, did not speak American/English and did not have the chance to attend such special meetings in our life time.
NOW ALL OF THIS PROGRAMM IS FREE to access globally all over the world !
WHAT A GREAT CHANGE THAT IS  !!!
(which means that THERE IS A NEED FOR THAT !!!!)
Now imagine, that I DO NOT SPEAK English, I HAVE HEALTH PROBLEMS, my family is not in the truth, I DO MY BEST IN MY LIFE and I would never have the happiness to watch these special events !!
Why did you accuse the Librarian of posting these things in the past, when NOW ALL OF THIS PROGRAM IS FREE ?
IF I AM A person with health problems, HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO ENJOY SUCH SPIRITUAL MEETINGS ???
I want to say that ALL THE BROTHERS AND SISTERS who have health problems, THEY TRY THEIR BEST FOR JEHOVAH ! HOW HAPPY WE ARE THAT ALL OF US NOW CAN HAVE THE POSSIBILITY TO ENJOY SUCH WONDERFUL MEETINGS !!!

Tom, the announcement AT the convention itself, asks those with integrity to NOT spoil the convention for those who have not attended yet. The loving thing would be to be obedient. That's not what we do, as humans. They also asks us to attend the convention to which you are assigned. But it is so disheartening to hear the excuses we hear from the "Friends" who disobey that request because they "can't wait" until their convention. It is sad to know that some of our Brothers and Sisters are so selfish that NOTHING else matters to them. And for those of us who are faithful to our Promise, and don't try to blur the line of demarcation, and take the risk of making the convention uncomfortable for those who are assigned. It's heartbreaking to know that we can't obey, even the simplest commands, and that the Inspired Words on 1 John 5:3, 4, "For this is what the love of God means, that we observe his commandments; and yet his commandments are not burdensome, 4 because everyone who has been born from God conquers the world. And this is the conquest that has conquered the world, our faith", are really to no avail to them. It is really heartbreaking.