TrueTomHarley

Let's see - get up, kiss wife, shower, shave, eat breakfast, pick a fight with JTR - what has he posted lately?

Nobody, but nobody, assembles their entire membership as JWs did at their most recent Regional Conventions, and reviews detailed scenarios under which child sexual abuse might happen, so that parents can train their children - obviously the first line of defense. Especially emphasized was the fact the the perpetrator is likely to be someone a child knows and trusts. If a relative, or friend, or anyone, seems overly attentive to your child. If there are tickling sessions. If there are sleepovers. If there are trips alone to the public restroom. If ....there were several others. These are all potential red flags, maybe harmless, but maybe not, for the parent to be aware of. 'The wise one sees the [potential] calamity approaching, and takes action' is the verse repeatedly applied. JTR saw it too. But he likes his cartoon and wants to spin it around the world a few more times.

What's it to you? You should not think all are friends here. Just think. If he only pursued the priorities you seem to advocate - why, he could be another Chester Bennington! Or Michael George! Or Kurt Cobain! And a ...who's the other one who just hung himself a few weeks ago? Or, by ignoring spiritual things, he could live 80 years and then die!!! ...sigh...

do they now position themselves as champion of gay rights? I fear that one will not go over too well with gays.

They were going through their difficult teenage years then. They sat around playing video games and let the old man do all the work. Just kidding, of course, but as you say, there are often things added to our portrayal of events that weren't stated in verse. It is unavoidable any time you do a drama. When that jerk in the dungeon demanded to see Hezekiah, did the latter really drop what he was doing to put up with his tirade? Did he really routinely take time out during his busy king day to play with the small children? And don't get me going on cleanliness. When I see a half dozen full time servants toiling half a day to remove an ounce of dirt, I realize that my more relaxed view of clean doesn't stand a snowball's chance in you-know-where of prevailing.

I am crazy. I know I am.

It would be hard for Noah to avoid a warning component to his preaching when answering the question "What's that big boat doing in your back yard?" and of course, he would have been known for nothing else. Today it is hard to slip it in. I don't tell anyone "only a short time and all will be destroyed." There is too much preliminary stuff to cover. I'll get around to it eventually, but it's down the road a bit - more so than it would be if I dragged an ark along with me in service.

It means nothing in itself. Laudable people are there. But also some scoundrels. It's a big enough place. Maybe someday there will be a hoeing out. But for now they remain even when in serious financial arrears. I live and die for the 'like' meter.

The public ministry grounds a person. Stray from it at your personal spiritual peril.

Hey, you big so-and-so @James Thomas Rook Jr.. For all your carrying on about being prolific, I just noticed that I have more posts than you.* How did that happen? Though, you get some sort of prize when your posts are liked here. I'm not sure if I have any of those. Have you? And you once accused me of tracking you down via FB and I responded by asking what had you been smoking. But when, within a post, you referred to yourself as 'Tom Rook,' that rang a bell. I don't know from where, but it may be I have run across (not over) you elsewhere. *That is NOT counting Vic Vomidog, A Nice Guy, and the learned Dr. Adhominum.

I like when Riker was on the Klingon ship under the 'exchange student' program and had to eat their stuff.

This is subjective, as are my observations. But to the extent it is true, I'm not sure just how terrible it is. Obviously, it is not the ideal. Nonetheless, door-to-door never comes easily to some. Not everyone is a communicator. It can't be easy to carry around weighty responsibilities affording one respect, and routinely shifting to the field where there is not one grain of respect. Some always find it a struggle, and I will love them for trying, even when they do not knock the ball out of the park. Back before the LDC and its predecessor, If you wanted to build a Kingdom Hall, there were certain brothers, builders by trade, that you just had to get onboard. Everyone else was all-thumbs in comparison. These brothers had the expertise and willingness, and they roamed about instrumental in many a building project. But some considered them 'second tier' because their formal ministry wasn't that hot. Let them bring their gift to the altar, even if public preaching has become a bit of a sideline from them. I fancy myself comfortable at communicating these days, yet I could not build a Kingdom Hall model out of Lego blocks.

I will make the job easier by supplying #14 myself: 14.) "And the Devil who was misleading them was hurled into the lake of fire...." (Rev 20:10) That's supposed to bother him? I believe he has a summer cottage on the Lake of Fire.

Disfellowshipped or disassociated persons do accumulate. And they don't always pine for the day they will be reinstated. Sometimes they go on the attack. When they do, like people anywhere, they play down whatever responsibility they had in favor of how others done them in. You would think that the BBC would get the accurate scoop on what circumstances can lead to this most extreme form of discipline and what ones cannot. It's not as though the process is hidden.

Nonsense. Are you in jail? Has your home been burned down or confiscated? Have you been fired? But now this lion will become a kitty cat. Sorry. Assuming no more....