Dave

There’s been a lot of healthy banter (making fun) between the brothers at my hall since the announcement was made… some choosing to grow beards, others remaining as they were. One brother, in jest commented amongst a group of bearded brothers: “This is just a cunning ploy to weed out all you rebels”. Haha. We all had a good laugh.

What about the sisters? We have 3 anointed sisters in our congregation. Funny how you don’t see them depicted as women in artwork showing anointed ones in heaven. Remember too, they’ll be serving as “kings and priests”.

On the 75th anniversary of NATO, Germany’s defence minister Boris Pistorius hinted at compulsory military service for the nation, citing the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war. This is a growing trend in Europe; many countries such as Norway, Denmark and others have either implemented conscription or considering it https://www.firstpost.com/explainers/germany-compulsory-military-service-conscription-europe-denmark-sweden-ukraine-norway-13756555.html/amp

Power outages were wide spread. My elderly mother was essentially trapped in her apartment with lifts not working and water not pumping therefore no flushing toilets. Took 3 days to restore her power but a sister in our cong is still without power after 5 days waiting. Some areas worst hit in Hawkes bay and surrounding areas could be without power for weeks.

Most extreme weather I’ve ever seen in NZ in my 58 years here. Hard to believe how widespread the damage with most of the north island affected. Thankfully, my place in Auckland got off lightly compared to others. Our household swelled to 9 including 4 children for a few days as family members had to flee their homes and evacuated to our place.

The “United” Methodist church is becoming more divided: https://apnews.com/article/f3fc3ec9e1f39501495d227d5a0963f8

Well done, nice shot.

I admire his passion. Shame it’s not shared by the ones who have the power to do something about it. Aside from the military conflict he refers to as being a cause for such a lot of food shortages particularly in war ravaged countries, there’s another kind of conflict that seems to be on the increase which will have just as bad an effect on the rest of the world including on developed lands... commercial conflicts, sometimes referred to as ‘trade wars’ are already starting to have an impact. These things have been compounded by COVID. In NZ and Australia, orchardists are struggling to harvest crops due to a labour shortage as low paid foreign workers are not available due to border closures caused by COVID. Strawberry growers in NZ look close to going out of business as it’s no longer a viable business to be in. The same will no doubt be true for other crops. There’s either going to be a massive shortage of food or the prices are going to go up... a lot! Probably both.

It's very hard to find balanced reporting these days. Indeed, for a true Christian the "NEWS" is barely even readable/watchable in many cases The same kind of thing that's happening in India's media (as described in the linked article below) seems to be happening with Journalism in various places today. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-54930379 Often, rather than simply reporting news, journalists give their opinions, which are often biased, causing division among those who read or listen to it. Its not hard to see how the media is very much a part of Satan's system, a very effective propaganda machine that is shaping (or twisting) the minds of human society. I like to stay informed about what's happening in the world, but we need to be very careful we don't get sucked in by such propaganda.

It’s seems that despite Russia’s mistreatment of Jehovah’s people, Putin may have a use for God after all... Good luck with that. (Not!)

Russia's Putin wants traditional marriage and God in constitution Russia's Putin wants traditional marriage and God in constitution

A Kingdom Hall in Christchurch got torched this morning. Sounds like the work of an arsonist who also attacked the Cardboard Cathedral half an hour later. From what I’ve heard the Kingdom Hall has been completely destroyed.

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?objectid=12362655&ref=twitter

Many congregations in Auckland have cancelled their memorial campaigns. I’m guessing that those who meet in multi-plexes will exceed the 500 limit on gatherings imposed by the government, so no point inviting the general public. The memorial will still go ahead in some form, although what that proves to be will be decided by each BOE in due course. its a developing situation...

I never thought I’d see the day when we would stop door knocking... https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12317063