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IMO, the principles have always been clear. It's their application that raises doubts. I mean, every Christian understands we don't celebrate Christmas, and no Christian has a problem with covering his mouth when yawning, even if they both originate with false religion, because those are extremes. It's more difficult to understand, and to some degree arbitrary, why some practices that have lost their religious meaning are acceptable while others are not. Wedding rings are ok but toasting is not (well, until now). Piñatas are acceptable but throwing rice to the newlyweds is not. What is the reasoning? I don't know. Some decades ago we were unbearably strict. We were a stick in the mud, looking at everything with suspicion and finding traces of false religion everywhere. The same as a child matures until he becomes a man, our organization is constantly maturing and learning to apply Bible principles better. When I went to pioneer school at 16 my mind exploded with the chapter about Bible principles. I remember chess being avoided by Witnesses because it was a war game. I remember articles quoting Christendom fundamentalists saying rock was Satanic and an article quoting an idiot claiming E.T. was a parody of Jesus. As an organization we have come a long way from then. We recently understood that we cannot tell Jehovah who should be saved and who should. We understood a more logical, loving and Christ-like way of treating those who were removed from the congregation. We understood beards. I'm sure our application of Bible principles will continue to be refined in the future.

A few weeks ago my husband was telling our children that when we toast we are calling upon demons. Not sure how we're going to back track on that one 😆

I don't know why, Sister @LeolaRootStew, I have the feeling that we will always have something of them visible, in the New World. I don't know what. What is certain (but deep down, what do we know?): we will no longer see the wonderful smile of Brother Lett, the twinkling eyes of Brothers Herd and Jackson, the serious look of Brother Splane, we will no longer hear talks from Brother Lösch on the theme of 'time', and all the others, with the characteristics that we have learned to love so much. It will be something else, and never mind if I am mistaken❤️

2025 GB Update #4 Transcript

The admonition to refrain from "toasting" goes as far back as my association with Jehovah's people. Here is a 1952 QFR. *** w52 5/15 p. 319 Questions From Readers *** In shunning this custom of toasting, along with many other objectionable customs, we may appear narrow-minded to worldlings. So we are. But never forget for a moment that our Christian narrowness is our salvation, just as the world’s broadness is its destruction.—Matt. 7:13, 14. That was the year my father began studying. He was baptized in 1954. Change is upon us...♥️ Oh my. That emoji is a former religious symbol...😁

I remember when we first received Brother Lett at Bethel in Brazil, about thirty years ago... it was a privilege... at the time the brothers of the Governing Body did not have much visibility due to JW Broadcasting. I remember being impressed with his teaching art. I hope the story of his life comes out before he receives his reward.

Brother Lett and I are approximately the same age, 78. He was our CO some years back. He even gave our Memorial Talk one year when he was here.

Unlike toasting, that isn't found in the Bible, all the occurrences of birthdays in the Bible are negative. I would not expect that.

We all like the GB members we know. But what about the 'other' 143,970 Kings and Priests we don't know personally? They are (or will be) just as important.

This clarification was said to be made to promote the unity of our brotherhood. This might seem to be counterintuitive, saying that the more Christian freedom we have, the more united we are. I suppose it's in the sense that this new-found freedom will contribute to less disagreements and arguments in these, what are now grey areas. It just goes to show, once again, that unity doesn't always mean uniformity.

That's why at the dentist's, two doctors are trying to open my mouth. 🤣

I was just thinking last week about toasting, how it is viewed in my community and nothing unscriptural came to my mind so I was wondering if there’s going to be an adjustment and voila! The chariot: https://tenor.com/bES1f.gif

I love this update[emoji3590] Not because all of a sudden, we are "allowed" (even if that's how you want to call it..) to toast, but because the very simple reasoning is clear and based on principles. The organization is maturing more and more, and it teaches us to mature with it by really thinking in principles, using our God-given thinking ability. Verstuurd vanaf mijn SM-S911B met Tapatalk

Toasting...

Maybe the certain aspect part of birthdays, but I don't think this will happen personally. Someone already mentioned that birthdays from the Bible all have a negative connotation. On top of that, it would be a day to "glorify" yourself, or another person, which is not in line with good qualities. Eccl 7:1 focuses on the importance of building a good name/reputation everyday while we live, and not just celebrating the day we were born on. Lastly, I think if anything, mother and fathers day would come before birthdays. But because of similar reasonings (glorying a person, having other days in the year to respect your parents) idk if we would make any changes about those either.

Since you asked and since you mentioned it is just my opinion I will tell you. In the congregations that I have been associated with over the last 70+ years, I have noticed that many more anointed ones partaking are women. As a wild guess, my observations would be 3 to 2 or more (half-again more women). Over the last 2000 years it is hard to say but in general the 'women are a large army' in God's service and there is no reason to believe anointed publishers are different. So, yes, I assume more Kings and Priests in heaven used to be women on earth.

He was at our convention two weeks ago… He delivered the talk seated

That article is way longer than the usual ones!

True. I want a wind chime of bearded men toasting...

A couple months ago, I did some research on birthdays. I came up to about 5 references and all stipulated that has PAGAN backgrounds.

Honestly, we can also find it 'useless' to toast when we are among ourselves, I don't know, we may not find any meaning in the gesture, but what is certain is that from now on, we will avoid moments of embarrassment when, surrounded by those who do not share our faith, we were until now obliged to show our reserve and sometimes explain why we did not participate. In any case, a question of conscience to be respected.

It should be soon, now. This is going to be fun

I have had a privilege of meeting brother Lett twice, the first time he visited Zambia in 2004 for the branch extension dedication in December and I was one of the few privileged publishers to be assigned as an attendant from the platform. The second time he came back in 2014 for the release of the NWT Bible and I was privileged to be his interpreter

To start with, we only have some 20,000 partakers who claim to be anointed to chose from (out of 9,000,000 publishers). And a large majority of these are women who would not qualify because of gender. We would not choose the very aged because of health. We do want spiritually experienced brothers so the pool of anointed pioneers, COs and so forth is a relatively small group of possibilities. Also, to mesh seamlessly with the existing GB, they would have to speak English.

*** dx86-25 144,000 *** names may all come to be known by “other sheep”: w20.01 26; w16.01 26; w06 7/15 12; w89 8/15 20 It will be interesting to see who did and who didn't make the list..

Interesting

Many people use their date of birth to define their personality, destiny, and relationships—all ideas rooted in astrology, which the Bible strongly condemns (Deuteronomy 18:10–12).

I received a text today from my brother-in-law asking, “You ready to make a toast?” Not knowing the context, I immediately checked the app and saw the new Governing Body update. Before even reading it, I had a feeling it might touch on how we’ve traditionally interpreted the idea of toasting. As I considered the direction the update might take, two possibilities came to mind: either a move away from former associations with questionable origins (like certain symbols linked to demonic influences), as an example such as the dollar sign which I found out from a past District Overseer talk is actually a mockery on the copper snake Moses used to heal those who looked at it), or a recognition that such practices are now conscience matters, similar to other recent adjustments. It seems the update is leaning toward interpreting actions based on present-day context rather than historical associations, unless the original belief is still prominent in that region. That makes sense, given how many customs (e.g. wedding rings, covering the mouth when you yawn, wedding veils, bonfires - bonefires, bridesmaids and groomsmen, gift giving, etc.) have origins that could be linked to pagan or demonic traditions. Even mentioning the names of the days of the week. They have origins (e.g., Sunday = honoring the Sun, Monday “Moon’s day”, Tuesday “Norse God”., etc). Personally, I find it refreshing that doctrine is being more clearly separated from opinions or cultural traditions. Just like how Paul occasionally inserted his personal views into scripture, and those aren’t considered doctrine. Likewise, circuit overseers sometimes offer preferences that reflect individual interpretation rather than spiritual instruction. One of our CO's once said that Sunday field service should be as busy as Saturday field service and really pushed the hall to do it. I mean, it's a nice goal, but still an opinion. Some might view this as becoming lenient, but I believe it's about focusing on what truly matters. With everything going on in the world and being in the last days, it's important that we keep our attention on meaningful spiritual guidance and not let the small, less relevant things weigh us down (e.g. worrying about whether beards or ok, or we should be wearing suits/ties, or women wearing dress pants, etc.). While we don't want change for the sake of change, these changes definitely make sense and I welcome them with open arms.

One sister I know says she excited about it. I don’t really understand why. I agree with what you’ve said. I’ve lived half a century not doing it, I don’t really have any reason to take up the practice now. 🤷🏻‍♀️ But at least I know it can be an option if needed….and depending on the toast and occasion.

A common argument from non-witnesses is that birthdays and holidays have changed and are innocent customs. I can see some non-witness family members using this update to pressure their witness family members to celebrate birthdays and holidays.

My goodness, he looks so older than before... he will be missed dearly.

Think of it as you being loyal right up until the end (at least the end of the prohibition). That said, it still might not have been appropriate. Just because the GB is giving us principles instead of a rule doesn't mean we don't have to consider the principles. There still might be times we'd avoid participating in a toast. So, well done good and faithful servant.

Without judging your beloved aunt, Sonia, I wonder: when she was teaching the Bible and the issue of birthdays came up, how did she do it? Did she give her opinion or support the FDS's point of view? Did she help the student understand what we believe to be, up to now, Jehovah's point of view on the matter? If I understand her position correctly: no cake, no candles, no song, no gift... well, then it wasn't a birthday she was celebrating, was it? We are currently experiencing major internal changes, which can be very disturbing for some of us who have been in the truth for decades, and for whom all these points were major in building not our faith but our loyalty to Jehovah's standards as set forth by the FDS. Jehovah appreciates our faithfulness in the little things, and the FDS is setting the example. It must not be easy for our dear brothers to revisit these issues, to which they themselves were subjected, and to change them by appealing to biblical principles, reason, and wisdom. I have the impression that Jehovah is frothing at the mouth right now because he wants us to travel to the New World relieved of all unnecessary burdens. So even if it's complicated for us, perhaps we need to make it a matter of details and faith, to move forward along with the chariot. Anyway, the cup is served; we must drink it to the dregs.

One of the questions highlighted in regards to Bible principles in the Enjoy Life Forever! book in Lesson 44 asks: ”Does a celebration give undue honour to a person?” So even if a person decided that a false religious background to a celebration is a thing of the past, we have to consider whether celebrations lift up humans in a glorified way so to speak. (Rom. 12:3; Php. 2:3) Would we be giving undue honour to someone simply because they were born on a particular day of the year?

What a lovely update….As for me I’ve always loved fairy lights as we call them here in the UK…(string lights) I have plenty in my garden and really love it as it gets dark and they start to shine and twinkle. It was interesting what bro Lett said that the bethelites that have these string lights on their balcony won’t light them up in November and December because of Xmas, I will have to remember to turn mine off at that time too… Great advice….

I can imagine most people saying right now... "Cheers" to the GB for that update!

Will there be adjustments related to birthdays? 😶👀😏

I just "applied" the update It's going to be a nice evening

I said "approximately" because I knew he was born near my birth year of 1947. I am 77 yrs and 9 months old. I have all of the dates somewhere but when I answered I was not researching the exact year. I am younger than Br. Splane by 'about' 3 years and older than Br. Lett by a year or two.

A friend of me asked this question years ago when he visited headquarters. I do not know who he asked this question but the answer was: they must know how to govern. What we see is that these brothers already serve at Bethel for years. I'm sure Jehovah already know who he needs at a certain point in time to be part of the GB. He just needs training. And when the moment is there when a new member is needed, the GB will pray about the matter and Jehovah will help them to see who has the qualifications. Jehovah directs their thoughts for the right decision.

The selection pool is very small - long time special full time servants are exclusively considered. Of these, only anointed ones would be selected to serve. It’s most likely a very small number of those to choose from.

We already no longer have the deep talks of Br. Franz, the enjoyable discourses of Br. Suiter, and others like Br. Jaracz, Br. Knorr and several others I met and remember hearing at in person Conventions. However, we have adjusted to the current Body and are quite content with that provision. I'm sure that whatever provision Jehovah directs us to have we will be just as content with that arrangement as we are with our current arrangement.

Put some shoes on, the feet looks awful!!!!

VID_20250630_013700_527.mp4

Our time here has changed shorter and we have to go on July 5th because recently my husband's dad/ my father in law has been diagnosed with Cancer And so since he is also of course old we have to take care of him. This means 2 more topics until we leave.😭

L'chaim

A nice bold article the slave does not hold back https://www.jw.org/en/library/series/more-topics/political-turmoil-fulfills-bible-prophecy/

JW.org news room. 😂🙏🏾