Doug

This forum is among the best things I have found outside of official channels. I see it in the spirit of Proverbs 27:17 "As iron sharpens iron, so one friend sharpens his friend". We get to know one another through the tone of our comments. "Is this person a peacemaker? Or a scrapper? An up builder? Or a challenger? We may get a reputation as predominately a challenger, or something else. That's okay. We're like a bouquet of flowers. Some flowers have thorns. We just need to learn to handle it with care. I look forward to the week of August 3 when we study the Watchtower article Respect the Decisions of Others. I want to see how that article influences our posts here, because it has a lot to say, very directly, about respecting the opinions that you may personally disagree with. Anyway, YOU dear brothers and sisters are like apples of gold in silver carvings!!!! So much help is given so freely. I love you very much!

Indeed. They also use the attic.

In my previous congregation a family had a python as a pet. Weird, but . . Anyway, this python is only going to eat a living thing; rat, hamster, guinea pig. Everyone knows about this python, but there seemed to be no problem among the friends with the diet.

If this system were to go on for a few more years, medicine and science may thank JW's for their tenacious trust in God. I remember a CO from at least 15 years ago say "We will be vindicated on the blood issue".

Cryptic. Since my comment was in reference to a work of fiction, you're either endorsing the author for his right to speculate; or, endorsing "speculation" itself. Or both, I guess. Speculation as entertainment (fantasy without boundaries) is in a class of its own. Let the buyer, and the reader, beware.

But understand what he writes is FICTION. Talented, but imagination.

Lance , maybe you can clarify. Have they taken us to court twice over the same "violation", or have they taken us to court for two different "violations" ?

This popped-up today. This is a shopping mall just outside of Sacramento, California. As you can imagine, the comments made numerous references to JW's . I think SMPW has a full-time presence at the mall. Imagine the conversations at their table !!! I see they offer a free copy of the Quran.

Here's something that could be very worthwhile. Might want to share with anyone facing a big medical bill. I will begin by crediting the author, Kim Komando. His newsletter: SplashofAI.com Story ~ After a man suffered a fatal heart attack, his widow received the bill of $195,628 for four hours of emergency care. She was ready to pay it when a relative asked her to wait. They requested an itemized bill with CPT codes (universal billing codes of hospitals). With the line-item bill and codes, it was pasted to Claude. Within minutes, Claude found duplicate charges, services billed as "inpatient" even though the patient was never admitted, charges for procedures that never happened, supply cost charges inflated to 500% to 2300% above MediCare rates. They double-checked the results with ChatGPT and both AI's were in agreement. They instructed AI to draft a dispute letter to send to the billing department. The bill was reduced to $33,000. An 83% reduction. No medical knowledge required. ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ When homeowner's insurance companies make their settlement "offer", it's called an offer because it can't be perfectly validated, but it should be reasonable. The insured could get help from a public adjuster, but they charge so much that you end up right back where you started. Hopefully, somehow, AI will be capable of providing a valid estimate to "make you whole" in rebuttal of the insurance company's "offer".

No kippah ? The friends in that part of the world may have to have the Memorial on Zoom. But we know how.

It was probably intended to cut deep . . however, politicians have rhinoceros skin x10. Insults bounce off.

If this warfare doesn't shake-up the UN, I don't know what will. We may see Rev 17:17 fulfilled by summer. Will this Memorial be the last?

I know the broadcast is recorded ahead of time. How far ahead I can't guess. But, the broadcast includes talks that go back. So, I wonder if they made a last minute decision to drop Br. Lett's talk into this broadcast, in view of world events. In his talk about persecution, Br Lett looks closely at his paper several times, as if to focus. And at the annual meeting he wore glasses. In my mind, the talk in the broadcast happened before the annual meeting, before a prescription for glasses. I had the feeling they were preparing us. After the prison segment, Br Ekrann said at 53:35 "Did you learn something from this episode that will fortify you in the days or weeks to come" ? I'm probably reading more into it than was intended.

Yes, Iran seems very isolated in the Muslim community. Now that the attack is happening, other neighboring countries are protesting Iran for shooting missiles in their direction. Saudi Arabia and UAE have condemned Iran's retaliatory strikes after several of their cities and ports have been hit. It will be interesting to see where things stand in a week.

"He will bring mighty ones to ruin, also the people made up of the holy ones". Pay Attention to Daniel's Prophesy, chapter 10, paragraph 20 says "These 'holy ones' are spirit-anointed Christians".