minister159

So, by extension,would it also be objectionable to refer to Jehovah's heavenly wife-like organization of faithful angelic creatures as "mama," instead of "mother"? "But the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother." --- Gal. 4:26

And this: During the 2016 service year, Jehovah’s Witnesses spent over $213 million in caring for special pioneers, missionaries, and circuit overseers in their field service assignments.

Since you mentioned this, it's always good to remember that our policy of strict neutrality is not limited to political involvement but includes the world's social issues that pit one side against another. No matter how noble or right a social cause might be, including racial issues, we shouldn't get involved as this detracts from our primary message and man's only hope for peace and security; God's Kingdom.

We used to have a circuit overseer who pronounced it the same way we pronounce the word, "intestine," with a short sound on the "i" and emphasis on the "lis". It actually seemed to make grammatical sense to pronounce it that way, although I've never heard anyone else pronounce it that way.

This isn't fictional entertainment, but if you'd like more insight into the our struggle for freedom to preach publicly and from house to house in the U.S., I highly recommend this book. It goes along with what we're studying currently in the 'God's Kingdom' book. Armed With the Constitution "In 1995, Merlin Owen Newton wrote Armed With the Constitution, a book that documents the role of Jehovah’s Witnesses in clarifying the application of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. At the time, Mrs. Newton was associate professor of history and political science at Huntingdon College in Montgomery, Alabama. Her thoroughly researched and well-documented book reviews two Alabama court cases that were carried all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court." "One of these Supreme Court cases involved Grace Marsh, whose first-person story appears in the accompanying article. The other case, Jones v. City of Opelika, dealt with the right to disseminate religious beliefs through distribution of literature. Rosco and Thelma Jones, a black married couple, were full-time ministers of Jehovah’s Witnesses." "In preparing her book, Professor Newton used contemporary periodicals and legal journals, Witnesses’ memoirs and letters, interviews with and material published by the Witnesses themselves, and scholarly studies of Witness activities. The fascinating details and personal reflections provided by the defendants, attorneys, and judges in Armed With the Constitution have brought a piece of Jehovah’s Witnesses’ legal history to life." ---g98 4/22

I was thinking along the same lines. It seems to be a reversal of our long-standing modus operandi, that the organization is growing rapidly with an average of 5,000 newly baptized Witnesses each week, and we need more Kingdom Halls in order to accommodate them. Large congregations were viewed somewhat as a liability in the past, because of the strain it put on the elders to care for all the sheep and the possibility of getting lost or overlooked in the crowd. Our Kingdom Hall has four congregations using it, which is the norm in this area, and we have about 165 publishers with larger attendances on Sunday. Sometimes it makes it hard to get called on for a comment during the Watchtower study and we only have enough parking for about 120 publishers. It also requires more homes to meet in for field service or else the service groups become too large, and the Kingdom Hall is already being used on Saturdays by two of the other congregations for their meetings for service. Large congregations have their own particular problems, logistical and otherwise, to deal with, as I think will become more apparent to those who attend one as time goes on.

UNACCEPTABLE YOUR PERSONAL DECISION TO CHRISTIANS WHOLE Choices You BLOOD FRACTIONS Need to Make PLASMA ALBUMIN—UP TO 4% OF PLASMA A protein extracted from plasma. Types of albumin are found also in plants, in foods such as milk and eggs, and in the milk of a nursing mother. Albumin from blood is sometimes ․․ I accept albumin used in volume expanders or to treat shock and severe ․․ I refuse albumin burns. These preparations may contain up to 25 percent albumin. Minute amounts are used in the formulation of many other medicines, including some formulations of erythropoietin (EPO). For more information on blood fractions and procedures involving the medical use of your own blood, see Our Kingdom Ministry, November 2006 Worksheets.

Probably so, since in each case sited, the brothers/sisters were asked to resign voluntarily, and when they refused, were subjected to severe conditions that made their lives miserable. They apparently, weren't fired or terminated, in order to avoid any legal repercussions, like a lawsuit.

Apparently, they don't have any labor unions to turn to as a recourse for unlawful termination as we do here in the U.S., for many types of employment, with larger companies and institutions. What an oppressive society where citizens' rights are so easily trampled on, in what should be an illegal manner!

And do they realize that by the fourth century the so-called Church Fathers were all apostate Christians teaching commands of men as doctrine? "However, even if we or an angel out of heaven were to declare to you as good news something beyond the good news we declared to you, let him be accursed." --- Gal. 1:8

For some reason, the little big-eyed boy in the video, reminded me of the lyrics in Jackson Browne's song, "Doctor my Eyes." Originally written and produced in 1972, but still as relevant today as it was then.

"When two sisters from a Jehovah's Witness family in Pizhanka District, Kirov Region, refused to sing a song about war, their class teacher told them: "You are now banned and we are already fed up with your religion". Later, she said to their mother: "You are now extremists and there will be no indulgence". Blatant discrimination based on one's religion, or anything else for that matter, isn't tolerated one iota by government officials, state agencies, and employers, including school districts here in the U. S. The fact that this teacher could talk this way to a student and her mother, shows a complete disregard for their civil rights and freedom of religion, which apparently is non-existent for the time being. If a teacher spoke that way here, she would be fired in a heartbeat and probably subject to a lawsuit including a fine and possible imprisonment. What a contrast indeed!

As I understand it, he wrote this song after the death of his good friend Freddy Mercury, who as he remembered him was so full of life, but now as he saw him at the funeral was lifeless and "so cold," or he felt that it was "so cold" of him to die and leave him here all alone. It sent him into a deep depression for awhile, so that as he says in the song, "and I feel I'm dyin'." Very emotional song.