Jump to content
JWTalk - Jehovah's Witnesses Online Community

jake3328

Full Access Users
  • Posts

    152
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Everything posted by jake3328

  1. “I do not request that you take them out of the world, but that you watch over them because of the wicked one. They are no part of the world, just as I am no part of the world.” John 17:15, 16 In these challenging times, we find ourselves deeply impacted by the circumstances and ideologies that surround us. Concepts like being 'woke' or 'anti-woke,' political correctness or anti-political correctness seem to dominate the world's discourse, particularly in the United States. Proverbs 21:2: All of a man’s ways seem right to him, But Jehovah examines the hearts. Proverbs 21:2 reminds us that we often believe our actions and words are right, but it is Jehovah who examines our hearts. It's true that our perception of what is right is shaped by various factors such as gender, ethnicity, nationality, race, language, and even our upbringing, whether rich or poor. If we were born in a different area, what we believe is right at our core would be different; it’s so arbitrary. This is why we need a benevolent dictator to set matters straight. Isaiah 1:2–4: Jehovah does that for us. We don’t fight each other, but even deeper, we don’t learn war anymore (things that divide people). Jehovah sets us straight: We love people (Mark 12:31), even our enemies (Matthew 5:43–46). As far as it depends upon us, we are peaceful with everyone (Romans 12:18). If meat causes my brother to stumble, I will not eat meat (1 Corinthians 8:12–13). We don’t need the world to tell us what's right. We have God’s word. Woke, anti-woke, political correctness, and anti-political correctness are not our problem. A friend in the congregation told me she did not see a movie because it was “woke.” I said your taste in movies is your choice, but I asked, do you subscribe to that ideology? What would people identify you with if you go around using that word? Maintaining strict neutrality is crucial in these challenging times, and it's a principle for which Jesus prayed on our behalf, knowing that we would remain in this world, surrounded by the influence of the evil one.
  2. Interesting topic and comments. It is telling how ethnocentric we sometimes are. We make assumptions that because I know a thing or my community knows a thing, everyone should know. I was in school but never caught on to the slang kids used in my school, I just acted like I knew what they meant. Imagine the Governing Body trying to create a teachable, interesting lesson for witnesses all over the world that is tough in English and hundreds of languages. That is some of the reasons the lyrics in our song books change. They have such a heavy load, I admire them for the work that do and I know Jehovah loves them because they are faithful and discreet.
  3. Sounds like a self defeating question. Like, I can't type in English. If there was nothing there would be no one to ask the question..
  4. I love Gilead. Always anxious to here those talks and presentations. There was a time when we did not have this privilege to view the graduation. I always had wait for crumbs of information to trickle down. But now we can hear them as if we were there. Many years ago when my wife and I were in international construction, we were assigned to work at Patterson for 3 months. We were so anxious to sign up for the Gilead Lectures. If you are in Bethel you can sign up for them.. We could only go to two during our construction period. Brother Milton Henschel spoke to the students about how to respond to any persecution. I remembered his harrowing experience in the 1977 Year Book p.170-175, where he was nearly knocked unconscious. So I was keen to listen to him. He said, preach to everyone, everywhere and don't stop. He gave so many memorable examples. Then we had Brother Lyman Swingle, and he gave a fascinating lecture on failed missionaries. I was surprised. It was like a warning not to be prideful and to always be on guard regarding our imperfections. So many years ago, but I hear their words like it was yesterday. Never turn down and opportunity for a rich spiritual dish.
  5. The desire to discredit religious views are very strong today. Many want to label all believers as hypocrites. And so many are being exposed that it only adds fuel to the fire. Think about it from the world's standpoint. 'My son is fighting to protect our country and may die for our country, just so you can pretend to be a conscientious objector.' Some time ago for our family worship, I put my three sons on trial and using material from trials of Jehovah's witnesses, I acted as the Prosecutor. Specifically, I was trying to find out if they really lived their faith or just didn't want to go to war. I was a little hard on them and told them that it would be harder in real life. At the end all my boys were very disappointed. I wonder, if are young people were questioned in this way would they survive. At the time they could not think of a single scripture to support their claim. as the prosecutor, I pointed out that there was a Watchtower two months previous that outlined spiritually why JW's don't go to war. I asked if they read it. No. When it came to video games, they said I was being unfair. As their father, I pointed out that if you are saying you will learn no more, how can you justify playing a certain game. Well, they have improved so much since then. The Israelites had so much trouble because of being (or wanting to be) like the nations around them. I think this is our burden also. If we were tried in a courtroom over our faith would we be convicted. Jehovah's knows we are dust, but the governments don't care if you are in their sights.
  6. May I add my two cents for what its worth... This subject is currently a raging debate in a corner of the internet. It has spawned groups of men who for all practical purposes hate women and sit and wait for issues like 'a woman Doctor Who' to fuel their rage. They are just a chip off of those who hate diversity or political correctness. The world is wrestling with issues of injustice that have been sustained or tolerated for centuries and believe me they do not know the way out. Think about it: if you were an only child, you had the back seat of the car all to yourself, but now when little brother comes along and you have to share, sharing can feel like oppression, because now you have to stay on your side. The world does not know how to resolve these issues because they do not have love for God nor for humanity (their neighbor). We on the other hand must be careful about these debates which reach our ears and may even settle in our hearts. They are meant to divide people. It will get so bad that neighbor will kill neighbor. We mustn't let Satan get even a toehold into our minds. We know what the answer is because we learned it from Jehovah. Love him with all our mind, heart, soul, strength and our neighbor as ourselves. Love, not diversity, political correctness, black lives matter, me too, and any phase you want to add, is the answer.. When we love Jehovah and love and respect people as Jesus did those phrases are never needed. They won't exist in the new world. However, we must, must, empathize with those who see a need to identify with such phrases in this old wicked world. The prophecy of Isa 42:3 foretold Jesus’ compassion; he would never extinguish the last spark of hope in humble and downtrodden people. (Study Notes from Matt 12). Ask a African-american or minority in any country. Do you really believe you will ever actually enjoy the freedom of equality? Do you believe that you are equal in God's eyes? Then tell them enthusiastically about the Kingdom. And about women, downtrodden since Gen 3:16. How Jehovah has taught us to view our dear mothers, sisters, daughters and wives. It is so important to him that a man's prayers could be rejected. No where in the Bible do we read that a woman is inferior. How sad that many feel that way. Any man who stifles the abilities of his wife (maybe due to his own ego) is hurting his own family. Look at the resume of the cable wife, she could be a CEO. So could my wife, I know she is more intelligent than I am and she has benefited our family for over 30 years, I could not make it without her. When I was at Bethel, they used sisters to operate mowers and even heavy equipment because they were easier on the equipment, less repair, more savings. Now I know no one was talking about women being inferior, but can you imagine how the new world will feel when everyone, i mean everyone is allowed to reach their unhindered full potential (I get goose bumps thinking about this). Let the world argue themselves to distraction. The end is near, we must be cautious as serpents, yet innocent as doves.
  7. A sister with two teenage sons in Poland during the Soviet days, feared for her sons, who were nearing military age. So she sought to leave her country. Her boys were being used in the congregation, they were strong. She made it somehow to the US and her boys entered the school system went to college and left the truth. The mother said she wished she never left Poland. The Apostle Paul said at Philippians 2:12 "Keep working out your own salvation with fear and trembling." How do we do this? Our primary work is to preach the good news of the kingdom and endure to the end. Every effort of that deviant and disgusting enemy of Jehovah, is to stop us from this work and to get us to give up (never may that happen). His methods may be by direct means or they may be by indirect subtleties, the goal is the same. Stop preaching. It is interesting that when the direct means has not worked the indirect means have scored for him and visa versa. He will try everything. I am sadden to tears reading about what my brothers in Russia are dealing with. Also our dear brothers in Eritrea (two who had died) who have been locked up, some for 20 years, I pray that I may endure such a trial. In lands with more freedom we are losing so many young people and some not so young. Some of us are distracting and amusing ourselves to our spiritual peril. And some of us are fighting, I mean struggling daily to endure. I am amazed at what some of our brothers and sisters are enduring, I pray for them and for our brothers in Russia, Eritrea, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, South Korea and there are so many more places (1Pet. 2:17), the whole association. Satan is not going to make it easy for any of us. What I know about Satan is that intellectually I am an ant and I am no match for his schemes, I catch myself in his traps too often and I will never with without the love and power of my God Jehovah, win against him. None of us will escape out of this system untried to the limit, Satan will see to that. Even now he is maneuvering men and governments in lands where we have more freedom, he is changing them, I am sure for the purpose of attacking us more directly. We must in whatever situation we find ourselves, trust in Jehovah, his Christ and yes in the Faithful Slave (which I see he is working hard to erode that trust today). I remember a Gilead lecture by brother Milton Henschel, he said, if you are arrested, keep preaching, preach to everyone you come in contact with, don't focus on yourself, pray and preach. Do not suffer shock as Moses warned the nation of Israel in his final speeches to them. I hope that I will do that when they come for me. Remember, we must work out "own salvation with fear and trembling." Our Regional Convention will aid us in this personal struggle. Please keep preaching and enduring for you are an example for me.
  8. Oh, it was so wonderful hearing and seeing Brother Sharpe. We met him when we served so long ago at the Zambia Branch as International Construction Volunteers back in 1992. What a absolute joy it was, a Pioneer's paradise. I remember going out in service one Saturday, just me and my wife, down one street. We only got 3 houses because we spent about an hour at each one. People see you and come to get literature. It was also funny how often we would knock at a door only to e told, we are already Jehovah's Witnesses. I love Brother Sharpe, he used to serve as a CO, in the bush, visiting isolated villages. He and his wife invited us to their room for home made sodas. He took us out on vacation to Zimbabwe and Victoria Falls and safari. This has brought back so many good memories, I will now have to pull out the video tapes.
  9. Who would have guessed back when those properties purchased that they would be worth so much today? um Jehovah!
  10. Yes a very serious Virus. I spent four days recovering files from the company's various backup systems (cloud, tape, disk). The virus stays dormant on the infected computer while it encrypts files and then enters mapped drives to servers and starts to work on them (only xls, xlsx, doc, docx and jpg files were encrypted in our case). By the time the user complained about problems, all his Excel and Word files were encrypted (he lost them all because he did not save them in the home directory on a server) and about 8,000 files on several servers were encrypted. I was able to recover all except 3 files. Worst virus I have encountered and we have dealt with many. Backup, Backup, Backup is the only solution that helped us. PS - When the files were encrypted ownership was changed to the infected user. This is how I was able to find all the encrypted files. Used TreeSize professional to find all files on the server with the infected user as owner. Not all files in a directory were affected, nor all folders, so i could not do a blanket restore (some unaffected files were updated and a blanket restore would cancel files updated by users). It was a slow restore, manual restore, sometimes just one file in a directory. Four days.
  11. "a way that is upright before a man..." Wonderful text today. What seems right to us may harm us. Our opinions, judgements, way of thinking may retard or be a barrier to our spiritual development. We know we should read the Bible daily but do we? Does something else always come first? I have seen this in my life, I make a decision that I feel confident in and wham, it did not go as i had planned. A man's wife and children, reap the consequences of such decisions. Sometimes I beg Jehovah to make the decision for me. And he tells me 'Trust in me with all your heart and do not lean upon your own understanding.' Who will rescue me from the consequences of my decisions? And Jesus tells me 'I always do the things pleasing to my father.' This is the key: "In all your ways take notice of him..."
  12. This is sad. I always think it is amazing how sometimes the media will mention that some criminal was associated with Jehovah's Witnesses. Do you know the religious affiliation of Zimmerman or Trayvon or any accused person in the media? But Satan makes sure they know when one of JW commits a crime. I used to shy away from it. Now I use it. Tell people that it is not easy to be one of Jehovah's Witnesses. Ask them if they remember the scandalous situation that happened in the bible (people perk up when you say scandalous), 1 Corinthians 5:1,2. Ask, what should happen to this man? 1 Corinthians 5:9-13. He was removed or disfellowshipped. This happens today in our congregation to unrepentant wrongdoers. This man in Corinth changed and in 2 Corinthians 2:6-8 he was welcomed back. So let negative situations be a cause to praise Jah.
  13. Not sure if you understood what I meant. Not saying don't talk about what's going on, just stay neutral when you talk about it. Jesus prayed not to take us out of the world, but to watch over us because of the wicked one. Jesus directly intervened in matters that could have divided his disciples. But no longer would he be there to do this, so he left it to his father to help us. I am a news hound and I use what is on people's mind (as we all should) to give a witness. Jehovah is rocking the nations and using us to tell folks what the state of this world is all about. If you go to the door of a black person (if they disagree with the verdict) and say 'well, you know the justice system worked' see if you get a listening ear. But if you say 'true justice is allusive in this world, it will never attain it, but friend Justice originated with Jehovah God' you may have an open heart to witness to. Even if in the recesses of my heart I have an opinion, I sacrifice it to God's will because we know what the opinions of humans, are costing us all. Mine would be no different. People are hurting and sighing and they are seeking something, we have to point them to Jehovah, through Christ not to human opinion and biases.
  14. It is so interesting (and heartwarming) watching some of the friends with strong opinions on this trying to stay neutral. And that is just the point; it is why Jesus begged his father on our behalf, because of the wicked one. Even Peter got caught up in bias conduct. Satan is cleverer than any of us. If we think we can slip from his influence we are fooling ourselves (even as Jehovah's witnesses we are tainted with it). He saturates the air with his spirit and seeks to sow seeds of division not just among the world but even to wage war with the remaining ones of the woman's seed. How can anyone really know what happened? 24 hour coverage and opinionated news won't reveal what happened. Only Jehovah knows what happened and I am satisfied knowing that he is our supreme judge. To get caught up in speculation and opinions servers no good purpose. I can't believe that anyone (especially witnesses) even has time to watch the trial. We have to help people on both sides of any issue to see that true justice rest alone with Jehovah. There are millions dying, suffering, in this evil world. Do we have to know the ins and outs of this case to give a thorough witnesses. How about this: Yes many have an opinion on this case, but let me show you a wonderful Bible promise about our future (That's all that is needed, get the focus on God's word, that is the answer, not who was screaming). I knew a group of witnesses that went out in service after the OJ trial and they started to talk about it. And they ended up arguing and quit service. (Satan won that day). I don't care what this world decides is just or not, because it will always fall miserably short of Jehovah's justice. Just wait when 24 hour media turns its camera on us and makes us look like the vilest of people. As difficult as it maybe, Stay Neutral, Jesus prayed that you would.
  15. Thanks, Loved the article, but I say it is Jehovah, that will keep you Young, Healthy and Handsome. (what's 70 years to a person living forever).
  16. From September 15, 2012 No matter who will share in saying “Peace and security!” that development will indicate that Jehovah’s day is to begin. Paul could therefore state: “Brothers, you are not in darkness, so that that day should overtake you as it would thieves, for you are all sons of light.” (1 Thess. 5:4, 5) Unlike mankind in general, we discern the Scriptural significance of current events. How exactly will this prophecy about saying “Peace and security!” be fulfilled? We must wait and see. Therefore, let us be determined to “stay awake and keep our senses.”—1 Thess. 5:6; Zeph. 3:8. For God's people this will be like rain falling to Noah and his family. We will know what is happening (I get shivers just thinking about this). February 1, 2004 Since Bible prophecies are often fully understood only after they are fulfilled or are in the process of fulfillment, we will have to wait and see. It is of interest, though, that Paul compared the sudden destruction following the cry of “Peace and security!” to the birth pang of a pregnant woman. Over a period of about nine months, an expectant mother becomes increasingly aware of the baby that is growing within her. She may be able to hear her baby’s heartbeat or feel its movements in the womb. It may even kick her. The signs often become more and more pronounced until, one day, she feels a sharp pain, a pang, indicating that the hoped-for event—the baby’s birth—has arrived. Hence, however the prophesied cry of “Peace and security!” may be fulfilled, it will lead to a sudden, painful, but ultimately blessed event—the destruction of wickedness and the beginning of a new world system. How eager we all are for this wicked, debased and evil world to be replaced by God's Kingdom. Come Lord Jesus, please come. What are we to do? February 1, 2004 When will all these things occur? We do not know the day or the hour. (Matthew 24:36) We do know, however, that “the time left is reduced.” (1 Corinthians 7:29) It is vital, then, that we make wise use of the time that remains. How? As the apostle Paul explains, we must ‘buy out the opportune time’ for the more important things at the expense of what is nonessential and make every day count. The reason? “Because the days are wicked.” And ‘perceiving what Jehovah’s will is’ for us, we will not waste the precious little time that is left.—Ephesians 5:15-17; 1 Peter 4:1-4. Study, Prayer, Meetings, Service (repeat). And if in anyway you can make room in your life for greater service? Make room!
  17. I must say that this has been a very hostile and divisive election cycle and it doesn't seem to be over. For us it is like watching two last place football teams playing against each other, while our team is undefeated and poised to win it all. I have been most interested in how so-called Christians react. Their choice was someone who favored abortion and gay marriage or someone whom they considered belonged to a cult, in fact anti-Christ according to some because Mormons don't believe Jesus is God. Doesn't it reveal how easily they turn from the one they claim to follow and violate their principles to follow a man. We are so blessed to be free of the mire of politics and what it makes people become. How empty of any spiritual enlightenment the religions are. We should be proud of our clean white robes and should be diligent in keeping them that way from any taint of politics. Nor should we shy away from stating our neutrality it is getting easier to do as we clearly see what happens to those who mix with this world.

About JWTalk.net - Jehovah's Witnesses Online Community

Since 2006, JWTalk has proved to be a well-moderated online community for real Jehovah's Witnesses on the web. However, our community is not an official website of Jehovah's Witnesses. It is not endorsed, sponsored, or maintained by any legal entity used by Jehovah's Witnesses. We are a pro-JW community maintained by brothers and sisters around the world. We expect all community members to be active publishers in their congregations, therefore, please do not apply for membership if you are not currently one of Jehovah's Witnesses.

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.

JWTalk 23.8.11 (changelog)