Krusso

My daughter summarized the subject: the change is now we do not have to be rude to people when they come to the Kingdom Hall. We greet everybody. It did not feel right anyway. I personally always felt that if one of my kids was disfellowshipped I would stop socializing with them meaning having meals , spending time together at the movies or shopping, but I would call to ask how they were doing if they needed anything and to encourage them to go to the meetings. It was going to be between me and Jehovah. Now no need for that. 😊

With just a few minutes, the GB eliminated at least 50 % of the ammunition of the apostates. The whole talk about how we treat disfellowshipped people lost 1/2 of the weight. Not that we should be worried about what the apostates think or say. But the non apostate unbelievers who randomly listen to their arguments is of our concern . From now on we can say nope that is not how we do it anymore. 😊

Something very interesting is the change in how to treat minors. Secular law is more merciful with minors. They are treated with more leniency for obvious reasons. Also the government cannot have any type of procedure with minors without the presence of the parents or adult responsible. We are now following the secular laws more accurately 😊

I am so ecstatic with the new treatment of disfellowshiped people. I am almost sure I wrote something before about this. I talked to my husband a couple of times . When you read the two instances in the Bible about treating the wrongdoer, you can clearly see that Paul did not treat both situations the same way. One was harsher than the other one. Now are following the scriptures more accurately. They got it. It is always a matter of being patient with our organization.

First we had two new additions to the GB followed by a departure. Since then we had 2 major changes. We should keep track of these type of changes. Jehovah has a pattern. We sometimes cannot see the pattern ahead of us, but we can look back and see it behind us. The new additions and the departure were guided by the Holy Spirit. Jehovah decided that it was time to update. Let’s see what other changes are coming our way. We can be sure that all of them will move us forward and benefit us as always 😊

The wave that is coming from the GB is to update what is outdated. Jehovah’s guidance is clear. There are a few other subjects out there also waiting for updates. 😊

Very interesting article to us. Any comments? https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2020/12/how-supreme-court-champions-religious-liberty/617284/

They made this decision (what I find very interesting) because they live in a developed country where they are privileged to have this option. If you go to a developing or undeveloped country, the brothers and sisters live this way because they do not have another option. There is no possibility of social mobility if you are not living in specific areas and have the skills to improve your life. Many live day by day with enough to survive each day and are lucky if they have a bicycle or can afford scarce public transportation. And they still find reasons to smile and be content with what they have. The only explanation is Jehovah's spirit. I was not able to find this job yet. I feel I will never will. This is a recurrent subject in my mind. In this system we have no control on a few very importance circumstances that affect what kind of life materially speaking we will have. It is basically a matter of time, place, family background and natural abilities. If you are not born in the right equation you will struggle. But we are still left with circumstances that we have control. We can decide what kind of education, job or profession we will have. We can decide if we will marry or not (usually marriage improve our standard of life). Who will we marry. We can decide if we marry, if and how many kids we will have. If we decide to have kids, if both parents will work or not. And we see all the time people struggling because they did not think before deciding and never really planned ahead. Will Jehovah remove the problem that we caused because of bad planning or lack of it? No he will not. However he promised peace of mind and contentment even if we make mistakes and suffer the consequences. And we can witness this in the congregation all the time. Regarding bad decisions, if we are in the truth long enough and paying attention we can see patterns. In my congregation, a young brother that wants to marry desperately was dating a sister from another congregation and suddenly she was DF due to past mistakes unknown to me. He was very sad. Time passes and she was reinstated. He started dating her immediately and about a month later he proposed. I was talking to my children ( 17 and 18 years old) about this. We always try to use life examples to teach lessons. So I told them, first of all her priority returning to Jehovah should be re establishing her relationship with Jehovah. Her priorities are mistaken. He should seat and wait and not get back to her immediately. And if he decided against good sense to date her immediately, he should let time elapse and get to know her better and then make a decision to marry. He is completely infatuated. She seems to be more experienced than him. It is a recipe for disaster. I wish I am wrong. I was with them and did not get a spiritual vibe from her. From the way that she dresses to the way that she dances. I wonder where his parents are and if they will say something or just watch passively. Anyway this is one circumstance that we can control. So if later things happen and it does not work, he will be praying for help. And Jehovah will help him in some way. But he will suffer the consequences for his precipitation and bad decision and pain, a lot of pain. If we only could make a transfusion of wisdom or faith to other people?

Brother Tom I really liked your comment. It is how I feel and expressed in such a better way. This is one of the reasons I believe we are in the only religious organization that has the support of the Creator. "Nothing feels better than this". We are dysfunctional but there is no other group of people that try harder than us to be united and to relate and interact with others that have nothing to do with us, except our shared faith. It is a bumpy road because of our imperfections, but we go on. My husband is also named Tom and from upstate NY. Although it seems we could be your kids. If you have kids they are privileged.

Brother Tom I really enjoyed your presentation. It is out of the box and engaging. I will borrow some ideas. Do you want to knock on my door? Regarding the rest of your post. I feel exactly the same way. You read my thoughts. There is no way for us to know for sure when was holy spirit acting or pure coincidence . We do not know and because of that we do not say anything and do as Mary did.

I always feel that he always provides the best talk. Shaken but not forsaken You can roll with change or be rolled over by it. It our disposition that matters, not our position. Small tasks reveal a big heart. We are specially vulnerable if we define ourselves by our own natural skills and qualities or what others think of us, by our assignment or by our position. It is a deceptive filter that cause us to loose sight of who we are. It is like thinking: I am what I do or I am what others think of me Change is just a scene not an entire movie. Just a chapter, not the book So many good quotes. I really love him

IMHO this was the best song ever... I cry every time I listen... It could definitely play in the radio.. the voice, the music, uau. I wish I could find out who is the singer and invite him over to sing for me

My husband is one of the tour guides at the MET for this tour. I have done all of the bible tours. It is very interesting and faith building. But I am bias. I love museums. Every time I have a chance I join my husband and do the MET highlights tour (not biblical). The place is amazing. Approximately 2 million artifacts. I would not think twice.

In my opinion (kindly remember we all are imperfect and might be wrong and change) this scripture summarizes the principle to apply. According to Paul there were two classes of people, the ones with a weak conscience and the ones without it. Paul never said one group was right or the other was wrong. If they were going to interact in any form or shape, the one without the weak conscience should act taking into consideration the one with the weak conscience. If I lived at that times I would apply the counsel and not eat meat in a pagan temple (a public place where I could be seen and stumble others), I would by my steaks at the temple and roast them in the privacy of my home and eat with my family. Nowadays we should get to know our brothers and sisters the max that we can, so we can access if they have a weak conscience or not and act accordingly. If they do and we decide to socialize with them we will think about their conscience before ours. Reality is since we are so busy with our spiritual routine, work, raising children, etc. and do not have much time left for entertaining, that either we will watch the movies we want to watch by ourselves or invite brothers with the same mind set. Another reality is that if you project to be more sensitive than the average, your opportunities to socialize will be limited. Either you live with that or you do not try to impose your opinion on what is right or wrong regarding entertainment. Respect the free will of the others and trust that if they are making a bad decision sooner or later they will realize that and change. Of course I am not referring to situations where we realize that the decision will take to take the person to a path of sin. The list of sins is very clear. Regarding movies, where I lived 20 years ago the ratings were completely different from the American rating, much more liberal. Rated R was 12 years or older. So we watched al the movies that American brothers would not watch because was rated R. When I started dating my husband who was a bethelite in Brooklyn, movies was a delicate subject because going to the movies at that time without cable TV and Netflix, was my only entertainment and he did not watched the movies that I watched at all. Until today his conscience is more sensitive than mine. There are movies that I watch and he does not ( he is not a movie person anyway). He respects my conscience and I respect his. No imposing. Free will is a gift that I personally give a lot of importance.

Just to add to the topic, I am working up a case of a teacher in my state. The person worked 18 years and the salary used in calculation was $ 72,138.66. The monthly benefit is $ 2.621.03. Meaning his salary is reduced to less than 50% of what he used to make. This is actually a little better than social security. If am not mistaken your income will be slightly above 1/3 of your last salary. It is a great stimulus to simplify. Anyway you do not have another option.

I am contributing for my 401 K Plan, the max that is matched by my employer. So 10% of my annual income goes to that account. Besides ss contributions I am obliged to contribute to a pension plan. We re financed our house for 15 years to match with my early retirement (62) if the law does not change. Since the houses where I live are more expensive than the national average, we will be able to buy a smaller house in Florida in 15 years if this system lasts. If it does not, and hopefully wont , we do not have to worry about it. The worse scenario is to move to another country where the cost of living is lower and does not have a high crime rate. I moved from a different country already. Moving again would not bother me as long as it is warm and sunny. All the countries in that classification need help in the English field. And there are safe and cheaper countries close to US. Panama and Costa Rica are only two examples. There are websites for retirees that want to move to more affordable places. I checked a few already. Anyway compared with the rest of the planet , being in US is not bad at all.

If she is a minor, the court system has the authority to force the transfusion. It has happened before and will happen again. They do not give all the details as always. If the pregnancy was a result from pre marital sex or not is irrelevant. The decision if she is capable or not of making an informed decision is always subjective. We do our best and let the matter in Jehovah's hand. The important factor is that she is refusing the treatment. That is what Jehovah is looking at. If it is forced through a court decision, her conscience is clean before God.

Recently I watched a Netflix documentary about refugees fleeing Africa that cross the Mediterranean sea and end up in a island in Italy. When they not die during the trip they arrive in really bad shape, dehydrated and starving . They are fleeing mostly from war. They are Muslims and Christians. The are placed in refugee camps and even if you send them back, their countries of origin do not want them back. It is really a desperate measure to risk your life and leave everything behind, your home, your friends, etc. It was very touching. The problem is there is no infra structure in the countries on the other side for them. No houses, jobs or schools for children. They are just segregated and isolated. Waiting for something to happen. It is very sad and it is a problem without solution now. And if this system remains for a few more decades, it will grow immensely.

Our first choice was Greece.. and it seems that a lot of people applied to Greece... oh well ... it will be awesome even if we end up in a different place ..

The book was based on a real case. The main facts happened. The author is a friend of the real life judge that decided the legal case. The brother was a minor and refused the transfusion, the judge went to the hospital and conferred with him without his parents. He was convinced that his beliefs were genuine and really wanted to consider them in his decision. Of course as a person that considers the law to be above all, he decided accordingly. The brother had the transfusion and our organization did not appeal the decision. After that the judge took the boy and his family (also jw) to a soccer or another sport game that he had special seats and was hard to get. Time passed the brother lived a little longer and needed blood transfusion again. However this time he was not a minor and could make a decision. He refused and died. I read the book when it came out and understood perfectly that secular highly educated people would logically think that way. The author actually recognizes that religion can be good for some people. The parents of the boy (in fiction) used drugs and had very dysfunctional lives before they became jw and improved their lives after conversion. Some dialogues of the jw characters are not real though. Half of the book deals with the judge's marriage and the author created a weird relationship between the boy and the judge. Anyway, lets say that Ian wrote better books before. I loved atonement. He is an atheist but writes very well. The apostasy movie on the other hand was directed by a disfelowshipped person that is openly against us. His mother is an active witness and according to him will not watch his movie. I read a few reviews and decided not to watch at all.