Iron Stylus

It's news articles like his false imprisonment on top of the corrupt Russian hearing that will encourage people to take a closer look at JWs. If I wasn't a witness and followed the court case and heard that a local worship center of the witnesses was burned to the ground, I would seriously not have to guess who the bad guys are here. The proof is in the pudding. Or in this case the proof is in the Putin. lol

I think many of the friends get excited when certain events unfold. We often do not understand how a prophecy is fulfilled until it after it occurs. The same will be true with the cry for Peace and Security. The exclamation for peace and security has little to do with the world in general crying for peace and security, but God's chosen people not becoming distracted if we consider the context of 1 Thessalonians 5:1-5. First let's consider this upcoming week's bible reading in Jeremiah 37:11. It says there that the Chaldeans had withdrawn from the city. In chapter 34:21 Jehovah reminds his people that their relative peace will be short lived because Babylon would come and finish what they started. The Jews were relying on Egypt to rescue them. It's not surprising that King Zedekiah at the time Jeremiah was put in the Courtyard of the Guard said "Why do you prophecy like this?" (Jeremiah 32:3) Zedekiah was sleeping spiritually and did not discern that it was Jehovah's will to punish his people and he could not escape the inevitable. Fast forward to the first century. The same sense of false security overtook the Jews after 66 C.E. when Rome had Jerusalem surrounded. We have a beautiful movie that depicts what happens when you fail to trust in Jehovah. It's called Walk By Faith Not By Sight. If you haven't guessed it by now, Paul's warning at 1 Thessalonians 5:1-5 also corresponds to Jesus' warning at Luke 21:20-22. Referring to the Jew's heart condition notice that Luke 19:44 says "you did not discern the time of your being inspected." Paul and Jesus both were encouraging the brothers to remain alert to Jehovah's Day that took place in 70 C.E. (Paul was writing to anointed Christians who are no longer living today so obviously he wasn't warning them of a future day in our time because it would be of no benefit to them.) So how does this relate to our time? The world in general is constantly deceiving itself in thinking that true peace is attainable, but likewise we as Christians, could be lulled into saying "Peace and Security!" in our imagination if we fail to discern the times we are living in. We need to simplify our lives, pray, attend meetings, study the bible, and preach the good news. Paul told the Thessalonian brothers that they are not in the dark as to be overtaken by that day. However, none of them were immune to the distractions of the world and neither are we. The Jews in the first century suffered for not leaving the city and likewise so did any Christian. The same is true for Jehovah's Day that is coming soon. The world in general will suffer if they do not respond to the good news, but so will any Christian who does not keep on the watch. (Matthew 24:40-42)

Moses' words are even more powerful we consider that Moses himself was afraid to go to Pharaoh initially (Ex 3:11) and was worried his own people would reject the encouraging message he was told to deliver to them (Ex 4:1) and even after Jehovah supported him by showing him 2 signs (Ex 4:3, 6, 7) Moses was still worried about his lack of fluency (Ex 4:10). Yet when Pharaoh told him not to see his face again or he will die (Ex 10:28) Moses went back to give him the weighty message of his firstborn son dying. So by the time the Israelites seemed trapped by the Red Sea, Moses wasn't afraid at all and was able to boost the confidence of his brothers.

I think your signature explains this one. "Crazy people don't know they are crazy." LOL In Christendom the water is holy, the fire is holy, and the stories the clergy tell their sheep are holey.

Today we lost the case we were fighting against the initial suspension of activity. Of course, the verdict became irrelevant after the Supreme Court decided to liquidate the organization. The lower court seemed to be influenced by the Supreme Court's decision so we can expect to lose all of the current trials in lower courts. The appeals court appears to be the best bet at winning, but Jehovah doesn't always act according to human logic.

Russian courts rarely challenge government decisions, no matter what the evidence. Besides having oversight of registered non-profit organizations, non-governmental organizations, political parties and religious organizations, let's just see what power the Ministry of Justice has. Hmmm... the Russian Ministry of Justice is a legislative, judicial, and executive branch of the government all rolled into one. The MOJ has oversight in creating laws, control over the prosecution department, making sure the courts carry out the laws, making arrests, and it even runs a prison! They have the power to appoint judges, transfer or remove them from office..... ......And ONLY the President of Russia has authority over the Ministry of Justice. Now the President of Russia, Vladimir Putin was president from 2000 - 2008, then the Prime Minister from 2008 - 2012 before being elected the President of Russia again in May 2012. (Vladimir Putin and Dmitry Medvedev have a Tandemocracy where they just toggle between president and prime minister.) Oh and they extended the presidential Tandemocracy by 2 years so Putin will be there until May 2018 before swapping places again with Dmitry Medvedev. I don't see where people can possible get the hint of any corruption going on in Russia.

Yes, the 30 day limit encourages defendants to appeal quickly which our brothers are doing. The Russian Appeals Court is similar to most Appeals Court in that it has 3 judges. It has the power to affirm, reverse, or modify the Russian Supreme Court's decision. If it modifies the ruling, it could determine that the Administrative Center is to be liquidated, but not each LRO. So it might not be a simple affirmation or reversal like we may imagine. It has as much flexibility as the Supreme Court has in deciding a verdict.

It all depends on how much info the MOJ has on each witness as to whether or not their freedom to travel can be hindered. The MOJ had addresses of believers so who knows how much info they have on each witness. They can flag each person as an extremist, but they have to know who all is a witness. If when they go to liquidate the Kingdom Halls they may ask for this info, but they aren't privy to it, because congregations aren't legal entities.

If people click on that URL, Chrome usually asks every time if you want it translated, but IE will not even give me that option. I had to click on the translate link in Google search to get a translation. If you want to share a link with someone on any device the best way I found is to give them the Google Translate URL, not the original URL. Original Website URL https://jw-russia.org/news/17040510-129.html Google Translate URL https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=ru&tl=en&u=https%3A%2F%2Fjw-russia.org%2Fnews%2F17040510-129.html

Are they banned in Eritrea? It's not in the yearbook, but another branch might oversee multiple countries like the US does.

Jeremiah 27 and 28 are great chapters this week at exposing lies. In 28:2, 3 Hananiah speaks 3 lies: The utensils would be brought back, the king of Babylon would be subdued, and Jeconiah along with Daniel and the other exiles would be released. Jeremiah admits that he wished that would be the future, but proclaimed the truth. Hananiah died within 2 months! Believing in a lie and trusting in the governments won't save anyone.

They would have trouble purchasing property and renting out a venue for a convention I would imagine if they are considered extremists. Another branch would handle all of the spiritual interests of the Russian brothers as they go about their work underground. No literature and buildings means the work will get harder to promote and they will have to use caution. JW.org has been blocked from Russia since 2015, but I don't think jw-russia.org is blocked. Jehovah will see to it that they have spiritual food at the proper time.

Okay so let me get this straight: "A young boy named Harper goes to his father and accuses his brother Christian of being mean to his sister Hope. The father asks Hope if Christian was mean to her. Hope says, "I don't know." Then their sister Faith says, "Christian did not do anything mean to Hope." Harper though still tries to convince their father to take away all of Christian's belongings and ground him forever. The father asks him "what exactly did Christian do his sister Hope?" Harper says, "I don't know, but I'm sure he did something!" Meanwhile Christian proves that he is innocent and remains calm throughout all of the false accusations. Later on the father decides to take away all of Christian's belongings and ground him forever. Christian now must go to his mother and plead with her to get back his belongings and gain back his freedom." Is that how this trial went?

Eritrea is bad, but there are usually no trials involved. The brothers go straight to prison without even a false trial which is a travesty of justice. But in terms of actually having a trial with no real evidence this Russian Supreme Court Judge is taking lessons from Pontius Pilate I think.

I was reading yesterday about all of the illegal methods and procedures from Jesus' arrest until his execution. All 4 gospel accounts give us a very detailed report of the injustice he went through in his final hours on earth. Those details help to establish his innocence and remove any reproach to Jehovah's name. When you read how many laws the religious leaders broke to have Jesus put to death it makes you sick. Jesus' trial and execution was the greatest injustice in the world, but this one most certainly comes in second!