Kunlesky

Nice thought Carlos! We can go back to the scriptural examples of these. The first GB in the scriptures were mostly Jews. That did not in any way shape or form distract from the spread of the good news among diverse cultural groups. It was not until the persecution and destruction of Jerusalem in 70 C.E. that we can imagine the first century HQ moving from Jerusalem and those of Jewish origin being significantly replaced by those from other nations. We need to be very careful when looking at things. We all are very susceptible to looking at things through our lens/biase, forged from our experience and background in life.

I remember my Geography teacher from over 35 years ago touching on that subject briefly. One of the demerits I recalled was determining the precise location of the rainfall during winds without messing up the soil and the aquatic life. He did refer to cloud seeding as artificial rain. Here is an article that explains the science behind Cloud Seeding

Bro., I just reread that scripture again in Gen 9:1-7. I still ended up coming away with it as an authorization, or permission, by Jehovah like you said. Jehovah likes to wear His power lightly and tends to come off on what is a command with “you may”. We many examples of this all over the scriptures, including the one about plant based foods in Eden (Gen. 2:16,17). This is because we will always need our free will to exercise freedom of choices, even on things that are life and death matters!

What I appreciate the most here is how closer with the actual scriptural principles we are getting. Sometimes, some restrictions that we hold or have could be making things difficult in some places. God’s Organization has earned our trust. Some of us become critical thinkers because of what we were taught and found to be true.

I reckon it’s similar to men wearing Japanese Kimonos. When we look around the world, these borderline dresses in the grey areas have those for males and those for females. Pantsuits for women, kilts, wrappers and kimonos for men along with whatever the Fiji people call that dress🤷‍♂️

I was throwing that jab on Saturday at the Zoom field service meeting to sisters😂… I reckon that will be allowed in Scotland (no bagpipes though inside the Kingdom Hall). In Nigeria, I have seen brothers wear wrapper to give public talks before current updates…

Pants on rampage at the meetings in UK today🤣🤣🤣

Those are back in the days when you have to be a bible professor to become a Jehovah’s Witness😆

I have been musing over a version of informal witnessing where we show up to play sport, especially for those nearer to the gated communities where no soliciting and no literature signs were posted targeting Jehovah’s Witnesses. The idea is putting a small group together that blends in (wearing sporting gears depending on the scenario). While half the group is playing actual sport, the other half can try to engage in informal witnessing. This idea came from many a good report that I had near the table tennis (ping pong) inside a gym while trying to exercise in the evenings back in my day up in Canada (2001). I still recall one of those episode turning into sermon of the mount with over 30 publications placed resulting in 5 studies in a singular move. The changes we are making seems to be reinforcing and recrystallizing the above idea: 1. No more emphasis on hour reporting: we can do whatever is needed to accomplish the mission. 2. Dress code changes: we can dress to match the occasions? Do you think any more updates needed to galvanize the idea? People need our lifesaving message if only we can pierce through their resistance. Some people need us to be in stealth mode to get that message.

How times have changed? I was looking at the economic struggle of our brothers and sisters in the so-called 3rd world countries. This new updates (beard issue included is a relief. In the past, many have heard to worry about meetings and field ministry appearances in competition with sustenance. How grateful we are for these new updates.

I had thought about that! I thought the thrill is about the process. The answer in that case is too binary…

Still on Hitler and historically brutal figures like him: could what we know in history simply be inaccurate? Could they have been trapped in power by a cabal like a victimized hostage to do all the evils they did? Of course, there are examples like that in history! On the other hand, we don’t exactly need those historical figures to get the inside scoops. Someone closer and behind the scene may just be sufficient… On what I would like resolved: Is space travel/exploration ever going to be a thing? One of the problem with that would have been solved: our short human lifespan.

On meat, I’m not so sure we have to stop. There are other ways to explain Jehovah starting us as herbivores, not carnivore. For instance, could it just be a matter of allowing the animals to populate first to avoid us eating them into extinction? However, I do concede that post-Eden and pre-flood humans know what it means for an animal to die/get barbecued (compare Gen. 4:4). I have no idea if some back then were tempted to have a taste though🤷‍♂️

"Archaeologists long thought that early human diets were meat-based. However, Assistant Professor Randy Haas’ analysis of the remains of 24 individuals from the Wilamaya Patjxa and Soro Mik’aya Patjxa burial sites in Peru shows that early human diets in the Andes Mountains were composed of 80 percent plant matter and 20 percent meat". Does it elicit "duh" in you whenever the wise ones of this system of things are trying very hard to come to the same conclusion as the scriptures have said? The command to eat animals by Jehovah was given to Noah after the flood about 4,400 years ago (Gen. 9:1-7). Considering the violence with the Nephilims, pre-flood animal slaughter and consumption would have been against Jehovah's law. Any guess on whether this was a component of what Jehovah saw before the flood, along with the rest of mankind's destruction of the planet (compare Gen. 1:30)? This has got me thinking: Is plant-based diet the reason why pre-flood humans live longer? I know we have always attributed this to their being closer to perfection. The modern obsession with vegetarian/vegan diets does have some advantages. And scriptures have talked about mankind in the new system getting healed by using the trees. Rev. 22:1,2 states: "And he showed me a river of water of life,+ clear as crystal, flowing out from the throne of God and of the Lamb+ 2 down the middle of its main street. On both sides of the river were trees of life producing 12 crops of fruit, yielding their fruit each month. And the leaves of the trees were for the healing of the nations". What roles will literal plants/trees play in our healing in the new system of things?

Here is a different take on what you are thinking: 2 conflicts are raging now that have the King of the North versus the King of the South overtones (Dan. 11). The war in Ukraine and the Israel-Hamas conflict are surrogate wars. Africa has had this for a long time when they were ruled by dictators sowing discords within individual nations. If whatever is going on in your region has this same undertone, I'll be ready (mental preparedness). A witness of Jehovah should always have visions that transcend the present. We were taught when studying for baptism: It will get worse first before it gets better (Rev. 12:12).