GB 2025 Update #4

[Tortuga]

When we get Updates like this, it is like a Local Needs talk for the entire organization. Generally there is a specific reason for a Local Needs talk, so I wonder why the GB felt this information about toasting was important enough to make an Update about it now. I wonder why it wasn't put in a WT study article instead.

[LeslieDean]

On 7/3/2025 at 12:43 PM, Dark King said:

Thanks much appreciated 🙏🏾. ❓@jwhessDoes that mean there's a lot more women who going to be in heaven than men? Maybe something like a 8 to 10 ratio or more? I have always wondered about these questions. 

Our CO/pioneer school instructor brought this point out this week. He said look at our class. 11 brothers and 25 sisters. Roughly 1/3 brothers which follows this pattern very closely in every congregation throughout the world. He said it will be interesting to see if that trend continues.

[Derrick_m]

1 hour ago, Tortuga said:

When we get Updates like this, it is like a Local Needs talk for the entire organization. Generally there is a specific reason for a Local Needs talk, so I wonder why the GB felt this information about toasting was important enough to make an Update about it now. I wonder why it wasn't put in a WT study article instead.

I suspect there will be more info on October 4th.

[Tortuga]

54 minutes ago, Derrick_m said:

I suspect there will be more info on October 4th.

Octoberfest?

 

[Derrick_m]

17 minutes ago, Tortuga said:

Octoberfest?

 

 

[LeolaRootStew]

The "beliefs clarified" page doesn't include these kinds of updates (like beards or slacks); is there anywhere we can look for a full list of these smaller updates?

 

https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/1200277174

[Julsey]

On 7/6/2025 at 2:11 PM, LeolaRootStew said:

 

Just consider how many Native Americans refer to Thanksgiving as "Invasion Day" and you can see that it's clearly a divisive political holiday. The 3rd reasoning point in the update was "how is this viewed in the local culture". In our local culture it is viewed as taking sides on a political issue of "Americans" vs "Indigenous people". Does that sound like something a Christian should be taking sides on? 

 

For further review:

 

 

 

Yes, it has become political/negative with some Native Americans and others, but if you are in your own home, I don’t think they will know what you’re doing. 🤣

Edited 12 hours ago by Julsey

[LeolaRootStew]

10 hours ago, Julsey said:

Yes, it has become political/negative with some Native Americans and others, but if you are in your own home, I don’t think they will know what you’re doing. 🤣

 

What if someone asks you how you enjoyed Thanksgiving? If you have to keep it a secret, should you really be doing it?

[Violin]

10 hours ago, Julsey said:

Yes, it has become political/negative with some Native Americans and others, but if you are in your own home, I don’t think they will know what you’re doing. 🤣

Thanksgiving is a completely secular holiday in Canada, but we still don't celebrate it (although many brothers would have get togethers and eat Turkey on that weekend 😆 just made it harder for those of us who weren't able to visit with non witness family and also got left out of all of the witnesses get togethers).  Maybe the brothers are saying we can use more discernment rather than just painting every single holiday out there as 'bad'?

[jdcarlson]

There are several interesting posts in this thread, some of which resonate with me.

 

As to those who have known Brother Lett, and his personality, I cannot claim that privilege. BUT  -   his father served as our CO before he got too old to move every week. I found his father to be a very loving and considerate person, especially level headed.  When he "came off the road" he settled in a small town in the next county west of us, and in the same circuit as our congregation.

 

I appreciate the comments by JWHESS about age. I was born 7/24/1944. So, I will be 81 years old the end of this month. I can appreciate the difficulty these GB members have caring for all of thier responsibilities at close to my age. In some ways I am still the 19 year old kid who got married to a girl from Pensacola, and moved here to pioneer in 1963. BUT in many other ways (especially when I try to physically move around) I am brutally reminded I cannot do the things I could 60 years ago. Even my mental acuity is not what it was years ago. It is good to see the younger members of the GB. Not that they are any "better" than the older ones, but because at my age a lot of things a MUCH harder to do, and it is good to see younger members of the GB to use their energy to advance Kingdom Interests.

 

It is a little discouraging to read all of the speculation about "what will change next." A couple of posters have commented on having seen changes over the years. I started talking at doors and reporting field service time in Ocober, 1949 (at age 5  -  yes I could read by then and was able to do magazine work - other things came later). In the 75 years since then, I have seen a lot of changes. Yes, in the 1950s many things were more strictly defined than they are now. This can be understood by remembering the strength of belief of many people 60 years ago about heaven, hell, soul, trinity, etc. These were common things we had to discuss in field service back then. Now, it seems that most people do not care about them. This can really be seen if we compare the Let Good Be True book (that we used in the 1950s) with the publications we use to start studies now. The clarification on "toasts" is part of (as one poster called it) the "maturing" of Jehovah's organization.  What is important is not how some (but not all) ethnic groups viewed something 500 years ago, but how is it viewed now, provided it is not something clearly addressed in the Scriptures. People of the world now do not care about theology the way the did 60 years ago. Now, they want to know how to deal with the problems they have. Just because clarification has been made about one thing should not make us speculate about what will change next. We just need to be thankful that Jehovah's organization is clarifying things for us when it is Jehovah's time for that particular item.

 

Thanks,

 

Jim

[Sete]

12 minutes ago, LeolaRootStew said:

 

What if someone asks you how you enjoyed Thanksgiving? If you have to keep it a secret, should you really be doing it?

Keeping things that aren't sins not public isn't sinful.

 

There're things that are matters of conscience, but some might be offended by them. That's why we don't do it in public because it can be a stumbling block for some.

 

Now, if you don't do it in public or show it to anyone, you do it "silently" to avoid being a stumbling block for a brother, and, that brother comes after you to see if you're doing something he finds questionable... Well, I think you've the right to keep it a secret. (And that brother should start minding his own business.)

 

I've heard fellow believers complain about all sorts of things. From the way you dress, the places you frequent, to the way you want to live your life and the way you'll build your home in the new world (yep, some want you to live the way them want, lol).

 

The best way to maintain unity in the congregation is for each person to mind their own business, because, in the end, is Jehovah's who's already minding the business of everyone.