Your Favorite Illustrations!

[Qapla]

Very sober illustration, but very good.

[Daniela]

Very good illustrations, brothers! Thank you for sharing them!

[Hammerhead]

The Switchman

There lived a man whose job it was to pull a switch that turns a bridge to allow trains to go over a river. The switch was designed to have to use pressure to keep the bridge locked into place while the train went across. At other times the bridge was in position to allow boats to carry on their cargo.

The man had a young son and a lovely wife and they lived happily.

Well one day after accomplishing several tasks the man is sitting with his family looking out over the work and feeling quite content when the bell rings signalling a trains approach. So the man rushes over to the shack and proceeds to pull the switch. While he is holding the switch he hears a noise that makes his skin crawl. His young son squeals "daddy" and is playing on the tracks. He yells at the child to get off the tracks but the child is still on the tracks. The man has time to let go of the switch get his son but the train will fall into the river. He looks out again and sees a passenger train coming at a high rate of speed.

He has time to do one of two things. Rescue his son or allow the train to continue its journey.

The man puts his head down with his arm locked on the controls sobbing as the train roars past, its passengers oblivious to the events that went on.

How did that man go back and tell his wife what happened?

We are all passengers on the train. Are we oblivious to what went on?

The man in illustration represents Jehovah. You can figure out the rest.

[LuanaGlobal]

Usable

A Brother giving a talk showed this Illustration and I never forgot it.

He hold up a clean sheet of perfect white paper. Just Born (Us)

Then as he talks about things that happen in our life, He crumples the paper,

another paper he crumples up, as he does this he throws

the crumpled paper and STOMPS on them.

smashing some really good. One paper had a tear, and another a hole in it:cry:. This is us.

Then (With Jehovah Guidance and Love),

He bends over and picks up the crumpled papers.

He unfolds one, he straightens the paper with the firm edge of the podium.

He holds this Damaged paper up to show every one.

Then he said. "Can this paper be used? YES, it can".

Yes, we are damaged but usable,

Jehovah God can and does use us to do his will.

[surfergirl]

This is a real life illustration.

I suppose it can be used in looking out for others.

These 2 old guys are in a Nursing home one is blind & the other is frail & can't sit up anymore but the blind gent has window next to his bed.

These guys are so sweet. They talk about the good old days & how life has passed them by.

The one that can't. sit up Asks his friend what does he see outside the window. His friend says he sees a beautiful blue sky.

Lots of pretty roses &other sorts of gardens. People walking about. Kids playing & catching butterflies..

This blind friend paints beautiful scenes. What he sees every day outside the window. Even the nurses love him. But as life happens one day he passes away.

His friend asks could he take the spot near the window. He wantedto see out.

But he soon discovers all that could be seen was a brick wall. He didn't know his friend was blind. But saw the kindness from this gent.

No matter our ailments we can still be kind to each other.

[Lilac Isosceles]

This is one I heard a while ago in a public talk and it has always stuck.

If you are walking down the street and a bird lands on your head, what do you do?

Do you let it stay, build a nest right on your head and then let it raise it's young?

No! You would shoo that bird away as soon as you felt it touch your head.

The same needs to be true of an immoral or improper thought. We need to get rid of it straight away before it makes a home in our mind.

[blue-jay]

That's a good one Ashley.

And welcome to this forum

[DarinS]

Did you hear the one about the ornery cantankerous farmer

While plowing his fields he was working up a sweat trying to control his mule

He was a pulling and a yanking and trying to steer that mule by his stubbornness alone

Along comes a fellow farmer named Farmer Elder

he asks the tired Farmer why he works so hard and says the other farmers speak to their mules with words Like GEE and HAW to direct them

Why don't you do that?

Br Stubborn Farmer nods and agrees that might work better but adds 'That old mule BIT me 3-4 yrs ago and I haven't spoken to him since!!!"

MORAL

1-Do we hold grudges against others for a long time...or at all

2-Do we cause ourselves a lot of grief for the grudges we harbor

3- When someone kindly point out a way to ease our burden do we accept the counsel or go right on doing things the same way

[kylesmith]

I once heard a wonderful CO give this encouraging illustration to the youth:

Being in the truth as a young person is like flying a kite, and you feel like the kite can just keep flying up if it weren't for the string holding it down, so you cut the string. But as soon as you cut it, the kite falls down. The very thing you thought was holding it down, was what was keeping it up. And that's like the truth - as soon as you cut it out of your life, thinking you will take off, is when you fall down.

Another illustration he gave was about how the leaves on the trees are most beautiful in the autumn, just as they are about to die. And that's what this system is like, it's more attractive the closer it gets to ending.

[rocket]

to the Forum Kyle.

Yes that is a very fitting illustration for the youth in the Truth.

[LuanaGlobal]

Welcome Kyle! We are glad your here:bouncing:

[LeslieDean]

I do not ever recall hearing that one before-it brought a tear to my eyes! Welcome!

[Keep Fighting]

I love illustrations and using them, thanks for sharing everyone. Jehovah's organization is like this train: The train don’t need tracks because its driven by Jehovah's spirit. The head conductor is our leader Jesus, the men putting coal in the fire is the faithful and discreet slave. The ticket controllers are the elders. They often go off the train to help people on the train again who have lost their ticket or want to regret they go off. In the wagons there are people studying the manual for surviving and they help the new on board to find comfort. The food trolley is daily text, Bible Reading etc.,our meetings, the restaurant wagon is our conventions, people are invited to the train by people going off the train, and some people don’t stay on the train because they don’t want to come to the end station. Some people just look at the train saying “of what a wonderful train” but don’t want to go with it because they have to leave the “world station” The Train can stop everywhere and it also stop at Your door, will you enter? One day the Train will not come anymore and a lot of people will just see that they where to late for the Train. It is a lot to talk about this train but my English is not good enough.You can build more words into it and send it as a letter to People who will see how it effects them. Please notice brothers and sisters, you will find at the last wagon there is a sleeping wagon, there is the sleeping people who will come to the end station for sure because they are in Jehovah’s memory the owner of the train. Don’t be worried of the smoke from the pipe that’s not pollution, that’s praises to our Sovereign Lord Jehovah. Warm Christian love to you all.

[Abbyz]

That is beuatiful sister Rune. clasic.

[niceguy1956]

I just found this illustration of Facebook that I thought was good:

The soul and the spirit are not the same. The body needs the spirit in much the same way as a radio needs electricity—in order to function. To illustrate this further, think of a portable radio. When you put batteries in a portable radio and turn it on, the electricity stored in the batteries brings the radio to life, so to speak. Without batteries, however, the radio is dead. So is another kind of radio when it is unplugged from an electric outlet. Similarly, the spirit is the force that brings our body to life. Also, like electricity, the spirit has no feeling and cannot think. It is an impersonal force. But without that spirit, or life-force, our bodies “expire, and back to their dust they go,” as the psalmist stated.

[trottigy]

Better than Facebook - how about Page 210 of the "Bible Teach" book - in the Appendix “Soul” and “Spirit”—What Do These Terms Really Mean?

[kylesmith]

Thank you for the warm welcome everyone!

[luvkirigal]

My favorite illustration was told to me by a sister before I was was baptised during one of my studies. My mom died way back in 1995 from epilepsy, and my uncle the year I was studying from cancer, 2009. When you're an atheist, there's no hope and the pain of loss wears down with time but doesn't go away. So we were in that part of the first book, and this sister said, "It's like we're on a train, and we're all up front with everyone else we know, and some we don't know, and everyone we love that isn't there are in the back part of the train where the bedrooms are, and they're sleeping now, and will wake up when the train comes to a stop." I'll tell you what, I haven't felt the hit of loss since she said that. If I cry now, which is rare, it's because I'm daydreaming about the resurrection!

thanks suezieag, our circuit overseer from the Fiji branch came for our circuit assembly and he related this similar illustration in one of his talks..I lost my dad in 2007 when I was still in University and this illustration helped me alot to move forward...how fortunate we are to have this resurrection hope!...

[jayrtom]

Sometime ago, in a talk about communication, I illustrated the "mental-regulating" in Eph 6:4 like this:

In an old car radio, if we wanted to hear a specific station we had to search for it regulating the radio with an analog wellhead or something similar... Now imagine we are going in a long trip and regulate the radio to the desired frequencie in the beginning of the trip... If we want to keep listening the same station can we just leave the radio unattended? At least in Portugal we need to re-regulate the radio for several times or it just gives noise and indecipherable sound!

In the same logic, when educating our children, we can't suppose that we regulate them to Jehovah way and they will stick there without further maintenence... No! It's an ongoing and continuous process!

[jayrtom]

When I was pretty young I heard a little story that amused me back then but now I reckon it is a good illustration for us... It goes something like this (can't remember the exact words):

 

One day the wind and the sun were arguing who of them were stronger... then the wind looked down and there was a man walking on the road with its coat on.

The wind than said "Let’s see who can grab that coat out of the man's back!"

"Ok let’s do it...", replied the sun.

Then the wind started to blow on the man confident that in a minute he would rip the man’s coat off... but then the man just grabbed his coat harder and harder! watching this, the wind blows like never before and throughs the man a couple of meters in the air and it falls ahead in the street with his leg wounded… but he didn't took his hands from the coat grabbing it even harder!

Then the sun said "move over! My turn"... the sun just started to send to the man a gentle and soothing ray of warm light...then as the ray became hotter... it doesn't take a minute and the man takes off his coat....

 

The point being that it’s easy to keep our hands on the truth in difficult times than on good ones!

 

Somebody told me that some years ago, when Angola was in a civil war, some brothers from there visited our bethel and one day went on a ride and passed by a shopping mall… one of the brothers from said to the Portuguese… Brother, I see that you here in Portugal have such a probation to pass!”

[Toy Poodles]

It is hard for me to listen to the "Switchman" talk anymore. I heard it first when I was studying and had 2 young baby girls and another on the way and I cried at the end of the talk so hard that I had to finish the meeting in the bathroom. Well it never got easier hearing that talk, you would think the older I get that I could handle it but now when a brother starts that illustration, I just have to get out of the hall and my husband will come get me when the brother is done with the illustration. I know I may be a selfish mother but I would never sacrifice any of my children, I have lived a long time taking care of them and protecting them. My kids are grown up and I still can't handle that talk. Sorry brothers. 

[SUNRAY]

Deenna~I too am sensitive to some talks..one time I gave a comment and started choking up where I could hardly finish! After the meeting so many came up to comfort me...we're all different and I will be so glad if Jehovah wants me in the Paradise, to have normal hormones..It's hard for us sisters!

Edited May 8, 2013 by SUNRAY

[Toy Poodles]

Thanks Sunray, I think the hormone thing maybe right but I hate using it.haha   I too was a tomboy, took me a long time to accept that I was a woman with limitations and now being disabled it has slapped me in the face. 

The hardest thing to go through was when both my boys were df'd, they were really good about going to the elders and taking their medicine and also clarifying to people while they were out that they were no longer JWs. At the meetings, for some reason during the songs, I would always start boo-hooing. I did that at every meeting just couldn't control it, when the boys came back, my oldest one came first which surprised me because he struggles with asperger's syndrome and it is hard for him to express his emotions. I told him he was welcomed back but he knew the rules that he had to live by and he agreed and I told him to go get his younger brother before I had a mental breakdown. Sure enough, he brought his brother home and both those boys made every meeting. The elders reinstated my boys together and that was the happiest night of my life. They are still going strong, they have not looked back, I think the world scared them terribly and they truly appreciate Jehovah, His son and all the friends.

[Toy Poodles]

I do remember an illustration I heard a long time ago. It was about our conscience, that our conscience was like a sharp rock and when we go against our conscience it pricks us and we feel bad and change to do what is right. But when we ignore our conscience we start dulling the sharpness of it and after awhile it doesn't prick us anymore. But the reverse is true too, if we feed on God's word and apply his counsel it keeps our conscience sharp so even the least amount of thinking of a wrong thought or looking down at one of our brothers, our conscience will prick us hard and fast and we pray for forgiveness from Jah and change our attitude right away.

Sometimes ones who have been in the truth for awhile but just going through the motions will say that a brother or sister is just too sensitive when it comes to their conscience and they will use the scripture  1 Cor. 10:25-33 and say that this person is just weak, that since it doesn't bother his or her conscience it is because they are more mature. 

There is a difference from Christians who are new and weak, to the one that has sharpened his conscience. A new one is very concerned about his or her conscience because they just came out of the world and don't want anything or anyone to take them away from the truth, yes everything is new to them but if they have a good heart condition then they have to go through this sensitivity to safeguard themselves, whereas a mature christian with a sharpened conscience will be considering those who are new and put the new chritian's sensitivities first before themselves. 

[H....$]

Welcome to the Forum luvkirigal didnt know you are on here too