Asitaka
Why? For doing what you're doing here. How is what he did different from you?
I remember when I lived in Southern California, I got the bright idea that I was going to take up surfing. I saw these young guys out there making it look soooo easy. So I borrowed a surfboard and paddled out into the frigid water to wait for the next set. What I realized is that an 8 foot wave doesn't look that big when you are standing on the shore, but when you are laying prone on a board looking back over your shoulder as the wave starts to lift the board it looks like a tsumani bearing down on you. Moments later when you and your board are sent tumbling, like in a giant washing machine, you realize that things are not always like they seem. The point is, that we never really know how we are going to deal with tests of your faith until we are in the middle of it.
Peter wrote: "Beloved ones, do not be puzzled at the burning among you, which is happening for a trial, as though a strange thing were befallling you. On the contrary, go on rejoicing forasmuch as you are sharerers in the sufferings of the Christ."
Typically we think of the sufferings of the Christ as applying to his death on the torture stake. But, Jesus suffered in other ways that were more sublte. For instance, he was thught by his own family to be out of his mind. He was many times distressed over the insensitivity of the Jews and the failings of his own apostles. So the burning that occurs among us are these sorts of trials that God allows to take place among us. We usually are much more resolute in the face of persecution from outside the congregation but for some reason we are not willing to tolerate persecution from within the congregation. That's why Peter urged us not to view it as a "strange thing" when it occurs.
You know what I'm saying, right? Is it just congregational, or have you seem this too?
It is institutional, unfortunately. If you are interested in Jehovah's perspective on the issue read the 34th chapter of Ezekiel. It is Jehovah's judicial decisions leveled against the bad shepherds of his flock. Naturally the Society applies that to the clergy. But, Jehovah says that the shepherds are shoving his sheep out of the flock and abusing them in various ways. Obviously, that doesn't apply to false religion becuase God refers to it as his flock of sheep. So God's judgment is to retire the bad shepherds and take over his flock by means of his shepherd "David." That is what will occur when Christ "arrives." / You Know