hippikon

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Posts by hippikon

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  23

  Dissfellowshiped Watchtower

  by cornish in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  as it was considered back in 1995 that due to not holding to the society's view of the literal generation of 1914,i had disasociated myself,now all jehovah,s witnesses dont believe this anymore,are they all appostate for rejecting this important truth,that i had apparently sinned so much in rejecting?????????

  ?

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  hippikon

  Good Point outnfree

  Welcome cornish
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  Watchtower Study - June 24

  by hippikon in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  praise jah, you people!.

  praise jah, you people!

  praise jah, for jehovah is good.

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  hippikon

  It's all crap to me.

  I don't even read it when I post it so it's probaly full of mistakes. (The OCR package does a pretty good job though dosn't it.)
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  12

  Troubled teen? or pretender?

  by wasasister in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  last night in chat, just as i was about to log off and go to bed, a person unknown to me came in.

  i did not recognize the name, so i introduced myself.

  with me in chat was another new person, who identified him/her-self as a 19 yr old da'd person on the east coast (us).. after the initial introductions, the new person stated he/she was a therapist working with a troubled 15 yr old witness girl who wanted to quit the religion over the objections of her mother.

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  hippikon

  Ok You got me I'm interested. I despise predators.
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  Watchtower Study - June 24

  by hippikon in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  praise jah, you people!.

  praise jah, you people!

  praise jah, for jehovah is good.

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  hippikon

  PRAISE JEHOVAH FOR HIS GREAT DEEDS!
  “My soul magnifies Jehovah... because the powerful One has done great deeds for me. “—LUKE 1:46-49.

  JEHOVAH deserves to be praised for his great deeds. When the prophet Moses re-counted Israel’s deliverance from Egypt, he declared: “Your eyes were the ones seeing all the great deeds of Jehovah.” (Deuteronomy 11:1-7) Similarly, when the angel Gabriel an-nounced the coming birth of Jesus to the vir-gin girl Mary, she said: “My soul magni-fies Jehovah. . . because the powerful One has done great deeds for me.” (Luke 1:46-49) As Jehovah’s Witnesses, we laud him for such great deeds as the freeing of Israel from Egyp-tian bondage and the miraculous conception of his dear Son.

  1. For what great deeds do we rightly praise Jehovah?

  2. Many of Jehovah’s great deeds have been associated with his “eternal purpose” to bless obedient mankind by means of the Messi-ah and his Kingdom rule. (Ephesians 3:8-13) That purpose was developing progressively when the aged apostle John was allowed to peer through a visionary opened door in heaven. He heard a trumpetlike voice say: “Come on up here, and I shall show you the things that must take place.” (Revelation 4:1) While banished by the Roman government to the isle of Patmos “for speaking about God and bearing witness to Jesus,” John received “a revelation by Jesus Christ.” What the apostle saw and heard revealed much about God’s eternal purpose, thus providing spiritual enlighten-ment and timely encouragement for all true Christians.—Revelation 1:1, 9, 10.

  2.(a) What does God’s “eter-nal purpose” mean for obe-dient mankind? (b) What did John experience on the isle of Patmos?

  3. Through that opened door in heaven, John saw 24 elders, enthroned and crowned like kings. They fell down before God and said: “You are worthy, Jehovah, even our God, to receive the glory and the honor and the power, because you created all things, and because of your will they existed and were created.” (Revelation 4:11) Those elders represent all the resurrected anointed Chris-tians in the exalted position God promised them. They are moved to praise Jehovah be-cause of his great deeds associated with cre-ation. We too marvel at the evidence of Jeho-vah’s “eternal power and Godship.” (Romans 1:20) And the more we learn about Jehovah, the more reason we have to laud him for his great deeds.

  3. Who are represented by the 24 elders seen by John in vision?

  Declare Jehovah’s Praiseworthy Deeds!
  4. The psalmist David praised God for His great deeds. For example, David sang: “Make melody, you people, to Jehovah, who is dwelling in Zion; tell among the peoples his deeds. Show me favor, 0 Jehovah; see my af-fliction by those hating me, 0 you who are lifting me up from the gates of death, in or-der that I may declare all your praiseworthy deeds in the gates of the daughter of Zion.” (Psalm 9:11, 13, 14) After giving his son Solo-mon the architectural plan for the temple, David blessed and praised God, saying: “Yours, 0 Jehovah, are the greatness and the mightiness and the beauty and the excellen-cy and the dignity... Yours is the kingdom, 0 Jehovah, the One also lifting yourself up as head over all. ... And now, 0 our God, we are thanking you and praising your beauteous name.”—l Chronicles 29: 10-13.

  5. The Scriptures repeatedly invite—yes, urge—us to praise God, as David did. The book of Psalms contains many expressions of praise to God, and about half of these songs are attributed to David. He constantly praised and thanked Jehovah. (Psalm 69:30) Moreover, since early times, divinely inspired compositions of David and others have been used to praise Jehovah.

  4, 5. Give examples of how David praised Jehovah.

  6 How useful the Psalms are to Jehovah’s worshipers! When we want to thank God for all his great deeds in our behalf, our minds may well turn to beautiful words found in the Psalms. Upon awakening to a new day, for in-stance, we may be moved to make expres-sions similar to these: “It is good to give thanks to Jehovah and to make melody to your name, 0 Most High; to tell in the morn-ing about your loving-kindness and about your faithfulness during the nights, . . . for you have made me rejoice, 0 Jehovah, be-cause of your activity; because of the works of your hands I cry out joyfully.” (Psalm 92:1-4) When we overcome an obstacle to our spir-itual progress, we may be inclined to ex-press joy and gratitude in prayer, even as the psalmist did when he sang: “0 come let us cry out joyfully to Jehovah! Let us shout in triumph to our Rock of salvation. Let us come before his person with thanksgiving; let us with melodies shout in triumph to him.”
  —Psalm 95:1, 2.

  6. How do the inspired Psalms prove useful to us?

  7. We often raise our voices in songs of praise to Jehovah at congregation meetings, assemblies, and conventions. it is notewor-thy that many of these songs are based on in-spired thoughts from the book of Psalms. How happy we are to have a modern-day col-lection of heartwarming songs of praise to Je-hovah! Singing praises to God is one very good reason to arrive early at our meetings and to be present to the end, thus sharing with fellow worshipers in praising Jehovah with song and prayer.

  7.(a) What is noteworthy about many songs sung by Christians? (b) What is one reason to arrive early at meetings and remain to the end?

  “Praise Jah, You People!”
  8 Praising Jehovah is implicit in the word “Hallelujah,” a transliteration of a Hebrew expression almost always rendered “Praise Jah, you people.” For example, at Psalm 135:1-3, we find this warm, emphatic invitation:
  “Praise Jah, you people! Praise the name of Jehovah, offer praise, 0 servants of Jehovah, you who are standing in the house of Je-hovah, in the courtyards of the house of our God. Praise Jah, for Jehovah is good. Make melody to his name, for it is pleasant.”

  8.What is implicit in the word “Hallelujah,” and how is it usually rendered?

  9.As we contemplate God’s marvelous works of creation and all his deeds in our be-half, heartfelt appreciation moves us to praise him. When we reflect on the miraculous things Jehovah did for his people in times past, our hearts motivate us to laud him. And as we meditate on the promises of great things Jehovah will yet do, we search for ways to express praise and gratitude.

  9. What motivates us to praise Jehovah?

  10 Our very existence gives us just cause to praise Jah. David sang: “I shall laud you jje-hovah] because in a fear-inspiring way I am wonderfully made. Your works are wonder-ful, as my soul is very well aware.” (Psalm 139: 14) Yes, we are “wonderfully made” and have such precious gifts as sight, hearing, and thinking ability. Should we not, therefore, di-rect our life in such a way as to praise our Maker? Paul said as much when he wrote:
  “Whether you are eating or drinking or do-ing anything else, do all things for God’s gb-ry.”—l Corinthians 10:31.
  11 We will do all things for Jehovah’s glory if we truly love him. Jesus said that the first commandment is: “You must love Jehovah your God with your whole heart and with your whole soul and with your whole mind and with your whole strength.” (Mark 12:30; Deuteronomy 6:5) We certainly should love Jehovah and praise him as our Maker and the Giver of “every good gift and every perfect present.” (James 1:17; Isaiah 51:13; Acts 17:28) After all, our reasoning faculties, our spir-itual capacity, and our physical strength—all our attributes and abilities—come from Jeho-vah. As our Creator, he is worthy of our love and praise.

  10, 11. How does our very existence give us reason
  to praise God?

  12 great deeds of Jehovah give us in-numerable reasons to love and praise him! “Many things you yourself have done, 0 Je-hovah my God, even your wonderful works and your thoughts toward us,” sang David. “There is none to be compared to you. Were I inclined to tell and speak of them, they have become more numerous than I can recount.” (Psalm 40:5) David could not recount all of Jehovah’s wonderful works, and neither can we. But let us always praise God when any of his great deeds are brought to our attention.

  12. How do you feel about Jehovah’s great deeds
  and the words of Psalm 40:5?

  Deeds Linked With God’s Eternal Purpose
  13 Our hope for the future is bound up with the great and praiseworthy deeds associ-ated with God’s eternal purpose. After the re-bellion in Eden, Jehovah gave the hope-filled first prophecy. Pronouncing sentence upon the serpent, God said: “I shall put enmi-ty between you and the woman and be-tween your seed and her seed. He will bruise you in the head and you will bruise him in the heel.” (Genesis 3:15) Hope in the prom-ised Seed of the woman lived on in the hearts of faithful humans after Jehovah performed a great deed by preserving Noah and his fam-ily through the global Deluge that wiped out a wicked world. (2 Peter 2:5) Prophetic prom-ises to such men of faith as Abraham and Da-vid gave further insight into what Jehovah would accomplish through that Seed.—Gen-esis 22:15-18; 2 Samuel 7:12.

  13. How is our hope bound up with God’s great deeds?

  14 The superlative manifestation of Jeho-vah as the one performing great deeds in be-half of mankind took place when he gave his only-begotten Son—the promised Seed, Jesus Christ—as a ransom sacrifice. (John 3:16; Acts 2:29-36) The ransom provided the basis for reconciliation with God. (Matthew 20:28; Romans 5:11) Jehovah brought the first rec-onciled ones together in the Christian con-gregation, established at Pentecost 33 C.E. With the help of the holy spirit, they preached the good news far and wide, show-ing how Jesus’ death and resurrection opens the way for obedient mankind to experience eternal blessings under the rule of God’s heavenly Kingdom.

  14.What is the superlative example of Jehovah’s great deeds in behalf of mankind?

  15.In our day, Jehovah has acted in a won-derful way to gather the last anointed Chris-tians. The winds of destruction have been held back to allow for the sealing of the re-maining ones of the 144,000, who will rule with Christ in heaven. (Revelation 7:1-4; 20:6) God has seen to it that anointed Chris-tians were delivered from spiritual bondage to “Babylon the Great,” the world empire of false religion. (Revelation 17:1-5) That deliv-erance in 1919 and the divine protection they experienced since then have allowed the anointed remnant to do what? To shine forth in giving a final witness before Jeho-vah brings an end to Satan’s wicked system of things in the rapidly approaching “great trib-ulation.”—Matthew 24:21; Daniel 12:3; Reve-lation 7:14.

  15. How has Jehovah acted in a wonderful way in our day?

  16 Jehovah’s anointed Witnesses have zeal-ously spearheaded a worldwide Kingdom-preaching work. As a result, an increasing number of “other sheep” are now becoming worshipers of Jehovah. (John 10:16) We re-joice that the opportunity is still open for meek ones of the earth to join us in prais-ing Jehovah. Those who respond to the invi-tation to “come” are in line for preservation through the great tribulation, with the pros-pect of praising Jehovah throughout eternity.
  —Revelation 22:17.

  16. What is taking place as a result of the present-day worldwide Kingdom-preaching work?

  Thousands Thronging to True Worship
  17. Jehovah is now performing great and praiseworthy deeds in connection with our preaching activity. (Mark 13:10) In re-cent years, he has ‘opened large doors lead-ing to activity.’ (1 Corinthians 16:9) This has made it possible for the good news to be proclaimed throughout vast territories where enemies of the truth formerly stood in the way. Many who once lived in spiritual dark-ness are now responding to the invitation to worship Jehovah. They are fulfilling these prophetic words: “This is what Jehovah of ar-mies has said, ‘It will be in those days that ten men out of all the languages of the nations will take hold, yes, they will actually take hold of the skirt of a man who is a Jew, say-ing: “We will go with you people, for we have heard that God is with you people.”’” (Zech-ariah 8:23) These “people” are spiritu-al Jews, the present-day remnant of anointed Christians. Since ten can rep-resent completeness of an earthly kind, the “ten men” stand for the “great crowd,” brought into association with “the Israel of God,” with whom they form “one flock.” (Revela-tion 7:9, 10; Galatians 6:16) What a joy it is to see so many now rendering sacred service to-gether as worshipers of Jehovah God!

  17. (a) How is Jehovah performing great deeds in connection with our preaching activity? (b) How is Zechariah 8:23 being fulfilled?

  18 We are thrilled that tens of thousands —indeed, hundreds of thousands—are em-bracing true worship in lands once so dom-inated by false religion that it seemed as though the people would never accept the good news. Consult the current Yearbook of Jehovah’s Witnesses, and note the lands now reporting from 100,000 to nearly 1,000,000 Kingdom publishers. This is powerful proof that the Kingdom-preaching work is being blessed byJehovah.—Proverbs 10:22.

  19 As Jehovah’s people, we praise and thank our heavenly Father for giving us real pur-pose in life, rewarding work in his service, and a bright outlook for the future. We live in eager expectation of the fulfillment of all divine promises and are determined to ‘keep ourselves in God’s love, with everlasting life in view.’ (Jude 20, 21) How delighted we are to see that the great crowd praising God now numbers some 6,000,000! With Jeho-vah’s evident blessing, the anointed remnant together with their other sheep companions are organized into some 91,000 congrega-tions in 235 lands. All of us are well-fed spiritually through the tireless efforts of “the faithful and discreet slave.” (Matthew 24:45:) A progressive theocratic organization with loving oversight is administering King-dom activity through 110 branch offices of Jehovah’s Witnesses. We are thankful thatJe-hovah has moved the hearts of his people to ‘honor him with their valuable things.’ (Proverbs 3:9, 10) Consequently, our world-wide preaching work continues, with print-ing facilities, Bethel and missionary homes, Kingdom Halls, and Assembly Halls being built as needed.

  18, 19. What evidence is there that Jehovah is blessing the preaching work?

  20 It is impossible for us to mention all the
  great and praiseworthy deeds of our heaven-ly Father. But can anyone of upright heart re-frain from joining the throng of Jehovah’s praisers? Of course not! Therefore, let all lov-ers of God joyfully cry out: “Praise Jah, you people! Praise Jehovah from the heavens, praise him in the heights. Praise him, all you his angels . . . , you young men and also you virgins, you old men together with boys. Let them praise the name of Jehovah, for his name alone is unreachably high. His dignity is above earth and heaven.” (Psalm 148:1, 2, 12, 13) Yes, now and forever, let us praise Je-hovah for his great deeds!

  20.How should reflecting on Jehovah’s great and praiseworthy deeds affect us?

  How Would You Answer?
  • What are some of Jehovah’s praise-worthy deeds?

  • Why.do you feel impelled to praise Jehovah?

  • How is our hope linked with God’s great deeds?

  • How is Jehovah performing praise-worthy deeds in connection with the Kingdom-preaching work?
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  47

  WT & Awake Subscription Procedure

  by Gopher in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i moved into a new area several months ago, and my subscriptions to the watchtower and awake magazines expired.

  (note: i'm baaad, not attending meetings in my new area.).

  so it'd be easy to renew my subscription, right?

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  hippikon

  For those interested I have posted the June 17 Watchtower Study under the topic "Study Articles" If it is of use to anyone I will continue to do it.

  
  "But it does move"
  Galileo
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  Watchtower Study - June 17

  by hippikon in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  jehovahs service.

  always rejoice in the lord once more i will say, rejoice!philippians 4:4.. james, a 70-year-old christian living in sierra leone, had worked hard all his life.

  imagine his joy when he had finally saved up enough money to purchase a modest four-room house!

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  hippikon

  MAINTAIN YOUR JOY IN
  JEHOVAH’S SERVICE
  “Always rejoice in the Lord Once more I will say, Rejoice!”—PHILIPPIANS 4:4.

  JAMES, a 70-year-old Christian living in Sierra Leone, had worked hard all his life. Imagine his joy when he had finally saved up enough money to purchase a modest four-room house! Some time after James and his family moved in, however, civil war broke out in that country, and their home was burned to the ground. They lost their house, but did not lose their joy. Why not?
  2) James and his family kept their minds focused, not on what they had lost but on what yet remained. James explains “Even during the time of horror, we held meetings, read the Bible, prayed together, and shared what little we had with others. We were able to main-tain our joy because we focused on the wonderful rela-tionship we have with Jehovah.” By counting their bless-ings, the greatest of which is having a close personal relationship with Jehovah, these faithful Christians were able to “continue to rejoice.” (2 Corinthians 13:11) Of course, their distressing circum-stances were not easy to endure. But they did not cease to rejoice in Jehovah.

  1, 2. How were one brother and his family able to maintain their
  joy despite losing everything they owned?

  3.The early Christians encountered trials comparable to those experienced by James and his family. Yet, the apostle Paul wrote these words to Hebrew Christians: “[You] joy-fully took the plundering of your belong-ings.” Paul then explained the source of their joy: “Knowing you yourselves have a better and an abiding possession.” (Hebrews 10:34) Yes, those first-century Christians had a pow-erful hope. They confidently looked forward to receiving something that could not be plundered—the unfadable “crown of life” in God’s heavenly Kingdom. (Revelation 2:10) Today, our Christian hope—be it heavenly or earthly—can help us to maintain our joy even when we face adversities.

  3. How did some early Christians maintain theirjoy?

  “Rejoice in the Hope”
  3) The apostle Paul encouraged fellow be-lievers in Rome to “rejoice in the hope” of everlasting life. (Romans 12:12) That was timely advice for the Romans. Less than a de-cade after Paul wrote to them, they came un-der severe persecution, and some were tor-tured to death by order of Emperor Nero. Their faith that God would give them the promised crown of life undoubtedly sus-tained them in their suffering. What of us to-day?

  4)As Christians, we too expect to be per-secuted. (2 Timothy 3:12) Further, we realize that “time and unforeseen occurrence” befall us all. (Ecclesiastes 9:11) An accident can take the life of someone we love. A fatal illness can strike down a parent or a close friend. Unless we keep our Kingdom hope clearly in focus, we may be endangered spiritually when such trials occur. Accordingly, we do well to ask ourselves, ‘Do I “.rejoice in the hope”? How often do I take the time to meditate on it? Is the coming Paradise real to me? Do I see my self there? Am I as eager for the end of the present system of things to come as I was when I first learned the truth?’ This last question deserves serious thought. Why? Because if we are in good health, earn a comfortable living, and live in a part of the earth that is more or less unaffected by war, food short. age, or natural disasters, we could—at least for the moment—lose sight of the pressing need for God’s new world to come.

  4, 5. (a) Why was Paul’s advice to “rejoice in the hope” so timely for the Romans? (b) What might
  cause a Christian to lose sight of his hope?

  6.Paul further counseled the Romans to “endure under tribulation.” (Romans 12:12) Paul was no stranger to tribulation. Once, he saw in a vision a man who invited him to “step over into Macedonia” to help people there to learn about Jehovah. (Acts 16:9) At that, Paul, together with Luke, Silas, and Tim-othy, set sail for Europe. What awaited those zealous missionaries? Tribulation! After they had preached in the Macedonian city of Phi-lippi, Paul and Silas were flogged and thrown into prison. Clearly, some citizens of Philip-pi were not merely indifferent to the King-dom message—they were bitterly opposed. Did this turn of events cause the zealous mis-sionaries to lose their joy? No. After they had been beaten and thrown into prison, “about the middle of the night, Paul and Silas were praying and praising God witht “ song.” (Acts16:25, 26) Of course, the pain from the beat-ing gave Paul and Silas no joy, but that is not what the two missionaties focused on. Their thoughts were centered on Jehovah and the ways in which he was blessing them . By joy-fully ‘enduring under tribülàtion,’ Paul and Silas served as fine examples for their broth-ers in Philippi and elsewhere.

  6. (a) When Paul and Silas suffered tribulation, on what did they focus their thoughts? (b) How can the example of Paul and Silas encourage us today?

  7. Paul wrote: “Persevere in prayer.” (Ro-mans 12:12) Do you pray when you have anxious moments? What do you pray about? Likely you mention your specific problem and ask for Jehovah’s help. But you can also include expressions of thanksgiving for the blessings you enjoy. When problems arise, re-flecting on Jehovah’s goodness in his deal-ings with us helps us to “rejoice in the hope.” David, whose life was far from trouble free, wrote: “Many things you yourself have done, 0 Jehovah my God, even your wonderful works and your thoughts toward us; there is none to be compared to you. Were I inclined to tell and speak of them, they have become more numerous than I can recount.” (Psalm 40:5) If, like David, we regularly meditate on the blessings that we receive from Jehovah, we will find it impossible not to be joyful.

  7. Why should our prayers include thanksgiving?

  Keep a Positive Spirit
  8Jesus encourages his followers to keep a positive spirit when they meet with various trials. He says: “Happy are you when people reproach you and persecute you and lying-ly say every sort of wicked thing against you for my sake.” (Matthew 5:11) What reason do we have for happiness under such circum-stances? Our ability to withstand opposition is proof that Jehovah’s spirit is upon us. The apostle Peter told fellow Christians in his day: “If you are being reproached for the name of Christ, you are happy, because the spirit of glory, even the spirit of God, is resting upon you.”(l Peter 4:13, 14) By means of his spirit, Jehovah will also help us to endure and, as a result, to maintain our joy.

  8. What helps a Christian to stay happy when un-dergoing persecution?

  9. Even when we are in the direst of cir-cumstances, we can find reasons to rejoice. A Christian named Adolf found that to be so. He lives in a country where the work of Jeho-vah’s Witnesses was banned for many years. Adolf and several of his companions were ar-rested and sentenced to serve long prison terms because they refused to renounce their Bible-based beliefs. Prison life was hard, but like Paul and Silas, Adolf and his compan-ions found reasons to give thanks to God. Their prison experience, they noted, helped them to strengthen their faith and to develop valuable Christian qualities, such as generos-ity, empathy, and brotherly affection. For ex-ample, when a prisoner received a package from home, he shared its contents with fel-low believers, who viewed these extra provi-sions as coming from Jehovah, the ultimate Giver of “every good gift and every perfect present.” Such acts of kindness brought joy both to the giver and to the recipients. So the very experience that was intended to break their faith actually made them stronger spin-tually!—James 1:17; Acts 20:35.

  9. What helped some brothers to find reasons for joy when in prison for their faith?

  10. Ella, who also lives in a country where the Kingdom work was long banned, was ar-rested for sharing her Christian hope with others. For eight months, she was subjected to relentless interrogation. When final-ly brought to trial, she was handed a ten-year sentence in a prison where theme were no oth-er worshipers of Jehovah. Ella was only 24 years of age at the time.
  11 Of course, Ella did not look forward to spending most of her young adulthood in a prison cell. But since she could not change her situation, she decided to change her viewpoint. Accordingly, she began to view the prison as her own personal witnessing territory. “There was so much preaching to do,” she says, “that the years passed very quickly.” After more than five years, Ella was interrogated again. Realizing that prison bars had not destroyed her faith, her interrogators told her: “We cannot release you; you have not changed.” “But I have changed!” was El-la’s firm reply. “I am in better spirits now than when I first went to prison, and my faith is much stronger than before!” And she added: “If you do not want to release me, I will stay until Jehovah sees fit to deliver me.” Five and a half years of confinement had not robbed Ella of her joy! She learned to be satisfied in whatever circumstances she found herself. Can you learn something from her example? -Hebrews 13:5.

  10, 11. How did a sister handle relentless interroga-hon followed by a long prison term?

  12 Do not conclude that Ella possesses some unusual gift that allows her to face such chal-lenges. Referring to the period of interroga-tion that she underwent in the months be-fore she received her sentence, Ella admits: “I remember my teeth chattering, and I felt like a frightened sparrow.” However, Ella has strong faith in Jehovah. She has learned to put her trust in him. (Proverbs 3:5-7) As a re-sult, God is more real to her than before. She explains: “Every time I entered the interroga-tion room, I felt peace come over me. The more terrifying the situation, the deeper the peace became.” Jehovah was the source of that peace. The apostle Paul explains: “Do not be anxious over anything, but in every-thing by prayer and supplication along with thanksgiving let your petitions be made known to God; and the peace of God that ex-cels all thought will guard your hearts and your mental powers by means of Christ Je-sus. “—Philippians 4:6, 7.

  12. What can bring peace of mind to a Christian in difficult circumstances?

  13 Ella, who has since been released, main-tained her joy despite hardship. She did this, not in her own strength, but in the strength that Jehovah provided her. The same was true of the apostle Paul, who wrote: “Most gladly, therefore, will I rather boast as re-spects my weaknesses that the power of the Christ may like a tent remain over me. For when I am weak, then I am powerful.” -2Corinthians 12:9, 10.

  13. What assures us that if tribulation comes our way, we will have the strength to endure?

  14. The pressures you personaly face to- day may be somewhat different from those we have here considered. Still, whatever form they take, pressures are difficult to cope with. For example, your employer may be very crit-ical of your work—far more so than of the work of employees who belong to other reli-gious faiths. It may not be possible for you to look for other employment. How might you maintain your joy? Recall Adolf and his com-panions, whose prison experience taught them to develop vital qualifies. If you make a sincere effort to satisfy your employer—even one who is “hard to please”—you will devel-op such Christian qualities as endurance and long-suffering. (1 Peter 2:18) Furthermore, you may well become more valuable as an employee, which may increase your chanc-es of obtaining more satisfying employment some day. Let us now discuss some other ways in which we can maintain our joy in Je-hovah’s service.

  14. Illustrate how a Christian could take a posi-tive view of a trying situation and what the result might be.

  Simplifying Leads to Joy
  15 You may have little choice in the type of secular work you do or about where you work, but there may be other aspects of your life over which you can exercise some con-trol. Consider the following experience.
  16 A Christian couple invited an elder to their home for a meal. In the course of the evening, the brother and his wife con-fided that of late they had been feeling over-whelmed by the pressures of life. Although they both had demanding full-time jobs, they were not in a position to look for other work. They wondered how long they would be able to cope.
  17 When asked for advice, the elder re-sponded, “Simplify.” How? The husband and his wife were spending up to three hours each day commuting to and from work. The elder, who knew the couple well, suggested that they consider moving closer to their place of employment, so that they would be able to reduce the amount of time that they spent traveling to and from work each day. The time saved could be spent in caring for other important matters—or just getting some rest. If life’s pressures are robbing you of a mea-sure of joy, why not see whether you can get relief by making some adjustments?

  15-17. What did one couple learn could relieve stress, even though its source could not be com-pletely removed?

  18 Another way to reduce pressure is to think carefully before making decisions. For example, one Christian decided to build a house. He chose a very complicated design, although he had never built a house before. He now realizes that he could have avoided unnecessary problems if he had ‘considered his steps’ before choosing the design for his home. (Proverbs 14:15) Another Christian agreed to back a loan for a fellow believer. According to the agreement, if the borrower was unable to repay the loan, the one back-ing it would be obliged to do so. At first, all went well, but in time the borrower be-gan to renege. The lender became alarmed and demanded that the backer repay the en-tire loan. That put great pressure on the back-er. Could it have been avoided if he had giv-en more careful consideration to all factors before he agreed to assume responsibility for the debt?—Proverbs 17:18.

  18. Why is it vital to think carefully before making
  decisions?

  19.When we get tired, let us never conclude that we can reduce the pressure on us and re-gain our joy by cutting back on personal Bi-ble study, field service, and meeting atten-dance. Why, these are vital ways in which we can receive Jehovah’s holy spirit, a product of which is joy. (Galatians 5:22) Christian activ-ities are always refreshing and usually not ex-cessively tiring. (Matthew 11:28-30) It is far more likely that secular or recreational activi-ties, not spiritual ones, are contributing to our fatigue. Learning to go to bed at a reason-able hour may help put us back on track. A lit-tle extra rest can go a long way. N. H. Knorr, who served as a member of the Governing Body of Jehovah’s Witnesses until his death, used to tell missionaries: “When you get dis-couraged, the first thing to do is to get some rest. You will be surprised how much better almost any problem seems after you have had a good night’s sleep!”

  19. What are some ways in which we can reduce
  stress in our lives?

  20.Christians are privileged to serve “the happy God.” (1 Timothy 1:11) As we have seen, we can maintain our joy even when we are beset by serious problems. Let us keep the Kingdom hope before us, adjust our view-point when necessary, and keep our life sim-ple. Then, whatever situation we find our-selves in, we will respond to the apostle Paul’s words: “Always rejoice in the Lord. Once more I will say, Rejoice! “—Philippians 4:4.

  20. (a) Summarize some of the ways we can main-tain our joy. (b) What reasons can you think of for being joyful? (See box on page 17.)

  Give Thoughtful Consideration to These Questions:
  • Why should Christians keep the King-dom hope sharply in focus?
  • What can help us maintain our joy in difficult circumstances?
  • Why should we try to simplify our lives?
  • In what areas have some simplified their lives?

  
  "But it does move"
  Galileo
• 
  16

  Escaped with my life!

  by truman in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i wanted to give an update to all those who kindly offered suggestions on how to deal with my jw son's ultimatum' "go tell the elders, or i will".. these last few days have been an intense crash course in life for me.

  having experienced my firstborn son, whom i gave birth to, wiped his behind, dried his tears, and helped to grow to adulthood with loving support, threaten to turn me over to the "authorities" (elders) for wrong thinking and wrong speech, has been a deeply disturbing experience.

  learning the truth about the "truth" was shocking, but this is just a crying tragedy.. after he found a short email from a board friend, which inadvertantly got into our regular email box instead of my private one, i was given a week to go to the elders.

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• 

  hippikon

  Sounds to me like prophecy in reverse

  *** Rbi8 Matthew 10:21 ***
  brother will deliver up brother to death, and a father his child, and children will rise up against parents
• 
  47

  WT & Awake Subscription Procedure

  by Gopher in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i moved into a new area several months ago, and my subscriptions to the watchtower and awake magazines expired.

  (note: i'm baaad, not attending meetings in my new area.).

  so it'd be easy to renew my subscription, right?

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  2. 
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• 

  hippikon

  BugEyesWife

  (but what about the trees)

  Those trees where going to die anyway. I planted a replacement.

  Skimmer

  if I just sent a check for $20 to the WTBTS along with a request for a WT subscription? Would they send one, and then separately send a thank you note for the "donation" without acknowledging the subscription?

  Back when I was a “loyal dub” I sent in some money for an item. I got a letter back to the effect of “the item is out of stock what do you want us to do with the money.” That was when you payed for the literature. Now it should depend on how the letter is worded as to wether they send a letter back asking if they should return the money or just keep it anyway.

  philo

  I really need a WT CD-ROM. MY 1995 Version doesn't work anymore. If anyone can help me get one, my gratitude would come in cash form!

  Send me an e-mail. I would be more than happy to help out. Is a copy ok or do you want an original. (original will take longer to get)

  Skimmer

  I’d be happy to help out. Postage may be a bit much from here though. (and slow)I’ve thought of scanning them and e-mailing them but the file sizes would be too big. And to OCR them is too much work. I’m starting to build up a subscription list lol

  I also object to paying money to the “society”. 20 years of my life was enough

  waiting

  Good Idea

  Amendment to my earlier post. The literature is not “free” it is “without charge”. Slight “weasel word” difference. If it is without charge they can discern who they give it to with out being accused of discrimination.
• 
  47

  WT & Awake Subscription Procedure

  by Gopher in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i moved into a new area several months ago, and my subscriptions to the watchtower and awake magazines expired.

  (note: i'm baaad, not attending meetings in my new area.).

  so it'd be easy to renew my subscription, right?

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  hippikon

  It would be interesting if they keep the donation and don’t send the mags. Here they aren’t supposed to even link the suggestion of a donation to the receipt of literature. The literature is free and a donation is a donation. It’s not a donation for the literature.
• 
  47

  WT & Awake Subscription Procedure

  by Gopher in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i moved into a new area several months ago, and my subscriptions to the watchtower and awake magazines expired.

  (note: i'm baaad, not attending meetings in my new area.).

  so it'd be easy to renew my subscription, right?

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  hippikon

  I use them to light the fire