1 Thess 5:3 is not a prophesy. There is no cry of peace and security.They get that wrong. But they need mile markers to point to scripture for the future.
Rattigan350
JoinedPosts by Rattigan350
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So how are they going to proclaim peace and security when in the last days the kings of the North and the South are to be engaged in battle?
by nowwhat? in.
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ALJ denies refund to tax-exempt to Watchtower
by Rattigan350 inhttps://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=8bdcae82-b20f-4ac4-9c04-4b1cf1191aab.
alj denies refund to tax-exempt religious organization .
finding that a tax-exempt religious organization failed to meet the requirements of the statute providing for exemptions from the motor fuel tax for exempt organizations, a new york state administrative law judge has upheld the department of taxation and finance’s denial of a refund.
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Rattigan350
https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=8bdcae82-b20f-4ac4-9c04-4b1cf1191aab
ALJ denies refund to tax-exempt religious organization
Finding that a tax-exempt religious organization failed to meet the requirements of the statute providing for exemptions from the motor fuel tax for exempt organizations, a New York State Administrative Law Judge has upheld the Department of Taxation and Finance’s denial of a refund. Matter of Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York, Inc., DTA Nos. 827916 & 828547 (N.Y.S. Div. of Tax App., Sept. 26, 2019).
Facts. Petitioner Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York, Inc. (“Watchtower”) is a New York not-for-profit corporation exempt from sales and use taxes under Tax Law § 1116(a)(4). Its purposes are religious and charitable, and it supports the activities of Jehovah’s Witnesses by, among other activities, printing and distributing religious material, supporting religious education, and building and owning facilities where religious activities are performed.
Construction of Watchtower’s world headquarters in Warwick, New York, began in 2013 and concluded in 2017. The construction site presented unique challenges, since it was small but occupied by many workers and pieces of equipment working under a tight deadline. At the site, approximately 108 pieces of equipment owned by Watchtower were fueled with diesel motor fuel, which was transfered first into fuel tanks, primarily a 4,500 gallon tank carried on a fuel truck. For most of the project, Watchtower dispensed the diesel from its fuel tanks into a smaller 600 gallon tank that could easily navigate the construction site and was used to deliver fuel to the various pieces of equipment on site. Each tank was equipped with a diesel nozzle that was capable of fueling the equipment used by Watchtower. Although the nozzles were too large to fuel most on-road vehicles such as passenger cars and trucks, they could be used to fuel buses and tractor trailers. Watchtower did not permit any of the fuel to be used for on-road vehicles, and implemented policies and security procedures—such as securing all tanks and nozzles with keys kept in a secure location, limiting access to the keys, and hiring security guards—to prevent the fuel tanks from being used to fuel anything other than its off-road construction vehicles.
The Law and the Dispute. Article 13-A of the Tax Law imposes tax on petroleum products sold or used in the State, which is passed through to the purchaser by the seller as part of the selling price. Tax Law § 301-b(h) provides an exemption for non-highway diesel motor fuel, known as “dyed diesel,” sold to nonprofit organizations, if the fuel is delivered to the premises of the exempt organization, used exclusively for exempt activities, and consumed other than on State highways. The statute also explicitly provides that the exemption does not apply “to a sale of non-highway diesel motor fuel which involves a delivery at a filling station or into a repository which is equipped with a hose or other apparatus by which such non-highway . . . fuel can be dispensed into the fuel tank of a motor vehicle.” While all other requirements of the statute were met, the disputed issue was whether Watchtower’s acceptance of the dyed diesel into fuel trucks and tanks equipped with nozzles disqualified it from receiving the exemption.
The Determination. The ALJ denied the refund. He rejected the argument made by Watchtower that the statute should be interpreted to allow the exemption because the dyed diesel was not permitted to be dispensed into vehicles other than construction vehicles, and had not been actually used for other purposes, finding that tax exemptions are to be strictly and narrowly construed, with a presumption against the taxpayer and in favor of the taxing authority. The ALJ held that the statute does not “look to whether the exempt organization permits dyed diesel to be dispensed into motor vehicles but whether the repository . . . can fuel a motor vehicle.” (Emphasis added.)
Watchtower had argued that the strict interpretation made the exemption impossible because there are no fuel nozzles in existence capable of filling exempt road building machinery but not ordinary motor vehicles, so there was no way for Watchtower to comply with the statutory requirement. However, the ALJ found that Watchtower could have qualified for the exemption if, instead of accepting delivery into intermediary repositories and then fueling its equipment, it had directed its supplier to directly fuel the construction vehicles.
ADDITIONAL INSIGHTS
It is a familiar principle that tax exemptions are strictly and narrowly construed, so any party seeking an expansive definition of an exemption will have an uphill battle. Some taxpayers have argued that an exemption should not be interpreted so narrowly that the intended purpose is thwarted, but that argument does not seem to have been raised here, and the determination does not discuss any legislative history, or delve into the reasons why the exemption was crafted with the specific language governing the nature of the equipment rather than the actual use made of the product. It is always important to closely examine the exact requirements of an exemption statute in structuring a transaction in which a party hopes to take advantage of any tax exemption.
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WTS No longer "welcoming" people to Brooklyn
by blondie inhttps://www.6sqft.com/welcome-sign-will-soon-replace-the-iconic-watchtower-sign-in-brooklyn-heights/.
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Rattigan350
Blonde, the sign and the buildings made JWs proud. There were postcards made of the buildings in NYC.
Many people took trips to Brooklyn Bethel and worked there.
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January 2020 Watchtower - Dogma being force-fed yet again as "truth"!
by The Fall Guy inif the wording & context of a scripture is dismissed at the outset, then every statement and assumption which follows is implicititly false.
in the very first study article, the gibbering body continues to indoctrinate the sheeple to accept that over 500 people met jesus on the mountain - despite the blatant fact that 1 corinthians 15:6 says absolutely nothing about the 500 people being anywhere near galilee!
(matthew 28:16-20) however, the 11 disciples went to galʹi·lee to the mountain where jesus had arranged for them (the 11 disciples) to meet.
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Rattigan350
Smiddy said"Followers of Jesus Christ , Christians , are to be witnesses of Jesus ,not Jehovah according to the NWT of the Bible ."
Rutherford put the name Jehovah's Witnesses on the followers because of Isaiah 43 so nicely put it.
Also he compared the anointed at that time to the Israelites in their relationship to Jehovah.
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January 2020 Watchtower - Dogma being force-fed yet again as "truth"!
by The Fall Guy inif the wording & context of a scripture is dismissed at the outset, then every statement and assumption which follows is implicititly false.
in the very first study article, the gibbering body continues to indoctrinate the sheeple to accept that over 500 people met jesus on the mountain - despite the blatant fact that 1 corinthians 15:6 says absolutely nothing about the 500 people being anywhere near galilee!
(matthew 28:16-20) however, the 11 disciples went to galʹi·lee to the mountain where jesus had arranged for them (the 11 disciples) to meet.
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Rattigan350
Blonde. Why do you print out the Watchtowers when they are in PDFs?
And when Jesus said eat my flesh and drink my blood, he later explained it and also at the memorial.
Father, son and Holy spirit had no explanation.
Conybeare had some articles saying that.
There are plenty of websites stating it was added.
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Boys pre-teen sexuality / erections.? Why ? If only for procreation ?
by smiddy3 inthis has been a bug bear my whole life i think and not really sure how to address it as nobody else ever seems to do so.. and it relates to the question if god really created humans .
he did a shithouse job in this regard.. i can`t speak for females this is entirely a male thing.
from my perspective.. male adolescents at a very ,very young age , babies , get erections periodically and it has nothing to do with sexual fantasies ,because they don`t even have an awareness of sex between a male and a female at this time.. and it is second inbuilt nature to masturbate to relieve, get rid of the erection .
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Rattigan350
The problem is that he made human reproduction to be automated like the animals.
Ovulation and Menstruation are every 28 days. Eggs should only be released when the woman wants to get pregnant. However it is possible that the other parts would not work if they weren't in continuous function.
Ejaculation is also automated after stimulation, rather than just when he wants it to.
As for erections, that is just a signal from the brain to a muscle that controls a valve that lets blood out. That i all automated too without age being a factor.
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January 2020 Watchtower - Dogma being force-fed yet again as "truth"!
by The Fall Guy inif the wording & context of a scripture is dismissed at the outset, then every statement and assumption which follows is implicititly false.
in the very first study article, the gibbering body continues to indoctrinate the sheeple to accept that over 500 people met jesus on the mountain - despite the blatant fact that 1 corinthians 15:6 says absolutely nothing about the 500 people being anywhere near galilee!
(matthew 28:16-20) however, the 11 disciples went to galʹi·lee to the mountain where jesus had arranged for them (the 11 disciples) to meet.
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Rattigan350
Matt 28:19,20 is a misinterpreted and iffy scripture.
I don't believe that Jesus said "In the name of the father, son and Holy spirit". There is no explanation of what that means or no context behind it. Jesus does not teach without an explanation.
And the Go therefore and make disciples is not a command as they elders would say.
They had just asked Jesus if he was going to restore Jerusalem to the Jews. Jesus said to not worry about it, but your job is to go and preach. As he said that he ascended to heaven. He was just directing them to focus on the heavenly kingdom and not the earthly one.
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WTS No longer "welcoming" people to Brooklyn
by blondie inhttps://www.6sqft.com/welcome-sign-will-soon-replace-the-iconic-watchtower-sign-in-brooklyn-heights/.
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Rattigan350
The Brooklyn buildings including the sign made JWs in NYC special and something to have pride in.
From the days of Russell & Rutherford to the 2000s the buildings were an icon of the organization.
But after they left, upstate New York just does not invoke the same pride.
More evidence of the organizations fade.
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How Long Did It Take To Finally Leave The Organization Once You Realized It Was Really Not The Truth?
by minimus init actually took me a few years to finally leave the organization so i was mentally out for a while before i simply stopped all meetings altogether.. how long did it take you to finally make the break?
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Rattigan350
I've always believed that the Organization, WT, has the truth and it still does. But unfortunately,the Truth focuses on the organization.
To add to that: Baptism is supposed to be a lifelong thing. There are 150 questions a pair of elders go over with the candidate. Marriage is supposed to be a lifelong things. The elders do nothing to help the couple before the vows are said. No mandatory study or talking too. They only do things that focus on the organization.
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Merger aftermath
by Rattigan350 ina couple of months ago, i reported on my congregation being disolved and merged with another.. on sept 1, cong b merged with cong a using the same hall, thereafter using cong a's meeting times.
also nearby cong c moved into the hall using cong b's meeting times and cong c's kh is being put up for sale.. i've since been to both sunday meetings and both midweek meetings.
at all, the parking lot is totally full, cars have to park around the corner and on the street.
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Rattigan350
A couple of months ago, I reported on my congregation being disolved and merged with another.
On Sept 1, Cong B merged with Cong A using the same Hall, thereafter using Cong A's meeting times. Also nearby Cong C moved into the Hall using Cong B's meeting times and Cong C's KH is being put up for sale.
I've since been to both Sunday meetings and both midweek meetings. At all, the parking lot is totally full, cars have to park around the corner and on the street. The auditorium is full and now more are using both library and school rooms.
Now, there is no potential for growth. If there are 150 attending each now, that is 300 total; it would be better to have them make 3 congregation of 100. But no. Now, there is less opportunity for people to comment at each meeting with all those people there.
That is happening all over. Just to sell building, the congregations will suffer.