When Time Flies By ...

The last few days have passed by so quickly and so much has happened ... we didn't even have a minute to sit down and write!!! And actually right now between two meetings there isn't much time either ... but we just have to send you some impressions ... if you want to click at our picture album.

THE highlight par excellence was the Annual meeting on Saturday: 5.262 were glued to their seats as one brother from the Governing body after another presented thrilling talks. Guy Pierce announced the new yeartext for 2009: "Bear thorough witness to the good news" from Acts 20:24. Some gripping phrases:

"Watch out: the law of diminishing returns can make even the greatest treasure appear commonplace!"
"We're in the HEAT of the harvest; get that 'gleaning' mentality out of your minds! At Armaggeddon, more will be involved in the preaching work than ever before in history!"
"We love to talk (to some it's a second nature). Jehovah wants us to talk. And about our favorite subject at that! So do it: talk about the good news thoroughly!"

Next came Stephen Lett: "Will Your Family Survive Armaggeddon?" Key ingredient for our family to survive Armaggeddon intact is to maintain a family worship evening! Objectives: 1. draw close to Jehovah as a family (help children acquire own "mark" for survival); 2. draw closer together as a family: couples who spend time together with Jehovah draw closer to each other! Elements for succcess: 1. be consistent; it should not be a "hit-and-miss"-affair (which usually ends up "miss"); 2. make it practical; 3. make it enjoyable!

David Splane delivered - at the specific request of the Governing body - the talk "The Faithful Slave and it's Governing Body". WHO REALLY is this slave? Really all anointed ones? Do they have kind of a worldwide "network"? Or is the Governing body the "slave"?

Answer: Jehovah has a "slave", not since 2,000 but since 3,500 zears => Isa 43. It's PRIMARY responsibility: "bear witness". In 33 C.E. it was replaced with the "Israel of God" => main responsibility: "be witnesses". Unless they are given a special additional assignment, ALL anointed devote themselves to preaching the good news. As individual members, GB-members are also "domestics", submissive to the "slave" class! None of them decides which talks (if any) he delivers, which conventions he attends, which committees he serves on, which countries he visits as Zone Overseer and so on. They all accept direction through Jehovah's organization. They prepare the food, but CANNOT and WILL NOT accept any credit for this food: all credit goes to Jehovah!!!

The very highlight was an interview conducted by brother Jackson with John Barr, Ted Jaracz and Gerrit Loesch ... more about this later, when we're back ...