Meleti Vivlon

Articles by Meleti Vivlon.


October 2017 Broadcast

Witnesses are taught to believe that the food they get from those claiming to be the Lord’s Faithful and Discreet Slave constitutes a “banquet of well-oiled dishes”.  They are led to believe that this nutritional bounty is unparalleled in the modern world and are...

Salvation, Part 6: Armageddon

[To view the previous article in this series see: The Children of God]  What is Armageddon? Who dies are Armageddon? What happens to those who die at Armageddon? Recently, I was having dinner with some good friends who had also invited another couple for me to get to...

On the Road

I will be travelling by car from Chicago down to the deserts of Utah, Nevada, Arizona and New Mexico from Sep 24 to October 11.  It’s a sort of clear-my-head road trip following all that’s happened over the past year.  It should take me through Iowa,...

2017-09-01 Letter to the BOE in Australia

A new policy letter dated September 1, 2017 covering child abuse in the Organization of Jehovah’s Witnesses has just been released to the Bodies of Elders in Australia.  At the time of this writing, we do not yet know if this letter represents a worldwide policy...

Fake News

One has to be very careful what one accepts as true in these days of social media news.  While the term “fake news” is often misapplied due to the tweets of one particular man, there is a lot of real “fake news” out there.  Sometimes, a...

Checking the Source

This week Witnesses start to study the July issue of the Watchtower Study Edition.  A while ago, we published a review of a secondary article in this issue which you can view below. However, something just came to light which has taught me to be more careful in...

I’m Not Worthy

“Keep doing this in remembrance of me.” – Luke 22:19 It was at the memorial of 2013 that I first obeyed those words of my Lord Jesus Christ. My late-wife declined to partake that first year, because she did not feel worthy. I have come to see that this is a common...

Should We Obey the Governing Body

One of our readers drew my attention to a blog article which I think reflects the reasoning of most Jehovah’s Witnesses. The article begins by drawing a parallel between the self-declared ‘non-inspired, fallible’ Governing Body of Jehovah’s Witnesses and other groups...

Stop the Presses!

Stop the presses!  The Organization has just admitted that the Other Sheep doctrine is unscriptural. Okay, to be fair, they don’t know they’ve admitted this yet, but they have. To understand what they’ve done, we have to understand the basis for the...

Trouw Article: A Paradise for Pedophiles

This is a translation of the July 22, 2017 article in Trouw, a Dutch newspaper, which is one in a series of articles reporting on the way Jehovah’s Witnesses handle child sexual abuse.  Click here to see the original article. A Paradise for Pedophiles The way...

New Article on BP Bible Study Forum

I’ve just published a thought-provoking new article on the BP – Bible Study Forum (a separate site) by a new contributing author, Eleasar.   It was a toss-up as to whether to publish on this site or the Bible Study forum. This site is very JW-centric and...
JW Jingoism

JW Jingoism

In the July, 2017 broadcast on tv.jw.org, the organization appears to be defending itself against attacks made by internet sites.  For example, they now feel the need to try to prove there is a scriptural basis for calling themselves “The Organization”.  They also...

The Lord Is Knocking

[This little gem came out at our last weekly on-line meeting.  I just had to share.] “. . .Look! I am standing at the door and knocking. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come into his house and take the evening meal with him and he with me.” (Re...

New Look and Spanish Site Launch

As you can see, we’ve changed the look of the Beroean Pickets – JW.org Reviewer site.  The sister site, Beroean Pickets – Bible Study Forum, has experienced a similar facelift. The idea was to make both sites easier to navigate across all devices,...

Are We in the Last Days?

This forum is for the study of the Bible, free from the influence of any particular religious system of belief.  Nevertheless, the power of indoctrination as practiced by the various Christian denominations is so pervasive that it cannot be ignored altogether,...
Watchtower Music Videos

Watchtower Music Videos

You may recall this image taken from the July, 2016 Watchtower Study Edition, p. 7.  You can find our review of that particular study article here.  The theme of the article was “Why Must We ‘Keep on the Watch?’” At the time, this reviewer felt that the new rule...

A Fairy Godmother Religion

I’ve been thinking about the theme of this year’s Regional Convention: Don’t Give Up!  It’s an oddly prosaic theme, don’t you think?  What is its purpose? That brought to mind a recent discussion with a close friend who asked what congregation I was now attending....

Commenting Guidelines

I would like to take this opportunity to share helpful reminder to all, including myself. We have a brief FAQ on commenting guidelines. Perhaps some clarification might be helpful.  We have come from an organization in which men love to Lord it over other men, and...

The Spirit Bears Witness – How?

To me, one of the greatest sins of the leadership of the Organization of Jehovah’s Witnesses is the doctrine of the Other Sheep.  The reason I believe this is that they are instructing millions of Christ’s followers to disobey their Lord.  Jesus said:...

ARC Duplicity

On the 10th of this month, the Australia Royal Commission held Case 54 which was a review of the responses of Jehovah’s Witnesses to the Commission’s findings.  The representatives from the Australia branch swore on the Bible “to tell the truth, the...

Salvation, Part 4: All in the Family

The previous article dealt with the two rival seeds that contend with one another throughout time until the culmination of the salvation of humankind.  We are now in the fourth installment of this series and yet we’ve never actually stopped to ask the question:...

New Article on the BP Study Forum

If you are only subscribed to this site, Beroean Pickets – JW.org Reviewer, you may be missing out on the Bible research articles that we publish on the sister forum, Beroean Pickets – Bible Study Forum.  For instance, we’ve just released the fourth...

Who are the 24 Elders of Revelation?

[A tip of the hat to Yehorakam for bringing this understanding to my attention.] First, is the number 24, literal or symbolic?  Let’s assume it’s symbolic for a moment.  (This is only for the sake of argument as there is no way to know for sure whether the number is...

Dealing with Sinners – Part 2

In the previous article on this topic, we analyzed how the principles Jesus revealed to us at Matthew 18:15-17 can be used to deal with sin within the Christian Congregation.  The law of the Christ is a law based on love.  It cannot be codified, but must be fluid,...

Adopted!

I was raised a Jehovah’s Witness.  I’m approaching seventy now, and during the years of my life, I’ve worked in two Bethels, had a lead role in a number of special Bethel projects, served as a “need greater” in two Spanish-speaking countries, given talks at...

An Appeal for Prayer

The power of prayer is something we recognize and when many pray for someone in need, our Father takes note.  Thus, we find appeals like Colossians 4:2,  1 Thessalonians 5:25 and 2 Thessalonians 3:1 where the community of brothers and sisters is asked to pray. There...

Registering Your Username

A few users are reporting an inability to log on to the Bible Study Forum. The reason is that they are under the impression that it’s a part of this Beroean Pickets site.  It is in a thematic sense, but technically, they are two different sites, totally...

My 2016 Memorial

I had the joy to participate in an online commemoration of the memorial of Christ’s death on Tuesday, March 22rd with 22 others living in four different countries.[i]  I know that many of you chose to partake on the 23rd at your local Kingdom hall.  Still others have...

Two New Posts

For those who have not yet subscribed to beroeans.net and have therefore not received notifications, there are two new articles on the site. Use the Power of Your Tongue for Good BBC: UK JWs Accused of Destroying Documents...

February 2016 JW.org Broadcast

Sinning Against the Spirit In this month’s TV Broadcast on tv.jw.org, the speaker, Ken Flodine, discusses how we can grieve God’s spirit. Before explaining what it means to grieve the holy spirit, he explains what it does not mean. This takes him into a discussion of...

Bethel Layoffs Damage Control

February 1, 2016 is upon us. This is the deadline for the worldwide downsizing of Bethel families.  Reports are that the family is being reduced by 25%, which means thousands of Bethelites are frantically looking for work.  Many of these are in their 50s and 60s. ...

New Discussion Forum

From time to time, debates begin in our commenting section on important Bible teachings.  Often, those commenting have a personal view that is valid and scripturally based.  Other times, the viewpoint turns out to originate from the thinking of men.  Sometimes, the...

Confessing Christ

From time to time there have been those who have used the commenting feature of Beroean Pickets to promote the idea that we must take a public stand and renounce our association with the Organization of Jehovah’s Witnesses.  They will cite scriptures like...

Walking by Faith – In Men

This week in the Service Meeting (I can still call it that, at least for the next couple of weeks.) we are being asked to comment on the hour-long video Walking by Faith, Not by Sight. The production values are quite respectable and the acting is not bad either. It...

An Open Letter

We have been greatly encouraged by the heartfelt outpouring of support that came as a result of the recent article, “Our Commenting Policy.” I had only wanted to reassure everyone that we were not about to change that which we had worked so hard to achieve. If...

Our Commenting Policy

We have been getting emails from regular readers concerned that our forum might be degenerating into just another JW bashing site, or that an unfriendly environment might be surfacing.  These are valid concerns. When I began this site back in 2011, I was unsure about...

When Speculation Becomes Fact

We have just begun to study the Imitate Their Faith book in the congregation Bible Study which is part of our midweek meeting. I admit I haven’t read it, but my wife has and says it makes for a nice, easy read. It takes the form of Bible stories rather than a Bible...