How many were raised as a witness, and are now Christian ?

troubled mind

I was raised a witness and have not known anything else . I go back and forth with myself on whether I even believe in God at all anymore . I keep hoping that there is ....from a young age I had a strong desire to understand God . As a witness I never felt the Joy others claimed they felt learning the truth . Especially the zealous new Bible studies , I never had those feelings . The last two weeks I have attended a local church service which is Methodist , but I have a feeling it is different than most Methodist churches . The Pastor is new to the area and is very outgoing and quite a lively speaker . The services are very emotional to me which concerns me..... am I responding to the actual message or the emotional pitch . He is preaching from the book of Romans and his explaination of the power of jesus was amazing . Still , I am reserved to let myself believe in anything just yet . How did you convert your belief system ?

troubled mind

Never mind my question was answered in a similar thread this morning

sandy

Not sure which other thread you are talking about . . . So I'll answer you here I do not go to church myself. And I too am not sure about the existance of God, at least the God of the bible. I do believe there is something out there bigger than us. I'm just not sure what it is. So I just live my life as honestly as possible, trying not to do anything that will harm anyone. Like you said I didn't feel that joy about "the truth" either. I prayed constantly for it and never felt it . . . Except when it comes to Jesus. I realize now that I always loved reading about Jesus. I loved the great teacher book, the sories about him in my book of bible stories, and then the greatest man that ever lived book. I LOVED going to the weekly book study meetings when we studied the greatest man book. That was about the only time in my life when my comments at meetings were heartfelt and more that what was printed on the page. The life of Jesus really touches me even though I am not sure if I believe in the bible.

Apostate Kate

Hi Sandy, Troubled!

You are not alone in doubting the validity of the Bible. It is good and human after having been fooled by a cult, to question it.

I too went through that and continue to seek answers, I probably always will. I found plenty of evidence, historical and archeological to validate the acuracy of the Bible. I always had to check my sources, some people hate the Bible and their agenda is to disprove it.

I have found no other solution to the pain and suffering of the world but Jesus. Loving Him and following Him is an emotional journey. It is not for wimps.

Loving Jesus is a relationship;

If Jesus is the Word of God, whose voice was heard by Israel in the desert?

When Jesus was on earth we talked to Him, walked with Him.

When Jesus died He rose from the dead and spoke to people.

When Jesus rose up into heaven Paul and Stephen spoke to Him.

Jesus said where two or more are gathered in my name I am there.

So when did it become illegal to talk to Jesus;

When the Governing Body of Jehovah?s Witnesses decided they wanted to be Jesus.

Revelation 3:20 Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.~Jesus

Before I had a close relationship with Jesus I had worries, fears, uncertainties. Now I have true and genuine peace, comfort, faith in Him. Many here know I promote Calvary Chapel. We have to read, research Biblical texts for ourselves, and never ever again allow someone else (church) to tell us what the Bible has to say.

I like Calvary Chapel and churches similar like Saddleback, the "Purpose Driven Life" church. They have always proved to be well balanced and scholarly without being religious and legalistic. It is a come as you are church so shorts and jeans are the norm. They also usually have many charities that you can get involved in.

What's most important is to pray, ask Jesus to come into your life, ask Him to lead and guide you personally. If something doesn't feel right, go the other direction. Read the book of John and ponder chapter 3.

Love~Kate

AK - Jeff

How many were raised as a witness, and are now Christian ?

Me! But 'unchurched'.

I have not been able to reattach myself to religion after the idea that I had the 'truth' and that all others were demonic spaun of Satan. This was drilled into my head by my Mother when she first accepted the religion - then for the next 40+ years I believed that all religion was 'evil'. I no longer believe that, or much of anything that the WTS says. But I still have not progressed out of the ruts that were my track for decades in some respects.

I consider Jesus to be the centerpoint of my life - though I question somewhat the Bible's full 'inspiration', and tend to view it more as the tool of many legalistic religions. That still scares me some - and so I worship and live my life outside the walls of religion for the moment at least.

I often tune into Christian religious stations on the radio - and I have heard many fine sermons that espouse a relationship with Jesus. I like that direction, and in fact I think that the ones I have heard are of the Calvary Chapel type, like mentioned by Apostate Kate. I cannot recall the precise group, but it does not seem to be bourn of emotion, but reason and scripture.

I must admit that 'religion' seems less a discription of me than does 'spiritual' now. I wish you well in finding the pathway that fits you. Leaving the borg leaves us all wounded for a time -

Jeff

loosie

Well I have always believed in Christ. JW or not. So I am still Christian.

troubled mind

Wow I had a break from work and thought I would check in .....your responses were very interesting . Sandy , I always enjoyed the book study when we studied the Greatest Man book too . Yet still the conductor somehow would try to diminish Jesus importance . I think that is one of the final straws for me was the last Circuit assembly we attended more emphasis was given to the FDS than to Jesus . The actions and attitudes of the members also proved to me most were not following his example . At church seeing how much praise was given to God and Jesus really felt right for the first time .

chiddy

was raised as a jw, now 40, dabbled with evangelical churches but could not take it seriously, dont really believe in the biblical concept of God and the Devil but do accept the personage of Jesus, dont like labels and have looked into Buddhism, so I'm not really anything now just an older wiser x jw.

Shining One

I am and I would advise you to go for it! Don't worry about all the naysayers and bible critics. Just keep talking to the Lord and He will make it clear to you. Rex

Athanasius

I was raised in the JW religion, but left in 1984. Nevertheless, my JW experience didn't turn me against Christianity or other religions. In fact after leaving the KH I attended services at a number of churches and synagoges. However, in 1987 I began attending Episcopal services and in 1991 was recieved into the Episcopal Church. This has worked for me. Others may choose a different spiritual path.

How many were raised as a witness, and are now Christian ?

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