I like to feel like now I can appreciate any and all things since I left the dubs. I have joined a few clubs in my area. Most are just for fun. Some are political. It exposes you to all the different kinds of people out there. There was a speaker that was an astrologist. I told my sister (former Baptist misionary home from assignment in retirement) about it. She freaked out that I might be interested in that again. I have always had an interest in the planets and whether they effect our lives. Anyway, she got down right firm in her speech that it was not true and condemned in the Bible. Who gives a flying f about that? If she didn't have her church to lean on she would be lost. She tells me she is ready to die and only 63. What is up with that? I feel like I can't be myself around her anymore. It is like being judged by the elders or your pioneer pals all over again. I hate that feeling.
Why is it that people who go to church feel you have to belong to a church to be happy?
by Bubblie 14 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
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Bubblie
WT you are correct! They love to make you feel like you are wicked! Don't they? I just can't let people continue to do this to me. I am standing on my own two feet against all of this. I will make up my own mind if I chose to believe in a god or not! I am still looking at all the possible outlooks. The jury is still out on my case right now.
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primitivegenius
you leave the cult with deeply ingrained thoughts about any OTHER CHURCH............. it takes years if not decades to overcome this. Fortunately for me, my wife found an awesome church to go to and as all husbands usually agree to go ONCE i tagged along.
The fear walking up was almost overwhelming, the first service was just letting out and i swear i have never seen so many people leaveing outside of a district convention before............ scary, crazy, creepy. i had made up my mind that i would give this fool 15 or 20 minutes then i was gunna be outta there.
then what happened? they frickin started to play music............ for like 30 min or so....... frickin religious music.......... what the hell.........
i had a dozen picnics worth of antz in my pants yellin for me to get the hell outta there by the time the pastor rolled out to start his sermon that morning............. but i was determined to give him 5 or 10 minutes more by this point........... then he started preaching.
the cult tells you that there is nothing else out there, that they have the market cornered on religion and god........... they are full of s***. this pastor spoke to me, he didnt take himself to seriously. he didnt come rolling out in a $3000 suit and start screaming. i felt right at home listening to him talk about living a better life and helping others. he didnt say i had to be perfect, in fact he stressed the opposite, that we werent perfect and couldnt be, but that god loved us anyway. was a great sermon, wasnt deep or preachy but i enjoyed it a great deal. we continued to go for a couple of years before we relocated out of state.
so when we moved the wife looked up the local branches of that same church............. one was over an hour away and had a great pastor...... the other was 30 min away and had a young pastor........... unfortunately i could have given better sermons than he could so we didnt want to drive an hour one way......... or be bored. so we started looking at other churches.......... i swear i went to 20 or 30 churches and i found parts of them i liked and parts that i couldnt stand. some had music that rocked but the pastor had to talk sports every sunday.............. during the sermon. others had a great feel, a welcomeing spirit, and a nice pastor........... but the music sucked. so im trying to find the balance, i dont want a preachy screaming pastor, but i tolerate fools or hokey crap not one bit. its hard to find that perfect balance, but when you manage to pull it off its a wonderful thing.
the one thing that i realize after going to so many churches........ everyone needs something different. if that werent true then any church would do, but if it dosent work for you its like a pair of bad fitting shoes and nothing you do will make it feel right to you.
i went to one church in particular....... right around the cornor from where i was living, nice people, great pastor who gave medium to deep sermons that were all bible based (regardless of what the cult claims) the first morning we attended...... the pastor came up to make a couple of announcements....... one there was a family who had lost their house to a fire the night before and were in need, he said that if anyone could help them to speak to someone afterward and they could find out more details............ this was the very next day after the fire. then that pastor said that someone had come to him because they were faceing their demons and their addiction was giveing them a hard time. and that this person would like everyones prayers to help him. so right then and there he prayed for that brother........ no mention of what addiction he was struggleing with............ no disfellowshipping.............. just prayer for help. i could tell that this place was a great place because they took care of those in need and did it in a loveing manner............... be a good bunch of people to hang out with........... but they sang without music............... so was a deal breaker for me lol.
personally i dont think that a person has to belong to a church, but if you find the right one.......... it makes all the difference in the world. it should feel like your comeing home, if it dosent........... move on to one that does. dont take other peoples word for it........... go look for yourself. if you find one that works for you then enjoy. you will find more that dont work for you than you find ones that do. i have found about 3 that worked for me out of probably 30 i went to, and i probably found 10 that were pretty good out of that same number.
some people get out of the cult feeling that they hate god............ or that he dosent exist. when i came out i hated the as*****s responsible for the wbts, i never hated god. but then again i did leave the cult......... i didnt have them mistreat me and try to kick me out, so i am probably not as jaded and damaged as some would be haveing to deal with all that evil manipulation the elders like to use on people.
just my 2 cents worth
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kurtbethel
Projection.
"I feel that way, so everyone should feel like I do."
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Ancient One
I guess sometimes you just need a company to feel happy, that's my take on it anyway