Sent you a pm, anniegirl
Struggling
by anniegirl76 80 Replies latest jw friends
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godrulz
I think most can support the person's journey, but true healing can only be found in Christ. If our friend dies tonight and goes to hell, then we are no better than Job's useless comforters. The gospel is the power of God, not pop psychology. A person needs to be ready to receive, but if all we do is coddle people without sharing truth, we are not loving or wise. Feel free to ignore posts/posters that are not to your liking.
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anniegirl76
I find it interesting quite a few associate Jw's with mormons as a cult.....why is that please?
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tenyearsafter
Anniegirl76,
First off, welcome to the forum!
Whether you choose to accept another religion or not, I would suggest you just attend a few churches to help "innoculate" yourself against the JW induced phobia of Babylon the Great. You will be amazed that the average church is not full of "gullible" people led by "men of lawlessness" practicing "vile" things abhorrent to God. Just walking in to a church and not being struck down by God is a liberating thing for an ex-JW! Give it a try...you might be surprised how welcoming a local church can be.
TYA
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saltyoldlady
Annie - For me going to an "interdenominational" local Bible Study group at a community center has been a wonderful blessing. I am elderly so it is a BS at a Senior Center and yes the BS is sponsored by a local church which is also interdenominational but they make no pressure whatsoever to join their particular church body and our little group of about 24 souls represents a great variety. But the community interdenominational churches will generally not put a lot of pressure on you to accept some strict doctarian view - just to put faith in Jesus Christ will be their only requirement or emphasis. And they will offer you wholesome spiritual fellowship. You also might search out the possibility of a local chapter of Bible Students - their views are similar re rejection of a trinitarian dogma or the hellfire concept. Tho I rejected the local chapter because they still hold on to the 607 BC date for the beginning of the Gentile Times. They did not demand conformity from me in that matter however and they are delightful people. I just didn't find them to be as open-minded about Bible chronology research as I desired.
As to your other question why is it so often they lump JW's and Mormons together - and as "cults." I could not give you a scholarly answer to that - others will do a much better job than myself but both organizations do have views that are definitely OUTSIDE the mainstream Christianity views. A study of what exactly constitutes a cult will also enlighten you as to the similarity of how these two organizations function even though their beliefs so very different. And another very glaring similarity between the two groups is the fact they both "peddle" their religion door to door - I suspect this last factor is the major reason they are so often uttered in the "same breath" when other Christians are choosing to be judgmental of one another.
Oh and by the way a big welcome to you. Looking forward to getting acquainted.
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godrulz
Bible Students are Russellites like JWs. I got their Russell pamphlets in the mail. They are not WT, but basically the same thing (only much smaller, a splinter JW group). Russell was wrong, so avoid both groups. Mormons and JWs both deviate from biblical, historical, orthodox Christianity. They are the largest pseudo-Christian cults in the world. They have centralized, authoritarian structures (one has the popes of the GB and the other has LDS prophets/popes). They started in the 1800s around one uneducated person's ideas (Russell; Smith). Their beliefs and practices have similarities that are extra/contrabiblical. Being part of them is little better than being Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist. False religion is from Satan. Only biblical Christianity, the true God, the true Christ will save one (cults deny essential truth, but may be right on some peripheral areas).
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anniegirl76
Thank you for your insight, all of you. I have questions and I'm sure I always will, like, when you leave a religion you've been born and raised in, you're bound to have some sort of anxiety and seperation issues...right? if that's all you've known. If that is the case, then how is that brain-washing? some of my questions are simple, I know, some of them are not. What defines a "cult"? I've looked into these questions more than once and I never get the same answer twice. if anyone would be willing to help me, that would be awesome!
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godrulz
A secular definition of a cult would include abusive mind-control, shunning tactics that break up families, authoritarian leaders who are not to be questioned, etc. A biblical, technical definition would be a group that deviates significantly from biblical, historical, orthodox Christianity on essential areas like the doctrine of God, Christology, soteriology (salvation), etc. The WT does indoctrinate people and brain wash with theocratic organization group think, endless literature, endless meetings, etc. They discourage independent thinking to the point that you must believe error until new light comes. If the new light is wrong (WT has flip flopped many times on various issues like Rom. 13 interpretation), then one must still believe it until they correct again or revert back. We should believe truth and discern error instead of having someone else dictate what we believe. We are responsible to interpret and apply Scripture and will be without excuse for following men, not God. Separation/anxiety/anger, etc. is normal when one leaves a false group. Someone can leave a true church and not have been brainwashed. They could have formulated beliefs on their own and know what and why they believed it. They can walk away from this. Others are indoctrinated (David Koresh; Jim Jones, infamous cult leaders that killed people, like WT blood issue) and leave on their own. WT does use mind control techniques, whereas most true Christian churches do not (they are not based on one leader, one organization, uniformity of same literature/meetings, threats of kicking out if deviate, etc. I can disagree with my pastor and denomination on many issues, and I am not threatened, coerced, guilted, manipulated, etc. If I fall into grievous sin or doctrinal error, I can be disciplined or disfellowshipped, but not in the WT shunning way; I would still be able to talk to people, etc. since it is between me and God, not me and an impersonal, autocratic organization). Those in false religion do not usually recognize their plight. Once out, they can look back and see how wrong things were. As an outsider (never been JW), I see how corrupt and wrong the WT is. I have freedom to investigate without risk of being kicked out of the kingdom, something only Jehovah vs man can do.
What you guys are really looking for and need is a love relationship with the true Jesus (YHWH), not a cruel organization that thinks for you at the expense of your freedom and eternal destiny (Jn. 1:12; Jn. 3:16; Jn. 14:6; Acts 4:12; Rom. 1:16; Rom. 10:9-10; I Jn. 5:11-13). A JW must go through many hoops to have any concept of being saved (and never really know until after millennium), whereas a true Christian can become one in a moment (see Acts 2) and have assurance of eternal life NOW, because it is based on grace through faith, not endless works that don't make us perfect, God's standard (Eph. 2:8-10; Titus 3:5).
One does not have to have all the answers to come as you are to the Lord Jesus Christ, God of gods, King of kings, Lord of lords. He is a prayer away and the Spirit will open up understanding once you know Him. There is merit to having a minimal amount of doctrine to ensure one is renouncing false teaching (WT) and embracing the true gospel/Christ (2 Cor. 11:4; Gal. 1:6-10; Jude 3). This is my prayer for all of you 2 Tim. 2:24-26 (check www.biblegateway.com for various translations; NWT is a sectarian perversion that systematically twists Scripture to its own destruction, especially the Deity of Christ verses).
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anniegirl76
What is an ex-Jw meeting? where are they held? what happens there? I've never heard of them till I saw it mentioned on this site....