It took me years of contemplation and reading to settle in to what matters to me. I was never a JW by the way, but I run in to the JW doctrine daily with my husband. I figure a good solid understanding of your self and why you believe is the best defence against any group that may try to take advantage, including pyramid schemes. Two writers that helped me think differently are Steven Pinker and Karen Armstrong.
conscious of my spiritual need, what next?
by stillhurts 26 Replies latest jw friends
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THE GLADIATOR
stillhurts You have been given some good advice here. When I left Jehovah's Witnesses I visited a number of Christian churches. Started reading about Zen Buddhism, Tao and philosophy; even got involved in meditation groups and the Dalai Lama and Tibetan Buddhism. All these disciplines point towards a higher path. The difficulty is that as one becomes involved there is always a structure and hierarchy that starts to monitor the progress you are making.
In the end I decided that my hard won freedom was priceless and I would pursue a spiritual path independently of any particular group. I stay in touch but have gone freelance. So far my spiritual search has not uncovered a god but led to a peace and understanding that I did not enjoy as a Jehovah's Witness. I hope that you avoid the pitfalls along the way in your search for truth. You may have to kiss a lot of frogs before you find your prince or Princess.
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jgnat
By the way, I've condensed my religious duty to a couple maxims, "do no harm" and "reverence for life". I do still enjoy going to church. I love to sing, and I need to connect regularly to a body of people. I do think that people can get the same connection from other groups, not necessarily religious.
Western prayer, to me, is empty. I get a deeper connection through Buddhist meditation techniques.
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Pterist
According to 2 Peter chapter 1 ...being PRODUCTIVE in not running around knocking on doors but producing qualities in our life that is a blessing to ourselves and others?...
For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
3 His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. 4 Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.
5 For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; 6 and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; 7 and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. 8 For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 But whoever does not have them is nearsighted and blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their past sins.
10 Therefore, my brothers and sisters, [a] make every effort to confirm your calling and election. For if you do these things, you will never stumble, 11 and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
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tec
So once you leave, what next?
Personal study. Prayer. Reading. Asking for guidance from Christ and God.
Have you found anything from a spiritual standpoint that brings you happiness and satisfaction?
Christ. My faith is in Him, and Him alone. Listening to and following Him - He is alive, in Spirit. He brings me peace, love, joy, faith, compassion, mercy, and love... and He helps me to show these to others.
Have you been so scarred by the teaching that "all religions are wrong", that you can't see the truth anywhere?
Once you are free from those 'religions'... then you are free to see the Truth. Who is Christ. Not man, not a religion, not writings in a book. Just Christ.
God did not make it difficult for us. Man has done that.
God simply told us to listen to His Son: the Truth, the Life, the Word and Image of God.
Have you been able to overturn deeply held doctrinal beliefs and been able to accept teachings that are common to christendom, such as the divinity of Christ, antichrist, the rapture, heaven and hell, Modern day Israel as the chosen people, etc?
I was not born-in. So I suppose what appealed about the wts is that they taught against some of the mainstream things that made no sense, and they 'claimed' to teach directly from the bible. When I stopped studying with the wts, I tried to find another religion that would better suit what I believed. I suppose I might have found one, but that would not have made it the truth. Plus, i was being called OUT, so as to go to CHRIST... not find another religion instead.
So I have to answer no to your questions above, about accepting common teachings. We are not called to follow men, or religion, but Christ. One does often have to overturn any and all doctrinal beliefs if one has them though... in order to simply allow Him to teach us. Can take some time and learning before discarding all the baggage and fear that men teach us about God.
I am still conscious of my need for spiritual things. I love God and his word. But now that I'm out I don't know where to go next. Everything seems like poison. How did you fair? I want to be happy again, I want to know what's next.
I was so frustrated with everything that I was reading about religions and where I should go, and with trying to force it to fit with me, or for me to fit with it. I just stopped worrying one day, asked God to lead me, and put full faith that He would do so. I did not place a timeline on Him. I just put faith in Him, and trusted Him.
But it is a "to whom shall we go", that Peter asked... and not a "where".
That WHO - is Christ. Not religon. Nor even the bible. While many people claim also that the bible is the word of God, it is not. Christ is the Word of God. A living Word, for a Living God. A living Image, for a living God. The bible is a finger pointing to Christ, yes... but it is not Christ.
Religion and men led me wrong (and I allowed that). Christ has always been true, and never led me wrong. You need only ask Him for faith to hear and see, if you choose, and then trust that He will answer you.
Much peace and love to you (and welcome to the board. )
tammy
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lilbluekitty
The thing I did when I left was first I researched about the JWs and found out they were lying about practically everything. Then I just kind of took some time off to myself mentally and tried to relax and not jump into anything. It took me several months to feel ready to do anything really. I started slowly reading the Bible, both NWT to see the lies and other translations to see the real truth, espescially about Jesus. It took me several months to feel ready to visit a church and I am of the opinion that you do not *have* to go to church even if you believe. I had decided I was going to do my own thing by myself and took things slowly. After awhile I personally realized I wanted to be a Christian as I've always believed in God. I read about the different denominations and though I now go to a Baptist church, I consider myself non-denominational and will go to any church that shares my beliefs about Christ. (I do not, by the way, believe the Mormons (latter day saints) share my Christian beliefs, but that is up to you to decide, as you read the Bible. :) ).
Above all, no one can force you to do anything so don't listen to anyone that tells you there's no god or all religion sucks because it's for you to decide in your heart on your own with no one telling you what to believe/not believe (though personally I do believe in God).
What helped me the most was prayer and Bible-reading/research. I tried so many translations and I think most of them are good for different reasons. I like the English Standard Version best though :)
God bless you in your search :)
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LisaRose
I have stayed away from all religions since I left 13 years ago, but recently I started thinking it would be nice to find a faith based community to be a part of. I have visited my husband's parents church in another area, and enjoyed it, so last Sunday my husband and I went to the local church. It's United Church of Christ (UCC). They are very welcoming, very non judgemental. The music is good too, real music, not the horrible Kingdom Melodies. It's very liberal, not politically, but that you can believe whatever you want, I don't think they even care if you are an atheist. I plan to go again this Sunday.
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Londo111
If you haven’t already, a good first step would be to read In Search of Christian Freedom, by Ray Franz.
Beware of any group that considers itself to have a monopoly on “the Truth” and insists that you believe its list of beliefs over your own conscience and reason. Your relationship with God is your individual responsibility (Romans 14).
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*lost*
Hi I'm in exactly the same place as you are, .... this past few weeks have been explosive, so many revelations in my mind. so many emotions. fear, guilt, fear, guilt, lol, lots of confusion. what's, why's....... and I have been praying and meditating a lot lately. (directly to God) throwing my burden on him.
I haven't touched any publications or my bible for good few weeks before all this happened. but regular prayer.
First ... I have spent many, many hours just browsing around here, reading everything, looking thins up, reading the other sites that link up from here. It's like a trail that you follow.
I think it would help you to look at this from the perspective of - I know I'm not apostate, I know I believe in God etc. I know I am a good person, I know he drew me to him in the forst place, there must be some truth in all of it, It's such a huge thing, God, the Bible, Jesus, man, our history etc, so I will keep praying, asking for help and guidance through this process of enlightenment. It is still a spiritual journey, learning more about God etc.
I have made a wish list on amazon of all the books I will definitely get to read throughout this journey, and some books I may read. ( as I find these book recommendations from other peeps here I add them to the list straightaway )
We are used to studying and researching, we are just doing it through a different avenue, nothing wrong with it, we are told to check everything, as did the Bereans.
The amazing thing about the net is it is all there for you in an instant to find. No wonder org is against it. Knowledge is power.
I found a good site last night which gives answers on Bible etc. A lot of this process is still going to be trying to sift out the bits of truth from the false stuff.
Hope this helps in some way
Don't panic, relax, just study things as you go and when you find things that get your interest, then follow th trail. I'm getting a new study pad and looking at this as new project/study in same way as I used to before.
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cofty
Welcome to the forum stillhurts
When we discover we are lost its natural to assume that we are not very lost. It takes a lot of courage to admit the real possibility that we were completely off-course.
Right now you think its a given that there is a god in heaven and the bible is his word. As many of us did, you think the problem is with the details.
I was an evangelical christian for 11 years after I left the Watchtower. Eventually I realised that I had not honestly considered all the facts.
Avoid all other religions like the plague they are. Every one without exception will require a measure of your intellectual freedom in exchange for being part of the group.
People like Tec who think you can ask questions of an invisible god and be led by the voices she hears in response are intent on making you captive to a whole new delusion. Pretending to be spiritual without being religious is the new trend - its a distinction without a difference, don't be taken in.
Take your time. lots and lots of time. Explore science, history, biblical criticism and especially evolution.
Read authors like Christopher Hitchens, Daniel Dennett, Sam Harris, Bart Ehrman, Steven Pinker and Richard Dawkins. There is lots of their work available on YouTube.
Meanwhile focus on career, education, hobbies, sport, family and friends. In 5 or 10 years time you will be beginning to come to informed opinions.