Hi to all, I have been away from the organization since the 1980's and as it seems, I haven't missed a thing. I have seen a deterioration take place that is continually getting more dramatic than I have ever seen. The thumbing down or the minimizing of spiritual food is reason enough that people are starving for something good. Amos 8:11-12, spoke of a time when there would be "a famine, not for bread, and a thirst, not for water, but for hearing the words of Jehovah....they will keep roving about while searching for the word of Jehovah, but they will not find it." The information that is provided at the meetings is watered down, does not fortify or encourage one another, or information that is spoken with a different twist to fit their agenda, not the true meaning of the scriptures, and a lack of qualified teachers even to a point where they have lowered the bar so LOW to get young brothers to become elders.
But to the point of the title of my thread: My folks and I have been out since the 1980's, so as you know contact was very limited. Many years went by, and then my Mother gets a letter from her daughter. The first 8 lines were the usual "How's the weather?, and the weather here is not too bad." The rest of the letter amounting to 1 and 3/4 of another page was all about Daniel 11th chapter. (Now, my folks and I never minded at all talking about spiritual things. But to write a letter talking about spiritual things to a person who is not in the organization, being considered apostates, when were not, has always been unacceptable in the society's eyes). You would expect a letter from your daughter talking about the kids, what their up to and many other things, but no, it was 95% about Daniel 11th chapter. So, when my mother went to reading about half the letter, she shook her head, and started to have tears and handed me the letter and I read it. After I read it, I asked my mother "Did you come up with the same idea I did?" She nodded her head and said yes. (Apostacy) What happened was, she was mentioning things in the 11th chapter of Daniel that WERE NOT IN THE CHAPTER. So, to simplify the point, my sister was talking about names of people, the biography of the people, cities and such that were not even IN THE CHAPTER. I asked my mother, "Where would she get this information from, it's not even in the scriptures." Well, I googled Daniel Chapter 11, hit search, and all of sudden actual clips of her letter were almost word for word on some religious websites.
If I was to ask my sister "Where did you get this information about Daniel, the 11th chapter? Her comment to me would be that she learned it at the meetings, and I would say that it's not even in the scriptures. Her natural reply back would be that the "faithful slave is feeding us this spiritual food, and we need to listen to them, this is our everlasting life." THIS IS WHAT I CALL ACTUAL APOSTACY. What the Apostle Paul said in Acts 17: 3 "they were carefully examining the scriptures daily as to whether these things were so." I guess we'll just have to forget that scripture. Another scripture you can forget is in Rev 22:18-19, "If anyone makes an addition to these things, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this scroll; and to go further it mentions that if anyone takes anything away from the words of the scroll of this prophecy" then further trouble would befall him.
Has it come to the point that we need the INTERNET for spiritual food? I have been noticing that this is getting to be a BIG problem with the society. So, the brothers go to the Internet to get their talks up, that is sad. I am not discrediting the Internet, but what I am saying is that we need to be careful that it aligns with the scriptures, on the Internet you can have 1000's of different views on a particular scripture.
On an added note, my thoughts on all the new policy changes will not change the direction the society should go. Once the new changes have worn off, the unhappiness will come back. It's like being in prison where all you get is bread and water, and the prison makes an adjustment with food and says they will now be adding meat and desserts. It really doesn't change anything. Your still in prison.
I know many here can't make the decision to be free from the organization, but at some point people will have to realize where they're going. I choose not to be a member of an organization but rather just a plain Christian, to the best of my ability. And I wish you all Luck in your journeys. Oh no, I said Luck, thats right, I said Luck. That was a word we were not suppose to use, well thats just tough. Good luck to all.
Happy trails to all.....